‘After you,’ a familiar voice said with chivalry as the tour bus door creaked open slowly. I looked up to see a small, shy girl standing in the threshold of the bus. She looked down slightly, letting her dark hair slightly cover her pale face. I stared at her, taking in her inexplicable beauty. I couldn’t break my gaze from her shocking blue eyes.

‘Hey, guys, look who I rescued from her lousy day job,’ Jaime came barreling into the bus, closing the door behind him. He smiled happily as he introduced the girl to us: ‘Spencer’, he said, smiling at her. Something sparked in his eyes as he looked at her, and it made my heart swell. Jaime had a bad history, so I was glad to see this happiness radiating from him. Lately, he has been his normal, goofy, hilarious self, but if he wasn’t careful, he could easily slip back into his depression. But, here, I noticed no form of sadness at all in his features, which was not normal. Usually, I could see some darkness behind his eyes as he laughed, but not now. Behind his eyes, now, was something I figured resembled hope.

The girl—Spencer—smiled at us softly, nervousness etched in her features. She looked at me first, and my heart swelled again. I immediately despised myself for feeling like this; Jaime looked happy, and this was his catch, not mine.

‘Hey, I’m Vic,’ I said, smiling broadly at her nonetheless.

‘I’m Tony,’ Tony introduced himself, and her eyes studied him carefully, next.

‘Mike,’ he nodded his head, smiling up at her as well.

‘Hi,’ she responded shyly.

‘Wanna beer or something?’ Mike offered. Something inside of me twisted at his offer, but I didn’t know what that something was.

I watched her face carefully as she spoke. ‘No, thanks,’ she said, sending him a weak smile.

‘So,’ Jaime plopped down onto a lounge chair, gesturing for her to take a seat to, which she did. ‘Tell us about yourself,’ he said while he casually propped his legs up. She bit her lip softly, appearing to be lost in thought.

‘Um, well, there’s not much about me,’ she said lowly, lightly shrugging her shoulders. My chest tightened at her words—how could a girl as beautiful as her be so low about herself?

‘Oh, so you’re one of those girls, then?’ Jaime grinned at her response, which bothered me a little. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Jaime like he was my brother, but how couldn’t he see that something was wrong with her? Didn’t he see the sadness in her eyes?

Well, maybe he did—maybe that’s why he picked her out. Maybe he needed someone like her to complete someone like him. I sighed at the thought—it didn’t seem like the best combination of personalities, but I think that was the green monster inside of me thinking for me.

‘Making us unravel your mystery all by ourselves,’ he added when Spencer’s face indicated that she didn’t understand his previous statement.

She leaned forward slightly, a smirk growing over her face. I shivered. ‘You’re going to have to do a little more work to figure me out, Preciado,’ she said with a wink. I shivered again, selfishly wishing that she had said that to me: Fuentes.

‘Hm, fair enough,’ Jaime said, grinning again and squinting his eyes at her, as if he was trying to see through her. I liked seeing Jaime grin like that—I liked knowing that his smile has turned infective once again. I missed him.

‘So, um, how long are you guys in town?’ she asked after a few moments of silence.

‘A very long time,’ Jaime chuckled, and she looked confused.

‘We live here, in San Diego,’ I explained, smiling at her.

‘Oh, I didn’t know that,’ she said quietly.

‘That’s refreshing,’ Tony mumbled.

‘What do you mean?’ she asked, tilting her head to the side. I listened to them talk, feeling like I was a million miles away. Her eyes shot me back, the intensity of the blue almost sending me away into oblivion.

Well, for a moment there they actually had sent me to oblivion, for I didn’t even hear the remainder of their small talk, and then a loud clap of thunder shook the bus, bringing me back to reality.

‘Ah, yes, San Diego storms,’ I breathed with a sigh, relaxing back. I noticed the tenseness in Spencer’s shoulders as soon as the storm began.

‘You don’t seem to like storms,’ Jaime observed, saying what I was thinking.

‘There you go, you’ve already figured out one thing about me,’ she said with a light smirk and a nervous smile. A pang of jealousy stabbed through me again, and I wished that she looked at me like that.

This was bad. I needed to control myself for Jaime’s sake and sanity. I suddenly stood up. ‘I need to go take a nap. Sleeping during thunder storms is my favorite,’ I announced. ‘It was really nice to meet you, Spence, I hope to see you soon,’ I said, shaking her hand. I couldn’t help myself from thinking that I really hoped to see her again, not matter how selfish it was to think. My hand tingled at the touch of hers.

‘You too,’ she smiled back, but I detected another emotion in there. Sadness swept through me when I saw that she looked uncomfortable at my friendly gesture, but I realized by the distance she put between her and Jaime that it was because she didn’t like contact with people in general, and it wasn’t me. I smiled softly, released her hand, and walked quickly to the back lounge.

Irritation, sadness, jealousy, guilt, and breathlessness overtook me as I climbed into my bunk, hiding myself from Tony and Mike who had followed my lead, leaving Jaime alone with his new friend. But, most of all, I felt selfish. I couldn’t believe that I was eying someone Jaime found. That wasn’t fair to Jaime, and I hated myself for thinking these thoughts.

I just couldn’t help it; her mystifying beauty was enough to draw anyone in… I closed my eyes and put my headphones on, letting the music and the thunder drown out my thoughts, which I hoped would be completely dissolved when I woke up. The last things I saw in my head before I slipped into unconsciousness were two bright blue eyes, electrifying every inch inside of me.

“I’ve always been selfish,” I murmured to myself when I woke up. Luckily, my dream—or nightmare—or whatever that was—didn’t cause an outburst from me. A tear silently rolled down my cheek, but I brushed it away quickly, my hand tangling with someone else’s hair in the process.

“Oops, sorry,” I hissed, fixing her hair and wrapping my arms tightly around her waist, pulling her closer. We didn’t do anything last night, but after our talk we fell asleep together—and I wouldn’t have wanted it to work out any other way. I buried my face into the crook of her neck as she quietly stirred. I pushed my thoughts out of my head, disappointed at myself for dreaming about Spencer when I had Charlie now. It wasn’t necessarily a crime to think about Spence—it was healthy, even—but I didn’t want to right now. I wanted to focus on Charlie. But my brain just had to remind me how selfish I was, how selfish I have been since the very beginning, since the moment I laid eyes on Spencer.

“Hey,” Charlie spoke softly.

“Mornin’,” I said lowly into her ear, my voice coming out in a croak. She carefully adjusted herself so she was facing me, our faces inches apart. I smiled at her, and she buried her face into my neck.

“How are you today?” she asked, her lips brushing against my skin.

“Better,” I said quietly. I wasn’t really that much better, but I wasn’t lying either. It comforted me knowing that I could wake up from my dreams to have this girl in my arms—I guess that made me a little selfish, again.

“You are not selfish, Vic. Please stop saying that,” she said softly. “I actually want to be here, you know,” she added, and I immediately felt better. She removed her head from my neck and looked me in the eyes, and, this time, I could read her expression perfectly. The mystifying aspect of her light blue eyes dissolved for a moment, revealing that she was telling the truth.

I sighed, submitting to her words. “Okay,” I mumbled into her shoulder. We were quiet for a few minutes, just enjoying each other’s hold. My heart ached at the memory of meeting Spencer for the first time, but Charlie helped the swelling go down. But, then again, Charlie was a lot more than just a band-aid to me—she was like my heart’s pacemaker. Without her, my heart couldn’t beat. Without her, my body wouldn’t be able to function properly. Without her, there was no me.

“So,” she spoke up again. “I think it’s pretty cool that you’re in a band,” she said. I smiled at the mention of the band—one of only a few things that made me truly happy. “That explains why you were so amazed that I didn’t listen to music,” she added. I chuckled lightly, nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, I probably should have just told you—”

“Stop that, it really isn’t a big deal. I think it’s awesome. Besides, I understand that you probably didn’t want me to see you as a famous person,” she said. “Wait, are you famous?” she added as an afterthought. I chuckled at her question, realizing yet again how truthful she was, saying things like they were.

“I mean, I don't know,” I shrugged my shoulders, not wanted to sound bigheaded. In reality, though, I knew I was famous—no, we were famous. At least in our music scene. “People who don’t listen to music,” I mockingly coughed in her direction, “don’t know who we are, obviously. And people who don’t listen to our type of music don’t know who we are, either. But we do have a pretty big fan base, I guess,” I explained.

“Oh, I see,” she said. Suddenly, she sat up.

“Where are you going?” I asked, stretching my arms out for her. It was weird; I never wanted to let her go. I wanted to hold her in my arms forever. I knew that she said she was staying, and that she wanted to be here, but I was still afraid that if I released her from my grasp she would disappear forever. My reliance on her was almost terrifying.

Charlie brushed back her bed head hair before she spoke. “Will you show me your music, or should I listen to it myself?”

I laughed again at her directness.

“I have an even better idea,” I said, sitting up with her. “I’ll play you some of it,” I said, the smile on my face widening at the thought of playing live for her.

“Seriously?” she asked, the enthusiasm on her face very evident.

“Yes! Later this afternoon. I gotta round up the troops,” I said, referring to Tony, Jaime, and Mike.

“Sweet,” she grinned. I pulled her back down with me, snuggling close with her, deciding that I would get up later. Right now, I needed to just be with her, taking in every aspect of her before it was too late.

~~

“So, this is where we sometimes practice. We have an actual studio we go to also, but this is where we go when we just want to mess around with songs, write new stuff, try things out,” I rambled, showing her our basement studio. My and Mike’s house was technically the unofficial Pierce the Veil headquarters. The basement was massive, and we had an area where Mike had drums set up, and along the wall were a selection of guitars and basses for Tony and Jaime and I. We even had our own sound proof booth where I sometimes did some independent recording if I wanted to lay down some vocals.

“This is incredible,” Charlie said, her eyes wide as she stared at all of our equipment. I smiled at the room, as well, realizing how far we’ve come—this basement used to be an unfinished, dirty mess where we would always have band practice, leaving us cramped and even more sweaty than normal. “You guys are like… really serious, aren’t you?” she whispered as she inspected the several guitars.

I nodded. “Yeah, we are,” I lightly chuckled.

“So these are your three albums?” she gestured to the three pieces of artwork hanging on the crisply painted wall—the three album artworks for each of our CDs.

“Yep!” I answered, smiling proudly at them.

“Let’s do this,” Mike came rushing into sight out of nowhere—typical Mike—and jumped behind his drum set in excitement.

“Hey, Charlie,” Tony said shyly from the side, positioning himself with a guitar to the left of the mini stage we had set up.

“Hey, Tony,” she said. I eyed Tony curiously—he looked especially reserved today.

“I feel like we haven’t played in centuries!” Jaime came bouncing in, excited as well. “Hey, Char,” Jaime nodded at her presence.

“Hey there,” she grinned at Jaime, who was making funny faces into his microphone.

“What on Earth are you doing?” I asked incredulously.

“Stretching my mouth,” he answered, continuing to make faces.

“Jaime is backup,” I explained. “He takes his job very seriously,” I laughed, rolling my eyes.

“I see,” she grinned, stepping back from the mini stage. I gazed at her affectionately before stepping up to the microphone, but all of a sudden I felt a wall slam into me, forcing my surroundings to change.

“Yay! The famous Spencer NoLastName has arrived!” Tony squealed, raising his guitar vertically and playing a few rough chords in excitement.

She laughed. “Martin. Spencer Martin,” she said, shaking her head. “And, famous?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at Jaime. I noticed his face turn red.

“He’s mentioned you a few times,” I said with a wink, looking at her intently. She looked so fragile and hurt, and it honestly broke my heart. I wanted very much to wrap her into an enormous hug, but that would have been not only awkward due to the fact that I didn’t really know her that well but also painful for her due to her sensitive burns. I then decided to pat her on her head. “We are glad you are okay,” I said sweetly, smiling warmly at her. I backed away from her quickly before I got too carried away, reminding myself that she was Jaime’s.

She smiled awkwardly. “Same, I guess,” she mumbled. I didn’t know if anyone else caught that, but something about the way she spoke made it sound like she wasn’t particularly relieved that she had lived.

“Alright, alright! Can we fucking rock, now?” Mike whined from behind his drum set.

Jaime set her up with a place to sit, which was on a beanbag ten feet away from my microphone. Right in the center.

“Just pretend I’m not here,” she said to us. She shifted uncomfortably, as if she was afraid to disrupt us.

“Nonsense! Having an audience is better for us, anyway,” I said truthfully, hoping that she believed me. Mike banged on a few drums in frustration and impatience.

I rolled my eyes, and then we started to play.

“Vic? You okay?” I returned to reality at Charlie’s touch, her hand on the side of my face.

“Er, what did you say?” I asked, hoping I didn’t zone out for too long.

“I asked if you were okay. You just got all rigid and just stood there for a few minutes,” she said, her forehead creasing in worry.

“Oh, my bad,” I said, shaking the simple memory out of my head. Damn it, I cursed at my brain for making me remember the times where I barely knew Spencer but severely wished that I did. Of all times and places, my head had to do this now?

“I guess I just zoned out a little, sorry,” I said, sending her a reassuring smile. She didn’t look too convinced, but I was thankful that she didn’t continue to press the issue.

“Okay! Can we start, please?” Mike whined.

“What should we play first?” I contemplated.

“How about one song from each album?” Jaime suggested. I nodded in agreement, liking the idea.

“She Sings In The Morning?” I suggested. They all nodded, and we began to play. Mike’s drumming overtook the room first, beating feverishly in my chest at the same rate as my heart. And then the guitars joined in as the introduction of the song filled my veins in the most euphoric way possible. I bounced lightly up and down on my toes, amping myself up before I started to sing and scream.

“Wake up!

A voice hits the air on a lonely coast!
And I’ll sing along like a prayer for you

I can dream up the words…

I’ll never see your face again.

If we wake at

If we wake at all

She sings to me

If we wake at

If we wake at all

If we wake at all

Try

We’ll try to change

They say love will never mean a thing

Still our hearts beat, so come on!

So stuck on the only thing that we know

What we know starts to waste

If we wake at

If we wake at all

She sings to me

(Can we be sure?)

If we wake at

If we wake at all

Oh, my God!”

“Woah,” Charlie said, sinking back in the chair she was sitting in. “You guys are phenomenal!” she said. Her perplexing eyes swirled with several different emotions—all of which I was having trouble reading.

“Thanks, Charlie,” I grinned softly at her, and she smiled back.

“You guys sound amazing. And the lyrics… they are so powerful! Do you write your own lyrics?” she asked. I nodded, murmuring another thank you. For some reason, I felt slightly embarrassed revealing that we wrote our songs ourselves, despite the fact that this was public knowledge. I guess I felt really exposed right now, singing away every emotion I felt.

“Wow,” she repeated, staring at all of us intently.

I smiled at her, admiring the way her eyes were lit up. Then, I turned to the guys. “So, The Boy Who Could Fly?” I asked. They nodded. “Oh, wait. Southern Constellations first,” I reminded them, and then we began to play again.

“Keep chasing me

You southern constellations got me so dizzy

It’s cold but you pretend that you are warm with me

Before I get you home you’re nearly frozen

But I’ll never let you freeze without me…”

I smiled at Charlie again before we picked things up.

“Freeze!

It’s time to take you home, it feels so early

But I promised that I would bring you to your door

Now our lips are numb

As we walk, sharing warm alcohol

That kiss tastes like summer!

I hope you like the stars I stole for you

One hundred million twinkling lights in neon blue

(I’ll be the brightest someday

I’ll be the brightest someday

I’ll be the brightest you’ll see!)

Don’t rain on my parade

(It’s gonna glow in the dark)

I liked it better when you can’t keep warm

Don’t ruin a perfect thing, a perfect thing

The boy on the blue moon dreams of sun…”

I sang passionately as the other guys played their instruments. My eyes were shut, but I peeled them open quickly to glance at Charlie, who was already staring right at me, the corner’s of her mouth twitched upward and her blue-grey eyes twirling. My heart leaped as I looked at her, and then I continued to sing.

“Now as the rain falls like shattered pieces of glass from the sky

We bleed like watercolors and drunken pastels down the stairways

And I ask myself why do I still pray?

When will it end?
And who fucking cares?

I swear to God! I did what I could!
I practically begged you! I pretended everything was fine!

A soul sacrifice! An American nightmare!

I’d rather be dead…”

I peeked my eyes open again, seeing Charlie’s eyes widen at my words. I wondered what she thought of them… I wondered what she thought I thought of them…

We continued on to the chorus, and then we approached my favorite part to perform.

“…The boy on the blue moon hears a nightmare in his head…”

We slowed it down for a moment, everything unwinding like we were in slow motion, and then we picked it up again.

“I’ll bet your money as we’re running to the bathroom

You barely started drinking but your beauty never stopped you.

You died in California by the sulfur and the sea.

I guess I never should have loved you,

but I do forever 'cause you loved me…” I flinched as Spencer’s image flickered in my head. I only hoped that Charlie didn’t notice…

“And I break my glasses as I fall in the street!

If you were gonna leave this world how could it be without me?” Spencer’s face flashed in my mind again, and I felt my legs weaken, but I continued to sing anyway.

“Now it's all over my tongue and still it has no taste,

‘Cause without you there is no me!”

A quick instrumental came along, and I cleared my head as Jaime, Tony and I all chugged our guitars in synch, leaning over out instruments and head banging together to the riff.

"There's no me at all…

Sometimes love!

Love dies like!

Dies like a…

Love dies like a dog!” I sang, my voice coming to a whine at the end.

“Why don’t we—” I started to murmur into the microphone, but I was interrupted by a loud noise—a noise that we would not have been able to hear if we were not at this part of the song.

“What the…” we all looked at each other in confusion, except Tony. Something else flashed across his features: fear. Oh, I knew that feeling all too well.

“Tony, what’s the matter, man?” I asked, holding his shoulder carefully.

“Listen…” he hissed, and I did just as he said—I listened, hearing a thump thump thump from above us.

“Footsteps?” Charlie asked nervously, immediately moving closer to me. I held her arm anxiously as she clung to my side.

“Are we being robbed?” Mike asked in a shaky whisper.

“No,” Tony spoke up, closing his eyes. He sighed, taking a breath to apparently calm himself, and just as he did so we heard the thumping again, and I went rigid when I noticed that the thumps were getting closer… going down our steps…

I stood protectively in front of Charlie, unsure as to who was coming down here.

“Victor Fuentes?” a voice called out. The source came into view, revealing three police officers, armed with guns. I eyed Tony nervously, noticing a new expression behind his eyes: confusion.

“That’s me,” I raised my arm slightly.

“Step away from the girl and put your hands on your head,” one of them said. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, but did as I was told. I didn’t want to cause any problems…

“What is this?” I asked calmly, knowing that I didn’t do anything wrong… well, that I was aware of…

When I was alone in the middle of the room with my hands on my head, the officers must have acknowledged the fact that I wasn’t a threat, putting away their weapons.

“You are under arrest,” one of them said, approaching me carefully.

“W-what?” I asked, sure that my eyes had popped out of my head. I heard the guys and Charlie gasp behind me.

“For the murder of Carlos Martinez,” the officer finished, and this time my jaw dropped.

“What? No!” I exclaimed. As much as I wished that I did, I didn’t. “You have it all wrong—”

My pleads were interrupted as an officer roughly pulled my arms back, snapping handcuffs around my wrists. I felt my shoulder pop at the movement, and I yelped in pain as my cut arm pulled at the strain of the angle of my arm.

“No!” I heard my family object, but it was too late. The officers were already reading me my rights, and they were already dragging me out of my own house.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can be used against you in the court of law. You have the right…” they read my rights, their voices monotone—bored almost. I didn’t listen though. I stared in terror at Mike, Jaime, Charlie and Tony, who stared in terror right back at me.

Except Tony.

Something else was plastered on his face, and it looked like a mixture of pain, sadness, and guilt.

Although, I didn't know why. The only thing I knew was that I was being forced into the back of a police car, leaving my freedom, family, and right-mind behind.

Notes

Hey, guys. I'm SO sorry that it's been like seven days since my last update! I can't believe it! I had writer's block for a little while, along with being super busy and distracted with other stories/other things. I made this one kind of long, so I hope it makes up for the delay! :(

If you guys haven't already, check out my Tony story! It's called I Guess I Never Should Have Loved You and it'd mean a lot to me if y'all would give it a read :)

Thanks a lot to my commenters/ subscribers/etc! You guys rock <3