“Ready?” Phoebe’s voice chirped into my ears happily.

“Yes, Phoebes,” I grinned. “Did you make me look attractive?” I twirled a little mockingly.

“You’re always attractive,” she laughed.

“I bet you make me look bad on purpose, so you can be the hot friend,” I stuck my tongue out at her.

“Hey!” she smacked my arm lightly, and I just shook my head, smiling. The entire day I had a smile on my face, and it wasn’t forced or weak; it was real. Phoebe always had this knack for making me feel better whenever I was having one of those rough days.

“Are you excited?” I asked, taking her hand.

“Yeah. I haven’t been to a concert in forever,” she said, leading me out of the house. I wasn’t going to lie; I was a little excited, myself, so I couldn’t really focus on where I was going.

“You’ve never been to a concert,” I pointed out.

“Exactly.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed, sighing a little as I sunk into the leather of her car.

As she drove, I relaxed my eyes and listened to the music she had turned on. “Is this them?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “I put a few of their songs on my iPod because they are actually really good,” she said. “Although, I feel kind of creepy,” she laughed.

“You are creepy,” I teased. I imagined that she rolled her eyes playfully at me.

It wasn’t long until we arrived at the venue; I knew this because I felt the car roll to a stop and I heard the engine shut off. I heard Phoebe click off her seat belt, and I did the same. “The guys were nice enough to email me priority parking passes,” she said.

“Where was I when you all were organizing this?” I laughed.

“Your own little world,” she said. “You were actually sitting right there in the car with them. But I knew you couldn’t hear,” she said.

“You know me well,” I smiled. Sometimes I got caught in these moments where I was completely oblivious to my surroundings, thinking about things so intently in my head that I was in an entire different world. I guess you could call it daydreaming, but it seemed to be much more deep than that. You could also call it dangerous, but I was already blind so it didn’t really make much of a difference.

“Come on little girl, let’s go inside,” she said. I stepped out of the car, cool air rushing over me just as nervous energy radiated from me. I waited for Phoebe to come over to me and hook her arm through mine to lead me to wherever we were going. Big crowds like this made me insanely nervous, because they were unfamiliar and anything could happen.

“You’ll be fine,” she whispered, and I sighed in relief when she held onto my arm tightly. I smiled in appreciation and walked with her. I didn’t want to trip all over myself, so we walked a little slow. I imagined other people rushing past us in excitement, dying to get inside. I was just dying to get there in one piece, but I knew I didn’t have to worry with Phoebe by my side.

She slowed to a stop, and I heard the sound of paper rustling. “Enjoy the show,” a man said. The paper was probably our tickets.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” the same voice asked. Phoebe had started to walk forward again but halted when the man spoke again, presumably to us.

“She’s fine,” Phoebe said anxiously.

“You don’t look fine. I’m going to have to ask to see your IDs. It’s the arena’s policy. Any apparent underage drinking—”

“Aw, shit. I look underage?” I pouted, causing Phoebe to laugh.

The man sighed. I guess Phoebe showed him our IDs—I wasn’t paying attention. “Alright, sorry,” he muttered. “Stay safe tonight, ladies,” he said with concern.

I couldn’t help but giggle, which probably didn’t help my case. “I’m sorry, I just think it’s funny. I’m actually blind, but I guess I could look intoxicated to some people,” I said.

“Oh,” the man said, dumbfounded.

“No biggie. Happens all the time,” I said.

“Er, alright. Enjoy your night,” he said, sounding grateful that I didn’t make a big fuss out of it. Maybe I should have been angry or sad at that encounter, but it truly didn’t bother me. He didn’t mean any harm.

“C’mon, girly,” Phoebe chirped, dragging me along. Over the years, I have become very good at not stubbing my feet when she lead me places. I walked naturally with her, flowing along and pretending like there was nothing wrong. Sometimes I could even predict which was she would turn by the subtle ways her arm moved or her breath changed.

“Wow, we have some good seats,” she mused, easing me to a stop with her. “We are right at the ledge,” she said. She took my hand and placed it on the railing that our seats were right in front of. “We can stand right here, you don’t even have to let go of the railing,” she said. I smiled and nodded.

“This is perfect. Thanks Phoebes,” I grinned. “Is it crowded?” I asked dumbly, already knowing the answer because I could feel the heat in the room already and I could hear the chatter of a lot of other people.

“Yeah, very,” she said. “There are people to the left of you, too. Everyone is standing up against the railing, but it’s a small balcony section so no one will push forward,” she explained in a whisper. I gave her a thumbs up.

She patted my hand in excitement. “It’s starting soon,” she said. If it wasn’t for the loudness of all of the people around us, I could have probably heard her heartbeat racing in her chest. It has been a while since Phoebe has done something this fun, so I was sure she was excited.

Sure enough, I could sense that the concert was starting: people in the crowds started screaming in excitement (I think Phoebe and I were the only ones not screaming), and the introduction of music rose up. The sound of bass rung in my ears. There was a light tapping on cymbals, jingling happily through my senses, and a few strums of a guitar. I could hear the breath of whoever was at the microphone before they spoke into it.

“San Diego,” the front man said, dragging out the word while he or the band’s guitar player played a few excited chords on the instrument. The voice speaking into the microphone I soon recognized as Vic—it had taken me a few moments because his voice sounded slightly different through the microphone. “It’s great to be home,” he said happily. I smiled and rested my head on Phoebe’s shoulder as he talked to the crowd. He sounded very grateful to be where they were as a band, and I liked that modesty. Being a cock-star was not an admirable trait.

Soon enough, the music began to play. He did an acoustic version of a song called “Yeah Boy and Dollface” (whatever that means), and it sounded amazing. At the end, the rest of the band came in—the drums, the electric guitar, the bass. It was an amazing effect, and everyone was cheering excitedly. I wished that I knew the words so I could sing along, but I also enjoyed listening to not only the band play and sing, but also the crowd.

They played a few upbeat songs, and I found it within me to bounce a little on my toes. I was pretty reserved, but so was Phoebe. It was weird because we met these guys before we knew of their band—even though it was a brief meeting—so it didn’t feel right to freak out over their music. Although, it was undeniably fantastic.

The crowd screamed exceptionally loud when the guitar parts of a familiar song started to play. I recognized it as “King For A Day”, the first song we heard by them. Phoebe giggled next to me, probably thinking about the music video again and how weird it was to see them live in contrast to the video. The crowd screamed even louder when another guy joined in—Kellin Quinn, apparently—and helped with the song. It was cool because they recorded it with him and they were able to do the collaborations live.

I was utterly surprised at the way Vic could scream, considering he had such a nice clean voice. You could hear scratches and breaks in his voice that were nonexistent in the recorded versions of the band’s songs, but that was what made it sound real and even more amazing. I was in my own little world, endorsed in their music, the drums beating in my chest and the various guitars ripping through my body. I didn’t care that I couldn’t see them, because it made it that much more about the music, and the music alone.

Already, their set was coming to a close. “We’re going to finish tonight off with a Collide With the Sky favorite, alright?” Vic said into the microphone, his breaths heavy and tired. The crowd cheered in response, as if they actually knew what they were going to sing. After a short moment’s reflection, I realized that they probably did.

The song started out in a few repeating, slow guitar riffs, followed by an introduction of the drums and a bass line. Right as the other instruments joined in, Vic took a breath and started singing again. “She sits up high, surrounded by the sun, one million branches and she loves every one. Mom and dad, did you search for me? I’ve been up here so long, I’m going crazy…”

I smiled. His voice softened even more when he went into the next part of the song, but you could hardly hear him over the sound of the crowd singing the lyrics as loud as they possibly could, louder than they have all night.

In the middle of the song, the crowd exploded with energy. “…Darling, you’ll be okay. And she said…”

I heard a new voice hit the stage—a girl. “If you were me you’d do the same… ‘cause I can’t take anymore, I’ll draw the shades and close the door… everything is not alright, and I would rather…” she dragged out the last world, and I shuddered involuntarily. I didn’t know why, though. The song came to an end, and the crowd continued to cheer.

“Give it up to Jenna from Tonight Alive!” Vic said, referring to the girl that was featured in the song.

“You all have beautiful voices,” Vic approved, sounding like he was in awe. “Thank you for an awesome show, San Diego! We’ll see you soon!” he yelled, and the crowd cheered. A few moments went by before I realized that they had probably dashed off the stage.

“They were fantastic!” Phoebe said enthusiastically.

“I agree,” I grinned. “This has been really nice,” I said.

“It has,” she patted my hand. I realized that I had kept it gripped onto the railing the entire course of their set. “You had fun, Faye? Really?” she had to make sure. I smiled genuinely.

“I really did. It was nice to listen to,” I said.

“Good, buddy,” she patted my hand again.

We decided to stick around to hear a few more bands, but, honestly, they weren’t as fantastic as Pierce the Veil. Even though I couldn’t see it, I could even feel the energy that they had put off on stage. They really had put on a show, while these other, smaller bands were just playing for the sake of playing, it sounded like. It was a music festival, though, so I guess the big name “Pierce the Veil” was an eye catcher to drag people to check out the other smaller bands. I was just glad that they were in the beginning so we didn’t have to stick around for too long.

“Ready to go?” Phoebe asked.

“Sure,” I said, taking her hand. She led the way and I held onto her from behind as we walked through a lot of people. Finally, we got outside of the venue. The atmosphere was quiet because there weren’t a lot of other people leaving yet, and my mind was buzzing.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Er, nine-forty-five,” she said. I nodded, walking towards the direction of the car with her. I remembered where it was because I counted the steps we took to enter the venue. “Hey, let’s go this way,” she said, steering me in another direction.

“Why? The car’s that way,” I said, sounding pretty confident for a blind girl.

“Because…” she chirped, her voice trailing off. I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Hey, you found us!” I heard someone cheer. It was Vic.

“Yeah, we snuck out early,” Phoebe said, a grin evident in her voice. “I’m surprised you’re not swamped with fans right now, actually.”

“You’d be surprised with the amount of fans that don’t come try and find us after the show,” he noted.

“Maybe you should tell them you’ll be hanging around,” she suggested.

“Well, we don’t exactly enjoy being swamped,” he laughed. “Besides, only the true fans actually make it a mission to find us,” he added.

“It wasn’t that hard,” Phoebe laughed.

“You must be a true fan,” he said, and Phoebe giggled. He must have winked or something—hot guys who winked always got to her for some reason.

“Ah, where are my manners? How’s it going Faye?” he said. I smiled.

“Great. You guys were really good,” I said.

I imagined that he smiled as a response, because he didn’t say anything else.

“Oh, hey guys,” I head another voice join the conversation—Mike, it sounded like. Although, I couldn’t be sure because his words slurred slightly, which made him a little less recognizable.

“Hi, Mike,” Phoebe said, and I just smiled softly. I couldn’t get what Phoebe had said to me five nights ago—when we had met them for the first time—about Mike looking at me all interested, like I was a unique attraction. I was sure she meant that in a compliment way, but I couldn’t help but feel a little angered over it; I was not some sort of puppet show, I was a human being who happened to lack functioning eyes. And I suddenly felt self conscious, as if he was analyzing me again. I couldn’t help but feel like he was looking at me like I was a piece of meat, despite how she had made it clear that it wasn’t like that. I just felt so vulnerable, so hearing that a guy looked at me made me slightly uncomfortable. Although they were nice, I didn’t trust these guys yet. Phoebe was the only person in my life who I trusted.

But then I remembered how upset Phoebe had been that night, over me not being able to see the way he looked at me—it must have been a good way if it made her emotional. I immediately revoked my previous concerns in my head and relaxed, just in time to hear them calling my name.

“Earth to Faye,” Phoebe laughed.

“What? Oops,” I giggled nervously. “Er, sorry…”

“You just zoned out there, dude,” Mike commented.

I raised an eyebrow. “You could tell?” I always found it hard to believe that my eyes could reveal things, since I couldn’t use them myself.

My eyes were kind of betraying. They didn’t let me see anybody else, but they showcased me to the entire world.

The silence that followed must have been filled with shrugged shoulders and nods.

“So, you girls down to hang tonight?” Mike asked.

“Shouldn’t you guys be off to an after party or something?” Phoebe asked with a smirk in her voice, referring to their popular band member status. I bet they had a number of options.

“We’re in our hometown. We’ve already been every where before, so, nah,” Vic said. “Besides, we’ve been home only a week. We want to chill a little before we leave for tour again,” he added.

“Alright, then sure,” Phoebe said. “We’re down, right Faye?” she nudged me. I smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, sure,” I said. I genuinely thought it would be fine to hang out with them; I didn’t just agree because Phoebe sounded like she wanted to, but that did play a role in it. I knew Phoebe wasn’t going to force me to hang with them, but I wasn’t about to ruin her fun. She deserved it.

“Sweet,” they both chimed. “We’re having a casual night on the bus, that sound alright?” Vic asked. I noticed his voice was a little louder than before, and I realized that was because he was closer to us. I heard Phoebe giggle softly—she was so cute—and that was when I realized that it was more like he was walking closer to her.

I felt Phoebe’s hand touch my arm lightly, but she paused right before I felt an arm swing around my shoulders. I raised an eyebrow and looked around—dumbly, of course. “Uh,” I said, smelling cigarettes and a light layer of what I thought was whiskey.

“I got her,” Mike said. Although his words alone could come off as objectifying, when you combined them with his gentle tone it actually was protective and quite charming. I had to fight a blush.

“You good?” Phoebe touched my arm again, and I simply nodded, afraid that my voice would fail me.

“Be careful, Mike,” I heard Vic hiss lowly at his brother. People seemed to forget that I had exceptional hearing, though.

“I’m not a china doll. I can take care of myself,” I snapped, probably receiving wide-eyed looks from everyone. “Sorry,” I mumbled, scratching the back of my neck. In all honesty, I couldn’ttake care of myself; that was the frustrating part. I hoped that my attitude wasn’t going to ruin their night—and, what I cared about more, Phoebe’s night. I knew they were just trying to be respectful of me and they all intended well, but I didn’t have the patience for that tonight. It seemed like, lately, I have been much more snappier and on edge than usual. Probably because the entire reason we were in San Diego was prominent in my head… I just couldn’t stop worrying.

I seemed to worry too much, though, because everyone was seemingly unfazed by my short snip, carrying on with jokes and conversation. At least, that was all I could tell. I had no way of knowing if they were eying each other knowingly, saying ‘she’s crazy’ without opening their mouths. Well, I guess I could care less if they liked me; this was for Phoebe, anyway, and I knew they’d like her. Phoebe was the most likeable person I’ve ever met—and I’m not just saying that because she’s the most important person in my sorry existence.

I nudged Mike with my elbow on his side. “Just, don’t let go, okay? I’d like to refrain from walking into walls tonight,” I laughed, although I was still pretty serious.

“No worries, I won’t let you fall,” his arm that was around my shoulder tightened for a second and then slid down my back, his—what felt like—lanky fingers curling around my waist.

“Thanks,” I choked out. I couldn’t believe that I was putting even a small ounce of trust into these men—letting someone guide me somewhere actually took a lot of trust—but Phoebe seemed okay with it, and I definitely trusted her. Trust was just such a terrifying thing to me; you really had to earn it, or, in this case, be granted it by Phoebe.

We didn’t say anything as we walked to wherever we were going, but I could hear Phoebe’s voice in front of me, talking with Vic. As long as I could hear her voice, I knew I would be okay.

“Hey,” Mike said. He was tall, so his voice traveled down to my ear. I looked up a little as if that would make a difference.

“Yeah?”

“Steps,” he said, squeezing my waist a little. He eased me to a stop—pretty well, too—like the way Phoebe does it. “They’re kind of high. Can I just carry you?” he asked with a slight chuckle.

“Eh, sure,” I shrugged my shoulders with a grin, not wanting to put in any unnecessary effort. “Take me away, buddy,” I laughed, opening my arms. He chuckled more prominently this time and smoothly picked me up. I let out a yelp of surprise when his gentle movement turned into a rushed toss-over-the-shoulder. “Was that necessary for two steps?” I laughed, shaking my head and dangling my arms behind his back.

“Oh, my God, Mike,” I heard Vic say from inside, his tone conflicted between horror and amusement. I stuck my thumb out in the air, telling everyone that it was okay. Slowly and carefully, Mike leaned forward and I slid backwards, landing safely and firmly onto the ground.

“Thank you,” I laughed.

“Anytime, starry eyes,” he whispered, his smoke tainted breath in my face. I breathing hitched in my throat for a second before I got my shit together again. I smiled softly and turned around, breaking the “eye contact” that we probably had. Phoebe was at my side in an instant.

“You alright?” she asked.

“Great,” I smiled.

“Hey!” suddenly I heard a very energetic voice come booming through the bus. The sound of the bus door opening and then slamming shut indicated that someone had just entered the bus, and I figured that someone was Jaime. “It’s you guys!” he said excitedly.

I laughed nervously. “You act like you’ve never seen two girls before,” Phoebe said smoothly with a laugh. She did have a point.

“It’s been a while since we’ve met someone new who had no idea who we were,” he commented. “Usually it’s just fan girls or band whores,” he added bluntly.

“Yeah, you girls are keepers,” Vic said. Phoebe giggled softly again, and I assumed he had winked at her.

“Hey Faye, hi Phoebe,” a soft-spoken voice chimed in.

“Hi, Tony,” I replied with a smile.

“How’d you know it was Tony?” Jaime asked.

“Process of elimination,” I laughed. “And I remembered,” I shrugged my shoulders.

I shivered when I felt hands gently rest on my shoulders from behind. “Smart girl,” said Mike’s voice.

“Hey, you girls want a drink?” Vic offered. I heard the sound of cans snapping open.

“No thanks,” I declined. I had never gotten drunk before or even tasted an ounce of alcohol, reasonably afraid of how I would act under the influence.

“I have to drive later,” Phoebe said responsibly, and I heard the jingle of her car keys.

“Ah, good. We have responsible ones here,” Vic announced.

“This is a local show for you guys, correct?” Phoebe asked randomly. She spoke again after a pause most likely filled with nods. “Why do you have your bus?” she asked bluntly.

Vic chuckled. “Equipment. It was already packed up, and also it is a good spot to hang in before and after the show,” he replied easily.

“Right, to escape the mass of fans that swamp you,” Phoebe teased, causing him to chuckle again.

“You can sit if you’d like,” Vic said. I wasn’t sure who he was talking to, but I assumed that he was talking to both me and Phoebe. I caught on to, what sounded like, Vic patting the leather seat next to him, and I was sure he was motioning Phoebe to sit next to him. Sure enough her arm the I didn’t realize was still on mine dropped, and the sound of her footsteps carried her to where Vic’s voice was coming from. I heard her sink into the couch. A hand touched my lower back tenderly, and for some reason I allowed it to guide me further into the bus.

“Here,” Mike said lowly, indicating that I could sit.

“Thanks,” I smiled softly, sinking into the couch that sounded like it was across from the one Phoebe was in. Everyone immediately dived into conversation, laughing, joking, having a good time. I could hear the bus fill with other people, but it didn’t worry me. I sat there, sort of just listening to everyone. I hoped that I didn’t look bored, because that was not the case. I talked to Tony for a little—both of us rather quiet, so we got a long well. I didn’t talk, much, though, just sort of escaping to my own world. Whenever I was in a big group, I seemed to do that a lot. I didn’t want to seem uninterested with our new company; I just couldn’t help it. I was genuinely content where I was, especially knowing that Phoebe was somewhere having a good time. And it was nice listening to new voices.

“You’re doing it again,” Mike said softly from next to me. I jumped a little, not realizing that he had been right there, and then I raised an eyebrow.

“Doing what?” I asked.

“Zoning out. Your eyes go all starry when you do that. It’s pretty. What are you thinking about?” he asked.

I paused, a slight grin playing upon my face. “How irritating you are, pointing these things out,” I said, sticking my tongue out a little playfully.

He could tell that I was kidding, and mockingly gasped. “I am not irritating,” he said, a pout in his voice.

“You’re right, that was a little extreme. You’re just annoying,” I clarified with a smirk.

Although, I didn’t actually find the way he paid attention to small detail annoying at all.

Notes

YAY OMG

Hello all! Sorry it's been so long! I didn't mean to make it a month before I updated! Time really flies! :(

Sorry, this is an icky filler! I have a bunch of future chapters written up, but I have a lot to do before I can get to them! I don't want to rush it (But I also don't want to go a month between updates)! I’m not very happy with this chapter, but it’s better than nothing I guess. I dislike how I ended it, but my eyes wouldn't stay open and i am determined to update this so voila!

I’m really excited for this story though, and even though it will probably continue to go slow, I can’t wait to get it going. But tell me if I'm going to fast, though, honestly. I feel like in all of my stories I make things happen to quickly, and I want to take my time with this one, if that makes sense at all!

Thanks for being patient guys! Hopefully it will get more interesting soon! Don't forget to comment/rate/subscribe! :D Thanks! <3