~Dylan’s P.O.V~

I groaned as my alarm clock went off, and I rolled over to hit the snooze. Satisfied with the fact that the clock radio had shut up, and also with the fact that I now had ten more minutes to sleep, I buried my face back into my pillows.

It couldn’t have even been two minutes after I’d fallen back asleep – which I believe I’d done so right away – that my phone rang. It rang and rang and rang. “Fuck!” I exclaimed and hit the pillow before I snatched up my phone. “Hello?” I tried not to sound aggravated.

“Good morning, Dyl!” the high-pitched and overenthusiastic voice practically screeched into my ear.

I checked the caller ID on my iPhone screen before I responded. “Good morning, Jessica,” I said to my intern. I tried to match her enthusiasm, but I knew I was coming off a bit short.

“Are you up? Did I wake you?”

I cleared my throat. “No, you didn’t. I was already awake. What’s up?”

“Well…I was wondering, can I give you a ride to the shop today? I just got a new car and…”

“That’s fine, hun.” Her request actually managed to put me in a bit of a better mood. I loved cars – new cars especially. “I like to be at the shop kinda early, so come and get me in about an hour, okay? Do you need my address?”

I gave Jessica my address, and when we hung up the phone, I sat up straight in my bed and wiped my eyes with my fists. Before I stood up completely, I reached over to my bedside table and clicked off my alarm clock.

I got in the shower, then I put on some simple clothes – black skinny jeans, a black tank top, and black and white low-top Converse. I decided to skip the makeup, which I’d been doing the last six months or so. I was letting the hair on the sides of my head, which were previously shaved, grow out, so my curly hair was always put up in a ponytail.

My phone chimed again.

“What?” I yelled at no one in particular before I snatched my phone up, for the second time that morning. “Hello?” I tried to sound sweet again.

“Are you ready, Dylan? I’m outside…” Jessica’s voice carried a little worry in it, but I decided to ignore her.

“Yes, Jessica, I’m ready. I’ll be out in a minute.” I grabbed my purse and other necessities on my way out of my home, which had felt more empty than it ever had lately.

When I stepped outside, I was instantly blinded and annoyed by the sun, whose beams decided to assault my eyes. I groaned and made my way over to Jessica’s car after I locked the door.

“So…” Jessica said when as I put on my seatbelt.

“So…?” I responded, confused by what she’d meant.

“Do you like it?”

“Do I like what?”

“My car, silly!”

Honestly, I’d barely even noticed her car before I’d stepped in, but judging by the inside, I could somewhat tell what it was. “Dodge charger?”

“Yes!” We stopped at a red light and she clapped her hands in amusement.

“What year?” I asked, inspecting the inside of the vehicle.

“2014, baby.” Jessica caressed the dashboard. She really loved this car.

“It’s nice. My dad has an earlier version of this back in Boston.”

“Oh! I forgot to tell you, I picked up your Starbucks on the way here.” Jessica produced a skim latte from the backseat cup holder.

“Oh thank God, Jess. You’re a fucking lifesaver, man!” I smiled, and I could’ve sworn I saw a blush spread on her cheeks. “Thanks so much, dude.”

“It was nothing, really.” She giggled.

In a few minutes, we were pulling up to the shop. I hadn’t been tattooing much lately, just piercings and working the books, but I still found a sliver of joy coming to the shop every day. When we got there, a few of the other artists were opening up their stations; making sure everything was clean and ready to go. When they saw me, there were a few scattered “Hey Dylan!” ’s and “What’s up, Dylan?” ’s. I responded with simple waves and hello’s.

The first few hours of the days went by pretty quickly. I pierced about five or six people, and did a quick all-black ankle tattoo. When I finished my only tattoo of the day, none of than Jessica came up to me as I cleaned off my needles and wiped down the salon chair. “Um, Dylan?”

“What’s up, Jess?” I asked without looking up at her.

“Can I take you out to lunch? There’s this little café I found not too far from here, and-“

“That’s fine,” I said with a chuckle.

A few minutes later, I was back in Jessica’s Dodge Charger, and we were on our way to said café. The place was small, but cute. It was also a little bookstore, kind of like a mom-and-pop version of Barnes and Noble’s. Jess lead me over to a table, and sitting there, were Ashley and Drew.

“Oh my goodness, hey guys!” I’d only seen them a few times since Mike’s party. “Jess, did you call them?” I turned to her.

“She sure did,” Ashley said, answering my question for Jessica.

We sat down and Jessica volunteered to order my food for me at the register. I asked for two croissants and an iced coffee – more breakfast food than lunch food, I know – and she went to order. I offered to pay, but she insisted that she could handle it.
“So,” Drew began once Jessica had left. “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m fine. How are Mike and Micah?” I changed the subject, not wanting to talk about myself.

“Um…well. Mike and I broke up about a month ago.”

“Oh my God, what happened?” I asked, sounding more concerned than she did.

“Nothing happened, we just realized we’re not right for each other. And if we are, it can’t work now. I have school, and Micah, and Mike’s constantly on tour. Life for us is just too different right now. But we’re still very good friends, trust me.”

“I see. I’m glad y’all are still friends. And how about you, Ashley? How’s Vic?”

“Oh…” she laughed a bit. “He’s perfect. Just perfect. He’s sweet, and kind, and sexy, and did I say perfect?” We all laughed at this. I remember six months ago I could’ve said the same thing about Tony.

“But Dylan,” Drew says. “How are you really? Have you really been okay since you broke up with Tony?” Speaking of the Devil.

Ashley nodded in agreement at Drew’s question. “Guys. I can assure you, I am perfectly okay. We ended on…pretty decent terms…we just don’t talk anymore. How is he, by the way?” I just had to ask. I needed to know.

“He’s…different. He’s fine, but, different, you know?” Ashley answered for me.

“And what about Jaime?”

Ashley and Drew exchanged glances. “We don’t really know. He got his own place, and when the guys aren’t on tour, he’s never really around. Except for practice, that is, but Ashley and I aren’t allowed to go to those.”

Before I could respond to what Drew said, Jessica came back with our food. “Okay,” she said as she sat down and handed me the tray with my croissants on it. “Now that you guys have had some time to catch up, there’s a reason why we’re all here for lunch today.”

I swallowed the sip of my coffee that I’d taken. “Yeah? And what’s that?”

“Dylan,” my sister said. “It’s the last week of May.”

“Yeah? So?”

“So that means your birthday is in two weeks!”

I ripped off a piece of one of my croissants. “Guys. No parties. I’m serious.”

“Who said anything about a party? We wanna take you somewhere!” Jessica said. I looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.
“And I’ve decided that we would take you to Sydney!” Ashley exclaimed.

“Sydney? As in Australia?” They all nodded. “Guys, I don’t have the money to go to Australia. I just had to give three guys at the shop a raise, and I need a new machine for the tattoos, and-“

“Dyl, stop stressing.” Drew put her hand on my arm from across the table. “We’ve got you covered. We’re going for ten days, so you have less than two weeks to pack. We leave on June 2nd.”

“Guys-“

“No ‘buts’! You’re going!” Jessica said with a broad smile. “Please?”

I studied their faces for a moment before giving them my answer. They all looked at me with hopeful puppy-dog faces. “Ugh. Fine! I’ll go!” I couldn’t help but smile as they all cheered.

What the hell were they getting me into?

Notes