Fresh Start Fever
Repeating Apologies
Leilani's POV:
"What are you doing here Bryce?" I spat in a hushed tone trying not to unveil the horror in my voice.
"Nobody leaves me Leilani for no reason whatsoever, nobody," he warned. His words sent a shiver through my body and Tarni noticed. She strode over all the time her eyes were fixed on Bryce.
"You all right Lans?" she asked, her eyes still planted on the back of his head. I looked at her and nodded but she didn't buy it.
"Yep we're fine, absolutely dandy," Bryce spat at Tarni causing her to narrow her eyes and glare at him fiercely. "If looks could kill, your eyes are burning holes in my skin. Do you mind?" he growled through gritted teeth. Tarni walked back to the queue of fans but not before pulling her phone out and tapping rapidly at the screen.
"Listen Bryce, there's no need for drama," I tried to explain.
"No, you listen to me Leilani. You do what I want and come back home with me," I shook my head at him but he nodded right back.
"Cass?" I whimpered.
"Don't you worry about her. Look this is what's going to happen. You're going to go back to the hotel tonight, pack your bags and leave while your silly boyfriends are asleep. No need to leave a note. Then you come back and live with me, put your ring back on and we plan our wedding, okay?" I simply nodded, he wouldn't get what he wanted out of me but I wasn't going to reveal that. "Good," he smiled evilly and went back to work serving the fans and so did I.
I turned my attention to a girl with raven black hair and piercing grey eyes.
"What can I get for you love?" I asked.
"The Of Mice and Men tank up there and the Pierce The Veil top over there in mediums please," she pointed to the wall that displayed all the merch. I looked back to follow her hand, nodded and grabbed the items she wanted. She handed me the exact amount and thanked me but before walking away she spoke up again, "You're the girl in Austin's photos on instagram aren't you? I mean he hasn't tagged you but you've got the blue hair," she confused me.
"Insta-what?" I blurted out.
"You don't have instagram?" I shook my head, "Weird. Well anyway Austin has like two photos up from the last week and you're in them. Are you guys dating?" I scoffed at her question.
"No definitely not we're just friends and I happen to work for him that's all," I explained.
"What about the ring he posted a photo of," god dammit Austin. I lifted my hands in front of her and showed my bare hands.
"Ring free," I smiled sarcastically, "Must be for another lucky girl," I choked out. She frowned at the answer.
"Too bad, you're really pretty. You guys would be soooo cute," she smiled and turned away just as the loud sound of guitars and drums started from behind us. As the music started the fans cleared from the merch tent leaving us bored until the end of the show when all the kids came back.
"Who would you be cute with," Bryce's hot breath left a trail of sickening goosebumps on my neck as he raged in my ear from behind me.
"No one, just silly girls making us things in their heads, you know how fans are," I tried to avert him from making accusations.
"No I don't actually!" he spat before leaving the tent in a huff. I rolled my eyes at his never changing childish, jealous behaviour.
"Hey Tarns, get over here and teach me how to use some insta-something," she laughed at me and took my phone out of my hands. She handed it back a few minutes later as instagram flashed open on my screen. She showed me how to search for people, upload photos and told me about something called hash tags. I was sure I'd catch on eventually.
"I made you an account and followed all the guys and myself for you. Your username is @_leilanidean," she smirked widely at me, "you can thank me later," she joked as I rolled my eyes at her. I snapped a quick photo with Tarni and used it as my display picture.
"You forgot my first middle name," I laughed at my username.
"I know but that was more catchy than @_leilaniisabelledean," she had a point. She went back to her phone as I went to mine and scrolled through my news feed. I scrolled until a photo uploaded by Austin appeared in front of me. It was from the night at sushi, you couldn't see my face but my bright blue hair rested against my black dress and a plate of sushi rested in front of me on the table.
@austincarlile: nothing beats a sushi date with a beautiful lady!
I blushed at the word 'beautiful' but stopped when I felt a hard hand take grip of my shoulder, I quickly swept passed the photo and looked back at Bryce.
"What happened to just friends?" he fumed obviously annoyed at Austin's choice of words.
"I swear, that's all we are!" I retorted and he let his firm grip go of my shoulder and sat before me.
"Good, wouldn't want you cheating now would we princess?" he smirked.
"I didn't. Plus, we're not tog-" he cut me off.
"Don't say it Leilani, I already told you nobody leaves me. Got it?" he seethed. I nodded in response and at that moment something snapped in me. I don't whimper under the threat of any man any more and I sure as hell wasn't going to back down from Bryce of all people.
"What happened to you Bryce? You've tracked me down, threatened me, just bruised my shoulder in less than a minute. Why have you changed? You covered for me when you found out what I did to Cole, you cared for me, you treated me like a princess and you tried so hard to make sure I wouldn't go away. What happened to the Bryce I thought I fell in love with, the Bryce I actually became happy to be engaged with. It was all fake at first but my feelings became so real. I forgot about Rhys because of you. I thought you cared! I'm not going with you and that's final!" I ranted and I could feel my face turn a burning red.
"You stupid girl!" he stood up to tower over my small frame, "It was all an act! I never loved you or cared! Cole set us up and that's all it ever was, a petty cover up! Everyone changes eventually Lani," he cackled and grinned with evil eyes.
"Apparently," I sighed and walked out of the tent and left the venue so that I could go back to the hotel and avoid him but I heard his footsteps close behind me splashing in the puddles on the ground.
Austin's POV:
"Thank you Sydney for an absolutely fucking raging time tonight!" I roared into the mic after our last song. Alan stepped up to the mic as the rest of us ran off stage. The crowd hushed as he started to talk.
"Sydney!" the crowd cheered, "We'll be out with our friends at the merch tent for a bit, come say hi!" now the fans roared louder and you could her the high pitched tones of fan girls. Alan ran back out to the rest of us and we made the back way out to the tent.
"Hey Lans, need some help with the crazy fans?" I yelled before crashing through the tent door. "Lans," I called when I realised she was nowhere in site. I pulled my phone out of my pocket but nothing.
"They're probably getting food mate," Tino reassured me and Alan nodded in agreement.
"Yeah lets go mingle with the fans, we'll wait here until they come back," Alan chimed in.
"Austin! Austin over here!" I heard a voice call out from the crowd of fans. I walked over to the girl with red hair that called my name.
"What can I do for such a gorgeous fan?" I pulled her in for a hug over the counter.
"Austin, I saw where she went," I pulled back from the hug confused.
"What?!" I pleaded.
"I came to buy a shirt during Pierce The Veil's set and as I was walking over the girl with blue hair from your photos on instagram was being harassed by some guy with longish brown hair and a beard and she ran out the back and he followed so did the girl with purple hair but they never came back," she explained and I felt my heart sink in my chest.
"I, uh, thank you," I hugged her again and quickly signed her shirt before running to Alan who was with a fan on the other side of the tent.
"Dude!" I yelled over the crowd from behind him.
"Yeah dude?" he turned from the crowd to face me.
"Check your phone!" I demanded.
"Why?" he asked confused.
"Just do it!" I nearly yelled and he pulled out his phone.
Alan's POV:
"Just do it!" Austin snapped. I pulled out my phone from my back pocket.
"Okay dude, what's even wro-" I stopped asking when I looked down at my phone to read the millions of messages Tarni had left and missed calls.
"What?!" he beseeched, his brows furrowed as he hoped for an answer he wasn't going to get. I couldn't reply to him as an incredible feeling of guilt washed over my entire body. If I had only looked at my phone earlier instead of shrugging their absence off as nothing. I read the messages over and over.
Tarni: (6.00pm) Don't be alarmed but Leilani's ex is working in the tent.
Tarni: (6.13pm) He keeps whispering to her and she looks so scared, god Alan I'm so worried.
Tarni: (6.45pm) Don't worry he's backed off now.
Tarni: (7.30pm) ALAN!!! I WAS SO WRONG!
Tarni: (7.32pm) THEY BOTH JUST FUCKING LEFT THEY'RE NOT EVEN ON THE VENUE GROUNDS AND I FOLLOWED THEM OUT TO THE STREET BUT I CAN'T FIND HER!
Tarni: (7.40pm) ALAN GOD DAMMIT PICK UP YOUR PHONE PLEASE!
Tarni: (8.00pm) I KNOW YOU'RE PROBABLY BUSY BUT JESUS ALAN HELP ME!
Tarni: (8.05pm) SHE'S PROBABLY FUCKING DEAD BY NOW AND YOU AREN'T ANSWERING YOUR PHONE! I NEED YOUR HELP YOU'RE NOT EVEN ON STAGE YET PTV STILL IS.
Tarni: (11.00pm) I give up. I can't find her anywhere in this fucking city and she wont answer her phone and she's not at the hotel and I've been looking for hours. I've lost my best friend :'(
"ALAN!" Austin yelled, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Austin I'm so sorry I should have checked my phone earlier. God if I did we could have helped Lani and this is all my fault. I'm so sorry!" I couldn't stop apologising. I started to sob as panic and worry for Lani's welfare crept up on me.
"Where is she?" he fret.
"I don't know, Tarni can't find her!" I blubbered.
"What are we doing standing here lets fucking go get her!" Phil yelled. We said sorry and goodbye to the fans and ran out to the cold, wet streets and looked into the darkness of the night, frightened by what nightmare we might discover in a city we didn't know.
"We're in for a long night," Aaron mumbled.
"I don't give a fuck, we're going to find her!" Austin yelled grabbing at Aaron's collar. Phil and Tino pulled the boys away from the scuffle and they all stood in a circle arguing aimlessly.
"I don't think we need to do a lot of searching guys," I breathed out, scared of the sight that stood before me in the middle of the misty street. I quickly pulled out my phone and shot a text to Tarni.
Alan: (11.40pm) I think we found her.
"What are you doing here Bryce?" I spat in a hushed tone trying not to unveil the horror in my voice.
"Nobody leaves me Leilani for no reason whatsoever, nobody," he warned. His words sent a shiver through my body and Tarni noticed. She strode over all the time her eyes were fixed on Bryce.
"You all right Lans?" she asked, her eyes still planted on the back of his head. I looked at her and nodded but she didn't buy it.
"Yep we're fine, absolutely dandy," Bryce spat at Tarni causing her to narrow her eyes and glare at him fiercely. "If looks could kill, your eyes are burning holes in my skin. Do you mind?" he growled through gritted teeth. Tarni walked back to the queue of fans but not before pulling her phone out and tapping rapidly at the screen.
"Listen Bryce, there's no need for drama," I tried to explain.
"No, you listen to me Leilani. You do what I want and come back home with me," I shook my head at him but he nodded right back.
"Cass?" I whimpered.
"Don't you worry about her. Look this is what's going to happen. You're going to go back to the hotel tonight, pack your bags and leave while your silly boyfriends are asleep. No need to leave a note. Then you come back and live with me, put your ring back on and we plan our wedding, okay?" I simply nodded, he wouldn't get what he wanted out of me but I wasn't going to reveal that. "Good," he smiled evilly and went back to work serving the fans and so did I.
I turned my attention to a girl with raven black hair and piercing grey eyes.
"What can I get for you love?" I asked.
"The Of Mice and Men tank up there and the Pierce The Veil top over there in mediums please," she pointed to the wall that displayed all the merch. I looked back to follow her hand, nodded and grabbed the items she wanted. She handed me the exact amount and thanked me but before walking away she spoke up again, "You're the girl in Austin's photos on instagram aren't you? I mean he hasn't tagged you but you've got the blue hair," she confused me.
"Insta-what?" I blurted out.
"You don't have instagram?" I shook my head, "Weird. Well anyway Austin has like two photos up from the last week and you're in them. Are you guys dating?" I scoffed at her question.
"No definitely not we're just friends and I happen to work for him that's all," I explained.
"What about the ring he posted a photo of," god dammit Austin. I lifted my hands in front of her and showed my bare hands.
"Ring free," I smiled sarcastically, "Must be for another lucky girl," I choked out. She frowned at the answer.
"Too bad, you're really pretty. You guys would be soooo cute," she smiled and turned away just as the loud sound of guitars and drums started from behind us. As the music started the fans cleared from the merch tent leaving us bored until the end of the show when all the kids came back.
"Who would you be cute with," Bryce's hot breath left a trail of sickening goosebumps on my neck as he raged in my ear from behind me.
"No one, just silly girls making us things in their heads, you know how fans are," I tried to avert him from making accusations.
"No I don't actually!" he spat before leaving the tent in a huff. I rolled my eyes at his never changing childish, jealous behaviour.
"Hey Tarns, get over here and teach me how to use some insta-something," she laughed at me and took my phone out of my hands. She handed it back a few minutes later as instagram flashed open on my screen. She showed me how to search for people, upload photos and told me about something called hash tags. I was sure I'd catch on eventually.
"I made you an account and followed all the guys and myself for you. Your username is @_leilanidean," she smirked widely at me, "you can thank me later," she joked as I rolled my eyes at her. I snapped a quick photo with Tarni and used it as my display picture.
"You forgot my first middle name," I laughed at my username.
"I know but that was more catchy than @_leilaniisabelledean," she had a point. She went back to her phone as I went to mine and scrolled through my news feed. I scrolled until a photo uploaded by Austin appeared in front of me. It was from the night at sushi, you couldn't see my face but my bright blue hair rested against my black dress and a plate of sushi rested in front of me on the table.
@austincarlile: nothing beats a sushi date with a beautiful lady!
I blushed at the word 'beautiful' but stopped when I felt a hard hand take grip of my shoulder, I quickly swept passed the photo and looked back at Bryce.
"What happened to just friends?" he fumed obviously annoyed at Austin's choice of words.
"I swear, that's all we are!" I retorted and he let his firm grip go of my shoulder and sat before me.
"Good, wouldn't want you cheating now would we princess?" he smirked.
"I didn't. Plus, we're not tog-" he cut me off.
"Don't say it Leilani, I already told you nobody leaves me. Got it?" he seethed. I nodded in response and at that moment something snapped in me. I don't whimper under the threat of any man any more and I sure as hell wasn't going to back down from Bryce of all people.
"What happened to you Bryce? You've tracked me down, threatened me, just bruised my shoulder in less than a minute. Why have you changed? You covered for me when you found out what I did to Cole, you cared for me, you treated me like a princess and you tried so hard to make sure I wouldn't go away. What happened to the Bryce I thought I fell in love with, the Bryce I actually became happy to be engaged with. It was all fake at first but my feelings became so real. I forgot about Rhys because of you. I thought you cared! I'm not going with you and that's final!" I ranted and I could feel my face turn a burning red.
"You stupid girl!" he stood up to tower over my small frame, "It was all an act! I never loved you or cared! Cole set us up and that's all it ever was, a petty cover up! Everyone changes eventually Lani," he cackled and grinned with evil eyes.
"Apparently," I sighed and walked out of the tent and left the venue so that I could go back to the hotel and avoid him but I heard his footsteps close behind me splashing in the puddles on the ground.
Austin's POV:
"Thank you Sydney for an absolutely fucking raging time tonight!" I roared into the mic after our last song. Alan stepped up to the mic as the rest of us ran off stage. The crowd hushed as he started to talk.
"Sydney!" the crowd cheered, "We'll be out with our friends at the merch tent for a bit, come say hi!" now the fans roared louder and you could her the high pitched tones of fan girls. Alan ran back out to the rest of us and we made the back way out to the tent.
"Hey Lans, need some help with the crazy fans?" I yelled before crashing through the tent door. "Lans," I called when I realised she was nowhere in site. I pulled my phone out of my pocket but nothing.
"They're probably getting food mate," Tino reassured me and Alan nodded in agreement.
"Yeah lets go mingle with the fans, we'll wait here until they come back," Alan chimed in.
"Austin! Austin over here!" I heard a voice call out from the crowd of fans. I walked over to the girl with red hair that called my name.
"What can I do for such a gorgeous fan?" I pulled her in for a hug over the counter.
"Austin, I saw where she went," I pulled back from the hug confused.
"What?!" I pleaded.
"I came to buy a shirt during Pierce The Veil's set and as I was walking over the girl with blue hair from your photos on instagram was being harassed by some guy with longish brown hair and a beard and she ran out the back and he followed so did the girl with purple hair but they never came back," she explained and I felt my heart sink in my chest.
"I, uh, thank you," I hugged her again and quickly signed her shirt before running to Alan who was with a fan on the other side of the tent.
"Dude!" I yelled over the crowd from behind him.
"Yeah dude?" he turned from the crowd to face me.
"Check your phone!" I demanded.
"Why?" he asked confused.
"Just do it!" I nearly yelled and he pulled out his phone.
Alan's POV:
"Just do it!" Austin snapped. I pulled out my phone from my back pocket.
"Okay dude, what's even wro-" I stopped asking when I looked down at my phone to read the millions of messages Tarni had left and missed calls.
"What?!" he beseeched, his brows furrowed as he hoped for an answer he wasn't going to get. I couldn't reply to him as an incredible feeling of guilt washed over my entire body. If I had only looked at my phone earlier instead of shrugging their absence off as nothing. I read the messages over and over.
Tarni: (6.00pm) Don't be alarmed but Leilani's ex is working in the tent.
Tarni: (6.13pm) He keeps whispering to her and she looks so scared, god Alan I'm so worried.
Tarni: (6.45pm) Don't worry he's backed off now.
Tarni: (7.30pm) ALAN!!! I WAS SO WRONG!
Tarni: (7.32pm) THEY BOTH JUST FUCKING LEFT THEY'RE NOT EVEN ON THE VENUE GROUNDS AND I FOLLOWED THEM OUT TO THE STREET BUT I CAN'T FIND HER!
Tarni: (7.40pm) ALAN GOD DAMMIT PICK UP YOUR PHONE PLEASE!
Tarni: (8.00pm) I KNOW YOU'RE PROBABLY BUSY BUT JESUS ALAN HELP ME!
Tarni: (8.05pm) SHE'S PROBABLY FUCKING DEAD BY NOW AND YOU AREN'T ANSWERING YOUR PHONE! I NEED YOUR HELP YOU'RE NOT EVEN ON STAGE YET PTV STILL IS.
Tarni: (11.00pm) I give up. I can't find her anywhere in this fucking city and she wont answer her phone and she's not at the hotel and I've been looking for hours. I've lost my best friend :'(
"ALAN!" Austin yelled, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Austin I'm so sorry I should have checked my phone earlier. God if I did we could have helped Lani and this is all my fault. I'm so sorry!" I couldn't stop apologising. I started to sob as panic and worry for Lani's welfare crept up on me.
"Where is she?" he fret.
"I don't know, Tarni can't find her!" I blubbered.
"What are we doing standing here lets fucking go get her!" Phil yelled. We said sorry and goodbye to the fans and ran out to the cold, wet streets and looked into the darkness of the night, frightened by what nightmare we might discover in a city we didn't know.
"We're in for a long night," Aaron mumbled.
"I don't give a fuck, we're going to find her!" Austin yelled grabbing at Aaron's collar. Phil and Tino pulled the boys away from the scuffle and they all stood in a circle arguing aimlessly.
"I don't think we need to do a lot of searching guys," I breathed out, scared of the sight that stood before me in the middle of the misty street. I quickly pulled out my phone and shot a text to Tarni.
Alan: (11.40pm) I think we found her.
Notes
I just want to thank you guys for getting me over 10,000 views! That's amazing! Thank you all so much for reading my story and I really hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. I love you guys! :)))
And sorry for the super long chapter!!
Wooooow I can't wait for the sequel now that you posted this "spoiler" !! Such a good idea to make a sequel that starts like 15 years later and not a few months later haha. I can't wait :D
7/28/14