“Jaime! Pst, Jaime. Wake up, man. Come on, open your eyes,” Tony hummed softly, poking his head into Jaime’s bunk, reaching a hand out to shake the man softly. He rolled away, reaching up to rub his face, and utterly ignoring Tony’s comments. The guitarist frowned and rolled his eyes, pulling Jaime back to face him, “I said wake up. Let’s go for a walk, why don’t we?”

“Guh-eh-wuy, Tohnee,” he grumbled in reply, throwing his hand agianst Tony’s face and pushing softly, “Leuhv me alo-un.” Tony bit his cheek, irked by Jaime’s reaction. He glanced around, his eyes resting on Vic’s bunk for a moment, before he gasped softly.

“Jaime, Vic’s hurt!” he exclaimed in a hushed whisper, hoping that it would pull Jaime from his sleepy daze. When he received no reply, he sighed and turned away, starting towards the bus door when he heard a crash behind him. Startled, he turned to find Jaime laid out on the floor, looking up at him in panic.

“Where is he?” Jaime, now awake, demanded. Tony smirked, he had been so out of it that it had taken him a minute to comprehend what Tony had told him. “Don’t you smirk at me, he’s our friend, dammit. Where is he, turtle?” Jaime implored.

“Asleep, unless you woke him up,” he scolded, tsking playfully at how loud the other boy had been.

“You said he was hurt!”

“Well, he was pretty bummed last night when you skipped out. That’s not the point, though. I just needed you to wake up…I didn’t expect you to fall out of your fucking bed, though,” he snickered, running a hand back through his hair, “Get dressed, man, let’s go out. We have the day off.”

“Stupid…turtle…hurt…jack ass…” Jaime muttered as he shuffled to his feet and made off with a clean outfit, leaving Tony positive that he didn’t want to know the extent of the curses his friend was throwing his way. Tony stepped off the bus to wait, leaning lightly against the vehicle and reveling in the sun. His face was uplifted to the sun, eyes closed, when the door to the bus swung open again.

“Alright, I’m awake, I’m outside, and it’s early. Now, what did you want?”

“To hang out, catch up with my bro. We don’t get a lot of hang time away from everyone, you know?”

“Yeah, but we’re almost always together, dude.”

Tony’s shoulders lifted slightly, “That doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to talk about,” he informed, nodding in the direction of the main strip, “Let’s walk?”

“There’s nothing to see out there, though. I already walked it…”

“Which way did you go? Left or right?”

“I…” he paused, searching his mind for the answer, “Right. I went right, away from the venue.”

“Well, then it’s obvious. We’re going to go left; you haven’t seen that yet, and neither have I,” Tony said as he pushed from the bus, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he began to walk away, Jaime following close behind him.

“Yeah? And what are we going to do? Walk till we die?”

“Nah,” he laughed as they rounded left around the corner, “maybe go get some food. I’m hungry, what about you?”

“A little, I guess. I mean, I wouldn’t mind getting some,” he eased into the conversation, calming slowly, though still upset with Tony for telling him Vic was hurt. He glanced over at his friend, an anxious feeling buzzing through his bones as he wondered what, exactly, Tony wanted.

“Then let’s find some. Surely a place this big has a good restaurant, but, in the mean time, it’s a nice day, the sun is shining…let’s walk and talk.”

Jaime laughed at his friends ease, knowing there was a catch, “Sure, like what about?”

“Well, I dunno. Any new relationships?” Tony’s eyes cut to Jaime quickly, searching his face for a reaction.

“No, not really,” he replied quickly, without hesitation, “What about you?”

“Nah, none for me…Really? I thought you were talking to someone? Or am I just imagining you smiling at your phone all the time?”

Jaime swallowed before shrugging, “Just laughing at things online. There’s no one specific behind that, swear.”

“Then what the hell are you looking at to blush the way you do?” The question caught him off guard, leaving his face bright red as he sputtered over an answer.

“Wh-what do you m-mean? I don’t blu-blush, Turtle.”

“You’re blushing right now.”

“No I’m not- Hey, look, that place looks good! Wanna go there? Seems like a hot spot…” he hurriedly tried to change the subject, pointing across the road at a well crowded building.

“Sure, why not? You still have to tell me what you look at to blush so much,” Tony teased, knocking him softly on the shoulder, “After you, Hi-Me.”

“If you insist, Turtle,” he grinned, ignoring the original comment and traipsing across the busy street as a red light caught traffic under it’s hold. He waited at the open door for Tony, glancing at the fairly open building they were about to enter.

“You were right about there being a lot of people. I hope that means the food is good,” Tony whistled as he stepped into the building.

“Welcome to Appleasing,” the hostess greeted them with a flirty smile. The two boys awkwardly returned the smile, sharing a look as she said the name. “Will it just be the two of you today?”

“Yeah, only us,” Jaime insisted with a nod. She grinned at them and whispered an ‘alrighty then’ before turning to show them to their table. “Appleasing?” he muttered to Tony who shrugged in response.

“Owner must have a thing for apples,” he mumbled back as the hostess turned on them.

“This is your booth, just take your time and order when you’re ready. Someone will be by to get your drinks in a moment,” she then turned and walked away, sashaying her hips as she went.

“This place seemed…”

“So much cooler on the other side?” Jaime interrupted pointing towards the music and dancing that was taking place towards the darker, less open half of the large building. Tony nodded slightly.

“Why don’t we just go party back there? Looks like there’s a bar.”

“More than fine by me, man.”

Tony stood, slapping his friend on the shoulder with a smile before basically dragging him away, eager to get the bassist drunk in hopes of getting his secrets out of him. After ordering a drink, he turned to Jaime.

“So, really, you and Vic are getting pretty close, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean ‘close’? I’m pretty sure all of us are close.”

“Yeah, but not as close as you two, right?”

“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about, dude, but how about those drinks?” he questioned, already turning his attention to the bar tender. Tony began to realize how hard it would be to get anything out of him, and, by their second drink, he realized he probably wouldn’t get anything.

Jaime was telling a joke to the few who were listening when it happened. Your average ‘tough guy’ slammed his hand down on the counter between the two musicians.

“You two aren’t from around here, are you? You talk funny.”

Jaime laughed at the guy, shrugging, “Nah, we’re just stopping by for a tour.”

“A tour? Don’t you have those where you’re from, though? Who’re you here for?”

“Pierce the Veil. Have you heard of them?” Tony interjected.

“Pierce the…that’s those fuckin’ Mexicans with the bitch of a lead singer who thinks he’s a chick, right?” The color drained from Jaime’s face and his mouth dropped slightly as he searched for what to say.

“You don’t like them, I take it?” Tony saved, glancing worriedly at his friend.

“No, man, and I don’t see how you can stand them. That front man…I coulda swore he was a little girl. Between you an’ me, I’m not sure he’s got anything in his pants, if you know what I mean,” he stated, making it oh-so obvious what he meant.

“Do you have anything to say besides hating on Vic?” Jaime questioned through clinched teeth.

“Well, it just so happens that I do. What the hell’s with the one that everyone calls turtle? I mean, I get that he looks like one, but what kinda name is that?”

Tony’s face reddened with embarrassment, “Maybe he just likes turtles…” he whispered, looking towards the ground.

“Well that’s stupid. That other one thinks he’s a rapper, don’t he? They’re all fucking idiots.”

“You’re missing someone, you know,” Jaime stood, getting in
close to the obviously smaller man.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, you’ve insulted everyone in the band. Everyone except me. Now, you’re going to turn around and apologize to 'Turtle' here,”

“Turtle? You’re the fucking turtle? Huh, pathetic. The name suits you,” the man spat towards Tony.

“Take it back, man, or you’ll regret it,” Jaime warned, narrowing his eyes.

“How? You gonna call that little bitch up and sick her on me? I mean him?”

“Take it the fuck back.”

“Make me, dick.”

Jaime didn’t need to be told twice; he had heard enough. The two were silent for a moment, just long enough for the other guy to smirk and begin to say something about how much of a coward Jaime was, before he reared his fist back and brought it hard against the small mans face.

“You hit like a girl,” he hissed, trying to throw his own hit at Jaime. The man was small and in over his head as Jaime pushed forward, shoving him to the ground. He grabbed onto his shirt, bringing him down with him. He didn’t mind, though, as he began to throw all of his strength into his hits against him. Tony was pulling at Jaime’s shoulders, trying to get him away from what he was doing, but it wasn’t stopping anything. It was one thing for the man to blindly attack the band without knowing who he was talking to, but another entirely to keep instigating after he found out.

“Come on!” Tony yelled, grabbing Jaime’s arms and pulling him back. When Jaime looked down, the other guy was shielding his face, which was obviously broken and bloodied. “He’s had enough, man. We need to go…”

Tony helped Jaime to his feel, doing his best to keep his friend off of the other man. He knew that Jaime’s rage had come from the way the broken man had talked about Vic, and he was kind of in awe at what had just happened.

“Alright. Let’s get back…” he mumbled, turning away, then stopping. He turned back and spit on the guy still laying on the ground, “That’s for Tony,” he growled before leaving, stomping past Tony and out onto the street.

Their walk back together was silent until Tony spoke up, “Thanks, you know.”

“He shouldn’t have spit on you.”

“It wasn’t that bad, but who knew you could fight so well. Are we going to tell Vic and Mike?”

“Not all of it. If they need to know I got in a fight, they can, but they don’t need to know the details.”

“Alright, fair enough,” Tony said with a smile as Jaime opened the tour bus door and stepped into his home away from home.

“…nothing ‘secret’ going on between me and Jaime. I swear,” Vic’s voice floated back towards Jaime and he could feel the emotion drain from his face. They were both denying each other so much, Jaime wondered if Vic wanted to stop lying so much as well.

“Is he okay?” Mike called from in front of Vic. Jaime glanced at Tony in warning before his head shook softly. “Did he te-“

“No. He got in a fight,” Tony cut in, and Jaime watched as a panicked look struck Vic’s beautiful face. He had to stop himself from wanting to smile, Vic was worried about him. “He won, too. I’d say…he needs a hug, though,” he tested, watching Vic with careful eyes.

“Everyone needs a hug,” Jaime heard Vic mumble and watched as Mike began to laugh.

“A group hug in Jaime’s honor?” Mike said towards Vic, wrapping his arm around his older brothers shoulder and forcing him towards Tony and Jaime.

“To Jaime,” Tony said as he linked his arm around Vic’s free shoulder, receiving a slight smirk from Jaime as the trio faced him.

“To Jaime!” Vic exclaimed, stepping up to and wrapping his arms tightly around Jaime. He paused for a moment before returning the action as he felt Mike and Tony’s arms wrapped strongly around the two of them. Jaime held Vic close, wondering for a moment if it would really be that different if their friends knew about their relationship.