"Yo, Niki, are you coming out with us?" Vic asked, thumping me on the back.

"Can't. Gotta do inventory tonight," I replied, not looking up from the stacks of money and sheets of paper laid out in front of me.

"You're such a sour-puss, Nikstar," he joked, walking past me and taking his sweat-covered shirt off.

"Well, someone around here's gotta do it. Dylan'll have my head if I don't get this done," I grumbled.

"Well, I am the boss around here and I say drop the shirts and lets go get drunk, come on," he said, poking me, "I need my wing-woman."

I rolled my eyes, "You do just fine without me, Vic."

"Well, I'm feelin' kinda generous today, you see. I was actually going to try to get you laid, for a change," he joked.

"Oh, how very noble of you, but orgasms will have to wait for another day," I said, sternly.

Dylan Dagan, the merch guy for Pierce the Veil, had brought me along to this tour to help him out, and not to mention he was paying me pretty well. I didn't wanna let my friend down, and I was taking all my responsibilities as seriously as possible considering I was basically part of a travelling circus.

"Dylan! Hey, dildo," Vic yelled out from the back lounge of the tour bus, "Can Nikita come out with us tonight?"

Dylan walked into the back lounge and looked at us both, skeptically. I gave him a "It's not me, it's him" look. He smiled and gave me a playful wink.

"Ah, what the hell. Drop the stacks, let's get drunk!"

I laughed, putting all the shirts, money and papers away into a cabinet. "I'll go get ready."

"Here, lemme help you get undressed," Vic joked, grabbing my shirt.

I pushed him off and laughed as I sifted through the clothes in my suitcase. By this time, Jaime, Mike and Tony had entered the bus as well. They were all sweaty from the show but were rearing to go out and party. It wasn't often that we had a stopover in Vegas, after all. I decided to settle on a modest black strapless dress that stopped around mid-thigh. I went into the bathroom and changed into my dress and put on some comfortable, yet tall pumps. My hair seemed to be having one of its better days, so I ruffled it a bit and left it be. Earrings and a swish of plum lipstick and I was ready to go.

When I walked out of the bathroom, all the guys looked up at me at once and it made me really conscious. Mike whistled really slowly.

"Aw, Niki, you look like a girl for once," Jaime joked.

"Yeah, this is weird, did you secure your penis up for the night?" Tony continued.

"Fuck you guys," I laughed, pulling Mike into an embrace. "Mikey you're my designated drunk buddy. I need you to help me walk around once I've had one too many and these heels start to sting."

He put his hand over his heart, "I'd be honored to do that."

"Alright, everybody ready? Let's go! Let's do this," Jaime yelled, walking out of the bus, followed by all of us.

*

"What the hell is that?" Vic yelled in my ear over the loud music, pointing to the drink in my hand.

"It's a Cape Cod," I said.

Vic shook his head, "You're such a pussy, Niki. Come on. I thought you were pulling out the big guns tonight."

"You want the big guns? Fine. What do you wanna do?"

"Jager bombs," he said, smiling mischieviously and pulling me towards the bar. "You gotta do at least three."

"Vic, I'm already two drinks down, are you trying to kill me?" I asked, incredulously, he knew I was a lightweight.

"Come on, it's Vegas! You're never going to be this hot ever again, I mean really it's all downhill from here for you," he joked.

"Aw, thanks, doucheface," I retorted, as he laid out the shots in front of me.

Sucking it up, I threw back two of them trying to look as at ease as I could. I already knew this was going to mess me up, but I knew the guys would take care of me no matter what.

Vic had a huge smile on his face, "Atta girl."

I pulled him closer to me by his belt buckle, "Let's dance, Vicky," I said, pulling him on to the dance floor.

*

I woke up the next day to the sound of the 6:30 A.M. alarm on my phone vibrating right next to my head. I grunted and switched it off, blinking rapidly to focus my eyes. I was comfortably tucked into the couch in the back lounge of the bus under a layer of blankets. So far, so good. I rolled out of bed and tied my hair up.

I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, washed my face and changed into shorts and a plaid shirt. I had always been an early riser, it was just the way my body was programmed. I walked around the bus, just checking where everyone was. Everyone was in their respective bunks, though I couldn't seem to find Dylan anywhere.

Thinking nothing of it, I went into the kitchen area and started cooking up some pancakes. The guys loved nothing better than to wake up to the smell of cooked breakfast when they were hungover. I didn't even know if I was hungover, I was just a bit groggy. This was the part where I would try to jog my memory and remember what I did last night, but for some reason I could remember it all really well. Perhaps living with the band had increased my alcohol tolerance, I thought, smiling to myself as I mixed up the pancake batter and heated up the frying pan.

Putting three pancakes on a plate, and dousing them with maple syrup, I scurried over to Mike's bunk. "Morning, sunshine," I yelled.

"What the-" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes as I plopped down near his knees and took a huge bite.

"You look like a million bucks, sweety," I joked.

"Shut up," he groaned, throwing a cushion at me. "You made pancakes?" he asked, perking up instantly.

I nodded, "So I was hoping you'd haul your lazy ass out of bed and give me some company?"

"Yeah, just gimme a minute, ok?" he said, stretching.

I hoped out of his bunk and sat in the kitchen area. In ten minutes, Mike was out, all clean and awake and ready to gorge.

"So, like, I don't really get you and Vic sometimes," Mike said, shoveling a huge bite into his mouth.

I frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Well, sometimes, usually while intoxicated, you guys just act like such a couple, it's weird..."

I giggled, "Oh, please. It's [i]Vic[/i], dude."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that it's Vic and he's like a brother to me, Mikey. But why do you say that? Did we do something weird last night that I don't remember?"

He shrugged, "Nothing out of the ordinary, the usual grinding and dancing and goofing off."

"I do that with all of you guys," I reasoned.

He shrugged again, "Yeah, that's true. It's just that-"

"Why the hell are you guys up this early?" Tony demanded, walking into the kitchen. "Oh, pancakes," he said, immediately taking a seat between me and Mike.

"Okay, you can help me out here, man. Don't you think Niki and Vic are like a weird dysfunctional couple?" Mike asked, looking to Tony for some support.

Tony chewed on his bite of food for a few seconds, looking complacent. "Hmm...I don't know. I mean, I don't find it weird cause I'm around it all the time, but I think to a stranger you guys would definitely appear so."

"What the hell, guys? What is this? How am I any different towards him than I am towards any of you guys?" I asked, shocked that they all thought this way.

Mike and Tony gave each other a cautionary look that I definitely did not understand, before Tony started, slowly, "It's not how you are towards him, more like how he-"

"What's up, guys? Why on earth are y'all up at 7:30 on a free day?" Vic asked, walking into the kitchen area, his hair disheveled and still in his boxers and night shirt.

He plopped down next to me and helped himself to the remainder of the pancakes on my plate. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds during which we were all probably wondering how much of our conversation Vic had overheard.

"Alright," I said, drumming my fingers on the table. "I've gotta go finish up that inventory you guys pulled me away from yesterday."

*

"Yes, ma, I get to shower every day," I groaned into my phone as my terror of a mother harped on about hygiene and a healthy diet. Hell hath no fury like an Indian mom scorned at the thought of her precious pearl going on tour with a post-hardcore band.

I could feel Vic come up behind me and mock me, I titty-twisted him and made a goofy face at him as I kept my mom at bay on the phone. Somehow, I got the woman to hang up and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Look who's got mommy issues," Vic joked.

I laughed, "Going on your walk?" I asked. Vic usually liked going on long walks by himself, apparently this was his meditative time, or something like that.

He nodded, "Yeah...wanna come with?"

I shrugged, "Sure thing," I said, putting my phone in my back pocket.

We walked out of the parking lot where all the tour buses were parked and out of the venue. We didn't really talk much until we reached a random secluded street.

"Yesterday was fun, huh?" Vic said, smiling.

"Yeah, man, I'm so surprised I don't have a hangover, nor did I black-out."

"Yeah, that is after two Cape Cods and four Jager bombs, good on you. Look who's getting on my level."

I rolled my eyes, "Alcohol tolerance is not something to have bragging rights about, Victor."

"Aw, look at mommy's little girl trying to hold on to her innocence."

I laughed and elbowed him in the chest lightly, "It's not that, I just usually don't like drinking much, you know that."

He nodded. "Yeah, why is that exactly? You never told me?"

I frowned, wondering how to explain it to him. "It's just that I don't like not being in control of myself, it really scares me."

"Of course," Vic smiled, "So it goes right back to your controlling and excessive personality."

"What? How the hell am I controlling?"

"Oh, guys, you should really get your laundry done. Vic, wash your hair, it's greasier than McDonald's fries. Blah blah blah," Vic mocked me.

"Okay, ya know what? Just because I enjoy a clean and sanitary atmosphere does not mean I'm controlling!"

"You're more like a mom, you know that?" he continued, ignoring me. "You have Chronic Mom Syndrome, CMS. You just always wanna cook for us and clean for us, and tell us what to do. It's adorable, really."

"Yeah, well, it's just who I am..." I said.

"Hey, it's not a bad thing," he said putting his arm around my shoulders. "It feels awesome to have someone around who's always looking out for us all the time."

I smiled. "Well, while we're being all candid. This morning Mike and Tony tried to convince me that you and I act like a couple. Isn't that crazy talk?"

Vic dropped his arm from around my shoulders and smiled, "Oh yeah, totally. Bananas."

There was something about the way he said it that made me feel like he didn't quite mean it. We walked the rest of the way in silence.