A Friday Night Like This

Vic

I watched Kellin and Austin kiss onstage. It made me sick to my stomach. He knew I still loved him, didn’t he? But how had I proven my love? By divorcing and running off with another man. I wanted what was best for him. And I was in no way, shape or form his best choice. It was just easier to take myself out of the equation, wasn’t it?

Jaime tried giving me a hug, but I stepped away from his embrace. He just shrugged it off. It was a pretty hot day when you thought about it. No need for physical proximity. Kellin ran off, and I went up onstage as the rest of his old band followed.

‘Hello, Phoenix!’ I yelled into the microphone. The crowd started screaming at me.

'How are you guys?' More screams ensued. I turned around and checked with everyone what song. It was Mike's turn to choose the starter song and he chose The Sky Under The Sea. Talk about going hard in the first song. He just grinned and tapped his sticks on his legs. I turned back around, strumming my guitar as a final check that it was in tune. My eyes flicked up and I surveyed the crowd.

'Looks like its The Sky Under The Sea up first guys!' A water bottle came hurtling through the air at me. I ducked, and it bounced past me and hit Jaime’s shin.

‘What the hell?’ Jaime exclaimed, rubbing his leg.

‘Heart breaker!’

‘Kellic 5 never!’

Screams of contempt came whistling through the air, hitting my heart hard.

‘Let’s just play.’ I said, and I played for the minority of our “fans”. The ones who were shouting at the people giving me hell. Who were holding signs reading things such as “I love you, Vic”. The ones who had never been to one of our concerts before. I gave them my all, but the weight of what I had done overwhelmed my senses.

We went off stage and Jaime started kissing me. His tongue claiming my mouth, his hands trailing the contours of my back. I started imagining Kellin. How he didn't tower over me, he was just a few centimetres taller and I didn't have to reach up as high to kiss him. How he fit perfectly to my frame whenever I enclosed him in an embrace, my head resting on his chest and him resting his chin on my head. How he always ran his tongue over my bottom lip when we kissed. How his hair was always smooth and silky, and usually stuffed under a beanie. I opened my eyes mid-kiss and saw Kellin’s icy blue ones staring back at me, his gaze intent on finding my soul. I shoved Jaime away.

‘No.’

‘No.’

‘This is wrong.’

‘Get away!’

‘Get away from me!’

I turned and ran, tripping over guitar cases and spare drums lying around. I turned several corners and hid behind a bus. My blood pounded through my skull. I couldn’t take this. Why had I let him go?

‘Eight, outside our bus.’ I heard a familiar voice say. Jack Fowler. As the Sleeping With Sirens troupe walked past, laughing and talking loudly, I crept past them and tried to find who they had been talking to. My heart dropped though when I heard Kellin's laugh. I soon spotted a familiar pair a while ahead of me. One had bright pink hair, the others was spiked up. The one with spiky hair was muscly, with a very stocky build. The other was slim and taller of the two, but not in a gangly, awkward way.

‘Hi Alex, Zach.’ I said, stepping into line with the two All Time Low members.

‘Hey Vic.’ Zach said awkwardly. He didn’t exactly fit in well with social situations. Unless he was with his other band mate, Rian. Alex gave me a hug.

‘How have you been? I heard Pierce the Veil got back together.’ Alex asked curiously.

‘Yeah. It’s been good. Being in a band again. It’s great.’ I said.

‘Hey, I heard about yours and Kellin’s break up. I’m sorry about how the fans reacted to it.’ Zach said bluntly. Alex and I stopped mid-stride.

‘Man, have some tact!’ Alex rebuked him.

‘Nah, it’s fine. I was actually thinking of trying to make it up with Kellin.’ I smiled up at the younger men, trying to catch up to Zach who had continued walking.

‘Cool, man. Jack’s having a party around eight outside their bus. You should totally go and make it up.’ Zach filled in the missing details and I thanked him. Time to go and fix a broken heart.

Kellin

I knew he was there. I saw him move in the shadows. He ran past us, catching up to Alex and Zach. No doubt they would tell him about the party Jack was throwing. The others walked onto the bus while I continued to my car. I hopped in, sending Jack a quick message that I had to go get some stuff, and drove off.

I felt bad. I was purposely skipping his party. But I couldn't see Vic again. Not if he was with Jaime.

I pulled up to a local bar and went inside. It was grubby, with a thick layer of spilt alcohol covering the floor. I sat down on a relatively clean bar stool and waved the barkeeper over.

'What can I get ya?' He asked, absentmindedly wiping down the bar. His cloth was dripping though, and didn't make any difference to the state it was in.

'I don't really care. Just something strong...' I looked around the bar. It was almost empty. Just a few early customers. The barkeeper chuckled and passed me a beer.

'I'll keep an eye on ya. Just start off with this.'

I opened the top and took a deep swig.

'Thanks.' I half-smiled at him and chucked in my earbuds to drown out the voices in my mind that were screaming at me.

Get to that party.

Jack's gonna be disappointed.

You wimp.

Suddenly they vanished, replaced by the newest works of Northlane. I tapped my foot to the beat, as Adrian started singing.

'Crawling through the burning sand,

Just a man whose lost in time,

Distant memories of a life,

That flow like waves within my mind.'

I slammed my drink down.

'Another!' I shouted at the barkeeper. He looked at me, sighed and passed me another beer.

'Sir, I'm sorry but I'm shutting you down.'

I didn't care. The bottle cap was rolling along the floor and the beer was gushing down my throat. It was late. I'm not sure how much I've had to drink. A lot. I know that much. I wish I hadn't listened to that song. I paused for breath and started talking to the barkeeper.

'You know why I'm here? My husband divorced me. And I was with my old band.' I started chugging my drink again. The barkeeper just nodded, wiping down the bar.

'He's at a party with my band mates.'

'I let him down.'

'I love him.'

'He's all I have.'

The words kept flowing, the lies and the secrets spilling out of me.

'My father divorced my mum. I never wanted that to be me.'

'My sister died in a car crash a few years ago.'

My whole life story, laid bare for everyone sympathetic enough to hear. The barkeeper just called over someone and led me outside. He walked me back to the tour site.

'Here you go.' He said, then he turned and walked back to the bar, like nothing had happened. But I noticed the way his shoulders were slumped.

'Vic.' I moaned. I staggered to where I could hear loud music playing.

'Kellin?' A ginger shouted in my ear.

'Jesse! I'm so sorry I almost skipped on you guys! But I'm here, and ready to fuck shit up!'

Jesse handed me a red cup filled with liquid, and my alcohol levels started shooting through the roof.

- - -

'Oh, man!' I groaned, placing a hand to my head. I rolled over, the sunlight hurting my eyes. I squinted and saw a familiar face next to mine. The window was open slightly, and I felt a light breeze on my thigh. My eyes squeezed shut.

'Ah, fuck!' I shouted. I placed my other hand to my head. Bad idea.

'Dude, shut up.' I heard his familiar voice float through the air. 'Wait, what? Kellin?' He said and rolled over. But I was already gone, my mind trying to piece together the puzzle of last night.

How could I?

He's going to kill me when I next see him...

What about Vic?

Notes

Now, who did Kellin sleep with? DID he sleep with them? Am I just winding you guys up for the hell of it? And it wasn't Vic. I'm just putting that out there right now.