TONY'S POV

I laid my head on the leather arm of the couch in the tour bus and shut my eyes. It's been a long ass few weeks, mainly because of the fact that we're performing everyday and my body is sore, but also because Piper's not with me. I loved her, so much. But I couldn't love a liar again. I'm just happy I found out everything before I married her and then found out about all the lies. I get the drinking problem, that I can handle, but drugs too? That's just too far and low, even for Piper. I never thought she would hurt me like this, but here I am, still in pain and still in love, but knowing we can never be.
I'm actually going to sleep tonight and not dream about Piper. I'm going to sleep on this couch, and not think about the bitch who broke my heart. And just when I began to fall asleep, I felt someone hit my foot.
"Get up, Turtle, we're going to paaaaaaaaaarrrrtaaaaay!" Jaime cheered. I opened my eyes to see the rest of the guys surrounding me, holding a can of beer in each hand. Vic had two, and I asumed one was for me.
"No, thanks guys, I think I'm going to sleep..."
"Nope, nope, nuh uh, get up." Vic said.
"Man, I really want to-"
"You have been bummed since you and Piper broke up, and it's about time you get up and party, okay? It's upset and we're sorry, but come party with us. Just for an hour, that's all we ask." Vic said. I hadn't realized, because my thoughts were crowded with Piper, that I had been ignoring my best friends.
I sat up and smiled. "Alright, but only for an hour." I said. Vic extended his left hand, and I grabbed the beer from it, chugging it quickly. I threw it to the side and then stood up.
Since we only had a few hours of driving, all the bands decided to wait to drive into San Diego tomorrow morning. When I stepped out of the bus, all of the bands were crowded in this little area, blaring music and drinking and dancing. I pushed my way past the people until I reached the drinks. I grabbed my second beer and drank it quickly. Living with Piper gave me bad drinking habits-
No, Tony. Stop. You're going to have fun tonight, stop thinking about Piper.
I threw the beer in the trash can beside me, then heard a small giggle from beside me. I looked over to see a beautiful girl standing there, long brown hair, a septum piercing, all around tiny, and holding a beer in her hand. "You sure did drink that fast." She said, her voice just as small as her.
I grabbed another beer. "Yeah, well, I have a lot of things on my mind." I took a drink.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." She said, the put a hand on my arm. Is she making a move on me? No, she can't do that. I love Pipe- Screw Piper! I can do whatever I want, and she's cute, and I'm getting drunk.
"It's not your fault. I'm Tony Perry." I said, extending my hand out to her. Her small hand cupped mine.
"I'm Julie Bond."
"Nice to meet you, Julie. What brings you to Warped?"
"I'm a photographer. I'd ask what brought you to Warped, but I got some pretty sick shots of you on stage today."
"Oh yeah? That's awesome!"
"Yeah, you're super photogenic. Do you want to see them?"
I took another drink to finish off the beer, then nodded my head. "Yeah, of course."
"Well, my camera's on the bus. You can wait right here or, come with me?" She said, her voice hesistant.
"Lead the way." I said. She smiled the cutest damn smile ever, then took off. I followed close behind her, and maybe it was all the beer in me, but I couldn't help but look at her ass. It was so tiny and cute, I just wanted to grabbed it. Just damn. She's gorgeous.
We finally arrived at her bus, and I followed her inside. She told me to wait a minute, then she disappeared into the back. This bus looked nothing like ours. It was tiny and old, you could tell by the paint and the carpet. Maybe it's all they could afford, and I wasn't judging. I was all alone and in a bus with a cute girl. I feel great. For the first time in weeks, I feel great.
Julie walked out, her head down and staring at the camera. She stepped forward, and ran right into me. She laughed and apologized, but I just stared at her with a smile. She's adorable.
"Look at this." She said softly. I leaned over her shoulder, looking at the way to bright camera screen. I was hardly paying attention to what she was saying. I couldn't stop looking at her. I put my hand on the small of her back, and she didn't move. She kept flicking through the pictures, and my hand moved to her side. I felt brave, I can do this. I can be happy.
"That's all I got." She said, placing the camera on the couch. She then realized how close we were, and like a blur, we started kissing.
She pushed me onto the couch and then sat on my lap, her lips hitting mine. I kept my hands on her hips and pulled her into me. She tasted so sweet....so familiar.
Piper. She tastes like Piper. Sweet, beautiful Piper. Piper Lynn, the love of my life, the strongest girl I've ever met. The girl I still dream about, the girl I'm surprised I'm functioning without. Piper. Piper Lynn. Piper Lynn Kristianson, the future Mrs. Perry. I wasn't picture Julie as we made out on the couch, all I saw was Piper. Her bright green eyes and long black hair. The way she looks when she wakes up in the morning, the way she would cuddle up on me when she got sick or was sad, the way her skin felt against mine. Piper, the love of my life, who I never wanted to hurt or lie too...
And just went I started to regret making out with Julie, I remembered.
She lied to me. She hurt me. She ran out on me when I asked her to marry me. She was a bitch, a selfish bitch who only ever thought about herself. I was right about her in the beginning. The damn selfish machine, that's who Vic is singing about. Nobody else. Piper. The selfish machine. The worse person I have ever met, and I didn't ever want to see her again.
I pulled Julie on top of me, and before I knew it, I wasn't even thinking about Piper.

I woke up on Julie's bus the next morning with a pounding headache and a feeling of regret. Or relief. I'm not sure which.
I felt her body pressed against mine, and it didn't feel right. Her boobs are too big, this must me hurting her, right? I ran my hands down her side. This isn't right. This doesn't feel okay. Her hair doesn't smell like strawberries it smells like...coconuts. What? No. This isn't okay.
Just went I started thinking of ways to move out from underneath her, she woke up. She smiled so sweetly at me, I almost felt bad that I didn't like her as much as I thought I did. "Good morning."
I was speechless. "Hi." I said.
She giggled and kissed me. Oh, ew. No, this is not okay. I realized the bus wasn't moving, so we hadn't left yet. I almost jumped out from underneath her. "I have to get back to my bus if that's okay. I-I think Vic wants to change the setlist for today so we have to talk about it." I lied. I got so mad at Piper for lying, but I lied to Julie.
Piper. I felt an ache in my chest. Oh God, Piper. How could I do this to her?
"Okay, I'll see you in San Diego, cutie." She said. My pants were already on when I ran out the door, not even bothering to put on my shirt or even shoes at that.
I sprinted on my bus, which was already turned on and ready to leave. All the guys were in the lounge, staring at me.
"Where the hell were you?" Vic asked.
My head was dizzy, thoughts were bouncing around in my head and all I could think about was how awful the sex could have been, and how Piper is still in my head. "I uh, I hooked up with that photographer, Julie."
I swear I saw relief in Mike's eyes.
"So, you're getting over Piper then?" Vic said.
"I-I don't know. I'm going to go to sleep." I said, pushing past them to the bunks. I felt my face red with, with I don't even know what! How could I do this to Piper? We aren't even together anymore but I betrayed her. I slept with somebody else within not even a month of breaking up. Oh, sweet Piper, my love. How could I do this?
But, I can't feel bad about this. This is getting over her, right? When she messed with my feelings so much, I deserve somebody sweet.
I pulled out my phone, and to my surprise, Julie's number was already in it. I texted her, telling her to meet me on the bus once we get to San Diego. Julie's a sweet, beautiful girl. Sweet. I deserve sweetness, and maybe I can actually get it from Julie.

Julie was sitting on my lap in the bus after we pulled into San Diego. The guys loved her, they kept talking to her and joking with her, and it felt right. She was nice, and not at all sassy. But, I miss the sassiness....No. Stop.
The only one who didn't like her was Jaime. He kept giving her dirty looks, then forced a smile when Julie looked at him. I get Piper's like his best friend, but jeez. Calm down.
I heard a ding of a phone, and within a second, Jaime jumped up and ran out the door of the bus. I didn't even bother to wonder where he was headed. As my friend, he should be happy for me. He should be happy at the fact I'm finally getting over Piper.
"So, I was in Florida, and I swear to this day..." Julie was telling some story when the door of the bus swung open yet again. There were mumbled voices coming from the door, then footsteps. Everyone but Julie looked at the door to see who was coming in, and my heart dropped to my stomach when I saw who it was.
Piper was standing there with her big, round sunglasses on. She had a tight, black shirt on and high waisted acid washed shorts. The outfit that drove me crazy. Who does she think she is?
She moved her sunglasses off her face and glared at me, and I saw the tears in her eyes. We stared at each other for almost a minute, tears in her eyes, and I felt some forming in mine. I wanted to feel bad, but I almost don't.
Julie looked from me to Piper, confused. Then, she gave Piper a big smile. "Hi, I'm Julie Bon-"
"Shut the hell up." Piper snapped. I heard Julie gasped, then she looked at me.
"Piper..." Jaime said, grabbing her arm. I saw the look of anger in her eyes, she wanted to punch Julie in the throat. I could see it.
"I'm leaving. Sorry, I can't handle this." She said, then turned on her heels.
"No, Piper, don't go." Mike said, standing up to chase after her. She turned back around, her head up like she was looking at Mike, but her eyes on me.
"We were engaged a month ago, and now he already has another girl he can sleep with? No. I'm not dealing with this."
"What is she talking about, Tony?" Julie asked.
Piper shoved past Mike, but he held onto her wrist so she wouldn't get too far. "Oh, I guess he didn't tell you. Hi, I'm Piper, the girl he was engaged to a month ago but then left for a stupid reason."
I pushed Julie off me nicely. "You lied to me!" I shouted.
"You didn't even hear me out! You assumed the worse when I only did what I did to save the band!" She shouted back.
"Oh, please, selling coke is helping save the band!"
"You would know if you actually listened to me." She snapped under her breath. Her face was so close to mine. We stood there, in silence, staring at each other. Her eyes filled with tears as she stood there, shaking. She bit her lip, then spoke up, loud enough so only I could hear. "I was doing it for us. But it looks like you never even gave a damn." She pulled her wrist out of Mike's grasp and stormed off the bus. I stood there, feeling myself start to cry, and shook. I watched her walk out of the tour bus, hearing her cry all the way out.

Notes