A Match Into Water

I woke up the next morning with the sun shining in my eyes and a heavy pounding in my head. The guys weren’t kidding when they said I’d have a major hangover in the morning, though I suspect that if it weren’t for my nightmares and monumental breakdown a few hours ago that this hangover would be a hell of a lot worse. A light groan fell from my lips and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to turn into the pillow to block out the light, but an arm tightened around my waist and my face met a warm chest instead of a soft pillow.

My body immediately tensed up and my mind went into overdrive. Oh God, what was going on? Why is there someone next to me? Why are they tightening their hold on me? Is it him? Oh my God, why am I so close to this person? I was on the verge of a full on panic attack, and a few seconds away from screaming, until I dared to look up into the face of the person sleeping next to me and saw that it was, in fact, a sleeping Vic that I was curled up next to.

A small, relieved sigh fell from my lips and my heart rate and anxiety levels immediately went down. It was just Vic, I was fine, but as much as I felt better about this, I couldn’t help but wonder as to why he was sleeping with me. I mean, I remembered Vic waking up and calling out to me last night when I was crying my eyes out, but other than that, I don’t remember what happened after that. Did he take advantage of me? No, I don’t think so, he didn’t seem like the type of person who would do that, but then again, I didn’t know.

While I was racking my already hurting brain for all of the possibilities as to why we were both in the same bed, a soft, tired groan broke through my thoughts. I looked up a bit in surprise and saw Vic slowly opening his eyes and squinting at the bright sun shining through the window. As his eyes started to adjust, he looked down at me and smiled once he saw me.

“Hey,” his husky, tired-laced voice spoke.

I smiled a bit at him and murmured back, “Hi.”

“How’re you feeling?” Vic asked, finally opening up his eyes and fully adjusting to the bright sun.

“My head hurts like hell and the sun is really fucking bright right now, but I’ll live,” I lightly joke, wincing as another set of hammers began hammering at my head.

A soft chuckle fell from his lips as he said, “Right, well that’s what happens when you drink with Kellin, so-”

“Oh shut up, asshole,” I muttered, burying my face in his chest, because was it just me, or was the sun getting even brighter?

I felt the rumble in Vic’s chest as he started laughing at my reaction. “Alright, fine,” he says between his laughter. “And I’m sorry by the way.”

“Thank you,” I grumble, hiding further into his chest. You know, this is really random observation that I’ve just noticed, but Vic’s chest is really nice and comfortable. Also, he smells nice-

Like I said, random observation. Also, it’s totally not creepy at all...right?

Vic’s next chuckle broke through my thoughts and I felt him move around a bit. “Here, this might help,” I hear him say as he starts to sit up and reach over me. I make a small noise of protest at the loss of contact, and at the loss of my sun shade, but just as I was about to open my mouth to complain, I heard Vic working with the blinds. The room gradually got darker until the blinds were closed and it was all but dark in the room. A dull sunny haze filled the room and everything was given a golden, almost dark brown appearance. I let out a small noise of content and sighed, still burying my face back into Vic’s chest when he settled back down.

“Still too bright?” Vic jokes, though I could hear a hint of seriousness in his tone.

“Nah, you’re just comfy,” I mumble, peeking up from his chest momentarily to smile at him. Then I winced from a sudden pulse of pain in my head and went back to hiding in his chest.

“Do you need some Advil or anything?” Vic asks after seeing me cringe yet again.

“I’ll be fine,” I tell him, although I personally wasn’t convinced of that. Vic didn’t seem to be either, because for the second time this morning, I lost contact with Vic’s chest and I looked up at him with a pout.

“Oh stop, I’m just getting you some advil,” Vic told me when he saw my pout. He was smiling a bit at me and shaking his head, but as he got up to get the advil, I could have sworn that I saw a bit of a blush forming on his cheeks. Then again, it was dark in the room and I was still suffering from this stupid hangover, so I was probably 326% hallucinating a tiny bit.

A few minutes later, Vic came back into his bedroom with a glass of water and a bottle of advil. He sat down on the bed next to me, and as I slowly started to sit up, he handed me the items and said, “Take two advil and make sure you drink the entire glass of water, alright?”

“Yes, Mom,” I joke, smiling a little at him as I opened up the advil and did as he instructed me to do so.

This got a small laugh out of Vic and he shook his head at me once again. “When you’re done with that, start getting dressed,” he told me. “It’s 9:30 and quite frankly, I want breakfast.”

I laughed a bit at that and quickly finished up the water. “Alright, but can’t we just stay in here where it’s nice and dark?” I asked him. “It’s, like, really bright outside.”

“Sorry Darling, but I’ve got to get together with the guys to talk about the upcoming tour and finalize the set list for the show downtown next week,” Vic told me. “Plus, the breakfast place I have in mind has this great remedy for hangovers.”

I sighed, but nodded at Vic. “Right, and I probably should head into work anyway,” I say, dreading the thought of having to face work with a hangover like this. I don’t care if Vic’s breakfast place could cure hangovers, I still had to go into work like this and that was going to be super fun.

Vic looked at me thoughtfully for a moment before holding up a finger and saying, “Hold that thought.” He got up from the bed, my wandering eyes following him for a moment, and went over to where he’d discarded his clothes from the day before. He dug around until he found his phone and then proceeded to unlock it and dial a number. He put the phone to ear for a moment and waited until the person on the other side picked up.

“Hello? Rosie?” Vic spoke into the phone, my jaw dropping as he talked. “Dean’s supposed to come into work today, right?”

“Vic!” I quietly hissed. “What the hell are you doing?”

Vic ignored me and nodded at whatever it was that Rosie told him. “Oh cool, well I was just calling to make sure and to call in sick for Dean- you see, she was at my party last night and I think she ate something that didn’t quite agree with her. She’s been sick all morning and it looks like she’s about to throw up.”

I glared a bit at Vic as he talked, which didn’t help my hangover at all, but was also a bit grateful. He was covering for me and using his ties to Rosie to get me out of work all because of my stupid hangover. I was actually feeling a little sick on top of this hangover, not surprising really, and while I could go into work like this, I didn’t really want to do that. The sick feeling in the pit of my stomach could have been worse and I certainly hadn’t felt the need to throw up the contents of my stomach-

On second thought, that actually might not be a bad idea.

I shot up from the bed and pushed past Vic to get to the bathroom. I heard him say something about me having to blow chunks now, but I didn’t hear him or pay all that much attention to what he was saying. I just leaned over the toilet and proceeded to throw up everything there possibly was in my stomach.

As the taste of acid and stale alcohol lingered in my mouth, I flushed the toilet and heard a soft knock on the door frame behind me. “You alright, Dean?” Vic asked.

“Just peachy,” I state, closing the toilet lid and going over to the sink to rinse out my mouth. I caught a glimpse of Vic’s face in the mirror and he didn’t look too convinced, but he let it slide anyway.

“Well, I talked to Rosie and she said you have today and tomorrow off if need be, so I guess that means no more nursing your hangover at work?” Vic lamely jokes.

I swished around some water in my mouth and spat it out into the sink. I grabbed some paper towel and wiped my mouth along with drying my hands. “I thought you said this breakfast place of yours cured hangovers,” I said.

“Yeah, but let’s face it, you’re going to be nursing that thing for awhile,” Vic says with a small smile.

I groaned and threw my used paper towel away. “Asshole,” I grumbled.

“Actually, I believe that title belongs to Kellin,” Vic corrects. “He was the one that convinced you to go through with this after all.”

I thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement. “You’re right, this is his fault,” I say thoughtfully. “Next time you see him, call him an asshole for me.”

This caused Vic to chuckle a bit and he smiled casually at me. “Well, you could just tell him yourself,” Vic suggests.

I laughed a bit myself and sarcastically said, “Right, because I’ll totally be seeing Kellin Quinn sometime in the near future.”

Vic shrugged and gave me a small, innocent smile. “You could today,” he told me.

My eyebrow immediately shot up and I gave Vic a rather questioning look. He can’t be serious, I thought to myself. Vic saw my look and his face twisted up in confusion. “What?” he asked innocently.

“You can’t be serious,” I repeated my thoughts.

“But I am-”

I couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that. Vic just looked even more confused, if not a little hurt, and I just shook my head at him. “Don’t you guys ever get tired of me hanging around?” I jokingly ask, although I could hear the slight serious tone in my voice.

Vic reached up and scratched the back of his head nervously. “Honestly?” he asked. “Not really- or at least I don’t. I see you almost everyday and the guys see you once or twice a week. I know the guys love it when you’re around and Kellin has seemed to have taken a liking to you as well, so-”

“But you guys are discussing touring and the show next week,” I pointedly tell him. “This isn’t just some hang out, Vic- I can’t crash this!”

“It’s not crashing if you’re invited,” Vic jokes. I give him a look and Vic sighs. “Alright, so we’re doing a bit of business, but we’re just going to discuss the serious stuff for an hour and then all go hang out and act like a bunch of idiots. Besides, which would you rather do; hang out at your apartment all alone or spend your day off with your best friends?”

Vic was giving me a wicked smile and I could tell that he thought that he made his argument pretty convincing, which I’ll admit, he did, but I wasn’t going to inflate his ego so quickly.

“Nobody ever said you guys were my best friends,” I tease, causing Vic to deflate and pout a bit, “but I guess hanging out with you weirdos wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”

“You’re mean,” Vic pouted, trying to hold back the smirk forming on his face.

“Actually, I’m Dean, but points for effort, Vic,” I say with a smile, patting his shoulder in jest.

This got a laugh out of Vic and he shook his head at me. “Just go get dressed, you dork,” he chuckled.

“Only if you’ll stop blocking the doorway,” I tell him, playfully shoving his shoulder and laughing along with him. Vic moved out of the way and I walked back into his room, grabbing my pants and flannel from last night before heading back into the bathroom to get ready. I could feel the advil kicking in already and, as weird as it sounds, throwing up had made me feel a lot better. Granted, there was still that dull, mind-numbing throbbing in my head and I still felt like I was vampire with how sensitive I was to the sun, but it was considerably better and I no longer felt like curling up into a ball and dying.

Several minutes later, both Vic and I emerged from the house fully dressed and sent off with sweet farewells from Mama and Papa Fuentes. Vivian told me I could come by whenever I’d like, and to not be afraid to crash a few more of her son’s gatherings, while Vic and his dad exchanged a few words between themselves. Most of the words were in spanish, so I wasn’t able to catch on to what they were saying, but some words Vic laughed at, some he rolled his eyes at, a few even caused him to blush. After Vivian fussed over Vic one last time, the two of us climbed into Vic’s car and drove off to whatever breakfast place Vic had in mind.

As he drove, the radio played in the background and the two of us after a while started to sing along and act like idiots. The car ride was filled with lots of laughs, jokes, and me embarrassing myself in front of Vic. At one point, the host of whatever radio show was playing took his time to talk during the middle of the song break and started to talk about the Pierce The Veil show next week. He mentioned a few things about the band and started to talk about the band’s history and rise to fame right here in San Diego when Vic spoke up.

“By the way, you’re coming to the show next week, right Dean?” Vic asked me.

I shrugged and said, “Yeah, I’d love to, but from what this guy is saying, it sounds like the show’s sold out. Plus I know how big you guys are down here. You’re practically legends!”

Vic smiled a bit and shrugged a little himself. “I wouldn’t necessarily call us legends, but thanks anyway,” he told me. “You do have a point though, the show’s been sold out for about a month now; the only way to get tickets now is to either buy them off somebody or enter one of those radio contests to win tickets-”

Hearing that caused me to frown a bit, because really, I would have loved to have gone to one of their shows. I already loved their music, but mainly I would have just wanted to have gone to support my friends.

“-that being said though,” Vic continued, snapping me out of my thoughts, “I was talking with our tour manager the other day, and I think we just might be able to sneak you in the back so you can watch from side stage-”

“Oh my God are you serious?!” I practically shout.

Vic laughed at my enthusiasm and looked away from the road just for a moment to smile at me. “Yeah!” he said. “The guys and I really wanted to you to be at the show and we knew there was no way you could easily get a ticket to the show, and either way, we didn’t want you all the way in the back anyway, so after talking with our manager, he said he’d be cool with you watching side stage for the show.”

“Vic, I swear to God, if you weren’t driving right now I’d hug you!” I say, a wide grin spread across my face. I couldn’t believe it! I got to go to my friends’ concert and watch from side stage?!

Another laugh came from Vic and he told me, “Well, lucky for you, we’re about to stop, so just give it a second.” Vic turned down the upcoming street, and staying true to his word, we only drove for another minute or two before he pulled up to a small little food joint and parked his car in the parking lot. The two of us got out of the car and I immediately ran over to him and tackled him with a hug. Fortunately for the both of us, Vic had braced himself so we didn’t go toppling over.

“I can see you’re excited about this,” Vic jokes, giving me a tight hug in return.

“Of course I am!” I tell him, finally pulling away from him to smile brightly up at him. “This is amazing, I seriously can’t even begin to thank you and I don’t know how I’m going to repay you or the guys and-”

Vic started laughing a bit again and he reached out to ruffle up my hair. “Relax Dean, it’s not a big deal,” he reassured me. “Just come to the concert with us and make sure to your little heart out.”

“I think that’s your job, Vic,” I teased, sticking my tongue out playfully at him.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t help,” Vic countered, sticking his tongue out at me too.

I playfully rolled my eyes and shook my head at him. “Whatever, Fuentes,” I mumbled.

Vic chuckled a bit and said, “Stop being so difficult and let’s just go get our food already.”

“If you insist,” I say with a dramatic sigh, causing Vic to shake his head at me. The two of us walked into the small restaurant and it wasn’t long until we were seated at a small table in the corner by the window. I squinted a bit at the sun but just shook it off.

“Okay,” I say, flipping through the menu as our waitress left, “where’s this magical hangover remedy you keep talking about.”

“Page 4 in the bottom right corner,” Vic told me, flipping through the menu himself. “Order that and a cup of coffee and you’re golden.”

I nodded at him and flipped the menu until I found the page I needed. I soon found the item, boldly labelled HANGOVER-BE-GONE, and started to read the description. It didn’t say anything about the ingredients, and that worried me a bit.

“Um, Vic?” I asked.

“Yeah?” Vic looked up from his menu and gave me a curious, almost worrying look.

“What exactly is in this?” I asked, referencing the the hangover remedy.

Vic just gave me a simple shrug. “No one really knows,” he tells me. People have tried to guess, but all the flavors are so muddled together that it just tastes like one weird thing- oh, just to let you know, it is a drink but I don’t recommend smelling it before you drink it.”

“Okay now you’re just scaring me,” I joke, yet I was also a tiny bit scared. Usually things you shouldn’t smell before drinking or eating don’t taste appealing.

Vic let out a light chuckle and gave me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, it’s not that bad,” he says. “Besides, you’ll feel way better when you’re done drinking it.”

I smiled a bit at that and said, “Something tells me you’ve done this before.”

“Well I didn’t just tell you this information from word of mouth,” Vic jokes, causing me to laugh a little bit at him. Our waitress came back and we ordered our drinks, Vic a coffee and myself the HANGOVER-BE-GONE and a cup of coffee as well. The waitress jots down our orders, gives me an almost sympathetic look, and then leaves to retrieve our drinks. Her look worried me and I gave Vic another questioning look. “Are you sure I have nothing to worry about?” I ask.

“Positive,” Vic tells me confidently.

I give Vic another look, but then just shrugged it off. “Fine, but if I die,” I add, pointing a warning finger at him, “it’s all your fault. Plus, I leave all my stuff to Tony-”

“Hey!” Vic cries. “What about the rest of us- actually, no, screw the guys, what about me?!”

“Well for starters,” I tell him, “you’re the one that killed me, remember?”

“Actually you drank the drink of your own free will and I wasn’t the one to prepare it-”

“And second of all,” I cut him off, playfully glaring at him, “Tony’s nice to me and is the only one who understands and appreciates my love for Star Wars.”

“We’re all nice to you,” Vic pouts, sticking out his bottom lip for effect. “And we all appreciate your love for Star Wars- well, everyone except for Jaime, but forget him! You just can’t leave Mike and I out like that!”

I giggled a little at Vic’s reaction and had to bite my lip to keep myself from smiling like an idiot. “Okay, okay, fine!” I tell him. “I’ll leave you two some stuff too; will you just stop making a scene?”

Vic’s mouth turned up in a devilish grin and he leaned back in his chair, content written all over his face. “Okay,” he told me casually.

I immediately started to laugh and I shook my head at him. “You bastard,” I muttered.

Vic heard my comment and started laugh along with me. He threw a playful wink my way, and at that moment, our waitress came back with our drinks. She sat down the coffees before she grabbed a medium sized glass from her tray and plopped it down in front of me.

Let me tell you folks, the green sludge that was sitting in that glass did not look like it was edible.

“No,” I immediately say, looking at Vic in disgust. “I am not drinking that.”

“Is your hangover gone?” Vic simply asked, sipping his coffee. I almost told him yes, but the pounding in my head was still present and the gross feeling in my stomach was there as well, causing me to grimace ever so slightly. This was a good enough answer for Vic as he just nodded and took another sip of his coffee. “Drink up, Dean.”

I groaned in response and looked down at the drink in front of me. It...it looked absolutely repulsive. I was so not looking forward to drinking this stuff. Fortunately, the waitress was kind enough to provide a straw for me, so I quickly unwrapped the straw, plugged my nose, and muttered a kind ‘fuck you Vic’ before I took the first sip of the alien sludge that was bound to kill me.

My eyes widened once the taste of the drink hit my tongue and I stopped drinking it for a moment to swallow the surprisingly smooth liquid and inspect the drink carefully. “What the fuck?” I quietly muttered.

Vic was in hysterics due to my response of the drink, and quite honestly, I was surprised we hadn’t pissed off any customers due to how loud he was. “What’s wrong Dean?” he asked in teasing tone. “Something wrong with your drink?”

There was actually nothing wrong with my drink, except for maybe the fact that the look of it was totally deceiving. Not only was the drink not the consistency of the sludge I was expecting, but it actually tasted really good. Vic was right in saying that you couldn’t tell what was in it; the flavors may have been muddled but it all worked together to make this drink that had a sweet, cool, and almost refreshing flavor to it.

“I don’t get it,” I mumbled, half ignoring Vic’s comment. “How does something that looks like this taste like that?”

“Again, nobody knows,” Vic explains. “Everyone who hasn’t had it expects it to be so gross and disgusting, when it all actuality, it tastes pretty damn good.”

“You can say that again,” I say, nodding in agreement before taking another sip from the drink. Whatever it was that was in this drink though was already helping me out. I started to alternate between drinking the sludge and the coffee, and little by little, I could feel my hangover melting away.

Vic and I had ordered food shortly after the drinks were delivered and I opted for a bagel with cream cheese. While the hangover was going away and I was starting to feel loads better, I was still feeling iffy about food after throwing up this morning. Vic understood me completely but also offered to buy me some more food later on if I started to feel hungry again. I told him it wasn’t necessary, but he said it wasn’t a big deal and that he couldn’t live with himself if he ended up killing me by not buying me food, so I just left it at that.

Throughout the rest of breakfast, we exchanged a few casual bits of conversation while we ate. I asked a few questions about the concert for next week and about the upcoming tour, Vic told me stories about life on the road, and we even talked about random things like sports and the weather. I also at one point told Vic I’d never been to the beach, which he was absolutely astounded by, and declared that in next upcoming months, basically whenever it wasn’t February and/or freezing cold for the beach, he would make it his mission to take me to the beach (and I may or may not have blushed at that exclamation). Eventually though, something that had been nagging at the back of my mind the entire morning refused to be silent, so as I was finishing up my cream cheese covered bagel, I took the opportunity to ask.

“So I have a question for you Vic,” I begin, wiping my hands on my napkin.

“And I may or may not have the answer for you,” Vic jokes, sending an amused smile my way.

I playfully rolled my eyes at his comment and said, “Well I would sure hope you have an answer for me, smartass.” I shook my head and continued. “Anyway, when I woke up this morning, not that it was a bad thing or anything, but I was kind of surprised to find you sleeping next to me. I was, um, just kind of wondering why you there though.”

Vic swallowed his last bite of food and put down his fork. He wiped his mouth with his napkin briefly before mildly clearing his throat and saying, “You don’t remember?”

My face scrunched up in confusion and I asked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean about last night,” Vic explained. “I woke up and found you crying, so I went over to the bed and talked to you and, well-”

My eyes widened and I couldn’t help but blurt out, “Oh my God, we didn’t have sex did we?”

Vic’s eyes widened as well and his face immediately went red. “What? N-no! Of course not!” Vic stuttered. “I wouldn’t do that to you- I mean, take advantage of you that is. No, um, well, to make a long story short, we talked a bit, I calmed you down a bit, and then when you were about to go to sleep, you asked me to stay with you so I did.”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and wiped my face with my hands. Vic watched me carefully and asked again, “You don’t remember?”

“No, not really,” I admit, looking up from the table. “I mean, I was probably still a little drunk, if not buzzed when we talked, so to say the least, last night is a little fuzzy.”

Vic nodded his response and said, “That’s understandable.” He smiled a bit at me and scratched the back of his head and added, “Sorry if I freaked you out this morning though-”

“Oh, no it’s fine,” I say with a bit of a light, embarrassed laugh. I smiled back at him and added, “Um, but I am sorry for kind of assuming that we, well, you know-”

Vic laughed a little himself and just shrugged at me. “It’s cool, Dean,” he told me. “You woke up with a hangover, probably a little delirious, and then found me next to you, so your assumptions were valid at the very least. It’s not a big deal.”

I nodded at Vic and smiled a bit. “Thanks for understanding Vic,” I say.

Vic shrugged again and said, “Like I said, no big deal. But you’re welcome,” he added with a playful wink.

I chuckled at him and shook my head. The waitress came just then and as she was clearing the table and giving Vic the check, which he insisted on solely paying for it, I happened to glance over at my watch and saw that it was almost 11 am. I looked back over at Vic and said, “Hey Vic, what time did you have to meet the guys again?”

Vic placed his card in the checkbook and looked back over at me. “Um, noon, why?” he asked, passing the book back to the waitress when she came back.

“Oh, well it’s almost 11 and depending on traffic and how long it takes to get there-”

Vic chuckled a bit at me and smiled. “Don’t worry Dean, we’ve got time,” he reassured me. “We might get there a few minutes early but trust me, we won’t be the only ones there.”

I nodded a bit and said, “Okay.” Another sudden thought crossed my mind and I found myself asking, “Is Kellin the only guy from Sleeping that’s coming along to the meeting?”

Vic shook his head and answered, “No, Justin and Gabe flew in early this morning, and if everything’s gone according to plan, Tony and Kellin should be on their way to the airport right now to pick them up.”

“Nice,” I say with a bit of a smile. In a way, I was kind of hoping that I’d be able to meet some of the other guys from Sleeping With Sirens today at the meeting. If any of the guys were anything like Kellin or even Vic and the others, then I was sure to get along with them pretty well.

Vic smiled back and nodded, saying, “Yeah. Justin and Gabe are pretty cool, by the way. You’ll probably get along with them fairly easily.”

“I hope so,” I say with a small, nervous laugh.

“Oh I know so,” Vic told me with knowing smile. I felt my cheeks heat up a bit at that, but fortunately, the waitress came back with the check so Vic (hopefully) didn’t really see it. After Vic signed off on the receipt and took his card back, he looked back over at me and asked, “Ready to go?”

“Yep,” I say, getting up from the table with him and pulled out my wallet. Vic had kept his wallet out after putting his card away and looked at me curiously when I pulled out mine, but soon figured it out when I pulled out a twenty dollar bill and put it down for a tip.

“I could have gotten the tip, Dean,” Vic started to say, but I looked over at him and shook my head.

“It’s fine Vic,” I told him. “You payed for breakfast and you’ve already told me that you’re willing to buy me food for the rest of the day, so I might as well take care of the tip.” I shrugged a bit and the two of us began to head out of the restaurant.

“Besides,” I continued, quickly thanking Vic when he held open the door for me, “it’s not that I wouldn’t trust you with a tip, but as a waitress, I know how important tips are and I just kind of felt like it’s important to give back to the staff and to maybe make someone’s day, because seriously, you’d be surprised how many people under tip.” I shrugged and added, “Someone might need that tip really badly, and either way, I want to make sure that waitress or whatever staff member that gets that tip knows they’re appreciated and gets what they deserve, you know?”

Vic listened to my explanation and started smiling by the end of it. I looked over at him when we reached his car and I couldn’t help but blush under his gaze. “What?” I asked shyly, subconsciously tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

“Nothing,” Vic said. “It’s just...I don’t know, the way you think and the way that you care about things is just really fascinating, Dean. Not very many people think like that, and I think that's amazing. It makes you amazing.”

His words made me blush even more and I couldn’t help but smile a bit and look towards the floor. “You really think so?” I quietly ask.

“Yeah,” Vic replied sincerely. “And I’m not the only one who thinks so.”

I looked back up at Vic and was met with that charming, heart warming smile of his. I found myself returning the smile and Vic reached out to ruffle up my hair. “C’mon Dean, let’s get going,” he said. “If we’re late to the meeting, the guys might blame me for trying to keep you away from them.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that and the two of us got into the car. “Oh, and we wouldn’t want that, now do we?” I teased.

“Shut up,” Vic said with a laugh as he started up the car. I stuck my tongue out at him and he stuck his right back out at me. This threw the both of us into hysterics and for the rest of the car ride, we sat there throwing jokes back and forth and acting like a pair of idiots. And for the first time that morning, that sick, awful feeling that had been rooted in the pit of my stomach was replaced with a warm, happy feeling instead. It was the best feeling ever and I never wanted to feel anything other than that pure, happy feeling.

If only I’d known all that would change faster than I’d like.

Notes

So this update took a little bit longer than I'd like, but hopefully the next upcoming chapters will make up for the time it takes me to write these up. The next chapter itself will revolve around the PTV show and the chapters after that will be a few fillers here and there until we start getting to the exciting parts of this story :)