The next few days turned out to be some of the most relaxing and normal days we've had so far on this tour, and in all honesty, it was probably the most chill I've felt in weeks. The events on the PTV bus had been pretty uneventful so far, aside from the aftermath of all but demolshing the free breakfast buffet at the hotel a couple of days ago, and the shows had gone on normally as planned. It was almost odd to see how calm things had gotten, but I certainly wasn't going to complain very much.

Today, all of us passing the time of the road while we awaited the arrival of our next venue, the majority of us were hanging out in the back lounge while Chris and a few of the others were back in their bunks trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. The group of us in back lounge were trying to hold a random movie marathon, but honestly, most of htem got horribly bored and decided to hold an intense video game playing session instead.

I wasn't very interested in playing video games, so I had taken to taking care of a few things on my laptop, and just when our merch guy Ronnie and someone else had just complained about how it was 1 pm and we still hadn't stopped for lunch, Vic decided to disturb my sense of calm.

Well, sort of anyway.

Vic had been on his phone off and on for almost the entire morning. Yeah, he played a few rounds of games with the guys and talked with me and the other guys in the bus, but he was also consistently texting someone on his phone too, which honestly got me a little suspicious. After awhile though, he finally looked up from his phone, shoved it into his front pocket, and then looked over at me with a bit of a serious gaze.

"Hey, do you mind if I talk with you for a minute?" Vic asked me quietly. "Out in the front lounge, maybe?"

My first reaction, of course, was to promptly flip-the-fuck out over his words. However, I did manage to control myself and resorted to freaking out on the inside. "Um, sure, I guess," I say, shutting the lid on my laptop and standing up from the couch we were both sitting on. I followed Vic from the back lounge and the two of us slipped out into the front of the bus without anyone in the room so much as batting an eye at our exit. They were all too busy with their phones or the screen in front of them to be paying attention to us anyway.

The moment we stepped out into the lounge and the door closed behind Vic and I, Vic turned to face me and I asked, "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Um, well, it's two things actually," he told me with a bit of a nervous cough.

"Alright, well start with one then go to the other," I say with a small shrug.

Vic nodded in response and quickly readjusted the snapback on his head before continuing on. "Right, well for starters I guess, I have a question for you about the show," he tells me.

"What about it?" I ask him. "Because personally, I think your guys' set is amazing-"

"Oh no, that's not it, but thanks for letting me know we still look good out there," he jokes, getting a bit of an eye roll from me, "but what I was wondering is how you feel about us changing the set a bit."

That question was honestly a bit unexpected for me, and I could feel my eyebrows scrunching up in confusion at his words. "Um, shouldn't you be talking to the rest of your bandmates about this instead of me?" I ask.

Vic shrugs a bit and replies, "Yeah, but the guys are already cool with it, and I was hoping you'd be cool with us bringing you on stage-"

"Woah, wait, what?" I sputter.

A bit of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips and I swear I thought I heard him chuckle under his breath. "Dean," Vic began, "we as a band- well, mainly myself -have thought about this and were wondering if you could come sing on stage with us during Hold On Till May."

My eyes widened at his words. Me? On stage? Singing? I could barely sing in front of Vic, which eventually led to everyone there, at his birthday party! How could I manage singing in front of hundreds of people?

I let out a bit of a sigh and ran an unsteady hand through my hair. "I don't know Vic-"

"Please?" he added, his tone almost a bit desperate sounding. "We've already tried performing that song without any female vocals, but it doesn't sound right, y'know? Also your voice is amazing and-"

I snorted a bit at that and rolled my eyes, saying, "My voice sucks, Vic."

"Are you kidding?" Vic asked me in disbelief. "Dean, your voice is amazing! Like honestly, I sound like a tone-deaf walrus compared to you-"

"Oh shut up," I say with a laugh, lightly shoving Vic's shoulder as he laughed along with me. "Your voice is great, Vic-"

"Only great?" he asked with a mock pout.

I rolled my eyes a bit and let out a soft chuckle. "You know what I mean," I tell him.

"Yeah I know," he responds, smiling at me as well. "But seriously though, we'd love to have you on stage with us."

I let out another sigh, but even then, I couldn't help but think about his words. Admittedly, I had at one point fantasized about being able to perform on stage, but after the events of my 4th grade talent show, I decided that maybe I didn't want to perform on stage after all. However, this time would be different. This time, I'd be on stage with my four best friends and singing for a fairly short amount of time, so maybe it wouldn't hurt to try...

I finally looked up at Vic after mulling over my thoughts and spoke. "Look Vic, I'm not entirely sure about singing on stage with you guys, but, I'll give it a try tonight at the show-"

Vic perked up at my words and immediately broke out into a wide grin. "You'll do it?" he asked hopefully.

"I said I'd try it out," I corrected him. "If I end up liking it and it all works out, I'll sing with you for the rest of the tour. If it doesn't, then you guy's will have to deal without any female vocals."

"Seems fair," Vic says with a bright smile. I could tell he was excited about this, you could practically feel it radiating off of him, and I couldn't help but laugh at how much he cared about this.

"Yeah yeah, so what's the second thing you wanted to talk about?" I asked.

Vic's smile almost instantly dropped and he lost that excited gleam in his eyes. "Right, about that," he began, reaching up and rubbing the back of neck nervously. "Well, um-"

"Hey guys," Chris called out, coming out from the driver's side of the bus and stopping in his tracks when he saw us. "Oh, um, sorry guys, I didn't mean to interrupt-"

"It's fine, Chris," I reassure him with a small smile. "What's up?"

Chris glanced from me to Vic for a moment before clearing his throat and continuing. "I just wanted to let you guys know we're about to stop off and unload at the venue before heading off for lunch, so just get all your stuff together, I guess."

I nodded back in response and said, "Will do, thanks Chris."

"Anytime," Chris responded, nodding as well before sliding past us to go inform the guys in the back of the bus.

I watched him go for a few moments before turning back to Vic with a bit of a smile. "What were you saying again?" I asked him.

Vic blocked over at me with a smile of his own and shook his head. "It's fine, we can talk about it later," he tells me.

My eyebrows scrunched together in confusion and I looked at him with curious gaze. "Are you sure?" I ask.

"Positive," he reassures with a nod. "Besides, we're all about to go unload anyway-"

I snorted a bit at that and rolled my eyes. "What do you mean by we?" I sass. "All you and the guys are going to do is unload one small thing before you goof off and leave the rest of the heavy lifting left up to the crew."

"Isn't that what I just said?" Vic asked with a look of mock confusion on his face.

I let out a load laugh at that and shook my head at him. "You're such an ass," I joked.

"You love me though," Vic threw back at me with a playful wink.

I just rolled my eyes in response and smiled. "Uh huh, sure," I tell him. "You just keep on telling yourself that."

---

"I can't do this."

It was the middle of Pierce The Veil's set and there was only one more song to go before I went on and sang with Vic on stage. And you know how before I was saying that even though I was scared of the thought of singing on stage, it wouldn't hurt to at least give it a try? Yeah, now I didn't think that so much. I was beyond petrified. My nerves were already setting in and I could feel myself sweating through my white PTV tank top. The sad part was I hadn't even gotten on stage, and yet I already felt like everyone's eyes were on me, and that just made me want to go crawl into a hole and die even more.

Alexis, who along with Gabe and Justin graciously stayed with me while I anxiously waited off to the side of the stage for my part to come on, let out a sigh and looked over at me with a bit of a look. "Yes you can, Dean-"

"You don't know that," I mumbled like an over-grown toddler.

"Yes we do," Gabe spoke, looking over at me with an encouraging smile. "You've just got some pre-show jitters, and that's totally normal. We all get them-"

"Yeah, but I suck at singing," I say with a nervous sigh, running a hand through my hair, messing it up even more than it needed it to be.

Justin snorted a bit at that and rolled his eyes. "I kind of doubt that," he says. "Ever since Kellin heard you sing at Vic's birthday party, he hasn't shut up about how great your voice is. Honestly, I think he's jealous."

"Seriously?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably," both Gabe and Justin say in agreeance. Alexis just smiles and gives me an 'I told you so' look. I just sigh at all three of the boys and bury my face in my hands.

"It doesn't even matter," I groan into my hands. "I just know I'm going to blow it-"

"If you keep thinking like that, then yeah, you are," Alexis admits, shrugging casually as he spoke.

"Gee, thanks," I state sarcastically, finally looking up from my hands and giving Alexis an unamused look.

Alexis rolled his eyes a bit in response and shook his head. "The point is, Dean," he began, "you're beating yourself up over nothing, and the more negative you are about this, the more it'll show on stage. You did promise Vic that you'd at least give this a try, right?"

"Well, yeah-"

"Then don't sabotage it for yourself," Alexis finishes, nodding a bit and smiling slightly. As Justin and Gabe nodded in an agreement with his words, I couldn't help but admit that Alexis was at least a little bit right. No matter how nervous I was about this or how many times I kept thinking back to that horrid talent show, I couldn't bring myself down. If I sabotaged myself, then I wasn't really trying very hard, now was I?

Finally, as the opening chords to Hold On Till May started up on stage, I let out a long, breathy sigh and smiled at the guys. "Thanks you guys," I say.

"Of course," Alexis replies, smiling back at me. "Just make sure you kick some ass out there tonight, alright?"

I couldn't help but break out into a light fight of laughter at that. I was already feeling much better about the performance tonight, and even though the nerves were there, I wasn't letting it get to me.

"I'll do my best," I respond with a light chuckle.

The next few moments went by in a bit of a blur. A mic was quickly passed to me not long after my 'pep-talk' with the boys, and probably sooner than I would have liked, I was forced to take the stage.

"If I were you, I'd put that away," Vic sang out, looking out into the crowd at the singing fans. "See, you're just wasted and thinking 'bout the past again- Darling, you'll be okay..." his words hung in the air for a moment before he glanced over towards where I was standing side stage and pointed towards me. "And she said-"

"If you were me, you'd do the same," I sang as I took those few steps out to the center of the stage. The crowd cheered when I started singing and came on stage, although I don't know why, but it was enough to bring a bit of a smile to my face and help me continue with the rest of the bridge.

" 'Cause I can't take anymore! I'll draw the shades and close the door!" My voice filled the venue and it was full of raw emotion. I had always felt a bit of a connection with this song, but now, standing up on stage and singing it with Vic, all of my emotions, both related to this and other things, flooded my voice and gave it that extra edge. "Everything is not alright, and I would rather..."

I let my voice fade out as the guitar solo came in. Confetti exploded across the stage and the fans went nuts. I couldn't help but let out a bit of a laugh as I watched it all unfold and danced around with the guys on stage. I almost left to go back to side stage, but Vic caught my attention and mouthed out 'Harmonize' just before the solo ended, so I decided it wouldn't hurt to stay and finish out the song with him.

"And as the sun went down, we ended up on the ground
I heard the train shake the windows
You screamed over the sound
And as we own this night
I put your body to the test with mine
This love was out of control!
Tell me where did it go?"

The last chords died out, shouts and cheers of approval rang out through the air. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I let that feeling sink in, it was incredible. Vic and I turned to each other at the same time and I saw that he had this big grin plastered on his face with a look of wonder in his eyes. He immediately brought me in for a side hug, to protect the guitar of course, and pressed a quick kiss to the side of my head. The fans kind of went a little crazy when they saw that, but I didn't really pay that much attention to them.

"You did great, Dean," Vic mumbled into my ear, causing my cheeks to blush a light pink color. I looked up at him with a wide smile and simply shrugged, causing Vic to laugh a bit before he grabbed the microphone in front of him.

"Give it up for our lovely guitar tech, Dean!" he shouted into the mic, getting another round of cheers from the audience. I smiled out at the crowd and waved to them for a moment before running off stage, not before I gave Jaime a high five though. The moment I set foot onto the side stage and passed off my mic to one of the techs hanging around, I was met by three very excited boys and one other boy wrapping me up in a tight.

"You were amazing, Dean!" Kellin practically shouts in my ear, still clinging to me as he spun us around in a circle.

I let out a light giggle at his enthusiasm and said, "Thanks Kellin, but do you mind putting me down?" Kellin let out an exaggerated groan at my request, but put me down nonetheless.

"You were still amazing," Kellin spoke, still grinning like a fool while both Justin and Gabe shouted their cheers of approval as well.

"And you definitely kicked some ass out there," Alexis spoke up, looking over at me with the largest grin I've ever seen on him. I know I must have done something right if he was this thrilled about my performance.

"I told I would, didn't I?" I asked with a smile of my own.

"That you did," he replied. Then, Alexis did something I wasn't really expecting: he pulled me in for a hug.

Alexis wasn't much for PDA or most displays of affection. Yeah, he smiled and joked around with you and would compliment things if needed, but hugging for him was something he rarely ever did. But right now, I was getting a hug from the guitarist I had befriended from the band I hated on this tour. Funny how things work out like that sometimes, right?

Several songs later, the Pierce The Veil set had ended and it was another great show as usual. All four of the boys came rushing off the stage, but before myself or any of the other techs or crew members could grab any equipment, they were all running up to me and smothering me in a giant and very sweatygroup hug.

"Ew, no, get off you guys!" I said with a laugh, trying to squirm out of their sweaty embrace.

"Never!" I hear Jaime shout. "We've got to celebrate what you did on stage tonight!"

"Well, can you do that when you're not all so sweaty?" I asked, a slight teasing tone in my voice. "This is starting to get pretty uncomfortable."

There were several groans of complaint, but the guys did start to let go and back away from me. Once they'd all let go, I exaggerated wiping sweat off of me and then glared at my four best friends. "You're all a bunch of assholes, you know that, right?"

"We love you too, Princess," Mike teased with a small wink, causing me to roll my eyes and then motion for them to hand over their equipment. They all continued to praise me as I worked, saying that my vocals were perfect and all but begging me to continue doing this for the rest of the tour. I jokingly told them I'd think about it, but in all actuality, I was sold on performing again with the guys. I had a lot of fun singing on stage with them, so why not keep doing that?

Eventually, the entire venue had cleared out and the crew members, along with myself, cleaned up while the guys did a small signing with the fans. All of the equipment was now put away and when the signing was over, everyone got together and decided on where to go for the night to party. Myself on the other hand, wasn't so fortunate in planning on the outing for tonight. Since we'd used confetti tonight for the set, the place was still in desperate need of being cleaned. Where did that leave me? Right on freaking vacuum duty. How entertaining was that? Fortunately for me, Vic decided that he could give up a night of partying and stayed behind to help me vacuum up the confetti.

Or at least it seemed fortunate at the time.

To make a rather long story short, Vic and I started messing around with the vacuum I had been provided and honestly just made more of a mess than there was before. Our goofing around also brought us to the present time, which basically consisted of Vic chasing me around the stage with the vacuum cleaner.

"Vic, stop!" I giggled as I ran up the side steps of the stage.

"Never!" Vic shouted back in response, laughing a bit himself as he followed me up the stairs. I narrowly dodged both him and the vacuum cleaner as he sprinted closer to me, and the chase went on for a few more moments until Vic finally ditched the vacuum cleaner and ran towards me with an extra burst of speed.

"Gotcha!" he cried, snaking his arms around my waist and abruptly pulling me towards his chest. The force was a bit overpowering for our center of balance though, because instead of steadying out like I'm sure Vic wanted to, we both ended up toppling down towards the ground below us.

With a soft 'oof', we both hit the floor with me on top of Vic. We both looked at each other in a moment of silence before we both burst out into a fit of laughter.

"This is all your fault," I say as both of our giggles began to die down.

"You're right, it totally is," Vic admits, causing himself to chuckle even more at himself.

I rolled my eyes jokingly at him and shook my head ever so slightly. "You see," I scolded playfully, "if you hadn't started patronizing me with that stupid vacuum cleaner, we wouldn't be in this me..." As my sentence trailed off, I had finally looked down at Vic and suddenly realized just how close we actually were. Yeah, we were already close thanks to me falling on top of him, but right now, right in this moment, all I could see was Vic. Vic and those beautiful, dark brown eyes of his that just always seemed to have this certain light or spark to them, like he was always interested in what the world had to say. And right now, those gorgeous eyes were getting closer to my own blueish green ones, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going to happen next. But the thing is, even though I wanted that so badly, I couldn't bring myself to actually do it. It was like I had this mental block that wouldn't allow me to even comprehend actually doing that, and now that this was actually happening, I panicked.

In less than a second, I was rolling off Vic and bouncing up to the balls of my feet. I was desperately hoping that the sudden bright blush traveling to my cheeks wasn't noticeable, and I let out an awkward cough as I scrambled to go retrieve the previously discarded vacuum.

"Speaing of vacuums," I say, trying not to sound as awkward as I felt, "we should probably continue doing that."

Vic let out a bit of a frustrated sigh as he got up from the floor and started to make his way over to me. "Dean," he began, only to get cut off by my rantings.

"Do you know what time we have to be out of here?" I quickly asked, fumbling with the actual vacuum itself. "I think I remember Chris or Danny saying something about having to be out by a certain time."

"No," Vic replied, "but-"

"You know what? It's fine," I said with a nervous laugh. "Who needs time restraints anyway? Definitely not me."

Another sigh came from Vic as he said, "We really need to-"

"Oh well, we still need to get started," I rambled on, starting to walk away with the vacuum in tow. "This place won't vacuum itself."

"Dean, will you just-"

"Hey, do you know where the outlet is at?" I began to ask, but my sentence was never fully completed. Suddenly, as I fiddled with the extension chord and nearly dropped it on the ground, I felt Vic grab my arm from behind and turn me around. I even almost asked his what he was doing, but before I could even open my mouth, Vic was cupping my face and did something I never thought would happen in a million years, even after a few moments ago. As Vic's lips crashed onto mine, my entire body went into a state of shock. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't think. Only one thought was present and aware in my mind, and that was this:

Holy shit, Vic was kissing me.

Notes

First off, I want to apologize for taking this long to update. Due to some personal reasons I will not mention, I couldn't update or work on the chapter as much as I would have liked. Also, originally this wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be more of a drama filled chapter, but I wasn't in that much of a mood to write that, and I also figured you guys deserved this after waiting so long.

Annnddd speaking of that, you guys have literally been waiting for forever for this to happen, so here you go!


UPDATE: edited as of 12/25/15