Kellin

I sighed and clutched my head, trying to concentrate on the words swimming in my vision. My mid-term paper was coming up for accounting, and I was having trouble completing it. I had spent hour after hour crammed in this stupid bunk, my headphones on, and cups of coffee lined up neatly in a row. I was going stir-crazy to say the least. I was sick and tired of reading the print on the screen, always in one of two fonts; Ariel or Times New Roman. The size of the font, which I estimated to be a twelve, as was per the norm for formal documents, felt like it had shrunk to a six, with dollar signs and other symbols decorating the page. I looked down at my textbook, the scrawled writing nearly illegible. I sighed and started doodling in the margins, drawing a feather and then a cube.

'How are you going, Kells?' Justin asked, peeking through the gap in my bunk curtain. Justin had been my company whenever I decided to stay up late. The light coming from my laptop and nightlight didn't bother him, and he seemed to long for another human to sleep with. He always fell asleep in the same position, his head on my chest and an arm wrapped around my waist.

Sometimes he nattered on about an odd topic or tried to answer philosophical questions while I was filling out tests or taking a break from my essay writing to give my poor eyes a rest. It was interesting, to say the very least. He examined each philosophical question from every angle, trying to work it out. He had arguments with himself and sometimes hit himself on the head when he missed out on something that was apparently blatantly obvious. Seeing the world through Justin's eyes and mindset was a breath of fresh air, except when he started talking about his day, when the conversation dropped a few notches.

'Fucking fantastic. This essay's due in Friday and I've barely gotten a start on it.' Justin bit his lip nod pulled out his iPhone. He showed me the screen and I groaned, banging my head back against the wall. 'You've got to be kidding me.' Justin shook his head.

'You've got, what, twelve hours?' I nodded,

'Yeah, it's due in at two.'

'Better get cracking.' Justin yawned and slithered under the sheets, placing a kiss on my cheek before snuggling into my side. He smirked at me after I hit the side of his head playfully. 'How many words?' He yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth. I hit him lightly again.

'Don't know, one thousand? Two thousand?'

'Better be on the safe side and write one thousand five hundred then.' I started flicking through my notes, trying to find the appropriate subject notes to draw inspiration from.

'This is going to take forever,' I groaned, trying to read my cramped handwriting. Justin chuckled to himself, mumbling incoherently afterwards. I finally found my notes on the appropriate topics to draw inspiration and write about. I flicked through them, underlining important points that I should probably incorporate into the essay in grey lead. Half an hour later and I was shading the blue ink marks so that I could distinguish my points from the paper that was starting to look grey. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, turning my night light off to let my eyes get some rest. I closed them for a few seconds, before I felt Justin shaking me.

'Write, Kellin.' He growled, before slipping back into a light sleep.

'Fine,' I said, growling playfully back at him and trailing a few fingers over his neck. I must have been overly tired and slightly delusional to do such a move, and apparently Justin thought so too. He slapped my hand away, saying sternly,

'No.' I giggled, switching my light back on and looking down at Justin's goosebump-covered skin. I reached my hand out again to create the shivering sensation again, but he sensed what I was going to do and slapped my hand while it was in the air.

'Write.'

Vic
I looked at my phone, checking to see if Kellin had answered to my text. It was midday, and I was becoming anxious. He hadn't been out and about all day, not even to the catering tent so that he could eat something. I wasn't sure of where his bus was, and I sincerely doubted he would still be on it. He was going crazy with his university course keeping him busy when he wasn't playing shows, attending meet and greets or having a secret rendezvous with me.

Speaking of a rendezvous, I massaged my neck lightly. He had taken to bruising my skin, and it was getting so bad that I was now wearing makeup to cover it because I didn't want to flaunt it wherever I went. I had to talk to him about it, because it was getting out of hand.

My phone buzzed and I looked down at it, a smile gracing my features as I read his familiar name.

Kellin: Sorry, I was sleeping. I was up until six.
I frowned and watched as another text appeared on the screen.

Meet me at my bus? We're next to Mayday.

I looked up at the screen and saw Derek coming towards me.

'Hey, Derek!' I greeted him warmly.

'Vic, it's been ages!' He replied, giving me a hug.

'Just wondering, but, uh, where's your bus?' I asked, pulling back and falling into step next to him. We walked along the dusty trail, the trees overhanging precariously. It looked as though they would fall on our heads at any second. The trees created a dappled effect, slightly shielding us from the harsh sun.

'I'll show you. Are you looking for Kellin? I know his bus is next to mine,' I nodded in answer and Derek continued to talk, 'how have you been, you two? Weren't you together about eight years ago or something?' Derek paused, mulling over his words. 'Eight years is a long time. Damn.'

I laughed, 'Yeah, we divorced, but it's all good now. We're a few months away from our "first" year anniversary.'

'So, what, we've known each other nearly a decade?' I nodded slowly, Derek's words sinking in.

'Yeah...' I trailed off, realising with a sinking feeling of my age. I was nearly forty.

'We should do something to celebrate,' Derek had skated over my moment of insecurity and continued chatting, 'hey, how about you come and perform a song with us? That cover we did of that Gotye song?' I nodded enthusiastically. 'How does today sound? Our show is at seven.'

'I'm on at six, I think. I should be able to make it.'

'Well, here we are. See you, bud.' Derek walked onto his own bus, leaving me on the dusty ground to navigate my way to Kellin's. I spotted his bus almost immediately, climbing on board.

'Kellin?' I called, shutting the door behind me. It was stupid, really, calling out to him like that. He was only a few steps away, digging away at the fridge.

'Hmm? Hey babe.' Kellin murmured sleepily. He yawned and gave me a kiss on the cheek before turning back to the fridge and pulling out a carton of orange juice. 'Want some?'

'No thanks.' I said, sitting down at the bench and watching him as he poured himself a glass and grabbed a bowl of cereal. 'Are you feeling okay?'

'What? I'm fine. Just,' Kellin yawned again, causing me to try and stifle the urge to, 'tired.' He finished, widening his eyes and blinking before eating what I assumed was his breakfast.

'Is it university, honey?' I asked, taking his hand and massaging the back of it. He shrugged and swallowed his mouthful. I fixed him with a stare and he nodded.

'I'm always up late - or early - trying to finish essays and revise for tests and stuff.'

'So you've only gotten four hours of sleep?' Kellin paused, furrowing his eyebrows as he performed the mental math.

'Yup.'

'Kells, that's not good.'

He snorted. 'Really? I never knew that.' I rolled my eyes at him. 'Sorry, I'm cranky when I don't get enough sleep and have been awake for less than half an hour.' He pouted and returned to his cereal, grumbling about how it might have turned to mush.

While he ate, he continued to scrutinize me, as though something was off and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

'What's that on your neck?'

'Oh,' I clapped a hand over it before mentally face palming myself. 'It's a hickey.'

'Where'd you get it?'

'You.' I said, puzzled.

'Really?'

'Yeah, and that's something I meant to talk to you about. Could you please kinda lay off giving me them? Especially when they're so big?'

Kellin nodded, looking at me weirdly.

'That's not very me. I hardly ever give you a hickey.'

I shrugged. 'You're the only one I've hung out with in that way.'

'Are you sure it wasn't Beau at one of your parties?'

'Probably not. I'd remember if he did it.' We both chuckled at that. 'Anyway, do you want to go for a wander of the grounds or something?'

'That would probably be best. I can find out when I'm playing and you can just accompany me.'

I nodded, 'Pretty much. I'm playing at six.'

'Then why the hell are you up already?' Kellin grumbled as he rinsed his dishes. I took his hand and walked out of the bus, Kellin locking it behind us. 'Let's go.'

Notes

You Me At Six - Little Death


Good going, Beau. -.-'