Vic

I walked outside, dragging my case behind me. Our affectionately named tour bus, The Booger, was waiting calmly on the side of the road. I was the last stop on the journey, and Mike, Tony and the crew were already on board.

Jaime had been kicked out of the band after yet another stunt to break up Mike and Tony's relationship. I hadn't agreed with the decision wholeheartedly, but it was two against one. We had yet to announce our new bassist, partly because even we didn't know who it would be. We were leaving a day early for Warped and traveling to the location of the first day, hopefully recruiting the new member there. Tony and Mike had driven out to a local bar about a week ago and had put flyers up advertising, and telling people to email us. It wasn't anything obvious that could be traced to us in case fans found out and bombarded the account. It wasn't that we don't appreciate our fans, this was just a serious piece of business and they needed to stay out of band affairs for now.

We had received almost two hundred emails, with almost one hundred and fifty replying that they'd be able to audition. We had sent them a set list that they needed to memorize and then learn the bass parts for.

I clambered on board and was greeted with a bear hug from my brother and a not as extravagant hug from Tony.

'Bye, Vic.' Kellin said from the doorway, a hint of a smile on his slightly curved up lips. He was wearing a dressing gown, held in place with a fabric belt. I smiled back at him, placing my hands on either side of his head and planting a kiss on his temple.

'I'll see you in two days, numpty.' I said, making Kellin giggle.

'Goodbye, I love you.' Kellin said, placing a chaste kiss on my lips.

'I love you too,' I said softly, mussing up his curly hair. He ducked out of my reach and slammed the door closed, banging against the door two times to tell Casey to go. The bus started up and I turned back to my partners in crime.
'Which bunk is mine?'
- - -

We ended up at the venue a few hours later, after a couple of pit stops because Mike was feeling sick. I won't go into immense detail, but lets just say he left a few surprises in the bushes. Tony and I banned him from the alcohol supply after that, because apparently he'd been drinking nonstop for a few days straight. Not even Danny Worsnop would be able to hold his liquor after that.

'You sober yet?' Tony asked, handing Mike his third glass of water and rubbing his back soothingly. He downed the glass in one go, shaking his head.

'No,' he said, clutching his head as he realised the stupidity of his action.

'Head between your legs, now.' Tony said, helping Mike onto the floor. He passed the glass to me and I filled it up again with the lukewarm water from the tap. We handed him the glass, Tony this time telling him quite sternly to sip it slowly. Mike groaned and did as he was told.

'Why did you drink so much?' I asked, sitting in one of the booths.

'Don't know,' Mike said, wobbling upright and sitting opposite me, 'seemed like a good idea at the time.' Casey hit a bump in the road, causing Mike's water to slop over the sides of the glass and Mike to go hurtling towards the door.

'Head back, deep breaths.' Tony said wearily, half heartedly following him. The bus stopped and Mike stumbled out, before whirling around and rushing back in.

'Door. Close. Now.' He said, jumping up on one of the benches and tilting his head back.

'Why?' I asked, curious.

'Fans.' Tony replied, shrugging. He waved at them through the window, giggling to himself.
'They can't see me.' I barely caught what he said, it was so soft. Not to mention Mike had started to chatter on about something.

'Well, I didn't want to puke on them.' The tour bus door opened and Casey walked in.

'We're here.'

- - -

'You're hired,' I said, shaking the young man's hand. He smiled down at me, saying,

'Thank you. It's a great opportunity.' His voice was deep, and he was a good screamer. But I couldn't say he was better than Jaime, because it honestly felt like a limb had been chopped off, without him here to crack jokes and break the ice.

'Just so you know, this isn't a permanent spot just yet. You're coming on Warped, and then we'll see what happens next.' Mike said. He had sunglasses on and was sipping more water.

'That's fine, even if I don't continue with you guys at least I'd have kick started a career.' The young man, Josh, was smiling brightly. He was quite tall and had bleach blonde hair, with no visible piercings or tattoos. He had bright green eyes and freckles, cluing us in on the fact that he may have been a redhead before turning to the dye. He had a ring on his finger and a plain gold chain around his neck. 'So, when do we get started?'

I looked over at Tony, who had barely said a word during the tryouts. I raised my eyebrows at him and he smiled, nodding back.

'So, this is main stage.' I said, walking out and looking at the now-familiar area. I had played on main stage for years, and it had barely changed one bit. I looked back at Josh, he seemed quite taken aback by the size of the stage and exactly how many people might be there.

'We usually get a few thousand people at shows, it's a pretty good turnout.' Mike said, sitting at the drum kit we had set up. I plugged my guitar into the amp and Tony followed suit.

'I've only played for thirty people, tops.' Josh whimpered. He held his bass before finding the right lead.

'You'll be a natural,' I said, fiddling with my guitar, making sure it was tuned, 'now let's play.'

Notes

Title cred: Congratulations - Sleeping With Sirens
You like? No more Jaime! :( I'm sad, but you guys hate him....