“Dash is going to love this,” Chuck said to Alex and Sébastien as the three men carried in the alcohol that they had purchased for the night. “I managed to convince so many of her old friends to come.”

Alex grunted as he laid the beer he was carrying onto the floor. “Who can I expect at this thing anyway? Should I mentally prepare myself to spend the night navigating my way through conversations with people I don’t know?”

Sébastien chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, Alex. A few of Dash’s old friends from school will be here, but it’s mostly our own friends. Josh and the guys are in town again, so they’re dropping by. It’ll be good for you to meet them before we actually go on tour together.”

“Josh… Ramsey?” Alex questioned. “From Marianas Trench, right?”

“The one and only,” answered Chuck. “Fair warning though, he’s kind of a douche bag, but he tends to grow on you.”

“We’ve also got a surprise for you,” Jeff said in Alex’s direction as he came into the kitchen, Pierre following close behind him.

Alex let out a overly excited gasp and clasped his hands to his heart. “A surprise? For little ol’ me? Oh lordy, I do declare, whatever could it be?”

The men laughed at Alex’s antics as Pierre clapped his fellow singer on the shoulder. “Why don't you head outside and see?”

Alex pulled his eyebrows together, thoroughly confused at Pierre's direction and was about to leave the room when a familiar voice broke the silence that had settled in the house: “Why go outside to find me when I'm coming to see you, baby!” Alex looked up to see his skunk-haired best friend skip through the front door, a huge smile on his face. “Hey there, best friend.”

“What the fuck?” A huge grin appeared on Alex's face as he closed the space between himself and the lanky boy, hugging his best friend tightly. “What are you doing here, Jack?”

Jack Barakat hugged his friend in return and shrugged as they parted. “Chuck invited me to a party. You know how I love parties, dude.”

“Yeah, I do,” Alex agreed, laughing. “Come in! Give me your bag. You can stay with me. How long are you here? Have you been talking to Zack and Rian? Have you seen Cass lately? Are you still talking to Holly? How's your mo-”

“Alex,” Jack interrupted, staring at his best friend, his thick black eyebrows raised. “Calm the fuck down, man. I just got in through the door.”

“Sorry,” the light haired boy replied, “it's been a few weeks since I've really talked to anyone. That doesn't usually happen.”

Jack shook his head at his friend. “I saw Rian and Cass last week. Rian's been in California with her since we got off tour. Yeah, I'm still talking to Holly. Things are the same as they were on tour. My mom's great: just as annoying as ever. Did I cover everything?”

Alex was about to respond when he heard a set of boots clicking against the wooden stairs, followed by a female voice. “What the hell is going on down here? Has the party started already? Alex told me to be ready for 8.”

Jack and Alex turned to see Dash standing in the door of the kitchen, her thick black hair falling in curls around her shoulders, staring at the group with her hands on her hips. Immediately the boys of the kitchen were shouting back comments, each of them trying to be heard over the other.

“How the hell do you know about the party?” was Chuck's concern.

“Is that what you're wearing, cuz?”

“Fucking Gaskarth,” cursed David.

Jack's question for the petite girl was “who are you?”

Dash rolled her eyes at the group before responding, “You are the worst at trying to host a surprise party, Chuck. Ramsey's been tweeting about it all day, plus Alex told me the other night. No, Baz, this is not what I'm wearing.” She glanced down at her baggy sweater and leggings before turning to Jack and holding out a small hand. “Je m'apelle Dash McCafferty. Et toi?”

Jack's jaw dropped as he took Dash's hand in his own and leaned over to murmur to his best friend, “Alex, the cute girl is speaking Spanish to me.”

Alex rolled his eyes and pushed Jack's shoulder gently. “Don't be an idiot. She's French. Dash, this is my best friend and lead guitarist of my band, Jack Barakat. Jack, this is Dash McCafferty. She's Sébastien's cousin and singer of Holding on for Hope.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, bella,” said Jack, kissing Dash's hand with great flourish.

Dash cocked her head and smiled at the tall boy. “I'm pretty sure that's Italian, but I appreciate the gesture, Barakat.” She rolled her eyes and turned away from the boys. “I'm going to finish getting ready.”

The moment that Dash had left the room, Jack turned to Alex. “Dude, tell me you're banging that.”

“You're disgusting.”

“That's my cousin,” Sébastien warned, pointing a figure at the two men and leaving the room.

“I'm serious!” exclaimed Jack. “She's the smallest thing; she's completely got the whole sexy-rocker-chick look down. Why haven't you made a move?”

“You need to stop,” Alex warned. “It's not like that with Dash. I've known her for like two weeks, dude. Plus, we've been writing together. Some really great stuff too, man.”

Jack rolled his eyes and picked up two cans off the kitchen table, handing one to his friend. “Don't give me that bullshit, Alex. She may be a great writer, but she's also the sexiest little thing I've seen in a while; I refuse to believe you haven't once thought about it.”

“Well, yeah, of course, I'm still a guy, Jack, Jesus.” Alex admitted. “But I would never. She's Sébastien's cousin and the guys have been nice enough to let the both of us stay here now, I could never disrespect them like that. And neither will you.” Alex took a long haul from the lukewarm beer before shooting his friend a stern look. “She's off limits, dude. For the both of us.”

“Alright, fine,” agreed Jack. “I will turn down my charm on Miss McCafferty. However, I cannot be held responsible for my actions if she realizes just how sexy and attractive I am and decides to throw herself at me.”

Unable to stop from laughing at his best friend, Alex clapped Jack on the shoulder. “That's all I can ask of you, my friend. Now let's show these Canadians how to party like rock stars.”

×××

“It's so good to see you again, Dash! You look absolutely great!” Dash smiled and thanked the black and blue haired boy standing in front of her. She had known Josh Ramsey, member of the Canadian band Marianas Trench, for almost two years. He had been a part of Hanging on for Hope's very first tour with Simple Plan. She took a small sip from the vodka and orange juice that Dave had forced into her hand and glanced around the room. She hadn't even been aware that she knew as many people as had shown up tonight.

Along with the her cousin and his band mates, and of course, Alex and Jack, the four boys of Marianas Trench had shown up, along with two members of The Cab – a band that would be joining Pierre and the boys on their tour in the New Year – and a few friends she had made at the local venues over the years. Along with those few, it seemed as though each person had brought along five or six people with them. The Simple Plan house was packed, to say the least.

“So Dash,” Josh said, pulling the girl's attention back to him, “are you seeing anyone new? I mean, since you and Sam called it quits?”

“No,” she replied, looking over Josh's shoulder to see Alex watching the two of them. “No, I'm not really interested in dating right now. Excuse me for just a moment, Josh.” Dash stepped around the boy, walking across the kitchen to where Alex was standing alone.

“What's going on, McCafferty?” he said as the girl came to a stop in front of him.

Dash shrugged and looked up at him, smiling. “Escaping from Ramsey,” she said, laughing, “I'm pretty sure he was one drink away from dragging me upstairs.”

“There's a thought.”

She laughed and squinted up at the messy haired boy. “Are you enjoying yourself? The Canadians cutting it for you?”

“I don't know,” he said shrugging, struggling to stifle a smirk. “You guys are a little tame compared to we Americans.”

Dash's gaze landed on a beautiful boy who walked past her and Alex, heading into the kitchen. A black beanie was pulled down over his head and a smile was on his face. His blue eyes met hers and his smile brightened. She couldn't help but smirk as she glanced back to the boy standing in front of her. “Oh please, some how I doubt that. I just watched Baz take a body shot off Marshall. If that's not crazy enough for you, Gaskarth, then I'm starting to think you Americans are just crazy.”

“That we are, baby,” Alex replied, grinning down at Dash. “We're all kinds of crazy.”

“You're something. Now if you'll excuse me,” Dash said, patting Alex on the chest and keeping her gaze on the boy in the beanie, whose gaze hadn't wavered from her. “I see a very cute lead singer with the prettiest blue eyes that I must go talk to. Bye Alex.” She winked at the man in front of her before leaving.

“What was Dash saying?” Alex looked to his left to see his best friend standing next to him. “You two seemed to be hitting it off.”

Alex rolled his eyes, taking a drink from the beer he was holding. “Stop it, Jack. We were just talking. Besides, if you'll notice,” he gestured to where the five-foot brunette was flirting heavily with another Alex, “she's got her eye on Singer tonight.”

“Understandable,” Jack said, nodding, “Singer's a good-looking dude.”

The two boys laughed and pushed each other gently. “Come on, asshole,” Alex said, tossing an arm around his friend's shoulder. “Be my beer pong partner.”

Notes

she's proud & sometimes quiet
a true north national treasure.
she'd give her life
for the red & white.

completely a filler.
just because i'm so sorry for the wait between chapters.
i'm procrastinating finals atm,
so i'm hoping the next chapters will be out soon.