Destined To Explode

I’m exhausted by the time that Evan and I make it to the hotel that the four guys have been staying at while they have been handling press matters. Our flight had been delayed over and over again due to the weather but we finally made it, six hours later than expected and with the plan of crashing on someone’s hotel bed for a nap out of the window because we need to set off for the first venue, I’m pretty much dead on my feet.

Evan had managed to grab a couple of hours shut eye while we waited for the weather to clear, having been used to sleeping in the uncomfortable chairs from years of previous experience – experience which I never thought that I would be jealous of.

“That was the worst fucking day of my life.” I grumble as we finally stumble into the hotel lobby, both of us lugging a case and a carry on each, my duffel bag heavier than I had planned thanks to the items which I had offered to bring the boys, seeing as though they had forgotten then whilst packing the first time around.

“As soon as I get on that bus, I am sleeping. I don’t care if people need to talk to me about shit; it’s going to have to wait.” Evan groans as we wait for the elevator.

We both ride the elevator up to the fourth floor, Evan dawdling down to Matt’s room, while I’m thankful for Alex’s being the first on the corridor despite the fact that I’ll probably only get the best part of an hour in there before we’re all shuffling back out again.

“Good flight?” Alex grins as soon as he opens the door, laughing and stepping aside as I reply with just my middle finger, shoving the heavy carry-on bag into his hands and continuing on into the room to flip Jack off too.

“You’re both dickheads for forgetting your laptops.” I complain, leaving my case just beside one of the beds before I collapse facedown onto the soft mattress. “And I’m never flying anywhere when it’s snowing again.”

“Hey! I was rather distracted when I was meant to be packing stuff, remember?” I can just tell that Alex has his eyebrows raised, teeth biting into his tongue to stop the laughter while Jack watches, either clueless to the hint or just barely catching on.

“That’s disgusting.” Jack mutters and I guess it’s him who walks by and kicks one of my legs that are hanging off the side of the bed. “I don’t want to hear about that shit.”

“Jack, go get ‘whiny bitch’ her surprise for me? I’ll have her in a good mood by the time you get back.”

“Again Alex –“ Jack’s sentence is cut short as the room’s door is slammed shut and then I’m being rolled onto my back by Alex’s soft hands.

“Was the flight really that bad?” Alex pouts, grabbing my hands and tugging me up so that I’m standing, arms enveloping me in a hug as I sigh and shake my head.

“Just the delay. I’m shattered.” It’s annoyingly comfortable to be cuddled up close with Alex when I’m trying to feign anger towards him, my arms betraying me as they loop around his back. “I need some sleep soon.”

“Not just yet.” He hums, kissing the top of my head before leaning down to capture my lips, moaning low in the back of his throat as I press back. “You’ve got to see your surprise first.”

Like it’s a rehearsed play, Jack bounds in and I can’t help but grin at the sight of my favourite redhead behind him. “Fluffy!”

Travis yells something incoherent back as he almost tackles me to the floor, pulling me away from Alex. “Why didn’t you ever fucking visit?!”

I ignore his question, not even beginning to think of an excuse as I start tugging my hands through his hair, like I’m suddenly his Mother. “Why don’t you ever brush your birds nest, twerp?”

“I told Jack this is what you would do! Can I at least make it through a week of tour without you taming it again? I looked ridiculous the last time that you straightened it.”

“You’re on the tour? Is Dan Dan here?!”

So maybe I hadn’t been paying total attention when Alex had told me who else was joining us on the tour apart from Hey Monday but now I was kind of glad that I didn’t know because Travis suddenly turning up had cheered me up even more.

“Wait! Alex, what did you do to your hair?”

* * * *

“So, the only changes to the normal schedule is that load in is now at eight, not seven-thirty. If we get there late for some reason then it’s as soon as we stop, obviously. Other than that, there’s nothing new.” Someone clears their throat behind me and I guess they gesture to me because Matt’s eyes flick down to where I’m sat on the floor, leaning against Jack’s legs. “Poppy’s been on tour before, she knows her shit. Man, she lasted two months on tour with these guys in a van; I think that she can handle this.”

“What about bunks?” Jeff’s voice, so I guess that it was him that wanted to clear things up.

“Well, she can have Mike’s old bunk if she wants, so just try not to throw your dirty clothes in there anymore. I just assumed that she would be sharing with Alex now.”

One of the guys whistles at the statement and I just know that it’s Vinny and without even having to turn around, I manage to swing my fist into his calf, earning a high five from Jack and Matt who has now turned from his manager role back into one of our friends.

“See how much fun she’s already bringing to the tour.” Jack ruffles my hair like I’m the childish one. “It’s like having an extra me for the next four months!”

There’s a collective groan as everyone suddenly decides to go and pick their bunks, tugging luggage back with them while Jack and I just sit and chuckle quietly to ourselves.

* * * *

After a couple hours nap (which I do end up taking in Mike’s old bunk because Alex was literally sprawled over his when I had finally gone into the middle part of the bus) and a thermos full of sweet coffee courtesy of Rian, a group of us take up in the back lounge, TV quietly playing an old re-run of Kenan and Kel, something that I didn’t even know that Nickelodeon played anymore.

“I want to hear some funny stories about Poppy.” Grieco states simply, the previous conversation having died down so it’s just being discussed by Rian and Cass, who had come over from her bus when we had stopped for gas.

“There’s far too many, I don’t know where to begin.” Zack snorts. “She was completely mental as a teenager.”

“There must be some that stand out.”

“Well, we once found her asleep in a bath.” Alex smiles at me as I shake my head at him. “We had taken her to a senior party, lost her when we had all gotten drunk ourselves and then found her at four am, snuggled up in this person’s bathtub.”

“I still don’t remember how exactly that happened, just that it took two of you to actually get me out and that I hurt for days after.”

“She fell asleep in a tree once as well. Just sat up on this branch, snoring away… I don’t think that you were even drunk then, Pops.”

I can’t help but laugh as I remember Jack and Alex stood at the bottom of the tree, yelling at me to get down before I broke my neck or something along those lines until I managed to shuffle myself to the ground, only to be lectured as they walked me back home.

“I once saved her from getting hit by a car.” Rian smirks while Grieco raises his eyebrows in question. “I know that it doesn’t sound funny but it is! We were at another party, she had tried to get herself home, fallen because of her shoes and she just sat there in the middle of the road, crying. There was this car and I don’t think that it had seen her so I like dived into the road and pulled her out of the way. The car pulled into a drive a few feet away from us in the end.”

I roll my eyes as they carry on talking about the old days and how much of a dick I had made of myself, my hands running through Alex’s new blonde hair while his head is resting in my lap, the strands finally free of his beanie, Jack’s head leaning on my shoulder as he continues to laugh at everything that Rian, Alex and Zack are remembering.

It feels just like it did when I first toured with them. Sure, there’s a lot more people with them now, we’re not cramped into a van, I’m ‘officially’ dating Alex and I’m technically working for them but it’s a comfort to me at least because even after the years that I had been away, they were exactly the same boys that I had left behind.

Notes