Bring me home.

“Roar!” I jumped a foot in the air as my flatmate snuck up behind me, again, causing me to drop the t-shirts I was carrying.
“You can't keep visiting me at work, Kaysey.” I laughed. “I live with you for gods sake!” I picked up the shirts and started re-folding them. This was her third visit today.
“But I picked up your present!” I turned to see her puppy dog eyes staring at me and raised an eyebrow, enticing her to continue. “I think you'll hate me, but it'll be worth it.” She shoved an envelope into my face and I turned away from my work in order to open it. I could guarantee that if I tried to put off opening the letter until we got home she'd pack a fit right here and now. I ripped open the white packet, revealing two stiff yellow cards. I pulled them out and flipped them over to reveal the band that Kaysey had paid for us to see the next day.
“Kaysey...” I groaned as I stared at the name.
“Riiieeeeee...” She mimicked.
“All Time Low?” I shook my head. Kaysey's expression suddenly turned from excited to pissed off.
“Eventually, you are gonna have to tell me why you are so averse to seeing our favorite band live.”
“I-I-I can't see Ales, Kay. I just can't.” I sighed in defeat. I hadn't told Kaysey about the history I had with Alex.
“You don't even know him.” Kaysey snatched the tickets from my hands and waved them in the air. “What, are you afraid you're going to faint when his face appears? Geez.”
In truth, I would love to see Alex again, but after ten years I'm afraid he's forgotten me. I've followed All Time Low since they started but I couldn't cope with the reality that Alex wouldn't recognize me.
"You are coming with me to this concert, Caitrina. And you will stand at the front and sing with me. We will swoon over Zack and scream rude things at Jack." Kaysey held my shoulders and told me sternly before throwing a wink my way and leaving. Oh, no. This was not going to be fun. The concert was on the 29th of September. My birthday, which happened to be... tomorrow.


"Happy Birthday!" A body jumped onto my bed and I pulled the covers over my head and groaned. "Get up, idiot!" Kaysey kept bouncing until I rolled out of bed and hit the floor.
"No, I'm old." I grumbled as I lay there. "And you're gonna make me do stuff." I could feel Kaysey nodding enthusiastically and rolled over to look into her excited face.
"We're going shopping! We have to get new clothes!" I sat up and pulled on my Pierce the Veil Crew Neck.
"No, we went shopping last week." Kaysey's wardrobe was never ending.
"But last week we didn't have a concert to go to!" This fact made me groan even more. Tonight I would have to face everything I had been avoiding, my best friend.

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Alex's eyebrows knitted together in disappointment and I ran my hand up my arm nervously.
"Mom and dad are sending me back to England." I whispered.
"What!?" Alex shot to his feet and started pacing the floor of his bedroom. "You can't leave me here! We moved here together! Your family arrived in Baltimore a week after mine, we've been together ever since we were little. You're my best friend!" Alex's outburst had triggered the tears I was trying so desperately to keep in.
"They want me to go to boarding school in England and live with my grandparents. They never told me why. I don't have a choice!" I yelled as Alex's fist made contact with the wall.
"Fuck!" Alex fell into my arms and we sobbed together as we prepared ourselves to be torn apart for an unknown amount of time, maybe even forever.

"How about this one?" Kaysey held up a black tank with white print on it and I smiled, as much of a pain in the ass Kaysey was, she knew me well. I snatched the top and picked up the jeans we had found earlier and headed for the changing rooms. I pulled on the outfit and smiled at the results. It was perfect. I headed out and met Kaysey who had just changed into her picks for tonight. She had a black tank with a cross that had been studded into the material and red plaid pants. We both giggled and spun for each other before declaring ourselves perfect, changing, and heading for the checkout.
"I'm so glad you actually agreed to come." Kaysey smiled as I swiped my card and sneakily grabbed my staff discount.
"Well, it was a present, and I'd do anything for you." I stuck my tongue out as Kaysey slid her items onto the counter and I grabbed my bag.
After Kaysey had paid we wandered through the rest of the mall, coming up blank for anything else we wanted. We both grabbed sushi before jumping in my celica and heading home.
"I'm so excited, and we got backstage passes! We get to meet the band!" Kaysey had broken that part of the present to me when I had got home from work yesterday, I was less than impressed. Not only did I have to be in the same room as Alex, but now I had talk to them. I just prayed I had grown up enough in the last ten years that they didn't notice me.

"Come on!!!" I was trying to tie my shoe as Kaysey threw my keys at me from across the flat.
"I'm coming! Chill out, we have loads of time." I laughed at her excitement and followed her out of the house. We slid into the car and turned Don't Panic up full volume before I took off through the streets of Birmingham towards the arena.
The crowd was huge. The line stretched around the block and Kaysey smiled as she held our passes, allowing us to skip the line and watch sound check before the concert began. Kaysey pushed us towards security and showed the guard our passes who ushered us inside and we followed the signs to the doors which would lead us into the room where we would watch All Time Low play live. The room had already got about twenty five others who had made the most of being Hustlers and brought passes. Kaysey and I sat down at the back as Danny and Matt ran around on stage, organizing everything while Jeff fucked around with the lighting. The girls gathered by the stage squealed hellos as Alex jumped on to sing a couple of notes into the mic. I cowered in the corner as I stared at my old best friend. He had grown up so much. I had watched this happen through magazines and YouTube, but seeing him in person after all this time made my stomach flip and my heart race. I followed Kaysey towards the stage after he had left and jack was picking a few strings. We made eye contact briefly and he handed his guitar to Danny, his eyes never leaving mine.
"Rie?" He mouthed and I raise a finger to my lips, begging him to keep quiet. HE broke out into a massive grin before running off the stage. I swear to god, Barakat, if you tell Alex, you're dead.

"Hey, Birmingham!" Alex yelled as he jumped onstage. We all cheered as the band fucked around a bit. "This first song is called Somewhere in Neverland, I wrote it about a girl I knew a very long time ago who moved away." What? I stared at Jack who had quickly spotted me in the front row and he giggled as he began to strum. Somewhere in Neverland was about me? No, of course it wasn't. Then again, who else would it be about?
We danced and jumped around to the first few songs and I stood dead still as I looked up at Alex who had gone silent in the middle of Oh, Calamity.
"R-Rie?" His voice echoed through the speakers and the crows went quiet as the band stopped playing. At this point Jack was doubled over in stitches and Kaysey kept nudging me, asking me how Alex Gaskarth knew my name. Alex erupted into a massive grin and yelled into his mic. "I promise you we'll start this song again, but who wants to hear Remembering Sunday?" I shook my head as Alex reached down and pulled me onto the stage.
Oh, fuck, no.

Notes