Driving Me Crazy...

There's some abuse in this chapter. If you feel this bothers you, read at your own risk.

(Jack P.O.V.)

Dani jumped onto my back just as we were making our way back to the bus. Gosh, she must only weigh 90 lbs. She's so light!

"Giddy up!" She yelled and I laughed at her, holding her legs to keep her up.

If Dani wants a pony ride, Dani gets a pony ride.

I started neighing and making horse sounds, causing her to laugh, then took off running. If it wasn't for playing football, I'd be completely out of shape. I wouldn't be able to make it, but I did. We reached the bus and I stepped inside. I sat down on the couch with her still on my back, so she was sitting behind me and I leaned back.

"Haha, Jack. You're crushing me!"

"Oh, am I now?" I questioned her, sarcastically, pushing back a bit more. She began laughing as I did this. Oh, her laugh. It's so adorable. Her laugh could cure cancer, awaken those in a coma, and bring world peace. At least, that's what it did to my mind. She could easily put my mind at rest. Just like that.

I suddenly felt her prodding her finger into my sides.

"Not gonna work, sweetheart. I'm not ticklish." I smiled at her attempts. She huffed and gave up. "You done?"

"Yes." She said almost inaudibly and pouted her lip. I really wish she would stop doing that. It's too damn cute and it tempts me to kiss her. I can't kiss her. She's the type to take things slow. I can't screw this up. If I rush her, then it only comes out bad on my end.

I stood up and just as I did, she threw a pillow at my face and jumped on top of me, forcing me to the ground. She grabbed another pillow and began beating me with it. I only blocked my face and laughed at her.

Luckily, Alex walked in. I don't mind her attacking me and play fighting, but she just so happened to be straddling across my dick and one wrong move would make this situation extremely awkward, if you catch my drift. Plus, my play fights tend to go to the bedroom when it comes to girls. There are some girls I can control myself with, but I'm not sure I have that kind of self-control when it comes to Dani.

"You're having a pillow fight without me?!" Alex charged at Dani, picking her up, removing her from the position that would lead to a terribly awkward moment, and carried her to the back, setting her down on the couch. "Now, I want you to sit here and think about what you just did. Nobody, NOBODY, on this bus is allowed to have a pillow fight, and/or tickle party without me! Nobody!" He yelled at her, playfully and left the room, shutting the door behind him. He came running back to the front of the bus and dragged me out with him just as Dani came out, looking confused as Hell. Alex dragged me outside and stood beside the door, leaning against the bus and pulling me to stand by him.

(Dani P.O.V.)

I walked back out of the lounge to see Alex rushing outside with Jack in tow. Where the Hell are they going? I followed outside to see they were no where in sight. I turned to head back inside and was immediately lifted over Alex's shoulder.

"Alex!" I screamed. Alex walked off, carrying me through the bus lot. Jack was following right behind, laughing at me. "Jack! Help me!"

"Jack isn't going to help you, princess; he's in on it." Alex confessed.

"Set me down this instant, you peasant!" I yelled at him, hitting his back.

"Peasant?! I AM YOUR KING!!" He turned around, set me down, and pushed me to Jack. "Take her to the 'torture chamber' for insulting her king!" Jack turned around and I hopped on his back.

"Where is this 'torture chamber' you speak of?" Jack questioned 'the king'.

"We have sound check before tomorrow." He answered, pulling out his phone.

"No, anything but sound check! I don't want my ears to bleed!" I begged, sarcastically. Alex and Jack chuckled at me.

Alex dialed a single number in his phone before hitting call. My guess: Speed dial. He let the phone ring for a second before speaking up.

"Hey, Rian. Sound check. Get Zack and come on." He said briefly before hanging up. "Gee, when did I become the responsible one in the band?" Alex put his phone away and Jack laughed at him.

We made it to the stage to see Zack and Rian already waiting, sitting on the edge of the stage. Jack brought me up the side stairs and set me down backstage before he and Alex headed on stage. They talked to the other two for a minute and soon they began their sound check. Alex first. It took nearly 15 minutes to get him set up and, like I've said before, patience isn't my best attribute.

Just as I left the stage I received a text from my mother. This is sudden. My mother and I haven't talked since I was eighteen.

-Mom: Your father is out of prison.

Just with reading that line, I felt my heart stop. I re-read the text over and over like maybe I misread it. Like somehow it would change. Like maybe, after all of these years, it would be my mom telling me she loves me and just wanted to check in on me to see how my new life is working out for me. I was just hoping that she was telling me anything but this. Not this.

"Dani, what are you doing out here?" Zack called from the backstage door and pulled me out of my trance.

"Uh, I-I'm just heading back to the bus."

"You okay?" He raised his brow.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired. I'll talk to you later." I rushed, letting the words tumble out of my mouth as I turned and walked away rather quickly.

As soon as I made it to the bus, I headed for the lounge, shut the door and broke down, tears streaming down my face and my sobbing was uncontrollable.

I can't believe he's out. He's been in prison since I was 17. It's been 5 years. When I was 11 he started drinking. He got so stressed. His mom and his sister died in a car accident and he was grieving and became really stressed and lost his job. My mom was always on his back about it and that didn't help the situation at all. He began drinking. He would come home every night wasted. It became a habit. He came home one day to my mom griping him out. He'd had about all he could take. He snapped.

My mom had a bruised eye the next day and wouldn't tell me why. I found out soon enough though. He began to beat us, my older brother and I, as well. Every little thing we did would lead to us getting hit. My brother would be 23 now, if it weren't for my dad.

Kyle, my brother, came home from work while I was at a friends house. He had walked in on him beating our mom. She was on the ground, curled up and crying, and my dad kept kicking her. Kicking her, and kicking her, and kicking her. Kyle got sick of it. He went straight up to our dad and punched him in the face. They got into a huge fist fight.

My dad won.

Kyle died with a fractured skull, six broken ribs, a dislocated arm, and bruises all over. My dad went to prison. Kyle died at the age of 19. Fucking 19! Because of that fucking bastard!

Just as I stopped crying, I heard the bus door open.

"Hey, Dani?" Alex's voice called out. I didn't answer. I moved away from the door, grabbed a blanket that was laying on the couch, layed down with my back facing the door, hoping he'd come in, see I was sleeping, and leave. I hope for too much. The lounge door opened and I felt the couch sink in next to me and Alex's hand layed on my shoulder. "Hey? Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." Were the only words that came out of my mouth and they sounded a bit more choked up than I wanted them to be.

"Bullshit." Alex pulled me up and into his chest in a firm hug. "Don't lie to me, Dani. I saw you rushing off, away from the stage. Zack even said you didn't look too good."

"I'm fine, Alex. Don't worry about it."

"What did I say about lying?" I could tell already that he wasn't going to give this up. I felt the tears stinging my eyes once again. I didn't want to cry in front of him. I didn't want to tell him about my dad and burden him with my problems. I just wanted him to drop it. I wanted him to let it go and leave me be.

I began crying into his t-shirt and he tightened his arms around me, rubbing small circles in my back. He let me sit there and cry for a while. I finally pulled away and once I did, Alex's eyes locked with mine. They were full of concern and, quite obviously, awaiting an explanation.

"I- My dad. He's out of prison." I told him. He nodded slightly, asking me to continue. I leaned back into the wall behind me, pulling my knees into my chest. I let out a small sigh, attempting to collect my thoughts. "My dad went to prison five years ago for murder and abuse. From the time I was 11 until I was 17 he would drunkenly abuse me, my brother Kyle, and my mother. A few days after I had turned 17 I went to a friends house. I came home and there were police all around my house and an ambulance. When they let me through to see my mom she was sitting in the ambulance crying. The paramedics told me she had a few broken ribs and severe bruising on her left side. The moment I asked where my brother was, her face alone was enough to make me expect the very worst. But-" I broke down into sobs once again and Alex pulled me into another hug. "I-I never expected her to tell me he- to tell me he was dead." Alex pulled me in closer, tighter, and once again, we just sat there in silence as he held me, letting me sob into his chest.

"I know how you feel." Alex broke the silence. "I lost my brother when I was 12. He was an alcoholic and at the age of 21, he committed suicide." He pulled away from me and tugged off his fingerless glove on his left hand, revealing a tattoo of a rose with the initials 'T.E.G.' tattooed beneath it. "I got this tattoo in remembrance of him. His name was Tom." I looked back up at Alex. He just stared at his tattoo for a minute. Like he kind of zoned out and forgot I was there. When he finally remembered he wasn't alone, he met my eyes and gave me a weak smile. His eyes held so much pain. He held eye contact for a moment. He suddenly broke it, glancing at my lips before bringing his eyes back to mine. He let out a sigh and turned away to get up. I suddenly released a breath I had no idea I was holding.

Alex cleared his throat. "Uh, I'm gonna head over to the Pierce The Veil bus. W-We're probably going to have a few drinks and hang out. You in?" He asked, avoiding eye contact.

I thought about it for a while. As much as I'd like to get this off my mind, drinking isn't such a good idea. I still don't trust myself enough to start drinking.

"I'll pass. Thanks."

"So, you're just gonna stay here?" This time only glancing up at me.

"Uh, yeah. I think I'm just gonna go to bed. I'm just ready to get this day over with." I'm already getting a headache from crying.

"Alright." Alex grabbed my phone off the table, put his number in it, and handed it to me. "Shoot me a text if you need anything." He gave me a hug and headed off the bus.

Wow, that got awkward pretty quick.

I looked down at my phone and smiled to myself, seeing Alex's contact name.

'My King ;)'

I pulled some shorts and a tank top out of my suitcase, changed, and went to my bunk. I fell asleep pretty quick. Today was ruined so quickly. All it took was a single text.

Notes

First of all, DO NOT believe all that I said about Tom in this chapter. Alex himself said Tom had died at the age of 21 when Alex was 12. He also said that he was an alcoholic. But, the 'suicide' part of the story is just a rumor I had heard. Alex has never released much detail about Tom, so writing about him is quite hard. Alex doesn't ever say much about his life when he was younger. He doesn't like to dwell on the past.

"This band definitely has an image and has developed a front or a persona that many people, at least from the outside, see as one-dimensional. People think we’re the happy guys who talk about partying all the time, but I think the people who really know the band, the fans who really dive deep, know there is more to what we do. I don’t know if I wish, or even care, for people to know more about me or my life as long as people like the music and can connect to something in it then that’s all that really matters to me. Outside of that, it’s not a struggle for me. I’m not trying to show people another of me or prive myself, I’m not begging for people to hear my sad stories and realize we’re more than what you see in the photographs. We’re having a good time and people can follow it and delve as deeply into it as they want." ~Alex in Rock Sound interview.

Sorry if I may have lead you to stray beliefs.