"Charlie! Wake up!" The sound of my older brother, Ben, yelling at me woke me from my slumber. He had his hands on my upper arms, shaking me vigorously, trying his best to grab my attention – although, it seemed a little unnecessary. Slowly, I allowed my eyes to open, just enough that I was still glaring at him begrudgingly, but once my eyes took in my surroundings I realised we were on the plane, and we had just landed. "Come on!" he groaned in annoyance at me, getting to his feet and joining the queue of people waiting to get off the plane. I grabbed my carry-on and followed his lead.

"Oh my god..." I exhaled in contentment as we stepped into the sunshine, on our way to our Uber ride. "It's actually warm..." I sighed, the guys laughed. Being from England, we experienced high temperatures almost never, and so this was both a blessing and a curse – on one hand it was a nice change, but on the other hand none of us were used to it. Luckily, I had dressed appropriately; a cropped tank, some jean shorts and a pair of sandals.

"Okay, guys, we've gotta go pick up the bus, and then we'll head to the venue," Carter Jenkins – our tour manager – explained as we filed into the Uber. Carter had been our tour manager for a while now, but he had lived in the US for most of his life prior to him moving to the UK, so having him with us at Warped Tour would be massively helpful.

Carter was a little older than the rest of us and you would think he'd get constantly irate trying to wrangle up a bunch of excitable, child-like 20-something-year-olds and getting them to listen, but he did an incredible job and he was fun to be around too, which was a bonus. My brother, Ben, had met Carter at a pub where my brother used to bar-tend; Carter would always come in and complain he had no work, – he was an experienced tour manager, but his move to England had left him no clients – until one day Ben told him about our band, The Safe Bet, and Carter was sold. Without Carter there was no way in hell we'd ever have been considered to join Warped Tour 2016.

"This is so exciting!" Adam squealed as he hopped in beside me, his arm around me, pulling me into him excitedly. Adam – or AJ – and I had been best friends since we met in Year 7 in Mrs. Dawn's History class. He had been doing a presentation on Dick Turpin and on all of his slides he had spelt it Turnip, and that was the moment I knew I needed to befriend that idiot. He was definitely the clown of the group and the fact that Adam had been an amazing guitarist was just a bonus.

I smiled up at Adam, but I was exhausted, we'd been travelling for a total of 13 hours now and I was just so ready to pick up our tour bus, get to the venue and sleep. Our first show wasn't for a couple of days, and although I'd been warned there would be constant partying, I felt like taking that time to relax and rejuvenate would be best. I was the lead vocalist of the band, and so I always ensured to take good care of my throat and vocal cords; heavy amounts of alcohol usually didn't do me any favours.

"I just can't wait to get hammered," Jenson Cooper – our party animal of a bassist – laughed, the other boys joining him in agreement. Jenson had been in my brother's year at school, but he was a lot cooler than Ben and so they never really spoke until Jenson found out how great of a guitarist my brother was through a school play they did. By this time Adam, Ben and I would jam together every now and again, but we weren't exactly a band. However, that's not what Ben told Jenson, Ben claimed we were this amazing band who jammed every night and were working on songs and all this crap and that's what got Jenson interested. Jenson joining our little jam sessions was when we really started to take this music thing seriously.

"I'm still pissed that the legal drinking age here is fucking 21!" Emmet – better known as T – exclaimed, throwing his arms out in exasperation. Emmet was the baby of the band at just 19, he was like our little brother; annoying, a little stupid, but completely lovable. Emmet joined our school when Adam and I were in Year 10; we had been searching for a drummer for a good 2 years before Emmet came along. We heard him one night in the auditorium, just practising alone, and he was phenomenal. He was young, but he sure knew how to drum, and as soon as Ben and Jenson heard him, they agreed that we had to have him in the group.

The other boys laughed at Emmet's pain, Adam even pointing at him, whilst Emmet just pulled mocking faces back. "Most of the drinking is usually done out in the parking lot, so you should be fine," Carter confirmed, raising Emmet's spirits and causing him to flip off the rest of the guys who had laughed at him with his tongue out.

Carter had been staring out of the window intently the whole car ride, looking very focused and nervous. He was probably worried that he was bringing this very new band to Warped Tour and if anything were to go wrong, it would be on him. Plus, we were going to be on this tour with a lot of relatively well known bands, not that we were completely unheard of, but this was our first tour of America, he was probably just a little anxious, but we all were too. "Okay, we're here..." Carter announced, his eyes still focused out of the window as we pulled up into a garage parking lot, where our huge black tour bus was very easily spotted, waiting for us. "Here, thanks so much man," Carter said as he passed some money to the driver and we all began filing out.

"This is so cool!" I squealed as we all looked up at the huge, shiny, black tour bus which would be our home for the next couple of months. Carter, Ben and Jenson made their way into the establishment to handle any of the adult stuff, whilst Emmet and I watched Adam press his body up against the vehicle and kiss it – a little uncomfortable to watch, but funny nonetheless.

"Okay, I'm driving for now," Carter informed us as the other three returned to us, Ben swinging the keys around on his finger obnoxiously, "but our official bus driver will be waiting there for us..." Carter continued rambling. He would always do this; talk forever about stuff despite knowing no one else cared.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Adam mocked, "let's get on there!" he exclaimed, eyeing the keys in Ben's hands.

"Okay," Carter rolled his eyes and held his hand out to Ben; anticipating the keys. Ben fumbled around and dropped them, nervously laughed and handed them over to a disapproving looking Carter.

We all filed onto the bus, dragging our luggage with us, giddy with excitement. We had dreamed about this for years and now finally we were doing it. It felt so much nicer, spacious and just more homely than the van we usually use to travel with back home. I immediately called my bunk – middle and furthest from the door – and began unpacking, as did everyone else, although Adam would not stop jumping up and down with excitement.

The drive to the first venue took around 30 minutes and by that time we were all unpacked, I was just about ready for a nap. Adam and Emmet were in the back room setting up the Xbox whilst Ben, Jenson and Carter had went on their mission to find whoever would be our bus driver for the duration of the trip. I decided I would just relax in my bunk and read a little of my book. The heat was excruciating; my fair, British skin couldn't handle it. "Does this thing have air conditioning or something?" I yelled out, flipping my page over, hoping someone would answer me.

"How would we know?" Adam snapped back from the lounge area, "that doesn't go there," he hissed at Emmet now, the pair continuing to set up their stuff.

"Cool, thanks," I muttered under my breath, sliding out of my bunk, deciding to just do it myself.

"Hey, Char, come meet Gary," Ben emerged in the doorway as I was searching the walls of the bus. He looked very excited, but I had no idea who Gary was, so I just pulled him a confused look as he dragged me by the hand.

Gary looked around in his 40s, he had short, grey hair and a slight beard, but he was very buff and covered in tattoos. He smiled and shook my hand; introducing himself as our new bus driver. "Oh, cool, hi, I'm Charlie," I greeted, smiling, although the heat was aggravating more now that we were stood directly in the sun, "do you know how to make the bus not hot as hell?" I asked, a charming smile.

He chuckled at me and we all made our way back onto the bus, "You British kids," he laughed and made his way into the cockpit to do whatever, "I'll fix it for you," he yelled out at us as I made my way back to my bunk. Jenson and Ben made their way to the back room, and Carter followed Gary, probably to talk more important, adult stuff.

"Thanks!" I yelled out and I could feel it instantly become a lot cooler as he did whatever he did.

"Okay lads..." I heard Jenson announce to the group of boys in the lounge, "We've been informed that there will be a party tonight, right out in the car park," he sounded smug and I could imagine his proud smile, as if he had organised this event.

"Orrr, nice one!" Adam cheered and I could hear them slapping their hands together and probably man-hugging it out.

"And a bunch of the other bands will be there!" Ben exclaimed, kind of fan-girl style, I chuckled to myself. Ben was a hardcore fan of a lot of the bands we would be touring with, he was definitely the most excited and sucked at trying to hide it.

"Fuck that, will there be girls?" I heard Adam question, and I could almost hear the smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes.

"I mean, duh!" Jenson laughed, like it should've been obvious.

"Okay, but booze though?" Emmet questioned.

"Don't worry, kid, drink will be supplied, no one's gonna ID you," Jenson chuckled and the other boys joined him as Emmet made mocking sounds in response.

I rolled my eyes and continued to read. I had known these boys for a long time, so it wasn't like I wasn't well accustomed to their habits, but I was a little concerned that they would let all of this hanging around famous bands, girls, potential fans and booze go to their head and forget what was most important; our music.

The guys continued chatting and setting stuff up in the back room for a little while, whilst I continued to read and listen in on their conversations – which had became increasingly more boring. After a while, there was a loud knock on our bus door. I sat up and could hear Carter greeting whoever it was; he spoke fondly with them, like he already knew them. "Hey guys, come meet Josh and the guys!" Carter yelled to us. I wasn't sure who Josh and the guys were, but apparently Ben did because I heard him practically run down the aisle towards the door.

I laughed as I slipped out of my bunk, meeting the rest of the guys in the hallway, who were also laughing at my eager brother. Jenson shrugged and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me to him as we made our way back into the unforgiving sun.

"Honestly, I love you guys, huge fan," Ben was gushing as we joined everyone on the tarmac, he was grasping Josh Franceschi's – lead singer of You Me At Six – hand with both of his most likely very sweaty palms and wouldn't let go. Josh laughed nervously and thanked him, but he looked uncomfortable.

"Good job makin' us look dead cool, mate," Jenson muttered to Ben under his breath – although we all heard – holding up an A-Okay hand signal, pouting and bobbing his head in mock-appraisal. "Hey man," he then greeted Josh as we all chuckled a little, removing his arm from me to pull the singer into a man-hug. We then continued to all introduce ourselves to Josh and the rest of the band, laughing and talking.

"You guys are so lucky to have Carter with you," Matt Barnes grinned, slapping the bearded man lightly with the back of his hand. Carter beamed in response, patting the bassist on his back and chuckling.

"Oh, you know Carter?" Ben enquired, his arm suddenly around Carter, protectively. I furrowed my brows at my brother, who was acting incredibly weird.

"Yeah... we met him a while ago, back when he was managing this other band," Josh responded, and they began laughing with Carter about some memories they had shared.

Ben began laughing loudly, despite not having a clue what they were talking about, he received a few questioning looks. "Sounds funny..." he breathed uncomfortably, looking down awkwardly.

"Ignore my brother," I spoke up, wrapping an arm around him, "he's a huge fan-girl," I laughed, ruffling his hair. The guys laughed, bobbing their head in understanding whilst Ben glared at me like I had embarrassed him.

"YO! FLINT!" we heard someone yell. We all turned to see Rian Dawson of All Time Low, making his way to his own tour bus. He was trying to grab the attention of Dan Flint, which he had done very well. "YOU, ME, DRUM OFF, AT SIX!" he jokingly threatened the other drummer to a challenge, whilst also making a pun on their name. We all laughed as Dan flipped the other guy off across the parking lot. Ben laughed way too loud, his mouth hanging open in excitement.

"That was Rian Dawson!" my brother exclaimed, his eyes lit up, "of All Time Low!" he shot me a look to ask why I wasn't as excited as he was. I slapped the back of his head lightly and he rubbed at the spot, narrowing his eyes at me.

It wasn't that none of us were excited or that we weren't fans of these bands, it was just that the rest of us were more music-based fans; we were fans of their products, but we were better at detaching the people from the music, meaning that meeting them was a lot easier for us, because we just saw them as people. Ben, on the other hand, was the type of person who once he liked a band, he would learn everything there was to know about them, therefore making a fool of himself in situations like this.

"Yeah, he's an arsehole," Dan joked, laughing. "So, are you guys coming to the party tonight?" he asked and Jenson immediately perked up.

"Fuck yeah!" the tall boy chirped beside me.

"There will be booze, right?" Emmet asked, for the second time, looking very sheepish. He was definitely the most nervous out of all of us to be here at Warped Tour, so talking to these much more famous band members was clearly making him sweat.

"Yeah..." Josh laughed, a little confused as Emmet let out a sigh of relief.

"Told ya, God, you need to chill, T," Jenson laughed, pulling Emmet into him comfortingly, sensing his nerves.

"HEY!" we heard another voice yell. We all turned once again to face the noise, and a group of four guys were making their way over to us – I recognised them as Rian and the remainder of All Time Low, which was confirmed by my brother's heavy breathing beside me. "WE HEARD THERE WAS A GIRL OVER HERE SO WE'RE JOINING YOU GUYS!" Jack Barakat – their guitarist – yelled tactlessly and everyone laughed whilst I rolled my eyes. I felt Ben nudge me, his eyes glaring at me like he was jealous, which he probably was.

They made their way over to us and greeted the guys of You Me At Six amiably, clearly already friendly with them. They seemed to be familiar with Carter and greeted him respectfully, before Ben practically jumped on them – Alex, specifically. He shook his hand way too vigorously, telling him how big of a fan he was. I heard Jenson sigh beside me whilst Adam facepalmed.

I was very well versed when it came to All Time Low, I would definitely consider myself a fan, but I was a fan of all the bands on this tour; that didn't mean I knew them, they could be absolute dickheads for all I knew. So, unlike Ben, I was much more sceptical.

As Ben clung to Alex and gushed about the first time he listened to their hit Therapy, the rest of the band made their way over to us, shaking our hands. "Sorry," Rian whispered to me after I told him my name, he pulled me closer by the hand as he shook it, "I told them there was a new band and there was a girl and Jack," he sent Jack a glare and then looked back to me, "got a little too excited, I didn't mean to embarrass you." He must've picked up on the fact that I didn't laugh at Jack's loud, ill-mannered outburst earlier.

"It's fine," I smiled. I was a little shocked by the apology honestly, it was a sweet gesture. Rian seemed like a really genuine guy and it took me back a little. Over the years I had kind of became very weary of people, and especially coming onto a tour dominated by men with loud personalities, I guess I was just expecting the worst from people.

After introducing myself to both Zack and Jack, – who also apologized – Alex approached me, licking his lips, his eyes attempting to flirt with mine. I winced a little at the smug look he was pulling, as he grasped my hand in his, shaking it whilst looking me up and down, very slowly and very noticeably. I turned to look up at Jenson through my furrowed brow, but he just shrugged and continued his own conversation with a few of the other guys. "Hey," Alex smirked, finally meeting my eyes. I don't think he was expecting me to look creeped-out, because he looked a little taken aback by the fact I hadn't fallen at his feet.

"Uh... hi," I mumbled, pulling my hand away and flashing him a fake, uncomfortable smile. "I'm Charlie."

His face scrunched up a little in confusion, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly, "Alex," he greeted, his forehead heavy with misunderstanding. I knew guys like Alex very well, they were used to having girls all over them, and they're so easily bruised when one person doesn't show them the attention they're expecting.

"Nice to meet ya," I smiled, more genuinely now. I wasn't trying to make enemies or anything; I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable around me, but I did want him to grasp that I wasn't interested in him like that.

"Uh... yeah, you too," he side-eyed me, his lips twitching up into a smirk, looking me up and down again, obviously not taking the hint. I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to show that I wasn't okay with that.

"Char's the reason I started listening to you guys," my brother interjected, still buzzing with excitement, his smile never faltering. I was thankful for his interruption, although it meant I had to continue this conversation.

Alex's eyes didn't leave mine, despite my brother clearly being the one talking to him, "Oh really?" His smug face made my stomach turn; his ego clearly inflated further by my brother's statement.

"Uh, yeah," I admitted, looking away uncomfortably, trying to find a pair of eyes to drag me away from this scenario.

"Yeah," Ben laughed, putting his arm around me, "she's a bigger fan than me, right?" he nudged me, bringing my attention back to the conversation and Alex's smug smirk.

"Bigger fan? yeah," I admitted, "bigger creep? doubt it," I hissed at my brother and he nudged me again, a lot harder this time, with a glare on his face.

"Well, we're playing the main stage on Wednesday," Alex bragged. It was currently Monday, and Wednesday would be the opening night of the tour, so headlining that was pretty awesome, but I remained expressionless as Ben gasped, "you guys should come watch, if you're not busy," he winked at me and my brother began gushing about how we'd definitely be there.

Alex smiled and licked his lips again as his bandmate, Jack, pulled him into a different conversation with some other guys, but his eyes were still burning into me as he spoke with his friend. I turned and glared at my big-mouth of a brother. It was unbelievable that not only had he not sensed my discomfort, or the fact that Alex hadn't looked at him the entire time we were speaking, but he'd also set up another encounter with the sleaze.

"Are you dumb?" I whisper-yelled at him, my brows knitted together in irritation. He tilted his head at me and looked around, as if I could be speaking to anyone besides him. He clearly had no idea what I was talking about so I just shook my head, rolled my eyes and decided to leave it. There was no point starting drama over nothing. Alex was just a horny guy with eyes for any woman with a pulse; I could deal with that, I'd done it plenty of times before.

"I can't believe we have more British kids on the tour!" Jack exclaimed loudly in the worst English accent I'd ever heard. He was clearly referring to the fact that You Me At Six and us were both based in England. It would be nice having those guys around, I could already tell. Hearing their accents and listening to their sarcastic jokes already made me feel a little less homesick.

After a while of us chatting and getting to know each other, a guy with black, spiked hair walked over and informed the guys of All Time Low that they had to go soundcheck and other important stuff in preparation for Wednesday. He came over and quickly introduced himself as Flyzik – their tour manager – before whisking the boys away. Alex shot me a look, raising his brows and half smiling at me before turning away and following the rest of them. It was so unbelievably obvious, yet everyone but Jenson – who wrapped an arm around my shoulder and laughed at my clear discomfort – was completely oblivious.

Eventually the You Me At Six boys made their way back to their own bus as the sun began to set, causing cooling shadows to form on the hot ground. The clouds thinned out against the married hues of pink and orange in the sky. "I'm gonna go get something to drink," I informed everyone as they began separating; Carter and Ben taking a look around the parking lot, whilst the other guys retreated back to the bus, probably to play some video games.

We were told that we'd have a chance to fill our mini fridge with snacks and stuff at the next gas station we stopped at, but with this being our first venue we currently had nothing besides water. Carter had explained that each venue would have a small canteen where we'd go to eat breakfast and stuff, and that there would be plenty of vending machines there, so that's where I headed. It had cooled down a lot and I felt much more comfortable, although it was still way hotter than any temperature I'd ever experienced back home.

"Hey," I heard a vaguely familiar voice as I stood debating which can of soda to purchase. I turned and saw Alex, he approached the machine and leaned against it, way too close for comfort.

I mentally rolled my eyes, but I didn't want to come off as rude so I just contained it, despite him having no problems with being rude himself. "Hey," I mumbled turning back and punching in the first number I saw, desperate to leave. Honestly, he was probably a great guy, but I had tits and therefore that had initiated this arsehole mode.

"You looked a little nervous earlier," he leaned a little closer as I bent down to grab my soda.

"Nope, not really," I popped the 'p', showing my disinterest. He shifted a little, standing further from me but still leaned up against the machine as I cracked the lid of my can and looked him dead in the eyes, expressionless.

"Oh," he coughed a little, clearly unsure of how to handle this situation.

"Yeah," I mumbled, taking a sip before turning to walk away.

"Yano, you're really not doing a great job of impressing me," he yelled after me, holding his arms out in a way to show his exasperation.

I turned on my heel and tilted my head at him, "Yano, I'm really not trying to," I yelled back before continuing on my way back to our bus. I had absolutely no idea who this guy thought he was, but he was barking up the wrong tree if he thought he'd have me worshipping him. Not impressing me, I thought, what a joke.

Back at the bus I was greeted with loud screams from the back room and I gathered that the boys had definitely set up the Xbox by now and were playing FIFA, since Emmet kept angrily yelling "THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN A FOUL!"

"I'm guessing that should've been a foul," Jenson joked as I stepped onto the bus. He was the only one not in the back lounge; he was stood in front of his bunk shirtless, trying to choose what he was going to wear tonight, like it was even important.

I laughed and squeezed past him to sit on the edge of my bunk and finish my drink. I wanted to vent about this Alex guy and how obnoxious he was but I knew they wouldn't really care, especially Ben who couldn't be further up his arse, despite being my brother.

"Black or white?" Jenson asked me as he held two shirts on hangers in front of him, swapping them over his chest to demonstrate how they looked.

"You're wearing a shirt?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "It's like a million degrees," I reminded him, falling back into my bunk as he pulled me a face. "Black," I answered after a short pause, my focus on the roof of my bunk. I voted black partially because it did look better, but also because it would attract the heat more, which would be funnier for me.

"Thanks," he said, pulling the shirt on and buttoning it up. He leant down next to my bunk, "you're coming, right?" he asked, looking a little concerned. I wasn't sure why, since he never usually cared if I attended any events.

"No, why?" I queried, raising an eyebrow in suspicion at the older man.

"Nothing..." he trailed off, "just you're a good in," he said, avoiding eye contact.

"I'm what?" I frowned.

"Like... you're attractive... and we wanna get to know all these guys..." he admitted meekly, rubbing the back of his neck and meeting my gaze with apologetic eyes; knowing how much of an arse he sounded.

"Yeah..." I exhaled, glaring at him, "all I'm good for is making you friends," I rolled my eyes and turned away, facing the wall.

"You know I didn't mean it like that," he stood up and gently hit me on the back, trying to reassure me, before walking into the back room where he received a chorus of laughter and mocking at his rather formal choice of attire.

"You know we're not going to prom, right?" Adam mocked him and the other boys screamed with laughter. I loved them but they were so loud and annoying sometimes.

"Yeah, yeah, funny," Jenson deadpanned, "AJ, go speak to Charlie," he then whispered, obviously not thinking I could hear him, "she says she's not coming tonight..." I rolled my eyes, they were so ridiculous.

I heard Adam mumble an incoherent response and then, shockingly, he appeared beside my bunk. He crammed himself in beside me, forcing me to sit up and hug my legs since there was clearly not enough room for the both of us. "You not coming tonight, Char?" he asked, looking sad. I rolled my eyes with a smirk, having known they were speaking about me. "You should, yano?" he smiled and rested a hand on my bare knee, "meet everyone, mingle, bond..." he listed, trying to convince me.

I knew he was right, it was the polite thing to do, but I was absolutely knackered from the plane ride – and I also kind of just wanted to spite Jenson for his comment. "I'll try to make it after I've had a nap or something," I gave in, although I knew full-well I wasn't actually going to.

He perked up instantly and patted the place his hand had been resting, giving me a thankful look, "good lass," he chirped and slid out of my bunk. I rolled my eyes as I heard him bragging to the others that he had convinced me.

About an hour later the boys had all left to go to the parking lot party, and I could hear music blaring and people yelling right outside. I wasn't really a party-pooper, ever, but tonight I felt myself becoming agitated by the constant noise. I tried to focus on my book, but the sound of Ben yelling about how much he loved Cobra Starship made me snap. I was shocked that over all of the commotion I could still hear my brother raving and gushing over these people like a loser. I laughed mirthlessly as I got to my feet and made my way out of the door.

There were a bunch of kegs and tables filled with refreshments set up only meters from our door, as well as ping-pong tables which were being used to play beer pong. Someone had even set up a fire pit, which people were chilling around, laughing and chatting away. I spotted Ben instantly, he was bobbing his head along with the music and yelling enthusiastically to Gabe Saporta – the lead singer of Cobra Starship, and a group of others. You could honestly hear Ben over everyone, I shook my head in embarrassment as I made my way over to him.

"Hiya," I greeted, a fake smile directed to the group he was stood with as I pulled my brother away from them. They seemed to just shrug it off and continue speaking. "Mate, do you know how loud you are?" I hissed at Ben, my brow furrowed in irritation, "I can hear you over the bloody music!"

Ben glared at me, looking back to Gabe and then back to me, "What ya doing?!" he exclaimed in a hushed voice, looking like I was the one showing him up.

"Well, I was trying to chill..." I widened my eyes at him, trying to emphasise how annoying he was.

"Charlie," a drunken Adam appeared from nowhere and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me away from Ben. I turned to glare at Ben one last time before allowing Adam to drag me where-ever he was taking me. His breath wreaked and his words were slurred, the cup in his hand spilling all over. "So glad you came!" he exclaimed, pulling me into a quick hug, "I'm gonna go get you a drink! Stay right here!" he yelled, pointing at my feet before running off. I rolled my eyes, not really in the mood, but I stayed in my place so as to not concern him by disappearing.

"Hmm... you don't strike me as a party girl," Alex purred, his eyes trailing my body, coming out of nowhere and startling me. "Sorry," he chuckled, his voice low and hoarse, trying to be sexy, I assumed, "didn't mean to startle you..."

"You didn't," I mumbled, folding my arms across my chest. Being around him put me on edge a little, although luckily he didn't seem as drunk as Adam, so hopefully he wouldn't be extra creepy.

He exhaled through his nose, noticing how defensive I was, "have I done something wrong?" he smirked as he stood directly in front of me, a red solo cup in one hand and his other hand relaxed in his pocket.

"No..." I mumbled, offering him no explanation as I looked over his shoulder, scouring the crowd for Adam.

"Then why do you seem to hate me?" he questioned, coming closer to me.

I met his eyes, which were a rich brown, his pupils wide and pooled with intoxication, indicating he was a lot drunker than he seemed. Truth be told, he was very good looking. He had short, dark hair which fell across his face, perfectly framing it and complimenting the chocolate brown of his eyes. However, he was a sleaze.

"I don't hate you," I responded, expressionless. It was true, I didn't hate him, I didn't even know him, but I definitely wasn't fond of him.

"Seems like it..." his voice was a lot quieter now as he stepped closer to me, but not close enough that I became uncomfortable, thankfully.

"Well..." I began, but I was interrupted by Adam skipping over, thrusting a drink into my face and wrapping his arm around my shoulder. Alex straightened up and took a couple of steps away from me upon Adam's arrival, not that Adam sensed the strange vibe.

"Mate, I love this guy, yano?" Adam mumbled, removing his arm from me and placing it around Alex, pulling him into a side hug. Great, I thought. "He's funny as, yano, Charlie?" he continued, a lazy smile on his face whilst Alex chuckled, his eyes still on me. "You'd proper like him!" he grinned and Alex thumped him on the back fondly, whilst still eyeing me. Could no one else see this?, I wondered to myself.

"I'm sure..." I trailed off sarcastically, taking a sip of my drink and letting my eyes wander, looking for someone else to speak to.

"WE LIKE TO DRINK WITH FIELDSY!" Adam began chanting, taking Alex back a bit as he yelled in his ear. "'CAUSE FIELDSY IS OUR MATE!" I saw Jenson bound over to us, joining the chant. This was a typical British chant, which encouraged whoever was being sung to, to down their drink, and with Fields being my last name, this was obviously directed at me. I paled a little as I realised what the boys were doing, as well as the fact that they had caught a lot of people's attention. "AND WHEN WE DRINK WITH FIELDSY... SHE GETS IT DOWN IN 8... 7... 6..." They began counting down and I did what any sane human would do, I began downing my drink as their counting turned to cheering. Bystanders began clapping for me as I scrunched the solo cup in my hand and wiped my face clean.

I was embarrassed, to say the least, but I would rather be embarrassed and a little buzzed than be a chicken. Jenson slapped me on the back approvingly and I laughed. I caught Alex's eye and he was smiling – not a smirk, not a smug smile, but an actual smile, and he was laughing, a very small nose exhale, but still a laugh. "Impressive..." he chuckled as Jenson and Adam drifted into a conversation about some pretty girl.

"I'm still not trying to impress you..." I was slightly joking as I referred back to our earlier interaction, but it was still true; I couldn't care less whether he was impressed or not.

"I know," he bobbed his head and licked his lips, back to his smirking self, "I like that..." he bit his lip a little and watched as I sauntered past him to go get myself a new drink.

"I don't care!" I yelled, a smug smirk on my own face, turning and walking backwards for a few steps, tilting my head and holding my arms out in a mocking shrug, before turning back around and approaching the refreshment table.

Although, I had originally planned on spending the first night in bed all day, unwinding and trying to fix my awful jetlag, I instead decided to stay and join the party. After a couple of hours I had met pretty much everyone we'd be travelling and touring with over the course of the summer, and needless to say, they were all lovely. I was currently stood chatting away with Victoria Asher – Cobra Starship's keytarist and one of the only other girls on the tour – and a group of others. We were chatting away about how cute some of the guys were, which they were, and then she brought up Alex and began gushing about how hot he was. I mentally rolled my eyes, but I just smiled and nodded as she spoke. It wasn't like he wasn't attractive, but his attitude made him so unappealing to me.

At this moment, thankfully evacuating me from the Alex topic, the song My Dick by 3OH!3 came on, which everyone knows is equally ridiculous and hilarious. John O'Callaghan of The Maine – who we were stood with – placed his arm around me and pulled me into him, laughing with me as we began singing along. We'd just been speaking about how funny we found this song and how we were excited to see 3OH!3 – who were obviously on the tour with us – perform it live. We continued like that for the remainder of the song, dancing together. I flung my head back in laughter as John began shaking his butt ridiculously, causing the guys of 3OH!3 to yell at him across the parking lot, laughing.

Once the laughter had subsided, I made my way back over to the refreshment table to fix myself another drink. "You having a good time?" Alex suddenly appeared beside me, taking peeks at me as he pretended to be busy rummaging through liquor bottles.

I tilted my head questioningly at him, "are you stalking me?" I raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"What?" he exhaled through his nose, like I was being absurd, "No, just getting a drink..." he finally settled on a bottle of vodka and held it up to me, trying to further prove his point.

"Okay, sure..." I raised my eyebrows at him, my face scrunching in obvious doubt, unconvinced. I turned to walk away and rejoin the group I had been stood with.

"Your ass looks amazing, by the way!" he yelled after me, teasingly. I could tell by his tone that he was just messing around, trying to push my buttons. He had obviously gathered that I thought he was a pig, and was playing on that fact by making a sleazy comment, although I knew the statement was still true.

I turned and flipped him off with both hands, my mouth ajar in mock-surprise at how I, myself, was retaliating, tilting my head and raising my eyebrows innocently. He chuckled to himself, shaking his head and licking his lips, whilst rubbing his hands together. I could tell by his face and the way he was beginning to act towards me that he was slowly coming to terms with the fact that I wasn't the type of girl he was accustomed to; I wasn't already obsessed with him, I wasn't going to swoon over him and I wasn't going to hang onto his every word. However, by the looks of things, that didn't worry him in the slightest.

Notes

charlie's outfit
rather long chapter to kick this new fanfic off, let me know what you think :)