The Nights We Felt Alive

The sound of the curtain on my bunk being drawn back with vigour, accompanied by the harsh light of day flooding in and engulfing me, tore me from my deep, sleeping state. I released a loud groan instinctively before rolling over to face the wall. I was in a state of half-asleep and half-in agony; my head pounding viciously as a punishment for having gotten far too drunk last night, despite planning to not leave my bed. "Piss off, my head's killing," I growled to whoever it was trying to disturb me. I could hear the boys all up and getting ready for the day ahead of us.

"Maybe you shouldn't have gotten plastered then," I heard Adam chuckle, his voice still groggy with sleep. Jenson laughed with him as he stood right outside my bunk, getting dressed.

"You wanna talk about being drunk, eh?" I challenged, rolling back over to pull Adam a look. He was sat on the edge of his bed in just sweatpants, looking very rough himself.

"Wasn't half as drunk as you," he remarked under his breath, rubbing at his eyes.

I sat up and flung my legs out to hang over the edge of my bunk, knocking Jenson's leg a little as he threw a shirt over his head. "Really?" I questioned sarcastically, raising my eyebrows at the boy, "So you weren't the one going 'round telling everyone 'bout that threesome you had when you were 18?" I continued staring at him probingly whilst Jenson began laughing, clearly knowing exactly what I was talking about.

Adam's face paled, his smile faltering, "What?" he asked meekly, looking very embarrassed; his cheeks a shade of pink.

"Yeah, you did like," Jenson agreed,, bobbing his head as he reminisced back to a drunken Adam making a fool of himself.

"Did I... uh... I didn't... mention ratios... right?" Adam stuttered, rubbing at the back of his neck nervously.

"Oh, you mean that it was 2 lads and 1 lass?" his jaw locked at my mention of it, "Yeah... you told them all," I confirmed with a smug grin.

He threw his head into his hand and rubbed at his face in distress, which caused Jenson and I to laugh more. Adam then looked up, suddenly no longer ashamed, "Yano what? Nah, that's the coolest thing I've ever done, I'm not letting youse ruin it," he snapped at us, getting to his feet and rummaging around for some clothes.

"Really mate?" Jenson cackled, "We're at Warped Tour..."

"Yeah, and your biggest achievement is what? Having sex with a lass and then sitting there awkwardly whilst your mate took a turn?" I continued, also getting to my feet and grabbing a towel. Jenson laughed at my comment and nudged me approvingly.

"Alright... yano what? Fuck off," he snapped, throwing his hairbrush at me, which I skilfully dodged.

"Hmmm," I hummed, "are you sure all you did was watch?" I teased, trying to annoy him further. Jenson laughed once more and made his way to the front lounge where I could hear a separate conversation going on.

"I didn't even watch that much..." Adam grumbled under his breath, turning away from me again as I slid past him to get to the shower, I ruffled his hair on my way past, showing I was just messing with him.

"So there's gonna be another party tonight?" I heard Jenson ask as I approached the bathroom, right beside the front seating area.

"Oh yeah," it sounded like Matt Barnes, from YMAS, "there'll be pretty much a party every night," he chuckled and I heard Jenson cheer and slap his hand against someone else's in excitement.

"And everyone will be there again?" I heard my brother ask, his tone concerned.

I shook my head as Matt confirmed that yes, mostly everyone would be there. I knocked on the bathroom door and Emmet emerged, his blonde hair dripping on his shoulders with just a towel around his waist. I had spent long periods of time around these boys, but I'd never lived with them to this extent – all at once. It was going to be extremely difficult, I just knew it, they were all so boisterous and loud and annoying; dirty and messy; selfish and inconsiderate, but they were my boys, and I would just have to deal with it.

Taking a shower and washing away the remains of last night felt so good and soothing, although the bathroom was so tiny and squished it was making me feel slightly claustrophobic.

"We're going for brekky," Ben announced, knocking on the bathroom door and startling me, "alright, Char?"

"Yeah, I'll see yas there," I confirmed. I was just hoping they would have some decent food at the canteen so I could try to cure this hangover.

Once I'd finally slipped into some shorts and a cropped tank, as well as some sandals, sunnies and a cap to shield my face from the harsh sun, I made my way over to the canteen. There was a lot of noise emitting from the establishment, as well as people just standing around outside, drinking their coffees. I spotted Adam's ridiculously quaffed hair, paired with his bright tattoos, almost instantly – well, that, and that he was waving manically at me. I laughed and waved back, before making my way over to grab myself a cup of the strongest coffee they had to offer.

"Feeling rough?" I heard a voice behind me. I turned and, of course, it was Alex. I rolled my eyes under my shades and turned away to continue fixing my coffee. "I don't bite, yano?" he smirked, leaning around me to grab himself a disposable cup and fix himself some coffee from a separate pot. I could feel his eyes continuously stealing glances at me, waiting for my reaction. "Well... not hard..." he joked, and I noticed him wink at me out of the corner of my eye.

"I think you should learn to take a hint," I mumbled to him deadpan, stepping around him to grab some packets of sugar.

"You're much less of a bitch when you're drunk," he retorted, his voice still laced with jest, although it didn't feel like he was actually joking.

"You're much less annoying when I'm drunk, so," I responded harshly. I just was not in the mood to be dealing with this right now, I'd practically just woken up and it felt like my head was about to cave in; I needed to down at least three coffees and demolish my own breakfast and probably half of my brother's before I could deal with Alex's shit. I'd known him under 24 hours and he'd already managed to get on my last nerve.

"This hard-to-get game is a little old..." he breathed and I felt him come closer as I eyed the tiny menu they had for breakfast.

I pushed my glasses down the bridge of my nose and turned to face him, allowing him to see the blank expression on my face, "I prefer never-gonna-get, if I'm being honest..."

"Never say never," the corner of his mouth twitched up into a smirk.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Yeah, quote Justin Bieber, that's always a quick-fire way to get into a girl's pants," I responded satirically, rolling my eyes before pushing my sunglasses back up and ordering my breakfast. The canteen had hardly any options, so I just opted for some scrambled egg on toast; not exactly hangover food, but it would do.

Alex chuckled a little as he slid next to me against the counter, "I'm just saying, you never know, you might warm to me," he raised his eyebrows suggestively, before turning and ordering himself some food.

"I highly doubt it," I grumbled as the lady behind the counter handed me my food, "so you might as well give up now," I faked a smile at him before turning on my heal and making my way over to where my boys were sat.

"Yeah, well I'm not gonna!" Alex yelled after me, his voice dripping with flirtation, but the sound melded with his chuckling. He was a weird one; very persistent and irritating, but for some reason that last comment made the tiniest of a smile form on my lips – not because of what he said, or the fact he refused to give up, but I appreciated that he was some-what messing around, maybe.

"Eeee," Adam exhaled as I sat beside him, he wrapped his arm around me as he looked about the cafeteria with pure happiness in his eyes, "can you believe we're here?" he smiled down at me and I returned it; it was nice to see someone appreciating this, rather than just the fact that we were surrounded by much more well-known bands. "He's dead nice him, yano," he then stated, changing the subject. He was referring to Alex who kept glancing over at us. I rolled my eyes and shook my head; I knew it would only get worse as time went on, they would all bond further with him and start hanging out and I'd have to endure more time with the creep. Alex caught Adam looking and stuck his hand up in a wave, Adam retaliated by motioning him to come over, I sighed heavily as I watched a smug looking Alex make his way over and plop down in the seat in front of me. "We were just talking about you," Adam chirped as the cocky man took his seat.

"Oh really?" he smirked, his eyes still locked on me; it amazed me how no one seemed to notice his eyes never left mine during group discussions.

"Yeah, just sayin' how nice you are," Adam responded, squeezing me to him, as if to ask for my confirmation.

"Yeah, well, you were..." I mumbled, taking a bite of my toast.

Adam shifted awkwardly at my comment whilst Alex bit his lip and exhaled through his nose, shaking his head at me; he really did think this was all just some game and I was pretending to find him repulsive. "Anyway..." Adam eventually breathed, elongating the word uncomfortably.

Jenson perked up a little, realising Alex was sat next to him; he turned from the conversation he had been having to grasp Alex in the best man-hug he could whilst they were sitting. "Last night was absolutely amazin'," Jenson praised, as if Alex had hosted the bloody event.

"Oh, tell me about it," Alex grinned back; I was sure this was the first time I'd ever seen him look at another human being, it felt great. "You're coming tonight, right?" he took a bite of the pancakes he'd ordered.

"Orrrr, definitely!" Adam responded giddily. I could feel his leg bouncing uncontrollably under the table beside me. "Shame there was like no lasses, though," he sulked.

"Yeah, I know, just wait until the tour's kicked off, though, plenty of girls will turn up," Alex buzzed, his eyes still darting to me, hoping for a reaction. Jenson and Adam became far more enthusiastic after this comment and they began a conversation all about the types of girls that turn up; fans, groupies – it was uncomfortable, to say the least.

"Oh, bore off," I muttered, grabbing my empty plate and leaving the table.

"Hmm?" I heard Alex question; not understanding the British slang term I had used.

"Oh, basically means fuck off," Jenson explained, before continuing their highly offensive conversation like I hadn't just walked off.

After breakfast, I retreated back to my bunk to read my book and relax. The conversation the boys had been having in the canteen had really bothered me; I hadn't really thought about it before, but their would be a lot of girls and possible groupies and the mere thought of any of the guys bringing one of them back to the bus made me feel nauseous. I'm a reasonable person and I accept a lot of shit, but I refused to have to listen to people having sex whilst I tried to sleep on an uncomfortable, moving shelf, essentially – it was just a step too far.

"Hey, Char!" It was Carter. He came and slipped onto the edge of my bunk, placing a hand on my knee, "we have soundcheck, darling," he told me with a sincere smile; I assumed he had overheard the conversation we had had because he seemed to feel for me, although I knew if anyone was going to have sex on this bus, it would most likely be him.

"Alright," I replied as he left, waiting for me to follow. I was still slightly annoyed, but the anticipation of being on stage – even if it was just for soundcheck – cancelled out all of my negative thoughts and just replaced them with excitement. I followed Carter out to the stage we'd performing on Wednesday; it was fairly small, but a lot larger than any other stage we'd ever performed. The other guys were already there waiting; Emmet was banging his drum sticks on railings, speakers, Ben – anything in his sights, whilst Adam was literally jumping up and down. Ben and Jenson seemed a lot more nervous; I could see Ben mouthing lyrics to himself, trying to recoup his memory.

Soundcheck didn't last very long, but it still felt so amazing to be back on a stage after so long and just imagine how much greater it would feel to be in front of a large audience; all bouncing around and singing along – it gave me goosebumps just thinking about it. I was already sweating as we made our way to the side of the stage; I grabbed a bottle of water and downed at least half of it.

"You guys sounded great," a voice came from behind me, causing me to jump out of my skin. I turned and, of course, it was Alex, grinning.

"Seriously, you're gonna have to stop doing that," I shot him a look before turning back around and finishing my water. I couldn't cope with him constantly sneaking up on me and seemingly being around every corner I turned; the guy had a problem.

"You seemed upset earlier..." he stepped closer to me, allowing himself to enter my peripheral vision.

I placed the now empty water bottle down and turned to look at him, my arms folded across my chest, "I'd use the word 'offended', but whatever," I mumbled, brushing past him. The rest of the guys had already left; abandoning me with this guy.

"Was it because I was talking about other girls?" he asked, his voice teasing. I turned and narrowed my eyes at him, as he jutted his lip out in a mock-pout.

"Don't flatter yourself, Gaskarth," I snarled, feeling increasingly irritated; it was beyond me how one person could be so self-centred and arrogant.

"You look phenomenal, by the way," he muttered, his voice dripping with sexuality all of a sudden as his eyes wandered across my body, biting his lip.

"You're unbelievable," I scoffed, turning and stomping away.

"I've been told!" he hollered after me, the innuendo clear in his tone as I just continued to walk away from him, avoiding the urge to retaliate.

Honestly, I was disappointed that Alex turned out to be such a jerk; I was quite a big fan of his music and – although I wouldn't admit it – I had been a little excited to meet him; meet the lyricist behind some of my favourite songs, but the fact that he was such an ass made me thankful that I was way less trusting than Ben, for example. I was glad I had came here with my doubts about people, it had saved me from getting involved with that idiot.

The night rolled around quite quickly, although the deep orange colour of the sky didn't make it seem like night; the only thing that let me know the progression of the day was the fact that the boys were all frantically getting ready; taking speedy showers and spraying far too much cologne. I wasn't really in the mood to attend a party for the second night in a row, but I figured I had already ruined my promise to myself to not drink too much, and plus I had met some really lovely people last night and I was excited to get to know them further.

"Jesus Christ, Ben, you smell fine," I spluttered between coughs as I tried to waft away the pungent smell of whatever he had been spraying.

"He just wants to impress the ladies- oh no, wait, I mean Gabe Saporta," Jenson laughed, pushing a rather annoyed Ben playfully.

"Fuck off, yas are just jealous 'cause people actually like me," Ben muttered, causing outbursts from the other boys, defending themselves and trying to one-up each other by naming people they had bonded with.

"Whatever," I mumbled under my breath as I made my way out to the party. There were already plenty of people drinking and dancing, but not everyone was present yet, thankfully – this gave me chance to get tipsy before dealing with any annoyances.

By around 10 PM I was relatively drunk, standing with John O'Callaghan and Garrett Nickelsen of The Maine, as well as Gabe Saporta, Dan Flint and a few others. We had been taking a few shots, chatting away and dancing like fools when Jack Barakat made his way over. The guys I was with all clearly adored him and cheered as he danced his way over to us, pulling John into a loving embrace. Jack seemed lovely, but for some reason my mind had just associated him with Alex and I felt a little uneasy towards him.

He must've noticed my energy because he gave me a sweet smile and came to stand beside me, "you okay?" he asked, his voice just an octave above the music, but still low enough that only I could hear him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I responded nonchalantly, although I was slightly nervous; I didn't want another member of my favourite band to turn out to be a total sleaze.

"I'm sorry about Alex," he chuckled, looking a little uncomfortable. I turned to look up at him questioningly, surprised someone had actually noticed.

"Oh God, yeah," Dan responded, clearly overhearing our conversation, "he's obsessed with you," he laughed, nodding his head towards me as he took a sip from his drink. The other boys began to question what we were talking about. "Just Alex and Charlie," Dan responded, earning a chorus of 'oh yeah's. I was embarrassed, though slightly relieved to know I wasn't completely crazy.

Jack laughed, "he's not usually like that, yano," he pulled me a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, 'cause he usually gets his own way," Garrett chuckled, nudging me a little.

"Yeah, and if he doesn't, he normally gives up after an hour – moves onto the next lass," Dan said playfully. I could tell they were all trying to lift my spirits about the situation, but it just made me feel even more uncomfortable. Great, I thought, he usually gives up but for some reason he enjoys harassing me.

"He is a nice guy, though, honestly," John insisted, trying to reassure me, but it didn't exactly work.

"I've yet to see that," I responded and the boys chuckled, although Jack looked rather awkward.

I wasn't sure how but at around 11 PM I was in a very heated battle of beer pong with Rian Dawson – who had been claiming all night that he was a beer pong master – and I was destroying him, by the way. He kept groaning loudly as I sunk ball after ball into the cups on his side of the table. People had gathered around us, watching intently. Rian managed to finally land another ball and I quickly downed the drink, completely immersed in the game, to a point where I hadn't even realised how drunk I was becoming. In the end, I had won by 3 points; people cheered as I threw my arms into the air in celebration, jumping up and down whilst Rian mockingly sulked, sticking his tongue out at me.

"Hmm... very impressive," I had became very familiar with Alex's voice by now, and also the fact that he only ever spoke to me if he was sneaking up behind me. I turned to face him as the crowd dispersed; he was definitely drunk.

"I thought I told you..." I exhaled, making me way to the refreshment table to get myself a new drink.

"I know, I know, you're not trying to impress me, but you're still succeeding," he smirked. It was so aggravating that he was so attractive; his jaw perfectly defined, his arms and shoulders muscular; his skin tanned and smooth.

"Look... Alex," I shook my head; I may have been drunk but I was still present enough to be repulsed by his presence, even if he was nice to look at, "I'm not interested," I said bluntly, taking a sip from the drink I'd just made, my face expressionless.

"Woah, who said I was interested?" he responded, holding his hands up in defence like I had offended him.

"Little Alex," I nodded down to his jean shorts, which actually showed no signs of a boner, but he looked down embarrassed regardless, causing me to laugh.

"Ha, ha, very funny," he deadpanned, pulling an unamused face. I shrugged and turned to walk away, but, of course, he followed after me. "So... you've already named my dick?" he breathed, his voice laced with seduction, although it kind of sounded like he was just messing with me.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, stopping and turning back, "don't you have anything better to do?" I asked, raising my eyebrows expectantly.

"I can think of plenty of things we could be doing instead of just standing here," he purred, a cocky smirk on his face, proud of his rapid-fire, perverse responses. I groaned loudly and turned to walk away again. "Yano, this whole moody, angry, Bella-from-Twilight vibe you have going on is pretty sexy..."

I turned and narrowed my eyes at that – not because I was offended, but because it was such a weird choice of words. "Why do your references only extend to Justin Bieber and Twilight?" I looked at him, puzzled, "Are you secretly a 14 year old girl?"

He chuckled and bit his lip, bobbing his head in defeat, "Also, when you insult me..." he gave me the A-Okay hand gesture, "Such a turn on."

It was evident he was being satirical, but I turned to leave again and muttered under my breath regardless, "sounds like you have some deep-seated issues there, my friend."

"So... you admit, we're friends," he retorted. At this point, I wasn't too bothered by him following me and continuing this conversation; he was still annoying, yes, but he seemed to have some banter.

"Well..." I stopped now, for good. I turned to face him and placed my arms across my chest, "my usual friends don't stalk me..."

He seemed a little taken aback by the fact that I had stopped to speak. "You make me sound like such a creepy bastard," he muttered, his eyes drifting down my body.

"Ay!" I called out, snapping my fingers and directing his attention back up to my face, "Eyes are up here," I stated, motioning to my face.

He chuckled, not at all phased by having been caught, "I can't help it," he shrugged, licking his lips, his eyes roaming my body once more. "You're just so fucking sexy..." he breathed, his voice thick with lust.

I cringed a little, shaking my head; my mouth slightly ajar in disbelief. "To confirm... you are a bloody creepy bastard," I grimaced, referring back to his previous comment.

Out of nowhere my brother appeared and slung his arm around Alex's shoulders, causing Alex to jump slightly. He was incredibly drunk and could barely keep his eyes open. "You guys!" he gushed, using his other arm to pull me into them in a kind of three-way hug, which I quickly pulled away from before any part of me touched any part of Alex. "This is SO FUCKING COOL!" he screamed the last part. I watched him intently with wide eyes, slightly worried for his safety.

"Hey, man, maybe you should go to bed," Alex chuckled, putting an arm around Ben to steady him.

"No way, bro!" he yelled, as he struggled to keep his head up, "hey, come here," he whispered, pulling Alex's face close to him. Alex pulled a terrified look at me and I couldn't help but laugh. "Yano my sister?" Ben whispered, but I could still hear him clearly, "she used to h-have a po...ster of you guys on her bed-bedroom wall," he hiccuped, giggling as he spoke.

"Okay, that's enough," I interjected, grabbing my brother by his free arm and resting it around my shoulder. I could feel Alex's cocky smile on me after what my brother had just said, but he remained quiet as we walked my brother back to our bus.

"You guys are... you're boring," Ben mumbled, as we dragged him into the bus and dumped him face-down into his bunk; he gurgled a little and fell asleep instantly.

I laughed as I covered him up and placed a kiss on his temple. Alex was stood leaned against the wall of bunks with his arms folded over his chest, looking pretty proud of himself. "So... you have posters of me?"

I licked my lips in irritation, he just didn't have an off-switch. "No, I had posters, when I was like 17!" I huffed, brushing past him. "And they weren't of you, they were of your band – like, all of yas," I added, turning back.

"Right..." he breathed, nodding as he took a couple of steps towards me, "but you drew little hearts and stuff next to my face, right?" he teased playfully, raising a sceptical eyebrow.

"You wish, Gaskarth," I scoffed. I was suddenly very aware of how close Alex was to me, his lust soaked eyes pouring into mine – although, lustful seemed to be his constant state, so I had quickly became conditioned to it. I couldn't tell if it was me who became better at dealing with his shit when I was drunk, or whether it was him who just seemed to relax a little after a couple drinks, but either way he didn't seem as repulsive.

"I like when you call me that," he bit hard on his bottom lip, his eyes melting a little to a much warmer shade of brown. "It's hot."

"It's not supposed to be," I mumbled, raising an eyebrow, my face remaining completely unamused.

He exhaled through his nose; finding my attitude funny, "I know," he murmured, running a nervous hand through his hair.

"As long as you know," I muttered under my breath, turning to leave.

I heard him chuckle behind me, "God, you're such a bitch." His voice was gentle and I could tell he didn't want to offend me with his choice of words.

I turned back, "I know," I responded confidently.

"As long as you know," his mouth twitched into a smile as he repeated what I had just said to him. I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help but smile a little. As annoying as he was, the back-and-forth conversations we had were mildly amusing to me. "You don't have to be a bitch, yano," he took a few more steps closer to me and I narrowed my eyes; assessing what he was insinuating. "You could just give up this act," he exhaled, his alcohol-riddled breath licking at my face and causing me to grimace and take a step back.

"Act?" I questioned, raising my eyebrows.

"This whole hating me thing," he responded, his voice low and hoarse, "I know you want me..." he breathed. He moved his hand up to the side of my face, his touch was so cold, yet gentle and his eyes were so intoxicating as they bled into my own. My face felt like it was on fire where his fingertips touched me; I could totally see how he managed to get his own way with women; he seemed very charming in moments like this, very seductive and inviting – in fact, it took even me a couple of seconds to break the tight hold his eyes had on me and register what was going on.

After a few beats of just looking at him, not really thinking straight, just completely lost in his eyes and the soothing sound of his voice, I finally came to my senses and removed his hand from my face, shaking my head and furrowing my brows at him – but it was too late, Alex already had a cocky smile plastered over his face; knowing that even for a second he had entranced me with his charms. "You're a fucking creep," I seethed. I was almost angry at him, but mostly at myself for allowing him to feel, even for a second, that he may get his own way.

He licked his lips, smug, rubbing over his stubble covered jaw, "Yeah, alright, Fields," he muttered, unconvinced by my harsh words. I rolled my eyes and bit my tongue, feeling increasingly irritated.

Thankfully, Emmet and Jenson stumbled onto the bus, interrupting the uncomfortable situation between Alex and I. They were yelling at each other, having a heated debate about who was the best Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtle. "Mate, it's obv Michelangelo!" Jenson exclaimed, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "He's defo the funniest!" I sighed heavily, slightly grateful for their interjection, but also disappointed knowing I would have to listen to this discussion for the remainder of the night.

"Right, but without Donatello they wouldn't have any of their weapons and shit!" Emmet yelled back, actual annoyance in his voice as he looked at the older boy in disbelief.

"Donatello's ugly as!" Jenson shot back.

"None of them are fit!" Emmet looked at him like he was being ridiculous – which he definitely was. "They're fucking animated turtles, no-one's watching for their looks, you freak!" he half-laughed, half-seethed. Alex was laughing as we watched the boys argue, but I was genuinely concerned this could turn into an actual brawl – they've fought over dumber shit.

"Oh my god," Jenson sighed in distress, "Charlie!" he called out, his attention now on me as he began undressing, as he always did when he was drunk, "Tell him Michelangelo's the best turtle!" he thrust his thumb towards Emmet, gesturing to him with a very angry expression on his face.

"Uh..." I breathed, looking back-and-forth between the two boys, "Well, Leonardo is obviously the better turtle," I responded, like it wasn't even an argument. The two boys sighed heavily at my unhelpfulness and made their way towards the back room, still screaming at each other.

Alex chuckled, turning towards me, "You've got a lot on your hands over here," he nudged me, referring to the group of rowdy boys I was having to deal with on a daily basis.

"Yeah, and I don't need any more, so you can leave me alone now," I gave him a wide, fake smile, showcasing my annoyance.

"Hey, feel free to pay me a visit anytime you need to unwind," he winked before walking towards the door to leave, "Oh, and I always preferred Raphael," he added, referring back to the TMNT conversation, as he turned around to look at me, smirking a little.

"That's it, get off my fucking bus," I ordered jokingly, acting as though that was the final straw, when in reality he had already crossed the line regarding my dislike towards him within an hour of meeting me.

He laughed at my response, winked at me one last time before exiting the bus. I let out a deep breath, which I hadn't realised I had been holding in, finally feeling at ease and relieved he was gone. I crashed in my bunk and listened to Ben's obnoxious snoring; paired with the hushed voices of Emmet and Jenson, who were now laid in their own bunks, still passive-aggressively speaking about the cartoon turtles. Eventually, the pair fell asleep, and the other boys returned to the bus; Carter leaning into my bunk and kissing my forehead sloppily before diving into his own bed, Adam doing the same, mumbling something about wanting KFC.

I lied awake for a while, trying to process everything that had happened in the 2 measly days we had been here; we'd already made so many amazing friends and bonded with so many interesting, inspirational artists; we'd had so much fun, drinking and dancing ourselves silly; and I was fairly certain I had made my very first enemy, or frenemy – I had no idea. Tomorrow was going to be incredible, we'd perform our first set and we'd get to stand stage-side for any shows we wanted to watch ourselves, I couldn't explain how excited I was, I could barely sleep I was so giddy – well, that, and the sound of Adam mumbling in his sleep keeping me awake, but it was all worth it for this amazing experience, and we were only on the second day, who knew what could possibly happen over the course of the whole summer?

Notes