Charlie's POV
Never in my life had I ever woken up earlier than Carter, but I had had such trouble sleeping last night that at around 5AM, after about an hour of inconsistent rest, I decided to just get up. For some reason, my brain just wouldn't shut off. I kept thinking about pretty much anything and everything; especially Alex and his bleeding knuckle. It was fairly obvious he had lied about 'slipping over', but I could respect him not wanting to speak about it, it was just intriguing and a little worrying. Honestly, I was worried in general with Alex, this whole 'friends' thing just seemed like it would be a lot harder to pull off than I had originally thought. I wasn't sure why, but being 'friends' with Alex just didn't seem like a doable thing.

I was sat in the back-room on my laptop, watching the TV on a low volume so as not to disturb anyone else. Adam and Ben's snoring had somehow synced and the rhythm had surpassed annoying by now and had almost became relaxing, it was strange. Without having a chance to sleep it off, my hangover was pretty unforgiving, but I was still looking forward to the day ahead. It was our last day in Nevada and tomorrow we'd be heading to Arizona, home town of The Maine – who had made it very clear how excited they were to be back home. With it being our last day, I was expecting a really fun night, although the thought of alcohol at this very moment made my stomach turn.

At around 6:30 AM I began to hear stirring and immediately I knew it would be Carter. He must've heard the TV because he peeked his head into the back-room, his eyes droopy and glazed with sleep. "Hey," his voice was gruff and hoarse, he rubbed at his eyes and yawned. "Do you wanna go get coffee?" I nodded frantically and pushed my laptop off my knee, flicking the TV off and getting to my feet.

It was useless trying to have a rational conversation with Carter before he had caffeine in his system, he would just nod and grumble and ignore you, and so I waited until we were sat at a table in the canteen and he had taken a sip from his hot mug. "So what are the plans today?" I asked, taking a sip from my own drink. Although Nevada was horrendously hot during the day, the morning's were fairly crisp and airy; it made me feel a little more at home.

"Uh... 3OH!3 are playing later on if you wanna come," he mumbled, his attention down at the mug in his hand as he yawned again.

"Hmm... I dunno," I shrugged.

"I really think you should come," he stated, more seriously now. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Also, just a random side note, you do know the lyrics to Careless Whisper, right?" he gave me a nervous smile.

I furrowed my brows at him. It was far too early for me to decode this very strange conversation. "What? By George Michael?" I asked, my tone confused. Carter nodded as he sipped his coffee. "Uh... yeah?" I responded, the inflection making it seem more like I was questioning him, which I definitely was.

"Cool," he nodded, gulping a little. "So you'll come?" he sounded apprehensive for my answer.

"Sure?" Again the inflection was questioning as I furrowed my brow at the older man.

"Cool," he repeated. He checked the watch on his wrist and got to his feet, "I gotta go sort some stuff out, I'll see you later," he mumbled before hurriedly rushing away. I looked around sceptically, unsure of what to make of our conversation, but eventually just shook my head and continued sipping my coffee.

The canteen was completely empty bar the lovely women hired to run the place, however it was still silent and uncomfortable. I was still so tired but I knew I'd still never be able to sleep and so I got out my phone and started playing Candy Crush, waiting for other people to arrive for breakfast.

After a couple hours the boys, as well as other people, joined me. I got a plate of pancakes and on my way back to my table I caught sight of Alex. He was wearing a white hoodie with the sleeves pulled over his hands and the hood covering his messy hair and framing his tired face; he looked rather adorable. He gave me a meek, slightly awkward smile and I returned it as I passed by him, neither of us saying a word. I could tell just by Alex's face that this whole 'friends' thing also wasn't his favourite idea, although I wasn't sure for what reason.

At around 2PM Carter dragged the boys and I to 3OH!3's set; he seemed a little nervous and off for some reason. I had no problem going and watching the show, but I was so tired I probably would've done better staying at the bus and trying to nap, but getting out and being with friends was a lot more fun.

Half way through the set Sean and Nathaniel began talking about 'special guests'. I could barely hear the song they were playing over the crowd's cheering, but it sounded rather familiar although much more electronic. "Alex Gaskarth, everybody!" Sean yelled out, gesturing to the opposite side of the stage. Alex walked out, grinning wide as the crowd screamed like crazy for him, and began singing the first verse from Careless Whisper by George Michael.

I was tired but I had managed to piece this together. I gave Carter a questioning look and he looked down and away from me. I rolled my eyes hard and sighed. Of course I had heard of 3OH!3's version of this song, featuring both Alex and Juliet Simms, but of course, Juliet Simms wasn't on hand to perform. I sighed again and watched as Alex continued to sing his verse. Watching him made me almost forget about what I knew was coming; his voice was a lot more raw and rough than I'd ever heard it, it was gorgeous.

Nathaniel bounded over to me with a huge smile on his face and grabbed me by the hand, dragging me onto the stage and handing me a mic. People began cheering and clapping for me, but as Alex finished his verse on a high note I'd never heard him reach before, I couldn't hide the shock on my face. I quickly began singing my verse as Alex began a rhythmic clap with the audience and the other two boys continued bouncing around the stage.

Alex's second verse came around and again his voice sounded incredible, and completely different from how I'd ever heard it. I couldn't help but pull him a wide eyed, mouth agape look. I turned to the audience and pointed at him, asking 'are you all hearing this?' with my face. Alex chuckled through his singing, shaking his head at me.

I finished off my part and Alex wrapped an arm around my shoulder and swayed me along side him as Nathaniel and Sean performed their rap segment. I wasn't sure if it was because of this 'friends' deal, or maybe the overwhelming feeling of joy from being on stage, but swaying and laughing with Alex as we watched 3OH!3 jump around like kids and the crowd cheering wildly, didn't seem so bad. I felt Alex pull me into him and peck the top of my head, laughing into my hair as he continued to watch the boys; I was certain it was just the intoxicating feeling of being in front of a crowd, but either way I wasn't too bothered by it.

We finished up the song and gave Nathaniel and Sean hugs before leaving the stage. "Charlie Fields of The Safe Bet and Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low, everybody!" Sean yelled as the crowd cheered and clapped. The boys had all left by now, including Carter who, I was sure, knew I had a bone to pick with him about surprising me like that, although it was pretty fun.

"What the fuck, dude?" I raised my eyebrows at Alex as he scrunched half a bottle of water into his mouth and downed it, wiping his brow which was glistening with sweat.

"What?" he looked at me, his eyes nervous that I was actually annoyed about something.

"I had absolutely no idea you could sing like that," I shook my head and folded my arms at him in mock-disapproval. He chuckled and looked down, seemingly shy. "Seriously, where did that come from?"

"I'm guessing you haven't heard a lot of our old stuff," he chuckled, downing the rest of his water. 3OH!3 were now performing Don't Trust Me and it took everything in me not to dance and sing along, but I just shook my head, keeping myself focused on our conversation. "Do you wanna?" he raised his brows, anticipating my answer.

I thought about it for a moment, licking at my bottom lip in thought, before sighing as if I were giving into him, "okay fine," I breathed and he laughed at my response.

We made our way over to All Time Low's merch tent and Alex popped a CD into their CD player as I took a seat on a camping chair facing him as he stood with his arms folded whilst the CD played through. I looked away from him as I listened, I could feel his eyes on me but I ignored that and focused my attention on the sound of Alex's voice and his lyrics. It was pretty insane to me that Alex was writing lyrics like this when he was 16/17, it was so beautiful and meaningful – I probably couldn't write lyrics like that now, at 21.

Once the CD had played through I looked at him with nervous laughter. "Are you serious, Gaskarth?" He chuckled and pulled the CD out of the player. "You were incredible, what happened?" I joked sarcastically with a smirk.

"Oh, ha ha," he deadpanned with a smile, shaking his head at me.

"I need a copy of that, by the way," I told him affirmatively.

"Here." He placed the CD back in its case and grabbed a Sharpie from the table next to him. "Dear my biggest fan," he began reading aloud as he scribbled on the CD case. I laughed loudly, he was such a dick. "Please enjoy this album from when we made music which matched your very high standards," he gave me a teasing look and I flipped him off, still laughing. "Lots of love, your hashtag man crush Monday," (written as #MCM) he finished, handing me the case with a proud smile on his face. I couldn't help but laugh, he was so annoying but he owned it; he knew he was an arsehole and he used it to his advantage.

"You're such a loser," I chuckled, my eyes still scanning over the words he'd written as I shook my head. Moments like this kind of made the whole 'friends' thing seem much more possible. I looked up at him and he shrugged, a grin on his face. We talked a little more about the music; my favourite songs, his favourites, what inspired them, etc. He really seemed to relax talking about this topic, it was like speaking with a different person. "So what inspired..." I checked the back of the case to look for the song title, "the straight up hustler one?" I asked, looking up to meet his eyes and tilting my head questioningly.

"Well..." he looked a little embarrassed, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. He let out a nervous laugh. "Uh... my Junior year Chemistry teacher," he scratched at the back of his neck, his eyes narrowing a little in apprehension as he anticipated my response.

I sat up straight in my seat now, looking at him with wide eyes as I leaned further towards him. "What?" I asked, a smile creeping onto my face. "You had an affair with a teacher?!" The shock in my tone was evident.

Alex laughed uncomfortably again, biting his bottom lips and crinkling his nose at me, "kinda," he responded.

I shook my head and let out a laugh, "Jesus Chris, Gaskarth," I laughed some more, rubbing at my forehead. "Honestly, I'm not that shocked."

"You're not?" he chuckled, raising his brows.

"That's such a classic Gaskarth move," I joked, acting as if I knew him better than I actually did and he shook his head, grinning wide. "I can't believe you," I tsked, biting at my lip.

"Hey!" he said defensively, a smile on his face, "it's not as bad as it sounds," he retorted.

"I don't know..." I hummed, "sounds pretty hot to me," I smirked at him teasingly.

"I promise, it wasn't that cool, it was actually pretty shitty, to be honest," he was still smiling at me but he seemed a lot more serious.

I wasn't sure how to respond to that; I didn't want to press him on the subject but I was kind of intrigued. As if sensing my discomfort my phone went off, I grabbed it from my bag whilst shoving the CD inside.

Tyler
i'm here, are u guys still coming?

"Oh shit," I breathed, quickly texting him back. "I gotta go," I looked up at Alex and got to my feet.

"Oh, yeah?" he questioned, watching as I frantically grabbed my stuff.

"Yeah..." I trailed off, not really paying attention, "I gotta get Adam," I mumbled absent-mindedly as I sent another text to Tyler. "Oh..." I snapped my head up to look at Alex, "Do you wanna come? We're just getting lunch," I chuckled, feeling a little rude for not asking him sooner as I continued to type out the text telling Tyler I was on my way.

"Uh..." Alex sounded a little unsure.

"It's just McDonalds," I laughed as I hit send, "You don't have to if you-" I began but he cut me off.

"No, yeah sure, I'm pretty hungry anyway," he shrugged with a small smile.

"Okay, cool," I responded. The pair of us walked across the parking lot and I could hear Adam's voice, along side Jenson and Ben's, yelling about something. They came into view and we saw them all stood around a small child's blow-up swimming pool. "What are you guys doing?" I folded my arms, smirking. Emmet approached us, his arms overflowing with bottles of water. The rest of the boys, excluding Adam, began grabbing for bottles and pouring them into the pool.

"Well, since Nevada is landlocked and we can't have a beach party on our last night, we figured we'd make our own beach," Adam stated proudly, grabbing a bottle and emptying it into the pool.

"This is a child's paddling pool," I deadpanned, stating the obvious.

"No, it's a beach," Jenson corrected, giving me a disappointed look.

"This beach sucks, there's no sand," I retorted as Alex laughed beside me. I was just trying to get a rise out of them, I didn't really care about their makeshift beach.

"Fuck you," Adam shot back, furrowing his brows in genuine anger. I couldn't keep a straight face, I had to laugh at that.

"We gotta go AJ, Tyler's waiting for us," I finally said after watching them empty more bottles; it was fascinating watching them thinking this was an efficient way to fill a pool – it was barely an inch full after they made their way through the first batch of bottles and send Emmet off to fetch more.

"Oh shit, yeah," Adam responded, having clearly forgotten our plans much like I had. "Okay," he sighed, wiping his hands together as if he'd been doing hard, manual labour. "I'm leaving Jenson in charge." Ben gasped and looked as if he were about to say something but Adam interrupted by shaking a finger at him and raising his brows, "Jenson," he repeated and my brother rolled his eyes and looked away with a pout.

I turned and shot Alex a look as if to say 'do you see what I'm dealing with here?', he just laughed and shook his head in response, biting his lip as he continued to watch the boys' conversation unfold. "Okay, AJ, Tyler's seriously waiting for us," I said more sternly and Adam finally listened to me and we made our way to the McDonalds around the corner.

"Heeey," Tyler greeted us all; him and Adam shared a little man-shake as Adam got in line. He pulled me into a quick hug before stopping at Alex; they hadn't technically, properly met yet – well, not in a situation where Alex wasn't being rude, anyway. "Hey man," he greeted, holding his hand out, his face seemed a little nervous for how Alex might respond.

Alex's face twitched a little, and something flashed across his eyes, but he quickly grabbed Tyler's hand and pulled him into a man-hug, "hey man," he repeated in greeting. I smiled a little, hoping that things wouldn't be as awkward as I was expecting.

We got our food and slipped into a booth; Adam across from me and Alex beside me, with Tyler across from him. Adam began immediately scoffing down his food whilst Alex and Tyler fell into a natural conversation. "So, how long have you been a merch guy?" Alex asked, taking a bite from his burger.

"Oh... uh... a long time, I've known Carter for years, back when he used to tour with a few American bands," Tyler answered and Alex nodded.

"Awesome," he said, his voice a little flat but Tyler didn't seem to notice, "I bet you love touring," Alex chuckled; it seemed like an innocent assumption but his tone was suggesting some underlying meaning.

"Uh... yeah, it's great fun," Tyler responded.

"Great fun for good looking guys like yourself," Alex remarked with a smirk, taking a sip from his soda and winking at Tyler. I attempted to share a look with Adam but his head was completely faced down and his attention was unmoving from his food.

"Erm... I don't... I don't really care about that stuff," Tyler chuckled uncomfortably.

"Suuuure," Alex spoke sarcastically, Tyler narrowed his eyes in an attempt to understand what Alex was talking about. "So, you don't have your sights set on someone?" he smirked and winked again. I rolled my eyes and mentally face-palmed.

"Sights set on- huh? What?" Tyler questioned, smiling awkwardly.

"C'mon," Alex chuckled, "You don't have a crush on anyone? You're a handsome dude, you must have your eye on someone," he kept his tone very joke-y sounding, but he wouldn't stop prying.

"Uh... nope..." he chuckled and shot me a look as if to ask for help, I just shrugged – I wasn't sure what was going on either.

"Not even Charlie here?" Alex threw his arm around me and pulled me into him, looking down at me with a grin and then back to Tyler; anticipating his answer.

"What are you doing?" I spoke through gritted teeth to him, but he just ignored me.

"Uh..." Tyler glanced at me and scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, "No..."

"Seriously?" Alex looked back down at me and I glared back, "She's gorgeous though, and super funny, you'd be lucky to have her."

"Gaskarth," I hissed quietly, feeling increasingly awkward.

"Yeah, I'm sure, but we're- we're just friends, right Char?" he looked at me, desperate for me to help him out.

"Yes, we're just friends, much like me and you, Alex," I commented, flashing Alex a fake smile.

"Ahhh... like me and you, huh?" he gave me a cocky, knowing smile and I gulped and looked away.

"Adam..." I mumbled, trying to grasp my best friend's attention for assistance.

"Okay, Char, listen, I'm trying really hard to pretend all of you don't exist right now," he retorted, his eyes never leaving his food. I sighed and rolled my eyes, shuffling myself out of Alex's arm.

"All I'm saying is you two would make a cute couple," Alex shrugged, popping a French fry into his mouth with a smug smile, having successfully made everyone uncomfortable, but I refused to allow it.

"Yeah, you're right," I nodded, smiling at him, "we totally would," I looked at Tyler now who tilted his head and raised a brow at me.

"What?" Alex responded, his expression changing from arrogant to nervous. "Uh... yeah... right, yeah, totally," he quickly agreed, nodding his head, but still giving me a questioning look.

"Honestly, please shut up," Adam spoke again, still not lifting his gaze to any of us.

We stayed quiet for the rest of the meal, and when it was time to leave Adam and Alex walked ahead, speaking about the 'beach' party Adam had arranged. "What was that about?" Tyler mumbled under his breath to me, trying to make sure the other two didn't hear us.

"Nothing," I shook my head, "I just wanted Alex to shut up." I didn't want Tyler thinking I actually had a thing for him, but making Alex believe it wasn't necessarily a bad idea.

"Ohhhh..." Tyler breathed a sigh of relief. He tried to ask me more questions about Alex's strange behaviour but I wasn't in the mood to speak about him any longer, so I just let the conversation die eventually.

The night rolled around quickly, the boys had been excited all day for their 'beach' party and honestly, I was kind of excited too – not for the 'beach' part, for the party part. The nights in Nevada were a little more chilly than I had expected, and so I threw on a pair of ripped jeans and a Cobra Starship hoodie over my tank top. The temperature had also ruined the boys' hopes of the summer heat warming their pool water up – not that anyone was going to get in anyway, but still they were disappointed.

I was stood at the refreshment table fixing myself a drink when Alex appeared to my right, pouring a drink for himself. "Hey," he spoke softly, turning to face me with a now full solo cup in his hand.

I was already fairly tipsy by this point so my irritation with him from earlier had subsided. "Hey," I responded, sipping my own drink with a smile.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he said and I tilted my head questioningly, my memory not serving me well under the influence. "I didn't realise you actually had a thing for Tyler, I was just tryna make you squirm," he admitted, looking down meekly as he fingered the rim of his solo cup.

"What?" I muttered, narrowing my eyes, "I don't have a thing for Tyler," I laughed a little, shaking my head at the absurdity of his remark. "I was just tryna make you squirm," I laughed, poking his chest lightly with my index finger.

He smirked and shook his head, "You had me worried for a minute," he spoke, but his face shifted a little upon realising what he had said. "Not like- not that- not that that would worry me... that wouldn't worry me, I don't care," he stuttered and I laughed loud, interrupting him.

"You're so in love with me," I spoke sarcastically, slurring my words a little as I took another sip of my drink.

"What? No I'm not!" Alex's response was immediately defensive, which just made me laugh more.

"I'm kidding, you loser." He let out a sigh of relief. "But... you kinda are," I giggled again and he bit his lip with a smile, shaking his head.

"Whatever," he nudged me, "you're in love with me," he joked.

"Yeah, sure, like you'd ever pull that off," I rolled my eyes, mocking him and he fake-gasped at me.

"You bitch," he joked and I laughed at the pretend hurt in his eyes. I put my now empty cup down and before I could register what was happening Alex had lifted me over his shoulder and was carrying me somewhere. I squealed and pounded my fists on his back, yelling at him to pull me down. "Oh, I will," he spoke in a smug voice and he threw me down, my body hitting freezing cold water as he dumped me into the kiddie pool.

Immediately my whole body tensed up from the impact of the drop in temperature. I screamed and jumped to my feet, pushing and hitting Alex in the chest as everyone else around us, including Alex, laughed hysterically. "I'm gonna fucking kill you, Gaskarth!" I yelled in a high pitched, frantic tone as I bolted for the bus. I wasn't mad, I was just cold – absolutely freezing cold. I quickly grabbed a change of clothes and hopped into the bathroom.

I heard the bus door open and close again, the sound of Alex's deep, gruff laugh echoing through the bus. "Char?" he called out, "I'm sorry, don't hate me," he spoke through uncontrollable laughter; I couldn't help but smile at the sound.

"You're a dick!" I called out, suppressing my own laughter. I rung out my now wet hair and pulled on an All Time Low tank top, a pair of pyjama shorts, my glasses and fluffy slippers; deciding that maybe this was a good time to stop drinking and get some sleep. I stepped out sporting my attire, modelling the shirt I was wearing dramatically, making him laugh at my stupidity. "What do you think? Do I suit it?" I laughed.

"Oh yeah, the slippers really compliment the whole look," he spoke sarcastically, his eyes glazed over as he laughed at me. "Do you want me to sign it for you? It'll only cost you $10," he joked and I slapped his arm playfully, shaking my head at him.

"You're such a dickhead," I laughed, smiling at him. He looked at me, his eyes soft as he bit his lip. "I'm freezing, by the way, so thanks," I rolled my eyes playfully.

He reached out and put his hands on both my upper arms to feel my body temperature, "Oh, god," he chuckled upon feeling how cold I was. He began rubbing his hands up and down my arms to try and bring some heat back to them. I laughed as he shook my body a little too enthusiastically.

He came to a stop, keeping his hands still either side of me, and the room fell silent. I smiled at him and he smiled back, his eyes pouring into mine. Slowly he moved his hands up, I just kept my eyes on his, not sure of what to do, until they reached either side of my face. He pulled me into him and for whatever reason I didn't stop him, I allowed him to press his soft lips to mine gently. It was unlike all of our other kisses, it wasn't rushed or angry or in the heat of the moment –there really was so excuse for this one. His lips moved slowly against mine and briefly I mirrored his actions, kissing back ever so slightly but as he attempted to pull my body closer to his, my brain switched on.

I quickly pulled away, covering my mouth with my hand and averting my gaze from him. I peeked up at him and he was looking at me with a confused expression, wondering why I had seemed to one moment be enjoying the kiss and the next minute I was pulling away. "What are you doing?" I spoke softly, gulping a little.

"Uh..." he breathed, trying to think of something to say.

"We're friends," I interrupted, "remember?" I gave him a look, raising my brows at him.
"...Friends kiss eachother," he spoke after a small pause, a soft smile gracing his pink lips.

"No, no they don't," I shook my head profusely. "Friends do not kiss eachother, and therefore we do not kiss eachother, okay?" I was speaking incredibly fast and forcefully, but it was mostly because I was pretty shocked at myself for allowing that to happen.

Alex furrowed his brows at me, "Okay, so why did you kiss me back then?" he questioned, suddenly annoyed with me.

"I-I didn't! I was just shocked!" I gulped, both of us knew that wasn't true.

"Yeah, okay then," he spoke sarcastically, rolling his eyes with a mirthless chuckle. "And I'm guess all those other times you were just shocked too, right?" he shook his head at me.

"Alex, I wanna be friends," I looked down, feeling unsure of what to say.

"I do too, but why can't we kiss eachother? Adam kisses you all the time!" he accused, throwing an arm out as if to back up his point.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "on the cheek..." I responded, confused.

"That's still a kiss! Mine are just... yano... a little more to the right... of your cheek," he stumbled on his words, looking a little nervous.

I sighed, "No Alex," I shook my head and looked away from him.

"Whatever Charlie, you kissed me back and you know it," he spoke like it was an accusation. He rolled his eyes and stormed off the bus.

I sighed heavily and slumped down into my bunk. Sure, I had kissed him back a little, but why did he care so much? I thought we were on the same page; we were both sick of the blurred lines in our friendship. I enjoyed Alex's company and we always had a good laugh together, and I wanted that to continue, I didn't want us to continue hating eachother. It seemed like what Alex wanted was a lot more complicated than that though; he clearly wanted more than 'just friends'. I wasn't sure he had ever even been 'just friends' with a girl, it didn't sound like he even knew what that meant if he thought a kiss on the cheek was the equivalent of making out with someone.

Alex was so hard to read and understand; it was completely mind boggling how someone could go from trying to make you super uncomfortable, to playfully throwing you in a pool, to kissing you like nothing about it was remotely strange. It was fairly obvious that he was used to getting what he wanted, but I wasn't sure he even knew what he wanted, I sure as hell didn't.

Notes

charlie's outfits
i don't like this chapter lol sorry if u think it sucks too