Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way
Chapter Three
Alex Gaskarth's POV
“Hey, Alex?” Emersyn spoke, her tone a little off as she practically dragged Jack onto the bus. “Hey guys, what's up?” I nodded in their direction as I noticed Emersyn glancing around the bus, as if she were looking for someone.
“Jack has something he wants to tell you.” She said quickly, pushing Jack towards me. “Uhm, no.” Jack rolled his eyes, shoving Emersyn forward. “Emmy wants to talk to you.” “We want to talk to you.” I corrected. I rolled my eyes.
“I don't care about who wants to talk to me, just spit it out already.” Emersyn sighed. “Look, we wanted to talk to you about the wedding. Who you'll be walking with.” I raised my eyebrows, confused about the way she was acting.
“Don't tell me it's Mandie again. No offense, but she's a complete bitch. She treated you like shit and I damn sure wouldn't want her in my wedding.” Emersyn shook her head. “No, it's not her. She said things to me you can't forgive.” She said.
“I don't know if you're going to be okay with my new choice, however...” She trailed off, avoiding my gaze. “God damn it, Emersyn.” Jack growled. “I love you, but you need to grow some fucking balls and tell the man you asked his ex-girlfriend to be the maid of honor in our wedding.”
“Well, I won't have to do that now, will I?” Emersyn growled at him through gritted teeth. “Wait, you've asked Mila to be your maid of honor?” I breathed, and Emersyn slowly nodded. “Yes...” She said quietly.
“I hope that's okay. It's just, she was my best friend...I mean, she still is my best friend and I really want her to be in the wedding and-” “It's fine.” “What?” Emersyn and Jack said in unison, shock clearly present on both of their faces.
“I said it's fine. It's your wedding, and your decision and I will stand by it. I'm fine with it.” And that was the god honest truth. I really didn't mind. In fact, I thought it was a great idea. It would bring me closer to Mila, I hoped.
…
After talking with Jack and Emersyn, I stepped off the bus with the intention of finding Mila and talking to her. I hadn't seen her since she'd seen Lisa kiss me and I really wanted to talk to her. Tell her how I was feeling and all that.
It didn't take too long to find her; she was lying outside on a towel in front of her tour bus, wearing nothing but a tiny white bikini. God, her body was absolutely amazing. She was curvy in all the right places, and I noticed that she had a tattoo of cat paws on her hip and her bellybutton pierced.
It was taking all I had not to tear that little bikini off of her and make her scream my name right here out in the open. Whoa there, Gaskarth, get ahold of yourself. I don't really think that'll go all that well, and I don't want to ruin my chances with her before I even know if I have them.
Mila had large, black-framed sunglasses covering her eyes, and her hair was piled into a messy ponytail atop her head. I assumed that her eyes were closed, because she didn't react to my standing over her. I cleared my throat, causing her to jump.
“Jesus, Alex!” She exclaimed with a startled laugh, sitting up and pushing the sunglasses on top of her head. “You scared the shit out of me.” She said as she pulled the oversized red and black flannel sitting beside her over her shoulders and stood up.
“What's up, Alex?” She asked with a bright smile. “I, uh...I heard that you're the maid of honor in Jack and Emersyn's wedding.” Mila nodded. “Yeah, she asked me earlier. I mean, it's a little shocking, considering we haven't talked in five years, but she was insistent, and you know I can't say no to her.”
“Well, you're her best friend, Lex.” I said with a shrug. “So, what really brings you my way? I'm sure you didn't come over here to talk about Jack and Emersyn's wedding.” “Just..I wanted to catch up, you know? I haven't seen you in five years.”
“Yeah, well...” Mila shrugged. “I was thinking about checking out this cool little diner I saw yesterday. Reminded me of Rosie's. You wanna come with? We can do all our catching up there, and hopefully have some Rosie quality burgers.”
“I'd love to.” I said with a smile, nodding eagerly. She returned the smile. “Great, let me go and put some clothes on, and we'll meet at the gate in twenty. Sound good?” She asked. “Sounds great.” I nodded in agreement. Maybe hope for us wasn't lost, after all.
Mila Munroe's POV
Tapping my foot against the asphalt, I gazed around the venue for any sign of Alex. As usual, he was late. I swear, that kid's going to be late to his own damn funeral. Impatiently, I checked the time on my iPhone for what seemed like the millionth time. I'd give him five more minutes.
Hearing the sound of sneakers smacking against the asphalt and heavy panting, I looked up just in time to see Alex racing towards me, and next thing I knew, I was on the ground with Alex lying on top of me, his face blushing furiously.
“Hey, Alex?” I spoke after a moment of neither of us moving. “Yeah?” “Get off of me.” “Right.” He quickly hopped to his feet, pulling me to mine. I brushed the dirt from my jean shorts as I looked up at him. “Sorry.” He panted. “I couldn't find my wallet.”
Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes. “I swear you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached to your body.” Alex smiled his signature goofy grin that I loved as he followed me out of the venue, and we started off down the sidewalk to find the diner.
“So, where's this diner?” He asked. “Just a few blocks away. Probably a ten to fifteen minute walk.” He nodded. We walked mostly in silence, aside from the occasional apology when we'd accidentally brush hands while walking.
The diner was literally something right out of the fifties, and it reminded me of Rosie's. I hadn't had Rosie's in years. I was sad to discover that it had closed down when I was in LA, and I had yet to find a diner that could compare.
Alex and I selected a booth in the back, and I slid into the worn, red leather and began toying with my nails. I hated that ever since I'd read that letter, all I could think about was Alex and I couldn't believe that I still had feelings for him. I felt childish, having butterflies in my stomach in his presence.
“So, what have you been up to the last five years, Lex?” Alex asked, barely glancing at the menu that our waitress had placed in front of us seconds ago, surely knowing that he was going for a burger with the works, fries, and probably a chocolate shake with whipped cream and cherries.
“Well, after you guys left, I was kind of depressed for a while. I nearly dropped out of high school. I got out of that funk, though, and I graduated. After graduating, I moved to LA to pursue a career in music, but I hated it there.” I admitted.
“So, I moved back to Towson and that's when I met Jordan, who is now the lead guitarist for my band. “And Jordan is...?” I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. He was clearly trying to find out if Jordan was my boyfriend.
“Jordan is..the older brother I never had. When he and I got to know each other better, we discovered that we had a mutual taste in music. He expressed his interest in starting a band, and when I mentioned that I was a singer he pretty much laughed in my face.” I shook my head.
“He had no interest in having a girl in his band, but I showed up to his house one day and forced him to listen to me sing, and he loved it. Now, here we are, four years later with two albums and a third on the way, on our second Warped Tour.”
“That's pretty cool, Lex. I'm really glad you made it. You're an amazing singer.” I couldn't stop the blush that flushed across my cheeks at his compliment. “Thanks.” I said quietly, taking a bite of my burger. After a few moments of awkward silence, Alex spoke again.
“I see you still have your tattoo. You didn't cover it up?” Almost instinctively, my hand brushed against my wrist, where the tattoo I had gotten with Alex was. “No,” I shook my head. “I got this during an amazingly happy time in my life. I didn't want to cover it. Do you still have yours?”
Nodding, Alex showed me his wrist. “I'd never cover it.” He admitted. “Lisa asked about it, and I told her the truth. She wasn't too happy about the fact that I had another tattoo on my body dedicated to another girl, but she'll get over it.”
“And Lisa is...?” I pressed, thought I already knew the answer to that. He froze, seemingly annoyed that he'd brought up his girlfriend. “She's...my girlfriend.” He admitted. “How long have you been together?” I asked. “Six months.”
“That's great, Alex.” I said with a smile. “It is?” He asked, trying to hide the disbelief in his voice. “Of course. I'm happy that you're happy, Alex.” He smiled slightly, but it didn't reach his eyes. We ate the rest of our meal in silence.
After leaving (but not before fighting over who got to pay the check-Alex won), we started the walk back towards the venue. It was comfortably silent for a while, until Alex stopped walking. “What's wrong?” I asked, turning back to look at him. He had an odd look on his face.
“I can't take it anymore, Lex.” He exclaimed. Taking a step forward, Alex pulled me into his arms, crashing his lips onto mine. My hands moved of their own volition, curling into his hair as he pressed me against the brick siding of the diner.
Suddenly, realization hit me and I knew that I needed to stop this before it went any further. Alex had a girlfriend and I was not about to be the cause of the demise of a relationship. I would not be a boyfriend stealer.
I quickly pushed Alex off of me, and without thinking, brought my hand up and slapped him in the face. My palm made a loud smack as it connected with his cheek, and he looked at me in confusion. I quickly turned on my heels and headed off towards the venue without another word.
“Hey, Alex?” Emersyn spoke, her tone a little off as she practically dragged Jack onto the bus. “Hey guys, what's up?” I nodded in their direction as I noticed Emersyn glancing around the bus, as if she were looking for someone.
“Jack has something he wants to tell you.” She said quickly, pushing Jack towards me. “Uhm, no.” Jack rolled his eyes, shoving Emersyn forward. “Emmy wants to talk to you.” “We want to talk to you.” I corrected. I rolled my eyes.
“I don't care about who wants to talk to me, just spit it out already.” Emersyn sighed. “Look, we wanted to talk to you about the wedding. Who you'll be walking with.” I raised my eyebrows, confused about the way she was acting.
“Don't tell me it's Mandie again. No offense, but she's a complete bitch. She treated you like shit and I damn sure wouldn't want her in my wedding.” Emersyn shook her head. “No, it's not her. She said things to me you can't forgive.” She said.
“I don't know if you're going to be okay with my new choice, however...” She trailed off, avoiding my gaze. “God damn it, Emersyn.” Jack growled. “I love you, but you need to grow some fucking balls and tell the man you asked his ex-girlfriend to be the maid of honor in our wedding.”
“Well, I won't have to do that now, will I?” Emersyn growled at him through gritted teeth. “Wait, you've asked Mila to be your maid of honor?” I breathed, and Emersyn slowly nodded. “Yes...” She said quietly.
“I hope that's okay. It's just, she was my best friend...I mean, she still is my best friend and I really want her to be in the wedding and-” “It's fine.” “What?” Emersyn and Jack said in unison, shock clearly present on both of their faces.
“I said it's fine. It's your wedding, and your decision and I will stand by it. I'm fine with it.” And that was the god honest truth. I really didn't mind. In fact, I thought it was a great idea. It would bring me closer to Mila, I hoped.
…
After talking with Jack and Emersyn, I stepped off the bus with the intention of finding Mila and talking to her. I hadn't seen her since she'd seen Lisa kiss me and I really wanted to talk to her. Tell her how I was feeling and all that.
It didn't take too long to find her; she was lying outside on a towel in front of her tour bus, wearing nothing but a tiny white bikini. God, her body was absolutely amazing. She was curvy in all the right places, and I noticed that she had a tattoo of cat paws on her hip and her bellybutton pierced.
It was taking all I had not to tear that little bikini off of her and make her scream my name right here out in the open. Whoa there, Gaskarth, get ahold of yourself. I don't really think that'll go all that well, and I don't want to ruin my chances with her before I even know if I have them.
Mila had large, black-framed sunglasses covering her eyes, and her hair was piled into a messy ponytail atop her head. I assumed that her eyes were closed, because she didn't react to my standing over her. I cleared my throat, causing her to jump.
“Jesus, Alex!” She exclaimed with a startled laugh, sitting up and pushing the sunglasses on top of her head. “You scared the shit out of me.” She said as she pulled the oversized red and black flannel sitting beside her over her shoulders and stood up.
“What's up, Alex?” She asked with a bright smile. “I, uh...I heard that you're the maid of honor in Jack and Emersyn's wedding.” Mila nodded. “Yeah, she asked me earlier. I mean, it's a little shocking, considering we haven't talked in five years, but she was insistent, and you know I can't say no to her.”
“Well, you're her best friend, Lex.” I said with a shrug. “So, what really brings you my way? I'm sure you didn't come over here to talk about Jack and Emersyn's wedding.” “Just..I wanted to catch up, you know? I haven't seen you in five years.”
“Yeah, well...” Mila shrugged. “I was thinking about checking out this cool little diner I saw yesterday. Reminded me of Rosie's. You wanna come with? We can do all our catching up there, and hopefully have some Rosie quality burgers.”
“I'd love to.” I said with a smile, nodding eagerly. She returned the smile. “Great, let me go and put some clothes on, and we'll meet at the gate in twenty. Sound good?” She asked. “Sounds great.” I nodded in agreement. Maybe hope for us wasn't lost, after all.
Mila Munroe's POV
Tapping my foot against the asphalt, I gazed around the venue for any sign of Alex. As usual, he was late. I swear, that kid's going to be late to his own damn funeral. Impatiently, I checked the time on my iPhone for what seemed like the millionth time. I'd give him five more minutes.
Hearing the sound of sneakers smacking against the asphalt and heavy panting, I looked up just in time to see Alex racing towards me, and next thing I knew, I was on the ground with Alex lying on top of me, his face blushing furiously.
“Hey, Alex?” I spoke after a moment of neither of us moving. “Yeah?” “Get off of me.” “Right.” He quickly hopped to his feet, pulling me to mine. I brushed the dirt from my jean shorts as I looked up at him. “Sorry.” He panted. “I couldn't find my wallet.”
Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes. “I swear you'd lose your head if it wasn't attached to your body.” Alex smiled his signature goofy grin that I loved as he followed me out of the venue, and we started off down the sidewalk to find the diner.
“So, where's this diner?” He asked. “Just a few blocks away. Probably a ten to fifteen minute walk.” He nodded. We walked mostly in silence, aside from the occasional apology when we'd accidentally brush hands while walking.
The diner was literally something right out of the fifties, and it reminded me of Rosie's. I hadn't had Rosie's in years. I was sad to discover that it had closed down when I was in LA, and I had yet to find a diner that could compare.
Alex and I selected a booth in the back, and I slid into the worn, red leather and began toying with my nails. I hated that ever since I'd read that letter, all I could think about was Alex and I couldn't believe that I still had feelings for him. I felt childish, having butterflies in my stomach in his presence.
“So, what have you been up to the last five years, Lex?” Alex asked, barely glancing at the menu that our waitress had placed in front of us seconds ago, surely knowing that he was going for a burger with the works, fries, and probably a chocolate shake with whipped cream and cherries.
“Well, after you guys left, I was kind of depressed for a while. I nearly dropped out of high school. I got out of that funk, though, and I graduated. After graduating, I moved to LA to pursue a career in music, but I hated it there.” I admitted.
“So, I moved back to Towson and that's when I met Jordan, who is now the lead guitarist for my band. “And Jordan is...?” I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. He was clearly trying to find out if Jordan was my boyfriend.
“Jordan is..the older brother I never had. When he and I got to know each other better, we discovered that we had a mutual taste in music. He expressed his interest in starting a band, and when I mentioned that I was a singer he pretty much laughed in my face.” I shook my head.
“He had no interest in having a girl in his band, but I showed up to his house one day and forced him to listen to me sing, and he loved it. Now, here we are, four years later with two albums and a third on the way, on our second Warped Tour.”
“That's pretty cool, Lex. I'm really glad you made it. You're an amazing singer.” I couldn't stop the blush that flushed across my cheeks at his compliment. “Thanks.” I said quietly, taking a bite of my burger. After a few moments of awkward silence, Alex spoke again.
“I see you still have your tattoo. You didn't cover it up?” Almost instinctively, my hand brushed against my wrist, where the tattoo I had gotten with Alex was. “No,” I shook my head. “I got this during an amazingly happy time in my life. I didn't want to cover it. Do you still have yours?”
Nodding, Alex showed me his wrist. “I'd never cover it.” He admitted. “Lisa asked about it, and I told her the truth. She wasn't too happy about the fact that I had another tattoo on my body dedicated to another girl, but she'll get over it.”
“And Lisa is...?” I pressed, thought I already knew the answer to that. He froze, seemingly annoyed that he'd brought up his girlfriend. “She's...my girlfriend.” He admitted. “How long have you been together?” I asked. “Six months.”
“That's great, Alex.” I said with a smile. “It is?” He asked, trying to hide the disbelief in his voice. “Of course. I'm happy that you're happy, Alex.” He smiled slightly, but it didn't reach his eyes. We ate the rest of our meal in silence.
After leaving (but not before fighting over who got to pay the check-Alex won), we started the walk back towards the venue. It was comfortably silent for a while, until Alex stopped walking. “What's wrong?” I asked, turning back to look at him. He had an odd look on his face.
“I can't take it anymore, Lex.” He exclaimed. Taking a step forward, Alex pulled me into his arms, crashing his lips onto mine. My hands moved of their own volition, curling into his hair as he pressed me against the brick siding of the diner.
Suddenly, realization hit me and I knew that I needed to stop this before it went any further. Alex had a girlfriend and I was not about to be the cause of the demise of a relationship. I would not be a boyfriend stealer.
I quickly pushed Alex off of me, and without thinking, brought my hand up and slapped him in the face. My palm made a loud smack as it connected with his cheek, and he looked at me in confusion. I quickly turned on my heels and headed off towards the venue without another word.