Austin’s POV

I was in Sweden, together with Asking Alexandria and Pierce the Veil. It was kinda funny because All Time Low and Essie was here too, but they wouldn’t play at the festival. We were a few miles outside Gothenburg. A few of the bands that would play at MetalTown, a big metal festival in Sweden. I was sitting in our lodge, just enjoying some time for myself while the others was looking at Asking Alexandria and their set. Then when I opened my eyes there was a girl just a few millimeters from my face. She was the one responsible for this lodge and she was our… well let’s call her caretaker. Because everything we wanted she got us.
"There is a girl outside that says she wants to meet you, so I came in here to check with you if you wanted to meet someone" she said and she looked creepy. I stared at her.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"She got brown hair, kinda purple grey eyes and pale skin" she said.
"Ah Essie, you can let her in" I said and sat up. The girl hurried out and in came Essie. She was dressed in black shorts, a white Jack Daniels tank and her hair was straight today, almost reaching down under her waist and she had big, fly like, sunglasses on that made her cheeks look a little bit round. But in a adorable way that made her look like a doll. Again. And did I just say that she looked adorable? Wow.
"I was just wondering if you had eaten yet, because I’m hungry but I don’t want to eat alone" she said and looked at me. I looked at her and then I laughed. I shook my head and got up from the couch.
"Sure, let’s go" I said and nodded.
"You don’t have to if you’ve already eaten" she said and looked at bit shocked.
"First I haven’t, and second.. Even if I had I would eat some more, they have really good cakes in there" I said and laid my arm over her shoulder. She smiled and we walked over to the big tent where they served food.

I watched her as she was eating and all I could think about was the ninja thing I had seen at the awards. She had gotten a lot of attention because of that, since she had been the “hero”. Photographers chased her, journalist wanted her to give comments and… Yeah. She had been stressed lately and you could see it. She looked tired.
"So what did Cory say?" I asked and she looked up.
"He was really mad, but he said he was proud as well" she said and laughed. I could see that. Cory being mad, but at the same time proud.
"I know this might sound weird but I’m kinda proud as well… I’m your friend, trust me on that, and… I’ve never seen someone move like that" I said and nodded. She looked at me and then she gave me a small smile.
"It was nothing" she said and shook her head.
"You made him pee himself, even I got fucking scared when you just ‘bang’ and… Shit" I said and showed her my arm which now had goosebumps. She laughed and shook her head again.
"That was kinda funny actually, I never thought he would do that" she said. I smiled and looked at her and then I noticed how her eyes sparkled. She was actually enjoying herself. She looked happy.
"I have to ask… But… Are you okay? I know the photographers and journalists have been chasing you" I said and looked at her. She looked up and looked at me. Then she smiled.
"Thanks for asking, but I’m fine… I’m just fine" she said and smiled. But the sparkle in her eyes was gone and I could see that the smile was fake.

- - -

To be honest I was not fine. Every night since the awards I had been having nightmares. And the press chasing me about comments or interviews… It was just a lot. I was not used to it. Being chased like that. And the nightmares… Every night I saw Richard pointing that gun towards Austin, and I felt so scared. Would he shoot him tonight? Would I make it in time? Every morning I woke up sweaty and breathing heavy. All I could see was the gun. And I knew that I had to talk to Austin about it, but I just didn’t know how. How do you say something like that? That you dream about him? About him getting shot, or is about to? I shivered and walked over to the shower, got in under almost cold water to cool myself down.

Mike noticed that something was wrong. Soon did Vic and Tony as well and it didn’t take long before the others did as well. Since they pretty much lived with me while on this tour. And I just told them that it was stress from the press. They seemed to believe it. I hope they do because I don’t want to tell them the truth. Especially not Mike. How would he react if I told him about Austin? What would he say?

I woke up yet to another nightmare. The room was dark and you could see the sun getting trough the curtains. I felt numb and I didn’t know what to do. Should I get up? Should I stay in the bed? It’s not like we had a show today and I wasn’t that keen on going out and look at Berlin. Or I did. Wow. Why couldn’t I just decide?

I was walking next to Alec, Jaime and Jack. Just looking around and trying not to fall behind. They walked kinda fast and I didn’t get any time to just go and check things out. So after walking with them for almost two hours I just stopped.
"Guys, I think I will walk by myself… I don’t get any time to just stay and look at things" I said and smiled. They all looked at me.
"It’s okay, if you want to stay somewhere you can just say so" Jaime said.
"No, I rather go alone so I can take my time" I said and smiled again. They looked at me and then they shrugged. I said my goodbyes and then I walked back a little until I found the small shop I wanted to look at. A second hand shop with lots of nice tees. After a few hours and a few shops later I let out a sigh, and I was just about to go when I heard a voice.
"Essie?" someone said and I looked up, to find a really handsome man before me. He was really tall. About 6’2 and he had really dark hair, with a stubble and tattoos. He was dressed in skinny dark red jeans, black vans and a white tank with a cat jesus on it.
"Nice shirt, but… Who are you?" I asked and looked at him.
"You don’t remember me?" he asked and chuckled. I stared at him and then I shook my head. I had no idea who he was. I couldn’t remember someone like him.
"I used to come with Mike to the farm, your foster brother before I moved to Germany" he said and smiled. I stared at him. Could it be…
"Oscar" I said and he got a huge grin.
"I see that the little girl grew up" he teased.
"And I can see that skinny little Oscar turned out to be handsome" I said and realized what I said then.
"Ha, you think I’m handsome? Well thank you" he said and got a huge grin again. I blushed a little and we both laughed.
"So what are you doing in Berlin?" he asked and looked at me.
"I’m on tour with All Time Low and Pierce the Veil, and we happened to be in Berlin at the moment" I said."
"Care for a coffee? I would love to hear more about what you do" he said and smiled. I looked at the time and I had a few hours.
"Sure, take me somewhere where they serve a good macchiato" I said.
"Ich versprechen Ihnen, Sie werden es lieben" he said, and I smiled.
"Gut" I teased and he held out his arm for me.