Meet My Dedication

I had finally found Milly and everyone just before they were about to go home, and she handed me her backpack full of clothes. "What are these for?"
"The party of course!" I raised my eyebrow at her, about to protest, "don't ask questions, just have fun tonight."
I sighed and took the bag, "I'm going to regret this in the morning, aren't I?"
"If you do, you can beat me into a pulp, until you little heart is content." She hugged me and skipped over to Gavin and Zakk as they made their way out of the gates.
I just walked back towards the buses and found Tino and Phil playing with their hackysack. "Hey guys," I called going in the direction of the Of Mice & Men bus. They just waved and continued with their game. I just wanted to see the damage Milly was going to do by packing me clothes.
I knocked on the door to the bus, and Alan came to the door. "Mikey! I was beginning to wonder when you were getting here. We thought you were going to bail on us."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Ginger. Can I come in now?" I laughed and pushed past him. "Is there anyone in the bathroom?" I asked.
Alan shook his head, "nah, Austin and Aaron went to go grab booze for our cooler, and Phil and Tino are outside playing with their sacks." He winked and we both laughed.
"Okay, cool. I'm gonna change real quick then." I said as I walked into the tiny bathroom.
I set down Milly's bag and started to strip down into my bra and panties, then opened the bag to see the damage Milly was doing with my wardrobe. I pulled out a black lace dress, my moon plugs to replace my Doctor Who ones, black low top shoes, my silver snake ring, and the FEARLESS bracelet that Issy had given me on my 21st birthday. I took off my other jewelry and put on the other jewelry and my dress. I had to hand it to her, Milly had style, and she knew me. She had done well.
She'd live another day.
I laughed a little at myself, I couldn't believe the day I was having, and I felt like it could only get better. Like I would finally get better.
I was happy. Genuinely happy, and it felt amazing.
"If only you guys were here with me too, this would be perfect." I had said aloud, hoping Geremy and Issy were listening, wherever they were. I hoped they were watching and smiling down on me. I'd like to think they were.
I touched up my makeup and put on a nice red lipstick, and let loose my messy bun. My hair didn't look too bad, and I found some gel in Milly's bag for me to scrunch my hair. Once I was finally done, I heard a knock on the door, "Mikey? You almost done in there?" Alan called from what seemed like the other end of the bes.
"Yeah, just a second!" I gathered my clothes and jewelry and stuffed them into the backpack. I zipped it up and unlocked the door, stepping out to see Austin back talking with Alan and Aaron about tonight.
I put Milly's bag down on the back couch near the bunks when the three guys noticed and stopped to look.
"Wow, you look amazing!" Aaron had said first, while Alan and Austin remained speechless.
"Thanks, Aaron." I smiled at him and made my way towards Austin and Alan. I looked up at Austin and twirled in the dress. "What do you think?" I smile up at him.
"You look..." Austin started, blushing.
"Fucking fantastic, that's how you look!" Alan gave me a quick inspection and nodded, "how'd you score the wardrobe?"
"My sister brought it with her. I guess she assumed one of us would be staying." I blushed a little, then looked back at Austin.
"You look beautiful. Definitely the prettiest girl that I've seen in a long time." He kissed my hand and then offered his arm out to me. "Care to accompany me this evening, Miss Brier?"
I giggled and took his arm, "I'd be delighted, Mr. Carlile."

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The party was basically a tailgate party, just with giant tour buses from all of the bands that were attending Florida. Let's just say there were well over 50 buses, parked anywhere and everywhere around the Orlando Fairgrounds. I don't think I'd seen this many in my whole life.
There were band and crew members, bonfires and tons of coolers full of beer and soda sitting outside the buses. There was even a projection screen showing one of the jackass movies out on the lawn. It was an amazing sight to see, nonetheless.
I had met so many people today I had lost track of everyone's names and faces. I knew Woody from Our Last Night, Matty from Memphis May Fire and Jeremy from ADTR already. Then there was Vic from Pierce the Veil, Oliver Sykes fom Bring Me The Horizon and Kellin from Sleeping With Sirens. After that, everyone was a blur.
I didn't really go easy with my drinking after an hour or two of meeting and talking with people. I wasn't a social butterfly sober and alcohol definitely helped with my nerves. Austin hadn't left my side the whole night, except to grab more drinks, and I was eternally grateful for that. he could tell when I was getting too nervous or overwhelmed with everyone wanting to know who Austin's arm candy was for the night.

It was mostly a night of him and I drinking, laughing, and taking too many pictures with our phone of each other or other people. We were sitting on one of the giant blankets in the grass watching Jackass and drinking some more when I noticed we were almost completely alone.
"Mikey?" Austin spoke up. We were laying on the blanket, with me laying my head on his stomach.
"Yes Austin?" I looked over at him, smiling.
"I want to know everything about you. Where you're from, how you grew up, everything. Is that weird?" He propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at me.
"No, I don't think it's weird." I stared back up at the sky and he started to play with my hair.
"Tell me about you. Who is Mikey Brier?"
I bit my lip. I didn't think it was weird that he wanted to know about me, I just thought it was weird that he wanted to know me. I wasn't the most interesting, but I had secrets just like everyone else. "Well..." I sighed, "I'm from a small town called Melbourne, about an hour and a half away from here. I grew up in a small apartment with my parents and twin sister, Milly, in Cocoa Beach, and moved to Viera when I was 10."
"You have a twin sister?"
"Yeah, we're identical, but she's the prettier one."I sighed, his fingers curling around my hair was soothing while he was slightly massaging my scalp.
"That can't be possible." I could tell he was smiling, but didn't say anything else, which made me believe that I wasn't done talking.
"I work at a place called Planet Smoothie, and I also work at Toys R Us. I have a a teaching certificate and a degree in English, but can't find a teaching gig anywhere close enough for me. My sister and I still live with our parents. I'm 25 years old, and have a kitten named Paxton. She's a sphinx."
"That's really cool. So you live with your parents? Why?"
"Well, I had my own apartment a couple of years ago, but after my best friends died in a car accident, I wasn't stable enough to be by myself, so I moved back in to my parent's house." I could feel the tears in my eyes forming, talking about Issy and Geremy. It had been forever since I had talked about them. Austin was just so easy to talk to, and he could sense my uneasiness. I sat up and looked away from him.
"What happened to you?" He whispered it as he put his hand on my shoulder.
"I wasn't coping with their deaths very well, and one night I drank too much and took too many pills and practically put myself in a coma. The doctors insisted I go to rehab and that I wasn't stable enough to take of myself just yet." The tears were flowing down my face, and my make-up was running, I could tell. "They had just gotten married and were on their honeymoon. I got the phone call the night of my birthday that they were in an accident." I tried to calm myself down by breathing slow, trying to even it out. "Issy had died upon impact, and Geremy was in a coma for a couple days before his heart gave out. I watched him die..."
Austin wrapped me up in his arms and let me cry. I couldn't tell if I was drunk or because it was the topic of discussion, but it had my emotions all out of whack. He didn't mind, though. He just tried to sooth me and calm me down.
"I understand what it's like loosing a loved one. I lost my mom a few years ago, too. I'm sure than wherever your friends are, my mom is with them, too. My mother wasn't the most perfect woman in the world, but I loved her with every fiber of my being. I still miss her, just like you miss them. I wrote Second and Sebring for her, because she taught me to not give up and follow my dreams. I'll always love and miss her, but I know that she'd want me to move on from whatever battle I had to overcome. I'm sure your friends would want that too."
I wiped the tears from my face and turned to face him, his smile wasn't as bright as it normally was, but it was one of understanding and comfort. I gave him a small smile in return and moved my face closer to his.

"Austin," I whispered, and now I knew this was the one-too-many beers talking. "Can... Can I kiss you?"
He nodded and moved in closer to where our lips were centimeters apart, I closed my eyes and let them finally connect. It was electrifying, and it coursed through my whole body, something I'd never felt before. I couldn't even remember the last time I was in physical contact with a guy that I was attracted too. I could tell he felt it too, because the one peck I expected turned into multiple pecks, and soon his tongue was gliding over my bottom lip, begging for entrance.
I willingly accepted and let his tongue massage mine.
We finally broke the kiss and gasped for air.
"Wow." I breathed out, smiling like a drunken idiot.
"Yeah," he agreed, his smile matching mine, "wow."

Notes

I've been waiting to write this chapter since I started writing! You get to see a little bit more into Mikey's past. Plus you see a little lip action ;) ;)

Mikey's Part outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/mikey_party/set?id=107851241&lid=3193934