Oli's pov:

I could hear Letlive. rage through the basement ceiling. I know their setlist forwards and backwards by now 'cause they start right after we get done with our soundcheck and we stick around to watch. Jason is a crazy shit and kills the bloody hell out of that stage, it's hard not to watch.

He was goin' on with his last song when me and the boys headed downstairs where the rest of the bands were hangin' out. Except Northlane, they were getting their shit ready.

When we were outside the door, I could hear some commotion. I was the first to go in and I just saw a red head bouncing around. "Aye, mate, what's goin' on?" I ask. Alan turns around to look at me.

"Hazel and Austin are coming back," he says.

A bit shocked by this news, my mouth forms into an 'O', and a smile perks it up. I love those fuckers, we all miss 'em and want them back. Glad to hear Hazel wants to come back, too.

"When?" I ask.

"Like their flight touches down in 45 minutes," he says with a stressed look on his face. "I've gotta pick them up."

"Mate, it takes half an hour to get down to the airport. What kind of plan did ya have?" I ask, a little dumbfounded by how they are supposed to get picked up. No one else needs to miss their set.

"It was really last minute. I'm gonna leave now to go get them," he says, starting to walk to the other side of the room to get his jacket. I put my arm out across his chest to stop him.

"You'll miss your set," I say, lookin' at him.

"I've got to pick them up. It's Hazel and Austin..." He says. He's got a soft spot for them. Who doesn't? Besides Izzy, who is real quiet, Hazel's the only girl here. We all took a liking to her real fast, especially like Alan and I who knew her long before this.

"And leave Tino and Aaron alone to perform? Sorry guys, I know you're super an' everything, but a two man set? No way," I look over to Tino and Aaron and they out their hands up, taking no offense and agreeing. Alan looks at me and pleads with his stressed out eyes. "I'll get 'em."

Alan scrunches his eyebrows at me.

"We go on last, I'll be able to make it back. It's settled," I pat his chest before dropping my arm and going to get my jacket.

Alan sighed. I know the little ginger just wanted to see his grievin' best friend, but this is the best and only way. He will see them after he goes on.

I grab my hoodie and slide it on over my head and put my arms through before grabbing my Drop Dead winter jacket. It's freezin' as a snowman's left nut outside, like an artic chill. "You fuckers better not go on without me," I point to Matt and Lee.

"Steal the bus, man! Floor it down there," Matt laughs back.

"Good thinking you bastard," I point at him and finish getting my jacket on. "Alright, I'll see you before we go murder that crowd." I walk past them and ruffle up their hair before leaving for the door.

I go up the stairs and to side stage to find our tour manager getting some of the guitars tuned up. I get his attention and bring him over, informing him that I need the bus pronto and that it's of major importance.

He looks at me like I'm crazy, probably thinks I'm on drugs again. "Gimme the keys mate. I've got'ta go get Hazel and Carlile from the airport. I'm not gonna miss set as long as ya just give'em to me."

He gave off a skeptical look before giving in and reaching into his pocket to pull out the keys. I patted him on the shoulder and gave a grand thank you before running off. I went out the back door to where the buses were parked and prayed to the fuckin' clouds no one tried to catch me.

Luckily, no one did, and I got right inside our bus and left, relying 110% on google maps to get me to the airport.

---
Austin's pov


As I weaved my way through the airport, with Hazel close behind me, I had my phone up to my ear, ringing endlessly. Alan wouldn't answer his stupid phone no matter how many times I called him. He must be getting ready to go on or something.

I wanted to make set so bad. I don't want to miss another and am in such a rush to get there that I'm feeling a little antsy. I don't let Hazel see it though.

I curse as I pull the phone away from my ear when I get voicemail. Who is supposed to be picking us up? Did Alan even tell anyone else we are coming back? Sometimes that ginger...

I see the doors to exit in front of me and I slow to check behind me at Hazel. She has her bag on her backpack and both her hands clenched around the straps, her eyes cast downwards. Her face was unhappy. I stop and turn to face her, she looks up at me. Her eyes look lost and tired. She slept again on the flight back. I don't know how she can still be sleeping.

"We're almost back," I say lightly, looking at her softly. "You can see Alan and Jason.. Your band.." I try to get her to keep her head up at least a little bit, but I fail. I also try not to get jealous at Jason. They did have "sex", after all.

"I just want to be back at the hotel," she says quietly. I nod and accept that I'm not going to get far right now.

"Okay," we start to walk to the doors, passing by the few people that were still wandering around and sitting and waiting. I don't know what to expect when we get outside, I'll probably have to flag down a taxi. I just want to get Hazel back like she wants.

There's a gust of ice cold air that makes my breath get stuck in my throat for a second as we walk outside. The ground is icey and has frost covering most of it and if I breathe out, I can see my breath in the air. This is the farthest thing from Cali.

Hazel tucks her hands in her sleeves to keep them warm as we let the door close behind them. Neither of us are really dressed to be out here since it was warm on the plane and inside.. I don't even have a jacket or gloves available to give her right now.

I immediately start to look around to see if there is a taxi nearby, wanting to get us both out of the cold, when I catch something to my left. It's hard not to see.

A big tour bus is parked at the side of the curb, taking up an obnoxious amount of space. Oli is leaning against it with his arms crossed. He sees me just as I see him and stands up straight, smiling.

"Come on," I say to Hazel, a slight smile on my lips. She looks up slightly and sees Oli, but doesn't smile at it. She just walks with me over to him.

"Ayee, mate!" He cheers when I get over and wraps his arm around me, patting me on the back. I do the same to him. "Long time no see," he jokes and turns to Hazel, his expression falls slightly at the sight of her, but he still gives her a warm smile.

"Hazel Starr," he is more gentle as he wraps his arms around her. Her hands rest loosely on his back as he hugs her. When he pulls away, he leans back and places his hand on her cheek. "Missed ya, Love."

She attemps some type of smile but it hurts me more than it makes me feel good. It's so weak... so sad.

Oli turns back to me. "Glad you two are back, now come on, we've got a set to make."
Oli turns and opens the bus door, leading us all inside. "Make yourselves at home, I've stolen it!" He laughs.

I smile, happy to be back with him. It feels good as much as it does odd. I'm not sure about Hazel, though.

Oli goes over to the drivers seat and starts it up while I go inside the bus to set the bags down. I put them on the floor next to the couch, turning to grab Hazel's because I could sense her behind me. She barely looks at me as I gently take it from her to put there, I'm always gentle with her now.

"You cold?" I ask as I stand back up and look at her. Her hands are balled under her sleeves and her cheeks are tinted pink. Dumb question. "Here," I go over and snatch a folded up blanket from the shoulder of the couch and shake it open before quickly wrapping it around Hazel. Her hands immediately cling to it a tighten it around herself.

"Thank you," she says dryly. I smile at her words, it seems I do every time she speaks now because it's so rare.

"You guys ready to hit the road?" Oli yells back.

"Yeah!" I call back up, turning to look at the front. He signals me a thumbs up and pulls away from the side of the road. I look back to Hazel, surprised to see she isn't right under me like she just was, but on the couch.

I am about to step to the couch to sit by her, but as I look at her distant face, I stop myself. I've been with her all day, hovering, probably annoying, and I can't get anything out of her. The most educated guess I have is that she wants to be alone. I can give her that, and anyway, I want to go catch up with Oli.

"I'm gonna go see Oli, talk with him a bit," I say lightly to Hazel, pointing a finger behind me. "Call me if you need me, okay?" Hazel looks up at me a nods slightly for looking away again. I sigh and turn, she probably won't need me.

I stragle up to the front of the bus and plop in the passenger seat next to Oli with a sigh, he glances at me out of the corner of his eyes. "Hey," I say, propping up my foot on the seat, my knee bending.

"Hey, here to keep me company, yeah?" He asks and I nod.

"And maybe to help with directions... You look a little lost," I laugh and point at his phone that was proped up on the counsel open on iMaps.

"Hey," he defends. "I got my ass here just in time and I'll get it back, too."

I put my hands in the air in retreat and snort a small laugh, turning to look out the window to see where we are. Oli is quiet for a moment, but I can feel him eyeing me.

"Aye, Mate?" Oli gets my attention and I turn to look at him. His voice is softer.. quieter than normal. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Can't help but sayin' that you seem like the one whose real lost," he says, taking his eyes of the road for a second to look at me. I scrunch my eyebrows at him. "Not like the iMaps, like life, ya know what I mean? This thing with Hazel... it's got ya."

I look at him for a moment, taking in what he's saying. "Hazel's lost," I argue. "I'm helping her.."

"That you are, but mate, hear me out here..." he takes one hand of the wheel to signal to himself. "Hazel's lost and you're followin her into the wind, I know you can tell. I don't know much, right, but I can see... Ya losin' yourself in her, mate."

I look at him, a little taken aback. I feel the bus move under me, rolling over bumps in the road, as I think of what he said.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Ya doin' good. I see you two are workin' things out. Trust me, that's just what we all wanted and what we never thought we'd see. Now either our eyes are decievin' us or you two are better, right? And you are clinging to that with whatever you've got, I can see it. You are burying yourself in it cause you love her and you're so deep you can't find yourself," he looked at the road and I looked right at him, strung up on it. He turned to look at me for a moment and our eyes met. It hit me how right he was.

"I'm just trying to fix it and I will do whatever it takes," is all I can think to say to him.

He raises a hand up in defense. "Hey, I know that, man. I've been in that place with Hannah, that's why I can see it in ya. I'm just sayin', you seem like ya on a bad path."

"I've been on a bad path since she left me," I admit.

Oli nods. "Don't take this the wrong way, mate, but don't try and find that path in her. It may be in there, but right now, you ain't gonna get to it, ya just gonna stay lost.. You can't fix your broken relationship in someone who is even more broke."

I nod slowly, feeling Oli's words in my head. I accepted what he was saying, I don't know if I fully agree, but I guess I can't see myself like everyone else can. I know I've been pouring everything into Hazel but that's because shes Hazel.

"What am I supposed to do?" I ask and Oli looks at me once more with an intense look before looking down to the wheel as the bus slowed to a stop. He put the bus into stop and then turned to look at me with a smile.

"Do what you do best."

I sat up and looked out the window, my heart accelerating when I saw a big bright sign on the top of the building.

Bring Me the Horizon
Of Mice and Men
AMERICAN DREAM TOUR

We were here.

Notes

I posted a chapter before this so make sure you read that one!

This ones short and a filler! Are you guys still liking this? Honestly, I feel like I'm dragging out this dad dying stuff but I just can't like avoid it cause it's so serious. I'm trying to move on as fast as I can. I think I might do a small time skip or something, idk!

Let me know what you think!!