expectations.

“Oh my God.” Presley mutters repeatedly under her breath.

“Chill, Pres. It’s just Blessthefall.” She stops in her tracks, turning around to face Hayden.

“Just Blessthefall? You all know how much of an inspiration these guys are to me and you’re just going to hide the fact that you know them? I’m still mad at you for that by the way.” He grins and shrugs in a ‘oops’ manner and she rolls her eyes.

“And this is our baby.” Elliot flings open the van doors to reveal four guys all chilled out in various positions in the seats.

“Oh shit man,” Jared says, straightening up and dusting off his shirt. “you told us you wanted to scare the shit out of some old friends, not that there was a pretty girl with them.” Presley blushes and awkwardly rubs her arm, not used to compliments.

“Well, come on in our mom-mobile,” Beau urges. “It might be a bit of a squeeze, though.”

She bursts into giggles. “You guys named your van the mom-mobile?” The BTF members all nod, grinning. “At least I named our van something original.”

“And that would be?”

“The Swaggon Waggon. The Clunk Bucket. Piece of Junk. It really depends on the day, actually.”

All of the guys burst into appreciative laughter. “How about we go eat somewhere - I don’t think we’ll all fit in here.” Everyone agrees with Matt and they all disperse to their appropriate vans.

“To IHOP we go!”

Bren raises an eyebrow at Pres’s demand. “IHOP? It’s midnight, sweetie.” She nods, complacent. “I know. It’s midnight and I’ve been drinking and besides,” her face slips into a hopeful pout, “I really want chocolate chip pancakes.” Bren looks to the rest of the band and they shrug their agreement.

“You have got to be kidding me! ‘Freak Out!’ is totally Teenage Bottlerocket’s best album!”

“No way,” Elliot pauses, taking a bite off her pancakes. She attempts to swat away his hand but misses. “‘Total’ was far better. I mean, who can’t help but smile when they hear ‘Bloodbath at Burger King’?”

She waves her hand in the air, dismissing the idea. “Yeah, sure. But what about ‘Headbanger’? And ‘In the Pit’? Both have such kick-ass lyrics!”

“Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?” Finley mumbles to Eric and Jared.

“No clue. Let’s leave these two alone.” The trio gather their plates and move to another table where the flirty aura isn’t so intense.

“Whatever, Smelliot. You’re entitled to your opinion, even if it’s wrong.” She concludes the argument, neither of them noticing their bandmates had left.

“What was that?” He asks, smirking as he slides into her side of the booth.

Normally Elliot was kind of a rather shy person. He tended to stand off to the side of the group, not in the middle very often but with Presley….He really didn’t mind being the center of attention.

“I said that you’re wr-wrong.” Her tongue trips over the words, betraying her nervousness. Sure, she had had several boyfriends before, but none of them had teased her and been as cute as Elliot. Not that she had an itty bitty crush on him or anything. Right?

Wrong. Was the last thought in her mind as she drifted off to sleep leaned up against Elliot in their van as she watched the landscape go by.

Notes

Can I just say, y'all's comments always make me smile. Like, they make my day.