Strength in Numbers

I suppose waking up wasn't as much of a Soap Opera scene as I thought. My mind awoke, but I tried, in vain, to put it back to sleep. I snuggled closer to Alan, burying my face in his chest.

"Mmm?" He yawned. Whoops.

I looked up to find him staring at me with a small smile. He flushed when my eyes met his.

"Good morning," I chuckled.

He kissed the top of my head. "Mornin', coffee?"

"Coffee," I agreed.

Alan gave me a shirt to borrow and we crept through the still darkened bunk hall to the front of the bus. Alan put on a pot of coffee then sat on the couch next to me to flip through channels on the TV. I sat with his arm around me and my head on his shoulder. Are we dating? I bet Alan thinks we are. Do I want that? Is this just a bad idea? I pushed the thoughts to the back of my head. I'd deal with all that later. For now, I just wanted some drama free peace, so I snuggled close to my little ginger.

Phil was the first to come out, at least an hour after Alan and I had been up. He looked at us through half lidded eyes. "Oh. Cool." He turned to get coffee.

Alan rolled his eyes.

About a half hour later Austin and Tino padded in, Austin without a second glance at me curled into Alan's side. He sat next to us with an apple and started talking about the set later with Alan.

Aaron woke up last. He walked out of the bunk hall yawning. When he saw me with Alan he hesitated, but then shot me a quick smile. He grabbed a glass of juice and walked to the back of the bus. The hell?

I was pulled from my thoughts by Alan, who rubbed the shoulder his hand had been on all morning. "Hmm?"

He chuckled. "Aust wanted to know if you were coming to our set later."

"Only if you promise to not shoot me dirty looks," I teased.

He flushed the color of his hair. "I won't, I'm sober," he mumbled.

Austin stood up. "Speaking of," he went to the fridge and got a bottle of beer. He poured half a cup and handed it to Alan.

I arched an eyebrow. "Drinking in the morning?"

He flushed deeper. My flustered little school boy. "I, ugh, I have to drink a certain amount each day to wean off." He sipped the beer and made a face. "Aust it's flat."

"It's the other half from yesterday, and you're not supposed to enjoy it. I'm getting you off the stuff, not into it."

I looked quickly to the door while the boys were distracted. What's up with Aaron? He always came out first thing in the morning and talked with the guys, but today he was hiding in the back room. "I'll be right back guys," I smiled at them before walking to the back of the bus. I found Aaron in the back lounge with his guitar in his hands as he worked out a new melody.

"Sounds pretty."

He jumped. "Oh, ugh, thanks."

I sat next to him. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah fine no problem," he rushed. I raised an eyebrow as he smacked the palm of his hand to his forehead. "Sorry, I sound like a moron."

"What's wrong Aaron?" I put my hand on his knee.

He tensed at my touch, so I drew my hand back slowly. "I, ugh, it's nothing."

"Aaron, you can talk to me."

He shook his head. "I guess I'm just a little jealous that Alan got you instead of me, but hey, shit happens." He shrugged and focused intensely on the chords he was playing. His tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth as I watched him play for a minute.

I felt bad. I had really wanted to be with Aaron, but I just had to give Alan a chance. We'd had too much history for me to not give us a shot. I sighed and took Aaron's guitar from him.

"Hey! I almost had it!" he whined.

I rolled my eyes and hugged him tightly. He tensed up at first, but then hugged me back. "I'm sorry. I really am." I pulled back to look at him. "I'm not even sure if things are going to work out with Alan."

He grinned a little, eyes still sad. "Does it make me a bad person to hope they don't so I can have you again?"

I laughed. "Maybe just a little." I pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Don't worry Aaron, there's someone out there for you who isn't hated by all of your friends, and she's going to be so lucky to have you one day. I promise."

We smiled at each other before I handed him back his guitar. He continued on his song as I walked back to the front.

"Hey babe," Alan greeted me with a kiss. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah fine," I smiled.

"How's Aaron?" Austin smirked.

I laughed. That man knew me better than myself sometimes. "He's ok, I just went to check on him 'cause he was acting kinda funny, but he's fine."

Alan smiled and kissed me again. "You're so sweet, love."

I tensed at the four letter word. "Oi, you've got to be kidding me!" Oli's last words to me echoed in my mind, "Thanks a lot, love," he spat on the ground, "bloody whore!"

"Sil?" Alan shook me slightly.

I shook my head. "I-I'm fine. Hey, I'll see you guys at your set later ok?"

Austin shook his head. "No fucking way, Silver. You've been on the edge of relapsing, you're not going to be out of our site for a second."

I sighed. "You guys are leaving tomorrow, do you just expect me to walk around with you all day?" Austin and Alan exchanged a smirk.My jaw hit the floor. "Oh fuck no! I am not coming on tour with you guys!"

"C'mon Sil! Why not?" Austin whined.

"Because I have bills to pay, an apartment to attend, and a job-"

"That you can take with you because you're a writer. No excuses. You're coming on tour." Austin dismissed the conversation.

I looked to Alan for help. He just shrugged. "I think it's a good idea, Sil." I stalked off to the back room and sat with Aaron.

He arched an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"They're making me come on tour," I pouted.

Aaron laughed so hard he fell backwards. "Oh yeah, they're horrible people. God forbid we make you come around the country with us to make sure you're ok."

"Basterds," I muttered.

Aaron just chuckled as he continued to progress through his new song.

Tour with the boys, how could this ever possibly go wrong?

Oh wait,

Warped tour.

Ugh.

Notes

Sorry! I know it's been forever and this chapter's kinda lame but I wanted to put up something! Enjoy! - Anna