You're Not Alone Anymore

We have been on the road for about 5 or 6 hours now and my stomach’s growling like crazy. I swear I could eat a horse at this point.

The curtain to my bunk was slid open to reveal Alan smiling down at me.
“Geez Dakota, I could hear your stomach growling from all the way in the back. Someone’s hungry, huh?” he said with a little chuckle.
“You have no idea! When are we going to stop for food?”
“We should be stopping pretty soon or else nothing will be open, it’s getting pretty late.”
“Well, could you tell them to hurry up?” I said impatiently, “Because you don't want to see me when I’m deprived of food.”

Alan tilted his head back and started laughing.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist, missy! I’ll go ask one of the guys and then let you know.”
“Thank you, Alan,” I said very pleased.
“Anything for you!” he said winking at me, and then he closed my curtain and walked away.
Then a few minutes later he pulled back my curtain again and said, “Get up! We have arrived in Sacramento and we're going to get food!”
“It’s about time! Where are we eating?” I said while putting on my white Converse.
“It’s a little Italian place called Paesanos.”
“Oh yum, I love Italian food.”
“Me too, now get your ass moving!” Alan said yanking me up off the bed.
- - -
We were just seated into a corner booth when our waitress came over and greeted us.
“Hello, my name is Rachel and I’ll be your server for tonight. What can I get you guys to drink?”
God, she was pretty. But it was very apparent that her breasts were fake, they looked like balloons that were ready to pop. I couldn’t take my eyes off of them.
“Helloooo! Dakota, what are you getting to drink?” Austin said waving his hand in front of my face, trying to get my attention.

Boy, this was embarrassing.

“Oh, sorry. I’ll just have a Dr. Pepper.” I said trying not to look up from the table cloth that had suddenly peaked my interest.
Luckily I was the last person because she quickly jotted down my order and left. That was a relief.

There was an awkward silence at the table for a second or two until Austin cleared his throat and began to speak, “So are you guys excited about this upcoming tour?”
“Hell yeah! It’s always great seeing all of our fans across the country and getting to meet them,” Phil chimed in.
“Yeah, we get to meet some pretty cool people and see some pretty cool places,” Aaron said.
“You guys are so lucky! You get to travel everywhere and see some of the most beautiful scenery,” I said with envy.
“Well don’t worry, you will get to see some pretty awesome places while on tour with us,” Austin said while nudging me.
“And who knows if you do a good enough job as one of our merch girls, you could come along for the European leg of the tour,” Alan said smiling at me.
“No way! That would be amazing!” I said trying not to choke on my own saliva.
“It would, but we will have to see,” Austin said winking at me.
All I could do was smile like an idiot.

“So what venue are we playing at tomorrow?” I said since I had no idea what was going on.
“We are playing at The Assembly tomorrow, and then traveling the rest of Southern California. From there we will start heading towards the east coast. We’ll make sure to give you a list of dates and places so you can stay updated,” Tino informed me.

Then Austin started talking, “Oh and by the way, we need you to report to the merch tent tomorrow by 8 a.m. so you can meet the others, learn the ropes, and get everything organized and set up.”
“Okay, that sounds good to me. I’m just excited to be here with you guys.”
“Aw, and we are excited that you are here.” Austin said giving me a side hug.
- - -
Our food was served pretty fast and before I knew it we were back at the bus and ready for bed. Dinner was really good and I was stuffed beyond belief. I was all settled in my bunk, listening to music while scrolling down my Tumblr feed.

My curtain was pulled back and, surprise, surprise, Alan was standing there shirtless.
“May I?” Alan asked gesturing to my bed.
“Sure, hop on in.” I said pausing my music and closing my laptop, putting it to the side and scooting over to make room for the ginger.

Alan climbed into my bunk bed and closed my curtain behind him.
“So you said we could talk about the whole Josh thing later, and it is later.”
“Oh yeah, well, where do you wanna start?” I asked trying to put off talking about it as long as possible.

As much as I hated Josh because of what he did, I also still had feelings for him. It’s definitely not easy getting over someone you’ve been dating for 2 years. So it fucking hurt to talk about him because every time I did, I ended up crying or in a really bad place.

“Well, tell me about the breakup. Why did you two break up?” Alan asked with curiosity written all over him.
“I broke up with him because I walked in on him having sex with someone else and it wasn’t just a one-time ordeal. Apparently this had been going on for months, and I was a dumbass and had no idea the whole time.” I said basically crying, “I actually believed that he loved me.”

Alan just looked at me with eyes full of sadness and anger. That’s when he shot his head up and said, “I swear to God, if he ever comes near you again I will bash in his skull!” His voice was almost to a low growl, I’ve never seen him get this mad before.

“Alan, please calm down. I appreciate the fact that you care, but you won’t be able to do much if you’re behind bars.”
“I suppose you’re right.” he said smirking at me, “Now come here.”
He engulfed in a nice warm hug. I took in a deep breath, taking in his cologne and the way his body felt pressed up against mine. He was rubbing circles into my back with his thumb.
Alan always knew how to make me feel better, rather it was with words or just sitting there in silence.

For what felt like hours, we just laid in my bed talking. We talked about the little things and we had some deep conversations as well.

But all I knew was that during that moment I actually felt happy and at ease with everything.

Notes

Aren't Alan and Dakota so cute?