~*~*~1 and a half years ago~*~*~

“Casey, can you grab shirt 4 in a size medium?” the merch manager asked me as I buzzed around behind him, grabbing shirts left and right for people. I nodded, finding the one he asked for, tossing it to him. I had worked up a sweat running around with how busy it was after the show. The tour had two large bands, Of Mice and Men and Pierce the Veil, and several smaller bands. The merch booths after shows were swamped every time they ended. Steadily, but surely, the crowd began to dissipate.

“Hey, have you guys met Dan? He just hopped on this tour,” another roadie walked up with a tall blonde man with tattoos at his side. The few of us behind the table offered small waves and nods as he made introductions.

“Dan, this is Casey,” he gestured at me and I turned to see him fully. He seemed a little nervous, scratching the back of his head awkwardly with his nose scrunched. I maneuvered around the stacks of boxes, brushing my hands off on my shorts and holding my hand out. He shook it and seemed to relax a little.

“Nice to meet you,” I smiled politely and he returned it with a small nod.

“I’m gonna leave him here with you guys, so just tell him where everything is,” the other guy said as he walked away, talking into a small radio.

“Is this your first tour?” I asked as I clambered back into the boxes, grabbing a few albums to set on the table to replace ones that had been bought.

“No, my second, but it’s definitely the biggest one I’ve been on,” he was quick to start helping, handing me merchandise as I laid it out. We fell into a rhythm, restocking things quickly and easily. “What about you?” he asked.

“It’s my third. Last time I was on Warped Tour, and that was intense,” I laughed. He gave me a surprised look.

“How was that?” he asked.

“So ridiculously hot. Kids were fainting from heat stroke left and right, it was a mess. Touring is also a little more intimidating and dangerous with so many bands. I probably won’t do a big tour like that again,” I shook my head, thinking back to the 100 degree days and constant drunk band members stumbling around the buses at night, being noisy. I hardly got any sleep on that tour.

“That sounds miserable, I’m so sorry,” he laughed, shaking his head. “Where are you from?” he questioned as we pushed empty boxes to the side.

“Portland,” I tossed a box behind a barrier behind the tables, “But my family has moved around kind of a lot, so I can live pretty much anywhere,” I grinned proudly.

“Why did you move so much?”

“Well, my dad works in music, so we were always moving for his job, wherever they needed him. He has his own studio now, though,”

“Wow, that’s fuckin’ awesome,” he chuckled. “Who’s your dad?”

“Jonathan Holt. He’s not famous or anything,” I laughed, feeling proud of my dad. He worked so hard all my life to get where he was. No matter how many times he uprooted me and my brothers, we always tried to be supportive. We knew it was his dream.

“Well, still, that’s really cool that your dad is into music,” he nodded as we finished up. “Did your mom hate moving all over the place?”

“My mom didn’t go with us. My parents got divorced when I was a kid, so it was just my dad and my brothers. And, well, me,” I shrugged. He nodded slowly. “Okay, now it’s your turn! Where are you from?” I said as we began to move away from the area, and seeing that the venue was almost empty we began walking towards the exit.

“Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I grew up on a farm,” he chuckled. “Impressive, I know,”

“Did you have animals?” I asked excitedly.

“You bet your ass. We raised rabbits, chickens, goats and horses. No cattle, but plenty of animals around. It was a pain in the ass, we had roosters crowing at the crack of dawn,” he groaned at the memory.

“That’s amazing,” I giggled. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a farm boy,”

“Don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold,” he popped his collar.

“You just got here,”

“Reputation. I’ve got one.”

“Yeah, the new guy,”

“Look, do you wanna go back to my bus and marathon three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or not?” He looked at me, dead serious, and I lost it. I started laughing, my hands on my stomach, taking a good minute to recover as he continued to make goofy faces.

“I didn’t know we had these plans but I would love to. We have to watch the seasons with Angel, though,” I said obstinately. He rolled his eyes, smiling nonetheless.

“Yeah, whatever you say, your highness,”

~*~*~Present Day~*~*~

“Hey, your highness, what do you want to drink?” Dan poked me roughly in the shoulder, handing me a plate of food. We sat with everyone else on the tour in a large temporary tent, everyone helping themselves to the catered food the venue provided.

“Tea, pleeease,” I sang, taking the plate gratefully, thinking how some things never change. I smiled fondly at the memories of when I first met Dan. He really hadn’t changed at all since that first night I met him so long ago. I shoveled the warm food into my mouth and closed my eyes. I had hardly eaten all day. “Pasta is my favorite,” I sighed, content.

“Try not to drool on anything,” Shae said as she shoved a large helping into her mouth, making a ridiculous face at me as she turned her lip up, trying to stick her tongue out despite the food almost falling out of her mouth. I laughed, shaking my head, shoving her face away from me and trying to eat without spitting any of it up from her stupid looks.

My meeting with Shae was pretty similar, we hit it off right away. We met through Dan later that same week. She had joined the tour at the same time as him. Luckily for us, the hiring agency the tour manager goes through brings everyone in from the same city, Miami, so we were able to stay close even after the tour ended. As I thought about our meeting I felt a pang of sentiment, throwing my arm around Shae’s shoulder. With a mouth full of food I mumbled, “I love you, you sack of potatoes,” laughing as I tried to kiss her on the cheek, and she tried to squirm away.

“Don’t kiss me with food in your mouth!” she squealed, throwing her arms in front of my face. I cackled evilly, shoving back and forth until I finally won, planting a wet one on her cheek and grinning victoriously. Eventually I swallowed my mouth full of food.

“Are you sure you want to act like that when loverboy is only a few tables away?” she narrowed her eyes at me. My gut sank at the thought of Jeremy seeing me acting so silly.

“I… don’t know what you’re talking about,” I turned my head away, looking upward to avoid meeting her gaze.

“You little liar!” she squealed and I dodged her stare even more.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, you sound crazy!” I retorted, practically turning my entire body away from her. She stood from her chair, shoving her face into mine.

“I can read you like an open book, Casey Holt, don’t you shit me,” she smirked as she spoke quietly. I looked down for a moment before I ran my finger through the red pasta sauce on my plate, smearing it across her cheek, grinning like a madman as I jumped up from my chair. “You’re dead!” she laughed wildly as we took off, running out of the tent at full speed. I knew people were staring as we left, even Jeremy. But tonight I didn’t care. Tonight I was loving this tour and the great friends I had on it.

“Really, you guys?! I made you plates and got you drinks and you’re just gonna run around all night?” Dan shouted jokingly, his hands raised in the air above him. We both saw him and turned, making a bee line.

“What are you doing?!” He yelled, concerned as we charged straight at him. Jumping in the air, we threw ourselves onto him, tackling him to the ground, laughing until our stomachs hurt.

“We loooove you,” I said as I rubbed my head on him and Shae did the same. He groaned from his place on the floor.

“Can’t you show it a little less?” he whined as he wrapped his arms around us, too. These were my best friends.

Notes

Short update, but let me know what you think!