Left For Dead

Shannon POV
Well this is it, we were on our way home. Don't get me wrong I like where I live, I'm just not going to be able to see all the other bands again, and honestly I don't know.
“What the fuck am I going to do with my life?” I groaned as my head was on Vannas lap.
Currently we were driving home and we were sitting in the front lounge. Ally and echo were slumped over the other couch and Kevin was on his phone texting.
“Harry potter marathons everyday?” Ally said from the other sofa. I grunted. They all looked at me “have you had enough of Harry Potter?” They said laughing, “no, well kinda for now, I'm going to be sleeping alone in my apartment, it's going to be weird and ooh shit--” I stopped for a second and the girls just continued to look at me. “Leon's parents” they all burst out in laughter. “I basically robbed someone of their money, I'm a thief”. Vanna just patted my head and continued to laugh with the other girls.
Kevin stood up and went to the drivers area of the bus, not long after he walked back. “Nearly home girls” we all groaned. Until I got a text.
Dirty dick<3-
When you just out of the bus ours will park behind yours for a bit so we can you know say bye x
Just as I had finished reading that message, I felt the bus stop moving beneath us. “Oh for fuck sake” I shouted, “this is it, Shannon is going to die all alone and crying in the middle of a fucking blanket fort on her floor” I spoke about myself in third person.
All of the girls and me got off of the sofa, and it looked like we had parked outside of ally's house.
I opened the doors first and jumped off. Okay, now I just want to get back on.
Then another bus parked behind ours. Ally was saying hi to her mum.
The next thing you know is all of the pierce the veil boys jumped off of their bus, but they didn't come towards us.
“ALLY!” Jaime shouted. She stopped talking to her mum and turned around confused.
“We thought that maybe just maybe, you would want to say bye to mr lover boy”
Vic then walked over to the bus and grabbed someone's arm pulling them out of the bus. Kellin ran over to ally, ignoring her mum and wrapped his arms around her.
“Ok can I go to say bye to mine now?” I heard Mike say from where pierce the veil were standing. Tony laughed and made a gesture for him to go over to me.
He walked over to me, and I met him halfway, “I'm worried” he said looking to his feet. “I really like you and we won't see each other for ages but we can Skype and text and call each other right, because I am willing to do it if you--” I giggled a little, looking up to him I pulled his face downwards towards mine. “Yeah” he closed the gap between us and his hands found their way around my waist. I never wanted this moment to end but, everything has to end. No matter how good it is.
Including this tour.


Vanna-
The bus had finally stopped, which meant we were back to San Diego. I was just here a few days ago, and now I'm back, again. Who knows for how long this time. This summer went by too fast, living changing speeding fast. The girls and I get out the bus, and say Hi to Ally's mom as we stopped by her house. I walk through the boys and end up in front of Jaime, who was looking down at me already. Damn him for being pretty tall.
"so here we are." he begins to say.
"Yup." We stayed silent, but our stare never broken. I think about the months with him. Hatred. Marriage. Avoidance. Acceptance, and finally, Together. Weird. All that in a two month period. I swear my life should be a television series, it's been that crazy for the past months.
"Where is your mom?" he asks, his eyebrows raised in confusion, as he looked around the guys and girls, looking for a female that looked like me .
I shrug, not really wanting to see my mom and honestly not caring sa the moment. "I didn't tell her we were going to stop by Ally's, besides, I rather not be in my house at the moment." He nods, understanding. Why was this so difficult? I mean, I know I was going to see him after, right? but then again, we were off in different directions. he'll be in a tour and I'll be writing and working in an album. where will we find the time to meet up? only the lord knows how.
"Where are you going to stay?"
"I might ask Ally to lend me her other room, because you and I know that Mike and Shannon are gonna be occupied for the best upcoming months." he laughs and nods. Those two are like peas and carrots. Always together.
"Come here." He opens his arms and I walk right into him, wrapping my arms around his torso. He kisses my head, and grands my hand. "I'm going to miss you, it's going to be weird not having you around."
"ditto, baby. " He chuckles and kisses my forehead, my nose and then finally my lips.
"so, Mrs.P. you ready to live without each other for a few?"
"I don't know, Mr.P. as long as you promise to not run away from me, we'll be fine." He smiles, and places another kiss on my lips. I smile widely, and there's a fake gag at the back.
"cut it out!" Mike whined. We both look at him, and Shannon hits his chest, making all of us laugh.
"Don't become a stranger, V." Vic said passing by us
"You're stuck with me Fuentes." I exclaim, making him groan in annoyance. I laugh, Jaime just smiles widely.
"oh yeah, they're stuck with you alright. You're beautiful clumsy self."
"you like my clumsy self." I said, smiling. He shakes his head, laughing. He knew it very well.
"you bet I do, Vanna. You bet I do." We stayed like this for another minute before we walk towards the huddle. Ally's mom had entered the house again, and we followed Ally to the backyard. I look up at the stars and smile, as my eyes land on the brightest one. I'm home again, Damien. I said in my mind, and Jaime squeezes my hand.
"Vanna, dear! I didn't see you."
"really? Because I'm literally the only one with blue hair." Ally's mom laughs and I give her a quick hug. "oh! this is my...." how to introduce Jaime without getting weird looks.
"I'm her husband." He says proudly. I blush slightly and hide my face behind my faded hair. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, When did you two get married?" We look at each and try to hide off a laugh.
"It's quite the crazy story." Ally said, appearing behind her mom. "You wouldn't believe us if we told you, ma."
"Then I must not know. You two look good together."
"TOLD YOU!" Echo and Shannon yell from the outside. I roll my eyes.
"Well don't let me stop you, enjoy the outside. It's quite the beautiful weather." We all nod in agreement. Two months of the horrible heat and fighting humidity, it was nice to be back where the temperatures were great, and the ocean breeze never left.
"I wonder how we're going to tell your mom." Jaime whispers in my ears, as we both look at our band and Kellin, mingling among themselves.
"She won't take it well, I'll tell you that. They're more Hispanic than the Hispanic." He laughs loudly, and I slap his knee, making him laugh louder. "I'm not kidding. How much you want to bet that they'll make me want to take a pregnancy test?"
"and make those rumors come back? No thanks." I frown and shudder at the rumors part. Because mourning for your dead brother wasn't enough to deal with the last week of tour.
"I'm glad she's not coming back." I whisper, my hand clenching into fists.
"same here." I nod, and I stayed in his arms, looking at the soft fire as it danced in the small pit, and slowly closing my eyes.


Ally's POV
“You two seem very happy together.” My mom said as I continued serving some drinks. “Yeah we really are.” I said giving her a smile. “Well I really can't tell you who to be with, I'm sure you're old enough to to decide that on your own and whoever you chose I'll be happy for you.” She said while coming closer towards me. “Thank you.” I whispered, giving her a hug. We stayed like that for a bit, I loved her hugs. I had missed those throughout this whole tour. Even if I was twenty years old or even fifty, her hugs made me feel like the baby I once was. As the back door opened we pulled away only to find Kellin standing there. “Sorry if I interrupted.” He said, closing the door behind him. “Oh don't worry it's fine, I was just leaving. I have to meet up with Vanna’s mom so we can go shopping to get her mind off things.” My mom said while grabbing her bag from the counter.
We then carried on a small conversation about the tour and all that. “Well I'm leaving now. Have fun but not too much.” She said winking at us. “Mom oh my god.” Kellin and I chuckled, and I feeling a little bit embarrassed. “I'm just kidding around you guys. Alright I'll leave now and you take care of my baby.” She said pointing her finger at Kellin. “I will, I promise.” He answered. “Don't forget not to tell Vivi’s mom about the marriage!” I shouted as she left the house. “I won't!” I heard her shout back. I laughed as I turned my attention back towards Kellin and smiled at him. “I like her.” He said chuckling, getting closer to me. “Kinda reminds me of you.” He smiled and kissed me on the lips softly. I leaned into the embrace, smiling. “Let's go, they're probably waiting for their drinks.” I said.
“So I was thinking, maybe after we finished with the new album and the small tour we're having. We could get someplace for us to ourselves. The other could even be our neighbors.” He said chuckling as he mentioned towards the boys with the girls. “Wouldn't you like that ? Us together like that.” He said. “That actually sounds kinda perfect.” I answered, imagining the scenario in my head. He nodded in response and smiled at me. “Well I'm all in. I would love to.” I answered with a huge smile plastered on my face.
As the night carried on we sat in my backyard enjoying ourselves. The guys had the brilliant idea of lighting the fire pit and now were carefully trying not to burn themselves. I giggled at Tony as he made a funny face at the burnt marshmallow he had just eaten. “Guess who just came ?” Shannon asked as she sat next to the girls and I. “Who ?” We asked in sync. “Mr. Alex Gaskarth.” As soon as those words left her mouth, Echo stood up and ran off to look for him making all of us chuckle. “I'm glad this all worked at.” I said sitting back. “Me too girl.” Vanna said as she did the same. “Same and by the way, I'm staying here tonight Ally.” Shannon said as she drank out of her cup. I nodded at her and looked back at the boys who were running around and goofing off.
I thought back at what Kellin said. Yes we would be separated for some time but all the waiting with be worth it. Even though I'll definitely miss them. I had heard they were going back to their homes and work on their stuff. They were either going on another tour or working on their new album so it might be hard for us to even get together like this anymore. My thoughts were interrupted as the girls stood back up and pulled me with them. “What are we doing ?” I asked chuckling. “Celebrating.” Shannon answered. As we got closer to the little table and lawn chairs she pulled out a big bottle. “Did you take this from my mom ?” I giggled as I studied the bottle which appeared to be some type of wine. “Nope, she just lend it to me without knowing.” She casually answered while pulling the cork off and severing the guys in their cups. I chuckled at her. Typical Shannon. Alex and Echo then appeared, hand in hand. I smiled at them and handed them each a drink also. I made my way through everyone and finally went back to Kellin. He smiled as I got closer and put his arm around me. I looked around to see them all doing the same. Vanna with Jaime, Alex with Echo, Shannon with Mike and even Vic and Tony pretend to be a couple making all of laugh at them two.
“Well to the best summer ever and to Warped.” Vic announced, we all nodded, and put our drinks up and then drank them. Well Vic is right this time, The Best Summer Ever.


Echo’s POV
“Hello?”
“Hi Taylor…This is Echo.” I said softly and I waited for the person on the other side to react. I was a little bit afraid of her reaction to be honest. But I just couldn’t live with the fact that I stole her boyfriend away from her. I needed to know we were okay. So, I gathered all of my courage and decided to call her. Maybe it was a bit stupid, but I needed to do this.
“Uhm…hey. Sorry if this sounds rude, but: why are you calling me?” she asked. She was right, this was nuts. Current girlfriends didn’t call ex-girlfriends.
I moved a little bit on Ally’s bed. I figured her room was the best place to have a private phone call like this one. “I-I…I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry. I really didn’t want things to go this way. I just-“
Taylor interrupted me. “Echo stop. I’m not mad at you.” She said. And I almost thought I had heard her wrong.
“You aren’t?” I asked, my voice filled with confusion.
“No. I was at first a little mad at you, but it faded when I realized that I would probably have done the exact same thing in your situation.” She said. “No, all I feel for you right now is pity.”
Fucking hell, everything about this conversation was confusing. “Pity? Why?” I asked. There was no reason to feel pity for me. I actually ended up with Alex.
I heard a sigh come from the other side of the line. “Because I’m afraid he will do the same to you as he did to me.” She said and it was like a bomb exploded in my head. I didn’t say anything, so Taylor continued. “Look, I know guys like this. Theu just don’t change. I should’ve seen it coming, but I was falling too hard.”
It became a little bit harder for me to speak. I searched for reasons in my head why she was wrong. “I know Alex. H-he…h-he’d never-“
“He’d never do that? Well, he did it to me. He basically led me on while it was clear to him that he would never feel the same for me as I did for him. He made me think that we could be something and then dumped for another girl.” She said and I heard her voice break a little. She was holding back tears. I wanted to comfort her, but I knew I was the last person that should be doing that.
“I’m sorry for what happened to you, Taylor. He was wrong, he shouldn’t have done that to you. But he’s my best friend and I trust him with everything. Even with my heart.” I said and I forced myself to believe it. It was true even though this conversation with Taylor got me a little afraid. Afraid he’d find someone better and move on from me.
Taylor didn’t say anything, maybe she was still trying to hold back the crying. “That’s beautiful. I hope he lives up to it.” She said and she tried to contain her voice. “Look Echo, I really appreciate that you called, but I gotta go now.”
I nodded, not realizing she couldn’t see it. I didn’t know if calling her had been a good or a bad idea. “It’s okay. Goodbye.” I said and I knew this goodbye was forever. Something told me that we couldn’t be friends anymore after this.
“Bye Echo.” She said and then she hung up.
*
While I was sitting around the pit fire that was lit in Ally’s backyard, surrounded by all those couples, I couldn’t help but thinking about Alex. He was probably in Baltimore now, where everyone of my family lived and I had to start over in this new and bigger city. It would be worth it, but it still stung a little.
Even though I was the only one with their boyfriend not here, I was still amusing myself. We were talking about everything and nothing, but mostly about memories of Warped. We had been through so much those few months, it was possible to talk about it for years.
Ally’s mom came walking into the garden, her hands full of drinks for everyone. I had only met her one time before Warped and I thought she was really nice. I could tell Ally had a great bond with her.
We heard the bell ring from inside the house and Ally’s mom looked around, her face a little stressed because she couldn’t open the door with all these drinks in her hands.
“I will get it, Mrs. Wright.” Shannon said and she stood up from Mike’s lap, leaving Mike staring after her. I could tell by the way he looked at her that he would do anything for her. These two have been adorable from day one.
I was just warming my hands above the fire when Shannon came back with a huge grin on her face. To my surprise she turned that grin towards me. “Guess who just came?” she asked.
“Who?” a lot of people said in sync. The fact that she was looking at me already kind of revealed who it was, except for the fact that that wasn’t possible. He couldn’t be here. He was in Baltimore.
“Mr. Gaskarth.” Shannon said, with the grin still on her face.
Without thinking I just stood up and ran over to the door. I ran through the house and towards the front door.
When I got to the hall, I saw that Shannon hadn’t been kidding. My best friend stood there in the hall. He wasn’t at the other side of the country, he was right here.
“I heard there was a good bye party here. I couldn’t miss it, of course” He said with a smile on his face.
I didn’t say anything. I just ran towards him and jumped, wrapping my legs around him and my arms around his neck. Luckily for me he caught me. I immediately pressed a kiss on his lips and it felt amazing after thinking the one we had shared a day ago would be our last for a long period of time.
When I pulled back, he looked at me and smiled. “I could get used to this, I guess.” He said.
I grinned and jumped back on the floor. “What are you doing here?” I asked. He had kind of already told me that, he wasn’t serious back then.
He looked away from me for a little while. “I missed you.” He said.
I blushed. It was weird, because I had the same feeling. I had missed him before when he was on tour, but this time I had been missing him already after only one day of traveling. Besides, it was more painful than before.
“I missed you, too.” I said and I somehow found the courage to take his hand and lead him to the backyard. When we walked in, I saw Ally smile at me. She had this figured out right from the start. Even though I didn’t want to know back then.
She handed me and Alex a drink and we both sat down on one of the lawn chairs. I was sitting on his lap and he had his arms around my waist, just like the other couples in the garden. I couldn’t believe how content and happy I was right then and now.
The talking and laughing went on and I slowly started to drift of. My mind somehow found its way back to the weird phone call I had had earlier this day. I trusted him, but I did want to talk about it. I always talked to him about things like this.
“I called Taylor today.” I said so no one else could hear us and I felt Alex stiffen behind me. I didn’t know what to think about the fact that this was still a sensitive subject to him. Which was stupid of course, it was only a day ago, of course it still was a sensitive subject. “I wanted to apologize to her. For all that had happened.
“What did she say?” he asked, I couldn’t read the emotion in his voice.
“That she wasn’t mad at me. That she just felt sorry for me.” I said honestly. Alex didn’t say anything, so I turned around. I didn’t know how I expected him to react, but this was worrying me. “She told me that she thought you’d do the same to me as you did to her. And honestly, why wouldn’t you? What makes me any different than her? Why would you do something like that to her and not to me? What makes me special?”
And then his expression softened and he traced a finger over my cheek. “Are you kidding me, Echo? You have nothing to worry about. I will never hurt you. I have been in love with you for at least three years, since then I have been dreaming about being with you. I only dated Taylor, because I wanted to get over you. It’s bad, I know. But I would never do anything to fuck up what we have. Please trust me.” He said and I saw in his eyes that he meant it. I had learned when he meant things a long time ago.
I smiled and nodded. “I trust you. I always have. I just wanted to talk to you about it.” I said and his expression lost a bit of panic.
“And even if you didn’t trust me, I would’ve done everything to earn it from you.” He said as I turned back around and I felt the grip on my waist tighten.
I didn’t know if was just blinded by love right now, but all my doubt vanished right then and there. I didn’t even care if I was wrong about it or not.
I looked around the faces of the people here, every face was softly lit by the light for the fire. Every single one of the people around me looked happy and relaxed. They had forgotten all about their responsibilities and stress. Like this garden only existed in a totally different world, a world far away from reality. A world in which bad things didn’t existed.
I looked at Ally. The first friend I had made in this band. The sweet and upbeat girl who basically kept all the girls together. She basically didn’t think bad about anyone and believe me, that was a good thing. It meant that she saw beauty in everything.
Then I looked over at Shannon. The big badass of the group, but also the one with the biggest heart. She tried so desperately to help everyone that she sometimes became too passionate about it. That was also why she was such a good drummer, she was passionate. She had been through the worst, but she always kept fighting. I admired her for that, I wanted to be strong like that.
Then I looked at Vanna. The clumsy, blue haired girl. Without a doubt the person who had been through the most this summer. But somehow it had all worked out for her in the end. She had a husband now she was madly in love with and she was somehow still smiling. Vanna was the kind of person that could get along with everyone (her love for Jaime kind of proved that), but she did stand up for her believes and her friends. We needed more people like that on this earth.
I traced the fresh tattoo on my ribcage. It was still a little sore, because it had only been there for a few hours. It was an image of a dream catcher and the girls had the same tattoo but in different spots. We got it, because we felt like we needed to still remember this band, even long after it had ended. We wanted to remember the part it had played in our lives.
I could already tell that it would have an even bigger impact on my life than it already had. And the same goes for the girls. There were big things waiting for us.
These were the girls that had slowly grown on me during this summer, I had been through hell and back with them, but it had only made us stronger. Our friendship was strong to the point it felt like it was unbreakable.
Besides, we were Left For Dead. Nothing could break us.

Notes