This Town

It was officially the start of the tour. Saint had been running around with her head cut since six in the morning. Alan had told her that she was free to relax and do whatever she wanted, but Saint insisted that if she was going to be on tour with them then she would help out. True to her word, Saint had helped quite a bit. She was helping at the merch tent, making sure the Of Mice boys had everything they needed, and helping the techs backstage as best she could.

Alan tried a few times to catch Saint while she had some downtime but as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she was avoiding him. She was avoiding all the Of Mice boys. As expected Austin didn’t remember anything from the previous night which made him the most confused as to why he was being avoided. He was determined to get an answer though.

“Saint slow down a second!” Austin called and ran after Saint who had an arm full of boxes. She paused for a second then kept walking. Austin was the last person she wanted to be around. “Saint what the hell did I do?” He demanded to know when he caught up with her.

“You didn’t do anything Austin,” Saint huffed. She didn’t mean to come off so hostile but being around Austin put her on edge. “I have things to do what do you want?” She snapped.

“I want you to talk to me!” Saint stopped walking. Tears were threatening to fall and her breathing was getting uneven. Austin’s persistence was overwhelming and Saint had forgotten to take her meds before she left the bus.

“Just leave me alone Austin.” She set the boxes down and took off running. She could hear Austin calling for her but as far as she could tell he wasn’t following her. With the need to get away fueling her actions, Saint ran onto the first bus she came across. Unfortunately, it wasn’t her bus.

“Woah are you okay?” A worried voice asked. Saint looked up and paled when she realized she didn’t recognize the bus or the man talking to her. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find something to say, but nothing came out. “I’m Dave. What’s your name?” The man tried again.

“S-Saint. I’m so sorry for barging in the way I did. I thought this was my bus and I was trying to get away from someone and-“

“It’s okay. Come sit down and take a few deep breaths. I’ll get you some water.” Saint nodded and sat down on the couch. She grabbed her phone and was about to ask Alan to bring her meds but stopped when she realized she had no idea who’s bus she was on.

“Here you go,” Dave said with a smile and handed Saint a bottle of water. He sat down across her in the booth seat and examined her silently. She felt uncomfortable under his gaze, but it was better than being hassled by Austin. “So are you one of the techs or a merch girl?” Dave asked curiously.

“No,” Saint shook her head, “I’m just a friend of Of Mice & Men. Alan made me come on tour with them. But thanks for not automatically assuming I was a groupie or something.” Dave chuckled and lounged across the booth comfortably.

“So I’m going to assume that this is your bus, but what band are you in?” Saint asked as she opened the bottle of water.

“Crown The Empire. You should come to our set!” Dave’s excitement made Saint smile. She nodded in agreement and sipped on the water a couple of times. As much as she was glad that Dave didn’t kick her out, she was still in a frenzy and her skin was starting to burn.

“Um, I can leave you my number if you want and you can text me before your set,” Saint offered. Dave pulled out his phone and passed it to her. With shaky fingers she saved her number then handed the phone back to him.

“Can I ask you something?” Dave piped up when Saint reached the door. Pausing, Saint turned to look at him curiously. “How long have you known the Of Mice guys?” The question was odd but Saint shrugged.

“About four months. Why?” Dave shook his head.

“No reason. You just look like someone that used to hang out with them and I thought you might be her.” Saint nodded once then left the bus. She looked around and noticed Tino and Aaron wondering around. Frantically she ran to the other side of Crown The Empire’s bus. She checked the time on her phone and sighed in relief. The guys would be going on stage in about twenty minutes but they had sound check before that. All she had to do was wait them out for about ten minutes.

“Uhhh whatcha doin?” Saint jumped at the voice that sounded from behind her and turned around sharply.

“Listen. I’m hiding from the guys from Of Mice & Men, more specifically Austin and Alan,” Saint explained quickly. They looked at her questioningly and she waved it off. “Long story. If you can help me get onto the bus without him or Alan seeing me, I’ll explain.”

“Um,” one of the guys said with confusion and looked at his friend, “okay.” Making sure the coast was clear the two guys moved Saint across the tour bus parking lot. “What’s your name?” The guy whispered as he looked out from behind one of the other buses.

“Saint. What’s yours?”

“I’m Hayden,” the guy acting as look out answered.

“I’m Brandon,” the guy standing behind her replied as well. “Hayden are we good do go?” Hayden gave a thumbs up and together the three of them booked it for the Of Mice bus and when they got inside locked the door behind them.

“Thank you so much,” Saint sighed in relief. Immediately she went to her bunk and took her pills.

“Soo what was all that about?” Brandon asked curiously and sat down on the couch next to Hayden. Saint sighed and sat down on the floor across from them and started to explain. When she finished she pursed her lips and nodded. Hayden and Brandon exchanged a look but neither said anything.

“That’s intense,” Hayden commented, breaking the silence. “So he has no idea that he told you that he loves you?” Saint nodded.

“And you think you love him too but don’t want anything to do with those feelings?” Brandon chimed in. Again Saint nodded.

“So you’re choosing to avoid him?” They asked together. Once again Saint nodded. They exchanged another look then smiled mischievously.

“Come out with us tonight after our set. It’ll be fun and you don’t have to be around Austin or the others,” Brandon offered. Saint hesitated but couldn’t say no to the hopeful looks on their faces.

“Okay. Dave invited me to your set tonight so I guess I’ll just get ready on your bus if that’s okay.” Cheering, Hayden and Brandon said their goodbyes and went back to their own bus.

“You know, all you have to do is talk to him and all of this can get sorted out a lot faster,” Phil said suddenly. Saint looked over at him with wide eyes and he smiled sheepishly. “I was taking a nap and when you guys came in and started talking I decided to play spy instead of interrupt.”

“It’s okay,” Saint sighed, “there’s no point anyway. He was drunk and we all say stupid things when we’re drunk.” Phil smiled at her sadly. “Don’t worry about it Phil.” Saint stood and patted his shoulder a she passed by him. She didn’t plan to go the Of Mice set but did make a promise to be at Crown’s. She’d need a nap if she was going to stay for that and then go out and party all night.





“One more shot!” Brent yelled and forced Saint to go with him to the bar. She was beyond trashed and had had way more alcohol than she was supposed to consume.

“Come on Saint!” Dave encouraged and joined them. Andy, Hayden, and Brandon stayed behind and laughed at them drunkenly. Saint wasn’t sure what they had ordered but she was too drunk to care. The three of them clinked their shots together and tossed them back.

“Gu-uys I just want to say,” Saint slurred and wrapped her arms around Brent and Dave but she never got to finish. She started to sway and her eyes grew heavy. She could see Dave talking to her but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. With a smile on her face she lost consciousness.

Notes

So the Pierce The Veil concert at Cargo was amazing. I was going to go by myself but my mom wanted to tag along which is awesome. I've only been to one concert without her, the rest of them we've gone to together; that's our version of mother/daughter time. She's not really into my type of music but she always has a blast.

So it's been a little while, but here's chapter eight. Chapter nine will be up tomorrow but I'll try and get it up sometime tonight. I hope you guys enjoyed chapter eight.

Thanks for reading,
perpetual