I've Got Your Picture, I'm Coming With You Part 13
As always, I don't own anyone, none of this is real, blah blah blah, you know the drill.
An hour had passed, no one had seen Alex, Matt had cried himself out and was now sitting upright next to me. He’d also consumed half a bottle of vodka.
“Alright, I’m cutting you off.”
“But...”
“You still have a job to do this afternoon, remember? We have to get started pretty soon.”
“We?”
“Clearly there are going to be some issues to deal with, and you’re nowhere near sober enough to do both your job and deal with them. I may as well help you out considering I did, kind of, cause this.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
“Hey Petal?”
“Yeah Jacky?” Jack had stuck his head down into the back lounge.
“Umm... There’s someone here.”
“Okay. Matt, can you sit here for 3 seconds whilst I deal with this?”
“Do I look like I’m gonna move yet?” At least, I think that’s what he said, it was pretty slurred.
“Just don’t fall over and knock yourself out okay?”
“K.” I started to walk back into the front lounge with Jack.
“How’s he look?”
“Upset. Confused, and a bunch of other things.”
“Alright. Thanks Jack.” When we walked back into the front lounge, Alex was standing awkwardly by the front door, receiving the silent treatment from the entire bus. Yeah, tonight’s show should be a good one to watch. Shows when the whole group had been fighting backstage were always interesting. They were either electric, or nothing went right and they fought even harder when they got offstage. “Alex. Come here.” He shuffled his way down the bus to me, not looking at anyone or anything but his feet. After doing a quick headcount, I dragged him back into the bunks where we could talk without being overheard. “So?”
“What?”
“What’s your decision about the things we spoke about outside?” I knew the rest of the bus would be listening, so I was going to leave it as vague as possible for as long as possible.
“That... you might be right. I just, everybody else knows?” He was talking to his shoes and mumbling. Poor thing looked so confused and upset, I felt bad for him. There were giggles from behind me followed by a chorus of “How in the hell didn’t he know? He had to have known, right?” I turned around. “Right, that’s it. Off the bus. Off. Off. Off. Off.” There was a collective groan and then the complaints started. “I don’t care what you think. OFF. Haven’t we had enough drama for one day? OFF. Don’t you ALL have load in to do?” There was another collective groan and they all slowly started to shuffle off the bus.
“What about Matt?” “Yeah, what about Mickey?”
“I will deal with Mickey. The guy can’t even stand up right now. I will sober him up and we will be there soon, okay? Now off!” They seemed satisfied that I was going to take care of Matt, but I don’t think any of them cared about Alex at that point. “You too, Jacky.”
“But!”
“Nope, no buts this time. Off. This will be hard enough on both of them as it is. Off. Go help Vinny with merch or something.” Jack pouted at me the whole time he was leaving but I wasn’t giving in to that today. These boys needed time alone to sort out what the hell was going on, and what was going to happen now. After Matt had sobered up a bit first, of course.
An hour had passed, no one had seen Alex, Matt had cried himself out and was now sitting upright next to me. He’d also consumed half a bottle of vodka.
“Alright, I’m cutting you off.”
“But...”
“You still have a job to do this afternoon, remember? We have to get started pretty soon.”
“We?”
“Clearly there are going to be some issues to deal with, and you’re nowhere near sober enough to do both your job and deal with them. I may as well help you out considering I did, kind of, cause this.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
“Hey Petal?”
“Yeah Jacky?” Jack had stuck his head down into the back lounge.
“Umm... There’s someone here.”
“Okay. Matt, can you sit here for 3 seconds whilst I deal with this?”
“Do I look like I’m gonna move yet?” At least, I think that’s what he said, it was pretty slurred.
“Just don’t fall over and knock yourself out okay?”
“K.” I started to walk back into the front lounge with Jack.
“How’s he look?”
“Upset. Confused, and a bunch of other things.”
“Alright. Thanks Jack.” When we walked back into the front lounge, Alex was standing awkwardly by the front door, receiving the silent treatment from the entire bus. Yeah, tonight’s show should be a good one to watch. Shows when the whole group had been fighting backstage were always interesting. They were either electric, or nothing went right and they fought even harder when they got offstage. “Alex. Come here.” He shuffled his way down the bus to me, not looking at anyone or anything but his feet. After doing a quick headcount, I dragged him back into the bunks where we could talk without being overheard. “So?”
“What?”
“What’s your decision about the things we spoke about outside?” I knew the rest of the bus would be listening, so I was going to leave it as vague as possible for as long as possible.
“That... you might be right. I just, everybody else knows?” He was talking to his shoes and mumbling. Poor thing looked so confused and upset, I felt bad for him. There were giggles from behind me followed by a chorus of “How in the hell didn’t he know? He had to have known, right?” I turned around. “Right, that’s it. Off the bus. Off. Off. Off. Off.” There was a collective groan and then the complaints started. “I don’t care what you think. OFF. Haven’t we had enough drama for one day? OFF. Don’t you ALL have load in to do?” There was another collective groan and they all slowly started to shuffle off the bus.
“What about Matt?” “Yeah, what about Mickey?”
“I will deal with Mickey. The guy can’t even stand up right now. I will sober him up and we will be there soon, okay? Now off!” They seemed satisfied that I was going to take care of Matt, but I don’t think any of them cared about Alex at that point. “You too, Jacky.”
“But!”
“Nope, no buts this time. Off. This will be hard enough on both of them as it is. Off. Go help Vinny with merch or something.” Jack pouted at me the whole time he was leaving but I wasn’t giving in to that today. These boys needed time alone to sort out what the hell was going on, and what was going to happen now. After Matt had sobered up a bit first, of course.