(4) Out of Control: An All Time Low FanFiction Romance

Chapter 7: Hunter

        "I can't beieve I forgot. Which band is it that's crazy enough to want to take you guys as a project?" Kinsley asked, glancing in the rearview mirror, and then at me as I picked my head up from the headrest, grinning.

        "All Time Low." I beamed, watching my best friend's eyes widen as she took another turn, another street closer to our homes. She turned the wheel in her hands, straightening out the car on the new road, a large smile on her face as her eyes flickered in my direction momentarily.

        "No fucking way!" she exclaimed. "And you guys got to meet them?" she assumed, remembering from the conversation we had before we left, when I told her we'd be meeting the band and their manager, we just didn't know who they were yet.

        "I bet they're even better looking in person," she sighed, shaking her head softly. I rolled my eyes at her, a smirk on my lips. She just smiled at me, eyes looking up in the rearview mirror at the boys.

        "By the way, your parents are wicked excited about you coming home. I had to talk all of them into staying at your house and let me pick you up. I left and they were all sitting around, just talking about you guys. And there's a ton of food, too," she added, the car rolling closer and closer to the end of the street, one more turn before we turned onto the street Xavier and I lived on. Maverick lived on the next street down, and Porter lived a little further away, another ten or so minute ride.

        "I can't say I'm surprised," I muttered, leaning forward and craning my neck as the car rolled to a stop at the intersection. I could see my house a ways down the street, the old cars belonging to the guys' parents parked out in the street. We hadn't even been gone long, but our parents were almost as excited as us about all of this. Choosin to start a band instead of persuing another profession hadnt' been ideal to our parents, but they grew to like the idea, and when they found out that things could actually work out with us, they were even prouder that or hard work was paying off.

        "Oh, and you'll never guess who's back in town for a while," Kinsley added, causing me to drag my eyes away form my house to face her. She gave me a sly grin, pulling the van up to my house. I looked out the window, seeing our parents file out of theh house. I wanted to roll my eyes at their enthisuasm, but it was also nice to see how excited they wre to see us again even after only a few days.

        Behind our parents came my next-door neighbors, family friends for my entire life, having their own son the same age as me. Hunter and I had an interesting past, as friends as well as more than that, but every time he wanted to make us into something serious, I found myself pulling away. For some reason, his head that I'd end up agreeing to a commitment hadn't strayed from his mind, and throughout all of high school we were on and off constantly.

        At the end of the summer, after graduation, he went off to college in Delaware and I threw myself into the band even more. The time we saw each other after that was limited, but as I pushed open the van door, I saw his mess of dirty blonde hair still styled perfectly on his head, his blue eyes visible even with our distance. His eyes met mine for a brief moment as I left the heated car and stepped into the frigid air, but a moment later my mom's arms were around my shoulders, holding my body tightly afainst hers.

        "Hi mom," I chuckled, hugging her back for a moment before I pulled away, feeling her arms move from my back reluctantl.

        "Hi sweetie," she beamed, hands resing on my arms as she looked at me. "How was it? Was it okay?"

        "Yeah, mom, it was great," I smiled, glancing at my dad. My mom's hands fell as I stepped towards my dad, giving him a short hug.

        "So everything went well? You met this band and talked and everything" my mom questioned. I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest. I could hear the guys around me, their parents questioning the same way mine were.

        "Yeah, everything was fine. We'll be leaving in three weeks to go on tour for two months with a couple other bands, and after that we'll just be writing and recording another album, there's not much else. We just talked about details and stuff," I shrugged, watching my breath come out in clouds in front of my face.

        "Well, isn't that exciting," my mom grinned, resting her hand on my arm. Her happiness was keeping a smile on my face. "Let's go inside, it's freezing out. There are all kinds of food and we all want to hear everything about this band and this tour." She started leading me inside, my dad following a step behind.

        Everybody followed suit, the chatter dying down until we were all inside my house, taking coats and shoes off and moving into the kitchen. There were snacks and sandwiches, among other things, spread out on the counter, as if we were having some kind of party. If our parents were this excited about us coming home from being away less than a week, then I was excited, and almost nervous to see how happy they'd be when we came home from touring for over two months.

        I watched Maverick move over to the counter, grabbing a sandwich. His eyes met mine and he just shrugged, taking a bite as I looked at him. He was always eating, he would eat anything you put in front of him. It amazed me at how much he, and the rest of the guys, could eat.

        I reached for the plate of snacks, fingers grabbing a few crackers as a voice came from behind me. I jumped slightly, whipping my head around quickly, finding Hunter's blue eyes on mine and a smirk on his lips.

        "I've got you on edge already, huh?" he teased, arm reaching around me for a plate of food. He didn't step to the side, only moving closer to grab whatever he was reaching for, his body stopped inches from mine, before he backed away, one cracker in his grip. He popped it into his mouth, smirking as I rolled my eyes at him.

        "You snuck up on me, moron," I muttered, sensoring my words because of the presence of my parents. They hated it when I swore around them, despite my age.

        "Well, it's good to see you haven't changed," he chuckled, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans, the way he always used to.

        "Looks like you haven't either," I replied, seeing my mom, who ws standing towards our left, looking at me, hand rising when she saw me. She waved me over in her direction, towards her, my dad, Xavier, and his parents and I moved away from Hunter without a word. I wasn't going to let him get the wrong idea this time. The very, very last thing on my mind was a relationship of any kind.