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

Chapter 43: Three Words

        "Home sweet home!" Maverick shouted, throwing his arms in the air while clenching an x-box controller in his hands. His obnoxious voice echoed through the bus, much too loud, even if I was already awake. He was still too loud for the small space.

        He was looking out the window, controller hanging loosely in his grip as he watched the scene outside roll past our bus's window. Porter stood close to him, also taking a moment to glance out the window.       

        I was tempted to throw the pillow behind me at him as I craned my neck to look out one of the windows, eyes taking in the city of Boston. I felt a small smile make its way onto my mouth, happy to be home. As I turned away from the window, I caught Kinsley's gaze, noting her similar expression. Even if the tour had been an amazing experience, it was almost over, which meant some time off and absolutely nothing to do.

        "Thank fucking God there are only two more days of dealing with you on this tiny bus," Xavier grumbled, hidden behind the curtain of his bank, surprisingly still in bed. He was the only one, even Kinsley was up, sitting in front of me at the other end of the couch. None of us had done anything after waking up except moving from our bunks down to the couch and chairs, looking as if we could have been sleeping. I was still wearing the clothes I had slept in, striped long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants that cut off just below the knees, the elastic bottom scrunching them around the top of my calm. Maverick and Porter were both wearing basketball shorts falling down around their waists as they stood, jumping and shouting at the combat video game they had been playing for at least an hour, or more.

        I rolled my eyes at them, staring down at the screen of my phone as it lit up in my hands, telling me I had another message from Jack. I finished typing my reply, before leaning my head back against the arm of the couch, rubbing my bare ankles together.

        We had made it to Boston early enough to have most of the day free before the show, and to us, it meant going home for a few hours, something everybody was looking forward to.

        I had been on the phone early with my mom, letting her know about what time I'd be in the city. After our show tonight, we traveled to Baltimore for the last show. Then we could go home for a few more days, a short break, but after that we were flying back out to Los Angeles to start the process of recording and writing more for a full length album. Everything would just keep rolling from there.

        I closed my eyes tightly, feeling the bus bump along slightly to the road. It was a feeling I'd gotten used to, and one that would probably feel weird to be without once I was sleeping on stationary ground.

        It was silent as Zave's feet hit the ground as he rolled out of his bunk, trudging across the floor towards Kinsley and me. He stood before us, reaching down to move Kinsley's legs before sitting down, setting her legs back down on his lap. I stetched my legs out too, setting them down across his lap next to Kinsley's. He glanced at me from the corner of my eye, and I just grinned back, looking down at my phone.

        "Let me take a wild guess at who you're texting," Zave said, letting a yawn as my eyes scanned the text, glancing up after I'd read it. I shot him a look as he grinned at me, turning to Kinsley as she poked his arm. I turned back to my phone to reply, listening to them talk as I did.

        "She has that same 'stupid look' she tells us we get," Kinsley said to Xavier. My eyes shot up, narrowed into a glare as I stared at her. She grinned, Xavier turning his head to look at me with a similar expression, a stupid smile mixed with a little surprise, as if I'd been caught doing something bad.

        "I don't think I look like I'm about to fucking murder somebody when I text the person I'm screwing," Maverick chimed in.

        "Good thing you don't get girls so you don't have to worry about waht your stupid face looks like," I shot in his direction, and then turned back to Kinsley, ignoring Maverick flipping his middle finger in my direction. "And I don't have that look. It's not like I'm in love with the kid, we're just talking. I don't do that annoying relationship crap you two do."

        "Right, we forgot, Natalia doesn't do relationships," Porter said. I made a sarcastic face at him, but he just smiled back before focusing on the game he was playing.

        "How much time till we can get off this damn bus?" I questioned out loud, not loking for an actual answer, just speaking out of anticipation from being home and a yearning to be away from my aggravating band mates, but I should have known I would have gotten an immediate response from someone in the room.

        "Aw, poor Natalia can't wait to see Jack?" Maverick teased, his voice changing to the tone you would use to talk to a baby.

        "More like she can't wait to get away from your annoying ass," Porter muttered, lips pressed together as he concentrated on the game, eyes never leaving the screen. I nodded quickly in agreement, swinging my legs to the ground to stand up, clutching my phone in my hand.

        "No, she loves my ass," he said, moving towards me as I walked towards the fridge, sticking his butt out and backing into my waist, pushing me slightly to the side.

        "Eww, no," I laughed, pushing at his back to get him to move away from me. I shook my head at him as he straightened up, eyes suddenly focused on the game as his player died. He started yelling at Porter as I grabbed for a water bottle, and then pushed the door closed.

        "Mav, shut up!" Kinsley exclaimed, grabbing the pillow to chuck it at his head. I ducked out of the way as it flew past me, nearly hitting my head. Kinsley laughed out an apology as Maverick caught the pillow with one hand and threw it back. I moved to the small hallway between the bunks, safe from the pillows flying across the space.

        I pulled myself into my bunk, closing the curtain and searching for my iPod that I kept in my pillow case, turning it up after putting the ear buds in, blocking out the noise of my friends a few feet away.

        I felt myself smile as my phone lit up, casting a light on the bottom of the bunk above me, and then hesitated as I reached for it. I was doing it, that stupid smiling when my phone lit up thing, that I always pointed out in Kinsley. I shouldn't be. It's not like I was dating Jack, or that I would ever date him. Everything about our relationship seemed to be different than others before. He wasn't as easy to resist. He was different, always bringing up the rush of excitement in my stomach.

        I bit down on my lip, thoughts racing before I was distracted by my phone lighting up again, reminding me that I hadn't even looked at the text in the first place.

        I held my phone up, going to my inbox to open the first message I'd received. I felt my jaw go slack at the name on the screen, not the one I'd been expecting. In all honesty, I'd completely forgotten about him, and the offer I'd made about two months ago before leaving on tour. It all came back to me with just a simple sentence, three words, typed into a message and sent in less than a minute.

        See you tonight?