Kill Me With Words (All Time Low Fanfiction)

Chapter 26

When I opened my eyes, I could still only see darkness.

My mind was still hazy from sleep, but the first thought I thought off was coffin. I’d been buried alive.

My heart began to thump loudly in my chest, bashing itself against my ribs like a frenzied bird in a cage. I could feel my pulse quicken, feel the hot, panicked blood rushing around my body.

My breath was coming in short gasps, and it kept getting caught in my throat, so I’d be coughing and spluttering while I tried to drink the air around me.

My hands were sliding around the walls around me, they were too close for comfort. Too close for me to breathe. Even the ceiling was a mere few inches above my head. Then suddenly my hands hit something that didn’t feel like the hard walls surrounding me. It was soft, flimsy fabric. A curtain.

 

I pulled the curtain across slowly, then began to laugh from relief. No coffin. I was in a bunk, in All Time Low’s tour bus. Everything began to make sense again, jumbled jigsaw pieces finding their matches and clicking together naturally.

The bus was dead silent. I stood up, feeling wary of my own legs, like they wouldn’t be able to hold me. My bunk was the lowest one, Alex had chosen it for me, saying that I’d be less likely to fall out. I checked Alex’s bunk then, peeling back his curtain slowly to see if he was inside. He’d picked the bunk just opposite mine.

But it was empty. His sheets were messy and slept in, so he’d definitely been there at some point. But he certainly wasn’t in there now.

I turned around then, and looked at the bunk above me, Jack’s bunk. I didn’t need to open the curtains to know that he wasn’t in there, he’d left them wide open already. And he wasn’t here either.

 

“Hello?” I called out, wondering if anyone was on the bus. There was a moment of silence before someone replied.

“In here.”

I followed the voice into the kitchen, where Simon was leaning against the counter.

“Glad to see you’re finally up,” He said. He held out a mug. “Coffee?”

“Um, no thanks,” I told him, “I’m not a coffee person.”

“Ah yes,” Simon nodded slowly, “Alex mentioned that.”

“Where is Alex?” I asked. Being alone with Simon was making my skin prickle uncomfortably.

Simon shrugged. “He’s out. They all are.”

“Out...?”

“I hope you don’t mind,” Simon said. He gestured for me to sit down. “I was kind of hoping to talk to you. Alone.”

“Not at all.” I sat down, my knees pressing together tightly, my hands on my lap. I felt like I was at church. “It makes sense for us to get to know each other, doesn’t it? I mean, we will spending the next few weeks together.”

Simon smirked. “Exactly.” He didn’t sit. “I heard about your brother. I’m sorry.”

I paused, shifting in my seat. “It’s okay.”

“He committed suicide?”

I nodded slowly. “Yes.”

“Interesting...” Simon paused, taking a loud gulp of his coffee. “I heard that he was involved with some gangs and drug cartels, things of that sort.”

I hesitated. These weren’t things that I felt a stranger should now. “You heard about that?” I asked quietly, trying to ignore my quickening heart rate.