apartment 23 // mitchel cave

31

angeline's p.o.v.

mitchel and the boys had been extremely busy preparing for the release of their ep for the rest of the week. once friday came though, they seemed like completely different people. it was like a huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders. mitchel had told me before how much stress he was feeling and even though i tried to assure him that everything would be okay and his fans would love it, he was still uncertain. i guess i could understand, coming from an artistic perspective especially. i always had those same doubts so i couldn't really blame him. i was glad things were starting to go back to normal and the boys didn't seem like they wanted to pull their hair out at any given moment.

it was currently saturday. we had left early this morning in hopes that we would get good spots at this festival they had bought tickets for a month ago. mitchel insisted that we clear out the back of jesse's van and lay blankets and pillows down. he said he saw something like it on instagram and the boys nagged on him for being a "generic tumblr girl". he seemed upset that they disapproved of his idea but he set it up anyways. and i must say, it was quite nice. we sat across from each other as jesse drove us down the highway, a small bag of goldfish crackers by my side. i tossed them over to mitchel as he tried to catch them in his mouth. he claimed he was a "professional with his mouth". i didn't even try to go deeper on that topic.

the drive ended up being longer than expected; about two hours to be exact. despite how much we had insisted that jesse use a gps, he claimed he knew the way there. he obviously didn't, leading us down the wrong streets left and right.

"are we there yet? i don't think i can eat any more crackers." mitchel yelled up to jesse.

"calm your skinny ass down" jesse yelled back, keeping his eyes aimed towards the road. mitchel huffed and crossed his arms. i crawled over to mitchel and sat next to him. i leaned my head on his shoulder, and hummed a small little tune i had heard mitchel humming before bed the other night. before i knew it, my eyes were closed and i was drifting off into a nap.

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i was rudely awakened by christians voice yelling "we're here!" over and over again. groggily, i got myself up and stepped out of the back of the van. jesse and clinton were already pulling out the tents and equipment while mitchel and christian searched for a bathroom for pat. i walked around our empty lot. i could see another lot with a few people already on it between the trees. at least we weren't out here alone. there were barely any clouds in the sky, leaving just the sun to beat down on my skin. i could already feel the heat getting to me. i waited around until mitchel came back with christian and pat.

"what time do the bands start playing?" i asked mitchel as he walked up next to me.

"they already have. if jesse wasn't such a shit driver we would have made it in time but no, of course not." jesse gave mitchel a dirty look from across the lot. it was going to be a long weekend with these boys.

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the boys and i walked along the grass path between different stages. we had watched a few acts; one indie band christian really enjoyed and another australian band the boys had seen once back home. we were currently looking for somewhere to take a break because the heat was slowly getting to us. i could feel the sunburn already developing on my shoulders and face. mitchel had thought ahead and wore a hat, protecting his face from the unsympathetic sun despite the fact that it made him look like a fisherman. a really skinny fisherman.

"you're looking a little burnt," mitchel laughed. i made the mistake of thinking i would be okay without sunscreen even though clinton had informed me all about about the "risks of sun exposure and skin cancer". i definitely should have listened to him.

"it feels like it," i said, shielding my eyes with my hands as i tried to look around for somewhere to get food. this place was a lot bigger than i had imagined which didn't help my increasing hunger.

"here," he said, pulling off his hat and placing it on my head. i probably looked like an idiot.

"thanks," i giggled as i adjusted the hat on my head.

"hey guys, we just found a place to eat," clinton said as he appeared in front of me and mitchel.

"okay, lead the way clantus." mitchel stated, grabbing my hand and following his brother.

we ordered our food and sat down in an empty area of field. there were hundreds of people here; it felt like it was so easy to get lost. i found myself just watching people run by as i ate my fries one by one. i occasionally had to smack mitchel's hand away from my bag of fries, but i eventually gave in and fed him a few fries.

"how are you not obese by now? you eat so much." i asked him.

"it's all in the genes baby," he said, "and the jeans." he winked at me.

"you keep on telling yourself that pretty boy," i shook my head and returned to my fries.

"one day you'll find out for yourself." he mumbled.

"can you guys actually join in on our conversation instead of flirting with each other?" clinton asked suddenly. i didn't even realize there was another conversation going on.

"we are trying to figure out who to see next." christian added, passing mitchel a pamphlet with different performers and what time they would be playing. mitchel pointed out a few as i looked over his shoulder. i only knew a few of the ones he pointed out but i didn't mind. i was essentially just along for the ride.

after a brief argument over who we were going to see, we eventually settled on seeing a few bands before heading back to our campsite. despite me not knowing half of the people we saw, i had a lot of fun with the boys. i was glad i was able to come here with them, despite disapproving of mitchel purchasing my ticket. we headed back to our campsite late at night. you could practically see every star in the sky. i held onto mitchel's hand tightly as jesse led us along the path, guiding us with his phone flashlight. christian would occasionally stop and pick up sticks for a campfire; he said it was tradition to have a campfire when you camped out in the middle of the woods. once we made it back we immediately began working on the fire. after a few failed tries, we got a pretty good flame going. mitchel pulled up a camping bench next to the fire and sat down, gesturing for me to take the seat next to him. i did, leaning in close to him and resting my head on his shoulder.

"look at all the stars." i mumbled, pointing up at the sky. the others had now pulled up foldable chairs around the fire and were talking amongst themselves.

"there's so many." i continued.

"do you ever wonder if there's other people just like us out there?" he asked.

"what do you mean?"

"i mean that there is another planet just like this one and there is another version of me and another version of you. will they ever meet? or will they never even know each other? there's so many different possibilities..." he trailed off.

"i guess you can't really say that there isn't life out there just like us." i told him.

"yeah i know, it's just really weird to think about." he mumbled, resting his cheek on the top of my head.

"i think all that matters is that we are together right now on this planet." i said.

"i couldn't agree any more."