"I dibs sitting by Valerie!" Vinny excitedly shouted, running ahead of everyone else and pulling Valerie with him.
"Vinny, slow down!" She chuckled, trying to keep up: "I'm wearing platforms, you're wearing trainers."
"That's a you problem!"
"Hey! I want to look stylish!" She said, "I'm offended," pressing a hand against her head woefully.
"Are you saying because I'm wearing trainers, I'm unstylish?" Vinny asked, running a hand through his hair.
"Precisely," she said without emotion.
"Come on, Valerie! I'm wearing trainers too!" Ryan groaned,
"Don't worry, Ry, I think you are pretty stylish," she told him, and jumped on Vinny's back.
"Oof, off we go then!" Vinny marched, with the guys following close behind.
"Woah, this place is a lot different at night."
"It's a bit quieter, not as much, but hey! It's like 4 a.m., so what did you expect?" Chris said, opening the door to a fast-food restaurant.
"Oo, smell that!" Ricky sighed in delight as he spoke dreamily.
"Hell yeah, I love me some fast food," Justin happily stated, "this is my happy place!"
"What do you guys want? I can order it," Valerie offered, and she started taking everyone's orders and then went to order it.
"Sooo, what's going on between you two then?" Ricky interrogated, smirking evilly.
"She may or may not be officially my girlfriend. But act like you don't know! I don't think she wants you guys to know yet" Vinny whispered, and the guys nodded in understanding.
"We are happy for you, Vin! You deserve this!" Ryan said, patting his friend on the back.
"I don't think I'm worthy of her; just look at her." He sighed, looking at her. They all had a look of awe in their eyes. "She's the embodiment of an angel."
"Vinny, trust me. You are more than worthy. Besides, have you even seen the way she looks at you?" Chris asked, tapping his hands against the table.
"Alright guys! They are going to bring our food out in a bit. Anyway, what are we talking about?" Valerie said, sitting beside Vinny.
He wrapped his arm around her hip, pulling her into his embrace but being secretive about it.
"We are just talking about our favourite horror movies. I think after the next venue and when we are back on the bus, we are going to see a horror movie," Ricky said, and then started talking about his favourite horrors.
"That's kind of ironic, Ricky Horror," Chris laughed, "What's your favourite horror movie, Val?"
"I love the Conjuring Universe movies, especially the second Annabelle movie," she replied.
"No way! Mine too! I personally loved the third Annabelle since it showed the embodiment of the demon. It just shows how easily demonic problems can arise." Chris sighed, smiling brightly.
"I love sinister; something about it just gives me the chills! The house kind of reminds me of mine when I was a kid."
"Oo yeah, I get what you mean!" Ricky nodded.
"Hi! Food for 6?" A waitress came up to them and placed the tray on the table.
"Thank you! Have a good evening!" Valerie said it with happiness, smiling at the waitress.
"This looks delicious," Justin said, nearly drooling.
"Here, Val, try this," Vinny told her with a smirk. She ate it and started to turn red and cough.
"Vinny! You know I can't take much spice!" She coughed, drinking nearly all of her soda.
Vinny just laughed along with the rest of the guys.
"We will get your spice tolerance way higher than it is right now; just you wait!" Justin laughed.
They continued eating their food peacefully, and despite it being 4 a.m., it began to get quite busy. Vinny was trying to feed Valerie, and the rest of the guys were munching away on their fries and whatever else they had ordered.
"We need to come here more often, like how we also need to go back to the Chinese place Ryan took us to!" Valerie told them, wiping her lips.
She placed her head on Vinny's shoulder, and he took her hand in his own, cuddling next to her.
"Are we going to get dese-"
"Motionless in white! Holy shit"
"Hi there!" Ryan said, waving at the group of girls who had caused everyone to pause for a moment in the restaurant.
"Hey, guys, do you want a photo? We are nearly done with our food anyway," Chris said, standing from his seat.
"Yeah! That would be rad," one of them said.
"Who are you?" Another asked Valerie, glaring at her.
"Oh, I'm just filling in for Vinny on the drums if he's sick."
"Right okay, don't try anything funny with him," she snapped at Valerie, but the others were just too caught up in taking photos to notice.
"Oh, don't worry! I would never do anything bad to him." Valerie replied obliviously.
"Listen, just because you get to hang out with them doesn't make you important. You don't deserve this, but I do! Don't you dare think you're actually worthy of being with Vinny either," the girl angrily said, trotting over to her friends.
Valerie's stomach sank. Maybe this girl was right?
Maybe she wasn't worthy; she was just another musical technician from Scranton. not a professional musician. She didn't deserve to be here.
She just sighed; a sad feeling overtook her.
After a long chat with the guys, the girls left, the guys all sat down, and Valerie ordered dessert.
"As much as I love the fans, I wish we could have a simple meal out without being pestered." Ryan groaned, eating one last cold fry.
"Have you guys noticed Valerie has gone quieter since speaking to that one obsessed fan?" Chris asked, and Vinny nodded.
"It sounded like they were having an intense conversation, or more like the fan was and Val was just listening to her." Vinny sighed, watching Valerie from their table.
▪️
Soon enough, their dessert was brought to them. Valerie had two chocolate brownies, and Vinny had a massive ice cream.
"I'll save one for later; I'll take it back to the hotel," she decided, and stole some of Vinny's ice cream.
"Hey!" He playfully shouted after she got some ice cream on his nose. He turned and put a lot on her own nose as well.
"Awh, come on, Vin!" She giggled, and he licked it off.
"Erh," Chris said, clearing his throat. "We are here too!" He said, and the two exchanged embarrassed glances, muttering a slight apology.
Valerie shifted her gaze between her empty plate and the one with the extra brownie.
"Just eat the extra one." Justin coaxed her
"Uhhh, but I will want more later," she replied, groaning.
"I'm sure Vinny would happily get you some more." Ricky laughed, and Vinny nodded.
And a few moments later, the second brownie was gone.
"Damn Val, you really wanted that brownie, huh?" Vinny asked, smirking.
"Hell yeah, I love chocolate brownies," she sighed dreamily.
"Thanks for the meal, Val," Chris announced, and everyone followed his words.
"Hey, how about I give you guys some guy time? I think I want some sleep since we've got another concert later. And since it's nearing 5 a.m., I'm getting pretty tired," she told them, and they thanked her.
"See you later!" Vinny called, and she turned around, blowing him a kiss, and then she left.
▪️
"Look what the cat dragged in."
"Sorry what?" Valerie snapped, glaring at the receptionist from earlier.
"Where's your 'boyfriend' this time?"
"None of your business," Valerie simply replied, and she tried to walk past.
"Why don't you just leave? You are clearly just a hookup; the poor guy probably doesn't need you for anything. Go get a life," the woman growled.
"What on earth is your problem?" Valerie asked, glaring at her.
"You. With people like you coming into this hotel, it creates a bad reputation for us. You should leave," the woman said, motioning to the door.
"I'm not a violent person, but," Valerie muttered, walking over to the woman and grabbing her by the collar, "I believe this was well deserved," she said, and punched the receptionist square in the face.
"Ouu," the woman cried, sinking back onto her chair.
"Don't judge a book by its cover. Learn to be more civil; I will be reporting you," Valerie calmly told her before walking to her room.
"Fucking bitch," she sighed, looking at her now sore fist.
"We can't catch a break, can we?" She groaned and turned on the water in the shower.
She stepped in, turned on the hot water, and just stood there, hoping it would melt and clean away all of her problems for the time being.
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A/N - there are probably loads of mistakes in this chapter. I have edited to the best of my ability but I am sick and really tired xdd
Love you guys, also thank you deadlydisguise for the idea, it'll be used in the next few chapters (as you may have already noticed with Chris)
Take care!!! See you next chapter