Congratulations
I stood in front of the microphone in the studio booth as the track played out. I had the lyrics written on a piece of paper and I was about to sing Cassadee’s part.
So many reasons to live, I need to let them show. I’ve made the hardest mistakes, I need to let them go.
Devin’s vocals quickly replaced mine as the bridge was coming. The music was quickly filled and my part was coming. I love this sound. The vibe of this song. This is amazing. I felt the bridge end and my part came. I gave it my all.
Let yourself go. This is the only time to feel alive. This brings me out to you and I’ll say. I’ll scream it till my heart comes out of my chest. And leave it to the music to transcend the rest. This life is just a perfect fit.
So many reasons to live, I need to let them show. I’ve made the hardest mistakes; I need to let them go.
Devin’s vocals filled in again and the bridge. My adrenaline was pumping and right now, I feel like I could do anything. Especially with Devin singing along.
Let yourself go. This is the only time to feel alive. This brings me out to you and I’ll say.
Devin’s vocals mixed in with mine.
I’ll scream it till my heart comes out of my chest. And leave it to the music to transcend the rest. This life is just a perfect fit.
I’ll scream it till my heart comes out of my chest. And leave it to the music to transcend the rest. This life is just a perfect fit.
The music cut off and I was greeted by cheers and applauds.
“That was amazing!” Devin spoke through the other side. “Okay. So, there’s an interview you need to be at after going over things with Mark.” I nod. “He’ll be here I thirty minutes, so go nuts and look around.”
“Thanks Devin.” I take off the headphones and set them on the mic. I walk out of the studio and take a look around Sumerian. I hadn’t even noticed it was so close to my house. The building wasn’t as large as Rise, but it was big enough to get lost. Walking backwards I looked at the studio I just came out of. Records hangs on every wall. Guitars hanging by strings, pictures of bands on every other wall. Something bumps into me. As I was getting ready to apologize the thing speaks.
“Nice meeting you again.” The York accent speaks. I turn around and jump in his arms.
“Ben!” he crashes his lips against mine. “What are ya doing here?” I ask after pulling away.
“Interview. What are you doing here?”
“Guess who’s getting signed to Sumerian!” I put my hands up and shake them in a surprise kinda way.
“You are? Cool.”
“So, where’s the rest of your band?”
“Sound check. Doing some recording. Were you looking around?” he asks.
“Uhm, yeah I kinda was.” He laced his fingers through mine.
“I can show you around?” he asks.
“Sure.” I felt the blood rushing in my cheeks. You’re a slut, a whore. Get over it.
His words still taunt me. I’m not a slut, or am I?
Ben drags me and begins pointing out studios and records. he told me what each award meant and why certain guitars hang from the ceiling. At the end of the “tour” we reached the place where the interview would start. Sitting in a spinning chair was Mark.
“Ah! Ellie! Ben! Over here.” We walk over to where Mark sat. Mark is a man in his mid-thirties. He had shoulder length black hair and had a nose ring. He may be a pretty rad boss.
“Sup Mark.” I sat in a spinny chair next to him and Ben next to me, our hands still intwine.
“Sup. Okay, we’ll do the interview first, and then sign you. The interview is just me, you, and Ben. Okay?” I nod. A lady around thirty came in. she had long brown hair and bright green eyes. She was the definition of beautiful. Two camera men walked in and positioned themselves in front of us. I don’t know why, but they made me nervous. I started to bounce my knee and scratch my palm. My chair began to move towards the right. Ben was moving my chair closer to him. He leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“You okay?” he asks. I shrug my shoulders and he just takes a hold of my hand again. “It’ll be okay.”
“Okay, rolling.” The lady says in her fake high pitch voice. “Hi. I’m Katherine. And we’re here with Ben Bruce from Asking Alexandria, Mark, owner of Sumerian records and Gielle,”
“Ellie,” Ben interrupts. She rolls her eyes.
“Ellie new artist to Sumerian Records, from Sorry Not Sorry. So tell me Ellie,” she smirks at me. “How does it feel to be signed.”
“Well good. There’s some nice people. Like Devin, we’re working on a song currently. And Ben and I have some history,” he squeezes my hand and I chuckle under my breath. “And it feels awesome.”
“I hear you have a brother.”
“Yeah, David Schmitt from Breathe Carolina.”
“Is he like the annoying brother?”
“Not at all. He’s nice and very passionate when it comes to his girlfriend Lynzie Blair.” Ugh. She’s such a gold digger. I can hear Ben and Mark snickering in the background.
“Ben!” her voice literally gives me a headache. “I hear you’re working on some new music. Can you spill any deets?”
“Well actually we can. We’re flying back out to England because unfortunately, All Time Low can’t make it to the Headline tour.” I gasp. What? I thought that All Time Low we’re conformed for the tour! “So Asking Alexandria are taking their place at the last minute.”
“Okay, so whose on the tour and what’s the tour name?” she flicked her finger nails and narrowed her eyes at me.
“The name of the tour has been tossed around some, but the name of it is now, The Reckless Brave Tour. Headlining it will be Sorry Not Sorry and the first show is at London. Tonight Alive, Of Mice & Men, my band and Ellie’s and are the four touring.” He shows a toothy grin and I swear that lady was sending me death glares.
“Mark. Any advice for the bands and any upcoming bands?” he looks at me.
“Ellie, any advice?” and suddenly the panic rises. All the pressure is on me. it’s up to me to say the right thing. But either way, anything I say, the woman will glare at me. I can go ahead and say it and get it out the way and panic somewhere or panic right now and choke to death on my words.
“Stay Kellin Quinn.”
~Ben~
Was she having a panic attack? The way she squeezed my hand, it was as if she was going to break it. Hehe.
I’m gonna hold your hand so tight, I’m gonna break my wrist.
I’ve got to stop listening to Pierce the Veil.
“Stay Kellin Quinn.” She said. The interviewer gave her a “what the fuck” look and Mark was laughing his ass off in the corner. I chuckle deeply as I was trying to hide the laugh that wanted to burst through. Watching Ellie through the interview was amazing, I mean not to sound like a fucking perv or anything. I never fall for any of my hookups. But Ellie, she’s different. I love how when she giggles or laughs, her shoulders bounce and her hair jiggles. Or is it the other way around? Oh, when she blushes at a comment, she tries to hide her face in her hair. It’s fucking adorable. Maybe I should ask her out for coffee or something.
Nah, I’m Ben Bruce. I don’t get nervous.
But fuck, I am nervous.
“Okay, before we go, we got some questions asked in by Twitter.” Ellie tries to divert her attention away from the interviewer’s eyes. “Ellie,” the lady points her perfectly manicured nail at her.
“Fuck.” She hisses.
“@megansmith23 asked is it true you and Austin Carlile are dating?” the interviewer was basically at the edge of her chair. I knew that wasn’t a real Twitter question. Obviously this lady knew Austin and wants to know
“I think your mouth should be quite, cause it never speaks the truth.” She said quoting With Ears To See And Eyes To Hear.
“What?” the interviewer snaps.
“What?” Ellie asks back.
Silence from the interviewer.
Silence from Ellie.
“Next question,” they go through a round of questions between the two of us and I find out quite the works about her. She and Austin used to date. Currently single (duh!), went skinny dipping quite the numerous amounts of time. I noticed as she was flailing her arms around, the sleeve of her jackets slipped and through the space of the bracelet, I saw scars lining her wrists.
“Okay, that’s the end of this interview. See you guys next time.” And they cut the camera. I walk over to Ellie who is now signing some sort of papers.
“Okay Ellie, welcome to Sumerian Records!!” he pulls a tube out his pocket and pulls the string. Confetti pops in her face and she jumps in surprise.
“Thanks?” she goes in and hugs Mark. He walks away and she turns to me.
“So,” Her phone rings and she answers it. She groans. "Sorry Ben gotta go." She gives me a sly smile as she walks away.
It's cool.
~Ellie~
I hate life. Katelynne called and told me to get dress and come back to the house. I didn’t want to and face Austin. God, what if he goes out on me. I don’t think I could handle that. I really couldn’t. I got dressed on the studio bathroom. After putting my shorts on, I took my hair out the bun and it fell in waves. I slipped a beanie on and got in the car. It wasn’t that far of a drive and I was pissed at that. Pulling up to my house, I quietly closed the door and walked up the driveway. I twisted the key into the knob, jiggling it a couple times, and opened the door.
“SURPRISE!” more confetti was thrown in my face along with streamers and balloons fell from the ceiling. I was awed.
“What is this?” I saw a familiar Mexican making his way through the crowd. “Vic? I thought,”
“Austin called us, and I See Stars and the rest of Sleeping with Sirens. It’s a party for your band getting signed.” Austin did this? I made my way in and examined everything. A banner on the wall said Congratulations! And cake was on the table surrounded by various alcohol beverages. Austin and Alan came up to me, holding mini firecrackers. Austin handed me one. I had tears pricking my eyes.
“You guys,” I exclaimed while fanning my eyes. “Thank you!” I went in and hugged them. Their arms wrapped around my bare waist. Crap! I forgot to put a tank top under this. Alan looked at me.
“Birds on your stomach?” I giggled.
“I’m so sorry Ellie. I’m so sorry.” He whispered in my ear. I smiled and went to enjoy the party.
“BEER PONG!” Alan screamed.
“Wanna be my partner?” I shook my head and decided to watch.
Three games later, Austin and Vic were dominating the beer pong table as undefeated champs. They only had to drink four times since the first round with Kellin and Mitch. From there they played some of Austin’s band mates, Alan, Phil and Tino. Alan eyed the 5 cups remaining, trying to perfect his beer pong form and took his shot. However, considering that they were tipsy when they started playing, by now he was obliterated. His attempts at aiming didn’t help one bit, and the ball landed nowhere on the table. Tino stood beside Alan shaking his head as Alan tried to balance on his feet. Every now and then Austin’s hand would wrap around mines and give it a little squeeze. I wasn’t sure how he did it, but he’d make butterflies riot in my stomach.
It didn’t take long for someone to beat them. During thier fifth round as reigning champions, Tino paired up with Mitch and began dominating the table. He sank five in a row, breaking Vic’s three-drinks-only limit. I looked up at Austin and he smiled like a child at Disneyland. They were doing okay until Mitch got three in a row. After that, they were nearly plastered. I could hear Austin’s words slightly slur together as he spoke into my ear. I had no idea what he said, but I laughed anyway. His arms slid around my waist, pulling me closer. This time I heard every syllable he uttered in my ear.
“Wanna get out of here? Maybe go sit in the sand.” He said nodding towards the beach down the road. We sat on the sand and watched the waves. They were so rough. Demanding. Anything that would’ve went in there would’ve been sucked up and lost at sea. I heard quite sniffles next to me.
“Austin?” I turn to him and he looked at me. Eyes with watery edges.
“I’m so sorry Ellie. I’ve made a mess out of everything and I gave up the one thing that meant something to me.” seeing Austin cry could make anyone cry. “I’m so sorry for those words I said to you earlier. You’re not a slut or a whore. You’re beautiful. I was intoxicated and I was saying random things out of my mind. I don’t feel that way about Gielle. Nooo. Because she cheated. And Ellie you would never cheat on me.” he wiped some tears away. I scooted over to him and placed myself in his arms.
“It’s okay.” I helped him up. “Let’s go back and enjoy the party.” He nodded and jogged down the street. I took one look back at the beach and sighed.
At the party, we ate cake and watch the guys attempt dancing at their drunken state. Austin drank a couple beers before stopping and recording the scene unfolding in front of us. never in my life had I though Kellin could be this stupid. But here he was dancing his ass off like no tomorrow. Soon, I found myself lying on my bed. I didn’t want to be down there, only to deal with another drunken Austin. I change into some shorts and a tank top and go into David’s room to watch Star Wars. Hours must have passed because a knock at the door scared the living shit out of me.
“Come in,” I say while diverting my attention back to the movie. The door opened and I looked up and saw Austin. I pated a spot on the couch slash bed.
He grinned and sat down beside me on the couch. He sat on the end and I cuddled up to him, placing my head on his shoulder. Somewhere, in the middle of one of the movies, I ended up on the opposite corner and his head was in my lap. I was idly playing with his hair, pulling on it occasionally since he wasn’t tender headed. I laughed at one part in the movie and was shocked when he didn’t. I looked down and saw that his eyes were closed and I smiled down at him. I leaned back and played with his hair some more, waking him up when the movie ended.
“What I miss?” he asked.
“The whole movie.” I smirk. I yawned and flopped on the futon. I grabbed a blanket and curled up. The futon dipped and the blanket was ripped from me. “Hey!” I turn around and my face collided with Austin’s chest. He had already shed his clothes down to his boxers. He draped the blanket over us. I curled up against his chest and was about to sleep with he called me.
“Ellie.” I looked up at him.
“Yea.”
"Just please give me a shot." Austin begged me.
"No, Austin. You know how my past relationships have been and you know they always ended in the exact same way as the one before that and the with you as well." I mumbled the last part.
"Let me prove you wrong. If I don’t, you won’t ever have to talk to me or see me again for the rest of your life." he said. I turned around to face him and I knew that was a mistake.
His eyes absorbed mine and I was instantly lost in them. “Please.” he pleaded. I sighed and nodded in defeat.
“Fine. But if you mess up, that’s it, Carlile.” I said warningly.
He nodded and grinned. He pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me tightly. “You won’t regret it. I promise.” he said, kissing the top of my head and grinning happily to himself.
I woke up the next morning feeling horrible. I was hit by a sneeze attack, followed by a few coughs. “Damn baby, are you okay?” Austin asked me, leaning back, but keeping his arm around me. “Yeah, I’m fine. Probably just allergies.” I said.
He nodded, but gave me a face when I coughed again. I rubbed my throat, surprised by the pain. Austin got up and walked into the bathroom. He came with throat spray and handed it to me.
I meekly took it from him and gave him a look of thanks. I really didn’t have it because of sickness, I had it because of…..other reasons. I blushed as I thought about it and looked over at Austin. I eyed the pink scar lining his chest. we’re alike in so many ways now.
His eyes were set on the TV, watching Worlds Dumbest. “That dumbass.” he muttered to himself before bringing his eyes to me again. “Did you take it?” he asked me. “Mhm.” I said, pressing my lips together.
He took the bottle from me and held it. “No, you didn’t. Open.” he said. I rolled my eyes and reluctantly opened my mouth. I felt the soothing liquid calm my throat and swallowed it. He picked me up and carried me to the bed in my room, covering me up with the blankets. “You need to stay warm. I want you staying in bed from now on. If you need anything, tell me.” he said.
I nodded and he laid down beside you. “Austin.” I said. He looked over at me with his eyebrows raised. “Yeah?” he asked. “I need to go to the bathroom.” I said. “Then go, smartass.” he said. I grinned and got up. When I walked back, he opened his arms and I cuddled against him.
“I miss this.” He mutters in my hair.
“I do too.” It’s been two years since I’ve felt what it is like to be in his arms.
----
“I feel dirty.” he said, shrugged his shoulders. I grinned and shook my head.
"Have you already taken a shower?" he asked me. I nodded and watched him as he walked into the bathroom. I heard the water cut on and I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, hoping to get the nasty taste of the medicine out.
I grinned when I was done and went into the bedroom to grab my phone. I walked back into the bathroom and pulled the shower curtain open, him covering himself up when he noticed the phone.
"Ellie!" he shouted from the shower as I ran back into the bedroom, closing the door behind me. I heard the water turn off and I got settled under the blankets.
He opened the door, already in his boxer briefs and I grinned. I patted the spot beside me and he walked over and laid down beside me. He noticed the movie I was watching and realized it was a romance.
"Nice movie." he said, settling into my arms. He had his head lying on my stomach and I had one arm draped across his back while my other hand played with his hair.
"You like it?" I asked him, shocked. I felt him nod and his hair tickled my stomach. I grinned and looked down on him as I felt his breathing even.
Such an odd way of falling asleep. I thought, but sleep overcame me immediately after.