Kat's POV
"There's something inside you
It's hard to explain" _ Nightcall, London Grammar
I woke up to the delicious smell of warm pancakes and honey syrup.
"Whoever made these, I love you!" I shouted despite my morning grogginess.
"Ah! You finally admit it!" Dan yelled back. "Hurry up, we're waiting for you."
By the time I joined them at the table, Dan and Cam were already halfway through their second pancake.
"Traitors!" I exclaimed, "You said you'd wait for me!"
"I'm in a hurry," Cam answered, "I have plans before the training session."
She sent me a meaningful glance and a smile stretched at my lips. Yesterday, when she'd come back from wherever she'd been hiding with Louise, Cam had told me about her. Apparently they'd dated on and off for three years, until Cam had finally moved from California to New York, where she'd met us. But they had never really broken up, so their meeting here had been unexpected, amazing and, I quote, 'explosive'. I hadn't asked exactly what she'd meant by that, not really sure I wanted to know. But it'd been long since Cam had been so excited over seeing a girl, and I was happy for her.
"Fine, I forgive you. Dan, what do you have to say in your defense?"
He sent me a puppydog-eyed look.
"Uh...I was hungry?"
"That is not good enough!" Ethan replied mightily, looking up from his phone. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"
Dan sighed deeply, and turned to me again.
"I'm truly sorry, Kat," he told me in as contrite a voice as he could manage, and it was actually quite convincing until his lips twitched and ruined the whole thing.
"I saw that!"
He laughed, and gave me the rest of his pancake.
"There, you happy?"
While eating, we discussed what we wanted to do tomorrow, when we arrived to the next tour destination. Today we were supposed to be on the road, but had stopped for a few hours, allowing the bus drivers to rest a little. SWS were playing tomorrow morning, so obviously there was that, but Cam also wanted to get her hair done, and I had planned to meet up with CC and Ash. Chris, Ethan, and Dan had apparently planned a 'guys night out', whatever that may be.
"Kat." Ethan interrupted suddenly, sounding both serious and alarmed.
We all looked over at him, surprised at his change of tone.
"When were you planning on telling us that you made out with Oli last night?"
I looked up at Chris, alarmed, but he let me know by a slight shake of the head that he hadn't told anyone about it.
"You knew!" Cam exclaimed, pointing at Chris. "Why did none of you tell us?"
She sounded genuinely hurt and I sighed.
"Because it doesn't mean anything. It was just a stupid dare. You know I'd tell you if there was anything important going on, Cam."
She narrowed her eyes at me.
"Uh-huh... I have to go now, but this conversation is not over, " she warned me as she left the bus.
I turned to Ethan, frowning.
"Who told you anyway?"
"No one. It's all over the net."
He handed me his phone and I saw a picture of me and Oli kissing in the dark, with the tag '#KOLI'. I had a sinking feeling in my gut.
"Koli? Seriously? Who could have taken the picture anyway? And posted it?"
Chris shrugged.
"I have no idea. But if I had to take a guess, I'd say Vic. He was the one who dared you after all."
Well then, I knew what to do. I rose from the table and put my shoes on, determined to go after Vic.
"Where are you going?" Dan asked, speaking up for the first time since my kiss with Oli had been mentionned.
"I'm going to have a little chat with Vic."
I stalked over to the PTV tour bus, furious. How the hell could he have done something like that without telling me? Vic and Mike were talking to Austin right in front of the bus, which really made things easier considering I couldn't really have entered the bus without invitation.
"Vic. We need to talk."
Austin raised his eyebrows at my cold, cutting voice.
"Unbelievable," he said mockingly, "the little cat shows its claws!"
He ruffled my hair and I shoved his arm away, facing Vic.
"Did you take a picture of me and Oli kissing yesterday?"
He nodded, smiling unashamedly.
"Yeah."
"You can't just do that!"
"Sure I can. You looked cute. It was fun. Why are you so upset about this?"
Truth is, I didn't really know why I was so upset. I mean, I was used to the fans shipping me with every member of my band and BVB, and it usually just amused me. But for some reason, the idea of people thinking Oli and I were a couple was intolerable to me.
"And even if it was okay to take the picture, it was not okay to share it to the world! Now everyone thinks Oli and I are going out!"
"So that's the problem! You know I didn't mean it to be like that, I just posted some pictures of the truth or dare game. Someone must have shared this particular one, and people jumped to conclusions. You know how they are, Kat. And you know what, I really support them, " he continued despite my horrified and angry glare, "you totally should go out. You're just meant to be. I mean, just the way the two of you sang that love song on stage--"
"You weren't even there!"
"Doesn't matter," he said, not missing a beat, "Austin can attest to that." He gave a pointed look at Austin who nodded vigorously. "And he obviously feels something for you, I can tell from the way he kissed you back. Even drunk," he said, probably anticipating my answer, "people don't kiss other people like that when they don't have feelings for them." I gave him a look, and he added quickly, "Well, Oli doesn't anyway. And--"
"Didn't he make out with that hot groupie right after?" Mike interrupted.
"Mike, you're supposed to be helping me!" Vic complained. "Anyway, I totally ship you and Oli."
I rolled my eyes at his candid smile. He hadn't excused himself, actually he had added on to the problem, but he was impossible to stay mad at, with his innocent look, infectuous good mood and screwed-up logic. There was no arguying with him.
"Whatever."
They laughed and Austin ruffled my hair again, earning himself another glare. They started talking about OM&M's upcoming concert, which made me remember my supposed meeting with Oli and his tour manager. I said my goodbye and hurried back to our bus, afraid to be late. As it was, Paul wasn't waiting for me, and I found Ethan, Dan and Chris seated in front of the TV. Apparently Cam wasn't back from her date with Louise yet. I joined the guys on the couch, making myself comfortable next to Dan. I saw what they were watching with so much interest and scoffed. Oh well, men will be men. Cam chose that moment to enter the little livingroom, a bright smile on her face. Then she saw the guys glued to the screen and me hiding my face behind my hands, groaning, and she glanced at the TV. She raised her eyebrows but made no comment as she looked on with interest.
"Seriously?" I exclaimed. "I can't believe I'm the only one here not interested in the next Miss Bumbum or whatever they're called!"
"I'm so sorry, we forgot how young you were. We didn't want to shock you, it's true you shouldn't watch such things at your age," Cam mock-pitied me.
I gave her the finger, but that only triggered other comments on how young and immature I was. They always made fun of the fact that I was the youngest of the group, even though it was only a few years' difference. Cam and Dan were 26, Chris 25, Ethan 23 while I was going to turn 21 in a month. I threw one of the couch's cushions at Dan, which I shouldn't have done because they all ganged up on me, attacking me from everywhere. I was sorely losing the pillow-fight when we heard unfamiliar voices from downstairs. Immediately I went to shut the TV, despite the others' protests. Paul entered just as we finished trying -- and failing -- to make the room look presentable again. He was followed by a tall, energetic woman I'd never seen before and a tired-looking Oli who, judging from the dark circles under his eyes and his grim face, hadn't fully recovered from last night's drinking.
"This is Shona, Bring Me The Horizon's tour manager. She and Oli are here to discuss the exact terms of our agreements," Paul said, and introduced us one after the other to Shona.
She was around 30, I'd say, maybe a little younger, with raven black hair and a friendly smile. She didn't waste any time and immediately started asking questions.
"So what exactly do you have in mind? Is this an 'only once' thing or do you expect Oli to sing at every one of your concerts?"
"Well, not all concerts," Paul answered, "but some of them. We could decided which ones depending on our different schedules."
"Yes, not forgetting BMTH's individual training sessions. What about after Warped? Is this partnership something you want to continue?"
"That's not for me to say," Paul said, turning toward the rest of us still sitting comfortably in the couch.
Chris shrugged.
"I guess we'll decide that later, see how things work out here first," he said and turned towards Oli, who nodded his approval.
As Shona and Paul started discussing the dates of the concerts, Ethan told the lost-looking Oli to join us on the couch, which he did gratefully. Honestly there wasn't any space left, so I sat on Dan's lap. Oli was skinny enough that he didn't take much more space than me.
"Has everyone met Oli?" Ethan asked.
"I haven't," Cam intervened in a fierce voice, "and I would have like to before he made out with Kat!"
My eyes went wide and I stared open-mouthed at Cam, her reaction totally unexpected. A glance in Oli's direction told me he was as shocked as I. The guys stayed silent, apparently not knowing what to say. The silent lingered for a while until Cam suddenly broke the tension.
"I was just kidding! No need to tense up like that! Jesus!"
Oli laughed nervously, and the others followed suit. I smiled weakly, too puzzled over what she'd said to really join in. Why had I tensed up like that? What was it about this seemingly insignificant kiss that bothered me so much? I mulled it over a bit but couldn't find a valid answer, so I shrugged and tuned into the conversation the others were having. They were debating which Green Day album was the best. I looked towards where Paul and Shona had been talking and saw that Paul had left, leaving her to stand awkwardly in one corner of the room. I went up to her.
"Did you agree on the dates?"
"Yeah," she answered with a smile, and showed me a timeplan over Warped's three months.
She explained to me what they'd decided about both the training sessions and concerts. She was a very open, friendly person, and we soon stroke up a conversation about bands, music, and Warped. Apparently she'd already toured twice with BMTH, though never at Warped. She was really excited because there were so many bands she loved performing this year. But from what she told me, she wasn't the only one from the BMTH crew to be so excited.
"The boys are such babies," she complained. "Honestly they make me feel like I'm their mother, and I'm only a few years older than them!"
She gave me examples of their stupid arguments and crazy ideas, but despite her complaints I could see she had gotten to really care about them during the time she'd spent with them. The funny stories she told me made me discover another side of Oli, one I'd never have expected. I couldn't help but compare the wild, crazy Oli she was speaking of with the shy, serious one I'd seen so far, and my broken, incandescent hero wasn't far from my mind. I was a bit confused with these three sides of Oli, and decided to put off the sorting of my feelings to later, going back to my conversation with Shona. Just then, Cam left the guys on the couch and went over to us. She started relating to me what had happened this morning with Louise, when Shona suddenly interrupted her.
"Wait, did you say Louise as in Louise Kimmer, from The Storm?"
"Yeah, do you know her?"
"Are you kidding? She's one of my best friends."
"Really? When did you meet?" Cam's tone was friendly, but there was a glint of suspicion in her eyes.
I reckoned it was a bit irrational to be jealous when you hadn't seen or had any contact with the person concerned in three years, even if you hadn't really broken up. And from what she'd told me, it wasn't like their relationship had been very stable in the first place. But who was I to judge? It wasn't like I didn't act irrationnaly myself from time to time. Besides, having never been in love, I couldn't possibly understand her position. That is, if she even was in love with Louise.
As it was, it turned out there'd never been anything romantic between Louise and Shona. They'd known each other in high school and met again a few years ago, at a rock festival. Since then they'd seen each other often, and had eventually become really close. But, as Shona hinted several times, probably detecting possessiveness in Cam, she herself was straight, and Louise had never been interested anyway. Cam relaxed as the message got through, and they exchanged memories about Louise, allowing me to form myself an image of her, since I'd never actually met her. From what they said, she seemed like an outgoing, friendly, funny and generally awesome person, if a bit over-the-top carefree. After a while, the conversation went back to Warped. It turned out Shona was also going to be at the SWS concert tomorrow, and we decided to go together, and maybe grab a drink afterwards.
Eventually it was time for them to go, as the buses were soon to continue the journey. I hugged Shona goodbye and waved a bit awkwardly at Oli, who, to be honest, looked kind of relieved to leave. When they were gone, Ethan went back to his bunk to call up Amy, while the others went to get something to eat in the kitchen. I fell on the couch, yawning, which made no sense considering the little amount of stuff I'd done today so far. Just then, I felt a rumble in the bus as the engine roared to life. I smiled. We were officially back on the road.
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#KOLI!!!!!!! Who ships it?!?
hehe Vic is so stupid and adorable and Austin is such a bae <3 you gotta love them
it's gonna be so awkward between Oli and Kat now haha
Oh yeah, weird stuff happening between Louise and Cam...we'll see how that turns out
Vote and comment ;)
_ Othilia