Walk With Me

Arin watched from his bunk as Erika slid into hers and closed the small curtain. He heard everything. Not that he was eavesdropping or whatever. He tends to easily wake up even by the faintest sound of things shuffling. His gaze then moved to Brian who sat alone in the darkness, hands buried in his hair. Now he understood why Brian perked an interest towards that girl.

He had too much respect for Brian to remind him not to go for Erika as he was already engaged. Besides, Arin was too new. He hadn’t bond that well with him yet, unlike Erika who had always become the guys’ attention because she was the only girl. And probably because she resembled Jimmy a bit.

Weird thing though, she became crazy only around him, Matthew, Johnny and Zacky. Around Brian, she was still that shy fan girl with a huge crush sign pasted on her forehead.

Without knowing, Arin drifted off to sleep again as he saw Brian walking over to his own bunk in blurry vision.


“Wake up, Vengeance! You promised to run with me today!”

Arin’s eyes snapped open. He immediately saw a bright light and a face beside him. Erika’s face. She was trying to reach for Zacky in the bunk above but she was quite short that her head can only reached Arin’s bunk. There were some groans and grunts from the other guys as her voice peaked trying to wake Zacky up.

“Morning,” Arin murmured to her, smiling. But his eyes can barely open as he squinted them, trying to fight the blinding light. She looked eye to eye with him.

“Morning Arin. Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure. What is it?” Arin rubbed his sleepy eyes and yawning in reply.
“Can you kick Zacky’s bunk for me? I’ve been trying to wake him up.”

Arin looked up to the ceiling above his bunk for a bit and turned back to her.

“It’s -” he reached for his iPhone beside his pillow. “– fucking 5 am. What did he do to you this time?”

Erika chuckled. “He promised to go for a run with me today. So much for working out huh, Vengeance!” she tiptoed, trying to reach the bottom part of Zacky’s bunk but she still couldn’t reach it.

“I understand how that feels.” Johnny mumbled sleepily in his bunk, watching Erika struggled with her height.

“Yeah you would know, Johnny.” Matthew, who apparently had opened his eyes halfway also chuckled into his pillow and refused to fully wake up.

“Come on guys! I thought you’re all keeping fit, and now you’re being pussies?”

“Jeez, why are you so fucking worked up today? You keep fit alone then, I treasure my sleep more.” Johnny huffed as he pulled his curtain grumpily.

Matthew hesitated for a moment, and then he did the same. “Me too. I’ll be keeping fit by running around on stage. Bye.”

Erika let out a heavy sigh. She looked over to Arin, hoping that he would join her, but Arin rarely go on a morning jog though he’d always been the one to wake up early.

“I’ll run alone then.” She slumped her shoulder and started to move away from the bunk section.
Matthew suddenly pushed open his curtain and scoffed. “Don’t go alone, Erika. I mean it. Either find someone to go with you or don’t go at all.”

Erika stopped walking and rolled her eyes at Matthew. “Aw man. Come on! This is a fucking stadium we’ll be playing at. I need my stamina!”

“Did you not listen to what I just said? Jeez.” He turned back into his bunk again.

She pouted her lips and grunted. Matthew was being that father figure again. Just last night he was kicking her ass in COD and acted like a child in Christmas morning. She was about to give up and moved to the kitchen when Arin suddenly spoke.

“Wait, Eri. I’ll run with you.”

She stood straight up and her eyes lit. She turned around; smiling brightly as she saw Arin was jumping off from his bunk after a few climb down from the wooden ladder beside it. He slipped into a hoodie and a pair of running shoes before he moved on to the bathroom to wash his face.
Erika then realized that Brian’s bunk was actually empty. His curtain was drawn, but there was no one inside it. She wondered mindlessly where did he go so early in the morning?

“Let’s go.”

Her brief thought was interrupted when Arin stood before her, his long curly hair covered in a cute grey beanie. She smiled at it as they went past Terrance - who was still snoring - to get down from the bus.

Arin stopped at Terrance and woke him up. Among the guys, Arin had always been the one to talk to him during the journey, and Erika guessed it must have been because Terrance used to drive for the roadies and they’ve known each other long before then.

“Hey, Terry. Go sleep in my bunk. That couch look far from comfortable.”

Terrance grunted but snapped his eyes open. “Wha-? Where- where you goin?” he replied groggily.

“I’m going for a run, with Erika. Go sleep in my bunk.” He ordered again. Erika always liked seeing him being nice to the backbones of the band. The bus driver, the roadies, their merch booth crews, just basically everyone that helped the band through. Probably because he used to be one of them.

“Let’s go. He’ll manage.” Without knowing he gripped Erika’s wrist and pull her along with him. It was too sudden, Erika couldn’t digest what was happening but she just let him be.




They didn’t actually run in the beginning, they just walk. Side by side like they used to during the first time they’ve known each other. The only difference was, now they were so much more talkative rather than just smiling awkwardly and turning gazes away.

“Vengeance is so gonna get it. He’d been boasting off his running skills with me for days! Ughh I can’t take it anymore.”

“Zacky, running? Come on, Eri. I barely see him jumping on the stage, he can’t be that good.”

“How would I know? He told me he can run 5 miles and bet me a hundred bucks if I can top him off!”

“You seriously can run more than 5?”

“Hell yeah I can.”

Arin stopped walking. His eyebrows arched as his ideas incoming.

“I bet you a hundred and one bucks if you can catch me.”

Erika rolled her eyes. “You, run? You don’t run. You never run.”

“Says who? Speed is my middle name and yet nobody knows it.” He leaned in her face and flashed a cocky smirk.

“Yeah right.”

Arin chuckled, hands across his chest now. “So are you in or what? You can add up to your savings to buy that drumkits you liked.”

She bit her lip. She wanted a full set DW kits, with Sabian or Zildjian cymbals with metal crash and chopper effects. She even drooled at the thought.

“Just a hundred and one? That’s all you can give me?”
“For now.”he shrugged.
“God Arin, I swear sometimes - I think you’re really rich and stuck up with your damn money.”

Arin laughed at her remark. But he was caught off guard when Erika suddenly went off running and yelling. “You can’t catch me now Ilejay!”

He was stunned for a second, but then he smiled, zipped up his hoodie and started chasing.



The stadium was really near to the beach pier and Erika knew this place like the back of her hand. She used to come here during the early days of Fade Out May. She came here mostly with Emily, because that girl was her only best friend and Drew too, because he was Emily’s boyfriend.

She ran for 2 and half miles already along the beach and started raining sweats under her hoodie so she took them off while running, leaving her in only a sports bra and shorts. She glanced around, and saw nobody. Arin wasn’t there behind her. She frowned, her body turned as she ran backwards.

“Where the hell is that guy?” she mumbled to herself. Arin must have been far left behind, since Erika never saw him running in the morning. How did he even keep up with his stamina, it’s a mystery.

Erika turned around, a bit too quickly because right then she bumped into someone and fell down ass first. She looked up and saw a silhouette of a man blocking the light, holding out his arm to reach for her. She took it and his energy brought her up.

“You okay?” his warm-milk voice began, sounded worried.
“Syn? What – what are you doing here?”
He raised his eyebrows and his brown eyes traveled around her almost exposed body.
“What do you think?” he replied, arms across his chest.

She baffled at his question and his smirk as she nervously watched him drinking her in. He was wearing a pair of running shoes too, a dark army shorts with his skull beanie on top of his head and a cut off Iron Maiden tshirt that showed his gorgeous tattoo on his arms.

“You went for a morning run?”
He nodded. “You seem familiar with this place.”
“Well, we used to join some Battle of the Bands here, and we pretty much lived here for few months to practice.”
“I see.” Then he glanced around. “You came with Zacky?”
She snorted out a laugh. “Don’t get me started on that lazy ass punk.”

Brian chuckled lightly, as he can understand his best friend refusing to work out and gaining weight ever since he broke up with his girlfriend.

“Just find him a girl, he’ll be back on track in no time.”

She laughed at his comment. “I came here with Arin. Anyway, where in the hell is that guy?”

Brian’s face fell. He closed his eyes sharply for a moment. He had that churning feeling inside his stomach but can’t decipher what it actually means. Jealousy? Why would he be jealous of Arin? He liked that guy. Arin had been friends with Erika all throughout the tour and he had no problem with it. Most of the time.

“ – I’ve been saving up for that drumkits. We made a bet, so I gotta catch up.”

Brian snapped back to reality, his thoughts bubble vanished suddenly as Erika spoke and started to jog in one place.

“Wait, wait. You’re gonna run off again?”
“Yeah. I told you, I’m going for 5 miles.”
“Uff, that’s quite far.”
She smirked at him. “That’s basically the whole point.”
“Don’t wander off too far. That area there, looks dingy.” He pointed to the far coast that slowly emerged from the dark because the sun was rising at the time.
“Don’t worry, I’ve been there. See you later Syn!” she ran off in full speed, leaving him shouting;
“Sound check’s at 10!!”
“I know!!” she yelled from afar.

Brian started to run back to the bus, but his insides didn’t feel right. Like something was going to happen. He was torn between leaving her searching for Arin alone, or being there by her side, making himself confused again.

“Jimmy, please don’t let anything happen to her.” he prayed.

He stood still, hands on his hips for a moment. The glimpse of her had vanished between palm trees and uneven land contour. He shut his eyes and made a decision.

“Fuck it.”

He ran back towards her.

Notes