Burn It Down

“Ember, wake up. We need to get on the bus,” My older brother Matt whispered shaking my shoulder a little.
“Matt…I’m tired,” I mumbled then felt him pick me up bridal style with my blankets still around me.
“Haha, look at the munchkin,” Jimmy teased Matt.
“Leave her be Jimmy. She’s not used to touring,” Matt defended me.
“Where’s she gonna sleep?” Johnny’s voice came in and Matt was silent for a moment. “Either in my bunk or in the extra bunk, or on the couch” he held me tighter to him when we got outside. I clutched the blankets tighter and shivered, instantly regretting that I’d worn shorts and a tank top to bed the night before.
“Do you want us to grab your guys’ bags?” I heard Brian call after us.
“Please and thank-you,” Matt called over his shoulder then opened the bus door and carried me back to his bunk. “Here you go Ember, just relax and sleep,” he whispered laying me down. “Matt?” I whispered.
“Yeah babe?”
“Will you sleep in here with me or atleast lay here til I fall asleep?”
“Honey, we pack a lot. I need to go help them, but then I will,” he smiled reassuringly. I nodded as he leaned down and kissed my forehead. I yawned and rolled over facing the wall as he walked out of the bunks and off the bus to help the guys.
A while later I felt someone land on top of me, “What the fuck!” I jerked awake and socked the person who was on me blind from being startled and half asleep.
“Ow, fuck little Shads,” Zacky rubbed his arm softly.
I groaned, “What the fuck do you want Vengeance?” I laid back down and squinted my eyes towards him.
“Johnny pushed me into your bunk, I’m sorry,” he got out and looked into my green eyes that almost matched his perfectly.
I groaned, “JOHNNY CHRIST”.
Johnny came back to the bunks smirking, “Damn not even on the bus 2 days and she’s already screaming my name.”
“Short shit, you better not have just said that,” Matt called from the front.
I shook my head rubbing my eyes and looked at the alarm clock Matt had set up for me which read 10:30 AM. “Johnny, I’d never scream your name in that manner….Vengeance….possibly.” I winked at Zacky and Johnny scoffed.
“Yeah, right, like Matt would ever let that happen,” he stood with his arms crossed, trying his best to look intimidating. I laughed and pulled Zacky into the bunk with me and closed the curtain, seeing Johnny’s eyes go from confidence to shock.
Zacky laughed and looked at me, “Really now Little Shads. Me?”
“I have a name Vengeance. Quit calling me Little Shads,” I stretched out, the blankets coming undone.
Zacky blushed slightly, “Uhh….you may wanna cover up again.”
I raised an eyebrow and looked down seeing my tanktop had rolled up to where a bra would be and the short shorts were barely hanging on my hips and shrugged. “All the essential parts are covered, I’m not worried.”
“Ember you just turned 21, I’m pretty sure Matt does not want you dressing that skimpy around 4 perverts,” Zacky looked at the ceiling.
“Oh really now? That a challenge?” I asked and straddled him to get out of the bunk.
He gasped looking up at me, “Uh….yeah…I guess,” his eyes attempted to stay off my perky chest. I smirked and fixed my shirt and leaned down kissing his cheek.
“Thanks for the pep talk Vengeance, but I do know how to dress properly, and these pajamas are up to Matt’s standards. If they weren’t I wouldn’t be in just these, he would have put one of his T-shirts on me,” I got out of the bunk and pulled up the shorts a bit.
Zacky followed hurriedly, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea. We walked out to the main part of the bus and saw Brian and Jimmy playing video games while Johnny and Matt sat on opposite sides of the table. Zacky joined Johnny’s side of the bench as I grabbed a bowl and the milk and cereal. “Morning.” I smiled politely at the guys. “Matt, do we have any coffee?”
“Morning,” they all answered then Matt looked up from his laptop, “Uhh, you may need to make some more.”
I looked around, “Where is it kept?”
Matt pointed to the top cabinet then taking a sip of his coffee, “Up there.”
I groaned, “You guys suck, you know I’m the second shortest person on the bus!”
Jimmy came over, “Oh stop your bitchin, you’re atleast taller than short shit.” He smiled and grabbed the coffee, “Pay the toll for it.” He pointed to his cheek.
I laughed and stood on my tip toes and kissed his cheek, “Thank-you Jimmy.”
He smiled and hugged me before handing me the coffee, “Let us know where you put it so we can make sure we put it back that same place.”
“Don’t hide it in the shortest cabinets please!” Brian asked from his gaming chair.
“You guys do know that to keep it fresh you’re supposed to refrigerate it right?” I asked as I scooped 5 scoops into the new filter. All of the guys looked over at me, including Brian.
“Really?” Zacky asked with an eyebrow raised.
“Yeah, it’s supposed to make the freshness last longer,” I replied and put it in the fridge.
The guys shrugged and went back to their business, I smiled and poured myself a bowl of cereal with milk and leaned against the counter eating. Matt looked over at me, “You know you don’t have to stand right? I don’t bite.”
I laughed almost choking on my cereal, “Not true Mattie, I love you but totally not true.”
He rolled his eyes, “I don’t even have the fangs anymore. I haven’t bit you since you turned 19.”
“Still,” I narrowed my eyes, “Idk if I trust you.” Then walked over and sat next to him and stole a drink of his coffee. I almost sputtered and made a sour face. “How can you drink that shit black.”
He laughed, “If you don’t like it, you can wait for your own damn coffee and add all the horrible shit in there that you want.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and continued to eat my cereal, “So Little Shads,” Johnny started. “You’d rather have Vengeance than me huh?”
Matt immediately looked up at me, “What?”
I glared at Johnny, “It was a joke Mattie. Relax. I said that but everyone knew it was a joke.” I looked at Zacky pleading for back up.
“Yeah, I mean she didn’t mean nothing by it,” Zacky spoke up looking at Matt.
Matt nodded, “Alright, if you say so.” He wrapped an arm around me, “You’re only 21…which means we need to lay down some ground rules.”
I groaned, “Let’s hear it.” Knowing it was no use to argue with him because when he decides something, he stuck with it. It’s one of the things we have in common.
“First, when we go out to clubs, you’re limited to only a few drinks, you’re free to dance, but if you go outside or bathroom or anywhere you gotta grab one of us to make sure you don’t get into trouble.” I opened my mouth to interrupt but Matt beat me to it. “No interrupting. Secondly, no sex. No drugs. If you’re needing special lady products, you have to get them yourself but need to take one of us with you.”
“Matt-“ I started blushing furiously as Johnny smirked, clearly enjoying this lecture. Zacky and the others atleast had the decency to look away and focus on the something else.
“No interrupting. Last, have fun. You’re not a prisoner to the bus, just need you to be careful. Alright?” Matt asked looking at me with his serious look.
I groaned, “I have just a couple of issues. 1. If I need lady products, I’m under no circumstances taking anyone with me unless it’s Jimmy. He’s the only one who won’t make a big deal out of the damn thing and if he’s not wanting to go I go by myself. For the bathroom thing, that’s fine, but you’re in no way to stand outside the door.” I paused and looked around at all the guys as they met my eyes, “THAT MEANS ALL OF YOU. You can wait at the entrance of the hallway or somewhere close by. I’m 21. I’m not a kid who needs to be hovered over. I will be fine.” The guys nodded then went back to what they were doing.
“Last, we need to celebrate your birthday, we kinda missed it yesterday getting prepared for tour. So, tonight, we are stopping in Wichita for the first show which is tomorrow. They have a couple of clubs there that we can check out. One’s called Music n More, the other’s called Jax. You can pick which one. I believe Jax is more for dancing, Music n More is more of a live band place.” Matt smiled and handed me a box that he pulled out from under the table.
“Matt!” I exclaimed and hugged him before taking the box. “Jax sounds like fun. Y’all may not be swarmed there.” I opened the wrapped package as I spoke and finally lifted the lid up off of the box, inside was a Black and Green necklace with a Fall out boy shirt and a matching black miniskirt. “I love it!” I hugged him again as the guys took turns bringing me gifts. Johnny, Jimmy, and Brian had gotten me some Joan Jett, Metallica, A Day to Remember, and Panic At the Disco CD’s along with some Red and Purple hair dye, and some cute new knee high boots.
Zacky went last, “Here ya go, I hope you like it. It’s something that’s new all the way around.”
I raised an eyebrow and opened the box, inside revealed a black and green dress that was labeled with the Vengeance University name. It had spaghetti straps, the switchblade at the neckline with Est 6661 belt that went around the waist, and it went down to right above the knee. I squealed slightly, “Oh my God I love it! Can I wear it tonight?”
“Well yeah dope,” Zacky laughed, “I’m glad you like it, we’re not releasing this for a few more months.”
I grinned and leant over the table and kissed his cheek. “Thank-you Zacky.” Matt cleared his throat and stood up getting out of the booth.
“We have one more surprise for you,” Matt said and nodded at Brian who went to the back room and gave me an envelope.
I raised an eyebrow, “What’s this guys?” I asked as I opened it. Inside was an extremely nice card from the guys with a note inside saying “You get 21 passes to get completely shitfaced on this 4 month tour (other than your birthday of course). Use them wisely as they can also be used for unusual favors such as making us shop for lady products and anything else within reason. Also, we are letting you have the master suite at the back of the bus complete with your own bathroom. Happy Birthday, we love you” and it had all their signatures on it. I gave the guys a shit eating grin and leapt into Matt’s arms. He wrapped his arms around my waist and chuckled, showing his dimples.
“Thank-you!” I exclaimed as I kissed his cheek and then hugged all the other guys.
“This way you get your own privacy-“ Matt started.
“And Johnny can’t prank you when you sleep as there’s a couple of locks on the door,” Brian chuckled.
“And it can be used for pranking headquarters!” Jimmy shouted out smiling evilly at me.
I grinned, “That’s amazing guys.”
“This doesn’t mean that you can get pissed off and go lock yourself in,” Matt warned. I rolled my eyes unable to believe that he would warn me of that considering no matter how mad I got I wouldn’t lock the door, I may go to my room, but I tend to not lock doors….unless I have someone over…not that I’d ever do that…yeah.
I nodded in understanding, “I understand.” I smiled and went over to the couch and sat down. I smiled and stretched. Jimmy and Zacky sat next to me and I rested my head on Jimmy’s shoulder yawning slightly.
“Babe, do you want your coffee?” Matt asked towards me as the coffee pot had finished.
“Please? Do you remember how I like it?” I looked over at him.
“Yeah, half a cup of milk, half a cup of coffee and 3 or 4 sugars,” He joked.
I laughed, “No no no. I want ¾ of coffee, 1/8 of milk and 2 sugars please,” I shivered slightly. “What temp are we keeping the bus at? 32?”
“Uhh, Ember you’re sitting right next to the big window in the bus, we’re in Kansas in early spring. It gets cold here.” Zacky laughed, “The bus temp’s set at 68 I think.”
“Yeah, it’s 68, we can turn it up to 71,” Johnny said as he fixed it.
Matt laughed and brought me the cup of coffee, “Here you go.”
I smiled, taking the coffee and sat back, “Guys, let’s watch a movie.” I took a drink of my coffee and made a soft moan from how good it was.
“Which one?” Brian asked raising an eyebrow at me from the opposite couch.
“The Notebook?” I asked and all the guys groaned. “Or not.” I drank more of my coffee.
“Babe, you’ve seen that like a million times!” Matt complained as he turned around and looked at me.
I stuck my tongue out at him, “How about Urban Legend?” Jimmy suggested.
The guys shrugged and I nodded, then got up and went to the xbox and dvd collection. I popped open the xbox and placed the dvd in and then began walking back to my seat. Brian reached out and grabbed me pulling me onto him. “You get to cuddle with me,” he murmured in my ear.
I smiled and cuddled up to him as I sat sideways on his lap as the movie title screen came on. “Fine.” I grabbed my coffee from the ledge and took another drink finishing my coffee.
Matt sat next to Zacky and Jimmy eyeing Brian suspiciously but didn’t say anything. Johnny sat in the gaming chair and clicked on the play movie button. I found myself laughing when the girls would scream, you could so tell that it was fake!
“Shhhh….it’s a slasher movie, you’re not supposed to laugh,” Brian softly chastised. I rolled my eyes, “You’re also not supposed to be encouraging flirting Mr. Haner.”
“SHHHH” the others said to us and I stuck my tongue out.
When the movie was over, I yawned slightly. “NO YAWNING!” Jimmy yelled ruining any sleeping mood I was in.
I pouted, “But Jimmy, Short Shit woke me up by pushing Vengeance into my bunk!”
Jimmy looked at me with narrowed eyes, “I don’t believe that should make any difference! You were able to sleep a lot longer than we were!”
“See? That means you need naps too!” I insisted giving him the puppy eyes.
Jimmy smirked, “Do I get some naptime with you?” He wiggled his eyebrows earning an elbow from Matt.
“Dude, that’s my SISTER,” Matt emphasized the word ‘sister’ as though it were some big secret.
Jimmy rolled his eyes, “Yes, I’m quite aware of that MATTHEW. It was a joke.”
I giggled as Brian pulled me closer, “Let’s watch another movie then?”
Zacky and Johnny nodded, “Sure. How about…Fight Club?”
I shrugged, “Sure.” I smiled at them then looked at Brian. “Can we change positions? To where maybe we’re laying down?”
Brian smirked, “What’s that little Shads, you wanna lay with me?”
I rolled my eyes and chuckled, “Yes. You’re comfortable.”
He laughed and nodded laying down, moving me to where my head was resting on his chest and his arms around my waist. As the movie started, I felt myself slowly falling back asleep, and the warmth of Brian comforting me.

Notes

I really hope you all like this story :) Again, it's a repost from my other acct. ShadowSkye6661, it's not plagiarized.