Ruby's POV

The bus was in full party mode as we traveled through the night, heading for Orlando, Florida, for the next date of Warped Tour. Jimmy and Demi had been wrapped up in each other at the back of the bus for quite some time, and it was only now that Jimmy bounded out to the front of the bus, waving an unopened bottle of wine around.

"LISTEN UP!" he yelled, drawing everyone's attention to him. "I got an announcement to make."

Chuckles sounded throughout the bus as the band, plus the Berry brothers, Dan, and our driver, Jon, watched Jimmy scramble onto the tiny table. His head almost hitting the ceiling thanks to his over 6ft tall stature. Demi finally emerged from the back as well, standing in front of Jimmy as he took her hand. There, glinting on her finger under the yellow lamps on the bus's ceiling, was the green bottle ring I'd noticed earlier today.

"Demi and I are Engaged, and as soon as we get off this tour, we're planning our fucking wedding!" he cried. "And you're all fucking invited!"

A round of applause echoed around the confined space in response, and Jimmy turned his attention to Brian.

"Nothing would make me happier than to have you standing by my side." he smiled. "Brian, would you do me the honor of being my Best Man?"
"Of course, wouldn't have it any other way, Brother." Brian replied, his lips pulling back over his pearly whites in an ecstatic grin as he raised his beer to toast the newly engaged couple.
"A Wedding?" Johnny cried. "I love Weddings! Drinks all around!"
"Gotcha covered!" Jimmy chuckled, stabbing the bottle of wine in his hand with a corkscrew and filling everyone's cups one by one.

As the others crowded around the table to receive their share of the wine, Brian dragged me away into the privacy of the lounge area at the back of the bus, dragging the curtain over the doorway. His lips curled into a mischievous smirk as he drew me into his arms, immediately capturing my lips with his own. I moaned against his mouth, surprised by the urgency of his kiss. He chuckled as we broke apart and I looked into his eyes.

His pupils were dilated, the brown of his iris's but a thin circle around them. My stomach twisted, recognizing the familiar glazed-over effect his eyes had. I'd seen that before, too many-a-time, in the hazel-greys of Jack's eyes. Brian was High.

Of course, it's Warped Tour, what else is there to do during the long drives from city to city?

But still, it reminded me too vividly of Jack...

*Flashback*

Chicago



One of many infamous house parties was in full swing at the run-down two story house I shared with Jack. Its wooden panels rotting and falling away, the fly screen haphazardly secured to the flimsy wooden frame of the front door with a couple of paperclips, the floor barely visible beneath a blanket of discarded potato chip packets, and various different soft drink and alcohol cans. Not my ideal living environment, but as long as Jack was there, it was home.

Reaven, a friend of Jack's with chin-length black hair and a striking resemblance to Frank Iero entered the living room, a bright grin plastered upon his face. "Guess what I scored, my dudes?" he chuckled, pulling a zip-lock bag out of his pocket containing a sheet of tabs.
"Oh dude!" Jack cried. "Where'd you score that?"



"Old mate Kasey." he winked. "Extra-strength, quality Acid."
"Reaven, you're fucking amazing." Jack breathed.
"Tonight, we party on Me."

I'd been silent since Reaven had entered the house. Once upon a time, I'd thought he was cute, he was incredibly charismatic and charming. But my view of him had been quickly shattered when I had discovered he was heavily involved in drugs, a second-hand dealer, doing the dirty work for the higher-ups who knew better than to hover in the slums of Fuller Park. Slowly but surely, he'd roped Jack into using drugs with him - A little too frequently for my liking.

"Jack?" I murmured.
"Yes, Baby?" he smiled, turning his attention to me.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked, trying to capture his eyes and emphasize the importance that we speak alone.
"I'll be right back." he said to Reaven, hoisting himself up off the couch.

He followed me upstairs into our bedroom and I closed the door behind us. Jack walked to the foot of our bed and sat down, eyeing me expectantly. I took a deep breath and exhaled, nervously biting my lip as I approached him, placing my hands on his shoulders. His large hands rested on my hips and he smiled, placing a soft peck on my lips.

"What's up, Baby?"
"Do you really have to take that stuff tonight?" I frowned, afraid to meet his eyes.
"I'll be okay, Reaven wouldn't supply me with anything that could harm me." he cooed, lifting my chin between his thumb and forefinger. "He's a good dude."
"I don't doubt Reav's trustworthy..." I sighed. "It's just, you've been doing this more and more often lately, and I can't help but worry as I've noticed the dosage getting stronger every time."
"Yeah, Reav's constantly on the hunt for something more potent." Jack chuckled. "But he's just trying to make sure we have a good time."
"How much longer is this gonna go on for?" I asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm worried that you're becoming an addict." I swallowed nervously.
"I'm not."
"Then why do you need to do this every single weekend?"
He sighed, frustration etching across his face. "Baby, we've spoken about this..."
"I know that." I replied. "But I'd hope you could understand why it upsets me."
"It shouldn't, nothing's gonna happen." he defended.
"Maybe not, but it makes me uncomfortable." I frowned. "You know that."
"And I told you." Jack's voice took on an edge of annoyance. "It's what I do for fun."
"I thought you sang in Decapitated Orphans for fun?"
"I do." he confirmed. "But, this comes with the lifestyle."
"It's gonna ruin you eventually." I croaked.
"I'm not gonna argue about this." Jack said, pushing me away as he rose from the mattress.
"Jack-"
"What I put into my own body is not up to you to decide." he snapped, stopping in the doorway. "You can sit up here and sulk all you like, I'll be downstairs, having fun, if you feel like joining us."

He left the room and I sunk down onto the mattress. I drew my knees to my chest as a quiet sniffle escaped me, feeling hot tears trickle down my cheeks. No matter how hard I tried, Jack would never listen. I hated watching him poison himself every weekend, knowing it'd destroy him eventually, knowing there was nothing I could do to stop him. Any other person would have left by now, but I had promised him I'd always be there. No matter what.

Forever, Today and Tomorrow...

*End of Flashback*

"Brian..." I said, gently pushing him away. "Are you on something?"
His thin lips curled into a frown. "Yeah." he nodded. "I scored some MDMA off Ben last night, before the whole blow-up happened."
"I'm not gonna hook up with you while you're High." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair.
"It's never bothered you before?"
"I guess I never realized the full extent of what drugs can do to a person... Until Jack..." I chewed on my lip for a moment. "He completely changed, right before my very eyes."
Brian licked over his lips, but didn't respond.
"I'm not gonna tell you how to live your life." I continued. "But as long as you're doing that shit, this-" I gestured between us. "Isn't gonna happen, I'm not dealing with that again."

Brian's eyes, though dilated and glazed over, softened as my words seemed to hit him hard. He exhaled deeply, reaching into his pocket and producing a small zip-lock bag of multi-coloured pills, striding over to the window at the back of the bus and flipping the clip that kept it shut.

"What're you doing?" I asked as he pulled the window open.
I watched as he threw the bag of pills out into the night. "I swear, I will never touch another pill as long as I live, if that's what you want."
"I don't wanna control you..."
"You're not controlling me." he said. "The difference between Jack and I? You mean more to me than getting high."
"You're a rock star, it's what you do." I sighed. "Don't change yourself to suit me."
"If changing for you, means being a better version of myself, then so be it." he spoke, leaning in close to my face. "But while I'm waiting for this to wear off..." he husked. "We may as well make the most of it, right?"
"Bri-" I began to protest, but he silenced me as his lips crashed against mine once more.

I couldn't hold in the moan as his tongue slipped into my mouth, dominating my own with ease. His arms snaked around my waist as my hands slid up his chest, traveling up his neck and into his hair as I pressed my body closer to his. His hands slid down to grope my ass, earning another moan from me.

A growl of arousal erupted in Brian's throat as he lifted me into his arms, lowering me down onto one of the couches and drawing my leg around his waist. His other hand curled around the back of my neck as his lips left mine, trailing along my jawline and nipping at the soft flesh at the base of my throat. I whimpered quietly, throwing my head back, my eyes closed as a smile crept across my lips.

Okay, just this once, I'll enjoy the benefits of his drug-induced arousal...

Brian's hand toyed with the hem of my shirt, his fingers slipping beneath and trailing over my skin. I gasped as his thumb began to massage the hollow in my hip, causing warmth to flare up between my legs. I dug my fingers into his hair and pulled his face back to mine, piercing his eyes as I bit his lower lip.

His mouth collided with mine once more and I moaned into his mouth as he began to grind against me. My hands slid across his back, pulling up the bottom of his shirt and dragging my nails up his spine. My actions caused him to grind against me harder, the friction sparking up an intense heat as his hardness rubbed against my clit through my jeans.

His hand slid under my shirt, traveling upward and dragging down the cup of my bra beneath the fabric. He ran my nipple between his fingers, pinching it and making me whimper in response. I lifted my hips to grind against him harder, almost certain that I was going to come from dry-humping alone at this rate.

"Ahem."

I broke away from the kiss and looked over Brian's shoulder to see Jimmy standing in the doorway.

"Either join in, or get lost, Jimmy." I giggled.
Brian looked at me, his eyes suddenly lighting up like it was Christmas morning.
"Oh my God, I'm kidding." I snorted, turning back to Jimmy, I said; "What do you want?"
"Can we talk?"
"I'm a little pre-occupied right now." I laughed.
"Five minutes, I swear."
The bus slowed to a stop. "Okay." I sighed, easing Brian off of me. "Five minutes."
"We're stopping for gas anyway." Jimmy said.
"In that case, I'm gonna go grab another pack of smokes." Brian said, getting to his feet. "You want anything?"
"I'm good." I nodded.

We left the bus and I leaned against the side of it, hugging myself as the cool night air bit into my skin. Jimmy paced back and forth in front of me a few times, waiting for the others to pass as they piled off the bus toward the gas station.

"Okay so..." he started once the others were out of earshot. "About what I said..." he fumbled with his hands. "I shouldn't have lied, it wasn't cool."
"It's okay."
"No, it's not." he frowned. "I meddled, I shouldn't have, and it only made things worse, and I'm sorry."
"Jimmy." I sighed. "It's okay, I get it, honestly."
"I just want you to be happy."
"I know you do." I replied. "You meant well, your heart's always been in the right place."
"So you forgive me?"
"Of course." I smiled. "And thank you, really."
"For what?"
"For waking Brian up."
"That wasn't me." he grinned. "It was you."
I rolled my eyes. "I doubt that."
"Give me a fuckin' break." he snorted. "Since you got back, I've noticed Brian's starting to change." he cocked his head to the side. "Well, he still has a tendency to think with his dick, but when he's around you, and you're not fighting, there's something different about him."
I cast my eyes across the parking lot, looking through the window where Brian was purchasing a new pack of cigarettes in the gas station. "You think so?"
"I know so." he nodded. "That's thanks to you, Ruby." he smiled. "I think you're helping him start to grow up a little."
"I hope so..."
He clamped a hand around my shoulder. "You may just make a man out of him, yet." he chuckled...

Notes

Kinda bummed the last chapter didn't get much of a response, and I'm sorry if they're too short lately. I don't mean for them to be, there's just different sections I need to cover and some may be shorter than others.

But I hope ya'll enjoyed that little glimpse into Ruby's past
And how sweet is Brian for valuing Ruby more than getting high? :3
Realistic for that time period? Maybe not, I dunno
But for the sake of the story, let's watch him grow up a little

Happy Belated Birthday, Brian!!! ^_^



Pleaseee comment and stuff
Makes me sad when nobody gives feedback, srs... :'(

Until next time xx