Life On The Road

"Y'know, it's so weird when those two aren't here."

Zacky, Johnny and Jimmy, along with some of their friends and crew, had taken their seats around a large table at the local bar. Their table was one that, like the others, had been lazily decorated with beet mats that had just been tossed there, scratch marks and other little details. It wasn't exactly the luxury bar experience that they often got in hotel bars, especially given the atmosphere from the locals, but it had beer and that's all they cared about.

"I have to agree there, Zack. It's never the same without Brian and Matt. Those guys really bring the place to life," Johnny spoke, raising his glass to his lips to taste the alcoholic liquid contained within, "But surely they'll come with us next time, right?"

The Rev leaned back in his seat and observed the gathering before him, eyes shifting from each and every person. It was too quiet. He didn't like it one bit. "They better fuckin' come, otherwise I'll drag them here." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"That's a point, why didn't they come with us tonight?" Dan, one of their security guards asked as he lowered his glass, licking the remnants of the drink from his lips.

"Probably for sex, although Jason and a few others went with them," Zacky replied. The Rev shook his head.

"Maybe they just didn't want to come out tonight? They might not be feelin' 100% up for it." He explained.

Zacky thought for a moment, brows arched slightly, "He seemed fine earlier."

"Probably just tired, lazy old fucks," Johnny suggested with a snicker, earning a chuckle from the group.

The discussion continued, the topics changing every now and then. As they spoke, they went through several glasses of beer and multiple shots. At some point, Jimmy noticed the bassist struggling to stay upright in his chair. His dark chocolate eyes were squinted slightly and he practically had drunk written all over his pale face. The drummer chuckled, placing his hand upon his friend's shoulder.

"How ya feelin' there, lil' Johnny boy?" He asked with a grin, looking down at the bassist. Johnny turned his head to face him and raised his head just high enough to see him.

"I'm uh... I'm doin' goooood..." He slurred, grabbing his drink off of the table with one hand and bringing it to his lips. Well, he tried to. He brought it to his chin and spilt his beer all over himself. He looked genuinely surprised, and the drummer burst into a it of giggles.

"Ah, just like old times!" He grinned, helping his friend to set his drink down, "You wanna take your shirt off? It's a bit wet." He snickered.

"I'm fiiiii-ne!" Johnny insisted, hiccuping halfway through his words.Then, he swayed about in his seat before falling over to his side, landing in The Rev's lap. His eyes looked up and he gazed up at the man above him with a smile. "Heyy.... I think... I think I fell for you.." He spoke with a giggle. The Rev snorted.

"Oh my god, are you chatting me up?!" He exclaimed, trying to suppress his laughter, "Have you got a thing for me, Christ?"

"Uhhh...." Johnny murmured as he tried to think, but the alcohol had clouded his mind.

"Hey, it's okay dude. I'm not surprised, everyone's had a thing for Rev lately!" Jimmy laughed, sipping his beer, "Now, you look just a tiiiiny bit drunk so I say we take you back to the bus, yeah?" He then suggested, looking down at the smaller man on his lap.

"Uhhmm... nooooo," Johnny replied, "I'm quite happy her-"

The drummer was about to speak, but Johnny had been cut off mid-sentence by the sudden urge to sit up, lean over to the side and expel some of the contents of his stomach onto the wooden flooring.

"Ohhh dear, I think it's time we took a certain someone back to the bus.." Jimmy mumbled. Zacky got up and offered to help, whilst one of the roadies kindly headed off the grab some tissues to mop up the mess. Thank fuck it wasn't a carpet...

Johnny was heaved out of his chair and one arm was slung over Zacky's shoulder, with Zack's left hand around Johnny's torso for extra support. Jimmy held the bassist's arm and the pair guided him out of the building, while the others chose to remain. They got halfway down the street when Johnny slipped out of his bandmates' grasp and hunched over near a bush, unloading wave two of mess onto the dirt. After a few moments, he was helped to his feet again and this time, they made it to the bus.


On the bus, Matt sat on the couch beside Jason, controllers in both of their hands. Syn sat behind his boyfriend, hands wandering all over Matt's bare back and occasionally around to his stomach. Bri would also sometimes kiss his love's back, other times he would rest his head against him and wrap himself around the bigger man like a koala. Jason hadn't even noticed what the guitarist was doing, not that he was really interested. Right now, he was more focused on the intense game of Call of Duty that he and Matt had engaged in. Brian knew that CoD was something Shadows was very much into, and he took it very seriously. A loss wasn't just a loss to him, and victory meant so much more than just winning.

The score was 26 - 17. M was winning. The goal was 30 kills. Jason knew that this match was going to the vocalist, but he refused to back down. There had once been a rare occasion where he had managed to flip the game on it's head and defeat Matt after being 25 - 6. It was a stroke of luck, but it happened. As the pair competed, Brian could feel his lover's body tense up every now and then. A pair of tattooed hands would then work their way up and down the vocalist's back, intending to keep him calm. Just as Jimmy, Johnny and Zacky finally returned, M landed the final kill of the game. He leaped up out of his seat, much to his boyfriend's surprise and the vocalist cheered loudly.

"BOOM! Fuckin' headshot! Watch that kill-cam, Jason! That's how you do it!" he roared in delight, pointing to the screen with a wide grin. However, Jason attention had been turned to the newest arrivals, most noticeably Johnny, who looked like he'd just shit himself in fright.

"Jesus Christ, guys!" Jimmy exclaimed as he assisted Johnny in making his way over to the couch, "You tryin' to scare him half to death?!"

"Sorry dude- Jason! You missed it!" Matt whined. Jason groaned.

"Matt, let's just go on the xbox in the back room. Save the footage and we'll watch it there."

"Fine..."

And so the pair turned off the xbox, took the disc and headed to the back room, where M kept his main console. Jimmy immediately took M's place on the couch and laid Johnny beside him. Syn, who was sat on the far end of the couch, looked down at the drunken bassist and snorted.

"He's fuckin' plastered, isn't he?"

"You really gotta even ask?" Jimmy chuckled, playfully nudging Johnny. The smaller man groaned and fell back into Rev's lap, gazing up at him again.

"Heyyyy Jimboooo..." He slurred with a slight giggle.

"Heya Johnny boy!" Jimmy grinned, "How ya feelin?!"

"You're... You're cute.." he replied, rubbing his head. The drummer just smiled. Syn watched with interest, brows raised.

"I think he's hittin' on you, dude," the guitarist stated, pointing out the obvious.

Jimmy just glanced at him before turning back to Johnny, "Naahhh... You've got it wrong."

"Nuh uhh..."

"Yeah huh. I'm not cute!"

"Hey Jimbo, remember that one time you slept with him and he lost his shit in the mornin' because he thought we were bullshittin' him?" Brian recalled, a snicker escaping him as he spoke.

"Oh my god, dude! That was the funniest shit ever! I mean, he wasn't mad, he was like 'Dude, there's no way that fuckin' happened!'. Ha!" Jimmy cackled, looking down at Johnny still. For some reason or another, the drummer was finding it hard to take his gaze off of him. It was his eyes, he thought. Dark chocolate hues had captivated him. There was no doubt in his mind that Johnny wouldn't look away from him for the same reason, as he looked up into stunning ocean blue irises that sparkled in the light. At one point, he must have gotten distracted, because Syn was tugging at his arm, trying to gain his attention. "Oh, sorry dude! I got lost in thought..."

"Careful there, Sullivan. Don't wanna be fallin' into that bottomless pit we call love." He chuckled, slapping Jimmy's back lightly.

"Oh god, you really think I'm gonna do that?"

"Well, me and Matt have been together for years and remember our history - He was a big scary guy and I was like a twig. Anything's possible!" Syn chirped. Jimmy looked down at Johnny and shook his head.

"I'm gonna take this drunk lil' garden gnome to his bunk. I'll be back in a sec." He then announced, getting up and helping Johnny over to his bunk, even going as far as to tuck him in and brush the stray strands of hair out of his face. He wanted to say something to Johnny, but the words wouldn't come to his mind. And when they did, Johnny had passed out, snuggled up under his covers. His friend stood there for a few moments, before slowly returning to Syn. Damn, what had gotten into him?!

"You alright dude?" The guitarist asked, cocking his head to the side.

Jimmy nodded and smiled, "Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Just thought I'd make sure," Syn replied, patting the space beside him for the drummer to take, which he did so, "Hey, I had an idea on how we could fuck with Johnny tomorrow mornin',"

"Ooo! Do tell me!" Jimmy beamed brightly with excitement, eyes lighting up.

"Just before Johnny wakes up, you should so crawl in his bunk and pretend to be asleep. When he wakes up and wakes you up, tell him you two hooked up last night and started datin'! And act like it too! That'll so get him!" Brian cackled, slapping his knee. Jimmy joined in, but couldn't hep but wonder where he got the idea from. Then, Jimmy's laughter started to die down as a thought crossed his mind.

"Wait.. But what if he gets really pissed off or upset when I tell him the truth?"

"Dude, it's Johnny. Johnny doesn't give a shit. Besides, we've done a hell of a lot worse to that poor kid. Lighten up a bit, yeah?"

"Alright man, but if he goes after me, I'm blamin' it on you!"

"Deal! Now, go get some sleep so you wake up early. I'm gonna go attack Matty with cuddles."

Rev chuckled and watched as Brian headed into the back room. He decided he would go along with the trick, but there were questions lingering on his mind. Had Brian noticed his behaviour with Johnny? Was he trying to set them up? Was it just for the shits and giggles? And how would Johnny react? Only time would tell, he told himself as he headed off to his bunk, slipped inside and closed his eyes, awaiting the morning's arrival.

Notes

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Any predictions for how Johnny might react? Leave them in the comments!
Feedback is appreciated and thanks for reading!