14 Days

A raging hangover met Evie the next morning, making her audibly groan with the pain in her head. Not even a full second later her stomach flipped, making her race out of bed and head immediately to the toilet to expel the contents of her stomach. This was her body’s not-so-subtle way of reminding her why she didn’t drink hard liquor. Last night she had ended up drinking straight bourbon with Brian in the concrete parking lot, the pair of them finishing the bottle as they talked before rejoining the crew on the way to the hotel. She had immediately passed out as soon as she had thrown her body on the lush bed, and was now paying for the consequences of her actions.

She groaned once again, trying her best to clean herself up from her first vomiting session, knowing it was likely not to be her last as her stomach was still yelling at her, swirling and clenching as she stood once more. It took all the effort she had to pull off her clothing and step into the shower, trying in vain to wash away last night’s actions. She hoped the shower would help rejuvenate her from the living dead state she currently felt to something a little closer to coma patient. Anything had to be a step up from the way her body was currently feeling.

Evie eventually pulled herself from her shower and very slowly dried her body, not bothering to redress in her dirty clothes. Instead, she opted for keeping her towel wrapped around her as she flopped onto the bed once more, burying her face in pillows to keep out any unwanted light. Her wet hair was soaking the bedding, but she didn’t have it in her to give a single fuck. Instead, she drifted off once again, trying to outsleep the nasty hangover instead of trying to fix it.

Multiple loud bangs against the wooden door awoke Evie from her very short nap, the echoes of the knocks seeming to drill into her skull and increase the dehydration headache. She groaned, not pleased to have been woken up, and her stomach did the same. She fought against the nausea for a moment, trying to reign it in so she could open the door and very quietly yell at the person that had disturbed her.

She cautiously rose from the bed, trying her best to keep her stomach in check as she opened the door just a crack. No one was there. She opened the door wider, sticking her head out of the frame and looking down the corridor to see if the person was still in view. To her left she saw Jimmy’s lanky body moving from door to door, knocking in the same wild manner as had echoed through her room only moments before. To the right, Matty B was mirroring Jimmy’s actions, the pair clearly not suffering as she was. Slowly more and more people also stuck their heads out, wondering why the fuck they were being woken up by two little Energizer Bunnies. “Time to go, people! Pack your shit and get on the busses,” Jimmy shouted, aware that all of the targets were now awake and had responded to his wild door knocking.

“Weren’t we meant to be here today?” Zacky asked his bandmate, his voice tired and scratchy.

“Read your schedule people, it’s a travel day!” Matty replied, throwing his arms in the air in resignation as he answered Zacky.

“We are leaving in half an hour, with or without you,” Jimmy tacked on, giving the rest of them a timeframe.

Having heard the basic information, Evie retreated into her room once more before anyone realised she was dressed only in a towel, shutting the door quietly behind her. In a way, she was glad that Matty and Jimmy had taken it upon themselves to wake up the entire floor, telling the tour that they needed to get ready and back on the road. She couldn’t have possibly remembered that they were travelling today if they hadn’t. Unfortunately, that meant that she would have to deal with this hangover while moving. That was not going to end well.

Sluggishly, Evie move to the bathroom and collected her clothes, staring at them briefly with distaste before putting the unclean clothes on her clean body. There was not a lot that made Evie uncomfortable, especially after living the tour life for so long, but putting on dirty clothes after a shower was definitely one of them. It just went against the grain, and made her want to have a shower all over again.

Evie pulled her hair into a bun, chucking it carelessly on top of her head and out of the way. The movement caused the fabric of the sweater to come close to her face, and the smell of alcohol that lingered on her clothes hit her like a freight train. Immediately her stomach churned and she barely made it to the toilet before throwing up once more.

Once she had finished, her stomach was feeling slightly better, the relief of purging the remaining alcohol making her feel lighter. She cleaned up as best she could, wiping her leaking eyes and compulsively rinsing her mouth for a few minutes. She finished up, collecting her few belongings and hotel key card before leaving the room and walking to reception.
Evie handed the key over, signing out of the hotel she only vaguely remembered signing in to, and headed towards the busses. They were still parked at the venue from the night before, so Evie made the trek back in the bright sun, her head pounding, the sunshine mocking her current state. Oh, the things she would do just for a pair of sunglasses! Where was Matt when you needed him? He always seemed to have a pair of aviators hanging from his shirt.

It seemed like forever, but Evie finally made it back to the venue, cutting through the parking lot and seeing the two busses awaiting her. She unlocked the door and hopped aboard the roadie bus, nodding hello to Dave who sat in the lounge area before making her way to the bunks. She opened the curtain to her bottom bunk, and just before she threw her possessions onto the mattress, she noticed it was currently occupied. Her mouth agape, she nudged her intruder with her foot, waking them up and demanding an explanation.
“What the fuck?” She asked as soon as Brian had rolled over.
“The other bunks were taken,” he answered, closing his eyes once more and trying to get back to sleep, vaguely pointing towards the other bunks. Evie looked around, noting that all the curtains were already closed, and that she must have been one of the last out of the hotel.

“Dave’s isn’t,” she pointed out, knowing that the engineer’s bunk was currently unoccupied.

“It was when I got here,” Brian replied, yawning right after he stopped speaking.

“Matty isn’t here, either,” she said, her temper starting to rise. She was really not in the mood to deal with this right now.

“But he is a slob. I am not sleeping with his dirty clothes, cum rags and whatever creatures have decided to make his bunk a home,” he told her.

“You have your own bunk!” Evie exploded, logic finally reaching her addled brain. Why the hell was he on their bus anyway, he had his own!

“Too hungover to deal with Jimmy,” he said. “How he manages to bounce back so damned quickly, I have no idea.”
“I need to sleep,” Evie whined, her patience worn thin by this sudden development. There was no way she could deal with her hangover without more sleep. It was only 6 hours earlier that she had made it to her hotel room, and that was clearly not enough time to ride out the self inflicted storm in her body.

“So do I,” Brian replied simply, snuggling down in the pillows further. No, not the pillows, HER pillows.
“Fine,” she huffed, aggravated, headachy and nauseous. Two can play at this game.
As a slightly petty move, Evie dragged the curtain of her bunk wide open, the fabric at the very opposite end to Brian, before turning on her heel and leaving. She heard him expel a few expletives as she walked away, and a small triumphant smile lit her features. Evie made her way off the roadie bus, and on to the band’s bus. A surprised Jimmy and Johnny greeted her as she stepped aboard.
“You’re not Brian,” Jimmy said simply, cocking his head to the right as he looked at her.

“Thank god for that,” she muttered bitterly, her words escaping before she had a chance to even think them. She snapped herself out of it, her mind too lazy to hang on to the resentment towards the bunk-stealing guitarist. “He is on the other bus.”
“Did he swap places with you?” Jimmy asked, immediately becoming excited. “That is awesome! I mean, you always play just as good as he does when you test his guitar at soundcheck, and you aren’t even playing our songs. Imagine the crowd roaring when you step up to nail the Bat Country solo with Zacky! I have always said that we should get a girl in the band! Haven’t I, Johnny? I always said we could be HUGE if we added a little diversity!”

“Jimmy,” she said, trying to stop the giant from ranting further. Though his words were thoroughly entertaining, she was not up to her usual standard of playful banter and retorts.

“Though I did always campaign that we should replace Johnny. I mean, at least a chick would be taller, right?” Jimmy continued, taking Johnny under his arm and holding him in a head lock while playfully giving him a noogie.

“You’re so funny,” Johnny droned sarcastically, trying in vain to escape the clutches of the drummer. Jimmy just held on tighter as Johnny whacked at his arms. It wasn’t until a well placed hit to his stomach that Jimmy’s hold faltered and Johnny got free.

“You are going to pay, you little fucker!” Jimmy roared once he recovered from the gut hit. Evie cringed at the volume, finally understanding why Brian had escaped the bus while he could. Jimmy was… a lot.

The bus door opening captured Evie’s attention, her gaze falling from the still fighting Jimmy and Johnny to the sleepy Zacky that had entered the bus. He took one look at the fighting duo, shrugged, and then walked past Evie towards the bunks. She followed his lead, taking the opportunity to slip by while the others were distracted.

“Bri steal your bunk?” Zacky asked her as they entered the closed off bunk section. Evie nodded before realising Zacky couldn’t see as she was standing behind him.

“Yup. Asshole,” she answered, verbally this time. Zacky snorted at her name calling as he climbed into the middle bunk on the left hand row.

“He used to steal Chris’s bunk all the time,” Zacky told her, laying down and closing his eyes. He pointing to the middle bunk on the right hand side, directly opposite his. “That one is Brian’s.”

“Thanks,” Evie said, moving towards the bunk and opening the curtains. The bunk itself was the same as any other bunk, filled with a mattress, bedding and pillows, though it had been personalised with his own black bedding rather than the white she slept on. She was surprised, and happy, to find that there were no dirty clothes or any other stray junk laying on the bed. She put down her few possessions on the shelf above the pillows, moving over a empty cigarette carton and a few other knick knacks Brian had collected out of the way before she hopped into the cabin and made herself comfortable.

Evie looked over to Zacky, noticing his curtain was still open from when they had entered the bunk area, and she opened her mouth to start asking him about last night and why he was behaving so weirdly. As her mouth formed the first word, Zacky let out a small snore, halting any further conversation. With a small smile, Evie decided to let it go. The rhythm guitarist was clearly as tired as she was, not even being able to stay awake long enough to close the curtains of his bunk. She did not make the same mistake, and before she let herself truly settle in for the long drive ahead, she secured the curtain closed and darkness enveloped the small bunk. Once she knew she was hidden from view, she reached behind her back, unhooking the clasp of her bra, and pulled the straps from her arms through her sleeve. There was no way she was getting sleep while the boob prison was still on her body, so she pulled it out from underneath her sweater, throwing it to the foot of the bed so she wouldn’t get tangled up with it as she slept.
Finally able to get some proper sleep, Evie got herself comfortable, pulling up the blanket and snuggling down into the pillows. She had to give Brian credit, his bedding choice was impeccable. Soft enough to feel like you are sleeping in a cloud, yet firm enough to give some support. Warm enough that your body was at the perfect temperature, not sweating and not freezing. She even let herself become enveloped in the scent, a mixture of a bright, crisp cologne, fading stale smoke and something purely Brian, something masculine and almost earthy. Something safe. It was a heady mix, and Evie couldn’t help but inhale deeply to take it in. Like last night, she was not willing to think about why she reacted this way, trying to convince herself that it was due to her hangover and that it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact it was Brian. It couldn’t. She wouldn't let it.

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Hours later the bus crawled to a stop, jolting Evie from her slumber. Just once she wished she could wake up on her own volition. As she tried to wake herself up fully, she took note of her body, ecstatic to find that the nausea of her hangover had now passed. She could almost cry from the relief! Though that portion of her hangover had now left, her headache still remained, but at least she could now attempt to remedy the situation.

Sighing happily, Evie opened the curtain of her bunk, surprised to find a shirtless Matt standing across from her, reaching up into his bunk while tossing around clothes. She paused for a moment, not being able to stop herself from checking out the singer’s back. She knew he was fit, that much was clearly obvious even when he was fully clothed, but to see the muscles rippling up and down his back as he continued to rifle around was something else. Not usually attracted to the stereotypical gym junky, Evie was surprised by her own reaction, clearly appreciative of the fine form in front of her. Then again, who couldn’t appreciate that? Broad shoulders, firm torso, all that inked skin…

Evie shook herself out of it, reminding herself that she had seen him shirtless before. After a gig he usually lost his shirt as soon as the band came off the stage, wiping himself down with a towel before heading backstage. It was just… different seeing it so close up. She was impressed with the work he had to put in to keep himself in such good shape, and couldn’t even imagine the weights he would have to lift to build that kind of muscle.

The small cough Evie let out alerted Matt of her presence. He had finally decided on a shirt to wear and slipped it over his head as he turned around to face the source of the noise.

“Oh, hey Evie,” he greeted, not surprised to see her residing in Brian’s bunk. “Sleep well?”

“Uh, yeah, thanks,” she replied, slowly getting out of the bunk and standing next to the singer. “Are we there already?”

“Yup. You’ve been out of it for hours. I really don’t know how you stayed asleep while Jimmy was yelling and carrying on,” Matt told her, impressed with the way she could block out all the noise around her. “It’s a skill, what can I say,” she said cheekily, covering a yawn with her hand before slowly stretching her back. When she finished, she reached back in the bunk, remembering to grab her phone, lanyard and cigarettes from the shelf. “I’m telling you, it's the van touring. It is never quiet, you guys have just forgotten what it can be like.”

“Very true,” Matt conceded as the pair started making their way out of the bunk area and towards the open front door. Evie stopped when they passed the fridge, she opened it to grab out a bottle of water. Now her stomach had settled, she could start to rehydrate her body. “Those were the days.”

“What are you, 40?” Evie asked, laughing at his phrasing. He truly sounded old and wistful. “Before you know it, you’ll be cursing ‘kids these days’ or complaining about how your knee aches when it rains.”

“Well…” he started, grinning at Evie before he turned around again and started walking down the stairs of the bus and on to the pavement. “It doesn’t feel quite right when it’s cold.”

“You’re insane,” she told him, finally realising that he was playing along with her joke. She rolled her eyes as he giggled at her reaction. “Asshole.”

“You really do like calling people names,” he noted, pointing out that she had in fact started her name calling habit once again. “Hey, that clearly doesn’t count!”
“Why not?”
“Because you were being an asshole,” she told him, a smug grin on her face as Matt burst out laughing. Clearly she was back on her game, her very long mid morning nap having helped her sassy side return.

“Fair enough,” he admitted, taking the chance to slip on his shades that had been resting on her head. Damn, she really needed to find her own sunglasses. She was getting caught outside a lot without them today.

Finally taking the chance to look at her surroundings, Evie noticed that they were in a huge car park, the band bus flanked by the roadie bus. A few people were milling about between the two busses, Zacky, JB, Matty, Jimmy and Johnny were standing together, each with a light cigarette. They were clearly waiting all the group to get together again before moving on.
Evie stalked over to Matty, stealing his lit cigarette and taking a puff before returning it. He wasn’t even phased by the action, the pair having shared more than their fair share of cigarettes in the last few days. With nicotine in her system once more, Evie was almost feeling human again, now only contending with a headache.

“You smell like Brian,” Matty noted, scrunching up his nose as Evie stood next to him.
“She really is taking over from Syn!” Jimmy exclaimed, his voice forever overriding any other conversation currently happening. Evie laughed, watching the confused reactions of the others.

“You wish,” Evie replied, her sarcasm seeming ever at the ready. “Anyway, what’s the plan?”

“I swear I made sure to get you a schedule, and you don’t even read it,” Matty said to her, feigning irritation as he finished off his cigarette.

“That’s why we have you. You are like a living schedule,” JB told him, placing his arm around his brother and patting him heavily on his shoulder. “You’ve always been the responsible one.”

“Someone had to look after you or you would have died at least 50 times,” Matty told his brother, shrugging off his arm.
“Only 50?” JB questioned, clearly thinking it should be far more.

“I was being conservative,” Matty replied, sighing.

Evie couldn’t help but softly giggle at the twins, the banter between them never ceasing to make her laugh. It also made her a little homesick for her own brother. After being on tour with him for so long, it was rare of them to go too long without seeing one another. Even on tour breaks they would get together and see their parents at least weekly, so being without him for 6 days was really testing her.

“Anyway,” she started, interrupting the still bickering brothers, “what is the plan from here?”

“Oh, right,” Matty said, his attention back to Evie. “We have another hotel booked for tonight, then set up here tomorrow from about midday.”

“Another hotel?” She asked incredulously. She really was living the dream now.

“Enjoy it while you can, only one more until Rock on the Range,” he told her, warning her of the many uncomfortable nights ahead. “Well, two more for you, I guess. I should probably check in with Larry about that.”

“What does that mean?” She asked, confused as to what Matty meant. Why would she have one more hotel night than everyone else?

“In a week we are playing in LA before Rock on the Range,” Matty told her, as if that would answer everything.

“Ok?” She replied, her words more of a question to get Matty to keep talking.

“We are from LA. Huntington Beach, actually, so we will all be going home for the night before the gig, and for the night of the gig. We will start the next day on the road to Ohio,” he told her, finally filling in the blanks for Evie. He made a mental note to confirm that with Larry, it having only just occurred to him that Evie didn’t actually live in California like the rest of them. It was times like this that reminded him that Evie wasn’t actually one of their tour crew, he often forgot that she was only on loan.

“Oh, right,” she said, feeling a similar jolt of reality that Matty was currently experiencing.

They were going home. To California. To their home, not hers. Cali was a long way from her small apartment back in Pennsylvania. It was a strong reminder that the next week was all she had left with her new friends. It wasn’t like they were going to run into each other all the time once this tour was over. Unless the bands just happened to be playing the same festival again in the future, which was highly unlikely, this was it.

With that reminder firmly in place, Evie excused herself from the group and climbed aboard the roadie bus once again, heading directly to her now empty bunk. She didn’t know if she felt relieved or disappointed that Brian wasn’t there, her thoughts already in turmoil. It would have been nice to have someone to talk to, to distract her from her sudden mood swing, but maybe Brian wasn’t the best choice for that. She was starting to realise that she needed to distance herself from the people on this tour as she had already become emotionally attached to them all. It was going to be hard enough walking away from these new friends, and she couldn’t take the chance of getting any closer to them. No matter how much she wished she could.

Notes

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas/New Year!
The hangover inspiration brought to you by my stupid self on New Years day... it definitely reminded me why I don't drink often!

xoxo
Sas