Unsung Heroes

Ch. 13 On the Road Again
The morning that Ash and the band left was not a fun one for anyone, really. Don’t get me wrong, the band was hyped as hell, and I’m pretty sure CC was gonna explode from excitement, but those of us who were stuck at home were pretty sad to see our boys go. Ella wasn’t going to be there the whole time, like me, because she had to watch their dogs and she had photo shoots to do. Juliet was going, but on her own bus, so she wasn’t there to see them off since she was going to see them later, and she had her own bunk on BVB’s bus, so she was pretty much good.
The bus was going to come to Andy and Juliet’s house to pick everyone up, so I was standing outside on their driveway with everyone and WAY to many fucking bags.
Jake was holding Ella close to him, not seeming to let her go anytime soon. But she looked to be doing the same, clinging to his black T-shirt, and he seemed to be whispering something in her ear. Andy was on the phone with someone in the corner of the driveway, smoking his third cigarette in the past two hours. Jinxx was just kind of standing off to the side, playing with his phone and occasionally looking up and down the street to see if the bus was coming yet.
It’s not like Ash or me were much better, in comparison to Jake and Ella, anyways. Ash was holding me tightly against his chest. I was gripping him tightly around his neck, and my face was in the hollow of his throat. His nose was in my hair, which I was planning on re-dyeing soon.
“I’m going to miss you so much,” he whispered into my hair. “You have no fucking idea.”
I smiled sadly into his neck. “I’m going to miss you too, Ash. So are your pups.”
He laughed into my hair quietly. “I’m gonna miss them, too. What am I supposed to do when you’re not with me?” I knew he was talking about girls.
I pulled back to look him in the eye. “What happens during Warped Tour stays on Warped Tour. Just don’t… you know…” I didn’t want to tell him what to do, but at the same time I didn’t want him running around on me – I got enough of that from Mitch, than you very much.
He snorted. “Yeah, that kind of goes without saying. I mean like, when we’re onstage, we get more than enough girls flashing us their tits or throwing their bras at me and I’ve had drunk girls come up to me and forcing their tongues down my throat.”
I laughed lightly and plucked his black cowboy hat off of his head and put it on mine. “If girls flash you, whatever they’re flashing the whole band. Of you get undergarments thrown at you, then whatever. If a drunk girl kisses you, just text me and tell me because I find those funny, and just in case someone took a picture to post online.”
He smiled and his eyes trailed up to the hat. “It looks good on you. If I didn’t need it to go onstage, I’d let you hold onto it. But I do need it so…” he took it off my head and put it back on his head, leaning in to kiss my forehead as he did so.
I heard Jinxx snort and I looked over at him. He was smirking at us as he pressed his finger to his phone screen.
“You two are so adorable it’s kinda sickening,” He snorted.
Smiling, I pulled from Ash and walked over to him. He looked kind of afraid but also kind of like he didn’t know what to expect. When I threw my arms around him in a hug, he made a surprised noise and put one arm around my back.
“Gonna miss you too, Mama Jinxx,” I said in a sickeningly sweet voice, pressing my lips to his cheek and making a loud smacking sound before turning and prancing away to Ash.
I could hear laughter behind me and I turned to see Andy had come back and was almost doubled over with laughter and Jake was laughing with his arm around Ella’s shoulder, and looking at us like, “Ugh, children,” and Ella was giggling hard behind her hand. Jinxx just looked kind of frozen and was turning bright red.
Ash was laughing behind me.
“Dude, your chick’s a fucking riot!” I turned to see CC walking over to us, a duffle bag under one shoulder, and his phone and a bottle of Wild Cherry Pepsi under the other.
I smirked. “You better believe it, CC,” I purred. “As we say in my country,que saudade !” I threw my arms up in the air.
By this point, everyone, including Jinxx, was laughing. I smiled widely and leaned into Ash, who pulled me close to him.
“I’m so glad you’re going to be here,” Ella said fondly. “You and I are going to have WAY more fun than these children, here.”
Andy scoffed. “Oh, I bet. We get to perform all over the country for tons of screaming people and you two… well, there’s always Netflix.”
A mischievous smile curled at my lips when an idea popped into my head. “Hey, Ella, ever tried Samba dancing?” I felt Ash suddenly tense up, like he was aware of where I was going with this.
She looked at me funny, like I’d said something in Pig Latin to her. “What’s that?”
I smirked. “It’s traditional Brazilian dance for women. Ever seen Carnaval?” Everyone looked at me funny.
“It’s basically Mardis Gras, but with topless women in big headdresses and thongs dancing in the streets to really loud live music and drunk people in the streets and people dancing and tons of food and booze and shit.”
The look on Jake’s face matched that of Jinxx, CC, Andy, and if I looked up at Ash, his would have been the same, as well.
Ella’s lip curled into a sly smile, and she turned her head slightly to kiss the side of Jake’s nose.
“I can honestly say I’ve never tried it,” she said smoothly, looking t Jake to gage his reaction.
Smirking, I wrapped my arm around Ash’s waist and stuck a hand into the back pocket of his jeans.
“I almost went professional with my dancing, but I moved to the US before I could. I sometimes go to this studio and practice, but it’s been a little while. You should come with, I can teach you.”
“Sure, Indy,” Ella said. “That would be brilliant.”
If Jake wasn’t holding Ella, I’m pretty sure he would have started dancing right then and there.
Andy rolled his eyes. “You girls live to torture us, don’t you?” He said teasingly, coming up to me and pulling me by my arm to pull me into a headlock. I pulled back sharply out of his grip and reached up to grab his shoulder and pull him down into a headlock, instead.
“You better believe it, Andy,” I said teasingly as he tried to pull out of my grip, without much success. “We live to tease, torture, and confuse the fuck out of you all at the same time with our bipolar emotions and our weird moods and our periods and our weird way to find subtext in everything you say.”
Jinxx and CC snorted from where they were by me and CC pulled me off of Andy, picking me up, off of my feet.
I squeaked and tried to push down on his arms, but apparently he is much stronger than Andy, or Andy just wasn’t trying.
“Who knew Indy would fight dirty,” Jinxx said teasingly, pocketing his phone and crossing his arms over his chest, smirking at us.
CC laughed behind me as I flailed in his arms.
Ash rolled his eyes and sauntered over to us. CC stopped jostling me and passed me over to Ash, who just grabbed me and held me bridal style. I let out another surprised noise and wrapped my arms around Ash’s shoulders tightly.
“Aw, she’s just a little kitty,” Ash said teasingly, kissing my forehead. The spot where his lips had been felt hot.
“I’m not little,” I grumbled. “You’re all just freakishly tall. It’s not my fault you’re all tão alto que todos vocês me anão.”
Ash laughed at my embarrassment. “Whatever you say, kitten.” Oh god, was that his new pet name for me, or something?
Jake snorted and wrapped his arm around Ella’s waist. “Now you’ve gotten her all fluffed up.” Really, was I just now EVERYONE’S pet?
I turned my head very slowly to look up at Ash with a sugary smile. “Ash, ever heard the phrase, ‘cat has claws’?” Seeming to take the hint, he set my down on my feet.
Jinxx walked over to me to throw an arm around my shoulders. “They’re all taller than us, Indy. They poke fun at my height all the time. And I’m almost six feet tall.”
“Key word,” Andy said. “Almost.” Everyone started laughing again.
I wrapped my arms protectively around Jinxx and pulled him closer to me.
“Come on, Jinxx, we don’t need those tall people. Let’s go be giants amongst shrimps.” Jinxx snorted loudly and guffawed.
Before anyone could retaliate, though, there was a loud honking sound that scared the shit out of all of us, and we all turned to see the bus had finally pulled up the street. It was long, gigantic, and black, with darkly tinted windows. Another one followed behind it, presumably with the crew and the equipment.
When it pulled up in front of the driveway, it came to a screeching halt, and the door to the second bus opened, and the band’s manager, Blasko, popped out, grinning widely.
“Come on, boys, we don’t have all day.” He moved out of the way as a bunch of crew guys came pouring out to take the bigger equipment pieces, like the instruments, onto the bus.
I felt my heart sink into my stomach as I realized that my time with Ash was going to have to wait until I saw him in two weeks, when they were in the Midwest.
I hugged Jinxx – who still had an arm around me – tightly.
“Take care, Indy,” He said quietly. “Ash is gonna be a mess while we’re on tour and you’re not there.”
CC practically picked me up and hugged me until my back cracked and I gasped slightly. CC set me down with a cheeky grin spread across his face. “Gonna miss you, Indy.”
I smiled. “Gonna miss you too, CC.”
Jake walked over to me with a slight smile on his face and brought me in for a hug. It was a bear hug, but nearly as tight as CC’s hug.
“See you soon, Indy,” He said. “And make sure Ella isn’t by herself all the time or just spending all her time at the gym or with the dogs.” Ella punched his side lightly.
I laughed and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she isn’t always working or just lying about your apartment.”
When Jake pulled form me, he turned to Ella, who sort of launched herself at him and held onto him tightly.
Andy was next, walking over to me with a smile on his face as he bear hugged me. “We’ll make sure Ash doesn’t die from separation anxiety until you get to the tour, Indy.” I laughed and hit his arm playfully.
I felt my eyes water as I turned to Ash, whose eyes were watering… Ash was crying?
I quickly moved towards him in the short space between us and I threw my arms around his neck and feverishly pressed my lips to his. I felt his arms wrap tightly around my middle and I buried my face into his shoulder. His nose was in my hair, and he was breathing deeply (and shakily) into my hair.
“I’m gonna miss you so much, Baby,” he whispered into my hair. “You have no idea how hard it is more me to leave you like this.”
I gripped his shirt with my hands. “I’m gonna miss you too, Ash. I don’t wanna stay here; I wish I could just leave and go with you, but I can’t.”
“We have our phones and we can Skype whenever we’re not together. I’ll have someone record the shows you’re missing so that you can watch them later.”
I breathed shakily into his neck. “Yeah, but it’s not the same.”
He rubbed my back slowly. “I know, hone, but we’ll make it work.” He kissed the side of my head.
I pulled back to kiss him again, which he returned with fervor.
“Hey, love birds! Sorry to break it up but we need to go if we’re going to be there on time!”
I glared at Blasko, who was tapping his wrist like he had a watch on and looking at us impatiently.
“Fuck off, Blasko,” Ash shouted half-teasingly.
“I don’t wanna end your little moment but if we don’t leave soon we’re gonna be late and the big men on top will have my head!”
I sighed and pulled away from Ash slightly. “No, he’s right, Ash. I won’t keep you if it’ll make you late to the tour. You go and rock that stage, Purdy,” I smiled up at him.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Ella standing there, smiling gently at us. “Don’t worry, Ashley. I’ll take her out tonight, maybe get drunk.”
Ash snorted. “Okay, just make sure she doesn’t ride her bike, then. I like my girl intact and alive and not smeared on the road.”
The bus honked suddenly, scaring the shit out of all of us.
“Come on, Ashley!” Andy was hanging out the door, waiting for Ashley.
I pulled from Ash. “You better get going,” I said quietly, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
Ash pulled my head back up with both hands to press a kiss to my lips quickly. “Try and get there soon,” he whispered.
“You can bet on it,” I whispered back.
He picked up his backpack and duffel bag and ran over to the bus, and Andy moved back to let him on. I watched with Ella as the door closed, and we waved to our boys as they drove off.
I turned to Ella, who was wiping a stray tear from her face. Then she turned to me.
“I don’t know about you, but I need a to go and find something distracting to do that’ll keep me from getting pissed at 8 am.”
I nodded and laughed. “Yeah, let’s do something to keep me from grabbing the nearest booze I can find.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist as she wrapped hers around my shoulder and we started to march down the road, presumably to find some sort of shop to distract ourselves.

(Two Hours Later)

“Well, I’m all shopped out,” I said exasperatedly, sitting on a bench outside a clothing store. I was weighed down by four bags of clothes that Ella had insisted on getting, and she was holding three.
“Already?” Ella said disbelievingly. “Wow, you’re a lightweight.”
I laughed. “In Brazil, we shop big when we’re getting food or gifts for other people, not stuff for ourselves.”
Ella laughed.“Wow.”
I laughed. “I’d rather by music and band merch and books and shit.”
Ella guffawed. “How are you a girl?”
I rolled my eyes. “I have a vagina and tits and that’s about it. I’m not a girly girl in most respects.”
Ella sat down next to me. “Really?” She raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t have a car, just a motorcycle. I don’t like to wear dresses unless it is absolutely necessary. I wear makeup, but always dark makeup. I don’t like it when people hold doors open for me or try and butter me up with flowers or shit like that. I prefer chocolate and diet Coke. I basically only wear combat boots and skinny jeans and if it’s not a band shirt it’s something similar. The most jewelry I’ll ever wear is a bracelet or two or maybe a necklace and my earrings in my ears and my gauges.
“But at the same time, I think sports are the most boring thing on the planet – and that’s coming from someone who basically has football in my blood from Brazil – and I’d rather go to museums and art galleries and watch Netflix and eat crap food all day and get drunk.”
Ella nodded. “Well, you sound like a mixed bag, Indy. You have a little bit of everything in you.”
I nodded. “Oh, and I hate shopping when I don’t have a reason for it.”
“That’s definitely not a girl thing.”
I laughed.
“Now, I need food,” I said, looking around.
“What do you feel like?”
I shrugged and pursued my lips. “I don’t know. Do you like Vietnamese food?”

Notes

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update XP enjoy!

Translate:
que saudade: There's no direct translation for this, it's a Brazilian phrase that one says, kind of like when you miss something terribly, so Indy is basically saying that she's going to miss them a lot.
tão alto que todos vocês me anão: so tall that you all dwarf me

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