I'm tired. I don't know how much longer I can keep going. I keep waiting for him to give up and stop chasing me, but I know he won't give in that easily. I don't know how he can see me in the pitch-black of the night, I can barely see three feet in front of me. I've been running from him for roughly twenty minutes now and my feet hurt, but I know that if I stop, he will surely kill me. I make the mistake of glancing behind me to see how far away away he is, and trip on a crack in the sidewalk. He quickly catches up to me and looms over me with a sinister smile.

This is it.

Somehow I always knew he would eventually kill me, I was just hoping it wouldn't be for a while, but even I know that was wishful thinking. I feel his hands enclose around my throat. So, this is how I am going to die. By the hands if the man who claims he does this because he loves me, but I don't believe that bullshit for one second. Black spots start to swirl around the edges of my vision as his grip gets tighter. I will never forget the way his eyes glared down at me, or the way his smile seemed to glow as if he had just won a gold medal. My lungs burn from the lack of oxygen and I accept my fate. I feel my body go limp and my vision fade as I fall unconscious.

I woke up with a gasp and tears flooded my eyes. A sob ripped it's way through my body as I fumbled for my phone on the side table. I could barley see without my glasses. I unlocked it and immediately clicked on Chris' contact. I held it up to my ear, getting impatient as it kept ringing.

After a while it went to voicemail, "Dammit Chris, pick up the phone," I whisper shakily. I try calling him again. I wipe my face to try to rid myself of tears, though it seems to be a failed effort as more just poured into my cheeks.

"H-Hello?" he says, I can tell he just woke up from the thickness in his voice. I feel bad for waking him up this early, but I knew he wouldn't mind.

"Chris?" I croak through the tears.

"Carter, what's wrong? Are you okay?" he rushed out, sounding panicked.

"I had a nightmare and I- he-" I start to choke on my words. I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't. If I said it out loud, I felt like he would somehow know.

"Shh, I'll be there in three minutes, Hang in there okay, Bud?" I could hear noises from where he was fumbling around to get dressed before the line disconnected. It shouldn't take him long to get here because he lives in the apartment just down the hall from mine. The fact that he lived so close was convenient at times like this. I set my phone back down in the side table beside my bed and pull my knees up to my chest.

Why me? Out of all of the people in the world, why did it have to be me? Why can't I be normal? Why couldn't I have had a normal life? That would have made everything so much easier. Maybe then I wouldn't have to deal with all of the shit that I do. Maybe everything would be easier if I was dead. Then the boys wouldn't have to worry about me like I know they do. I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice Chris come in until I felt the bed dip and his lanky arms wrap around me. I turn in his arms and cry into his chest as he rubs my back and rocks us back and fourth.

"I'm scared," I whimper, my voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt.

"You have no reason to be, he can't hurt you anymore, Carter," he soothes. I'm glad that I have Chris and the guys, if they weren't there I surly would have gone crazy by now. But as glad as I am that they are here, I feel bad that they have to deal with me, I know I can be a handful at times.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," I pull away and look at him guiltily.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You know that I am here for you at anytime, and that includes," he pauses to look at my alarm clock, "three in the morning," he chuckles, moving a piece of my hair behind my ear. "I am so proud of you Carter."

"Why? I haven't done anything for you to be proud of." I sigh, looking down. If anything he should be mad at me, I hate that he has to help me at the early hours of the morning.

"Ahh, but I have every reason to be proud. You wake up every morning, despite how hard I know it can be at times. You push through the bad times and savor the good ones. You are the most trustworthy person I know because you know how important trust is and how it feels when it is broken. You try you hardest to make others smile no matter how bad your day was, and most importantly, you see the world in a whole in a whole different perspective and that is most definitely something to be proud about. I just wish you would understand that not everybody is like them," he gives me a sad smile and kisses my forehead. How did I get lucky enough to have friends like Chris in my life?

"Okay, enough with the mushy stuff..." I sniffle and playfully shove his shoulder.

"Okay, okay," he smiles and shows his hands in surrender, "now let's go to bed. We gave to get up early tomorrow, or I guess today, to get to Atlanta on time." I was confused by this, but was too tired to question it. He lifts the blanket and let's me crawl in before getting in himself and pulling me in his warm embrace. I bury my head in his chest and let his scent surround me.

His, or any of the guys', cologne makes me feel safe and protected. It reminds me that I don't have to go through anything alone. He runs his hands through my hair and starts humming lightly. I feel my eyelids get heavy and the world slip away as I fall asleep.

My eyes flutter open to reveal the morning sun peaking through the curtains and casting an orange glow on the room. I look beside me and realize that Chris was not in bed anymore. I throw my feet over the side of the bed and stretch my arms, hearing a pop and then feeling my muscles relax. I grab my glasses off of the side table, I stand up to go find out where Chris was.

I walk into the kitchen to find him wearing my cooking apron with flour all over his body and in his hair. It looked like a flour bomb had gone off in the kitchen with the mess he made. He was holding a pan that was holding what I think were supposed to be pancakes, but they were extremely burned and had black smoke rising from them.

"Something went wrong," he looked at me guiltily. I chuckled, only he would somehow find a way to mess up pancakes.

"How about this, you go take a shower, I'll clean the flour mess, and then we can go out for coffee. How's that?" I ask, taking the pan from him.

"Okay," and with that he takes off the apron and heads towards my bathroom.

I grab his arm, "Thank you for last night, I don't know what I would have done without you," I give him a grateful look.

He smiles, "It's no trouble, really. I actually think that I'm over here more than my actual apartment."

"If you say so," I let his arm go and watch him disappear into the hallway. I heard the water turn on and while he was getting clean I wiped up the flour from the counters and floor. By the the time I was done, he had gotten dressed into the spare change of clothes that he keeps here in case of an emergency.

"Are you ready to go?" I ask standing up from my position on the floor and going to the sink to wash the flour residue off my hands.

"Yeah, are we going to Charlie's?" he asks looking hopeful. Charlie's is the café down the street that me and the guys have been going to for years. We go there so often that we know the owners and we get the employee discount.

"Yeah, the guys can just meet us there," I dry my hands before pulling out my phone and sending a group text to them telling them to meet us at Charlie's.

"Let me go get dressed real quick," I run back to my bedroom and throw on a shirt and some ripped jeans along with my Converses (http://www.polyvore.com/untitled_16/set?id=168384835). I walk back and find Chris scrolling through Twitter aimlessly on his phone.

"Okay, let's get going," he says. We walk out of my apartment and I turn and lock the door behind me. We take the three flights of stairs down to the lobby, and leave out the door. On our way to Charlie's we make light conversation about what we plan on doing this summer. I will just continue what I do now, I own my own tattoo parlor, but I have enough people hired so that if an emergency comes up and I can't come into work, I don't have to close down the shop for the time being.

Chris told me that he hasn't made plans for this summer, so he will probably come bug me at work like he does on occasion. By the time we're done talking we had already arrived at the café. We walked in and set our things down at our normal table in the corner, but it's not like we had any other choice. It's the only table that will fit seven people.

Me and Chris walk up to the counter and place our order before sitting down. Ghost, Balz, Ryan, Ricky, and Angelo walk through the doors as the employee at the counter called mine and Chris' names. We waited for the rest of the house to order and get their drinks before sitting down.

"So, what's been going on with you guys? Anything new?" I ask, looking between the six of them.

"You say that like we didn't just see each other two days ago," Ricky says with a laugh.

"But since you asked," Balz started, "about a week ago we got a very important phone call from Fearless Records."

"Fearless? What was it about? Is everything okay?" I asked, slightly worried. They were currently working on their new album Reincarnate, it was almost done, they just had to figure out the album cover and edit a couple more songs.

"Oh, it's better than okay," Balz stated as a-matter-of-fact, "apparently, Motionless In White is playing main stage at Warped Tour this summer!"
I was stunned into silence, I didn't know what to say. They were playing main stage.

"Wow...that's an amazing, congratulations, you guys deserve this," I half smiled. As much as I am happy for the, I was also kind of sad. I had no idea what I would do without six idiots annoying me this summer.

"Yeah, a great opportunity to hopefully expand our fan base and just amazing experience in general," Ryan says sipping his tea, "and that's why we want you there with us."

I stared at them in shock, "What?"

"Yeah, we want you to go with us on Warped Tour," Ghost says.

"I-I don't know guys... I have the shop and-"

"Nix can watch the shop while you're gone, you know that, and if you're really worried you can call everyday and check up. So... will you come? It won't be the same without you," Ghost says trying to guilt me into going, and it was working. Nix is one of my employees that I have had for years, and I trust him with anything, and I guess making sure the shop doesn't burst into flames while I'm out of town qualifies as 'everything'.

"...Okay" I say hesitantly. They let out cheers of excitement and an elderly couple gave us death glares from across the café, if looks could kill we would be six feet under.

"Okay, I get that it's exciting, but we're getting looks," I tell them, nodding towards the couple.

"Oh, come on, life's too short to be worrying about what others think about you. Let go and let yourself have fun for once," Ghost says playfully, but he had a serious underlying tone that told me that he meant what he said. I bit my lip and looked down at my lap, I know that I am tense a lot of the time, but I can't help it.

"When does the tour start?" I ask ignoring Ghost's comment.

"In a week, so when you go home you need to start packing." Chris says looking at me, "and we will too, but knowing you, you will be rushing around last minute checking to make sure we have everything anyway." I chuckled, that much was true. No matter where we went, one of them always forgets something, so I make it a habit to make sure we have everything before we go anywhere.

We spent most of the day walking around town and talking about how amazing Warped Tour was going to be. They gave me the run down on what to do and what not to do, seeing as this would be their second year doing this tour, and my first. Only this time they will be playing main stage, so to say they are excited is an understatement, but could you blame them?

There was no doubt that I was happy for them for coming as far as they have, but I can't help but worry that this tour will bring more harm than good.

Notes

I know this is shit, but let me know what you thought of the story.