Novocaine Hearts

Lexa's POV

"Hey, umm, after this last show, we're all going into Vegas to kinda have one last hurrah before we go home. You in?" Jake asked me as we at for breakfast. "You can invite Nate, Saxon and PJ too. I'm sure they'd love to hang out again" Jake smiled.
I smiled back and laughed.
Over the last few weeks, my band mates seemed to have forgotten the old me since they saw what I was like with Jake. They lifted my dumb curfew and started trusting me. It was a nice feeling not having a wall between Jake and my best friends.
"I'm sure they would love to come hang out. I think we are all in need of a night out."
"Hey, umm, just a heads up though, I doubt Riley will come. I know you guys have become good friends, but don't say anything" Jake warned.
"I suppose I can understand why. I mean shes had it rough. But one night, with your friends just having fun. She won't do that?"
"You can try, but she'll say no. Hey did she ever talk to you about that fight you guys had? The one about the meds? She never said anything to Ash?"
"Nahh, not a thing. She denied and moved on" I lied. Riley never told Ashley. She never sang her new song on stage and she still smokes in secret.
"Fair enough. Ashley is still worries and it's been weeks."
I just shrugged. Riley trusted me now.

Phoenix, Arizona.
Our final stop on the Vans Warped Tour and it was a blast.
Everyone's homesickness had sunk in and they were all itching to go home. Some of the bands traveled the same day back to their hometowns, while ours stayed at a hotel for the night. Us and Black Veil Brides were one of the few.
We all settled into the hotel and then slowly made our way out for dinner and drinks.
I walked beside Jake, my hand intertwining with his, not ever feeling anything like this.
"How does it feel now that it's all over?" He asked curiously.
I chuckled. "It's a relief, but it was fun. We made a whole bunch of new fans and friends. I think we really got the word out about Novocaine Hearts. There's a glimmer of excitement in Nate's eyes every time he sees a fan. I think we needed this more than anything" I said calmly.
"What about you? Are you going to be okay?"
"Of course. Why would you ask that?"
"Because I love you and..."
"And?"
"And I don't want anything happening to you. I don't want drugs to re-enter your life. If it meant you moved in with me. Whatever makes you feel better."
"Wait... Are you asking me to move in with you?" I said with a smile forming on my face.
"If you want to. I mean, we never really talked about what was gonna happen when it was all over. I know you still live in California, but San Francisco, is still a while away from LA. So what do you say?" He asked with hope.
"I want to say yes, I really do, but I have to talk to the guys. I can't be apart from them."
"Nahh, I get that. They're your band mates. What do you think they'd say?"
"I'm sure they would want to move to LA too" I smirked.
A smile played on Jake's face, so I knew he wouldn't be able to contain his excitement.
We were silent for a moment, happy in our little bubble, but it didn't last long.
"Riley, what the fuck!" Ashley roared.
Everyone turned around to see Riley on the edge of tears and Ashley holding her purse in one hand and a pack of cigarettes in the other.
Riley tried to snatch them back, but Ashley held them further away from her.
"Explain this Riley!" He continued.
"You're not gonna understand!" She yelled, trying to hold back her shame.
I turned to everyone in front of me and Jake and gestured them to move on to the restaurant. They all silently nodded and continued walking.
"You're gonna stand there and tell me I don't understand! You can't be fucking serious! Explain to me what the fuck has been going on!" Ashley yelled angrily.
"Ashley! Yelling at her isn't going to help anything" Jake said trying to calm the situation.
Ashley distracted by Jake, Riley grabbed her purse and smokes and started running back to the hotel.
"Oh sure! Run away! Like you always do!" Ashley called after her.
"I'm gonna go talk to her" I said starting to follow her.
"You'll find us later?" Jake said.
"Yeah."

"Riley? Riley, open the door" I said as I banged on the door with my fist.
"Go away!"
"Open the damn door Riley. Come on, talk to me. You can't run away."
There was silence then the door unlatched and swung open.
"You want to try and fix this? Have fun. You're not gonna. This is another case of my stupidity in lying and thinking I'd get away with it."
"Why won't Ashley understand? You can't treat him like he's stupid. He's known somethings been up all this time."
Riley just shook her head and reached for her smokes. Ignoring the no smoking signs, she lit one up in the room.
"Well maybe he should have tried harder to figure it out. If he wasn't too busy planning fucking Vegas, maybe he would have noticed that I'm out of my depths and I needed him!" Her voice cracking as she tried to hold back sobs.
"Wait... He planned Vegas?"
She nodded.
"But he knows you won't go..."
"He wants to get away from me. I know that. It's not hard to figure out..."
"What are you gonna do?"
"Stay here. I'll leave for LA tomorrow and just work for a few days. I'll talk to Ashley when everyone gets back" she said sadly.
"You're gonna wait that long?!"
"I can't have a rational conversation like this. Neither can Ashley. But honestly, I've stayed out of his hair all tour! I haven't bugged him about shit! And this is what I get! Severe anxiety. Stupid me" she said sinking to the floor.
"You're not stupid. This stuff happens and you know, you've been fine up until now. It's amazing you didn't crack on tour. It's okay to have a breakdown."
"But I don't want to be like this."
Riley swallowed hard and got up off the floor. "I think you should leave. Go join the others. I'll be fine" she said wiping her face with the back of her hand.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Go have a night out with Jake. Don't worry about me. This always gets sorted out."
"Okay... Call me if you need anything."
Riley nodded as she guided me out of the room and closed the door.

Notes

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-Tina xx