Worst In Me N.S.

Ch.15 Florida

AJ

Our last concert is tonight in the states. Tomorrow Noah, Taylor, and I will be flying into my hometown where we will be until February 1. Then we will fly to New Orleans where we will be meeting the rest of the band to fly to Germany.

Right now, Taylor and I are putting on some makeup for the concert. Jolly and Nicholas are tuning their guitars while Nick and Noah put their earpieces in. Miles comes onto the bus and smiles huge.

"We have a huge crowd out there. The set list for tonight is Come Undone, Kingdom of Cards, The Death of Peace of Mind led by our Angel, The Worst in Me, and once again closing out with Just Pretend" Miles explains.

Noah and I both stand up. Noah hands me my earpiece.

"Let's rock this show everyone. Last one before Germany next week. After tonight y'all will be able to rest and do what y'all would like before flying out from New Orleans next Wednesday" Miles says.

Taylor comes over and takes my hand in hers. I look at her and smile.

–

Our show was once again a hit. Everyone was pumped up. I didn't know Kingdom of Cards all that well, so I only sang the bridge with Noah. Noah let me completely take the lead on TDOPOM which made me beyond happy.

It's about 2 am and we are all pooped the fuck out. Noah, Taylor, and I were the first ones back on the bus so we could pack for our trip to my hometown. We leave at 11. My mom offered to pick us up where we got there at 4.

Currently Taylor and Noah are sleeping while I stay awake. Jolly's and Nick's snoring makes me wanna shoot someone. Nicholas is in the main cabin with Miles. Edith, Carolyn, and Aiden stopped texting about an hour ago making me miss them even more.

Taylor and I spent most of this week taking finals so her and I were tired as fuck. I never realized that doing online school and being a singer were going to be so complicated, but I wanted this.

"You still awake baby?" I hear from beside me.

I open my curtain and see Noah open his. He looks so cute. I lay on my arms. He smiles and reaches out to me. I reach out as well and intertwine our fingers.

"You nervous to go home?" he asks.

I sigh. I haven't since June of last year. I was supposed to go home for Christmas, but I was officially on tour for it. Plus, I have so much trauma associated with that town that he still doesn't know about. He did end up asking me about my medusa tattoo, but I told him that that was going to be a story for a different day.

Miles is paying for us to stay in a hotel while we are in Fort Walton and even got us a car to drive while we are there. Taylor is excited to see where I grew up but is a little upset that Jolly isn't going with her.

"You have no idea" I finally responded.

He rubs my hand with his thumb. I wanna tell him. I wanna be honest with him about what I've been through but I'm afraid it'll drive him away if I do. I don't wanna lose someone who makes me really happy.

"You have a lot of demons," he says.

I look at him with a furrowed brow. He jumps down from his bunk and crawls into mine with me. I scoot over against the wall so we can lay together. We cuddle tightly and I can hear his soft heartbeat.

"You have battles you're fighting. You have demons you're battling. You have scars, physical and emotional. You're damaged. You're broken. You're numb. But when you are with me, you're happy. You're giddy. You're sweet and kind. You're protected and safe. That's why you are comfortable with me, is it not?" he asks.