𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 ⚔︎

3

back in new york, the thought of jesse fucking someone else kept giovanni awake. he couldn't stand it. he tossed and he turned all night, his mind running laps of unsettling and almost pornographic scenes; jesse on his knees in front of some hunk, his head bobbing up and down; jesse's face in-between some girl's legs as he smooths his hands along her thighs; jesse half-naked and sitting in a man's lap, kissing him wildly, hands feeling up and down each other's bodies; jesse on top of a girl on a motel bed, the sound of skin slapping against skin echoing around the room as he thrusts into her. it was all unbearable.

giovanni knew he was being dramatic, and that he shouldn't worry about those stupid things. in order for this to work — 'this', whatever it was between them still not having a name — he had to trust jesse, no matter what the people in his past had done to him. and even though it was going to be difficult, he knew he had to allow himself to be vulnerable again.

but unbeknownst to him, in philadelphia, jesse's mind wasn't occupied with anything of the sort. he was too busy practicing and rehearsing to even be thinking about things such as that, never mind actually doing them.

the morning after their first show, the band set off again for baltimore. it had just gone 11 and they were all suffering from a hangover, sitting in the back of the bus trying to recollect the events of the previous night with the curtains half-drawn. they had stopped off at a gas station for coffee and bagels.

"the last thing i remember..." tommy said, groaning slightly. "we left the venue and went to a club."

jude scowled at him, his hands around his steaming hot cup. "well, that's helpful tommy, thank you."

"i can't remember the name of the club... but i do recall ordering twenty shots of tequila at said club," eric said, his finger placed on his mouth in thought. "after that it's all a blur. what about you, jesse? do you remember anything from last night?"

"of course i do," jesse hummed, reading the newspaper. "i never get black-out. well, not to the point where i don't remember shit, anyway."

tommy rubbed his head. he was in desperate need of some ibuprofen. "so, what happened?"

"it was a rager, i'll admit." jesse shrugged and turned another page. "you guys got all coked-up and tommy got arrested."

"i got arrested?!" tommy said, laughing slightly. "what for?"

"you started a fight with the bouncer, and when the cops showed up, you tried having it out with them, too," jesse said humorously. "i had to drag you off of 'em. i tried reasoning with the bastards but they took you in, kept you there for a few hours. we had to get mick to bail you out."

"and i won't be doin' it again!" mick called from the drivers seat, holding his middle finger up from behind.

to this, eric and jude both chuckled. "jesus, tom," jude said. "you really do know how to celebrate."

the journey from philadelphia to baltimore took two and a half hours. since being on the road, cooped up inside the bus like a bunch of crazy chickens, each of the boys had developed their own routines; every hour, one of them would hang out of the window for a smoke. jude would sit quietly and read the book he had brought with him, 'lord of the flies' by william golding, while jesse sat close by, his eyes scouring the sheet music over and over again with the drumsticks in hand, tapping them on the seat in front of him to make sure he was getting the songs right. meanwhile, eric and tommy went on like a pair of toddlers — they would throw things at each other (shoes, lighters, empty food packets, you name it), they'd arm-wrestle, get each other in playful headlocks, tussle in the aisle. there were a few times when jude completely lost his temper with them and screamed: "SHUT THE HELL UP AND SIT THE FUCK DOWN!"