Waiting (David Schmitt Fan Fiction)

Chapter Seven

The rest of the day I wasn't struck hard by any waves of panic again, but I found myself feeling very off as I stood behind the merch table in my Reckless and the Brave tank top, counting down the hours until my next break. For the most part, I usually enjoyed work, even in the heat. But today I felt like some force in the ground was tugging at my body, trying to pull me down. I needed to rest.

You can do this, Valerie, I told myself, just another thirty minutes and you can go back to the bus.

"Oh God," Dillon said, approaching me after I handed a t-shirt to a teenage girl, "you look awful."

"Thanks Dillon," I exclaimed sarcastically, "just what every woman wants to hear! You'll find a girl in no time!"

"No, no, no," he chuckled as I helped another fan with merch, "I just mean, we're all worn out here, but you seem worse."

"Yeah, well, I had a rough night," I shrugged.

"Were you thinking abou tyour mom again?" he asked, and I felt my face grow grim and serious.  Dillon seemed to get the message. "I'm sorry, I, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's fine. I'm fine. Everything's fine," I turned my back to him and put the money I was holding away, then helped the next kid in line. I heard Dillon sigh and walk away.

"Can I have number one in small?" the dark-haired girl at the table pointed up towards the All Time Low t-shirt hanging on the wall, "and the Dirty Work CD too please," she pointed to that too, her arm full of bracelets displaying various band names.

"Yeah, sure thing," I said blankly and ducked down to the cardboard boxes to pull out the shirt and CD. "Is this what you want?" I held out the shirt for her to see. The girl nodded and as she handed me her money I caught a glimpse of a Breathe Carolina braclet dangling along with the others on her wrist.

I knew what I needed to do in twenty minutes.

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Not soon enough, Dillon's turn to work merch rolled around and we swapped places, leaving me empty-handed. The soundtrack of Warped Tour filled the air as I wandered; profane shouts, laughter, screams, loud music, people trying to force flyers into your hands, more loud music. It was heaven. I passed by a group of young teenagers clothed in neon shorts, furry boots, and practically drowning in vibrantly colored plastic beads. I bit my bottom lip to keep from letting out a laugh, they looked absolutly ridiculous.

A few more of those rainbow kids later, I found a teenage guy sporting a Breathe Carolina t-shirt and asked him if he knew whether the band had played yet or not.

"Um, yeah, they played pretty early this morning," he said, motioning his hand in the general direction of the Kio Ria mainstage, "sorry."

"No, it's fine," I replied with a smile and thanked him. That was just the answer I was looking for. I wanted to talk with David, maybe tell him about last night, or at least parts of it. Maybe skipping the bit where I looked like a helpless skeleton on the bathroom tiles would be a good idea.

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"Valerie, oh thank God," Jack said as he ran into me wandering around the tour buses. I was searching for David and on the way talked to Kyle, who said he was hanging out in the Breathe Carolina bus before their signing.

I laughed. "What's wrong? Did you think I was dead or something?" Jack was a giant, immature goofball, but he could be really protective and concerned when it came to his friends.

"No, Dillon just told me you weren't doing so well. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, "I just had a rough night, that's all."

"You weren't having the dreams again, were you?"

"Jack, I... yeah, I was," I admitted.

"Okay," Jack wetted his lips, "Well, if you want to talk to me about it, I'm here. Same with the other guys. Maybe you should call your aunt or something too."

"I'm fine," I insisted, though a tight feeling in my stomach argued the opposite, "I just need to forget about it, it's in the past."

"I know you miss her," Jack said in the most serious tone I've ever heard him speak in. I nodded and fought back the tears that threatened to come out. "You're one of the strongest people I've ever met," Jack said, and that only made me want to cry more.

I loved Jack, I really, really did. Certainly not in a romantic way, not at all. But he's been the best friend I've ever had and despite all his antics I could tell him anything. He was always smiling and cracking jokes despite the situation at hand and that was really inspiring to me.

It felt a bit weird, knowing I was about to go tell David, who I've barely known, about my personal situation that so few knew the full story of, but I think I liked him. I liked him a lot.

Jack interuppted my thoughts, "Why are you over here anyways?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm looking for David."

"Schmitt?" Jack said and I nodded. "Okay, listen. I love David and Kyle and the rest of the Breathe Carolina guys. They're great. You hang out with Alex, Rian, Zack, and I because we've been friends for years, we went to school together. We know each others boundries and stuff, it's like having a sister on the bus. But, um, I wouldn't trust David to be on a tour bus alone with you, if you know what I  mean."

I scoffed. "Jack, I'm in this buissness, I know what goes on in situations like this. We've hung out before, it's not like we're hooking up or anything. I'm a grown-up, I think I can handle myself if things get uncomfortable."

Jack sighed, "Okay, just, I don't know," he laughed, "Check out our set today?"

"Will do," I smiled.

"You better, you've been hanging around Breathe Carolina's set so much, you slut," he joked. Jack was the only person who could get away with calling me that, joking or not.

And with that, he patted me on the back and we parted ways. I made a mental note to go see the guys play today. It would be nice to see them perform again, anyways.

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I knocked on the door of what I prayed was the right bus. Not a moment later it opened up and there was David, standing in the doorway sporting a pair of tattered jeans and cut up tank top, a can of diet Coke in his hand.

"Oh, hey," he greeted, surprised, "what are you doing here?"

David yawned. He seemed exhausted, probably from the heat. I suddenly worried that I was bothering him. What if he didn't even like me? What if to him I'm just another girl he met on tour?

"Sorry if I'm bothering you," I apologized, "I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"Ah, naw, man. It's cool," David reassured. "It's just me here, I wasn't up to much anyways. Come inside."

He invited me to take a seat on the couch and offered me a can of diet Coke as well, which I gladly accepted. I looked around at the bus as David fished around in the mini fridge. It was pretty standered, just like the one I rode in. David handed me the soda and took a seat beside me.

"So, what's up?"

His brown eyes were locked on mine when he said that, and I suddenly forgot what I was going to say. My palms started sweating, it was the combonation of David sitting there and what I was going to tell him. I took a sip of the Coke and tried to calm down.

"Well," I said, building up the courage to spit the words out, "I figured it was time I told you about myself."