i hope it gives you hell

Fuck it. I love you.

"Do you know where you are? Truth be told I miss you."

RODRICKS POV

Why does she have to keep pissing me off? I gave her a chance and she shit all over it. God, I wish I could think of something else besides her. I didn't want to yell at her I just- Fuck. She's making me think. I hate that.

I flop down on my bed and stare at the ceiling for an unknown amount of time. Someone knocks on my door.

"Go away, Greg." I shout.

Susan enters my room.

"Not Greg. And be nicer to your brother. How else will they know their uncle Greg?" She asks, a hand on her hip. I stay still and silent, hoping she leaves me the fuck alone. She sighs and sits in the edge of my bed. Fuck me, what did I do this time?

"I heard your fight with your girlfriend." She stated, looking sadly at me. I burst out laughing.

"Veronica is not girlfriend mom," I reply, sitting up. "She's deadweight. If we don't get a record deal at the next gig, it's because of her."

"See, your brain says all of those nasty things, but, your heart wants her. I can feel it." Susan says, waking towards my door. I make fake gagging noises at her words. First of all, that's the most Live, Laugh, Love shit like ever and second of all, I refuse to tell my mother she's right.

"Whatever, Rodrick. But, she's cute and is obviously into the same stuff as you. I think you should give a shot." She exits my room, leaving me to think.

VERONICAS POV

The next two weeks pass in an awful, frustrating blur. Rodrick hasn't uttered one snide comment to me. The closest he got was when at a practice, his mother walked in holding a porno mag that his little brother found in his bag and all Rodrick had to say was "Sorry women." I think he wanted to shove his drumstick in my eye when I laughed. His mom gave me this weird look, too. Like she knew something was up. I don't know, I haven't been able to shake it.

It's the day of my first gig with Loded Diper. I'm surprised I haven't needed a change of pants yet. Every waking moment I've had over the past two weeks has been spent practicing the set list for tonight. If I make one minuscule mistake, I'm 100% sure that Rodrick will kick me out of the band and then kick my ass as the cherry on top.

I can't even bring myself to eat lunch today. My stomach is a churning pit of anxiety and worry. I stare blankly at the boys trays, once again, playing through the set list on my thigh.

"Heloooo?" Stan asked in a singsong voice, waving his hand in front of my face.

"Oh, what's up?" I respond, a little startled. 

"You excited for the gig tonight?!" Drew inquired giddily.

"Stoked." I replied. The guys continued shoving animal grade food into their mouths, betting on how many girls they could get tonight and I entered my own world where guitars were the only thing that mattered. Only, I heard two voices instead of three. I spared a glance at Rodrick to see him as I never had before. He had nothing to say. He wasn't upset or confused or spaced out. He simply didn't have anything to add to a conversation in which he always had something to say.

That's when I noticed he was looking at me too and I stared back down at the table.

TIME SKIP TO VENUE

I must've played this fucking chord a million times by now. We were doing sound check before the show started, so we don't sound shittier. Only, this sound tech sucks big, stinky balls so it took three times longer than it should've.

"Alright guys, there's about 2 hours till your on, feel free to play some songs get warmed up." The sound tech said.

"Finally!" We all heaved collectively.

We all look at each other like kids in a candy store, way too excited to be able to do whatever we wanted in a bar, no bigger than a front yard. I start strumming out the first few chords to American Idiot and everyone follows suit.

For the next hour, we hold a nonstop concert filled all the songs we wish we had written.

RODRICKS POV

This is awesome! We haven't had a gig in a while and it felt good to know we would totally sell out our merchandise. That's something even Veronica can't fuck up. I just hope she doesn't wear one of those skirts or I think of anything else for the rest of the night.

"You guys know 1985 by Bowling for Soup?" I ask while tuning a snare. Stan and Drew gave me confused looks.

"Bowling for what?" Drew questioned.

Before I can answer, Veronica was playing the opening. When Stan still looked dumbfounded, she stepped up to his mic.

"Debbie just hit the wall. She never had it all." She sang, not badly by the way, and peeked back at me. I couldn't help but a smile a bit and helped her out on the drums.

Before I knew it, we finished a whole song together. Drew and Stan gave me a knowing look. The same one my mom gives me whenever Veronica is within two feet of me. I rolled my eyes at them.

"Hey guys, you should head into the green room backstage." A stage hand suggested from his off stage. We all obeyed silently. But, before I could follow Drew and Veronica in, Stanley caught my shoulder and pulled me just out of earshot.

"Dude, you've gotta tell her." Stan said, more serious than I've ever seen him.

"Look, I'm sorry I had to end it with your mom. I had to put me first, man" I deflected. Stan hit me on the back of the head.

"You know what I mean, you little shit. After your duet out there, I'm ten thousand percent sure she feels the same. But, you keep this broody 'I hate you' shit up, she'll find another guy by tonight. I guarantee it. I read the start of that song, man. You're in it. Deep. Accept it and let her in on it." He finished with a punch to my shoulder and walked into the green room.

Fuck it. I love her.

this part was written by me 😛😏