Warped Pranks

The Recovery

We're back from the show, in our bus. Austin and Alan are being so nice. After the show, Austin escorted us to our bus, to make sure we weren't jumped again, and Alan was waiting on the inside to make sure no one broke in.

Me and Bryan are sitting on the couch, our backs against the arm rests and our feet meeting in the middle.

Kyle and Johnnie are sitting at the table, across from each other.

Austin and Alan are in the chairs across from the couch.

We're all silent.

We wished a good day to the Writers after the performance, and are going to head back out in an hour for a signing and meet and greet.

We're trying to cool down from the show and 'incident' before we go out again.

"Come to the bathroom with me Johnnie," I say and sling my legs over the edge of the couch. I get up and head towards the bathroom. I hear Johnnie's footsteps behind me.

I open the door to the bathroom and Johnnie follows me inside. I turn on the light and turn to Johnnie.

I hold out my hand and say, "let me check on your bruises, they were just forming before we went back on for the show. They could be worse now."

He nods his head and put his hand in mine, while pulling up his sleeves a bit with his other hand.

I looked at his right wrist carefully, flipping it over and bending it around. Johnnie would wince in pain every once in a while. I knew they would only get worse before they got better. The bruises are just getting started.

I check his left wrist the same way. He has a small cut over a bruise where the handcuffs had dug in a bit and broke the skin. 'If I had been quicker, or had been able to fight off the attackers, or something different than what I did, Kyle wouldn't have passed out and Johnnie wouldn't have bruised wrists and a cut,' I think to myself, 'this is partially my fault.'

I open the cabinet over the sink and pull out a small squirt bottle of anti-bacterial spray. I pull out a bandage too.

I sniff the end of the nozzle to make sure it is anti-bacterial spray, and smell the strong scent of alcohol.

I spray a few squirts onto the tiny cut and wrap it up. Then I put the supplies up.

Johnnie suddenly pulls me into a hug. I wonder why, until I realize my cheeks were wet. When did I start crying?

"Don't blame yourself, I know you. I know you are thinking this is your fault because you weren't fast or strong enough, but none of us were," He says quietly into my ear as I lean my forehead on his shoulder, the side of my head against his neck.

"And I know that you are still going to blame yourself, and I now know the look in your eyes that you will get when you do. And I can promise you that every time you get that look in your eyes I will be the first one to tackle you in a hug and tell you the truth. And the truth is, it wasn't your fault," He whispers again.

I hug him a bit tighter, and he does the same. I hear someone walk down the hall to the bathroom door.

Then I feel someone come around behind me and wrap their arms around me, squishing me between him and Johnnie.

I figured it was Kyle when I felt rubber band bracelets graze my cheek where he put his arms around me and Johnnie.

I then smell the strong scent of Axe and feel Bryan wrap his arms around Johnnie and Kyle, putting the side of my head that isn't in Johnnie's neck, in Bryan's chest.

We hug it out for a few minutes, then, on a silent note, we break apart at the same time.

***

It is after the meet and greet, and we are on the way back to the bus. Austin had dropped by on the way to the Of Mice & Men concert at a stage not far from the one we got attacked at, and Alan stopped by on the way back. We left the tent soon after.

We're sweaty, hungry, thirsty, and tired. We made the silent decision to let Kyle shower first, while me and Johnnie made dinner. Bryan got our pajamas ready and put them in the bathroom once Kyle closed the shower curtain.

We'd all been keeping an eye on Kyle ever since he passed out, especially Johnnie. I swear that boy is more protective of Kyle than a fangirl is of her favorite pop-punk band.

After Kyle got out, Johnnie got in, and Bryan helped me finish dinner.

After Johnnie got out Bryan got in. I handed Johnnie his plate, like I did Kyle.

Johnnie and Kyle sat at the table eating the spaghetti while I replied to things on Diary's Twitter.

As soon as Bryan got out I handed him his plate and went to take a shower. His hair was starting to curl a bit since he got it wet. It looked a little weird. I needed to help him straighten it before we went to bed. Or hope we got up in time to do it tomorrow.

As I washed I thought about how everyone is so quiet. We are still pretty shaken up. We need answers.

I take my contacts out and throw them away. I get dressed in pajamas that were lying on the sink and walk out to eat my dinner.

Once everyone is done, I get up and start the dishes. Kyle comes up next to me to help.

"So, are we going to tell the Writers what happened?" He asks, handing me a plate to rinse.

I rinse it and think.

"We'll make a video tomorrow and blast it on social media. Put the link on Twitter, post the video on all our Facebook pages, including the band's page. Put the link or video or promotion about the video on Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, and any others. Then, we'll pay attention and see if anyone starts acting differently towards us," I say. If this worked, we won't have to do much digging, and we can figure it out just by sitting back and quietly observing.

"Why would anyone act differently toward us?" Johnnie asks, coming up beside me to dry some cups.

"Because if it was a prank, and I'm sure it was, the culprits will be really sorry for scaring us so bad, and they will either act sympathetic and guilty, or they will admit to doing it," I explain and Bryan stands up from the couch to put away the clean dishes.

"It's a good place to start an investigation," He says, and we continue doing the dishes in silence.

After doing the dishes, we decide to go to bed. It was another one of those silent decisions that we so often have.

We all kind of drifted to the big bed just behind Bunk Alley; the very back of the bus. We all know none of us want to be alone tonight.

I laid down on the end and Bryan laid next to me, then Kyle, then Johnnie. Johnnie is still being kind of protective of Kyle by not letting him sleep on the edge.

It must have been hard for him to even have the thought of losing his best friend.

We all fall asleep soon after, each of us being lulled by the others' breathing.

...