Jimmy’s POV
Driving from Budgewoi to Melbourne was a long way, over 1200 kilometres. I was starting to regret suggesting it. At least, we had music and lollies….. alright, this is even awkward than what i had in mind.
Forgiving Bella was something I wouldn’t regret, staying mad at her for so long was hard. Part of me still hated her for what she did to Melodie but she was gone, in the past. I wanted to focus on now. We were nearly in Melbourne after a few days but we stopped at a few places overnight, we were meeting up with Short Stack and For Our Hero tonight for dinner and I was finally seeing Shae again so I was in one of the best moods I’d been in for a while. Even after spending a few days with Bella, I wasn’t much closer to her, but I wasn’t angry and she was calmer than I’d seen her since she rocked up with Imogen.
I was finally letting go of Melodie. Shae was my focus now; but family comes before lovers so when she suggested I make it up with Bella, I agreed with her. She was so understanding.
She was flying down after seeing family in Sydney tonight, I didn’t want to leave her alone with everyone seeing as she was here with me not anybody else. She was my responsibility. We were about an hour out of Melbourne and it was going dark. On the highway, the horizon was always lit up by headlights but somehow even headlights can seem like stars when everything is going your way. The future was everything now, the past was what made me but it was the past, it didn’t matter anymore.
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I was smiling on the inside but it was showing on the outside, letting go of the hate was having the best effect on me. Beside me, Bella was staring out the window, a smile reflected in the window.
Pulling up out the back of festival hall just under an hour later, we snuck in the back entrance, just avoiding a bunch of little 12 year olds with #stackrats written on themselves. These were the fans I lost my patience with. The stalkerish ones. Short Stack would have finished hours ago and they were only still here because of us. When the security guy let us through the back door, Shae appeared and threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around me tight. I hugged her back loving every second, every breath of hers on my neck. This was what I wanted. This here now. In front of me, Andy had appeared and was holding onto Bella like he thought he wouldn’t ever see her again, like he thought I wasn’t going to bring her back. Like I was going to dump her.
No matter how angry I was, I would never sink that low and leave her alone. When Shae pressed her lips against mine, I forgot about Andy, forgot about Bella, forgot about the past, my mind was emptied of everything except her strawberry tasting kisses. This day couldn’t be any better, I had my cousin back, had my girl here with me, my friends and the rest of my life ahead of me.
> It was after 8 when we left to find a place to have dinner, I was in such a good mood compared to the tense atmosphere between a few people. A skinny blonde girl who was really protective of Ashley had appeared while I was gone, she was always arguing with Nax and was permenantly glued to Ashley. I could tell something had happened, something big since I had seen them a couple of days ago but for now, I was too high on life to really care. Don’t ask, don’t tell. If they wanted me to know, they would tell me, I was happy with what I had.
We ended up in a random restaurant none of us had ever been to and while we were eating, that group of teenies we had seen before came in. They were dressed up obviously trying to look older, in tight jeans and high heels. But they still had #stackrats written on their foreheads. They screamed and started jumping around, going completely crazy and losing whatever maturity they had been trying to show off. I knew this behavior annoyed Shaun, especially when he had company. Now, these crazy girls were staring straight at him, sitting right next to Ashley, holding her hand.
Andy was snuggled up next to Bella and Bradie was talking to Rachael. The 4 girls stopped screaming and went totally silent, Shaun dropped Ashley’s hand and Andy sat up properly but it was too little, too late. The girls were totally obsessed, practically bursting into tears at the sight of Short Stack being with other girls. One of the girls snapped a photo before they all ran out as quickly as they came in, still crying a little bit. The general mood around the table sunk, making it a little more awkward and depressing for a few minutes until Shaun snapped out of it announcing that ‘it was out now. Might as well just get on with life.’
A few hours later, we went back to the hotel. This time I was staying in a room with Shae, Bradie and Rachael. It was nearly 12 now and we had an early flight the next morning, so we put a movie on and lied down. Bradie and Rachael were staying in the bedroom and we were staying in the lounge room. Bradie and Rachael went to bed, I snuggled up next to Shae on the fold out lounge and we lied together, watching some strange movie I found in my suitcase.
‘mother fucking teenies!!!!!’ I was woken up by Shaun yelling, which made no sense seeing as he should have been in another room. Sitting up, he shoved his phone at me, showing me the photo and all the comments on it. It was out now.
I got changed and dragged my suitcase into the car and drove towards the airport. It was only just after 9 but when we went in to board the flight, the silly little girls were there, acting as if we were cheating on them. There was screaming, yelling, tears, and pushing it was not pretty but eventually they gave up and ran off in tears. We got on our flight and once again, when Shae’s lips pressed against mine, I forgot everything. Nothing mattered anymore. Not the fights. Not the fans. Not the fact everyone knew who we were dating. Nothing
