Intoxication Paranoia And A Lot Of Fame.

Chapter 6.

Vic’s POV.

“Vic, you really need to get up now,” Mike’s voice sounded pretty distant, like he was standing far away. But of course it was just because I wasn’t properly awake yet. And I really didn’t want to wake up. I mumbled something that didn’t make sense and turned my back to the door where my brother was definitely standing.

I felt someone pull my duvet away, which just resulted in me curling up in a ball and not reacting at all. “Seriously, we have to leave in a bit. Recording starts today, remember? You just have time for a shower if you get up now,” Mike said, reminding me that I had to face Kellin today for the first time since the party at Tony’s. I really didn’t feel like it, because I knew what we did was wrong. I just wasn’t sure if he remembered or not. And if he did remember, how would he behave today?

“Alright, I’m getting up now,” I said as I pulled myself out of bed, knowing I had to pull myself together. I wasn’t some heartbroken teenage kid; I was a grown man who had to face my problems. Even though I really didn’t want to.

As I finished showering, Mike handed me an apple I could eat whilst he was driving to the studio. Of course we were late and we’d be the last ones there, but it was alright. It wasn’t like the entire song would be ruined or anything like that.

“Hurry up,” Mike said as we walked into the building and took the elevator up to our floor. We practically ran down the hallway until we reached our studio, taking a few deep breaths to calm our heartbeats down, before we knocked on the door once and went in.

Everyone in the room looked up. “Oh, there you are! The Princesses are fashionably late. Just like real rock stars,” Jaime joked. The others exchanged smug glances. “If it’s alright with the rock stars, we’d like to start the process of recording now,” Justin followed up on Jaime’s joke. I rolled my eyes and threw myself in a chair, avoiding looking at Kellin altogether.

“Who’s up first?” I asked without looking at anything but the studio. “Let’s take the guitars first, yeah?” Gabe said, and we all nodded. Tony was the first one of us to get up, seeing as we had decided that it’d only be our band playing the music.

I just stared blankly at the table during the entire day, not wanting to look at Kellin at all. During our lunch break, Mike caught me before I headed to the bathroom, grabbing a hold of my arm. “What’s up with you?” he asked me. Of course he could feel that something was off. That was an annoying thing about him being my brother. “Nothing,” I said, trying to shake him off me. That didn’t work. Of course.

“Something’s up, you’re not at all paying attention to what’s going on in the room, Kellin keeps staring at you, you’re just not your usual, hyper self,” Mike said. I frowned and looked up at him, narrowing my eyes a bit. “What did you say?” I asked. “That you’re not yourself,” he answered, being mildly confused. “No, not that. The part about Kellin,” I said, feeling a bit odd. Did Kellin really stare at me? “Oh. Um, Kellin keeps staring at you. Did something happen at that party that I don’t know about?” Mike asked. Now it was his turn to narrow his eyes. God, he was so annoying.

“Nothing happened, Mike. I just feel a little.. Off today, that’s all. I’m tired, you know,” I said, letting my shoulders and head hang a bit so it’d seem more real. He finally let go of my arm and I rubbed it a bit. “Oh. Well, I hope you’re not getting ill. Take care of your voice, yeah? We need it for recording pretty soon,” he said and disappeared down the hallway to join the others in the hunt for some food. At least he knew when to leave me alone.

As I walked to the toilet I was staring down at the floor, not expecting anyone to get in my way. I proved my own theory wrong by walking directly into someone, causing myself to almost fall over. I reached for something to take a hold of to contain my balance and caught the hand of the person I walked into. As I steadied myself, I looked up, finding myself staring into two familiar blue eyes. Oh no.

“Vic, hey,” Kellin said, smiling at me like nothing weird never happened between us. I stood up straight and just nodded at him, trying to motion that I was on my way to the bathroom, but he didn’t seem to notice. Apparently he really wanted to talk to me.

“I’m sorry about Friday. I was drunk out of my mind, I rarely remember anything,” he confessed, scratching the back of his hair and smiling shyly. It was so cute, but at the same time really annoying. That probably meant he didn’t remember what happened in the garden, which was pretty good. Wasn't it?

“It’s alright, Kells. No biggie,” I assured him and once again tried to motion for the bathroom. He still didn’t get it.

Instead he grabbed me by the shoulders and leaned in close. “I do remember the Fuenciado thing, though,” he said and winked at me, squeezing my shoulders. I stared blankly at him. That’s what he remembered out of the entire night? Wow.

“Oh well, that was just for fun,” I waved him off, pushing his hands off my shoulders, before moving past him, disappearing into the bathroom. He probably thought I was angry with him or something, and to be honest I was, just a bit. His stupid brain had chosen that all he remembered about Friday night was the stupid Fuenciado thing Jaime and I did for fun, and he had completely forgotten everything else apparently.

I guess it was for the best, but I couldn’t stop it from annoying me a lot. I washed my face with cold water to calm down a bit and dried myself, before heading back to the studio room, not being in the mood for eating. Unfortunately for me, Kellin was sitting by the table, almost as if he had been waiting for me.

“Are you mad at me, Vic?” he asked, as soon as I had closed the door. I avoided looking into his eyes, because they looked really sad. He didn’t seem to like the thought that I was possibly mad at him. “No, I’m not, no worries. I just feel a bit off today,” I explained as I sat down.

Kellin furrowed his brow with worry as he didn’t really buy it as easily as Mike had done. Or well, pretended to. Damn it. “Are you sure?” he asked, reaching for my hand that was resting on the table not far away from his. I quickly pulled my hand away, forced on a smile and leaned back in the chair. “I’m sure.”