Please

Part 6

"The shirt was a success!" Chris announces, grinning at everyone as he steps onto the bus, his phone held in his hand. "Like, they're gonna make enough for us to start selling at our merch tables!"

"Good. Maybe the chicks will have more shit then," Ryan yawns, laying across the couch.

You'd got asked countless times about your shirt when you'd been tromping around with the band the other day, and when Chris had relayed that to whoever it was that handles their merch, they'd gotten a good review, at least enough where they were going to market the shirt.

So, good news for the band.

More money in their pockets, anyway.

"So," Ricky twists a little, looking at you where you stand, leaning against the kitchen counters, "watcha wanna do for your birthday?"

"You have a birthday soon!?" Devin gasps, almost looking excited. "When!?"

"A few more days - Friday, to be exact. And it's also her two week anniversary of touring with us!" Ricky beams at you. "Aren't you so glad you came?"

"Is that rhetorical?"

Chris chuckles.

"We'll have to celebrate," he says, giving you a nice smile.

"With cake," Balz says, grinning, his hands on his hips. "And balloons. And confetti."

"Why confetti?"

"Because I already bought confetti."

You roll your eyes.

"I told you not to do that -."

"Well, I did it anyway," Balz shrugs. "Don't worry about it."

You sigh.

You really didn't want your birthday to be a thing.

You would've just ignored it if you could.

"Hey, you deserve a party," Ricky tells you, nudging your shoulder. "We haven't celebrated your birthday together in years! At least not since we were teenagers."

You roll your eyes.

"Because it was so much fun then!" you snort, remembering. "You nearly got me arrested."

"Not intentionally," he scoffs, slipping his arm around your shoulder. "And you came out just fine!"

"Because I started crying."

"Whoa, whoa, bros!" Balz looks between the two of you. a curious half-grin on his face. "Someone better explain that one!"

"Yeah, what happened?" Ryan asks, tilting his head a little. "You've got my interest."

"It's not -." you start.

"Well, someone had just turned sixteen," Ricky proceeds, ignoring your pinch to his arm. "And we thought it would be a great idea to get her wasted for the first time, to celebrate. Turns out she can't handle her alcohol for shit."

"I had never drank before!"

"And got really sick - well," he bats your hand away when you try to cover his mouth. "We, like, ended up having to drag her home, all of our friends, and so someone legit called and said there was a group of kids carrying a dead body down the street."

"No!" Balz gasps, enthralled.

"Yup! We had to toss her in a hedge bush when the cops rolled up so we wouldn't get in trouble," Ricky laughs at the memory, "and act like we had no idea what the cops were talking about; we had to circle the block and come back for her."