Our self-titled album blasted from an unknown source as Mark, Travis and I stood around like fuckers and took pictures of ourselves. Raleigh stood off to the side and yelled at me for looking too happy. I couldn't help it when she was around. Anyway, from the warehouse we were driven across town to a record shop to take a few photos and then play a few songs for them to put on their website or something. We played the hits for them so nobody would get confused as to what songs they were hearing or from what band. I Miss You, Down, and Feeling This were the songs that we performed by ourselves in a room with set up equipment.
"I'm really in the mood," I said as I pranced out of the store.
"For what?" Travis and Mark asked.
"I don't know. Mexican food always sounds good. What about you Raleigh, what do you want to eat?" I put my arm around her and gave her a squeeze on her shoulder.
"Whatever works for you guys is cool with me," She replied, laying her head on my shoulder for a second or two.
"Mexican it is!" Mark exclaimed, hopping in the back of my car.
"Fuck yes."
We drove to the nearest restaurant closest to my house. Mark nearly bought out the whole restaurant; he was a big fan of tacos and Mexican food in general. He had always loved it since we first started the band. In fact, he would get really fucking defensive over his food if you even tried to touch it. It was fucking ridiculous, but it was Mark Hoppus. On the other hand, Travis really didn't fucking care about stuff like that, he just ate to eat, if that makes any sense.
I sat next to Raleigh on one side of the table and Mark and Travis sat on the other. As with most conversations we had with each other, a lot of talk existed about our bodily functions and music. We decided to do the European tour in the summer of 2004 and then go back to the studio for the new album. Talk even started about new ideas and styles for the next album. I hoped that everything would keep going smoothly, since we were one of- if not the biggest- pop punk band out there at that time.
*RALEIGH*
I knocked on the door to his mansion at six on Christmas Eve, shivering as wind scraped off of the ground. It had been a chilly winter in San Diego, with temperatures well below 60 degrees. We weren't expecting snow that year as usual, so it would not be that big of a deal for me at least. I heard him moseying around his house before the handle jiggled and the door opened. Tom smiled down at me and let me walk inside.
"Cold?" he, remarked, shutting the door.
"Moderate. Are you ready? My car is running."
"Yeah, I'm ready to fuck. Whoops," he said, walking past me into his kitchen to grab a black and white Hurley jacket from the table.
I sighed loudly, hearing him laugh from the hallway. We were going to visit my parents for a few hours. They had agreed to meet us at my mom's house, which was where I used to live. Dad had moved into a small one story house near the bad part of town. I had no idea whether or not people were going to show up to the little get together, which is why I was taking Tom. I'm pretty sure he didn't care why he was going, though.
"I have to piss, but I'll meet you outside."
"Alright," and with that, I slinked out to my car, patiently waiting for Tom to get out there.
"Fuck, it's cold," he said as cold air seeped in through the door from outside. The sun had now began to set, plastering the sky with hues from every end of the spectrum.
"Awww look! It's so pretty!" Tom exclaimed, pointing straight ahead out the windshield.
"Yeah it is. We should just ditch my parents and make out."
YOU ARE READING
Stockholm Syndrome
Fanfic*NOTE: this story was heavily influenced by another fic called Letters To God that I read back in 2011. The original author (Estiem) has been cool enough to work on uploading that fic on their page!* Raleigh is very troubled at home. A fight between...
