Found

A Cause

Tobin POV

It was late, December 23rd, well, technically early December 24th. I couldn't sleep so I crawled out of bed and decided to grab something to eat. I made myself a sandwich and sat down on the couch. I flicked on the tv and turned the volume down to five, not wanting to wake Alex up. My favorite Christmas special was on, The Year Without A Santa Clause. I smiled to myself as I started eating. I quoted along with the show as much as possible.
"Toys are here by declared illegal, immoral, unlawful, and, anyone found with a toy in his possession, will be placed under arrest and thrown in the dungeon!" I mocked the character and laughed to myself. I watched the entire special from beginning to end and looked at the clock. Three a.m. The special was over so I started flipping through news channels when something caught my eye. There were red and blue lights blinking rapidly. A "Breaking News" banner was across the screen. I listened to the anchor and read the screen.
"School shooting in Naples Italy. 13 dead, 24 injured, more suspected to be inside." My mouth went dry. I listened to the anchor.
"The identity of the shooter has yet to be named and police have surrounded the building, although can't make their way in, because the shooter is believed to be holding hostages."
"Damnit!" I yelled slamming my hands in the table then standing up, causing my plate to fall to the floor. I heard my door creek open.
"Toby? What's going on?" Alex asked.
"There was another fucking school shooting Alex. It's bullshit how these people can do this, and people don't even bat an eye anymore!" I kicked the coffee table.
"Ok shh shh." Alex came up and hugged me.
"It's fucked up Alex. I don't know why we still let them get away with it!"
"I know, I know."
"I mean who the fuck does this asshole think he is? What does killing a bunch of kids fix you're life?" I yelled at the tv.
"I know Tobin."
"Lex how are you so calm?" I asked.
"Lex we're some of the lucky ones. We made it, but so many people didn't. It's not fair. So many fucking innocent people died because some idiot didn't have his head screwed on right! We were there. We were the ones sitting in fear that we could be blown away any second!" I kept yelling.
"I know Tobs, just, calm down." She said. I pulled back and stepped away from her.
"Calm down?" I asked quietly. "Calm down? Calm down? Lex I can't fucking calm down! That was the scariest moment of my life. And what about these kid's parents? What do they think when they realize that their kid isn't coming home? That, Lex, that could be our kid!" I said putting my hands in my head. She stood there frozen for a second.
"Tobin?" She said. She turned to look at me. "Y-you wanna have a kid with me?" She asked. I looked at her. I didn't know what to say. I think I did, but I was afraid. I was afraid that if let them down, that is screw them up, that if be my mother.
"I, um..." I stopped again. Alex just looked at me.
"Yeah. I wanna have kids with you." I stated.
"You wanna have kids with me?" She asked more excited.
"I wanna have kids with you." I said, feeling my excitement grow. She stepped to me and locked me in a long passionate kiss.
"I love you." She whispered.
"I love you too."
Despite the nice conversation with Alex, I was still pissed off all day, as were my friends. The shooting we lived had taken a toll on us. We sat on the couch talking to each other.
"Fuck that guy." I said.
"Who? The Italy guy, or Servando?"
"Both, or anyone who killed any innocent kids." I grumbled.
"Man I never liked that guy." Ash said. We all shook our heads.
"Fuck man!" I yelled. "It just pisses me off so much! I wanna fucking scream and beat the shit out of him!" I yelled. I felt Alex grab my hand.
"Babe he could've hurt you." I said. She nodded.
"You know what? Then let's fucking do something about it." Kelley said.
"Like what?" JJ asked.
"Guys, we're a pretty successful band. Let's use this platform we got and draw some attention to it!" Kelley said. We all agreed.
"Like write a song?" Ash asked.
"Write a song, hold press conferences, go to protests, whatever man!" Kelley said.
"Then let's start now." I led everyone to the garage. We started messing around with the instruments until we found something we liked.

I get my kicks and I want to start a rager
I want to dance like I'm on the video
I got a fever for the violent behavior
I'm sweating bullets like a modern Romeo

Bang Bang! Give me fame
Shoot me up to entertain
I am a semi-automatic lonely boy
You're dead! I'm well fed
Give me death or give me head
Daddy's little psycho and Mommy's little soldier

I testify like a lullaby of memories
Broadcasting live and it's on my radio
I got my photo bomb, I got my Vietnam
I love a lie just like anybody else

Bang Bang! Give me fame
Shoot me up to entertain
I am a semi-automatic lonely boy
You're dead! I'm well fed
Give me death or give me head
Broadcasting from my room and playing with my toys

I want to be a celebrity martyr
The leading man in my own private drama
Hurrah (bang bang), hurrah (bang bang)
The hero of the hour
Daddy's little psycho and Mommy's little soldier

I want to be like the soldiers on the screen
It's my private holy war
Oh baby baby this is Viva Vendetta
For this is love or it's World War Zero

I want to be a celebrity martyr
The leading man in my own private drama
Hurrah (bang bang), hurrah (bang bang)
The hero of the hour
Daddy's little psycho and Mommy's little soldier

I want to be a celebrity martyr
The leading man in my own private drama
Hurrah (bang bang), hurrah (bang bang)
The hero of the hour
Daddy's little psycho and Mommy's little soldier

We rushed right down to the studio. We recorded edited, and we got the single out that day. we made sure of it. No review, not second takes. It had to go out. We even scheduled a press conference for the single. We all got dressed up and ready to go to the conference. We sat down and reporters started flooding in. They were all trying to get a better spot. Eventually when the settled down, they were allowed to start asking questions.
"So Tobin, I understand that you write the bands song. And with all the mass shootings you see on tv, this song could really anger some people." They said.
"Well that's definitely not the intention. This is an issue we all feel very strongly about. We believe this needs to be resolved immediately."
"Why are you guys so dedicated to this problem?" Another reporter asked. I looked at my friends and they nodded.
"Because the four of us have been victims of school shootings." The audience gasped.
"A student came to school with a gun, and during an assembly, he pulled it out and stared shooting. Obviously we're all fine now, but at the time, I had gotten shot."
"Why isn't this something you'd talked about before?" They asked. I looked at them, hard.
"Oh, maybe because it's hard to talk about. Maybe because we could've died and thinking back to it makes me wanna throw up!" I said. They scribbled things in their notepads. I turned to Alex who made a calm down gesture. I nodded and sighed.
"Tobin, in the song, it seems to be from the perspective of the shooter. Is this true? And if so, why?" They asked. I thought for a second.
"Well, I ended up trying to get inside the brain of the guy who shot up our school. Him and I never really got along, and he came in there that day looking for me. I had done something that he didn't like, but it was his own little problem, that he thought everyone was apart of and everyone knew. You know, he wanted to be the hero, and in his mind, he was right, and that's the scariest part." The conference continues for about 30 more minutes. My fri Mrs and I answered questions and then after we all went home. We were so tired. When we walked in, Alex and I sat in the couch.
"Hey, I'm proud of you." She said kissing my cheek.
"Thanks." I said wrapping an arm around her. She curled into me and I flicked on the tv. I flipped through I few channels before landing in A Year Without A Santa Clause. I was about to change it since I watched in this morning before I heard Alex let out a squeal.
"Ooh this is my favorite Christmas special!" She said. I looked down and smiled at her.
"What?" She looked up at me. I leaned down to kiss her. After a few minutes I tapped her shoulder and she looked up at me.
"Hey, I meant to ask you," she nodded and I smiled, "What should we name our kids?"