Take Me There

Annoyances and Fireball

    Chapter Twenty Three

 "So he didn't answer. Again."
 I glanced up at Sadie and Lincoln, both of them sitting in the seat across from me in the small booth we were sharing. It was almost six, so we'd decided to grab a bite to eat at the local Waffle House before the last performance of the tour.
 Obviously everyone else had opted out and decided to take a quick power nap at the hotel.
 I finally gave them a nod, the corners of my mouth falling into a frown. Ever since I'd left Austin a voicemail earlier today, some part of me had really really hoped that he would decide to call me back. Or at least text me.
 For Christ's sake, I was his sister. And I wasn't stupid. I knew he was getting my texts and voicemails. But what I didn't know was why he was still penalizing me for my parents' mistakes.  
 But I would find out all of the reasons soon enough, and I guess that was all I had to hold on to for the moment.
 "I mean, did you really think he was going to answer?" Sadie took a sip of her soda, "Or call you back even?"
 I shrugged. "A girl can dream."
 "You'll see him tomorrow though. It will all work out," Lincoln said, giving me a reassuring smile.
 I wanted to believe her, I really did. But I knew that I couldn't count on anything until it actually happened. That was one of the major things I'd learned over the past two weeks.
 I looked down at my barely touched food and placed my napkin over it. My appetite was completely gone from the mention of Austin, which only made me think of a million other things that I was trying so hard not  to think about.
 "What are you gonna say when you meet her?" Sadie suddenly asked, her eyes full of curiousity.
 "I don't know," I swallowed the lump that was rising in my throat. "Hi mom?"
 "Seriously, Dallis," Sadie frowned.
 I gave her a look. "What am I supposed to say? Hey, Hollie, it's me. The girl twin you gave up eighteen years ago. Sorry to impose but I figured that since Austin's already here, I might as well show up too."
 "She's just trying to he-"
 I held up my hand as Lincoln tried to defend Sadie. "Stop. I don't want to talk about this anymore."
 Sadie sighed. "We're not trying to upset you, Dal. But in less than twenty four hours, you're going to be standing on her doorstep and you need to be prepared."
 "I really just don't want to talk about this."
 "But you need to be prepared," Sadie
 I shook my head. "You don't know what I need to be prepared for. You don't know what I need to say. You're not in this position."
 "You know what, just fucking drop it," Sadie finally snapped, standing up from the table. Obviously I wasn't the only one with a short fuse.
 "Thanks."
 I watched as she stormed out of the restaurant, leaving a wide eyed Lincoln sitting across from me. Whenever she finally turned to look at me, she blinked a few times. "Was that really neccessary, Dallis?"
 "I told you guys that I'm tired of talking about it."
 "She's just trying to help. We feel bad about all of this."
 "Stop," I whispered, "Please just stop."
 She stared at me for a second before finally nodding her head. "Okay. Yeah. I'll stop."
 This time, I stood up from the table. I dropped a ten on top of the surface and grabbed my phone. I walked out of the doors and saw Sadie walking back towards the hotel.
 A pang of guilt hit my chest, but I easily brushed it aside. I could feel myself standing on the edge of my sanity. Everyone was asking me so many questions and pushing me in so many directions. I felt tears sting my eyes because I knew that with one wrong push, I was going to fall over.
 "Dallis?"
 I took a quick deep breath before turning towards Kiptyn's voice. He was carrying a brown paper bag, obviously holding some form of alcohol. I swallowed the lump in my throat and prayed that my eyes weren't red from my almost break down.
 "I thought you were sleeping," I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
 He smirked and held up the brown bag. "Had to go get some goods for tonight down at the ABC store."
 I rolled my eyes. "Classy."
 "It's the last night. We have to celebrate somehow." He came to a stop in front of me, a cute smile still on his face. He glanced around before looking back at me with his eyebrows furrowed. "Where's Sadie and Lincoln?"
 "Sadie went back to the hotel. Lincoln's still inside."
 "Something happen?"
 "How could you tell?"
 He poked my cheek. "Your cheeks are red. So either you're upset or pissed."
 "Little bit of both," I deadpanned.
 He raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"
 I shrugged. "I'm just sick of talking about Austin and everything and they keep pushing the subject."
 He slowly nodded his head and licked his bottom lip, something I'd noticed that he only did when he was nervous.
 "What is it?" I finally asked.
 "You're still going to show up there tomorrow, right?"
 "I just need to find the address first."
 A grin suddenly spread out across his face and I wearily raised my eyebrows. "What?"
 He slid his free hand into his back pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. He held it in front of me and I stared at it skeptically. "Uhm, thanks?"
 He laughed. "It's her address."
 "Her address?" I looked up at him.
 "I looked it up in three different phone books until I found it."
 I grinned. "You did this?"
 He nodded.
 "For me?"
 "Who else?"
 I slung my arms around his neck, my bad mood suddenly gone. I didn't care what anyone else said about Kiptyn at that moment. He was a damn good guy.
 "Thank you so much," I whispered against his neck.
 "It's not that big of a deal, Dallis. It's just an address."
 I let go of him, a smile still on my face. "An address that you looked up just for me. Because you knew it would make me happy."
 "I'm a softy. So shoot me."
 I leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on his lips. "Thanks, Kiptyn. Really."
 He smiled before slinging an arm around my shoulder. We started to walk towards the hotel and I literally couldn't contain myself. For some reason, Kiptyn doing that small thing for me made me feel so much better. I was obviously still going to be nervous, because this was a big deal. But him doing that small thing for me made me feel so much better.
 I almost felt like everything was actually going to be okay.

 
 "Well don't you look hot," Lincoln said whenever I walked out of the bathroom a few hours later.
 "You don't think it's too much?" I asked, glancing down at the dress that I was wearing. It was a lot shorter than something I would usually wear; landing right above the middle of my thigh. I thought it was still classy though, since it was black and had skinny straps that lifted my boobs higher than any expensive bra could. It was pretty low cut, though, so I was pretty weary about showing so much cleavage.
 "I think you look super bangable. But not like a stripper, so it works." She nodded. "Plus strippers don't usually curl their hair or wear classy red lip stick."
 I frowned. "I don't wanna look like I'm trying to hard."
 "You were in the bathroom for almost two hours, Dallis," Lincoln deadpanned.
 "But does it look like I was in the bathroom for almost two hours?"
 Lincoln laughed. "You're ridiculous."
 I stuck my tongue out at her before walking over to my bag. I pulled out a pair of shoes and slipped them onto my feet. I noticed that Sadie's bag was still sitting on top of the dresser, so she was obviously busy elsewhere.
 I glanced back at Lincoln. "Where's Kiptyn?"
 "Right here, princess."
 Lincoln and I both turned towards the door, a laugh escaping my lips when I took in Kiptyn's appearance. He was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and an unbuttoned plaid shirt, revealing his extremely attractive torso. A bandana was tied around his head and a pair of aviators were perched on his face, causing me to laugh again.
 "How do I look?" He asked, grinning like the idiot that he was.
 "What are you wearing?" Lincoln practically screamed, jumping off of the bed. "You can't perform like this!"
 Kiptyn shrugged. "Jase is."
 "And if Jase jumped off a cliff, would you?"
 "If Jase lived, I probably would."
 Lincoln smacked his bare chest. "You are not wearing that."
 "Yes I am," He turned his attention to me, "Will I not make all the ladies swoon if I wear this?"
 I rolled my eyes. "You'll definitely turn heads."
 He grinned and pointed at me. "See, Dallis thinks I look hot."
 "Why," Lincoln asked, "Why are you doing this to me?"
 "It's the last show, Linc," Kiptyn cupped her face. "Live a little."
 She pushed his hands away and walked over towards the mirror. We both watched as she finished her mascara, not saying another word to Kiptyn. I looked over at him and smiled again at his appearance. He looked stupid, but it was really cute. He looked like a stereotypical rock band wannabe.
 "I'm not the only one that's going to be turning heads," He said, giving me a once over. I felt my cheeks beginning to heat up, espcially when he grabbed my hand and pulled me against him, placing his lips against mine.
 I placed one of my hands on his bare chest and smiled against his lips. For a second, I thought he was going to deepen the kiss, but he pulled back after a long second.
 "Come with me."
 I nodded my head and followed him out of the hotel room and down the hall to the room that he'd gotten for himself. His excuse was that he was tired of sharing with Jase and Lincoln told him that he wasn't allowed to room with us anymore.
 I watched him as he quickly unlocked the door and walked in, heading straight for the dresser. Since I'd seen him a few hours ago, he'd managed to collect two more brown paper bags. How? I wasn't really sure. But I was really starting to wonder if he was getting back into the old habits that he's confessed about to me.
 He pulled out a bottle of Fireball and I groaned. He glanced at me with a huge grin on his face, knowing that he'd finally gotten to me.
 "How did you know?" I asked, walking towards him and taking the fireball out of his hands.
 "Austin told me how it was your favorite."
 I rolled my eyes. "It knocks me on my ass."
 "So drink."
 I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm not trying to get shitfaced before the gig even starts."
 He glanced at the clock on the dresser. "We're leaving in ten minutes. Take a few sips just so you're feeling good."
 "This is peer pressure."
 He snatched the bottle out of my hands. "Don't drink it then. I'm not trying to make you do anything. I just know you're nervous about tomorrow and I wanted you to be able to loosen up."
 "In some weird, twisted way, that was really sweet of you."
 He smiled and I took the bottle out of his hands. I carefully unscrewed the top and brought the bottle to my lips. The taste was strong, just like it was the last time I'd split an entire bottle with just Sadie. It burned as it went down my throat, but I was absolutely fine with it.
 I knew that within a few more sips, I wouldn't care how bad it burned.