Misguided Ghosts // Alex Gaskarth

Chapter 6

The entire way back to the venue, Alex had a tight grip on Brooke’s hand in order to force her to keep up with him, especially when they neared the more occupied part of the city, where without guidance one could easily be separated from another. Every time she had tried to pull away from him, his grip on her would tighten. “Stop resisting me.” He mumbled, annoyance hinted in his voice.

“You’re like crushing my wrist though!” She shot back, glaring over in his direction. He avoided his gaze and kept his eyes set straight ahead, gritting his teeth a bit.

“Just shut up. I don’t want to be late.” He muttered. The harshness that made it’s grand appearance in his voice was enough to shut the small girl up. She lowered her head, slightly ashamed of her actions.

Alex quickly caught on when he glanced down at her, a small frown growing on his face. He let out a small sigh and squeezed her hand gently. He paused and spun around so that he was facing her, wrapping his arms around her tightly and kissing the top of her head. “I didn’t mean that.. I’m just worried about Matt’s reaction if we end up being late, you know? I’m sorry, B.”

Brooke sighed softly and bit her lip, raising her head so that she was looking him dead set in the eyes. “It’s alright, Lex. I understand where you’re coming from… And B? Where did that come from?” She chuckled under her breath. He smirked in response to that and shrugged a bit,

“There’s no good nickname that you could deprive from Brooke. I was gonna call you Rookie, but that makes no sense in or out of context, so I went with B.” He explained.

She nodded slightly and started walking with him again, this time he was by her side and walking at her pace. “Does this mean I’m gonna have to give you a decent nickname now? Because I honestly prefer to refer to you as dickface.” Alex started laughing as well and rolled his eyes.

“I actually like it, as weird as it sounds. It has a nice ring to it I guess.” He shrugged again.

“You’re weird as hell, I hope you know that.” She murmured, swinging their entwined hands as they continued on walking.

“You’re just as weird.”

“Yeah? And when have I ever been weird around you.”

“‘Around you.’ Exactly. That proves that you have been weird, just not around me. Therefore, you are weird.”

 

“You must’ve put a lot of thought into that, huh. I’m surprised your brain didn’t combust after that one.” She smirked.

“Why are you so mean to me?” Alex whined, jutting his bottom lip out towards her. “I’m nothing but a sweetheart to you. I mean, I just bought you breakfast and everything!” He continued, his voice rising with every syllable; when he had finished, it sounded like his voice raised at least an octave.

Brooke ignored his entire speech and rolled her eyes slightly, “You know, with vocal ranges like that, you could me the next Justin Bieber.”  She remarked. Alex’s eyebrows furrowed together as he glared down at her.

“Don’t hate on the Biebs!” He exclaimed, punching her in the arm playfully.

She rolled her eyes and rubbed the spot on her arms in which she was hit, it being her turn to pout slightly. “Jeez, I swear you get more defensive over him than you would space.” She teased softly.

“No, not really. I don’t think anyone or anything could top space.” He retorted. Brooke fell silent after that, as for once she didn’t have a sarcastic remark to throw back at him, which egged Alex on. “I left you speechless, eh?” He smirked, raising an eyebrow as they neared the venue.

“As if, you’re not capable of making any girl fall speechless.”

 

“You’re so rude.” Alex groaned, leading her around the back to where the buses were in order to avoid being mobbed by fans. They weren’t supposed to play mainstage until later, so they were in the clear for the most part; surely, Matt would’ve liked them back in time for the opening of the gate, but he would have to deal with their absence for a bit longer.

When they had reached the bus, Alex promptly let go of Brooke’s hands and glanced down at her, biting his lip gently. “I should probably gather up the guys and head back so we can set up for when we go on, and you should get your camera stuff together.. Whose shows are you shooting today?”

Brooke thought back to her schedule, which she had memorized word for word before the tour began. “Uhm.. Bring Me The Horizon, Tonight Alive and The Story So Far, I believe.” She murmured after a short while.

Alex nodded and wrapped her arms around her tightly, swaying with her as they were locked in each others embrace. Occasionally, he would lean down and kiss the top of her head, her cheek, and nose, but never once her lips. Deep down, she knew that she had wanted him to, but she pushed that thought out of her head. It was far too soon, seeing as they had just met. When the two pulled away from each other, they stared into each others eyes. When she noticed Alex leaning in towards her again, a cough behind them startled them and caused them to jump away from each other.

Brooke turned around quickly and immediately identified the mystery person as Vic, a wide smirk on his face. “I knew I would find you here.. Am I interrupting something?” He raised an eyebrow.

Brooke shook her head quickly and rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. “Uh, no.. Nothing at all.” She murmured; and even though all three of them knew that she was lying, Vic didn’t dare to continue the conversation, instead, he proceeded to tell her that Bring Me The Horizon was about to go on, and she needed to hurry before they wouldn’t let her in front of the barricade.

“Shit!” Brooke exclaimed, running a hand through her hair.

Alex chuckled and leant in, kissing her quickly, ignoring the fact that Vic was still there and watching them. “I’ll see you later, go get ‘em tiger.” He smirked, pushing her off just as she had began to run off towards Pierce The Veil’s tour bus so she could get her equipment, with a blush painted on her face. As she retreated, Brooke could literally feel Vic’s gaze dancing with amusement as it metophorically, burned holes into her shirt, the wide smirk on his face returning.

Alex was going to have to pay for that later, big time.