A Notch in Her Heart (A Pierce the Veil Fanfiction)

XIV

Jayne's POV

Six weeks into this tour, we were down in Texas. With two weeks left, we've been had everything down pack with our routine and everything ran smoothly from interviews to signings to shows to cleaning up and hitting the road. Ashlynne says having us on tour really helps to keep the guys' lives together.

Ashlynne actually has a beautiful family. Her husband was a stay-at-home dad and their son was a gorgeous baby three-year-old. I remember her taking out pictures and showing us their puppy and their house. She tears up at the very mention of baby Bradley's name. They were all pretty close knit.

A knock on the door of the bus turned my attention to the door as I passed Mike a spatula to keep cooking the bacon. It was Ashlynne.

"Hey, Ash. What's up?"

"Hey, Jayne! The guys are already up?" She was referring to Mike who was cooking in his underwear and I motioned for him to go put some pants off. He shook his head like that was a far fetched idea.

"Oh, no. As many times as I've had to come get these boys up, I've already seen the underwear and the nip slips." She laughed heartily and I laughed along while Mike finished breakfast.

"Well to answer your question then, no. The guys aren't up. Mike and I just wanted to have breakfast this morning. Care to join us?" I stepped aside and she entered the bus. We took seats at the booth that served as our kitchen table and Mike brought out the food before sliding in next to me.

"So what's up Ash?" Mike became just as curious as me while plopping a pancake onto his plate.

"I'm thinking about changing my job. I miss my family too much when I'm on the road and Rod's actually already been applying around. Maybe I'll be a stay-at-home mom. What do you guys think?" Mike was quiet for a while. I could see he was definitely going to miss Ashlynne and I was too. He spoke first.

"I get it. This is your choice Ash and as much as it sucks to see you go, there are no hard feelings. I miss my family too but yours needs you a little more than mines needs me. Are you gonna tell the others?"

"I plan to. But that's not all. This is kind of like my two weeks notice so after this tour, Im done. I'll still always be in San Diego so I'll be here to help and all. But I also didn't want to leave you guys without a manager. Are one of you capable of managing the band?" Ashlynne directed her question toward me and when I opened my mouth, Mike immediately cut me off.

"No." I turned to him, offended.

"Yes! We can too!

"No! Look, you guys were great and all on this tour - and probably will be on future tours - but it's not a good idea. I'm sorry but we cannot mix our work with our personal lives unless it actually makes sense, and this doesn't." I narrowed my eyes and shook my head while I turned away.

"Jayne look, there are reasons why this can't happen. We'll start with you. If we get in a fight, you'll probably stop managing the band all together. If Valerie gets pissed, Valerie will fuck up all our lives on purpose. Belle has too many emotions and problems to do this and Anne just doesn't have the people skills. Just no."

"Hmm. Perhaps you're right. Mike, do you remember my sister, Cyndi?" Ashlynne took the conversation over and I ate my bacon.

"The one with the weird spelling? Yeah, she was so chill!"

"I'm going to see if she can manage you guys. I'll show her the ropes and everything. Would that be okay?"

"Sure!"

"That's good. Thanks for understanding, I'm going to tell the rest of the guys." With that, she disappeared into the bunk area and I was left to eat with Mike.

"I hope I didn't hurt your feelings, Jayne." I sighed. He had offended me a little but he hadn't said anything that wasn't true. I reached over and kissed his cheek.

"It's fine. Everything you said was true anyways so there's no reason to apologize." He looked over at me and smiled. I don't know what I would do without my boy with the lip piercings.

Mike's POV

"Could you go get Jayne?"

"Sure." I got up from my spot in the grass and ran onto the bus. I heard a conversation coming from Jayne's bunk and realized she was on the phone. I listened for a while, not wanting to interrupt her.

"Yeah, we're still on tour... How when you live in South Dakota?... Alright fine... Okay, will I see you?... Haha, alright then... Bye, Connor!" The curtain to her bunk opened and her face fell when she saw me. I hadn't noticed how grim my expression was but she had.

"Mike, are you okay? You don't look very happy. What're you doing just standing here?"

"Nothing. You sister wants you." She looked uneasy.

"Okay. I love you."

"Yeah, I love you too." I climbed into my own bunk as Jayne walked off the bus and my thoughts ran wild.

Connor is falling I love with Jayne.

Jayne is falling in love with Connor, she no longer wants you.

You can't compete with Mr. Blonde Hair. She's gonna-!

"Bro, what're you doing here? Woah, are you okay?" Quickly, I sat up and a worried Vic examined me. Are you sweating? Why are you breathing like that? I shook my head and cleared my suddenly dry throat.

"Yeah, Im fine. I'll be out in a second." He eyed me with a look of skepticism and concern before slowly walking back out the bus. I ran into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and sighed. Putting on my best smile for my friends, I left the bbathroom, closed the door, and left the bus.

<><><>

The night's show was quickly approaching and with everyone bustling to set up, we were pretty busy. Jayne still found the time to pull me aside, and did so shamelessly.

"Jayne, Im trying to set up my drums. What do you need?" I didn't even try to hide the irritation in my voice and she didn't try to hide the desperation in her eyes.

"Mike, what did I do? Please tell me, you've been acting like this all day."

"I'm just tired. I'll be fine." It was a lie and I knew she wouldn't buy it. She was too smart for that.

"So you're only tired around me then? Because you get along with everyone else just fine. Whatever it is, hiding it will only wreck our relationship but if that's what you want, go ahead and do that. Finish setting up your drums and I'll stay away from you tonight." She turned and walked away from me but I couldn't have cared less in that moment.

That's what I told myself. I told myself that it didn't matter that she felt that way because I felt the way I did and that was more important to me at the time.

Everyone always says giving is a good thing to do but why is being selfish so much easier?

<><><>

After the show, most of us went to bed. Jayne kept her promise to stay away from me and the only two up were Belle and Jaime. They seemed to be getting along exceptionally well and that was a surprise of sorts. Belle was on his lap messing with his hair while he fiercely tried to swat her hands away. It was cute.

The reason I was last on the bus is because I stayed back at the venue. I had a few drinks with Sleeping with Sirens and met a few fans. One girl asked me to sign her arm and I laughed but did it full heartedly. When the bus came into my line of sight, I suddenly became sad, remembering the girl in it and taking back all my earlier thoghts. I cared a lot.

"Hey Mike." The couple in the kitchen area spoke in unison and I plastered on a side smile and waved. I quickly took off my clothes and climbed into my bunk, staring at the ceiling in the dark.

I was certainly tired at this time, but I just couldn't sleep. The bus was in motion and I heard the sounds of the night outside through the bus walls. Above me, I heard light chatter coming from Jaime's bunk and I smiled. I was glad that he had what he had with Belle. It reminded me of Jayne and I. I love Jayne and I wouldn't change that for the world but for now... it was going to have to be complicated.