Moving On [SwaggerSouls]

/Chapter Twenty/ Welcome to PAX Australia, Baby!

"Alright boys, we've just entered the South Warf; it's just a matter of time now!"

Ryan's voice boomed over ours, snapping us from our current conversations. We all cheered as I turned to Alyssa who was cuddled into my side, "You ready for the day to begin, baby? It's probably gonna be really overwhelming for you, I mean hell, it still is for me, but just remember, you can let me know if your nerves get too bad at any time and I'll have someone take you back to the hotel room straight away."

She squeezed my forearm and smiled up at me, "I'll be fine Eric. No need to worry about me. If I were you, I'd be more so worried about myself and making it out of the convention center alive."

"All in a day's work, Lyss. I'll live, just so long as nobody tries to take off my helmet, all will be well." I turned to Ryan, "Hey, we're almost there. I think it's about time for our annual tradition."

Like always, almost the entire squad was packed into a large limousine as we made our way to the convention center located here in Melbourne. Yeah, this whole ordeal was a little excessive since we were just driving to another part of our own city, but we were just a group of successful idiots with money, were we supposed to know any better?

"Shit. You're right, I almost forgot." We watched as Ryan pulled a couple bottles of Black Label out of one of the side panels of the vehicle along with a few shot glasses and began to start pouring some, "So, asides from the obvious fun we have every year attending PAX, there's also some struggles and frustration that come with that," He explained to Alyssa, "Which is why ever since the first convention we all attended together as influencers, it's been tradition to take a shot just before we arrive there. You know, to take the edge off a little bit before we start the... fun!"

Alyssa giggled, "So you guys don't really like meeting your fans, huh?"

We started passing the shot glasses around the limo, "No, of course, we do." I immediately protested, "It just can be pretty overwhelming and overall frustrating at certain points. All in all, it's a fun time but you have to keep in mind that all different people come from different parts of the world just to be there or even just to meet us. They're complete strangers with completely different personalities and customs, therefore you never really know what to expect from them. Sometimes it's a pleasant surprise, other times you don't get so lucky."

"Eric, on the other hand though doesn't like getting recognized outside of these events for that reason, which is understandable and why the fans don't know what he really looks like." Cam piped up from the other side of us.

I held my shot out for Alyssa to take it while I leaned down to grab something off of the floor. I flipped it over before placing it on my head, "...Which is why I have this little number," I knocked on my notorious helmet as I turned towards her, the same one she'd seen me wearing in the video we'd shown her when I brought her home with me.

"Wow. Not gonna lie, before this, I was a little worried about some girls trying to steal my man," She gave my helmet a knock for the hell of it as she went on, "But now I realize that I have absolutely nothing to worry about. Thanks, Eric, you're the best!"

The entire limousine went up in laughter while I just smirked and leaned into her ear, "You'd be surprised, sweetheart."

She just looked on me with a grin on her face before it slowly faded at the realization that I wasn't joking.

"We're just a minute away, cheers everybody!" Ryan held out his shot to the middle of the limousine as we all did the same, "Survive today and we'll party the night away."

I smiled in response to his line, "survive today and we'll party the night away" was a saying we basically lived by during events we attended like PAX. We normally dropped by some kind of bar or went clubbing after the day's events to celebrate our fame and let loose after a long day of greeting a bunch of mostly sweet strangers, which as I said, is great, just extremely trying as time goes on.

Bringing the shot back to me, I went to go drink it before surprising myself with the clink! of it hitting my helmet. I jumped back in surprise as Alyssa just laughed and shook her head at me, "I don't care what you have to say Tin-Man, I have absolutely nothing to worry about."

---Alyssa's POV---

I stood with my arms crossed watching Eric and his friends greet some fans from a distance with a frown plastered onto my face.

"Does this always happen?"

Anna or Catypo as she also introduced herself to me as when I'd first gotten into the limousine earlier, stood next to me with her eyes trained on Jay and sighed, "Unfortunately. Although I believe this is the first time one of them has actually signed some girl's tits."

The group of fans that surrounded the boys mostly consisted of girls, asides from a few other guys who I could only presume to be their boyfriends. One of the girls was holding her shirt up as Eric autographed his name on her with a sharpie. He finished and they all started to cheer as she all but jumped into his arms as a thank you.

Anna tapped me on the shoulder as I felt my whole body heat up in response to this sight, "Hey, whenever I'm watching these guys work their magic or whatever and feel myself get a little jealous, I just try and remember what they're feeling. While it's probably little fun I guess, Eric's probably burning up with embarrassment right now."

"Why would he?" I questioned, a hint of frustration in my tone.

"Because her boyfriend looked like he wanted nothing more than to rip my throat out while he just stood next to her while I did it." I didn't notice Eric return to my side with the rest of the guys in my haze, "It was fun and all, but it's definitely one of the more awkward things I've ever been asked to do."

I smiled at him as Jay hauled Anna into his arms beside us, holding her close for a few moments while whispering something only for her to hear as she just giggled in response.

Unfortunately for Eric and I, we agreed to keep things strictly platonic for the time being during the event since our "relationship" was just beginning and we didn't want to the public to be in on it so soon. Hell, people were probably already taking pictures and gaining their suspicions from just the sight of the two of us communicating with one another already.

He likely realized what I was thinking about since he then went: "I wish I could touch you, Lyss." through his helmet. Because of this, I couldn't read his expression but it was probably something along the lines of a sympathetic smile.

"Me too. You're about done for the day though, right?" I looked up at him with a hopeful expression on my face.

"Yeah. Hey, I have an idea." He looked over to Jay and Anna who were still holding each other and called out to them. They both walked over and looked at the both of us in question, "I have an idea: how about Alyssa and Anna head up to the hotel room now and get ready for the night ahead of us?"

Eric addressed the two of us specifically as he said the next part, "You're gonna have to ask Ryan about what exactly we're doing, but do me a favor and text me whatever it is when you find out. We're just gonna finish up here and I'll be there as soon as I can. Plus, the two of you are women so you probably need all the time you can get to get ready."

"Sounds like a plan," Anna said enthusiastically from beside me, "That alright with you?"

"Anything to get away from the chaos already. You all weren't kidding," I responded, tiredly.

Eric and Jay just laughed, "Welcome to our world, Lyss. Now go get ready, we'll head up there as soon as we can."

——————END OF CHAPTER TWENTY—————

Wow, I'm honestly blown away that you guys were able to reach the vote count within the time frame. It really means a lot, and I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Honestly, even if you guys didn't reach the quota, I probably would've just uploaded it regardless (; Thanks a million for your continuous support. More coming soon, love you guys.