Without The Bitter (A Mayday Parade Fanfic)

Chapter 3

I woke in a panic to find Jakes side of the bunk, as well as the rest of the beds empty. The bus was still moving, and I rolled over to quickly check my alarm clock. 1:30? What the fuck?! I think, and I roll off the bed, my feet hitting the floor with a loud thud. “

“Sounds like Brooks is up,” I hear Derek laugh from the other room.

“Shut up,” I grumble, still half asleep.

There’s a chorus of laughter from the other room, and I angrily and awkwardly stumble into a pair of pants, tripping over my feet.

“I’ll go check on him. Sounds like he’s too tired to even make it out the door,” Jake laughs, and suddenly the door opened, and Jake is standing in front of me.

He looks down and laughs, and I realize I’m standing in front of him shirtless, with my pants only about halfway up my legs. He shuts the door behind him, and walks over, wrapping his arms around my waist, and pulling me in for a kiss. I drop my hands from struggling with my jeans, and kiss him back. He pulls away from me, and looks at me.

“Need help?” He asks, trying not to laugh.

“Nah, I got it,” I say groggily and I trip again, my feet not working.

“You know,” Jake says seductively, “I’d much rather prefer you not in anything at all.” I smile back.

“I would rather have you present yourself naked to me as well, but not right now. I have something extra special planned for when we get back. Can you handle waiting?” I ask.

“No,” He pouts.

“Sorry then,” I say, pulling my pants up finally. I walk over to him and give him a kiss.

“You’re so mean,” He says, but kisses me back anyway.

“But you love me,” I whisper, and I walk away, going into the bathroom to fix my mess of hair.

“Yes, I do,” He sighs, knowing I’ve won. We walk out one after the other, and someone manages to push me a cup of coffee across the table. I drink it quickly, only to get up to get another.

“Man, you’re really tired,” Derek states.

“Yeah, I don’t know why,” I say back.

“Maybe you’re getting sick or something,” Cabby suggests from the other side of the room.

“Yeah, probably,” I agree.

“Theres been that really scary bug going around, you should just be careful,” Jake speaks up.

“I’ll be careful guys, promise,” I say as I chug another cup of coffee.

I sit down on the couch, and I pick up my guitar from the stand next to me. I begin to strum and pick some new chords and notes, while everyone wanders around me, playing video games, or watching someone play video games. I get lost in the sounds around me, and eventually I put my guitar down and drift off to sleep. I really hope I’m not getting that virus, I think to myself. I’ve heard about a lot of people dying from it. I shudder and try not to think about it, and my dreams are filled with Jake. When I wake up several hours later, I can feel my red face and smile still lingering on my cheeks. The bus was still moving, but by the food bags on the table, I could tell we had stopped for dinner. The lights were low, and morning driver was sleeping on the couch opposite of me.

“Hey, Brooks, food on the table is yours, everyone else is asleep,” Dave, the driver who took night shifts, says.

“Alright, thanks Dave. What time is is?” I asked.

“About ten at night,” He says, laughing.

“Holy shit!” I say. I recall passing out around three in the afternoon.

“Yeah. They didn’t want to wake you, but they all went to bed,” Dave informed me.

“Thanks man,” I say.

I finish about half my food, not too hungry and not feeling too well, and I go into the back room. I had just shut the door behind me before I collapsed into an unconscious heap on the floor.