Chapter Seven

A crushing weight landed on me waking me out of my amazing dream. Christofer Drew and I were going to get tattoos together, and he was about to announce his undying love for me, when my brother decided it would be fun to land on top of me.

'Alex!' I moaned, trying to wriggle out from underneath him as he lay casually on top of me. 'Go away! Let me sleep, I'm too tired.' I mumbled, finally getting out from under him, and shoving him over a bit on the bed so I could stay snuggled under my covers.

'As much as I would love to, dear sister, we have a tour to go on.' He said, sitting up and patting my head. 'C'mon, I'll come in again in ten minutes to make sure you're up. We need to leave soon.' He kissed my forehead and walked out my room shutting the door gently. My brother could be sweet when he wanted to be. I rolled over in my bed, rubbing my eyes and checking my phone. I groaned when I saw the time.4.00 am, way too early.

I forced myself to get out of my comfy nest, and get dressed. I had laid my outfit out the night before, thank god. If I hadn't, I probably would have cried about the amount of energy I would have to use. A few fumbling minutes later, my clothes were on. There was no point even wearing make-up today. I was just going to get on the bus and sleep anyway. I pulled my hair up into a messy ponytail with my fringe down, and voila I was ready. I just had to wash my face and brush my teeth. I'd showered the night before, knowing that it would be almost unbearable to shower so early.

I heard a quiet knocking on the door before I heard Alex calling gently.

'You up, Ruby?' he said, and I called back just as quietly. I didn't know why we were talking this quietly; we were the only ones in the house, excluding Lisa who had stayed the night to see Alex off in the morning.

'Yeah.' I said, before going into my bathroom to wash my face and do my teeth. I grabbed my suitcase and headed out my door, looking back at my room. It would be the last time I saw it for the next month. I would miss my beautiful double bed, and my wardrobe. And my balcony. And everything else.

I shut the door tight behind me, and lugged my suitcase downstairs. Lisa was waiting at the front door her jacket wrapped around her tightly. She looked sad, massive bags framed her eyes and a permanent grimace tugged on her lips. It must be hard for her, having a relationship with someone that was barely home, was constantly surrounded by girls that threw themselves at him, and living a lifestyle that basically consisted of him being drunk 24/7. You would worry yourself sick if your boyfriend lived a life like that, constantly on edge, not knowing what to think. It would be hard.

She gave me a little smile as I reached the bottom of the stairs and plonked my suitcase down beside Alex's. They were almost the same size; mine only a little bit bigger. Gaskarth's don't travel light.

'Morning.' I said tiredly, sitting down on the stairs with my head in my hands. I seriously wasn't cut out for all these early mornings. I needed my rest.

'Morning.' She replied, smiling at my current state. Alex came out of the kitchen, clutching three Pop-Tarts and handed one to Lisa andI.I ripped mine open and dug into it, relishing the strawberry flavour.

'C'mon, time to go.' Alex said, ushering us out of the door and locking it behind us. The cold night air made me shiver as I waited for Alex to unlock the car. He was taking his sweet time, walking with his arm draped around Lisa. I decided to let it go, seen as they didn't have much time left together. It was kinda cute. The doors were unlocked, the bags stuffed into the boot, the heating on full blast, and we were on our way to Jack's. Lisa had called shotgun, so I was sprawled out in the back, hoping to sleep during the half hour drive to the tour bus. Jacks car had broken down, so really Alex had been his chauffer for the past few weeks.

We pulled up outside the Barakat residence, and saw a tall figure standing outside shivering. Guess he didn't want to wake his mom and dad up. Jack put his bag in the boot before getting into the back seat shivering. He moved my legs immediately, and I pouted at him. He just rolled his eyes at me and latched himself onto my side cuddling into me.

'Jack, get off! I'm trying to sleep.' I moaned, quietly happy about the whole arrangement. 'Jesus, you're freezing!' I said, flinching when his freezing fingers touched my arm.

'No,' he muttered, cuddling closer into me. I rolled my eyes at him and rearranged myself so that I was cuddling into his chest, and I could maybe, just maybe get to sleep.

'Aw,' Lisa said looking back at us cuddled up together. 'You look so cute!' she said clutching her hands together excitedly. I blushed furiously, avoiding her adoring stare.

Alex looked at us in the wing-mirror and grumbled to himself.

'No funny business, Barakat.' He said gruffly, re-adjusting himself in his seat and shooting an evil glare at Jack. I blushed even more, if that was possible.

'Shut up, Alex. We're cuddling, friends can do that you know?' I said, before cuddling into Jacks chest more. He tightened his grip on me and rested his head on mine. I had to say, I felt safe and protected like this. I knew Jack couldn't fight or defend for shit, but it was just comforting, it gave me the feeling that I was loved. Friends did this, right? Jack wouldn't be doing this if friends didn't do this, because god knows, he didn't have feelings for me. The thought hurt me a little, but I let it go and fell asleep on Jack's chest.

'Ruby, wake up. We're at the bus,' Jack said softly, shaking me a little. I could hear his heartbeat throbbing through the thin material of his hoodie.

I muttered something incoherent and sat up rubbing my eyes to try and make myself a little more alert. I seriously needed coffee, or something with caffeine in it.

'You look adorable when you've just woke up.' Jack said quietly, before biting his lip as if he hadn't meant to say anything. I went tomato red and blew it off, scrambling quickly out of the car. Alex was struggling to get the suitcases out of the boot. Honestly, he was the weakest fucker around. I lifted mine out effortlessly, and walked over to where the rest of the band and crew were standing.

'Ruby!' I heard Vinny yell, spreading his arms open. I ran at him and gave him a massive hug.

'I haven't seen you in an age!' I said excitedly, beaming up at him. I was the smallest on the tour. Forever 5"2.

'I know, little lady! It's been too long.' He said pulling me into another bone-crushing hug. I was passed round each member of All Time Low's crew, until I reached Rian.

'Ah, what the heck I haven't seen you in two days.' I said wrapping my arms round him and giving him a bear hug. He spun me round and I squealed. I forgot how much I loved these people. When I saw Rian's girlfriend, Kara, I launched myself at her. Now, I hadn't seen her in ages.

'Hey, baby-girl! Where've you been at?' she yelled, giving me a massive hug. I thought my ribs were going to break, from the amount of hugs I had received in the past ten minutes.

'Home! I've missed you dearie! I haven't seen you in an age!' I squealed, taking in her appearance. She was looking gorgeous, even at four in the morning.

We talked for the next five minutes before Matt called out to everyone that the bus would be leaving in ten minutes. I decided to give Rian Kara back, and put my bag away.

You could tell who was in a relationship and who was single. All the singletons were standing awkwardly at the side of the bus, watching the loving couples say their goodbyes to each other. It was kind of heartbreaking to watch. Lisa was crying, and Alex was wiping her tears, mumbling softly to her. Would that be what it would be like if I ever in a million years date Jack? Would it be that hard to watch him go? Of course it would be. Couples aren't supposed to be separated for a long period of time.

Finally we all went onto the bus, waving furiously at the ones left behind as the bus sped away. Alex looked so down, so I went over to him and gave him a big massive hug. I hadn't hugged him in a while, it felt nice. He kissed my hair and walked over to the bathroom. I swear to God I saw him wipe a tear away, but maybe it was just me imagining things. I went to the bunk area, wanting to see where I would be sleeping for the next month. Matt or someone had stuck a piece of paper with everyone's names on the bunks.

I was right up the back of the bunk area, across from Jack, below Alex and sharing the same bunk wall as Danny. I was happy about where I was, these dudes were cool, and Alex was above me if I ever needed anything.

I face-planted my bed straight away, lying on the bare mattress and thinking about how I could get away with just going to sleep right now when Evan called on me.

'Hey Ruby, your duvet's through here come get it before Jeff falls asleep on it.' He called through the bus, and I groaned, dragging my feet as I walked through to the front lounge. Everyone was moving around now trying to get their bunks sorted so they could get to sleep as quickly as possible. Sure enough, when I went through, Jeff was lying across one of the sofas with three duvets over him. I grabbed the one with the label 'Ruby' on it and took it back to my bunk with the two pillows I had sat on the small table.

Now for putting the sheets on, I thought miserably as I sat everything down on my bed. By now, Alex, Danny, Jack and Zack, who was on the bunk above Jack were all on their bunks, trying to get their shit ready.

'Hey roomies.' I said flashing them a quick smile, before heading into the back lounge where all the suitcases had been shoved in. I collected my sheets from my suitcase along with my pyjamas, toiletry bag and book I had been reading, just in-case.

I made my bed up quickly, snickering as the boys took ages trying to put the duvet in and match up the corners. I ended up having put Alex's on for him. He was useless at household things; I swear I didn't know how he was going to cope when he lived himself. I pinned up a few pictures of my friends and I, mostly me and Lola, my Glamour Kills poster, and finally a photo of me with all the band and crew.

It was taken last year when I was still a junior. It was a cute picture. I was on Alex's back, Jack on Zack's and everyone crowded around us, making funny faces. I remember that day. It had been a great one; I forgot how much fun it was hanging about with the whole gang. It had been a while since we'd done that. I'd been busy for the past year with graduation, and the boys had been on tour almost non-stop. It would be nice to actually catch up with them, and relax for a month.

'MEETING IN THE FRONT LOUNGE, MOVE YOUR ASSES.' I heard Flyzik yell and the boys immediately dropped their stuff and ran to the front lounge, calling dibs on seats. I slowly walked in knowing it would be hopeless to even attempt to get a seat. When I walked in, every seat was taken, the boys jammed in against each other, muttering about someone having more room than them. I snapped a picture of them all; limbs tangled, and took a seat on the make-shift table. Matt was standing in the middle of the lounge and it took me a minute to realise the bus had stopped. Shows how awake I was.

'Okay, I need to lay down a few rules before we get out at services.' Matt said, eyeing every single one of the boys. I snickered quietly, and Jack stuck his tongue out at me childishly.

'First things first, no-one is to bring ANYONE back to the bus who isn't in one of the bands on Warped, who lives on the bus, or is part of the Warped festival.' Everyone nodded, and Matt continued.

'No one uses the toilet on the tour bus, 'cause we all know what happens when the toilet gets blocked.' Everyone snickered and Matt raised an eyebrow. 'Everyone's to be back at the bus by 12a.m sharp, and if you're not, we're leaving your ass behind. And finally, please, please, please try and keep the bus tidy?' he begged. Everyone nodded numbly, before Matt dismissed us all.

'Be back here by 5.30 it's a straight trip to Warped from here on, 6 hour journey.' Everyone scampered off of the bus quickly in the direction of the services, and half an hour later everyone was back. I had stocked up on pop tarts and twinkies for the long trip to Warped, I knew I was probably gonna sleep the whole way, but I didn't know when I would be at services next.

Everyone was half sleeping, as we stumbled around the bus. I got changed into my pyjamas quickly and snuggled down into my bunk. Matt had told us the heating was broken, so it would be chilly at night. Well, it was sure living up to his expectations.

I left my curtain open a little bit and watched everyone walk past, finally half an hour later, everyone began to settle down, just as dawn was about to break.

'Night guys,' I mumbled to the people around me, and it was repeated throughout the bus. I pulled my curtain shut, and fell asleep, looking forward to my first official day of Warped.

Hey der guys! I swear to god you all hate me and don't want to comment :C but anyway, i was kind to you and gave you a short update! i think this is my shortest chapter i've written so far, but don't hate me! i just wanted to give you a little something to keep you going for the next few days. i promise the next chapter will be longer, and it'll probably include some new bands! ^.^ i hope you liked it anyway, there wasn't much Ruby - Jack in this one, there wasn't much anything really, but meh. it's a chapter! until next time my minions.