Kristen had a huge smile on her face as she stared out the window of the bus.
"Jacksonville, next right"
It was 5AM and she hadn't slept yet. She was too excited.
Tonight, they were performing in her hometown. The place where she'd grown up. It was surreal to even think about.
Austin smiled sleepily up at her. "You need to sleep."
"I can't."
She was sitting up on her knees looking out the window, while he lay on the couch next to her.
He'd been asleep, but was waking up every now and then. He couldn't stay asleep while she was still awake.
"Try." He said while pulling on her waist to see if she'd lie down.
"I'm too excited. This is the only place I've ever known, Austin." She beamed at him.
"I know. I'm excited for you. It's going to be epic."
She laughed as she finally lay down against him. "Maybe I'll have time to show you around today."
"I hope so." He hugged her close. "That'd be fun."
He yawned, and she didn't say anything else as he slowly drifted back to sleep.
...
When he woke up some hours later, Kristen was reading patiently while she waited for him.
She smiled at him. "We've got a few hours to kill and we're already downtown, you ready to go check it out?"
"Are we getting food?"
"Yep."
"Then hell yeah!" He laughed at himself as he stretched.
It took him a few minutes to get ready, and then they were off.
She grinned, knowing immediately where they were.
He held her hand as she led him down a long cobblestone street.
"What the hell is this?" He laughed.
"Hidden awesomeness." She replied.
"How'd you find it?"
"A friend of mine showed it to me once."
Austin looked around at the olden style shops and restaurants that they passed.
The place was extremely cool.
They reached the middle of the street, and stepped down a small staircase.
Austin looked around in amazement at the large fountain in the center of the place.
"Wow." He whispered.
"I know." She smiled back.
There was another staircase, and they walked up it.
"Almost there." She told him as she carefully looked at the signs on the buildings.
"There!" She shouted out, pointing at one in the middle.
Austin smiled at her as she led him into a decently sized pizza place.
They were seated in a corner, and went ahead and ordered a cheese pizza.
"It's going to be amazing, I promise." She grinned at him excitedly.
"I believe you." He smiled back. "Hey, can we change the channel on this thing?" He motioned to the small tv that was against the wall.
"Yeah, I think so." She pressed a button on the side and the channel changed to cartoons.
"That works." He laughed.
Austin looked around, taking in the scene.
It looked pretty old school, but he thought it was cool. And she clearly was fond of it, which made it better.
He looked at her, and saw her eyes flicker away at something behind him.
Confused, he turned to see what she was looking at and saw 2 girls slowly walking up to them.
One of them appeared to be in complete shock, and the other was excited, but seemed calm enough to speak.
"Austin?"
"Hey." He smiled at them cheerfully.
"We really hope we're not interrupting you guys,"
"Nah, it's fine." Kristen spoke up.
The girl smiled at her politely. "Can we please have a picture?"
"Of course, I'd want to take a picture with her too." Austin joked, trying to make it less awkward for Kristen.
The girls' cheeks turned red as they smiled wearily, they felt bad about not caring about her, but didn't want to say so.
Kristen rolled her eyes at him. "Austin, stop. Do you guys have a camera? I'll take the picture."
She nodded sheepishly and handed Kristen her phone as Austin stood up to pose with them.
Kristen took the picture, and smiled again as she handed them back their camera.
"Thank you." The girl said.
"You coming to the show tonight?" Austin asked.
"Yes!"
"Promise me you'll buy a New Revolution shirt." Austin said.
Kristen scoffed at him jokingly. He gave Kristen a knowing look.
"Okay." The girl smiled.
"Right on. We'll see you later." Austin told them as they walked away.
When they were gone, he turned back to Kristen. "You're not bothered by that stuff, are you?"
"No. You're Austin Carlile."
He frowned slightly. "What does that mean?"
"It means you're perfect."
His cheeks warmed as the waitress set down their pizza.
"Wow, this does look good." Austin said as he put a couple pieces on his plate.
"Told you so."
He gave her a wide smile as they started eating.
...
They left the place about an hour later, and were greeted by a relatively large crowd as they stepped outside.
Girly shrieks filled the air and Kristen tightened her grip on Austin's hand in shock.
He squeezed back and smiled.
The people began coming up to them, and both of them were surprised to see that most of them wanted to meet Kristen.
They told her how awesome it was that she was from here and how good the band was.
Austin stood quietly to the side, giving her an approving and excited grin whenever she looked to him in surprise.
They met every person until there were only two left.
"Would you mind if I asked you guys a few questions? Really, it won't take long at all."
"Of course." Austin agreed, wrapping an arm around Kristen's shoulder.
"What are you asking us about?" Kristen asked.
"You two. We feel like no one ever gets the actual story, and we as well as many of your fans want the true one for you guys."
"Shoot." Austin said.
They started filming, and it began.
"You guys have known each other for twelve years, did you ever date before this?"
"No, but lord knows I wanted to." Kristen blurted out.
Austin chuckled. "I was an idiot back then. I don't know how I never realized I liked her."
"We've been hearing a lot of stories about you guys not getting along on this tour. Were you fighting, and why?"
"Because she loves me and I was too stupid to see it." Austin said firmly. "I made the mistake of bringing someone who I knew I didn't really care about on this tour. Looking back, that was a bad idea from the beginning. I had the girl I truly loved right by my side for years, and then we moved away for a little while. She has been with me now since December. We've only been dating for about a month, but that's my fault. We should be in year 12, not month 2."
"Wow." The guy exclaimed quietly.
"And we weren't always fighting. The first day, I couldn't take it because I was in shock. For a while though, I was able to control everything and was still unhappy, but I was able to try and ignore it. We got along just like old times until we kissed for the first time. He had a girlfriend and I felt used."
"It breaks my heart that she hurt so badly over that. It really does. I love her more than anything. And it was all my fault." Austin added sadly.
She hugged him close. "And we had a small issue last week, but I honestly don't think anything is going to break us up. I waited too long to be this happy. I won't let anything take it from me."
They smiled at them.
"What about Abby? Did you just say, 'oh, fuck you. I want my best friend.'?"
Austin let out a small laugh. "Actually, all I said was that I wanted to break up, and she called me a cheater and then ran off the bus. Haven't heard from her. Don't care, honestly."
"Were you cheating?"
"Of course not. I'd never-" Austin paused, grimly remembering waking up next to a stranger last week.
He looked down at Kristen and gave her a kiss. When he pulled away, he gave her a small smile, and turned back to the interviewer.
"Anything you want to say to the fans or anything?"
"To the fans, I love you all so much. If you're happy that I've got the most perfect girlfriend ever, that's great and you're awesome. If you're pissed, keep it to yourself, please? To the girls that just want to sleep with me, no deal. Don't even try it." He winked into the camera and stuck his tongue out.
After a few seconds, they put the camera down and shook their hands.
"Thanks, it'll be up later."
"No problem, tweet us, let us know!" Austin said cheerfully before they walked off.
Turning back to Kristen, he gave her another kiss.
"We need to hurry up and get back to the place before we're late."
"Metro Park, woo!" She cheered.
She took his hand and started to lead him down the street.
...
Kristen was literally shaking with all the energy she was pulling from the crowd.
The sun was still out, and the crowd was already wild as hell.
They were the first crowd that all of The New Revolution members could really tell that these people liked them.
No.
They loved them. And it was fantastic.
Kristen stood happily in the center of the stage as she stared out at all the people that were gathered around.
"I fucking love you guys." Her eyes watered happily as they screamed back.
"I grew up here. I have so many memories in this fucked up town. Honestly? I hated it. It was fucking terrible, and the people are usually assholes. But not you guys." She took a breath. "You guys are the people I love. You're the badasses who were my kind. I wish you were here when I was growing up."
They responded to her, and she smiled.
"I could go on for hours about how much I hated this place, but now, standing on this stage; I love it. There isn't a place in the fucking world that I would rather be right now. Thank you all so much for supporting all of us, it means everything to us. Anyway, for the most part, we've had a pretty solid setlist all tour. This is our last song, but just for you guys… here's a different one!"
"I hate this town, it's so washed up. And all my friend's don't give a fuck. They'll tell me that it's just bad luck. When will I find where I fit it?"
The crowd freaked out over the A Day to Remember song, and Kristen used the energy to rock out her hardest.
"I can't live my life always backing down. I've got to do this right, then they can't make a sound. 'Cause I'm not here for nothing. At least I can say I stand for something!"
She looked over at Austin, who was watching happily from the side of the stage.
"You and me, we stand for something."
The chorus ran over one more time, and she jumped down and stood on the barricade.
"And don't believe a word they're telling to you. Don't believe a word they're telling to you. They let me down. When will I find where I fit in? I hate this town."
She screamed her heart out while she stood right against the crowd.
She stayed there, taking in the scene and hoping to god someone took pictures. She wanted to remember this for the rest of her life.
She stayed until security pulled her down.
Of Mice & Men were already getting ready onstage, so Kristen skipped over to Austin, giving him a probably too passionate kiss for being in front of so many people.
He gave her a wide grin as he watched her walk to the side of the stage and hop up to sit on one of their equipment cases.
She winked back at him as they started their set.
"Isn't she great?" Austin laughed.
The crowd cheered back, and he continued.
"This first song is a pretty good example of you guys, because you know what they say." He paused, and flashed a mischievous smile at the crowd. "They Don't Call It the South for Nothing…"
...
Kristen watched carefully as the end of Of Mice & Men's set neared, because she noticed that Austin had switched the order of the songs.
After finishing The Depths, he turned his head to look right at her, and she gave him a shy smile. Now she understood, at least somewhat.
She hopped down as he gestured for her to come over.
"We have two songs left," Austin told the crowd. "And they are two that we need a vocalist for. The first song is one that I chose because I know she loves it so much. You ready for this?" The last question was directed at her.
"What song?"
"Repeating Apologies."
With that, the band started playing.
She sang the opening harmonies as Phil played.
Austin started screaming, and she got chills.
"I hope you know, I swear I've never done this before and I care. I'm so sorry. Scarred you for life. Please come back to me. Down on my knees, repeating apologies."
She braced herself and started to sing back at him.
"Why do I deny the heart that's grown colder? Too quick to criticize the lullaby. Why do I deny the heart that's grown colder? Too quick to criticize…" She let her voice fade into the music.
"Sweet serenity." She picked back up.
Austin screamed back over her. "I wish you sweet serenity."
...
Kristen jumped down next to Austin on their makeshift bed.
"Ugh, I'm so fucking excited! Today was amazing, and tomorrow I get to see my bed!" She giggled enthusiastically.
"I'm excited to see your bed too." Austin winked.
She grinned back at him before snuggling against him.
"It's going to be great. The last show, I can't believe it." Austin said softly.
"Me either. Can you believe everything that's happened?"
"Not at all. But I'm beyond glad it did."
She smiled in agreement as she closed her eyes.
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Austin spoke.
"I love you so much."
He waited for her to reply, but he laughed to himself when he realized that she was asleep.
He reached over and shut out the light as he laid them down and went to bed himself.
...
All three bands were woken up early the next morning and were taken to a nearby studio.
Apparently, they were going to do a small photoshoot in memory of the tour.
First, they had all 11 of the boys pile around each other while Kristen stood in the middle of them.
In most of the rest, they were all goofing around. Austin and Kristen were in most of them together, hugging and laughing and enjoying themselves.
Everyone had a lot of fun, and went off on their own to wait for the show to start.
...
Kristen smiled to herself as she unlocked the door to her apartment.
She opened the door, and let Austin in.
"So this is it?" Austin smiled as he looked around.
"Yep. Nothing too great. But it's my home now."
"I love it."
She leaned against the counter and beamed at him.
"You should show me your bedroom; I wonder what that looks like." He suggested with a cheeky grin.
She rolled her eyes playfully. "Maybe later. Right now, I'm more focused on the show."
He chuckled, and moved towards her until he stood against her. He kept his hands on the counter to keep his balance.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a sly smile.
"I love it that you're so passionate about music. It's hot on you." He giggled as he leaned his forehead against hers.
She laughed back. "Thanks?"
"Oh no, thank you. Do you know how great it is to see you and your beautiful voice up onstage? Very."
He was trying hard, but she didn't plan on budging just yet.
He gave her a quick, sloppy kiss and looked back into her passive eyes with his dark starving ones.
"Come on."
The tone of his voice sent chills down her spine, but she kept her ground.
"Nah." She smiled sweetly and kissed him.
"Fine, you win." He said, pulling back so she could move.
"I love you." She replied, still smiling.
He rolled his eyes jokingly. "Yeah, yeah."
...
The crowd so far had been absolutely insane.
Vic smiled widely as they prepared to play their last song.
"Guys, you all have been fucking amazing! This is the last show of the tour, and I just wanted to say thank you. Both for being incredible and for waiting so patiently for this day. We love you!"
They cheered back at him before he spoke again.
"We have one more song, and it's off our new album Collide With the Sky. This song is about life being a bit more on the sucky side, and the only place you have to really get away from it all is right here. This song's called Hell Above."
As Vic screamed and started singing the first verse, every band member from Of Mice & Men and The New Revolution ran out onstage, dancing to the music.
"'Cause I don't need any more friends. Clearly." Vic motioned to the crowded stage.
Everyone on the stage looked to each other and, all in sync with Vic, screamed out, "This is a wasteland, my only retreat. With heaven above you, there's hell over me."
With a wide smile on their faces, Pierce The Veil finished the song and played their outro as Vic spoke again.
"Tampa, Florida, thank you so fucking much!"
All of the band members stood with their arms around each other's shoulders and took a bow.
This tour was perfect, more than any of them could've asked for.
And as they looked back at the crowd that was screaming their names for the last time, they were speechless.
...
After everything was packed up to be taken home, everyone headed off to settle in for the night.
Kasey, Caleb, and Matt went to their respective homes; bringing with them whoever wanted to crash at their place for the night.
Kristen happily brought Austin back to hers.
Austin grinned at her as he snuggled against her pillows.
"Ahh. I might have to move down here."
She giggled as she lay down next to him. "Well, it's going to suck not getting to see you every day anymore."
"Hey, I'll be back in a couple weeks. I doubt I'll even be able to stay away that long. If it weren't for my dog I'd probably never leave."
"Bring him by sometime." She said with a smile.
"One day. But thank god he's not here right now."
"Why?"
A naughty glint flickered in Austin's eyes. "Because, he has this weird thing about me having sex."
She let out a small laugh. "What?"
"Yeah, he barks a lot. I don't know why." He looked down and laughed shyly.
"Are you asking, Carlile?"
"Is it working, last night in town?"
She smirked at him.
Leaning down, she gave him a kiss.
Austin's hand moved up to her cheek, holding her face there.
He slipped his tongue into her mouth, caressing hers gently.
With a sigh, he shifted his weight until he was hovering above her. He pulled away, and looked down at her with longing eyes and a small smile. "I love you so much." He breathed shallowly.
"I love you too." She whispered.
"Prove it."
They brought their mouths back together in a haste as Austin pressed himself against her body.
He moved his lips to her neck, and she let out a small whine.
He smiled against her skin before bringing his face back to hers.
She smiled back as they stared into each other's eyes.
"I love you." They said simultaneously.
That led to a passionate kiss, and after that, neither of them could control the want anymore.
And the rest is history.
...
Austin woke up in the morning with someone very warm against him.
Thank god, it was her this time.
"Good morning to you too." She chuckled at him touching her.
"It's so great to wake up next to you. In bed. With nothing to do all day."
She frowned. "One problem. You have a flight home today."
He buried his head in the pillow. "Fuck. I don't wanna."
"I don't want you to either." She replied quietly.
"What time do I leave again?"
"11."
He stared blankly. "What time is it?"
She looked over at the clock. "9:58."
"Fuck!" He yelped again.
She smiled and kissed his cheek before leaving the bed.
"Noooo," Austin protested. He looked up at her, seeing that she was still undressed from last night and smiled to himself. "It's funny, 12 years ago I would've like, cried at the thought of seeing you naked."
"Gee, thanks."
"In my defense I was just starting to get interested in boobs, don't judge me." He laughed as she got dressed.
"Do you plan on going to the airport naked?"
"Do you plan on making me breakfast?"
She walked back over the bed and leaned over Austin.
"Love you." He said quickly.
She smirked and gave him a kiss.
"Now go on, get ready." She told him before leaving the room and heading to the kitchen.
Austin stood up and stretched. He would miss waking up like this.
...
Kristen's breathing slowed as she walked with Austin to his gate.
He noticed that she was upset, and he squeezed her hand reassuringly.
Their steps slowed as they approached the gate. They stopped and turned to face each other.
"This is it." She sighed sadly.
"No. It's goodbye for now, not goodbye forever." Austin tried to make her smile.
"I'm really going to miss you."
He pressed his forehead against hers. "I'll be back soon. And fuck, maybe I'll get a Skype and we can video chat there. I'll do anything to see you."
She smiled and leaned up, kissing him.
He giggled at her. "You know, you'll never get rid of me now, kibbles."
She grinned. "I don't ever want to."
They kissed again, just as a voice announced that the flight was boarding.
"I'll call you as soon as I land. I love you!"
"I love you too!" She called back as she watched him go through the gate.
While she was walking towards the exit, she found Matt leaving too.
"Hard time parting from Mike?" She grinned at him.
"The worst. Hard time letting Carlile go?"
"Not really. He'll be visiting soon."
"I'm glad you guys are together, it's great." He gave her a genuine smile. "One question though."
"Yeah?"
"Can you say, 'Greatest tour to ever happen ever'?"
She smirked to herself as they walked out into the sun.
"Yes I fucking can."
A/N: So I just wanted to say, if you actually read all the way to the end, I love you! Thank you so much. It means the absolute world to me.