Chapter 42

You pulled on the clothes you were going to wear during the party that night. A simple black tank top that said Made in the 80's on it in silver running letters. You put on another pair of ripped jeans. Brown flip-flops completed the ensemble. You made your way back downstairs to find it nearly ready for the party. Upon glancing at the clock, you found out it was already 6 in the evening. "Time sure flies when you're with Johnny Knoxville," you said to yourself. A few guests arrived early; so as to help Bam set up various things. The rest of the crowd poured in between 7 and 7:30. Around 8ish, Knoxville climbed up on one of April's coffee tables. "CAN EVERYONE GIVE ME THEIR ATTENTION FOR A MOMENT?" He screamed over the noise of the party. Most people turned towards him and stopped talking, but he continued to yell. "GLOMB AND I HAVE PUT TOGETHER A LITTLE SURPRISE FOR BAM AND BEA, AND WE WOULD LIKE TO SHARE IT WITH ALL OF YOU HERE TONIGHT. IF YOU'LL PLEASE TURN YOUR ATTENTION TO THE SCREEN AT THE OTHER END OF THIS ROOM, WE'LL BEGIN." He jumped from the table and took your wrist in one hand, and Bam's in the other. He dragged both of you through the crowd. He pushed you right in front of the screen and told Glomb to go. Music from Simple Plan began playing as the screen changed from black to a picture of the two of you. About 10 pictures later, ones of the guys began showing up. There were pictures of everyone doing Shopping Carts, Rolling down hills, snowboarding, skiing, ice-skating, surfing, vacations, birthday parties, tree houses, campouts, picnics, races, pets and every other childhood milestone you'd been through together. You looked away from the screen to Bam. His eyes were nearly glossed over, and you could tell he was holding back tears. That was a weird moment for you. You'd never seen Bam cry in all the years you'd known him. Except for when your grandmother died, but that was different. He'd fallen out of trees, been dumped by girls, lost dogs, everything that makes kids cry, but Bam was strong through it all. But now, upon merely seeing pictures of his friends, he was getting shaken up. The last picture was a recent one of everyone. In the back were April, Phil and Don Vito. Rake and his girl were next, then Glomb, Dico, Dico's girl; Raab's girlfriend and Raab made up the next row. Jessica, Ryan's girlfriend, stood next to him, you, then Bam on the end.

As the lights went up, people began to murmur. Bam left the room quickly and headed for the Pirate Bar. You gave him a few seconds, then followed him. When you made it down the steps, you found Bam sitting on the floor. He looked up when you walked in, but looked away quickly. You sat next to him and brought him closer to you. "Babe," he said pitifully. "I didn't mean for this to get so far out of hand. I just wanted to get back at them for doing that to us in the woods. So I pretended I was throwing them out. I'd originally planned to call them and tell them tonight. In front of everyone. But what Knoxville and Glomb did showed me what we all had together. And how much of a dick I am for making them think I hated them." You put your head on top of his for a moment before speaking. "Why don't you call them and have them come back then?" He thought about that for a moment before shooting the idea down. "They'll never believe me. They'll think I'm just playing a sick joke, even though I kind of am." You sighed. "We could ask Jess to do it." you suggested. Jessica was a friend of yours from a while back, and also Ryan Dunn's girlfriend. Bam thought the new idea over before pulling out his cell phone. He dialled her number and waited for her to answer. He fed his sob story to her and she seemed to want to go along with it. He sounded relieved as he hung up the phone. "She said she's gonna get them to come over in the morning," he smiled. "It's too bad they had to miss out on this awesome party though," you sighed. Bam agreed, but tried not to think about it. You and him sat in the Pirate Bar reminiscing about your childhood for the rest of the night. Bam was laughing and having a good time, which really made you happy. Over the past day, he hadn't laughed very much. And hadn't really been himself. You could easily see why too; the guys weren't around. They contributed too much of Bam's normal personality, encouraging him to do outrageous stuff and what not. It was a shame you'd wasted 2 days without them. But time couldn't be erased. At least he'd learned something out of this whole ordeal; appreciate your friends before it's too late.

You awoke the next morning to feel a heavy weight on your stomach. You opened your eyes groggily to find Bam's arm draped across you. You smiled and sat up. Searching the room for a clock, you noticed it was already noon. "Bam," you murmured, shaking him gently. He groaned and rolled over, withdrawing his arm from you. You laughed and continued to shake him. After another groan, he sat up. "What happened?" he asked sleepily. "We fell asleep down here last night. And Jessica's supposed to call the guys and have them come over today," you replied. Bam groaned again. You stood up shakily and stretched. Bam reached up and steadied himself on the counter top. He rose to his feet and began searching for the coffeepot. He put the water in and watched as it dripped slowly into the pot. You joined him and together, you watched your coffee brew. In the midst of your exciting morning, the phone rang. You backed away from the pot, leaving Bam still completely mesmerized by it. "Hello," you asked. 'Hey, it's Jess,' she greeted you from the other line. 'I just went and got the guys. I did a little explaining, and a hell of a lot of begging, but I think it worked. They're on there way now, and I think they all have their stuff too!' You smiled while you listened to her then ramble about her upcoming date with Dunn. After she ran out of breath, the two of you hung up. "Bam," you said happily. "Hmmn," he mumbled, still entranced by the dripping of flavoured water into a glass container. "Jessica called and she got the guys to come over. They should be here in about 20 minutes according to her." He backed away from the pot, eyes still glued to it though. He turned around abruptly and threw his arms around your neck. "What the hell is this for?" you laughed. He shrugged, then released you. "I think we might wanna clean this place up," you said, pointing out all of the empty beer cans that littered the floor.

Bam nodded and scooped a few off of the counter. The two of you worked diligently for the next 15 minutes, making the Pirate Bar sparkle like Bam didn't live there. There was a knock at the back door not even 10 seconds after the two of you'd sank into chairs. You opened it to reveal Jessica with a huge grin on her face. You greeted her with a hug, which she returned. She came in, followed by Bam's crew. They gave Bam a few evil glares before taking seats around the table. Bam stood from his chair, offering it to Dico. He stood at the head of the table and twiddled his thumbs. "I... umm... Yeah guess what guys," he said suddenly. They exchanged glances with each other. "I JUST MADE EVERY FUCKING ONE OF YOU LOOK LIKE TOTAL IDIOTS!" He danced around the table, smacking each guy on the head. They were thoroughly confused, as were you. "You though you were going to fuck me over one good time that I wouldn't be able to ever retaliate to, well ha ha ha ha haaa! I did it! You all thought you were being kicked out. Well, I never really did! I just wanted to make you think I did! It wasn't going to drag out this long, but I was having wayyyy to much fun with it to stop." The guys all got idiotic looks on their faces before busting out laughing. "That was a friggin' good one Bam," Raab said, holding out his hand to Bam. Bam slapped it, then smacked Raab in the forehead. "So we're all good now?" you asked, looking around. Everyone nodded his or her heads. "Jesus Christ, one minute you all hate each other. The next you're all best friends again. What is this? Eight grade?" Everyone laughed. "Well, Knoxville set up a slideshow with all of us in it if you wanna see it?" you offered. The guys all stood up and followed you upstairs. There were still random people passed out, and trash was covering much of the downstairs. "We'll have to take care of this later," you said, stepping over Knoxville's passed out body. The guys groaned, but took turns kicking Johnny as they passed. Jessica was the only other one that merely stepped over him. You set up the projector and turned out the lights.

You set up the projector and turned out the lights. For some odd reason, the clip was playing in reverse order. Meaning all of the pictures of the guys were first, making the ones of you and Bam last. You watched as scenes from birthday parties flashed in front of you again. Warm tears trickled down your cheeks. "What's wrong baby?" Bam asked gently, noticing you were crying. You shook your head with a smile. Bam took your hands in his and dragged you towards the Pirate Bar. He set you down on a stool and stood in front of you. He stared at you for a moment, as if uncertain what to do. He then took you in his arms, not letting go. You wrapped your arms around him as well. As he rested his head on yours, memories of you and him together filled your head.

~Bam's POV~

You rested your head on hers as she continued to cry silently. 'Bam, what the fuck did you do now.' You mentally scolded yourself. You then remembered what you'd been planning to find out since the previous morning. You hadn't asked her if she loved you yet. Sure she'd said it. But so do little children in Middle School whom then hate each other in 3 days. The ones that date for an hour and its all ready true love, I think not. You wanted more than anything to know. And it was eating you up inside. You lifted your head from hers and brought her up to your level. "Bea" your voice semi-caught in your throat. 'Thank God you didn't drink tonight.'

~BEA's POV~

He lifted his head from yours and brought your eyes up to meet his. "Bea" he said slowly. He bit his lip. "I have to know something." Your stomach lurched. "Do... Umm.. Do you, l-love me?" He was acting very unsure of himself, and you found it very cute. You could play a game with him, and tell him no. And on a normal occasion, you would. But this time, you were certain you'd absolutely break his heart. And you were, by no means, that cruel. "Yes Bam. Yes I do," you said finally. He heaved a slight sigh of relief, which he tried to hide. He still wasn't 100 % satisfied, however. "Like love me, like, like." He tried to form the words, but it wasn't working. You shook your head, implying you knew what he meant. "Love you like no one has," you finished for him. He nodded his head. "That's it malady." He kissed you softly, pulling away after only a moment. He then licked your cheek like a dog. He was back to being his goofy self. You weren't sure how much he had had to drink, but you didn't think much. 'Screw drinking, this is typical Bam,' you thought to yourself. "I s'pose we should go back to Knoxville's slideshow then," he sighed. You shook your head, "nawww, let's be bad and play hooky."

A huge grin suddenly spread across his face. "Remember when we did that in grade school," he asked excitedly. You nodded your head. "And we ended up having a worst day than the kids at school did," you laughed. He nodded his head. "I can swear Ape set it up so we'd be piss ass miserable just to teach us a lesson." he said after looking thoughtful for a moment. You pondered it, then agreed with him. He suddenly got a strange look in his beautiful blue eyes. "Soooo, who's sexier, me or Ville Valo?" He asked suddenly. You looked taken aback. "You have to tell me who's sexier first, me or Jenn." Bam wasted no time in starting. "Nothing personal to her. But we just kinda didn't flow right. So you're sexier than she in my opinion is. But I heard she's with another guy now, and he's really cool I heard. So he'd say she was sexier than you. But to me alone, you are baby." You smiled, it felt good to hear Bam say that and truly mean it. "Now, you didn't answer my question," he said, putting his head in your lap. By that time you were both sitting on the floor and he was lying outstretched with his head on your lap. He drummed his fingers impatiently. "I- I- umm.." you stuttered. "Oh come on!" He said, sitting up. "You know who is, just blurt it out and get it over with," he laughed. You could tell he was only trying to have fun with you, and you tried to go along with it.