"Jesse, we need you to go to the grocery store. I know it's shitty weather but we're starving!" You sighed and grabbed the car keys and walked out the door into inches of pouring rain. You put the key into the ignition and backed out of the driveway. Sometimes your roommates bugged you. They always made fun of you for being younger than them and they always nagged you about their own needs but they are the only 'friends' you have. You had always somewhat admired Schilling and Geiger. You called them by their last names because it seemed like that was the cooler thing to do. Cool in a nerdy sense, you guess. But anyways, you were driving in the interstate. It was slippery as hell outside and you could hardly see through the front window. You kind of spaced into your own thoughts before the light turned green. It took you a minute to notice before screaming, "Oh shit," and hitting the gas. But by the time you hit the gas, the light had turned yellow and even quicker to red. And there you were flying through the intersection avoiding every car until that one. You then found yourself collided with another car. At the time, you in general were in a minor amount of pain. You head hit the steering wheel before the airbag hit you in the face. There was a cut right above your left eyebrow and because it was a head wound, large amounts of blood were being deposited. "Curse you short attention span…who'd I hit?" You thought as you pulled yourself out of the car and leaned against the bumper before sliding to the ground. You looked up clutching your stomach as you noticed the driver of the other car. He was less beat up then you other than the scar on his right cheek. You could hear him cussing to himself as he surveyed the damage. He took a look at you and his eyes widened as he ran over to help you up. "Oh my God, are you okay?" He asked as he pulled you up. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little light-headed." He grabbed your waist to keep you steady so you wouldn't fall. "Thanks. My name is Jesse." He smiled. "Jade. Nice to meet you," he paused, "Sad that it had to be in a situation like this." You laughed. You were slightly out of it while talking to him but attempted to converse while waiting for the ambulances.

Eventually the ambulances came and tended to your wounds. "Well, Jade, I guess I'm really sorry for my short attention span. I really didn't expect to hit you. Maybe we'll meet each other in the future if we're lucky. But for now, this goodbye." You said as you bowed to him in a polite manner. You looked up at his eyes one last time but as you turned to walk away to your car, you felt something make you want to turn around and look at his eyes. When you turned around, you noticed he had a sad look in his eyes. "Are you going to miss me that much?" He pouted his lip and made a cute face and said, "I don't know. I believe in fate and running into your car couldn't just of happened for no reason." He smirked. "You cocky bastard. I'm not giving into that crap." You laughed and said your final goodbye before driving home in a wrecked up car with no money to pay for it and shitty insurance.

"Oh my god, Jesse! What happened?" asked Schilling when you got home. "Car accident," you moaned. "No groceries?" asked Geiger as you walked into the kitchen. "Shut up. I'm not in the mood. My head hurts and I nearly died on the way to the store. My omen tells me to avoid driving for awhile." You then take Tylenol before heading upstairs and falling asleep. But only so you could wake up to the loud music of your LOVING roommate. Geiger was an emo kid and he always blared his music and pissed off the neighbors. Right now his obsession was Atreyu. But this band didn't sound like Atreyu.

You get up and walk into his room, which was across the hall, and ask him what he was listening to. "AFI, they are fucking great. Especially that guitarist. He comes up with some sweet rifts." You nodded like you understood even though you didn't. You had more on my mind. "Hey, let me show me this picture of him. Maybe you've heard of him. His name is Jade Puget." Geiger was more like a big brother to you. He gave you shit when you didn't want it and then tries getting you into the stuff he likes.

He grabs a picture off of the computer desk and holds it up to you. "Isn't he great?" You take a good look at the picture. "Hey, I met a guy today that looks just like that and his name is Jade too! What are the odds of that?" You laugh. "Jesse…oh my god! Are you stupid? They're performing here in Berkeley in 3 days! Oh my god, you got to meet Jade Puget! I'm jealous!" You shook your head. "No I'm not stupid, I just got in a car accident because of my idiot roommates call for hunger! Sigh. You scare me sometimes, Geiger. Yet you never cease to surprise me when it comes to your sexuality." He makes a face like he was to argue but you backed out of the room and walked downstairs. 'Wow, I met a guy from AFI. Maybe I should go see him at the concert,' you think to yourself. "But where could I get tickets?" You whined out loud. "I know where you could," you heard Schilling say. "Oh my god! Where?" She sighed. "It's not going to be easy but I can get them at a cost."

"I'll do anything!"

"Alrighty then. Just follow my lead and Jade Puget will be yours."

FASTFORWARD

At the concert

You were standing in the middle of the concert hall. No one was there yet. You came way to early but it was completely worth it. It was dripping wet outside and the guards let you in because they didn't want you to get sick or something. You sighed and sat on the stage. "At least I'll get a good spot," you say to yourself.

"Excuse me, are you looking for someone?" You hear someone say from behind you. "Oh no, I'm just," you start to say but as you turn around, you realize it's Jade. "Oh, hey! I thought I'd visit you one last time before I probably never see you again. You never told me you were in AFI." You laughed.

"Ahem, sorry to correct you but you never asked therefore I never told." He said really snobbish. "Well, I got tickets so we could 'bond' after our little incident. I figured we'd might as well check up on each other before you disappear."

He smiled and said, "I hardly know you yet when we talk, it's like we've known each other for years!" You smile and look up at his pretty eyes and kind of gaze for a while. When you realized you were gawking, you snapped yourself out of it and stood up. "So, I see you have a guitar on your shoulder. Show me what you can do and I might show you some secrets of my own."

He raised an eyebrow at you like he swore you were flirting. You probably were on accident but something about him made you feel confident enough to speak like that.

He started to play something on his les paul as he started to softly sing the words to the Bleed Black chorus. You felt like your insides were melting. You thought that sounded cheesy but it was true. Soon he stopped and asked you, "So what are you into? Music? Art?" You looked at the ground and said softly, suddenly feeling shy, "I really like drawing. I don't think I'm that good but I'm trying to get somewhere with it but I haven't gotten much inspiration. I also am really into writing and singing too but not many have heard me sing."

Jade hopped up at this and exclaimed, "Well now is your time to shine! Sing something for me and I'll tell you honestly what I think about it." You stand up, blushing, but you say, "I could never just sing on the spot. That'd be so awkward. I get so nervous sometimes, it makes everything so complicated."

He frowned a little and then said, "Well, what if I gave you something to sing. Maybe, it'll give you the inspiration to sing as loud as you can!" You shrugged and you suddenly got chills down your spine.

"Here, this is a really good song I heard on the radio the other day. It's called Breathe by Anna Nalick."

"You listen to Anna Nalick?"

"Yes…but never mind that, just sing it. I can play the piano part for you."

He put his fingers on the keys and started to play and you felt obligated to sing for once in your life. Your voice came out crisp and soft as it sang the lyrics to one of your favorites songs, shockingly.

"2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake,
"Can you help me unravel my latest mistake,
I don't love him. Winter just wasn't my season"
Yeah we walk through the doors, so accusing their eyes
Like they have any right at all to criticize,
Hypocrites. You're all here for the very same reason

'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl.
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe... just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe

May he turn 21 on the base at Fort Bliss
"Just a Day", he said down to the flask in his fist,
"Ain't been sober, since maybe October of last year."
Here in town you can tell he's been down for a while,
But, my God, it's so beautiful when the boy smiles,
Wanna hold him. Maybe I'll just sing about it.

Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table.
No one can find the rewind button, boys,
So cradle your head in your hands,
And breathe... just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe

There's a light at each end of this tunnel,
You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again
If you only try turning around.

2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song
If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me,
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
And I know that you'll use them, however you want to

But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button now
Sing it if you understand.
and breathe, just breathe
woah breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe."

As you finish off, you smile at him. "I did it. I've never been able to do it but I did it!" You started jumping around in joy. You've never been able to just sing out in public. You sounded good! You didn't choke! Your body was filled with excitement and the concert wasn't even started yet. "Honestly, I think you sounded incredible. It made me feel good to listen to you sing. Thank you," was all jade had said to you after you performed. "Well, I really need to do some sound check. I don't mind if you watch but beware, I tend you crack when I sing so you've been warned." He smiled at you one last time before turning around and walking towards the mic. It seemed like he was really trying hard to impress you. As you sat down near the stage, you felt someone come up from behind you. "Hey, are you Jesse?" You looked up at him and said yes. He continued saying, "You're that chick Jade crashed into! Oh man, I told him he couldn't drive worth shit but does he listen to me? No. Oh by the way, my name is Davey."

You smiled but added, "Oh, nice to meet you. But it was my fault. I ran into him because I spaced out during a green light." He smiled but leaned over and put his arm on your shoulder and whispered, "But Jade doesn't have to know that," and laughed. "So, you're the famous Davey Havok that I got filled in about by Geiger." Davey stood and smirked, "The one and only. Now excuse me but I feel the need to give Jade shit about everything he does." He then walked off, laughing maniacally as he plotted his evil schemes. You sighed and then got up to go to the bathroom to check your makeup to make sure it wasn't smeared.

As you walked into the ladies room, you looked at yourself in the full-length mirror. You suddenly felt inferior. "Why does that Jade give me chills? I feel like I know him from somewhere in my past, but where?" You sighed again, and smudged one of your eyes and used three fingers and smudged it down. It looked kind of neat.

As you exited the bathroom, you walked around the concert hall to get a feel for what you were going to see when the concert started. Jade was so cute and nice. But you just met him. 'Don't push your luck, Jesse,' you told yourself. 'Keep it friendly but not flirty.' You sighed and walked over to the stage and waited for the concert to start.

The Concert

You were standing in the front of the crowd surrounded by thousands of people as you heard the band start to play. The familiar guitar as "Days of the phoenix" began to echo throughout the concert hall. Thousands of screams started as you realized the lights had gone up and the band was witnessed on the stage.

You started shaking as a moshpit started right behind you and sucked you in. You were being crammed between two guys as you fought to get out. As you finally got out, someone ran up to you and flung you out into the pit again, but someone lifted you up before you fell and threw you on top of the crowd seeing as you were light enough.

You felt thousands of people underneath you as you neared the stage. Jade was standing on the amps like always, and as you came near you reached out to touch his hand as he reached back. You were about to touch hands but then someone dropped you and you landed on your head. You blacked out.

You woke up and found yourself backstage on a couch in a dressing room. "Ow, my head," you said when you remember what happened. "Do you need another ice pack?" you heard a voice behind you. You turned around and noticed someone somewhat familiar but you're sure you never met him. "Oh my name is Adam."

You then remembered where you knew him. "You're the drummer of AFI. Duh, I should've remembered that. Geiger wouldn't shut up about you guys." You laughed. Then he said, "Yeah, we get that a lot surprisingly. So, how's your head. You had quite a fall back there. Jade wouldn't shut up about it. But yeah, the show is over now. Sorry you had to miss it."

You smiled at him and said, "Oh no, it's fine. I'm just glad I'm here backstage. Where is the rest of them?" you say referring to the rest of the band. "Oh, they are screwing around in the lounge. You can come join them if you think you're feeling well enough." You nodded and followed him out into the lounge. You noticed a lot of fans screaming and getting autographs from them. All of the guys had a look of somewhat despair as if they really didn't want to do this for them millionth time. Nothing against their fans though, it's a living.

"Hey Jesse, you're okay!" said Davey as you walked up. Jade was still focused on autographs. When he looked up and saw you, he stopped for a second and stared but then snapped himself out of it. "Jesse, you're okay. That's good. You scared me back there! I thought you died!"

You then heard some yells. You turned and looked to see two kids screaming at the guards to get in. "She's our roommate! We need to see that she's okay!"

You walked over and said, "Geiger? Schilling? What are you doing here?"

They stopped shoving the guards and stood up straight. Schilling was first to speak. "We came to the concert too!" Geiger then said, "We came to make sure you were alright after that fall. We could see that all the way from where we were standing!"

You smiled as Jade walked up from behind you and grabbed your shoulders and whispered, "Who are they?"

You smiled and said they were your roommates. Jade had the 'OH' expression on his face as he asked the guards to let them in. They ran in and nearly knocked you over as they smothered you in hugs and made sure you were all right. "I'm shocked that you guys would worry about me that much," you said. They picked you up and put their arms around your shoulders. "Oh, come on. You're like our little sister! We have to watch out for you! It's our priority," said Schilling smiling.

"Eh, sorry to break up the family reunion but can we be introduced to these 'roommates'?" said Jade uneasily. You laughed and said, "This is Schilling and Geiger. She's 25 and he's 26."

He nodded and then asked, "Then how old does that make you?"

"I'm only 20!"

Jade stopped to think about this. He was 32 going 33 and she's only 20! That's like almost 13 years apart! "Wow, you really are just like their little sister." He said with an uncomfortable expression.

"Yeah, except these guys are lazy asses! I have to be the only responsible one in every situation! What would you guys do without me?" You said in defense. "Interesting. I feel old." Said Jade. "Lucky, I haven't even hit drinking age! Haha, doesn't stop me from drinking. Age is only a number."

"If only it were that simple…" thought Jade. He continued thinking, "Can I really like someone I've only known for two days? I need to slow it down or else I might be getting into something that none of us are ready for…"