You smiled as you walked over to a building where they served food. You ordered your food before sitting down at a small picnic table. When your food was done, Jade walked up and took the tray and brought it back and set it down on the table in front of you. You smiled and grabbed a French fry and threw it at him. It landed in his hair. You laughed at his struggle to try to get it out. "Great, now my hair is all potato-ey." You laughed at his sad attempt to create a word. You ate most of your food and flung the extras at each other only making it so you both were covered in ketchup and pickles.

As you both got up to start walking, you asked, "What day is it?"

He looked around then said, "Um it's July 26 I think." You smiled and started jumping up and down. "My birthday is in 2 days!"

"Wow your birthday is coming up? Sweet! July 28...hey mine is November 28!"

You smiled and stuck your tongue out and said, "What 'cha gonna get me? Huh huh?"

He shook his head and looked at the sky. What was he going to get you?

You then both walked back to the bus. You were exhausted from walking around all day so you plopped on the couch in the back. "Where is Davey?" you asked.

"Um, I think he went with Emily to go give the money she made to her mom. He should be back by now, though."

Jade then walked into the bathroom to find that he had a pink line across his face. "Hey! Are you telling me I walked around like this that whole time?" You nodded as he washed his face.

"You suck," he said as he plopped down next to you. He turned you head so that you were facing him. You smiled as he playfully nuzzled your neck. You sighed in exhaustion and laid you head on his head.

"I'm assuming you guys had a rough day?" said Davey as he entered the bus with Emily at his side. They sat next to you.

"Emily is as pure as snow! She's never tried drugs, never had sex, and she's never made out with anyone! What is wrong with you?" screamed Davey.

"I'm sorry. I haven't gotten much experience. I mean I would LOVE to go out and do stuff but I just don't have time. "

Davey smirked and said, "Well trust me, I will guarantee that you will have a few firsts this week...hehe." She smiled utterly clueless.

Jade sat up and pointed out, "If you didn't get what he meant by that, let me clear it up. Unless you WANT to make out or do such things with Davey, I suggest you start to look at things cautiously but hey, be my guest."

She made a confused look. Jade just shook his head at Davey before saying, "God Davey, just take advantage of the poor girl!"

Davey sighed and said, "Well, she's just so innocent. I want to loosen her up a bit and maybe show her the other side of life."

Emily made a face before saying, "I'm right here and I can hear everything you're saying!"

"Yeah, we know."

You smiled and leaned back. "What should I do for my birthday, you guys?" you asked. Davey stood up and said, "Well since you're turning 21, I think we should do some special that will last forever! How about a tattoo or piercing?"

You smiled and said, "Wow I've always wanted to have my lip pierced! And maybe we can get me an AFI tattoo."

"Yeah, the piercing can be like an initiation and the tattoo can make it permanent!" screamed Davey before yelling to Jade, "We are SO going to do that! You think lip rings are hot, right?

He nodded and said, "I've never made out with a girl with a lip ring,"

Emily smiled and said, "Then this should be new experience for you then,"

He then smirked and said, "I said I never made out with a GIRL with a lip ring. I didn't mention anything about boys," while eying Davey.

You made a shocked look as you smacked him with a pillow. Emily had a weird look on her face like "I so had that coming,"

You sat around and shared laughs before falling asleep later that night.

The next few days nothing really happened. AFI played a few shows then and now but when your birthday came, you didn't know what to expect.

You woke up to Davey shaking you. "What?" you yelled at him. "Come on, get up. We have to hurry!" he said grabbing you and dragging you out of bed before you had any time to rub your eyes. You moaned as he continued dragging you to the back of the bus. "Get dressed," he said while throwing you a bag of clothes. "What's this," you say as you open the bag to see a pink pleated plaid mini skirt which was way shorter than you'd usually wear. There was also a black button up blouse. The buttons were the same color pink as the skirt. There was also a pink tie. "I wonder where they got the idea that I like pink," you asked aloud while you shook your head, "My favorite color is green. Oh well, pink works,"

After you got dressed into your new clothes, you walked outside only to see Jade, Hunter, Davey, Emily, and Adam all wearing the same themed outfits but all different colored. The guys had black button up shirts with the same colored buttons as their ties and wore tight black pants. Jade's tie was purple, Davey's tie was blue, Hunter's tie was green, and Adam's tie was red. You smiled as you laughed at their outfits. You walked up to Emily and saw she was wearing the same outfit as you only hers was light blue colored.

You snickered as you walked up to them and asked, "Who picked the skirts?"

They all looked at each other and pointed to Jade who was blushing red, while yelling, "They were the only skirts they had!"

You smiled and kissed him on the cheek and said, "They're nice either way,"

"So what are we doing first?" you asked.

"First of course, like we planned, we're going to make you get a tattoo and a lip ring. But I have a question. Do you want it in the middle or to the side?" asked Davey.

"Um, I don't know. I wanted a side one but I think the middle ring looks more appealing."

"Middle ring it is. Good choice though. It's nice either way," said Jade.

When you arrived at the parlor, you asked, "What AFI design am I getting?"

"The rabbit logo for the new album. You wouldn't mind getting it around your wrist, would you?" You shook your head. "Hell, do both wrists," you said. The guys smiled as they told the Tattoo guy. "Is she over 18?" They nodded and you sat down on the chair. All of the guys left and it was only you and Emily in the room as the tattoo guy prepared his tools.

You looked up at Emily and said, "If I cry, it's on your conscience," as you rested your wrist on the arm of the chair.

You watched as the large revolving needle moved closer and closer. You flinched barely as it touched your skin. After awhile, you started to not feel it and had a whole conversation with Emily as he did both arms. You stopped talking though as he went over the bone.

After he finished. He wrapped the large Band-Aid over your wrists. You stood up afterwards and walked into the entry room to show the guys you did fine.

"I'm so proud of you. I feel like a father after his 4 year old learns to ride a bike," said Jade as he kissed you on the lips. "Okay now for your lip ring. This part may not be so easy if you fear needles," said Davey. You sighed and sat in the chair yet again this time with Jade in the room. You watched thoroughly as the man sterilized the needles. You felt the nerve to ask, "Do you use numbing tactics or heated needles?"

The man said, "Neither. We do it the old fashioned way." You swallowed as he laughed and said, "No, just kidding. We use heated needles."

You smiled unevenly as he sat down and put his gloves on. You grabbed Jade's hand as the man lifted his needle and told you to keep your head straight and lean into the rest he had set up. You did so and shut your eyes when he asked, "Countdown or surprise?"

You sucked in and before you could say countdown, Jade said, "Surprise."

You looked at him pleadingly as you screamed at him in your head. "So today's your birthday, huh?" the man asked. Before you could say yeah, he stabbed the needle through. You panicked a bit before he grabbed the ring and stuck it through. After he cleaned up the blood, you sat there and moaned and whined about how it hurt.

"Oh, quit whining. It wasn't as bad as it would've been if you did countdown," said Davey You moaned and said, "But it's going to hurt all day and it's going to be hard to eat and kiss," you trailed off.

You attempted to give jade a light kiss but instead ended up biting your lip. Jade panicked as you screamed about how much it hurt. "Ahhh, it hurt's so bad. I can't even do anything. It's all swollen and," Jade put a finger to your lips to silence you. You sighed and laid against him hoping that it would maybe numb the after pain. You grabbed his hand as you got into the van. You'd barrowed it earlier from NOFX since they were out with concerts all day and you had a free day. You sighed as you nuzzled Jade's forearm. He looked at you and said, "I have never seen you so clingy. Do you have something on your mind?"

You sighed yet again and said, "I don't know. I have chills for some reason and all of a sudden I'm really sad. I shouldn't be sad; it's my birthday! You guys did all this for me and I couldn't be more thankful," you then added, "plus, we're all going to get piss drunk tonight!"

This was followed by a chorus of "no, I can't. Straight edge."

"You guys suck. I'm going to go find a better band that I can get drunk with!" you yelled. They all sighed as if this was to be expected. "It's all good. I love you guys." You smiled as they laughed before you headed towards home.

As you approached the bus, you noticed that Smith was standing there with a piece of paper. As the other guys loaded onto the bus, Smith stopped you and said, "You had a visitor today. He left you this message and it seemed urgent," and handed you the slip of paper. It said, 'I came to follow through with our promise. Hope you're not married.'

You suddenly got chills as you remembered something else about your past. High school.

Torrey Hubner.

You remembered him. Your first love. You met him when you were 16. He was 18 and preparing to join the military. He wasn't really the type of guy to join the military. Something told him he had to; it was probably because his father was a general. He was very smart with computers and was very attractive. You remembered he had mid length strawberry blonde hair. A light pale red. He had beautiful hazel eyes.

You remembered the promise you made to each other. "Promise me that if we ever meet up when I get out of the army, even if you're off and married by then, that you would love me like you did when you first met me. I know it's hard to keep a secret like this and it's corny for me to even ask you to keep this promise but please, give me something to look forward to when I get out."

You stared at the piece of paper. "He's back," you whispered. You walked up into the bus and went up and sat on your bunk. "Hey speck, why the long face?" asked Jade. You faked a smile and said, "It's nothing. I'm just tired, that's all. Be sure to find a keg before tonight okay'? I have a feeling I'm going to be singing some sorrows tonight!" you smiled at your crappy AFI joke. But inside you were afraid of what was going to happen with Jade and Torrey. But you weren't ready to tell Jade. You didn't know when you would be ready. But it'd have to be soon.

You made sure to keep a close eye out for Torrey in case he came unexpectedly. I wasn't like you weren't happy to heard from him, you just didn't think it would happen now of all times. When you suddenly heard a knock on the bus door, you immediately knew it was him. You left everybody alone at the back of the bus as you opened the door and you were shocked to see not the boy you remembered, but a man. "Jesse?" he asked, his voice low toned. You nodded as he smiled. "How are you? It's been too long!" He said and hugged you.

"Thing have been going good," you paused, "When'd you get back?"

"About 4 weeks ago. I figured the first thing I'd do was track you down." He laughed.

You didn't recognize him. His hair was short and cut behind his ears but it was still that pale red. His eyes were a lot more sunk, as if he aged more from under stress but he still had those light eyes.

"It's been so long. So much has happened," you sighed.

"Well, you have plenty of time to tell me all the details! Fill me in,"

You grabbed his arm and lead him inside. "Whom are you staying with?" he asked.

"Some guys," you say as you walk into the backroom interrupting everyone as they were either eating or laughing or playing video games. "Hey guys, I want you to meet my old friend, Torrey,"

He looked at you and laughed and said, "Old friend? Oh come on, it was more than that!" you stood there uneasily before sitting next to Jade. "So, who is this?" he asked. "This is my...fiancé, Jade Puget." You lied. Jade turned and looked at you confused and you mouthed, 'go with it'.

Torrey seemed taken aback and said, "Wow, fiancé huh? When is the wedding?"

You panicked and said the first thing that came to mind, "October 31,"

"On Halloween?"

You nodded.

"So how did you guys meet up?"

You then explained to him everything about how you and Jade were child hood memories and ended up meeting each other through a car accident then recognizing each other later on after a huge amount of bonding. "We've been together ever since."

"Have you guys written your vows?" asked Torrey. You and Jade looked at each other like, "oh crap'.

"Not yet but we're really waiting for the right moment to complete them. We've got few basic ideas though. But what about you? What are you to be doing now that your job in the military is over?" you said trying to change the subject. He looked up and said, "I'm really not sure. I think I'm going to try and settle down. I'm considering buying a house down in Phoenix. Maybe I'll find myself a fiancé as good as yours Mr. Puget."

Jade made an awkward laugh as he tried to pick up on what was going on. "Where are you staying?" you felt the need to ask. "I'm really not sure but I'm one of those people who go with the flow. I'll end up somewhere. I'll just wait and see what happens. But I don't think I'll be hanging around here much longer. This is a different place than where I'd fit in. You've changed a lot Jesse, and I mean that in the best way possible. I hope you two end up happy together. I will see you guys someday in the future. Later," he said as he walked out. "Wow, that is one nice guy." Jade said. "So what was up with the whole fiancé deal?"

"We made a promise back in the day that when he came back we'd try to stay together but we both knew that would never happen if I was to be married."

"Oh I see. So what was he to you? First love?"

You nodded.

"He didn't seem your type. What were you like in high school?"

"I was kind of a valedictorian. I made good grades and I always was in the library. Of course, that all changed when I met Schilling one year after Torrey left. My life was changed. Music was amazing to me because it was something I'd never had before. Ever since, I've had kind of an alternative personality. I'm all over."

Jade laughed and said, "I wonder what it'd be like if we really got married. That would be so weird! Nothing against marriage but that would be scary!"

You grabbed his hand and held it strong. "You never know what may happen."

Eventually warped tour was coming to an end and you would have to go home. You didn't want to go back to work at the diner. You were having so much fun. It wasn't fair.

You had to say goodbye to Emily first thing. You sighed immediately as you walked outside into the heat, remembering everything that happened here. Right now, home was the last place you wanted to be.

"Emily, what's going to happen after we leave? The chance of ever being able to hang out like we always do is going to be really hard."

She nodded but smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, I know. But I plan to move to San Jose in a year and that's over near Berkley so I could visit you once in a while. I'm so happy I decided to come to warped this year or none of this would've ever happened. I'm going to miss you guys so much. Here's my mom's number. I'll be living at her house until she gets stable and then I'm getting an apartment until I plan on moving." You nod as you hugged her. Davey walked up from beside you and gave her a soft kiss on the lips along with that loving embrace.

After you all gave your goodbyes, you watched as she left in her Subaru.

Then you turned to each other as you asked, "What happens now? I don't want to go home."

Jade sighed and pulled you to the side and said, "It's not really going away forever. Think of it like we're sending you away and we're going to meet up again in the future. We're going to be doing multiple amounts of TV appearances and touring all in the course of a year and I don't want to just drag you along for the ride if you have better things you could be doing. I want you to pursue a career and be famous for it because I know you have that ability. " You felt a tear go down your cheek as you stared at the ground. One year. Can you survive one year without Jade?

"I know you're hurting. I'm hurting too but I'm always going to be thinking about you whenever I'm doing an interview or anything. I'm not going to be able to call you that often but I promise I'll call you...we're going to be in town a few days before we set off so I want to make those days really special."