Faithless. ~2~

3

Ella's POV: 

That night, I dressed into the cute sundress that Damon wanted me to wear when I was meeting up with Cam earlier. I braid my hair down my back and make sure that I, at least, look presentable. 
My phone goes off, breaking me out of my thoughts of where I'd ask CC to take me for dinner. I feel a smile spread across my face as I see Cam's name flash across the screen. 

Cam: So, the guys, and Dawn, are very happy that we have a date. 
Ella: Of course they are. Who told them?
Cam: I might have left slip that you said yes. 
Ella: Ah, well. I'm glad that they're happy for us. 
Cam: Oh, happy is an understatement. 
Ella: I'm sure it is.

I shove my phone into the pocket of my dress and grab my bag and leave the back lounge. CC was waiting for me, hands deep in the pockets of his jeans as he waits for me. 
"You ready to go?" 
"Yeah, I think so." I smile as I look down at my dress, and I feel my phone continue to buzz but I decide to ignore it for the time being. 
CC lead the way out of the bus and we walk through Warped. It was mostly silent, save for the sound of Pierce the Veil playing their set, and the fans screaming for them. It wasn't an awkward silence either, it was a normal, comfortable one. I've always felt comfortable around CC. 
"So," CC says as we turn a corner and head towards the exit of Warped Tour. "Where's Cam taking you?" 
"We're going to an Arcade on Wednesday." I smile at that. It still made me happy that Cam remembered that I like Arcades. 
I remember when I first met Cam, it was the day after Danny had shown up on the bus with a bottle of whiskey, claiming that he was there to fight my brother and friends. I must have been about eighteen at the time. 
Andy and almost everyone had gotten drunk, and I was by myself outside of the bus, reading as I sipped my second monster that day. Ben, James, Cam, Sam and Dawn came by, June had already left at that point. 
While everyone else went into the bus, Cam sat outside with me, and we just talked. He asked all about my likes, my dislikes, what I liked to do when I was on tour with Black Veil Brides, what I did when I wasn't on tour with them. That was when I developed my crush on Cam. He always seemed to notice when I was by myself, almost as much as CC had. 
"You haven't told him about arcades since then, right?" 
"I don't think so," I shrug. "It's cool that he remembered though." 
"Yeah, that is a pretty big deal." CC agrees as we walk down the street. 
I jog to catch up with him and give him a small grin. Did it scare me that I was getting out of my comfort zone? Yes, it scared the Hell out of me. I was worried that I'd get hurt again, and things will crash and burn if things ended poorly with this Cam thing. 
"Well, where would you like to eat?" He reaches over and drapes his arm over my shoulder, and pulls me closer against his side. I was almost surprised that he was wearing a shirt, and I found myself feeling more than a little disappointed. 
"How about pizza? We could probably find a good place, one that has games and booze." I wrap an arm around his waist and lean against him. 
He leans down and kisses the top of my head. "I think we can find such a place." 
I smile as he leads the way down the street and into a local pizza place, and it even had a few games. 
"Go nuts." CC says as he let me go and ushered me forward with a smile. 
"Seriously?" I turn to face him with my eyes wide. "What's the catch?" 
He chuckles as he gets us a table and took my hand as we sat down. "There's no catch, we're here to have fun." 
I raise my brows at him as I pick up my menu and give it a once over. Truth was, I already knew what I wanted to eat. Whenever I go out to eat, I always try to at least find the same thing every time. I smirk as I lean back in my seat. "Double pepperoni?" I always loved pepperoni when I was at Andy and Juliet's. CC usually helped me get what I wanted. 
"Of course, Sunshine." 
When I was a kid, CC had quickly become the big brother I had always wanted. Spoiled me rotten, and he still does when he gets the chance. I'm happy that this is one of those days. 
When the waiter came by, I asked for a double rum and coke, while CC got a draft beer. When we had ordered our food, we went to play games. I kicked his ass at Skee-Ball, he kicked mine at Pinball, and all while we ate and drank, I always loved playing games with CC. I may have been more than a little drunk when I leaned against him, he was so warm, always so warm. 
He is trying to get me a bad stuffed animal as I keep my arms around his waist and my head against his shoulder. He finally got one, it was a red and black T-Rex, it was cute and kinda chubby. I giggle quietly as I lean up on my toes and kiss his cheek. 
"It's adorable." I say as he turns in my arms to face me. He was so close, I could feel his breath move my hair. "I'm gonna name him CC, and I'm gonna sleep with him every night." 
He grins as he holds it out to me. "Oh yeah? Every night?" He slips it into my bag and holds my waist. "You know, you could sleep next to the real thing." 
I tilt my head at him as I look up at him, my stomach did a flip and I swallow. My head was foggy and swimming, there was no way I could, or even should, make any sort of choices. He had drunk as much as ai had, he shouldn't be either. 
"I'll it it under consideration." I say as ai take a step away from him. "We should get back to the bus." 
His hand falls away from my waist and he paid for our night as we left. He keeps me held against his side, his arms wrapped around my waist. His thumb rubs small circles into my hip. 
It was nice, he made me feel warm, especially when the breeze makes me shiver. I close my eyes, and lean against his side. I wondered if he actually meant it? 
What was the saying again? Drunk words are sober thoughts? 
I lift my head and look up at him as we reach the gates of Warped Tour. When we were hidden by the first few buses, I gently pull us to a stop. 
"What-" 
I tilt my head as I look at him. "Back there, when you said I could sleep next to you, did you mean it?" 
He reaches up with both hands and brushed my hair out of my face then held my face between them. "Ella... Isabella.." He whispers. "Of course I really meant it." 
It almost made me shiver, hearing him say my full name. I blink dazedly at him as he held my face. "Why?" 
"Lately, I've found myself wishing that I could hold you." He explains, his words slurring from the drinking we had done earlier that night. "And I shouldn't. I'm supposed to be your brother." 
"But?" 
"But..." He sighs. "I should be protecting you from the kinds of boys who want to do to you, what I want to do to you." 
This is insane, I tell myself. I shouldn't be pressing him for information, not when I know that he probably won't remember telling me in the morning. I swallow nervously as I watch his face. "How... how long?" 
"I don't know, maybe about a month or so." He finally let go of my face and took a step back. "We should get back to the bus." 
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." 
I didn't know how he expected me to be able to sleep when he just dropped that bomb shell on me. I watch as get gets into bed, still full dressed. I won't be sleeping tonight, I sigh as I finally check my phone, Asking was still playing and Cam had asked me if I'd show. 
I need something to get my mind off of everything. I quietly and quickly, sneak out of my bunk and out of the bus. One thing is for sure, I had so much to tell Alex, Damon and Shannon tomorrow. 
+++
Cam's POV: 

My eyes scan the crown again, hoping that maybe Ella would finally show. We only had two more songs left, and I know that they were her favorites. The Road and A Prophecy. As I make my second sweep, I finally saw her. Standing toward the back of the crowd, wearing a red sundress. She smiles and raises her hand to wave at me. 
I see her smile brighten as she hears her songs, I see her bob her head to the beat, run her hands through her hair. Every now and then, when she thinks I'm not watching her, I see her stare at me as she chews on her lip. I wonder what she was thinking about? 
When the set is over, I watch as she runs backstage, passed our guards and right up to me. She would have gone right into my arms, if it wasn't for my guitar. 
Her face was flushed red, her eyes were bright with some sort of mischievous glee. I hand my guitar to our tech and finally take her into my arms. 
Her arms are wrapped around my neck, while mine wrap themselves around her waist. She smells of her perfume and pizza, but under all that, I smell something... musky and cologneish. "Where were you tonight? I ask as I pull away to look down at her. "You missed most of the show." 
"I was getting pizza with CC." She blew her hair out of her face as she smiles at me. "I was only just able to sneak away." 
That explains the cologne. I kiss the top of her head and pull her against my side. I was relieved when she didn't pull away from me despite me being sweaty. 
"From what I did see, you were great out there." Ella says as we walk, slowly trailing behind the guys and also Dawn. "And, my curfew as been lifted. Which means, I can stay out as late, and come home as early, as I want." 
"Oh?" I ask as I glance down at her. "And what is Ella Biersack planning to do tonight?" 
"I think that she'd like to spend it with you." Ella says as she leans against my side. 
I could tell that she was stressed out about something, her eyebrows always come together when she had something weighing heavily in her mind. I know better than to push the subject. She'll tell me when she's ready. 
I rub her arm and look ahead of us at the rest of the band who were watching us very carefully. "How about I shower, then we lay around for a while?" I ask as we get closer to the bus. "How does that sound?" 
Ella tilts her head this way and that as she thought that over. Then she smiles as she raises her gaze back to mine. "I'd like that." 
"Good." I kiss the side of her head as Ben pulls the bus door open, and ushered us all inside. 
"Does Andy know you're here?" Danny asks as Ella sits down on one of the couches. 
"He doesn't need to know," Ella says with her chin held high. "My curfew is gone. I can do whatever I want." 
"Ah, she's going off the deep end." Ben says with a chuckle. "She gets a taste of freedom, and comes here first." 
"Actually," she says as she blows her hair out of her face. "I came for him." She nods toward me. 
Ben gives her a big grin as he looks between the two of us. "Oh, I'm sure you will be." 
Dawn gently swats at his arm. "Stop it, it's cute that she's here for Cam." 
Ella raises her head to look at me, smiling as she watches me leave the front lounge and get showered. I can still hear Ben talking shit, making perverted jokes about Ella and I.
It makes me strangely giddy, knowing that she was here for me, that her little walk with rebellion has me included in the high jinks. When I was showered and dressed, I grab of of my shirts from the back lounge then join the others back up front. 
Ella was explaining in great detail how she had once kicked Bryan's ass at Mario Kart so hard that Kyle got her a twelve pack of Monster, and judging by the fact that James was mixing drinks for everyone, I guessed that her drink has rum in it. Rum mixed with some sort of cola has always been Ella's go to. 
"Getting her drunk already?" I ask as I sit down next to her. 
"Mate, she was drunk when she got here." Danny says as he looks away from Dawn, and at me. 
Ella set her glass down and gets snuggled in against my side, seemingly starting to get cozy. "I was starting to sober up, CC and I had a couple when we went to get pizza." She grins widely and happily. "We got double pepperoni, and he got me a little red dino plush. It was super fun." 
I chuckle as I rub her arm. "So, you had fun today?" 
"Yeah, it was a great day." she turns to look up at me. "And I'll have a good night too." 
"Oh?" I ask, glancing at Sam and Ben as I speak. "And why's that?" 
"Because I'll be with you." 
Sam clears his throat as he leans forward to take the drink from her. "And what else did CC say? You loke... well, sort of stressed." 
"And cagey." Ben adds. 
Ella furrows her eyebrows and chews on the inside of her cheek as she glances around at us. "CC... said something weird." She shifts uneasily in her seat as she cuddles in closer to me. 
I reach down to pet her hair, my fingers passing through her hair as I did. "What did he say?" I feel fear strike through me, but my fear was quickly replaced by guilt. I should be pumping her for information when she's been drinking. She wouldn't do this to me. 
Ella us quiet for a few seconds as she struggles to search for words. She keeps her eyes on me as she finally speaks. "He said that... He should want to protect me from the kinds of boys that want to do to me, what he wants to do to me." 
I share a concerned look with Ben. That seems to have worried him as much as it did me. I wrap a protective arm around her and kiss the top of her head. "Do you want to stay here tonight?" 
"Yeah, if that's okay. I don't want to be a burden." She looks up at me with big hopeful eyes. 
"You won't be a burden. I promise." I say as I get to my feet and pick her up. "Change into my shirt, and get cozy in my bunk. I'll be there shortly." I set her back onto her feet and close the back lounge doors, leaving her inside, and me in the bunk isle as I turn to look at everyone else. 
"That does... what CC said... that was..." I trail off as I run out of words to say. 
Ben nods in agreement. "That was kind of weird." 
"He's practically her brother." Dawn says in a small voice. "Maybe that's what he meant." 
"But who says that to someone they've known since they were twelve?" Danny asks. 
I slowly shake my head as I watch the back lounge door. It opens and Ella steps out, pantsless, and carefully climbs into my bunk. "I'll ask her again in the morning when she's sobered up. She might just be saying it weird because she's drunk." 
James pats my shoulder and nods toward the bunk. "Go be with her." He gives me a gentle, and knowing, smile. "She needs you." 
Did Ella need me the same way June once needed him? I pat his hand and strip down to my boxers, then carefully open the curtain up. Ella was still awake, curled up in a loose ball, staring out of the bunk window. She's using her arms as a pillow. 
"See anything interesting?" I ask, my voice soft as I slide into bed next to her. I carefully wrap an arm around her waist and kiss her shoulder as I pull her closer to me, and against my chest. "Or are you just day dreaming, Love?" 
"Just day dreaming." Ella says softly, but I can hear the smile in her voice. "I was thinking about what our date would be like." 
I smile against her shoulder as I move up and press another kiss against her neck. "And what was going on in that pretty little head of yours?" 
"I thought about what it would be like if you kissed me after we played some game," she slowly turns in my arms and nuzzles her face against my chest. "Thought about you whispering sweet nothings in my ear as you held me, kissed me... sometimes, you're pressing me against a wall, and our kisses get more... hot and heavy.." She smiles as she raises her head to look at me. "Sometimes, we aren't just kissing." 
I lean down and kiss her forehead. "You have a very active imagination, Ell." I rub small circles into her back. I reach down with my other hand and take hold of her leg, pulling her closer, and on to my chest. "Get some sleep, love. We can talk some more in the morning." 
"Okay." She says softly. She repositions herself, her face nuzzling against my neck, one of her arms resting on my chest. "Goodnight, Cam." 
"Goodnight, Ella." 
As Ella starts to doze off, and her breathing starts to even out, she presses her lips against my neck. I smile as I run my fingers through her hair. 
Just holding her, feeling her relax against me and in my arms, knowing that she trusts me enough to sleep peacefully next to me... it all makes this night, one of the best nights of my life.