Darling You'll be Okay

As the Sun Went Down We Ended Up on the Ground

Sam's POV:

I walk into dance class on Monday morning and sit in my usual corner.
"Hey Sam," I hear. I look up to see one of my best friends, Anna standing there. She sits down beside me. Anna and I have been friends almost our whole lives. We sortof drifted a bit when I started closing off to everyone after my parents died. No-one understood, even the counselors and I found myself shutting down to everything, including life. If Vic and Alex hadn't found me in the bathroom with a bottle of pills, I probably wouldn't be here. But Anna was the only one who didn't treat me like an alien. She didn't ask questions like "omg, are you okay?" but treated me like a human being, for which I was grateful.
"Hey Anna," I smile and she returns it.
"Have the guys come back from tour yet?" she asks and I nod.
"They came back on two days ago."
"Awesome, you must be thrilled," she says, smiling.
"Yeah, I think they are too," I say laughing. She smiles then our teacher walks in the room.
"Alright class, get to work on costuming or whatever else you want to do, practice, study, I don't mind. Just find something productive and do it," she says and then a bunch of people go over and put their earphones in, practicing their dances. They all look amazing.
"Did you decide to do it?" Anna asks me and I nod.
"Tony agreed to it yesterday," I say and she nods.
"Well it'll be amazing," she smiles.
"Thanks."
"Sam! Anna! Is that productive?" our teacher barks at us and we shake our heads, quickly getting out our books. We both put our headphones in and I select a random playlist, Alex's voice quickly filling my ears. I get out my art book and start to draw. I don't actually know what I'm drawing until halfway through it, I realize I've been subconsciously drawing Tony playing guitar. Anna looks over and her eyes widen.
"Flip Sam, that's amazing," she says, grabbing my sketchbook and flipping through the pages. There's one of Vic playing guitar and Austin singing. Then there's one of Jack and Alex.
"Sam, these are incredible," she says and skips to the page where I do my lyric art. Her eyes widen as she traces her finger over the inked lines.
"Do the guys know about this?" she says and I shake my head.
"They know I take art but that's about it," I say quietly.
"You should show them. You have insane talent and some of these would look amazing as t-shirts," she says.
"Thanks," I breathe out.
"Could you draw one for me? I mean, if you want to," she says and I nod.
"I would love to Anna, what do you want?" I smile at her. She grins.
"Could you do the back of a girl and she's playing guitar but it's overlooking the ocean?" she says and I nod.
"Will do," I say as the bell goes.
"Thank you so much Sam, you're the best," she squeals and gives me a hug before making her way to her next class.
"Sam," my teacher says. I walk over to her.
"Yes Miss?"
"Have you sorted your dance?" she asks me and I nod.
"I'm doing a partner dance," I say and she nods.
"Okay. Who with?" she asks and I get out a photo of Tony on my phone. She squints at the screen then frowns.
"He's my best friend, like my brother," I say quickly and she sighs reluctantly.
"He'll have to cover up his tattoos," she says and I smile.
"Thanks Miss!" I call out excitedly as I make my way to my next class.



Tony's POV:

Sam comes out of school, smiling as she sees me waiting. She gets in the car.
"So?" I ask her.
"She said yes!" she exclaims and I smile.
"Awesome," I say, starting the car.
"She said you'll have to cover up your tattoos though," she smirks and I sigh.
"Like that's going to happen," I smirk back and she giggles. "So I guess we need to practice now," I say and she nods.
"Yep."
"What song?"
"Atlas by Coldplay," she says and I smile.
Of course.



Sam's POV:

I sit at the bench, headphones in, drawing. I have my glasses on, I want this to be perfect for Anna. Only me, Tony and Jack wear glasses and I only wear mine at home. I don't even want to risk wearing them at school.
"Whatcha doin?" I hear Jack say from behind me and I turn to face him, pulling out an earbud. I show him and his eyes widen. He takes the book and starts flipping through it.
"Far out," he whispers. I smile and blush slightly.
"ALEX!" He yells and a second later Alex appears. Jack motions him over and shows him the book.
"Did you draw these Sam?" He asks me, I nod and his eyes widen.
"They're amazing," he says softly.
"Thanks," I whisper and he smiles at me.
"Man, look at these," Jack says to Alex and shows him the lyric art. I lean my head on my hand, my elbows resting on the bench, I look at them.
"I love the Love Like War one," Alex says quietly and Jack nods.
"Vic Fuentes, get your butt in here!" Alex screams and Vic walks into the kitchen, clearly unimpressed. I smirk slightly.
"What do you want Gaskarth?" he asks and Alex says nothing, just shows him the booklet and points his finger to one of the designs. Vic's quiet for a moment as Alex whispers in his ear. He nods.
"These are amazing Sam," he says to me, smiling slightly.
"Thanks," I reply. Alex clears his throat.
"We would love the Love Like War one on a shirt for merch," he says and this time, my eyes grow wide.
"Are you serious?" I ask them in disbelief. Vic nods, smiling and Alex grins. "Wow, okay I guess that would be cool," I stutter out and they both hi-five me.
"Yay," Jack says from behind me, giving me a hug. Vic takes the book from Alex and starts to flip through it.
"Wow," he breathes as he sees the drawing of Austin. "It's so lifelike," he says and I blush. He flips through and sees the one of him. He smiles slightly.
"You drew me?" he asks in quiet disbelief. I nod, smiling.
"Thanks I guess, this is just. Wow." he stutters and I give him a small , tired smile. He notices and quickly flips through it before handing it back to me.
"Thanks," I whisper and then Vic comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and kisses my cheek.
"You are insanely talented chica," he murmurs in my ear and I smile.
"Thanks Vic," I breathe out and he nods.
"Y'know we haven't had some quality Vic-Sam time in a while, do you want to do something this Saturday, just you and me?" he asks, turning to face me. I smile and nod.
"I'd like that, a lot," I tell him. I realize how much I miss spending time with Vic. I need to get a lot of stuff off my chest and I think he knows that. He smiles.
"Alright! It's on!" he exclaims and I giggle. He leaves and I put my earbud back in. Stained Glass Eyes and Colorful Tears comes on shuffle and I smile. I finish sketching everything and then I text Anna, asking her if she'd like it inked and watercoloured or not. She replies a second later with a big yes for the watercolour and I smile, inking over the pencil lines. I rub them out once I finish and then get my watercolours. I make the girl's hair light brown, like Anna and then do a slightly grey sky moving to light blue. After a while I finish and smile. I take a photo of it, quickly uploading it to instagram. A few minutes later Zack and Rian have commented on it and it's already gotten seven likes, mostly from the guys. I smile and go back to finishing the one of Tony I started earlier.
"Sam, you never told me you could draw!" Austin whines as he comes into the room with his phone, instagram open. I giggle.
"I didn't think I could," I whisper back to him. He wraps his arms around me.
"Is that Tony?" he asks me, looking over my shoulder. I nod.
"Wow Sam, can I see?" he asks and I nod, sighing as I hand him the book.
"What?! You drew me?!" he exclaims excitedly as I nod. He takes a picture and then hands it back to me.
"I am honoured," he says to me and I smile slightly. He hands it back to me and I sigh, leaning my arms on the bench and staring at the book blankly.
"What's eating ya?" Austin asks me, sitting down at the other bench stool.
"What do you mean?" I ask him, pulling out my headphones.
"Well for one, Soft Skeletons has been on repeat," he says, glancing at my iPod screen as I pause the song. "What's up?" He asks me softly. I sigh.
"I really don't know Aus. It's like I've lost the ability to feel anymore," I whisper to him. He nods. "I just feel numb, as if there's a big gaping hole in my heart," I say. "I'm just tired and I just feel sad all the time," I tell him.
"Oh Sam," he whispers, gently rubbing circles on my back.



Austin's POV:

I feel Sam shudder slightly beneath my hand.
"I just don't want to deal with anything anymore," she whispers shakily. My heart pounds. "Austin, please help me," she says weakly and I stand up, immediately wrapping her in my arms. I feel tears on my shirt but I ignore them. Sam quietly cries into me and I rub her back.
"I can't handle the pressure," she sobs. "I'm done dealing with people."
"It's okay Sam," I whisper to her, recognising her depression and introverted side coming out. She pulls away slightly.
"Can I stay home tomorrow?" She whispers to me, tears rolling down her face. I nod and she gives me a grateful smile, wiping the tears from her eyes. I go over to the stereo and plug Sam's iPod in, selecting her Feel Better playlist and turning up the volume slightly. She half smiles at me as the opening notes of Carousel by Paper Route play and I grin.
"C'mere, you know you wanna," I smirk at her, dancing around slightly to the guitars. I go up to her and take her hand, gently leading her closer to the stereo. I take her other hand in mine and dance with her to the song, singing the lyrics. The song finishes and Sam's giggling slightly but I can tell her heart's not fully in it. Alexithymia by Anberlin comes on shuffle. I know it's one of Sam's all time favourite songs.
"Come on Sam, sing it with me!" I exclaim and she sighs, taking off her glasses and softly sings along to the verse.
"I can't hear you!" I say and she sings louder. It gets to the chorus and her and I start to headbang gently, screaming out the lyrics, mimicking the guitars. The second chorus rolls around and she's smiling as she dances around and we sing loudly along. I can tell she's feeling better already, her eyes are looking brighter than what they were five minutes ago.



Tino's POV:

I can hear some weird electronic music blaring out from the dining room and I'm slightly confused as I knock on the door. Vic opens it, holding in laughter as he puts his finger to his lips, motioning for me to be quiet. I nod and step inside, following Vic to the edge of the dining room. I grin. Austin and Sam are singing and dancing around to Holiday by Swimming With Dolphins. I remember Sam showing me it while we were recording one time. She's singing the girl part while Austin sings the male part. They look so happy. I pull out my phone and record them as Vic takes a picture. I stop recording as the song comes to a close, I smile.
"TINO!" I hear Sam yell as she runs over to me, I open my arms and swing her around. She laughs as I set her down.
"Hey spud," I say as I ruffle her hair. She groans at the nickname. I grin at her.
"That was one time!" She whines playfully and Austin and I erupt into laughter.
"Whatcha doing here?" She asks me.
"Just popped in for dinner," I smile at her. "And to kick your butt at Call of Duty obviously," I add and she grins, narrowing her eyes at me.
"It's on Valentine."