Saving Evelyn (Tony Perry Love Story)

I Thought That We Could Sit Around and Talk For Hours

Evelyn

Calm down, Evelyn. Don't embarass yourself. Control your inner fangirl.

I manage to keep a cool composure entering the bus with Tony but wow, I am pretty damn excited.

Tony was right, it's crazy on here. As soon as the door opens I'm hit in the face by loud music, the smell of cigarette smoke and the sound of all the people crowded onto the bus. Everyone is dancing and yelling and laughing; no one's even noticed Tony and I entering. It's almost overwhelming.

Tony must have guessed how I'm feeling by the way I'm gripping his arm and the scared expression I must have on my face. "It's okay," he yells into my ear. "Just take my hand and come with me." I oblige, trying to ignore the way my stomach twists as he takes my hand in his.

We push our way through the crowd, making our way down the bus. I recognise a few faces, but not very many.

Towards the back of the bus I see a spiky-haired someone doing some strange dance while two other guys, one short and one tall, laugh and film him on their iPhones. I quickly realise that it's the rest of Pierce the Veil and I move closer to Tony, overcome with a wave of nerves. What if they don't want me here? What if they get angry? I'm not sure why, but Tony doesn't make me feel scared or nervous; he just makes me feel safe.

We approach them and Tony taps Vic on the shoulder, who lowers his phone and turns to face us.

"Hey, Tone. Who's this?" Vic shouts over the chaos, nodding in my direction.

"This is Evelyn," Tony yells back. "We met her at the meet-and-greet, remember?" 

Both Vic and Mike wave and smile at me, indicating they remember. Jaime shouts something incoherent from behind them and waves at me too.

"Guys, can I talk to you for a minute?" Tony shouts, beckoning to Vic and Mike. "Jaime, do you wanna look after Evelyn for a second?" Jaime grins and dances over to us. I should probably say that I don't need looking after or something like that, but to be honest I'm glad he has left me with Jaime. I don't want to be on my own and Jaime seems so nice, if a little eccentric.

Tony leads Vic and Mike off the bus and Jaime turns to face me, still doing some strange dance. "Hey Evie, what's doin'?"

"Not much," I reply, grinning.

"So what brings you onto the party bus?" he says, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"Tony said I could stay here the night, because I didn't have anywhere else to stay."

"Ooh, chatting up the turtle, are we?" he asks mischieviously. Thank goodness I was saved from answering that by Tony and the Fuentes brothers coming up behind me.

"You're good to stay here, if you still want to," Tony says into my ear. I smile and nod enthusiastically. To be honest I'm getting really claustrophobic but I do still want to stay.

"Um, I might just go outside for a minute, okay?" Tony nods and I start making my way to the front of the bus again.

Once outside, I gratefully take a deep breath and relish in the silence. I rummage around in my bag for a minute and finally pull out a packet of strawberry bubblegum. I told myself I need to quit smoking, and bubblegum often helps with my cravings.

As I place the sweet pink cube on my tongue I hear the bus door open behind me. I turn around to see Tony approaching.

"Hey, just seeing if you were okay," he says softly. I love how he is covered in tattoos and plays lead guitar in a band like Pierce the Veil, but is actually really shy. It's kind of adorable.

"I'm fine," I say, smiling. "Just needed a bit of space. You were right, it's pretty wild in there."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he says, chuckling. "I came out to get some air, too. I love partying but tonight's show just wore me out!"

I turn around and sit on the ashphalt, leaning my back against the wheel of the bus. I smile up at Tony and pat the space next to me, just like he did for me back in the street.

He smiles too and takes the spot. "Do you want some bubblegum?" I ask, offering the packet.

"No, thanks," he chuckles. We sit in silence for a few minutes, until Tony says "So, since we're sitting here, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

"Gosh," I say, fiddling with my bag. "Well, I currently work part-time at McDonalds, purely because I can't seem to hold a job anywhere." Wow, I must seem like such a loser next to him, being famous and everything. "It sucks because I'm vegetarian and, well, McDonald's isn't very vegetarian-friendly."

"Hey, I'm vegan!" says Tony. "How come you decided to go veg?"

"I guess because I really care about animals, and I'm also into being healthy and stuff. So, I just figured that it would probably be good for me to go vegetarian. What about you?"

"Well, I'm a really big supporter of PeTA and I'm really against animal cruelty and stuff, so, yeah, that's why I decided to take the leap and go all out vegan."

"That's awesome that you're doing that!" I say. It really is awesome.

"Yeah, I just figured that since I'm relatively well known, I could use my fame for good, you know? Like, encourage people who look up to Pierce the Veil to help out organisations like PeTA and stand up against animal cruelty and factory farming and stuff. It's just so sad that people do things like that."

"It's awful," I say, nodding enthusiastically. "It's such a great idea that you're doing this, and I totally agree with all of it. I've donated to PeTA and some similar organisations before and it really is a good cause." When he talks I can hear in his voice how passionate he really is about this, and I definitely know how he feels.

We talk for hours, sitting outside on the cold ashphalt as the party continues on in the bus. I tell him about my parent's divorce, moving here from the east coast and how hard that all was for me. I tell him about my home life as I grew up and my life now, which isn't great, to be honest. 

He tells me about his childhood and what it's like being in Pierce the Veil, being famous, always touring and being away from his family and friends back home. We basically share everything and with each topic we become more and more comfortable with each other.

Tony notices I'm shivering in the cold night air and he takes off his jacket to wrap around me. He puts an arm around my shoulders and pulls me close to him. Now I'm yawning and my head is drooping onto his shoulder...

Title cred: The Last Something That Meant Anything - Mayday Parade