I Don't Know How But The Found Him

1

Dallon's POV

Dec 1st 2018

I woke up with a cramp in my leg. Tour bus bunks weren't really my best friend. Jumping out of the bunk, my leg gave way and I fell into a pile on the floor. I could hear quiet chatter from the other bunk section of the bus and the door opened slightly. Otto put his head through the gap. He smiled at me, his dazed eyes showed the lack of sleep he'd had.
"Are you okay down there?" He asked, opening the door more and joining me. He spoke quietly, so as not to wake Ryan and some of the crew members we shared a bunk room with. I nodded, rubbing my leg. He held out his hand and helped me to my feet. My leg still throbbed and I screwed my face up in discomfort. The brown-haired boy in front of me beckoned for me to follow him. I shut the door slowly behind me and limped down past the other bunks with him. Awsten was leaning out of his on his phone, talking to his guitar tech, who was lying on his back in the bunk across the aisle looking like he desperately wanted to go back to sleep.
"Morning dad" Awsten beamed at me. His eyes lit up like he hadn't seen me in years when it had only been six hours. Being at least ten years older than the Waterparks boys, they'd started to treat me like their father. I patted him on the head as I walked past.
"Where are you taking him, Otto?" Awsten spoke loudly down the bus and Geoff groaned, turning in his bunk below Awsten's.

"Remember people are sleeping" I put my finger to my lips and closed my eyes out of tiredness.
"Sorry"

Once everyone was vertical, the driver announced that we had arrived in Houston. The last date of the tour. We'd been on the road for just under a month and nothing quite takes me back to the Panic! days as much as sharing a tour bus with three guys in their twenties with boundless amounts of energy. I sat at the table on Twitter next to Awsten who had his head planted on my shoulder before he heard the news that we'd arrived. His head left my shoulder and he moved to the window to look out.
"There's a shit ton of people out there already," He said, sounded amazed yet it had been the same pretty much every day. Ryan looked out of the window whilst standing behind Awsten. Geoff came back from the toilet and sat next to Otto opposite us.
"I'm gonna miss this," He said, looking at each one of us. "Will we do it again?"
"Of course. I've loved it" Ryan told him. So had I. We'd had a lot of jokes on this bus that would never get repeated again without the same people. Awsten dropped the curtain and moved back over to me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders.
"I'm gonna miss my tour dad" He put his head onto my shoulder again.
"I think Amelie and Knox will want me back at some point" I looked up to Geoff and Otto, who were smiling. Since Awsten and his girlfriend broke up earlier in the year, he had a habit of becoming attached to people easier. It wasn't an immediate thing but he'd become so attached to me that I was severely worried about what would happen when this tour was over.
"I can be your third kid, I'm sure Breezy wouldn't mind" he looked up at me and grinned. The man that his fans saw was different to the man before me. He was hard-working, there was no hiding that. I'd heard and seen him recording and writing many times on this tour late at night. But something snaps sometimes and he regresses. He becomes attached and dependent. He'd held my hand in McDonald's at two in the morning after the Cleveland show.
"You'll have to ask her, "I told him.

The gig went without a hitch. I played bass for Waterparks on the last song and people went mad. As I came onto the stage, Awsten said,
"We've been very lucky to spend this last month touring with the wonderful boys of I Don't Know How But They Found Me" Geoff played a chord and walked over to Otto. "It's been a dream and I'd like to welcome my tour dad, Mr Dallon Weekes to the stage" he cheered and everyone clapped as I walked on and over to the microphone that had been set up for me.
"Thank you! It's been nice to tour with the Waterparks boys, even though they did bagsy the comfier beds on the bus" Awsten grinned at me. We went into Stupid for You. Ryan joined us on stage and the five of us took a big bow at the end. The crowd cheered. Awsten went back up to the mic,
"Thank you so much, Houston!"