ROSES (Oli Sykes Fan Fiction) COMPLETE

ST. LOUIS

I followed Oli off the van and onto the tour bus with my suitcase, and the first thing I thought was actually how nice it was inside. It was surprisingly roomy for a bus, there was even a kitchen, and a huge TV in what I would call the 'lounge' area. Oli showed me where to store my bag and the bunks where they sleep – though there were no overnight drives on this tour, so they were more just for naps and alone time now. Oli pointed out his bunk; the middle one on the left, and said I could get in there if I wanted to rest. As we reached the back of the bus and a huge circular couch, I noticed all of the plastic roses I had given Oli over the course of the tour pushed into the back of it. I just looked at him and smiled and he chuckled. "They brighten the place up, right?" he asked with a laugh. I thought it was so cute that he'd kept them.

It was really interesting to be on the band's tour bus with them... I guess I had visions of what it would be like; messy, lots of drinking, noisy, chaos, but actually it was the exact opposite. All of the guys were pretty quiet, scattered around the lounge areas either on their laptops or phones – making calls to home, watching movies or playing games. I messaged Cass and just kind of scrolled my instagram and reminisced on all of the amazing memories I had, but after an hour or so, decided to retreat to Oli's bunk. It looked like he was working on his laptop at the table, so I didn't want to bother him, so I just got up and left. I felt a little bit like an intruder getting into the only private space he had, but it was so cool to be there. I took a photo to send to Cass, then put my headphones in and just laid there with the curtain closed, listening to music.

"Roses?" I heard as I felt something beside my face. I had dozed off and as something tickled my ear, I sat straight up and hit my head on the top of the bunk. "Oh shit!" I heard Oli say. I looked over and realised he was standing beside the bunk looking at me and had pulled my earphone out of one of my ears. "Are you alright?" he asked straight away. It wasn't until that moment that the pain hit me. "Owwww!" I said, grabbing my head. It was the second time I'd taken a blow to the head in so many days. "Sorry, I was just coming to tell you that we're here." he said. I shut off my music and crawled out of the bunk and I followed the guys off the bus and into the venue. My head was throbbing. I'm such an idiot!

All of the stuff for the show was pretty much set up when we got there, and Mat took me on a bit of a tour while Oli was doing some microphone stuff with Jordan. I couldn't help but think how much Cassidy would love to be me as I walked the hallways with him and he showed me the stage. It was surreal to stand on it; to see the view that they all saw every night – minus the crowd, of course. Mat was easily the most outgoing and friendly of all of the guys, and seemed the most engaging with me. Maybe he just liked that I was a new person to talk to that wasn't someone he was stuck with all the time, but he seemed like he wanted to get to know me. He asked me about Cassidy and about my life in general and talked about his dog a lot too. On the way back to the dressing rooms he showed me where I could do laundry if I needed to and where catering was and told me to make sure I eat something before the show. I really liked Mat, he was always smiling and joking around, and he was really nice to me... he made me feel comfortable and calm, kind of like a big brother, and I could definitely see why Cassidy liked him so much.