Knock Me Down - [COMPLETE]

18 - The Convicts

The door swings opens and the lead singer pops his upper body half in without the mask he had on earlier, "Ey, Jasper. Come help us pack this shit up"

Jasper suddenly gives me space.

"Who's this?" The singer looks at me and makes the decision to walk in instead, "Jasper how many times do I have to tell you to stop fucking your fans backstage?"

The color drains from my face and I try not to let my jaw drop.

"Shut up, Cassius" Jasper murmurs shifting his body towards the smug singer. He pauses, hesitating and continues, "This is Mateo. My neighbor"

Cassius cocks his head head and they have the kind of eye contact where they're telepathically communicating and I'm just the observer, "Oh, Benicio's lil brother?"

He smiles at me and puts a hand on my back, "Hey, call me Cas. First time here?"

"Yeah. I didn't even know this place was here. You guys are fantastic"

"You're not twenty-one, are you, man?" Sheepish, I shake my head no. Did I really look that young? He grins, "The age thing is a front so not just any uni kid we know can get in. Connor, you know Connor?"

"Yeah, he brought me in"

"He's in charge of letting only some people in. If you had an escape, Mateo, would you want the whole world to know?"

"Maybe if it was a talent the whole world should see" I tip my head towards him, a little more confident for a second, ignoring the itch in my throat that reminds me of the cold I'm recovering from so I don't cough in his face.

Cas laughs squeezing my shoulder appreciatively, "A smashin' kid"

"You want to meet the band?" Jasper asks me while. The offer surprises me. I thought he was going to lecture me for another 10 minutes and make me go home.

Holden's laughing along with Connor and the band when we come out. Cas asks, seeming less drunk than he was at the beginning of their show, "What're we talkin' about?"

"Our costumes. And how we're wearing each other's pants even though we had plenty of time to switch" The girl with short dark hair and sugar skull make up speaks up.

"And how the circumference of my ass fills these babies even better?" Cas turns around to show his back side, "Gotta say, up front it's a lil tight on the" He gestures to his crotch, "...important bits"

"Tch. Suck on the circumference of my cock" She replies flicking him off.

"Please, hon, I've seen Tic Tacs with larger diameters"

"Anyway, who's the cute guy?" The one in the bloody wedding dress says drawing attention to me, and the intimidation comes crawling out of thin air. These guys are significantly more interesting than I am, and it makes my anxiety take a seat.

"This is Mateo" Jasper steps in for me, not letting Connor take the wheel for introductions. They're spread out waiting for him to tell me their names. "Killer elf is Hudson, he/they pronouns. Murder bride, she's Genesys. You know Cassius. Day of dead, she's Sayen"

"Benicio's younger brother?" Hudson asks.

"Does everyone just know me as Benicio's sib?" I question out loud noticing the ongoing pattern that's been there my entire life.

"Haha, we definitely know you more by—" Sayen kicks Cas to shut him up. "Ow, fuck, mate! In the same spot too. So much violence today"

"Yeah, Jasper and Benicio have brought you up a few times" She confirms.