Nine: Summer bombshell and the false alarm.

"Alright Wisconsin thank you so much for having us!" I yelled into mic over the roar of the crowd as the last of the distortion hummed and faded away thanks to the last song of the night.

The second the amps were off I dropped my mic and ran for the curtain, grabbing the bottle of water and towel waiting for me. Some time during the night I had taken my shirt off and thrown it to the crowd only to watch it being practically torn apart by a few over excited fans. I was glad I didn't like that shirt much anyway; otherwise I probably would have been in tears before the night was over. Sighing I wrapped the towel over my shoulders and took a mouthful of water to soothe my burning throat. All that screaming wasn't good for someone as tiny as me, and the heat from those lights… I swear people have forgotten what cooling systems are for. All in all it had been a great first show since we had taken some time off, it had given me a chance to burn off most of my frustration and pent up anger over all the stupid things I had been getting pissed off about.

"Great show Alex! You were sounding right on form tonight!" Dan smiled when he reached me, pulling his ear plugs out and handing them to the technician to put away.

"Thanks, You were sounding hella sexy up there as well, I'm guessing the new pedal's doing wonders for you, huh?" I replied smiling a little, pulling my towel over my head and rubbing my hair dry of all the sweat.

"Yeah actually, it's a lot nicer to use than the last one," Dan nodded and chuckled, doing the same as me with his towel.

It was about then the others turned up, still none of us were talking and Lee's glares were getting filthier by the day. I had calmed down a lot since that day back at the hotel where I had flown off the handle at them, the show tonight had especially helped as I said before, but I wasn't ready to talk to them yet, I felt some what safer being on my own with out them there to wind me up. Only now the whole not talking thing had grown from me not talking to Greg, Matt and Lee to Dan not talking to Greg, Matt and Lee. I didn't understand quite what had happened but from what I made out from Dan's ranting, the other three had yelled at him for talking to me when he was supposed to be on their side.

The jerks.

"So anymore news about the stalker?" Dan asked me as we headed for the dressing room, leaving the other three to sort themselves out.

I shook my head a little and sighed, mainly in relief.

It had been a good few days since the incident at the interview, I had managed to push the phone call, the locket and the roses out of my mind enough to get on with the things I needed to do in my life, but still I was unable to shake the feeling I was being watched everywhere I went. Still this was better than nothing, I felt a little more relaxed and less jumpy around the others, hell around anyone, but I still freaked whenever I saw a shadow, only to feel like a complete twat when I realised it was in fact nothing more than just a shadow I saw.

"Maybe who ever it was has given up then," Dan suggested putting his glasses back on the second we were in the dressing room.

"Maybe," I nodded not really believing it but wanting to. "I hope you're right."

Dan just shrugged suggesting that it was the end of the conversation. Grabbing clean clothes and my wash kit, I headed for the small bathroom to wash up and make myself feel less smelly and grubby. I heard the others enter just as I shut the door, blocking out Matt's screeching giggles as Greg attempted to whip him with a rolled up towel… I swear they act younger and more immature than me. I caught a glimpse of Lee just as I shut the door though, his eyes on me with that hard gaze he had been giving me for a few days now. I tried not to let it get to me, a difficult task when it hurt to see him so angry with me, but I refused to get all emotional over it, it was hard enough staying strong at the moment with out getting all upset over with him and his foul mood.

Sighing I set my stuff down on the toilet lid, my system still pumped full of adrenaline as I pulled my jeans and boxers off slowly, leaving them in a pile by my clean stuff before grabbing my wash bag. It had fast become a ritual for me to wash up as best as I could after a show, there was nothing worse than lying in a coffin sized bunk sticky and smell badly of sweat, the idea alone made my skin crawl and my stomach turn so I wasn't about to test it out in real life. I only spent a few minutes washing up, mainly removing my make up and making sure I felt clean and smelt decent before I yanked a black t-shirt and black pair of jeans on quickly, messing with my hair a little to make sure it was okay and making a quick exit.

Rule number one with touring is to be quick about everything, exactly thirty minutes after our show would finish, our tour bus would be pulling out and if we were late, then we were late to hit the road and late to the next destination and sometimes that could be disastrous. We had to time ourselves, if all of us wanted to use the bathroom then that would mean only six minutes in there each, then there's walk from the stage to the dressing room and from the dressing room to the tour bus which actually cuts it down to about five minutes each if you think about it.

Trust me that's not a lot of time.

The others were still in the dressing room, minus Dan who I assumed had gone to have a cigarette outside the bus. Ignoring the looks I was getting I grabbed my stuff and went to leave only to find my exit suddenly blocked by the three annoying assholes.

I looked at them with a far from amused glare, silently telling them to move.

They didn't.

"We have five minutes before we have to get back to the bus, so would you three idiots move out my way and let me be on time?" I snapped.

"We're not going anywhere until we sort this shit out," Greg replied in an oddly calm voice.

I never knew he could be mature.

"There isn't anything to sort out and even if there was why not wait until we're on the bus?" I pointed out smartly. "That way we can be on time to our next show tomorrow!"

"Because there are places you can hide on the bus, like the back room." Lee pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah yes, the back room with its locking door and play station… I almost forgot about that." I grinned cheekily before my face dropped back into a glare. "Move."

"Not until you accept the fact that this whole not talking to us business is getting beyond the joke!" Greg shook his head stubbornly.

"Who said it was a joke?" I asked.

Matt sighed and shook his head looking at me pleadingly. I had never seen him pull such a face before it was actually frightening.

"Alex, please," He sighed looking like he was about to burst into tears. "This isn't fair, the band is suffering seriously, we need to get over this. We're sorry about the way we've acted we weren't thinking, we didn't realise you were so upset about it."

"Well I wasn't exactly going to be happy about it, Matt," I sniffed.

"Look what he's trying to say is that you've been going on about how it's just a joke and acting like it doesn't bother you, we assumed you were handling it okay and yes we were wrong but we realise that now and we want to fix it," Lee carried on looking at me seriously.

I swallowed, starting at him for what felt like forever, not thinking of anything except how amazing his eyes were and how he always seemed to have the answers and that I couldn't be any more in love with him than I was now. I felt my resolution starting to crumble, I felt myself starting to feel bad for being so angry at them for so long, especially with him, I just felt myself giving up and for once I didn't feel completely defeated.

"You're right, I'm sorry," I sighed finally looking away and running a hand through my hair. "I guess the stress of the tour and shit is making me act stupid."

"I think we've all been acting stupid," Greg pointed out in attempt to make me feel a little better. "Look, let's just put this behind us okay? We have a tour to finish and when we finally get home we'll deal with everything properly."

I nodded a little and shifted my bag on my shoulder a little.

"We'd better get to the bus, we're going to be late," I murmured checking my watch for the time.

They all nodded, letting me go first seeming, as they hadn't got their stuff together as yet. I thanked them and headed out slowly, feeling like my pride had been broken a little still but not feeling as bad as I thought I would.

"Alex," Lee caught my wrist gently just outside the door turning me gently. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded and managed a smile. "Seriously, I'm just tired and feeling like a complete dork for how I've been treating you guys, but I'm okay."

I saw the small smile flicker onto his lips, loving how warm it was and how it lit up his eyes despite how small it was.

"I think if any of us were in the same situation, we'd be no better," He replied. "So don't worry about it."

"Thanks," I smiled feeling better now that I could actually talk to Lee, and even enjoy his company.

"You're welcome," He nodded. "Hey, when we've hit the road, do you fancy going a few rounds on the play station, just like old times?"

"Sure, that sounds really nice." I nodded.

"Okay, I'll see you back at the bus then." He smiled and turned back for the dressing room.

I waited until he was out of sight before heading out and across the car park to the bus, the lights already on and the engine already running. I tiredly made my way up the steps smiling a little at Dan who was stretched out on the couch, before making my way to the bunk section to put my bag away. Just as I was crawling into my coffin to relax for a little bit, my cell began ringing from under my pillow, making me jump. Sighing I picked it up, looking at the number on the screen, not even recognising the number but answering it anyway.

"Hello?" I mumbled tiredly.

Silence.

"Hello?" I repeated frowning a little when all I got was static and heavy breathing down the other end. "Hello…who is this? Greg? Matt? Guys this isn't funny, we just sorted everything out…"

Still nothing except for heavy breathing making ice run down my spine until I was full of dread and fear.

"Look who ever you are, just leave me alone!" I hissed down the line and snapped the phone shut.

Two seconds later the phone rang again making me jump. Growling I answered the phone once more ready to throw a shit tonne of abuse down the line.

"Look…"

"Alex?" my mother's voice rang out making me sighing in relief.

"Mom?" I gasped in surprise smiling suddenly.

"Well hey sweetie, I've been trying to get hold of you all night," She replied and I just knew she was concerned. "Everything alright?"

I opened my mouth to say no, desperately wanting to tell her everything and just hear her comforting me but I also knew if I said anything she's demand me off the tour and ruin everything for the band.

"Yeah mom," I murmured managing a small smile. "Everything is just fine."