July 4, 2016

"Tampa!" Carrie exclaimed, and the crowd cheered. "We're Toxic Valentine, and we're here to blow your fucking mind."

"Sorry, parents," Lindsay apologized, referring to Carrie's language.  She just laughed.

"We always start our set with a little song called Toxic Valentine," Carrie said.  The crowd cheered again. "But, we figured with this tour, we'd do things a little differently.  You see, that song is by a band you may know called All Time Low.  Well, they're here tonight, and a certain someone offered to sing it for you guys."

Alex Gaskarth, the lead singer of All Time Low, walked onto the stage, and the crowd cheered.  He and Carrie spoke for a few seconds, before Carrie made her way to the side of the stage.

The rest of the band played, while he sang the song that had given them their name. 

They were about a week into the tour, and tonight was the first time that they had done this.  She had somehow convinced Alex to sing with the band, since they were in their hometown of Tampa.  Now that it was actually happening, she couldn't believe that this was the life she got to live.  A life that let her go on tour with not only her favorite band, but the band that had given all the girls inspiration.

When the song ended, the crowd cheered.  Carrie walked back over to her microphone.

"Alex Gaskarth, everybody!" She was smiling.

As they continued on with their set, she couldn't help but smile every time the crowd sang along.  This band that started as nothing more than a group of high school friends who liked the same music, was now opening for their favorite band on a sold-out tour, and they actually had fans who knew their songs.

Eventually, they finished the set with Bombshell.  When she thanked everyone for coming out, they cheered.

The girls headed backstage, and the crew started setting up for Neck Deep, who would be performing after them.

Carrie was handed a bottle of water, and after thanking the person who handed it to her, turned to talk to Lindsay.

"Carrie."

Her eyes widened when she heard his voice, and after a few seconds of searching, she found Colby.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, walking over to him. "I didn't know you were here."

"I figured tonight would be a bit more special, since it's your hometown and all," He said.

"How did you get backstage?" She asked, then took a sip of her water.

"I'm Seth Freakin' Rollins," He replied, and she laughed. "No, but really, a security guy recognized me and let me back here."

"Pays to be famous, huh?" She asked.

"Definitely." She smiled at him, and he continued. "You said there was something you wanted to give me?"

She looked confused for a second, but quickly remembered the conversation they had after Extreme Rules. "I'll give it to you after the show.  I'm not done yet.  I've got to stop touring with bands who have duets on their setlists."

He laughed. "You know you love it."

She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess.  I mean, I do get to sing with All Time Low."

They continued talking, and eventually Neck Deep went onstage.  When she heard the opening chords of a certain song, she had to stop their conversation.

"This is one of those duets I was talking about," She said, smiling at him. 

Carrie walked over to the side of the stage, where she was handed a wireless microphone.  She listened to Ben (the lead singer) sing his last few lines before she was set to walk out.

"I was falling for a girl, who would ask me to come over
Just for a day, while her parents were away.
Now all I can do, is lay in my room,
Fall asleep, dream of you,
Then wake up and do nothing about it."

Carrie began singing before she walked out onstage, and once she was seen, the crowd began cheering.

"I fell for a boy who would never ever let me walk home that way,
'Cause you gotta be safe.
So hold back your views,
We're both leaving soon,
I can't fall back on you,
'Cause that's not what I do."

They began singing at the same time, and as Carrie sang her part, she glanced offstage to look at Colby.  She had to look back at the audience, so they weren't left wondering what the heck she was staring at offstage.

When they finished the song, the crowd cheered.

"Give it up for Carrie!" Ben shouted, and she grinned.

As she walked offstage, he began talking to the crowd.  Colby was where she'd left him.

"One song down, another one to go," She said, but she was smiling.

"With All Time Low?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah.  It's definitely one of my favorites."

She knew he wasn't as familiar with them as she was, so she didn't bother telling him the name of the song.

They continued talking, and after a few minutes, he said he needed to call someone, so she let him go.

Carrie turned around to watch Neck Deep play their last two songs.  Eventually, Colby returned, though they didn't really talk, as she was too busy listening to the music.

Eventually, they finished their set, and it was time to set up for All Time Low.

"I don't normally sing with them," She explained, looking over at Colby. "Cassadee Pope - Rian's girlfriend - usually does, but I convinced them to let me sing it with them, and they agreed."

"That'll make it even more special," He said, mostly to himself, but she still heard him.

"What?" She asked, not sure what he was talking about.

"Um, the concert," He replied, after hesitating for a second. "It's your hometown, and you get to sing with your favorite band.  Pretty special."

"Yeah," She said, still a bit skeptical.  All Time Low took the stage, though, so she brought her attention to them.

They went through the concert, and eventually Alex said, "We're going to slow it down now."  When he started playing Remembering Sunday, the crowd cheered.

https://youtu.be/ccKV1X9uyP4

Carrie smiled as it neared her part.

"The neighbors said she moved away,
Funny how it rained all day.
I didn't think much of it then,
But it's starting to all make sense.
Oh, I can see now that all of these clouds
Are following me in my desperate endeavor
To mind my whoever,
Wherever she may be."

Carrie walked on stage, and the crowd cheered as she started singing.

"I'm not coming back.
I've done something so terrible,
But you'd expect that from me.
I'm mixed up, I'll be blunt,
Now the rain is just washing you out of my hair
And out of my mind!
Keeping an eye on the world,
From so many thousands of feet off the ground,
I'm over you now, I'm at home with the clouds,
and towering over your head."

Alex sang the end of the song.

"Carrie Patterson, everybody!" He exclaimed, and Carrie grinned and waved.

She turned to walk off stage, but Jessica was standing there, motioning for her to stay there.  She noticed Colby wasn't there anymore, so she turned around.  She glanced at Alex, who just shrugged, but he was smirking, so he probably knew what was going on.

On the other side of the stage was Colby, who was talking to Violet.  She wasn't yelling at him, which is honestly what Carrie was expecting.  When she saw the singer looking at them, Violet turned Colby around and pushed him onstage.

The crowd cheered when they saw him.

"What are you doing?" She shouted, but she knew he probably couldn't hear her.  Once he was actually in front of her, she spoke again. "What's going on?  We're interrupting their set and - "

She was interrupted by his lips crashing into hers.  Without even having to think about it, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Look!  They're making out!" Jack Barakat (the guitarist) exlaimed.

Carrie had to stop because that made her laugh.  Colby smiled - not at his remark, but at her laughter.  Carrie quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him off stage.

She could hear Jack talking again, but she didn't pay attention to him.

"That's not fair," She said, and he frowned.

"What?" He sounded nervous.

"Now I don't have anything to give you," She explained. "Because I was going to do the exact same thing, just not on stage in front of a bunch of people."

"Wait, what?"

She crossed her arms. "I was going to kiss you, but you had to go and ruin it by kissing me first." She was smiling, though, so she definitely wasn't mad at him.

"Do it now," He said. "We're not in front of a bunch of people anymore, and - "

Carrie didn't let him finish, instead interrupting him by kissing him, much like he did to her.

"Now we're even."

***

THE STORY'S OVER YAY

Fun fact: I can play both of the songs in this chapter on the guitar.

Also, the song I named this after - A Part of Me by Neck Deep - isn't in the playlist, but I love it too much not to name the chapter after it.

I don't think I'll be writing a whole chapter that's an author's note because I'm really lazy.

Anyway, thank you guys for reading because I've really enjoyed writing this. :)