"Well..." The Englishman murmured, "This is awkward..."

The moment he stepped inside the jet, Charlie'd been expecting only one or two people. No biggie. Not everyone minus him. So imagine his shock when he came stumbling in to find half the jet's occupants staring at him. With the exception of a few others, who were either too caught up in whatever they were doing, or just didn't care. Though he suspected it was more of the latter.

"I'm late, aren't I?" He asked, tentatively tapping Harvey on the shoulder, before shooting Kendall a small smile. "But I can explain!" Like face didn't explain enough; His normally clear, handsome face was now slightly reddened and covered with faint traces of some weird-looking blue ointment. And that could only mean one thing, and one thing alone. Nuts. Or Eggs. Or whatever else the Bassist was allergic to; which was a lot, really.

"Um, you see..." He started, not quite sure how to put it. At least not without making himself look like a complete imbecile. "I found this cookie in my bag...and you know how much I love cookies, right?" He paused; His band mates were no strangers towards his cookie-addiction, and they all knew he could never resist a perfectly good cookie. "The label read 'Butter', but I sort of missed the 'with Crushed Almonds' in tiny print at the bottom sooo..." He trailed off, feeling utterly pathetic. It wasn't entirely his fault, though. Besides, the cookie wasn't his in the first place, and someone must've slipped it in his bag by mistake. That, or he just forgot.

He sighed, giving the Lead Singer an apologetic look, "Terribly sorry, mate." He muttered. He dug his hand in his pockets, and pulled out a half empty packet of the offending cookie, "There's still a few left, if you want." He was grinning now, all traces of embarrassment disappearing like magic, as he shoved, and left, the packet in the singer's hands, before turning to venture further inside the jet. And maybe locate his other band-mates in the process.

He cautiously snaked his way past the others, careful not to hit anyone, and somehow got his foot caught in someone's bag strap along the way, sending all six foot something of him free-falling towards the hard, airplane floor. Luckily, he was able to maneuver himself towards one of the seats. Only it wasn't empty. At all.

"Ah fuck!" He groaned, wincing as he rubbed the spot where he smacked himself against the wall. He'd expected the pain to come shooting up his back, only he felt something else. Something soft? Scowling, he cracked open his eyes, to find himself face to face with some guy. The guy looked pretty shocked to say the least, but who wouldn't be, considering some random stranger just landed their arse on your lap. He couldn't make out the guy's face, so he figured he was probably from the other band. That just made it twice as worse.

"Hi." He managed to choke out, a look of utter humiliation plastered on his face, turning it a few shades redder than it already was. "I'm Charlie."

(("Guy" can be anyone ^^; ))

"Hey, Harvard! Any idea where Chuckles is?" He shook his head. Some people hated their nicknames, but Harvey didn't mind Harvard. He thought it made him sound intelligent, and it was probably his shy nature, taking comfort in books and writing combined with it sounding similar to his name that inspired it. Even if he didn't like it, he knew it was just Jonah admitting friendship and friends are always a good thing.

"Hey Jonah, y'alright?" He was just about to express his worry for his missing bandmate when he got a tap on the shoulder. "Charlie! Where have you been?"

"I'm late, aren't I?" Harvey nodded, turning to face his friend. "But I can explain!" Really, he didn't need to. His face gave the explanation, allergies. "Um, you see... I found this cookie in my bag...and you know how much I love cookies, right?" As if he gave the band chance to forget, cookies were his kryptonite. They often contained plenty of substances his body objected to so it wasn't exactly unusual to see him covered in ointment, or popping anti-inflammatory pills. "The label read 'Butter', but I sort of missed the 'with Crushed Almonds' in tiny print at the bottom sooo..." Harvey smiled, picturing the event in his head, sure that Charlie hadn't even bothered to read the packet, his little face lighting up as he searched through his bag for something and finding a cookie. Thanking God or fate or whatever for making him aware of it, taking the first delicious bite and feeling his tongue begin to tingle and his face start to burn red. "Terribly sorry, mate."

"At least you didn't miss it, you're here now." Charlie offered him the remaining cookies and was just about to walk away when Harvey grabbed his arm for attention. "But be more careful on this tour, I don't want to be missing my bassist 'cause he's in hospital!" They smiled at each other before Harvey turned back to Kendall. "Cookie, Kendie?" He offered her the packet, remembering how hungry he actually felt, still worried about his day dreaming drummer.

"Oh nice to meet you, Marshall!" Lilly said to the tall boy in front of her. "I'm Lilly!" She giggled. He seemed very friendly and she knew that he could be someone she could got along, someone who wouldn't mind her always hyper personality.

Smiling as she watched Tawny leave her, Lilly shrugged her shoulders and went back to her bed, unpacking all the snacks and cookies that were in her bag. She had been afraid that the airplane would be serving those disgusting, fake food, especially those peanuts. "Eugh..." She shivered and made a disgusted face just thinking about it. By the time she was finished, to anyone who would see her, it looked as if she were drowning in a pool of bags and bags of various cookies, candy and chips. Lilly giggled grabbing a huge pack of her favorite pack of cookies. It was a type of cookie made in South Korea but she had managed to find some in Japan while on her daily trip to the supermarket.

After no one had wanted to go with her, not even Charlie to buy any cookies, Lilly had gone exploring and had found a new corner shop. While strolling through the aisles, the familiar large red packaging had caught her eye and set her off on a rampage. She was so excited that she had grabbed every single one they had and rushed to the counter where she hugged the boy that had been working to death before going back to the hotel room and hugging and giving every single one of her members a kiss on the cheek.

Her ears perked up at the familiar voice and Lilly jumped off of the bed, the package of Chocopies (the name of the cookies), were still in her arms. She shoved, practically ripped open, the curtain aside while her face was beaming at the sight of the bassist. Although she got along and liked everyone in the band, she had a soft spot for Charlie due to his love for cookies. He didn't like fatty foods, yet that's what she only ate, but she liked how she had someone to share her love for food with. "CHARLIEEE!" She shrieked, lunging at him with her arms spread with open only to see him fall and trip and land on someone's lap. She stopped dead on her tracks and burst out laughing. Unable to control her laugher, Lilly fell to the ground with her arms around her stomach. She couldn't stop laughing seeing that 6 foot tall man just fall on someone.

Taking a deep breath after finally being able to manage her laughter, Lilly pushed herself off the ground and stood up. She made her way to where Harvey and Kendall were and snuck up behind him before putting her arms around her fellow singer. He was a bit too tall for her so it looked somewhat awkward with her trying to reach his shoulders. "Hi guys!" She said to them in an exhilarating voice. "Candy, I like your sweatshirt!" Lilly smiled at their drummer. She liked to call her candy due to the fact that her name was Kendall and well, her hair looked like candy. The item in Harvey's hand caught her eye. It was hard not to notice it. To Lilly, food sparkled in the spotlight and glimmered while just waiting for her to devour it. She gasped, a devious smile slowly spreading across her lips.

"Harvey, my dearest and bestest friend whom I love so much and I would do anything for, even die for, and who is a MUCH better singer than I am, could I, your bestest and dearest friend who would do ANYTHING you wanted me to, aside from sharing my stash of Chocopies, but as I said, ANYTHING, have that cookie? PLEASE!?" She pouted and stared at him, flashing her puppy dog eyes.

Kendall waved at Charlie, and then her eyes fell on the packet. She looked at the singer and shook her head vigorously. "Nah," She enthused, looking at him. "You can have them."

Switching her gaze to Lilly, who just joined, she laughed. "Thanks, Lil." Although, the hyper girl's next movement made her laugh even more. She looked at Harvey. "Give them to her." She mouthed, at the singer who looked a little frazzled. Walking away from the two, she sighed to herself. When this chunk of metal take off?, those words echoed her mind. Impatience always got the best of her. Sometimes, it could make it worse for everyone else. Reminiscing on things that were, she slid back into her seat. What Kendall realized after scanning the vicinity, made her freeze.

My drumsticks...

She couldn't have misplaced those. Her father gave her those. Her father gave her those. Her father is gone. Kendall believed they helped the band. While others had their superstitions, this one was all hers, even her bandmates knew that. Standing up, she started looking.

(Okay, I have writer's block. >.< As well as, I have to get off now. Cuz, I'm being scrutinized, and I have things to do. So, it's short.)

The jet seemed to get smaller and smaller with each person that arrived. This is what he wanted to avoid. They would be cramped together for the long flight. Hopefully, the bands would get along, however that wasn’t always possible. After Lily had introduced herself to him and left, Marshall took this as his chance to escape to the back of the jet. He hadn’t had a chance to explore the rest of the jet. Marshall lifted up his bag and made a quiet exit to the back. Just as he did so, Siena had joined the group. Moving the curtain, Marshall was greeted with an interesting sight. There were beds in this room. How nifty was all he could think. His dark brown eyes glanced from bed to bed. A few of them had bags on them already, signaling that they had already been claimed. Marshall groaned softly. Most of the beds that were taken were the bottom ones. He didn’t complain. Instead he threw his bag on the first top bed. Whoever was on the bottom bed would just have to deal with his early mornings. Marshall’s mom had raised him to wake up early.

“The early bird catches the worm” she would always say. Ever since he was younger Marshall would wake up at five o’clock every morning. He would try to sleep in, but it didn’t work. In the end, Marshall would end up lying in bed until he got up. Marshall looked down at the bottom bed. He tried to figure out whose bag it was. If it belonged to the other band he would find another place to sleep. Marshall wouldn’t want to cause any trouble for the others. His band mates knew of his crazy habit, so they would cut him some slack.

Marshall pushed the curtains out of the way, and walked back to the front of the jet. The person that caught his eye held a cup of delicious smelling coffee. A small smirk appeared on his face as he took a little detour to speak with her.

“Siena bear, it took you long enough to get here. I was so worried” Marshall chuckled. He took a strand of the young girl’s hair and twirled it. Marshall wouldn’t admit to the others, but he had a special place in his heart for Siena and Tawny. Why? Age. They are the same age. Yes, it does seem like a silly reason, but not to Marshall. In Ireland, he never had a friend in his age group. They were always younger, which is why he acted childish at times. Marshall let the strand of hair slip through his finger, before he went to find a seat. Lucky for him, a seat was open. Marshall sat down next to Steven.

“Is everyone here?” he questioned his band mate. Marshall looked at Steven, hoping he would answer his question this time. Then something unexpected happened. Something hard hit him. Whatever it was, it was heavy too. It knocked the wind out of him. Marshall quickly registered that it was a person and wrapped his arms around them to hold them steady.

“Hi. I’m Charlie” the person said.

“Marshall. What a fine way to introduce yourself Charlie. Look at you turning a nice shade of scarlet” Marshall laughed at the poor guy.

Violet got up and she walked towards the front of the plane. She saw someone trip on the bag she dropped when she stopped to tie her shoe. She glared and she said, "I'm so sorry!" Violet said to the person that was way taller than her. "C-Charlie is it?" Violet was short and she was kinda nervous around people near or over 6 feet tall. She was 5 ft 2 inches. She took her bag so no one else would trip over it. Violet scratched the back of her head with a nervous smile.

She put her bag back to her previous seat in the back. She then wondered where the beds were. Violet quickly returned to Charlie to apologize again. "Again, I'm so very very sorry for leaving my bag there. I was tying my shoe and I should of put the bag closer to me and I hope you didn't get hurt or anything." Violet explained with a nervous tone in her voice. Violet hoped she didn't make it seem like she did it on purpose. Violet had never seen Charlie before. So she didn't want to seem like a bad person. It was rare for her to do these kind of things.

Blatantly ignoring his questions, Kendall concerned him but he didn't have chance to probe her more. Lilly came over, spotting the bag of cookies in his hand.

"Kendie, I don't mean to pry but please, just promise me, if you need to talk, you'll come find me." He smiled at Lilly to acknowledge her before she accused him of ignoring her. "Not that it'll be hard to find me in here." He nudged his drummers arm in a friendly gesture. "I'm getting a little worried about you." Twisting round in Lilly's backwards hug. "Let's go eat." He easily picked his small friend up and carried her to the back of the plane, setting her down on the bed she left her bag on. He sat beside her, handing her a cookie. "Charlie gave me these, made his face swell up in the airport." He laughed at the mental image he had earlier. "I swear cookies will be the death of him!" Lilly wasn't really listening, he could tell, she was more interested in picking her cookie to pieces.

Lilly at times was his partner in crime. She loved a laugh and to be involved in anything that was going on, and Harvey's pranks were included in that. Still not quite relaxed in the plane with another band he hadn't plucked up the courage to get acquainted with, he wondered to himself what he could do in such a confined and public space...

Steven scooted over when Marshall appeared in the seat next to him. He didn't want skin contact, or rather, didn't want Marshall to get so close to him. Not when Bridgette was still lingering in his after thoughts, and his impulse control wasn't looking so good. He wondered when his impulse control ever looked good, then brushed it off right around when he figured it never did look well. His urges and hungers were another matter entirely; a thing he'd rather not get into. Especially when Marshall was seated next to him, awaiting an answer to a question that was the only thing he knew at the moment, even if he didn't know anything else.

"I think so." He replied, pushing himself up by his arms and peeking over the abnormally large seat in front of him as he counted heads.

He stopped short when he realized some people had headed to the back where the beds were located. A boy had just arrived though, and he remembered coming short of one person the last time he counted. They finally had everyone on board.

"Hey, you alright, pal?"

Steven looked at Jonah, then at October. Steven couldn't see October's face, but he was suddenly aware of how quiet October had been since they had gotten on the flight. That was just October though. He kept to himself, and meant well, but he worried Steven sometimes. The way October seemed so detatched to his surroundings, or when he got lost in thought. October's face was unreadable, but Steven didn't think he wanted to know what was going in October's mind anyway. Some things were better off left unknown. He had learned that the hard way.

Steven returned his attention back to Marshall, but kept one ear listening for when October replied. "I thi-Jesus Christ!" He fumed, caught off guard and on the brink of angry as a young man flew into Marshall's lap. Nearly knocking into Steven's keyboard case that was placed precariously between Marshall and Steven's legs.

"Watch it, yeah?" Steven said, grasping his case and steadying it, "You cou-" A loud buzz coming from the intercom interuppted him

Please find a seat and put your seat buckles on. We will be taking off shortly.

And something happened to him the instant hands came into contact with his shoulder. Even clothed he could feel the sensation of skin connecting with skin and it caused a wave of disgust to roll down his entire arm and spread across his body. The the breaths that nearly left his suffocating kicked in and he began thinking all of the horrible things that came with touching. Bruises. Scars. Cuts. Marks. Pain. Pleasure. PAIN. His heart beat kicked up several notches and he felt like his whole body was going to implode in on itself and leave behind nothing. Touching lead to memories and memories lead to remembering and remembering lead to phobia's better left untouched. Because he could already feel the bile choking it's way up his throat burning and scalding as it did so.

"Don't... touch... me...." The tone in his voice was probably a lot more menacing than he had planned it to be but if it would get the guy away form him and Jagged then it was worth it. The poor instrument looked like it was going to tip over as it sat in between the seats. If it did 'Jonah' would have a lot more to worry about than just a slightly menacing tone of voice. He'd have to worry about October snapping so deep within himself that nothing would stop him until revenge was complete and the damage done to his life was done twice as bad to whoever had done it. But that wasn't what he was concentrating on just then - he was concentrating on how to get the feeling of someone touching him off his skin. Usually he just rubbed the spot raw but it had been so long since he'd last been touched he felt that it wouldn't work to just rub the feeling away.

His amber-brown eyes landed on the male next to him as his mind completely tore apart his question and put it back together again; over-analyzing. Pal? When had they gotten so close that names like that could be used so formally and so unconsciously? Pal? Sounded like something Carlos would say when they went to a party and he was trying to be vague about what they both knew was going to happen anyway. He hated it. His eyes shifted down to the male's throat and he couldn't decide whether he wanted to rip his vocal chords out, burst his jugular or snap his spine. Either would get the job done and shut the guy up for the rest of his life but he felt that maybe his band mates and the other plane members wouldn't too much like to see him react to a fear so intense it made him kill.

"Hey. You alright, pal?"

It was a simple and honest question but one that he would prefer not to answer because it was none of Jonah's business what was going on in his head. He'd made the dumb mistake of letting the emotions show on his face but he knew right then that it was unreadable and practically void. He could pass for apathetic one hundred percent of the time if he really wanted to but that would worry his band mates and that was the last thing he wanted to do. October already saw himself as a burden - he didn't need to add more fuel to the fire.

So he decided that he would be a nice person at least once while on the metal machine and decided he'd answer. "I'd be better if you'd give Jagged and I more space," he stated while gesturing to the red case that rested between them. Obviously it was a complete lie; obviously to him. To anyone else it would look sincere and actually quite honest because it was something that could be expected of him. He didn't like to feel trapped or too close to a person because accidental bumps were common in that aspect. Which was why he never rode on elevators or rode public buses. Too many chances for contact.

Then he heard the announcement about buckling up and he did as he was told silently - praying that nosy Jonah would leave so he could get back to thinking in peace.

People were too much.

Jonah shuddered visably as Charlie explained his reasons for being late. Ah, yes, the ever-popular death by cookie. For people with nut allergies, cookies were murder. In the literal sense. That was why Jonah chose to stick with non-lethal snack foods like Cheez-Its and potato chips. And Oreos. Apparently, those were safe too, provided you didn't get the kind with peanut butter filling.

It took a hell of a lot of self control to keep from rolling on the ground laughing when the bassist did a faceplant into a member of the other band. He did laugh, though. Loudly. But there was no rolling on the ground involved. "Dude, you just had a near-death experience and you're already trying to kill yourself again." It took a few seconds before the guitarist was about to regain control over himself. "Seriously, though, Chuckles, you're doing a fabulous impression of a tomato right now."

His jovial mood did a perfect one-eighty, however, as the shoulder under his hand tensed. Jonah pulled back as if he'd been burned, not expecting that kind of a reaction. He also didn't expect the strained, almost menacing voice that resquested (more like ordered) that he not touch the bassist. He swallowed heavily, actually a little freaked out. "Sorry, man, I didn't... I was just... sorry..." The guitarist actually blushed a little, though he wasn't entirely sure why. The situation had just suddenly gotten so awkward. What had he done to set this guy off?

... And more importantly, why did he care? Jonah pissed people off on a daily basis. Mostly adults and authority figures, but also people his own age. And he'd always just taken it in stride up until now. So why did this guy's reaction affect him so much?

The guitarist blinked in slight confusion ar his neighbor's second request. "You and.... Oh!" The realization hit when he noticed the red case resting between them. 'Jagged,' huh? Personally, he'd yet to come up with a suitable name for his own guitar, ironic given his affinity for nickname. "Sorry, my bad." Respecting the bassist's wishes, he scooted as far away as his seat would allow. He knew as well as anyone how protective some people could be of their instruments. Take Kendall, for example. If you touched that girl's drumsticks, she'd probably kill you with them. And that's a slow death.

Just as he was considering changing seats to give the bassist his space, the annoucement over the PA system adviced them to get ready for takeoff. Well, looked like he was stuck here. Next to a guy who may or may not hate his guts.

And he still didn't have his Cheez-Its. Fabulous.

Kendall's eyes widened at the annoucnement. "No friggin' way, I'm gonna sit down." She said, on the verge of being frantic.

Ducking on the ground, she scanned the area for the pair of wooden sticks. She faintly remembered when she got them. Around her 10th birthday, she got them from her dad. She remembered the look on his face, just to see her happy. A couple years later, he died in a car accident. She missed him a lot. Unable to find her sticks, she slid back into her seat, leaning her head against the thick, layered window. Kendall yawned, buckling herself in.

This was going to be a long flight.

Lilly took Harvey's hand, leading him back to the front of the plane to find a seat for take-off. He wasn't too thrilled about having to sit down and strap himself into 'the deathtrap' as some of his flight mates called it, but rules are rules, and they must be there for a reason. Plonking down in the seat in front of his drummer, he belted up, turning back as much as he could to smile at her. She didn't smile back, what could he do though? Especially if she wasn't even telling him what was on her mind. He hated seeing members of his band upset. It was his duty to cheer her up, and he wouldn't give up until his mission was complete. He did another count up of his best friends, Lilly, check, Kendie, check, Jonah, check, Charlie... Where's Charlie? Again. Harvey hadn't seen him leave the jet, so he must be on it somewhere, but where was the question.

"You feeling okay, Lilly?" He asked, letting his head flop lazily onto his shoulder in an attempt to turn and look at her. She didn't look okay.