Work Text:
So, it happens this way:
Spencer turns 21 while the band is touring. Actually, it's their last show of the latest tour, ending, appropriately enough, in their hometown.
Pretty much the entire label shows up to help Spencer celebrate.
So, Spencer turns 21 in Las Vegas, NV, with lots and lots of help. He's pretty clear on this point. Okay, not clear, per se, but he does vaguely recall an extremely enthusiastic birthday kiss from Pete Wentz, and maybe Gabe...yeah, that was definitely Gabe, before passing out.
Passing out. In Vegas, his hometown. Where he turned 21.
In Vegas.
~*~
Spencer wakes up in -- well, he doesn't have a clue really.
But it's definitely not the same hotel room -where everyone had toasted his 'entry into manhood' (fuckin' Pete Wentz, man), gotten his 'one to grow on' (not cool, Joe Troh, not at all) and been 'inducted to the Cobra' (Gabe Saporta can still be seriously weird sometimes)- because that particular room had been posh, sleek and modern.
This room? Not so much.
He's pretty sure those are antlers hanging over the door and honest-to-god gingham curtains. (The fact that he actually knows the word 'gingham' is kind of worrying in and of itself, but then he remembers his mother going through a quaint cabin decor phase when he was about 10, so.)
Anyway. Definitely not the hotel he'd passed out in.
When he opens the door (crushing the urge to cry when the sun sears his retinas and spikes through his brain), he's pretty sure he's not even in Vegas anymore. Spencer slams the door (ohgod, bad) and spins around (even worse - rapid movement, shit); he leans back against the door (better idea), rubs his hands across his face and takes another look around.
There's a bit of relief when he notices Ryan's stupid designer bag as well as a hoodie that he's pretty sure belongs to Brendon. And, sweet heaven, there's a bag he knows is his, hallelujah. So he does what any hungover rock star would do when faced with an abrupt-but-unremembered change in location.
He takes a shower.
*
Spencer will never admit it, not in a hundred years, but the startled sound that comes out of his mouth at Ryan standing right outside the bathroom door when he opens it may not have been unlike that of a scared six-year old girl. He's about to rip into Ryan when he notices the sweet, sweet nectar that is ensconced in the cup being held out to him.
Ryan always was his favorite.
*
"But...why?" Spencer takes a sip of coffee, "And more importantly, how?"
Ryan rolls his eyes and pulls his phone out, hits 3 and holds it up to ear, "You should know by now that no-one can really say no to Brendon." He smirks. "Especially Zack."
"Yes, but that doesn't explain why we're in-" a flap of his unoccupied hand around the room is followed by, "Where the fuck are we again?"
"Chama, New Mexico."
Spencer just stares. Ryan turns away with a, "Hey! Douchebag, Spencer's finally awake, get your asses back here," a frown and a quick glance at Spencer, "No, apparently he doesn't remember."
He realizes that Ryan's not going to tell him anything. Anything important anyway, like why the fuck they're in - what was it? oh yeah - Chama, New Mexico. New Mexico. Seriously.
Spencer sits on one of the double beds and after a couple of seconds, Ryan drops down on the bed across from him. They sit there, Spencer trying not to grit his teeth at the dopey smile Ryan's got plastered on his stupid face.
*
Apparently, Brendon, Jon and Zack are closer than either of them anticipated so Spencer nearly falls off the bed when Brendon comes flying through the door three minutes later. He does, however, manage a spectacular flail that sends a stream of coffee across Ryan's paisley top. Spencer feels slightly vindicated. Ryan glares and Spencer calmly takes a sip of what's left and settles back on the bed.
"Dude, " Brendon (of course), "You can't even tell. That's awesome, Ross."
Ryan glares harder.
~*~
"- Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad is a 64-mile segment of the former -"
Spencer's not really listening as Brendon reads off of the brochure he picked up in the hotel lobby, but he does have sunglasses now. And Jon brought him aspirin, so he's feeling a little more human, some semblance anyway. Jon is currently his favorite.
He's still not quite sure why they're in fuckin' New Mexico, though. He turns to Jon and asks quietly, "Okay, why are we in New Mexico again?" He pauses and then adds, "Also. What day is it?" Surely, he couldn't have slept through a 10-hour road trip.
Jon grins at him, "It's the fourth."
Okay, so apparently he can sleep through a 10-hour road trip.
"But why the fuck are we here?" Spencer may or may not be at the hissing stage. It's getting annoying, how no one will actually answer his damn question, tell him why they're in the middle of bum-fuck USA.
Jon's smile widens and on the other side Brendon coughs and continues reading. Louder.
"Highlights of the route include Toltec Gorge, where the tracks hug the cliffs 600 feet above the stream bed; Windy Point, the highest railroad summit in the West with its commanding view of the Chama Valley; two tunnels; and two 100-foot tall trestles..."
Spencer kind of hates his band.
*
Half an hour later, Spencer takes it back. He can admit that it's pretty cool.
Actually? It's pretty fuckin' awesome.
Thursdays are pretty slow it seems, so it's just them and about 10 other people on the entire train. They're the only ones in the open air car and Spencer can feel every vibration as the train moves. The air is crisp, cold, but runs over Spencer's skin like electricity. He doesn't think he's ever felt in a moment as much as he does right now.
There's a shout and Spencer turns to find Brendon gawking, hanging halfway out the car. Zack's got an arm around him, looking exactly like he does when Brendon gets a little over enthusiastic with signings.
"Holy shit!" His arms are flailing and Zack leans back at a strategic moment as Brendon yells again, "Hooooly shit, Spence, do you see this?"
It's really kind of hard for Spencer to miss. The train sounds different now, the vibrations sharper somehow beneath his feet, as they travel across the trestle. He looks down.
Holy shit is right.
He glances back over at Brendon, who looks all of five, grinning so hard it has to hurt. Spencer's pretty sure his face would hurt too, if he cared.
*
Ryan's got the look of awe on his face that Spencer really hasn't seen since that first moment after he told him that Pete Wentz was coming out to hear us, Spence, he wants to listen to us and Spencer kind of wants to keep this moment forever. (Because he's apparently a girl.) It's Ryan, though, and Spencer should be used to feeling that way.
They're in a valley now, miles of land spread out ahead with mountains framing them on each side.
"It's kind of strange, don't you think? Knowing that you're just a tiny speck in the vastness of a place like this, but feeling as if you were reaching for something big?" Spencer watches his best friend quietly, watches him take in everything, the way Ryan's fingers twitch as if they're already writing the words that are playing through his head.
Spencer's pretty sure the song is going to amazing.
*
Jon really doesn't say anything. He's too busy craning his neck, mouth open, looking up the side of the mountain.
That's okay, since Spencer is too busy staring off the other side thinking about how much it probably sucked building shit across mountains for chrissake.
*
Zack just sticks close to Brendon the entire time, doesn't say much. But every time Spencer looks over at him, he's got this perfectly content look on his face. Like he's right where he's supposed to be.
Spencer leaves well enough alone.
*
Close to the end of the trip, they finagle an older couple into taking a picture of their group. Zack tried to take the picture but everyone pouts at him and Zack has no real defense against all of them at once, so.
(The picture turns up on the next tour, framed and hanging just outside the bunks. It's pretty much the last thing they see before going to sleep.)
~*~
"But why did we come here?"
Nobody's paying attention. Zack's sliding into the driver's seat, arguing with Ryan about the first switch point and Brendon's too busy defending himself from Jon's surprise (not really) tickle attack.
"Guys?"
Ryan sticks his head out the window, shit-grins at Spencer and just says, "Hey, asswipe, get in the car, or we're leaving you here." Which is, you know, a total lie. Ryan'd never actually leave Spencer, but still. He gets in the car.
What the hell, maybe Gabe will know why he ended up in New Mexico. He's the expert on that kind of thing, right?
THE END.