By: E*A

This is the true story of five boys who chose to have their lives invaded.

Nah, I'm joking, sort of. I mean, my life has become a living showcase to the thousands of fans we've got out there. I can't complain much, though. I love what I do. I go out there every night and give all I can give until my fingers are raw and my voice aches, but it's all worth it when I hear my lyrics being sung back in my face from thousands of screaming fans.

I remember when I was younger and I'd scrape my money together to go to some concert and rock out in the pit. I bet there are at least four people in any given audience who are doing the same thing I was six or seven years ago. I look out there and I just see myself in those kids. Every night.

It's so crazy. I can't believe this is my life. It's amazing.

"You guys did awesome. I love Good Charlotte."

I love it when I get this connection with a fan when I'm on stage. I'll just end up locking eyes with someone, anyone, and there'll be this connection, this amazing connection between us. Its like, this person really understands, this person really loves the music. I wonder if that connection is anything compared to love.

I just can't believe I'm getting paid to make music, party, hang out with my friends, and just be myself. It's been a few years since we started getting paid, and it's still this crazy realization every time we hit the stage. Who would have thought that some little punk like me would end up being something? I never did. I always thought I'd be stuck in Waldorf, surfing from job to job just to make ends meet, sleeping on someone's couch until I found another couch to sleep on.

"I can really relate to a lot of your music."

I can thank my dad for most of my hard times. He ran out on the family when Joel and I were in high school. It was hard. We had to sell our house and find some place to live. It was embarrassing. Everyone knew that we were poor, that our dad ran out on us, and that we were totally different from every other person at that school.

Joel and I were beat up, made fun of, everything. There was a lot of pain, and I won't deny it. I was the tough guy, I held strong for the rest of the family. Joel showed his emotions more, sulked around, cried more openly. We both worked hard at earning money and the bands we were in were always just to relieve the constant stress of work.

I guess it's ironic in a way, though. Bands back then were just something we did in our free time, going between shifts at one of the many jobs we held. Now, Good Charlotte is our job. It's amazing. It's wonderful.

"I can't believe I'm actually talking to you, this is unreal."

I didn't get my first kiss until I was thirteen. I was hooked on kissing after that, but it was always hard to get a girl to kiss me. I mean, who would want to kiss a guy who was constantly getting in fights, had horrible grades, was poor as dirt, and who didn't have a home? I wasn't kissed by another girl until I was sixteen.

Now I've got a hard time keeping these girls off of me. Hey, I can't help if I'm a nice sexy bachelor, joking. I'm not sure what these girls find attractive in me. I'm definitely not attractive. Maybe it's just, I don't know. Never mind.

I've had a few girlfriends, no one worth mentioning. I've never had a long relationship, anything that has lasted over two months. Sure, I meet girls like crazy and I might end up hanging out with a few, but I've never had anything too serious.

I've never had anything like any of the other guys have had. Paul just got over a serious break up. He's pretty upset about it. That's what scares me, you know, the pain of getting close to someone and then losing her. I know everything before that horrible pain is amazing, but I don't want to deal with that pain in the end. I don't want that.

"You guys all seem really down-to-earth, really real."

I'd love a girlfriend, someone I can really love, someone I can really get into. I don't think I'm at the right point in my life, for someone like that. I'd only end up hurting her. I'm always gone. I mean, that was Paul's big problem with his ex-girlfriend.

I'm so scared I'm going to meet that girl, fall in love, and then break her heart by always being away. That's why I'll always try to find someone to hook up with who I know just won't be that special girl. I know it's a cheap thing to do, and I'll probably be burned at the steak for what I do. I just need something quick sometimes, something artificial to make me feel like its love, like I'm not missing out on anything. But I am missing out. I'm missing out on a lot.

I'd love to have a girl to love and to love me back. Doesn't every guy at some point or another?

"Doesn't it get hard on the road?"

I want someone I can call up, just to talk. I want a girlfriend who will trace my tattoos. I want a girlfriend who will just be there so I can love her. I want that.

I want it, but I know I shouldn't have it. Right now at least. It'd be so painful for me to do that to a girl who I loved and who loved me. The last thing I need in my life is pain.

But doesn't it seem like love would just solve it all?