California

My heart stopped when I heard Kellin’s words. Erin looked worriedly at me and everyone else was looking between Kellin and Mikey. Mikey looked furious at Kellin. “Excuse you, mate, but you can’t call her that.”

“Didn’t she tell you, though?”

“Tell me what?” Mikey asked, looking over to me. I felt my heart pounding and my chest getting tighter by the second.

“Kellin, why don’t you go get some rest?” Tony spoke up and glared at him.

Kellin shook his head. “He deserves to know why she’s such a slut.” Before he could say anything, Kellin spoke up again. “Did she tell you why she’s with you? It’s probably because she’s a band slut.” Everyone was quiet and I could feel my world crashing around me.
“I mean, she fucked Jack Barakat after what, a day or two of knowing him? And then she fucked Alan Ashby like a month later. Oh! This is my personal favorite,” he started laughing humorlessly. “Did she tell you she’s screwed Tony? And she used to date Vic?”

I took deep breaths and tried to keep from bursting into tears. Mikey slowly looked over to me. “What?”

Before I could answer Kellin spoke again. “I mean they’re probably still fucking. Being on tour trapped in this little bus together for months on end-”

“Shut the hell up!” Erin screamed, clenching her fists at her sides.

Kellin smirked. “I mean if I was away from my girlfriend for months and there was a girl on the bus ready to put out all the time…”

“You need to leave now,” Mike growled and pushed Kellin off the bus and slammed the door. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut through with a dull butter knife. Mikey slowly brought his head up and stared at me. I felt my stomach churn when I saw the complete lack of emotions other than rage in his eyes.

“Is it true?” I felt tears spill over onto my cheeks and I took a deep breath. Before I could answer he raised his voice and I cringed. “Is it true?!” I slowly nodded and he scoffed. “Of fucking course,” he spat and stormed off the bus. I ignored the angered looks from Sam and the Mallory guys and pushed past them.

Jess grabbed my arm as I was trying to make my way through, “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Maybe you should give him some time to cool off.”

I broke free and ran through the door. I saw Mikey making his way across the parking lot. “Mikey!” I screamed and started running. There’s no doubt in my mind that he heard me, but he did not turn around. “Mikey!” I screamed louder. I struggled to run because of the alcohol in my system, but I somehow managed. As I got closer and screamed again he stopped and turned to face me with fury etched into every inch of his normally happy face.

“What the fuck do you want? To stomp on my heart some more? To rub it in that you’ve been screwing guys behind my back this whole time?” He snapped before he started walking again. I reached forward and grabbed his arm, making him face me again.

“I-I wasn’t, I haven’t cheated on you,” I cried, desperate for him to believe me.

“Oh bollocks! I told you what my ex-girlfriend did to me and I told you how much it hurt when she cheated on me. Then you turn around and do the same fucking thing!” He yelled.

“No! That’s not what happened! I just-”

“You just fucked two of the guys you’ve been living with for the last month and a half?” He started walking again.

“Mikey, stop! Let me explain!”

“I don’t want to ever see your fucking face again,” he said and began to speed walk away. I stood rooted to the spot, his words stinging like peroxide on an open wound. I watched as his figure got smaller as he got farther and farther away. I began running again, determined to get him to listen. As I was running I tripped over something (most likely my own feet) and fell with great force onto the pavement.

***

“Sky, can you hear me? Wake up,” I heard Alysha’s voice fill my ears. I slowly opened my eyes to see her and Tony staring at me with worried eyes.

“I have to find Mikey,” I mumbled, trying to sit up. They both pressed down on my shoulders, making me return to my spot on Alysha’s lap.

“Don’t worry about him right now,” Tony said. It’s then that I realized we were moving.

“Where are we?”

“We’re in the car. We’re taking you to the hospital. Jess is driving and Mike is up there too,” she said. I looked between her and Tony, confused.

“Why are we going to the hospital?”

“You fell down and hit your head.” As the words left her mouth I noticed the throbbing pain in my skull that felt like a jackhammer being drilled into my brain.

“Ow.” Tony chuckled. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Vic, Jaime, Danielle, and Erin went out with Sam and Dave to find Mikey.” I frowned and tried to move again. The car slowly came to a stop and Tony helped me out of the car. I tried to walk but my knees buckled. Jess and Tony rushed to grab me, and Tony picked me up bridal style. Alysha stroked my hair as we walked into the hospital. I groaned at the people staring at me and buried my face into Tony’s chest.

“She hit her head and we think she may need stitches,” I heard Tony’s voice. The woman at the desk gave them a form to fill out and upon seeing the blood rushing down my head, ushered us down the corridor to a room. Tony set me down on an examination table as Mike started filling out the papers. I looked around the room, taking in the plain white walls and the boring tile.

“How are you feeling?” Jess asked.

I groaned and closed my eyes. “Mikey thinks I cheated on him.”

She smiled sadly at me. The doctor came in and looked at me. He asked a few questions, which I was too annoyed to answer, so Tony took care of that. He came over and cleaned up my forehead, smiling at me. “It doesn’t look like you need stitches. It will heal on its own. I’ll put a bandage on it for now. I need to check if you have a concussion.”

I frowned as he shined a light in my eyes. After a few minutes of examining me he said, “The good news is you don’t have a concussion either.”

I tuned out the rest of the conversation as he spoke to Mike and Tony. Soon I found myself being picked up, this time by Mike. We were halfway across the parking lot when I started quietly sobbing into his chest until I fell asleep.

Notes