Falling Stars (10 page)

"Did
you need something?" Irritation dripping from my words, she stopped
immediately. Her hand lingering in the air, but she didn't answer me. "You
can go now." I said flatly.

"Asshole,"
she huffed and then slammed the bathroom door as she left.

When
I heard the room door shut, I got out of the shower and went to lie down. The
last thing I remember was the radio clock stating it was two in the morning.

Sitting
on my bed, I curled my knees to my chest. Listening to him berate her over and
over. When I heard the thud and the scream, I ran from my room and rushed to
her side. His hand found me first, and lugged me back until he could throw me
in the familiar dark closet. Slamming the door shut and locking me in, I heard
the screech of heavy furniture moving. He blocked me inside. Curling into a
ball on the floor, I covered my ears to escape the sobbing, the screaming.

The
door slowly opened and there she was reaching for me – battered and bruised. I
grasped onto her. She hurried us to my room, locking and blocking the door.
Once we were on my bed, I curled into her side. Then the pounding started and
his screaming voice soon accompanied each thud on the door.

Screaming
into the dark room, I looked to the clock. It had only been three hours. Then
my eyes landed on the date, taunting me with its eerie green lighting. Angrily,
I climbed out of bed and headed to the shower to rinse off the sweat. It was
getting worse.

I
wouldn't be going back to sleep tonight.

*
* * * *

Once
we arrived to Phoenix, I couldn't get my ass off that bus quick enough. He was
driving me insane and it was only the first four hours. I just wanted to get
this over and done.

"Mia?"
Serena caught up and fell in step with me, "Everything okay?" She
wasn't shy about examining my appearance, her eyes tracing my frazzled
appearance.

"Is
he being an asshole? Do you want me to get my Nair?" Laney said as she
fell into step with us.

"No
and no, step away from the Nair, Lane," I sighed. "He is an
impossible jerk. I swear sleep is something he doesn't do and it's his full
purpose to piss me off every five minutes." I stopped walking to check in
with the hotel clerk. "I want to rip his head off!"

"Just
call it off, Mia, it's not worth it." Kat leaned against the lobby desk,
flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"You
know I can't do that. Once I make up my mind, I do it. It's only a week, right?"
They all gave me an unsure look. "What? Do you know something that I don't?"

"Think
about it Mia, do you think he's going to let it be that easy?" Serena
sighed. "He's obviously up to something, not that I'm sure what it is,
yet."

"I
know, but I'm giving it a week and that's it. That's what I agreed to." We
grabbed our hotel keys and headed toward our rooms. I would be damned if I
would let him win. My mind wouldn't stop thinking about Chris and I hated it.

After
my shower, I lay in bed for a while cursing the demon spawn that was Chris,
before dozing back off.

The
next morning my cell phone chirped me awake. Grabbing the phone, I peaked at
the screen. Really, this early? Crap, it was only eight in the morning.

"What
Laney?" I croaked out.

"Breakfast
in twenty, wake up and get your ass down here to the restaurant." She hung
up.

I
screamed into my pillow before I got into a cold shower, hoping it would wake
me up. Throwing on some baggy jeans and a tiny t-shirt, I slid on some
flip-flops. Knowing Laney was going to scoff at my ensemble made me smile.
After brushing my hair and twisting it into a knot on the back of my head, I
went down to the restaurant.

Entering
the hotel restaurant I saw just about everyone was at a large table. One
quicker scan of the table informed me that Una and Christopher were the only
two who hadn't arrived. I relaxed knowing Christopher wasn't around.

After
getting my food, we sat around eating and talking. Once finished, I stood up to
go collect my things to take back to the bastard's bus. Just the thought of it
made me shudder. Looking over my shoulder, Laney was giving me a disgusted look
as she took in my outfit. I stuck my tongue out at her.

"I
thought I got rid of those jeans last year?" She narrowed her eyes at me.

I
smiled large and turned to leave. I ran right into the bastard himself,
stumbling back I had to catch myself on a nearby chair.

"Sorry,"
I mumbled and walked around him.

As
I was passing, he leaned toward me and I flinched away.

"If
you want to get so close you could at least wait till we get on the bus."
He smirked.

I
scowled at him, wanting to slap the attractive little smirk off his face.
Instead inspiration struck. Stopping, I grabbed his arm and pulled his face
extremely close to mine. I heard gasps from behind us. Our noses were less than
an inch away and his eyes widened when I licked my lips.

Using
the sickliest sweet voice I could muster out of my mouth, I opened my mouth.

"In
your fucking dreams, Mason,"

I
shoved him back and walked out of the restaurant extremely proud of myself,
listening to the roar of laughter behind me. Then I noticed Una had been
watching. Mouthing 'sorry' to her with an apologetic look on my face, she
simply winked at me.

We
met up with Una later in a small conference room for a few hours before leaving
for the concert arena. Having spent most of the day trapped inside the hotel I
was ready to get out, though I didn't look forward to being back on the bus.

Along
way to the bus, I decided it was just a drive to the arena, so I climbed on the
Hushed Mentality
bus to ride with my girls. When they boarded the bus,
they smiled at me and I smiled back.

"What
are you up to?" Serena raised her eyebrow at me.

"Who
me?" I asked innocently.

"Yes
you," Laney grinned.

"I
don't know what you're talking about." I closed my eyes and lay my head
back on the couch.

"Oh
come on, why aren't you on the jerk's bus?" Kat laughed.

"We're
just heading over to the arena, why can't I prepare with the band before we
arrive?" I shrugged and laughed.

*
* * * *

When
I got to the bus I was a little surprised she wasn't around, but figured she
was stalling. When the bus started moving, I was pissed off. Where was she?

We
got to the arena and I stalked off the bus in time to see her exit the other
bus with her band. Her head turned in my direction. I glared. She smiled and
waved. She fucking smiled and waved at me as if I was an idiot.

That
bitch! Game on, Ryder, game on.

The
concert was flawless and when it was over, we were ushered straight to the bus.
Mia wasn't there when I arrived and if she didn't show up I was going to count
it as an early victory, yet I wasn't sure she had been pushed far enough to
leave the tour. Maybe she just left the bus.

In
the middle of my thoughts, she walked on and stopped when she saw me sitting
there on the couch. She eyed me closely and then went toward her bunk. I put my
leg up to stop her.

"What?"
she barked.

"Sit."
I motioned to the couch and threw the notebook down on the table.

"I'm
not a dog," she snapped.

"Just
sit down." Grabbing the notebook from the table, I threw it onto the couch
cushion next to me.

"I'm
tired and just want to go to bed," she growled.

I
raised a brow at her. She had to realize I would just keep her awake.

She
sighed defeated and plopped down onto the couch – as far from me as possible.
There it was again, the lure of her. I didn't understand this strange pull and
I didn't like it. She looked over the notebook while I mentally scolded myself
for wanting to pull her next to me and then she looked up to meet my gaze.

"So
does this mean it's finished, because it looks like you've got it all figured
out?"

"Not
exactly, we still need to work some things out." I watched her face fall
in disappointment. She really thought this arrangement was over already.
Idiot
.
"I had your guitar brought in here." I pointed toward her guitar
case. She leaned forward and grabbed it.

"Where
do you want to start?" She asked and strummed the strings.

I
had to admit to myself that it was hot seeing her with her guitar. Shaking off
that thought quickly, I needed to find Stacia soon. The last thing I needed
were hormones to get involved.

"Let's
start at the beginning together and then we can work it out from there."
She nodded and I tapped it out on my guitar. We both started playing and
singing.

After
an hour, she stood up and went to the fridge grabbing a bottle of water. She
turned to me.

"Do
you want one?" I shook my head and furrowed my brow at her. I didn't
understand why she would offer me anything.

My
plan isn't working as well as I thought if she was being polite. I needed to
step up the game.

"I
think I should start off at first and then you take the second while joining
together for the chorus." I changed the subject back to the song.

She
was taking a drink as she sat back down, nodding as she swallowed. We started
playing again and played it out the way I'd suggested. We both made some notes
after we finished.

Three
hours later, she laid her guitar in its case and headed back to the bunk. I
followed, which made her nervous. She relaxed when I passed by her and went to
my bed in the back of the bus. I lie down on the bed and reluctantly fell
asleep.

The
thumps grew louder and his screams were deafening. Her grasp on me tightened, shielding
me. Then the loud noise went off and all I could hear was ringing. Her hands
clasped around my head and over my ears. Looking up into her sad swollen eyes,
the smell was familiar, like fireworks.

I
heard the door collapse and the dresser screech across the floor when he
crashed into the bedroom. Shoving me off the bed onto the floor, she jumped up.
A blaring roar exploded around my head. She screamed, "Run now!” and that's
what I did…until she screamed again.

"No!
Please Don’t!"

Unable
to resist, I ran back to her and her screams. When I got back to the room my
eyes landed on him as the explosion roared through my ringing ears. Red. Everywhere,
red.

"Noooo!"
Jolting upright, my shirt and hair stuck to the cold sweat covering my body.

"Christopher?"
Mia cracked opened the door. "Um…are you okay?"

 "Yes
I'm fine," I spit out nastily.

"Are
you sure? I can get –"

"It's
not your fucking concern!" Standing from the bed, I slammed the door in
her face. "Leave me the fuck alone." I threw myself back on the bed
and buried my face.

Why
can't it just stop, just go away? Why did it have to be so close to…to that
day?
Hot tears poured down my cheeks.

Chapter
Seven

Stupid,
ungrateful, egotistical, annoying, door slamming jerk.
When I heard him start making noise and then screaming, I tried to be nice and
see if he was okay. Then he acted like a total asshole.
Well to hell with
him!
I hope he has another bad dream
.

Climbing
back onto my bunk, I lay there fuming until I finally fell back to sleep. When
I woke, the bus was empty. Pushing up on my elbows, I looked out the window. We
were in the back lot of the Vegas arena. Grabbing my shower bag and a change of
clothes, I decided to get a quick shower.

While
I was rinsing off I heard a voice. I hurried to dry and put dress. Once I
started combing my hair, the door suddenly opened up. There stood Christopher
with his usual scowl.

"Ever
heard of knocking, asshole?" I didn't bother looking at him.

"Ever
heard of locking the door, whore?" Turning, I glared at him and slammed
the door in his face locking it.

Smirking,
he yanked the door back open. "Oh I guess I forgot to mention that the
lock is broken." He walked away.

My
blood boiled and angry heat consumed my body. Stepping out of the bathroom, I
threw my brush at him. Hitting him in the back of his right shoulder, he spun and
stalked toward me yelling.

"What
the fuck!"

I'm
not gonna lie, at five foot six, having a six foot six inch man stalking toward
you is a little scary. Fighting the urge to take off running, I squared my
shoulders and straightened my spine. He shoved his finger in my face

"Don't
ever –"

Before
he could finish I smacked his finger out of my face.

"No!
Don't
you
ever!" Shoving passed him. I walked off the bus and into
the dry heat.