Falling with Every Step

For the next couple of weeks, everything was great for Mary Jane, except for the fact that Chris was trying everything he could do to convince Gabe to break up with her. They were a week away from the last tour date in the United States. They were playing in Cleveland tonight, and then they were heading to Illinois for a few days off until they played their last two shows in Chicago in a week.

Mary Jane was currently sitting in the front row of the theater watching the other bands perform their sound checks. She had just finished hers, and now The Academy Is was up on stage.

Gabe came over to Mary Jane and sat down next to her. “MJ, we need to talk,” he said to her.

“What’s up?” she asked looking over at him.

“Not here,” he said. “I can barely hear myself.”

“Okay,” Mary Jane said standing up. “Where to?” Gabe grabbed her wrist and pulled her backstage into his dressing room. “So, what’s up?” she asked as she sat down on the couch.

“I don’t think we can do this anymore,” he said quietly.

“Do what anymore?” Mary Jane asked confused.

“Us,” Gabe said simply.

“What?” Mary Jane stumbled.

“I’m sorry,” Gabe began.

“No, I don't want to hear that you're sorry,” Mary Jane said firmly. “I just want to know why.”

“Listen, I just don’t think it’s a good idea, okay?”

“It’s Chris, isn’t it?” Mary Jane asked, but Gabe didn’t answer. “It’s him, isn’t it?” she repeated, only this time yelling.

The door to the dressing room burst open and Vicky and Ryland walked in.

“What’s going on?” Ryland asked.

“Gabe just broke up with me,” Mary Jane said.

“What?” Vicky asked.

“Yep,” Mary Jane said. “Apparently, Chris doesn’t want us to go out, and Gabe cares more about him than us.”

“MJ, that’s not,” Gabe began, but Mary Jane interrupted him.

“I don’t want to hear it Gabe. You don’t want to go out anymore, then that’s fine with me. I hope you and Chris are happy,” Mary Jane yelled, walking out of the dressing room and slamming the door behind her.

“Nice going, Gabe,” Vicky said. “You are a complete idiot.” Vicky walked out of the dressing room, trying to find Mary Jane.

“What were you thinking?” Ryland asked Gabe.

“I don’t know. Chris has been pissed at me since he found out that MJ and I were going out. He kept saying all these reasons why I should break up with her, and I guess I just finally listened to him.”

“Did you actually want to break up with her?”

“No,” Gabe said quietly. “But, I was sick of Chris and me fighting.”

“So, instead, you’d rather have MJ pissed?”

“I don’t know,” Gabe said putting his head in his hands.

“Dude, you screwed up. You know that. So what are you going to do to fix it?” Ryland said.

“I have no idea.”