Heartaches Grow a Little Bit Stronger

Hearing my cell ringing somewhere above me, I growled lowly and reached up, fumbling along until I came across my iPhone. Not bothering to open my eyes, I poked the area of the screen where the accept button should have been and then held it to my ear.

"Hello?" I muttered.

"Hey babe." My girlfriend's voice greeted me. "Happy birthday."

"Oh, thank you sweetheart." I replied, more awake now than I was two seconds ago.

"I woke you up." Alyssa stated. "It's two o'clock in the afternoon."

"Is it?" I questioned, opening my eyes. I rolled over onto my back and then pulled back my curtains slightly, just enough to let the light shine in from the hallway.

"Got any plans for today besides the show?"

"Um, I don't know." I sighed. "Maybe go out to the bar for a little while."

"Hmm, well you'd better stay out of trouble Burns." Alyssa threatened.

"I will, babe." I assured her.

Alyssa was silent for a few seconds, save for the steady sound of her breathing before she whispered, "I miss you Kyle."

"I know." I whispered back. "I miss you too, sweetie."

On the other end of the line, Alyssa sniffed slightly and then cleared her throat. "well, I was just calling to tell you happy birthday, and to tell you what you should check your e-mail within the hour or so." She said. "I'm sending you something to keep you company on your birthday, since I can't be there."

"Oh?" I asked. "What is it?"

Alyssa giggled quietly to herself. "It's a surprise." She said simply. "I gotta go, Burns, I have to put together some last minute packets for my class. I love you Kyle."

"I love you too." I replied quietly. "I'll call you later on tonight, after the show, okay?"

"Alright babe. Bye."

"Bye." I whispered softly before I heard the other end of the line go dead, indicating that Alyssa had already hung up.

Sighing quietly, I set my phone aside and then slowly rolled out of my bunk. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I made my way toward the front lounge where I found Jonathan and Kent lying on the couches, watching television. Either one of them wished me a happy birthday, and I quietly thanked them before I started to dig through the cabinets, looking for something to eat. A couple of minutes later I settled for some Lucky Charms straight out of the box, and then took a seat beside Kent.

"What's Alyssa up to today?" He questioned.

"Not much." I said. "Just called to tell me happy birthday, and to tell me to check my e-mail within the hour. We didn't talk for too long; she had to take care of some things for her Sign Language class." I explained.

"Oh." Kent said simply before he turned his attention back to the movie.

The minutes passed by in silence, and before I realized it I had finished off the cereal, leaving me with an empty box and some sticky fingers thanks to all the added sugar and marshmallows. Frowning slightly, I got up, threw the box away and then washed my hands before I went back to my bunk and grabbed my iPhone. Joining Jonathan and Kent once again in the front lounge, I connected to the internet and then logged onto my e-mail.

Just as Alyssa had said, there was a new e-mail waiting for me. I opened it, and then waited for the attachment to download. It took about a minute or so to download, and when it was done loading I felt my eyes grow wide and a smile pull across my lips.

"What are you so giddy about over there, Kyle?" Jonathan questioned.

The smile on my lips got bigger as I felt my cheeks start to flush ever so slightly. "Nothing." I said.

"Is that the e-mail Alyssa sent you?" He pushed. "What's in it? Dirty pictures?" He joked.

"No, it's something better." I admitted.

"What?" Kent and Jonathan asked in unison. "What is it?"

"Alyssa sent me a video of a strip tease." I said shyly.

"Really?" Kent asked, his eyes growing wide in surprise. "Dude, let me see it."

"No way man, get the fuck out of here." I said, holding my phone to my chest, hiding it from view. "I'm not letting you watch a video of my girlfriend giving a strip tease."

"I just wanted to see if it was really her." Kent mumbled.

"Of course it's her." I huffed. "Now if you two will excuse me, I'm going to go finish watching this in private."

Not waiting for them to respond, I went back and hid in my bunk, watching the rest of the video. I felt like a boy who had just discovered his first nudie magazine, but let's face it, this was way better than some nudie magazine. When I had finished watching the video twice over, I double checked to make sure that it was saved to my phone before I exited out of everything, and then dialed the number to Alyssa's cell.

She answered on the third ring with the sound of a smile in her voice. "Did you like your present, Burns?" She asked.

"I already watched it twice." I admitted. "Kent tried to watch it, just to see if it was really you or not but I wouldn't let him."

Alyssa laughed softly. "Good." She said. "That's supposed to be for your eyes only and no one else's."

Taking a deep breath, I let it out in a love sick sigh as yet another smile pulled across my lips. "I love you." I whispered. "I wish I could fly you over here, even if its just for the day."

"By the time I get over there, I'll have to fly back home, babe." She whispered softly.

"I know." I sighed. "This sucks." I licked my lips lightly and then opened my mouth to say something else but stopped short when I heard someone calling me from the front, informing me that it was time for our sound check. "Sweetheart, I gotta go." I said quietly. "I'll call you later okay?"

"Alright." Alyssa said softly. "Bye babe."

"Goodbye." I whispered and then hit the 'end' button, disconnected me from the call.

Sliding my phone into my pocket, I made a mental note to watch the video Alyssa had sent me again after we were done with our sound check. For the first time ever, I wished I was at home in Texas instead of out here touring the country with my band.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rubbing my temple slightly, I leaned over a little bit to better hear Jonathan's story as we entered the bar. When he finished, I nodded my head though I honestly wasn't sure what he had said, and then straightened myself out as I made my way to the bar. The bartender greeted me with a 'hello' and asked for my ID. Checking it, as well as the ID's of Jonathan, Austin, and Marc, he returned them to us and took our order, leaving us be as we talked amongst ourselves.

"I don't really feel like staying here too long." I admitted. "Just a couple of drinks."

The rest of the guys nodded their heads in agreement and then turned their attention back to the bartender as he came back with our drinks. Jonathan mumbled something about paying for them, and he pulled out his credit card, handing it over while the rest of us went to claim ourselves a booth. Sipping on my drink, I let my eyes wander around the bar, taking in all the sights of the faces I didn't know and would most likely never see again.

Just as I was about to turn my attention back to my company, my eyes landed on the person I least expected to see. As Mason made his way toward our booth, I felt my mouth drop slightly in disbelief but soon regained my composure as the anger took over my emotions, washing away the initial shock of seeing him. Judging by the slightly lopsided smirk on his face, he had been here a while and had already been drinking. My scowl deepened and I took another sip of my drink before I set it on the table, and looked up at him.

"Kyle." He greeted me.

"Mason." I muttered.

"Rumor has it that as soon as I left Texas you made the move for my ex-girlfriend." Mason stated. "I heard that you didn't even bother to break things off with your fiancé first either." He added before he let out a low whistle and shook his head in disappointment. "That's low, even for you Burns."

"Mason, get the fuck out of my face before I smash it in with my glass." I growled lowly.

"Hey now," he said, holding his hands up in defense, "I'm not looking for trouble, just simply pointing out what I think is wrong and what is right."

"What the fuck would you know about wrong and right, Mason?" I asked as I stood to my feet. "You left Alyssa without a single word of explanation you douche bag. You just packed up your things and left, and left her heartbroken. You never even called her to apologize for what you did."

The smirk on Mason's face faded away ever so slightly as he shook his head. "How do you know that I didn't call and apologize?" He questioned.

"Alyssa would have told me." I said simply.

"Kyle, have you ever realized that Alyssa doesn't tell you every single thing that goes on in her life?" Mason asked.

"Before she became my girlfriend, she was my best friend, Mason." I mumbled. "Of course she tells me everything, and I tell her everything. We don't keep secrets from one another."

"Oh really?" Mason retorted. "Then I suppose she told you all about the miscarriage she had? And about when she got alcohol poisoning and had to stay in the hospital for a week and a half? Or about the time we were considering moving to San Francisco so that she could work for the Deaf program they have at Berkeley."

His words cut through my next argument, causing me to stop and do a double take, unsure as to whether or not I had heard him correctly. Judging by the bitter, almost angry look on his face though, I guess I had heard him right. Seeing the reaction of shock on my face, Mason laughed quietly in disbelief and then shook his head.

"I take that as a no." He said. "If Alyssa hadn't told you something as important as that, what makes you think she'd mention something as little as a simple phone call from me?" Mason stood back, examining me momentarily, and there must have been something in my expression that amused him, because his drunken smile pulled back across his lips. "I guess you don't know her as well as you claim you do. And if you don't know her like you thought you did, maybe you're not the best candidate to take care of her."

"I've taken better care of her than you ever did." I snapped.

"Were you the one holding her in your arms when the doctors told us that she lost the baby?" Mason questioned. "I don't think so, you weren't even there. Hell, Alyssa didn't think that it was even worth it to let you know that she was pregnant in the first pl - "

Mason didn't get a chance to say what else was on his mind, because at that moment my fist connected with the side of his face, and from there on in I'm not sure what else happened. I just remember Marc and Jonathan pulling me away from Mason, while Austin did his best to hold Mason back.

"Get the fuck off of me," I growled, jerking myself out of my step brother and my friend's grasps.

Glaring at Mason one last time, I shoved my way out of the bar, and didn't stop until I was at least two blocks down the street. Breathing in deeply, I let it out slowly before letting all these new facts flood my mind and overwhelm my brain. Was Mason right when he said that I wasn't important enough for Alyssa to have told me these things?

"Alyssa must have had a reason why she didn't tell you." My stepbrother's voice sounded from behind me as if he had been reading my mind. I turned slightly, and eyed him as he approached. "Those are some pretty big things to not tell your best friend. Either there's more to those stories that Mason said, or they're not true to begin with."

"I need to ask her about it." I mumbled. "That's the only way I'll find out the truth."

"Wait until we go home." Marc said quietly. "We'll be home in a few days ... something tells me that this could be a touchy subject ... it's not something to bring up over the phone."

I nodded my head slowly, agreeing with him. Taking one last deep breath, I let it out in a long sigh and then shoved my hands into my pockets. This isn't exactly the way I planned for my birthday to turn out.