Come Around

Cassie returned home in the early afternoon and headed upstairs, straight for her room. On her way down the hall, she ran into Rian. Her eyebrow lifted when she realized he was wearing pajama pants.

"Did you sleep here last night?" she asked.

He nodded, "I was so angry that I was afraid I would break Alex's face if I saw him," he said then quickly added, "I stayed in the guest room."

Cassie laughed, "What's up with you and Angie, anyway?" she asked.

Rian shrugged, "I was thinking about asking her to go out, maybe for dinner or something. But I just wanted to make sure that you would be okay with that. I mean, would it be weird if your best friends were dating?"

"No, it wouldn't be weird. Unlike you, I actually like my best friend and think she's a wonderful person," she said, laughing, "Really though, I think it's great. Just as long as there's no messy breakup."

He laughed and leaned forward, kissing Cassie on the cheek. She sighed quietly and collapsed into him. Immediately, his arms wrapped around her and he could feel her shaking ever so slightly.

"You're not okay," he whispered, stating what was now clearly evident.

She shook her head but didn't move otherwise, nor did she make any sound. They just stood there for awhile before Rian finally grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from his chest to look at her. Much to his surprise, the minuscule amount of makeup on her face was still perfectly in place and her face was dry.

"It just hurts," she said quietly, "I haven't had anyone spread rumors about me since..." she trailed off, "Well, you remember."

"He's a jerk, Cassie."

She nodded and offered a small smile as a way of thanking Rian for being there and for not saying I told you so before disappearing into her room. Her body was exhausted but her mind was racing, making it clear to her that sleep was out of the question. Pulling open her closet door, she found a pair of jersey shorts and a tank top and quickly changed into them. She was putting on her shoes when she heard someone enter her room.

"Uh oh," Angie said taking in her friend's attire, "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Cassie said.

"Will you tell me when you come back from your run?" Angie asked.

Cassie shrugged, "Rian can tell you. Just let him know I said it's fine."

Angie raised her eyebrows, confusion written all over her face, "How does Rian know?"

"Because," Cassie said, "It's his fucking friend who has me so upset. I'm surprised he didn't tell you last night when he crashed the house for a place to sleep."

Angie shook her head and Cassie shrugged, pulling her hair back into a ponytail before leaving the room. And as she jogged down the stairs, she yelled, "Hey Rian, tell Angie what your asshole friend did, would you?"

Without waiting for a response, she pulled the door open and took off down the street. About a half mile into her run, she realized she hadn't stretched first and groaned at the thought of how much she would ache later. But she continued on until her legs burned and her lungs felt like they would cave in.

She knew there was a park ahead so she slowed her pace until she was walking. When she reached the park, she collapsed underneath a tree, measuring her pulse. The cold grass felt good against her skin and she laid there for awhile, patiently waiting for her breathing to return to normal.

When it did, she stood and stretched a bit before jogging back toward her house. She was about half way home when she heard a car horn. She ignored it but the car slowed next to her and honked again. Sighing, she turned, still jogging and looked at the driver.

"Want a ride?" he asked, grinning.

"Get a life, Zack," she said, looking ahead of her.

"What's wrong? You only like dirty guys? Is my hygiene not low enough for your standards?" he said.

Cassie's eyeballs burned and she saw red, "It's no wonder you and Alex are friends. You're both creeps."

"And from what I hear, you're into that," he said, "I mean, you fucked Bert from The Used."

She bit her lip and turned to look at Zack, her eyes filled with tears, "Fuck you, Zack. You don't know anything about me," she said and ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

When she finally reached her house, she twisted the doorknob and collapsed just inside the door.

"Cass?" Angie called out, "Oh my God, Cassie! What happened?"

Cassie heard another set of footsteps before a pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled her up off the floor. She tried to lift her arms to wipe the tears from her face but found she had no energy and went limp.

"What's happened?" Rian asked as he slowly guided her to the couch.

She was silent for a minute, "Your fucking friend," she said, finally finding her voice.

"Alex?" he asked and she shook her head. "Then who?"

"Zack," she mumbled.

"Zack?" Rian repeated, "You saw him?"

Cassie nodded, "He's such a fucking creep," she said.

"What did he do?" Rian asked as a look of concern spread across his face.

She sighed and recounted the story to Rian and Angie. By the end of it, what little composure she had regained was lost again, leaving her a complete mess. Rian pulled her into a hug, trying to remain calm on the outside, though inside he was growing angrier with his friends by the second. It wasn't long before his face was red and he released Cassie from the embrace, jumping up off the couch.

"This has gone too far. I'm putting an end to it right now," he said before storming out of the house.

He gripped the steering wheel hard as he drove back to their rental house. Jack was on his way to the other car as Rian pulled into the driveway. He quickly got out of the car and walked over to Jack, turning him around and pushing him back in the direction of the house. Once inside, he instructed Jack to sit on the couch and turned off the video game Zack was playing.

"What's your problem, Dawson?" Zack asked.

"Where's Alex?" Rian asked.

"He's still sleeping," Jack replied.

"Neither of you move," Rian said as he ran up the stairs to Alex's room and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him out of bed.

"What the fuck, bro?" Alex said sleepily and obviously angry at the rude awakening.

"Just be thankful I didn't hit you," Rian said as he pushed Alex toward the stairs.

Alex fell onto the couch and laid his head on Jack's shoulder, letting his eyes close. He was either oblivious to Rian's anger or simply ignoring it.

"I'm only going to say this once," Rian said, "The next time one of you says shit to or about Cassandra, I'm out of the band."

Alex's eyes shot open but Zack spoke before he could, "You're only taking her side because you want to bang her friend."

"You're lucky I didn't castrate you for what you said to her today," Rian shot back.

"Dude, whatever happened to bros before hoes?" Alex said.

Rian glared at Alex, "That girl is like my sister, dickhead. And you have no idea what this bullshit has done to her."

Jack sat quietly with confusion all over his face, "I don't even know what's going on," he said, looking at Rian, "You said none of that stuff was true, right?"

"That's right. None of what Alex said about her is true. She's not like that."

"Oh yeah," Alex said, "Did you know she was pregnant a couple years ago?" he said.

Rian shot Alex a look that could kill, "Yes, I did know that. And you don't know the story behind it. Clearly, you don't know anything about her. None of you do. So how about you just shut the fuck up."

Alex averted his eyes to the floor and sighed. He didn't know why he was so being so spiteful toward Cassie. The next thing he knew, he was being pulled off the couch and into another room. When he finally looked up, it was just him and Rian.

"You have no idea how much you've hurt her," Rian said.

Alex sighed, "I'll apologize," he said.

"You're damn right you will," Rian said, "In a couple days. Leave her alone for now. Don't call her. Don't text her. If you see her somewhere, don't talk to her. Let her cool off. Then you'll apologize and you'll fucking mean it."