It Was The Roar Of The Crowd That Gave Me Heartache To Sing

“I agree. I think I’m going crazy over here,” Sam said.

“I know I am,” Aiden said with a small groan.

“Do you think the guys are better now?” Anna asked.

“I don’t know…” Tori said and lightly bit down on her bottom lip.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out!” Patti said and stood up. She started out the front door, and she grabbed Aiden on her way out. Aiden reached behind her and grabbed Sam, who then grabbed Reina, and a startled Lindsay got drug out behind Reina.

“So, what now?” Angel asked.

“You’re coming with me,” Audrey said and grabbed her wrist. Angel glanced over her shoulder, and then they disappeared.

“Anna, do you want to come with me?” Tori asked quietly.

“Yeah, sure,” Anna said. they both shakily got to their feet, and I watched as they walked off the bus. After they were out of sight, I turned to look at the only other person in the room.

“So, Raven, would you like to go with me?” I asked as I stood up.

“I would love to,” Raven said and stood up as well. She linked her arm through mine, and we walked off the bus. I closed the door behind us, and we made our way towards the big red bus. The door was open slightly, so we let ourselves in. Mikey, Ray, Frank, and Bob were sitting in the small lounge area, and they all mumbled out some kind of greeting as we walked in.

“So, how’s everything here?” I asked. Raven and I fell into the small space between Mikey and Frank, and the couch suddenly felt very cramped.

“Shock,” Ray mumbled.

“How are the rest of the girls?” Mikey asked me. I leaned my head against his shoulder, and then I felt him lean his head against mine.

“Okay, just worried about all of you guys. That’s a really big shock, to everyone. It’s hard to imagine, you know?” I asked.

“Yeah. I was thinking of going to check on The Used guys,” Mikey said.

“I’ll go with you,” I said quickly.

“Anyone else wanna come?” Mikey asked and looked around. Everyone shook their heads, so we both slowly stood up. We waved goodbye to everyone, and then we walked back outside to the parking lot.

“So, has it been that quiet the entire time?” I asked.

“The first hour was a lot of yelling, but now it’s just…quiet. I was starting to go crazy in there,” Mikey said. He looped his arm through mine, and we continued to walk around.

“Should we knock first?” I whispered.

“I don’t know,” Mikey whispered back.

“Maybe we should just walk in?”

“But what if they get mad?” Mikey and I continued to talk in whispers, and then I heard someone clear their throat behind us. We both slowly turned around, and Quinn smiled tiredly at us.

“You could have knocked and then just walked in,” he said.

“Or we could just wait for you to escort us,” I said and smiled back. Quinn rolled his eyes, and then he grabbed my free hand.

“Let’s get inside and see if anyone’s dead yet,” Quinn said and opened the door.

Lee’s POV

My feet drug across the ground as I paced, and I could feel my hands as they clenched and unclenched. Everyone had been upset by the earlier announcement, but it was a different kind of hurt for me. Every muscle in my body was tense as I waited, and it felt like my thoughts were all over the place. I wanted to hit something, but I knew that would hurt me more than it would help.

“There you are!” I turned around at the voice and saw a tall figure walking towards me.

“Kellan! What took you so long?!” I yelled and walked towards him. I could see his face clearly now, and he didn’t look too happy.

“Welcome to the club,” I thought as we both stopped.

“I didn’t have to come at all! You’re lucky that I did some, after you left us,” Kellan said.

“Be serious, would you? How long did you think I would actually stay? It’s not like we’ve always been a happy family,” I said. Happy family? Us? Ha!

“We used to be,” Kellan said.

“Yeah, before Mercy turned into a bitch and yall decided to switch to the dark side.”

“You were there when we made the decision.”

“I was also the minority.” Kellan’s dark brown eyes stared into mine, and for a minute he looked just like our father. Scary.

“Look,” Kellan paused to sigh, “I’m not here to argue. Now, what do you want?”

“Well, I’m here to argue. How could you hire those people? How?! You knew what would happen, and you did it anyway!” I yelled.

“Ronnie was Mercy’s idea, but Branden was mine. Why are you so upset?”

“Because I’m going to be taking over Max’s place, so I’ll be hanging around them a lot.” The look in Kellan’s dark brown eyes was murderous, but I didn’t back away from him. I was done being the one they could just simply boss around.

“So, that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” Kellan finally asked.

“Until you stop being an ass, yeah,” I said.

“I told you he’d be the one to turn.” A small groan pushed past my lips, and I turned my head to see another figure walking towards us.

“Nice to see you again, Mercy Marie,” I said with a wide smile,

“Watch it, Jackson.” Ugh, I hated my first name almost as much as she hated her middle name.

“What are you doing here? I said I wanted to talk to Kellan, not you,” I said as I glared at her.

“Am I not allowed to come see my little brother anymore?” Mercy asked.

“Since when have you ever wanted to see me?”

“Yeah, Mercy, since when have you ever wanted to see him?” The new voice was coming from behind me, and I instantly knew who it was. It was another voice from my childhood. I was more used to that particular voice yelling at me or scolding me, but I also knew the protectiveness in the voice.

“Who invited you, Kinston?” Mercy asked.

“Unlike you, I don’t need an invitation,” Angel said. She was standing beside me now, and I looked over at her.

“Where’d you come from?” I asked.

“Tara and I got worried after you disappeared, so we thought we’d come looking for you,” Angel said with a small shrug.

“I knew you loved me,” I said. Angel made a noise in her throat and then her attention to the two people still standing in front of us.

“You two still here?” Angel asked.

“We’re having a family meeting right now,” Mercy said, glaring at Angel. It’s hard to imagine that those two used to be best friends.

“She’s been more of a sister than you ever have, Mercy, so if this was a family meeting, you’d have to leave,” I said quickly.

“Come on, Kellan, let’s go. as far as I know, you’re my only brother now,” Mercy said. I watched them both walk off and disappear, and then I felt Angel’s arm around my shoulders.

“Don’t let them get to you, okay?” Angel said quietly. I wrapped my arm around her waist and laid my head against hers.

“I won’t.” I smiled even though she couldn’t see it, and I felt a little better about everything.

“There you two are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Jackson Lee Morrison, who do you think you are?! You know you’re supposed to leave a note before wandering off! What if you had gotten lost?! And you could have—Wait a minute…since when are you two so cozy?” Tara’s voice had filled the air, and Angel and I looked up to see her and Mikey standing right in front of us.

“I think they’re have a moment,” Mikey whispered.

“I want a moment,” Tara pouted. Well, things must have calmed down if she’s in a joking mood again.

“You’ll have your moment later. Right now, it’s their moment,” Mikey said.

“Fine. Let’s go have a moment together then,” Tara said. She laced her arm through Mikey’s, and they walked off. I felt Angel laughing beside me, and a small laugh escaped me too.

“Leave it to those two to ruin a good moment,” Angel said.

“It could have been worse,” I said.

“Good point. So, ready to get back?” Angel asked and looked down at me. Usually when someone asked if I was ready to head back, I’d dread it. Heading back meant putting up with people that I could really go without seeing. Now though, heading back meant returning to people I liked being around. It was almost like going…home.