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

Tara’s POV

“I’m gonna head outside!” I yelled over the loud music.

“What?!” Angel yelled back.

“I’m going outside!” I yelled, pointing to myself and then the back entrance. She nodded her head in understanding, and I pushed myself through the crowd of people to the back door. My head felt slightly better as I stepped outside, and I sucked in a deep breath. Bars just aren’t as much fun when you’re not drunk, and I am not drinking tonight. Yeah, I had one relapse and I don’t need another.

“Don’t I know you?” My head snapped up and I looked around. I was standing on a small road that led behind the bar and some other fine establishments, and two people were standing in front of me. The woman was the one who had spoken, and there was a man standing behind her.

“Depends. Who are you?” She stepped into the light, and my eyes narrowed on her face. She was smiling, but it was far from a friendly smile. Her skin was tanned, bright blonde hair brushed her shoulders, and the way her blue eyes twinkled made me think of serial killers. One hand was propped on her hip, and she was wearing a white Boys Like Girls tank top and a black skirt. Overall she reminded me of some kind of groupie whore.

“Tara Christens, the woman who broke Kellan Morrison’s heart,” she said.

“I broke Kellan’s heart? Your source isn’t very reliable, and I wouldn’t talk about things you know nothing about if I were you,” I said. Where was all this shit coming from? And how did these people find me?

“My source is very reliable, and I’m going to watch you get what you deserve,” she said and looked over her shoulder. The guy stepped forward and blew out a sigh. He was average-sized so I wasn’t too worried; then again, I didn’t make my living fighting so this might not go so well.

He was about five-eleven, and he was neither skinny nor muscled. His brown hair was cut short and it was too dark for me to see the color of his eyes. He was wearing a pair of “fashionably” ripped jeans and a...was that a Mercy’s Prophecy shirt? Huh. That explains a lot.

“Are you sure you want to do this? Because there’s no way you’re going to get away with it,” I said and crossed my arms. The guy just smiled and stepped forward.

“Go ahead,” the girl whispered.

“Guys these days. Didn’t your mama teach you that it’s rude to hit a lady?”

“You’re no lady,” the guy said and took that final step towards me. I leaned back on my heels as the first hit came and had to grit my teeth. I wanted to be the one to hit first, but if the bar had cameras back here then I wanted them to show who had struck first.

“Wow, you’re gonna regret that,” I said and spit some blood out. The bastard had busted the other side of my lip. I rolled onto the balls of my feet and aimed straight for his nose, but he turned at the last second. My fist caught him in the eye, and the guy actually went back a few steps. He brought one hand up to touch his eye and then glared down at me.

“What? Never been hit before?” I asked. The door behind me opened and closed, but I didn’t turn my head to see who it was.

“Tara? What are you doing back here?” I inwardly groaned and had the urge to hang my head. Of all the people to find me now, it had to be him. Why couldn’t it have been Matt? Someone who could crush the idiot in front of me’s head like it was a pumpkin?

“Having a chat with my new friends. Care to join?” I felt him stop beside me, so I turned my head to look at him. His eyes narrowed on my newly busted lip, and then he looked at the guy standing in front of me.

“You hit her?”

“What business is it of yours?”

“It’s him! He’s the one she left Kellan for!” the girl yelled.

“Who? Him? My God, has the world finally lost it?” I asked and looked up at the sky. When I looked back down, Gerard had the front of the guy’s shirt in one hand and was using his other hand to say hello to the guy’s face. The girl had gone pale underneath her fake tan, and I smiled.

“Come on, Gee, I think that’s enough for tonight,” I said and touched his shoulder. He stopped hitting the guy and looked over his shoulder at me. His eyes went straight back to my busted lip, and I used my hand to wipe away some more blood.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I said and stepped back. Gerard let the guy’s shirt go and took a step back.

“Remember this the next time you want to hit someone, especially a woman,” he said. The guy stumbled off down the road, and the girl glared at both of us.

“You’ll pay for this,” she whispered and then ran off after the guy. I waited until they were out of sight to look up at Gerard.

“Damn, Gee, I didn’t know you had it in you,” I said and smiled. The smile was a bad idea, and I winced a little as the two busted places in my lip stretched and pulled.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine...after a drink or two.” I had promised not to drink anymore, but this was a special occasion. Drink or go insane.

“The bar’s that way,” Gerard said and pointed at the back door.

“I know, but I don’t feel like drinking with the crowd tonight.” I started back down the road, and I heard Gerard clear his throat behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see him looking down at his feet.

“How about a little company?” I smiled again and ignored the pain this time.

“I guess a little company wouldn’t hurt.” Gerard looked up and smiled, and we walked away from the bar together.

Sam’s POV

“Ask to buy me a drink one more time and I’ll shove it up your—!”

“Sam! Any problems?” A heavy arm draped across my shoulders, but the voice was the only clue I needed. The guy standing beside me, who had asked to buy me a drink three too many times, gulped and hurried away.

“I didn’t need your help, Matthew,” I said and slung his arm off me.

“Yeah, you were doing just fine, Samantha,” he said and leaned against the bar.

“I was,” I said as he mumbled something to the bartender.

“So, why were you about to kick his ass?” Matt asked.

“Because I—” I completely forgot what I was going to say as I heard a very familiar war cry. I had heard this particular yell in bars many times before, and I knew that the shit was about to hit the fan.

“Sam?”

“See you later,” I said and started to walk off.

“Sam! Your drink!” Matt yelled after me. Something made me stop, and I turned back to look at him. He was wearing dark jeans and a black sleeveless shirt that showed his well toned arms. His hazel eyes were locked on mine, and he was holding out the drink I had ordered.

“Keep it! And happy birthday!” I yelled before disappearing into the crowd.

Raven’s POV

“Frank! Where’s your pants?!” I yelled over the noise around us. Frank moved so that we were sharing the same stool and dropped his head to my shoulder.

“Tara had a piece of them, but she wouldn’t give them back,” he said.

“So, you’ve just stayed half-naked then?”

“I think I’m closer to two-thirds naked.”

“Agreed.”

“These chicks kept trying to touch me, so I ran. Protect me?” Frank batted his eyelashes at me, and I patted his head with a smile.

“I’ll do my best, but you’re on your own if they start a riot,” I said. Frank nodded his head and moved my hand back up to his head. I started running my fingers through his hair and watched the people coming in and out of the...what was the word being used tonight?...ah, yes, this fine establishment. It’s one of the perks of having a table right next to the door.

“Whoa, he looks like shit,” Frank mumbled. The guy walking through the door looked like his face had been put into a meat-grinder. One eye was a little swollen, and his nose was definitely broken. Dark bruises were spreading across his cheekbones and under his eyes, and his lip was busted in multiple places.

“Parking lot brawl?” I asked.

“Yeah, definitely,” Frank said.

“Girl they fought over?” I asked. The girl walking behind the guy was your standard homewrecker: bright blonde hair, big blue eyes, an obvious fake tan, and dressed for a night out on thestreets town.

“You bitch!” The scream came from the middle of the crowd, and I instantly knew that it was from one of my friends. Why? Because it’s always one of us.

“Sit and watch, or join?” Frankie asked me.

“Watch, for now. If it gets too rowdy, then we can join,” I said. Frank snuggled in closer to my neck, and we settled in to watch tonight’s second show.

Reina’s POV

My eyes snapped open as Brian’s body heat left me, and I glared at the two women holding onto his arms. He tried to shake them off, but they had their talons in deep. The one on the left smiled at me and opened her huge lips.

“We’ll take over from here,” she said.

“I’d like to see you try,” I said and pushed her out of the way. A small stinging pain blossomed in my right cheek, and I looked at the smirking slut in front of me. Oh, this was about to get ugly.

“You bitch!” I yelled as my fist connected with her nose. The girl went sprawling backwards and bumped into someone behind her.

“Get the fuck off me!” Patti yelled before throwing the girl on the ground. Another girl came out of the crowd and jumped on Patti’s back, and the fight was started. Brian pulled me back against his chest, and I felt better knowing he was right behind me. No skanky slut was going to put her hands on my man. Not while I can still stand and fight.

“Don’t worry, babe!” I shouted over my shoulder, “I’ll protect your honor!”

Aiden’s POV

“We gotta bail!” Jimmy yelled as he grabbed my arm.

“Bail?! Why?! I was just getting started!” I yelled with a laugh. I’m sure my laughter sounded out of place in the middle of this giant brawl, but I couldn’t help it. I loved watching idiots get their asses kicked, and it was even more fun when I got to do the ass kicking.

“Because the cops will be here any minute, and I am not going to jail!” Jimmy yelled. We escaped through the back door and ran down the small road behind the bar. We stopped a few buildings down and took some deep breaths.

“We could have had a lot of fun in there!” I yelled and pointed back at the bar. Jimmy grabbed both of my arms and gave my body a small shake. I quickly looked up, and Jimmy stopped shaking me. His eyes locked with mine, and I realized what an incredible blue they were.

“And now we can have a lot of fun out here. Come on, I’ve had this one idea for a while and all the busses are free,” Jimmy said with a wide smirk.

“Are you being a typical guy?” I asked. Jimmy’s eyes ran down my body, and he slowly licked his lips.

“Not right now, but I can be,” he whispered. I lightly hit his chest and started walking.

“Maybe later. Let’s go do this idea of yours,” I said. I heard Jimmy’s footsteps behind me, and then one long arm wrapped around my shoulders. My side was pulled flush against his, and we continued to walk on.

“I had a feeling you were something special, and I’m never wrong. Now, let’s go!” Jimmy yelled and we walked off into the night.

Anna’s POV

One minute everything was going smoothly; the next the entire bar had erupted into a mass of punching and kicking limbs. I jumped back as two guys landed in front of me and shook my head. I had been in a few bar fights, and I had broken up even more back in my bartending days. Tonight, however, I wanted to avoid the fighting. Which was why I was carefully stepping over or around all the fighting bodies.

“Anna!” A pair of arms wrapped around my waist and jerked me to the side. My hands reached up to grab onto something, anything, and found bare shoulders. Bright eyes met mine, and I smiled up at the man who had just “rescued” me.

“Hey, Craig. How’s it going?” I asked. He smiled back and spun us around as another pair of fighters came our way.

“Pretty good. You?”

“Oh, I’m just peachy.”

“Well, Anna, I’m going off to fight a war.”

“Yes, I noticed that you were in uniform,” I said. I had to force my laugh in at the sight of his “uniform”, and I made sure to keep my eyes on his.

“And I was just wondering, before I go off to war, if you would wait for me?” he asked. He was lightly biting his lip, and I realized that what he was asking was a lot more serious than it sounded.

“Yes, I’ll be waiting for you.” His entire face lit up, and then his face was a lot closer than it had been. He lifted me up onto a stool, and his lips lightly pressed against mine.

“I’ll be back soon!” he yelled as he bounced back into the crowd. I touched my still tingling lips and smiled as I waited for my walrus to come back.

Patti’s POV

I stepped away from the girl who would not be getting any dates for a long while and smiled. I straightened my top and pushed my hair out of my face. I hadn’t had a good brawl like this in a long time, and my body felt completely wired. A hand wrapped around my wrist, and I turned my head to see a pair of bright green eyes.

“Zacky? Where are we going?” I asked as he pulled me through the crowd that was still fighting. I was itching to join them, but Zacky had a good grip on my wrist.

“Out! The cops will be here any second now!” Zacky yelled. Oh, I hadn’t thought about them yet. I pushed myself closer to Zacky’s body as we fought our way towards the front door, and I sighed as Zacky threw open the double doors. Bright lights met my eyes, and Zacky stopped in his tracks. I ran straight into his back and wrapped my arms around him out of reflex. His hands gripped mine, which were currently resting on his stomach.

“This is the police! Put your hands above your heads!” the cop in front yelled.

“Fuck!” Zacky swore under his breath as our hands started to rise.

“You can say that again,” I mumbled. Zacky looked over his shoulder and smiled at me.

“We’re fucked.” Our hands were still together as we held them above our heads, and Zacky turned back towards the angry-looking police officers. Yeah, this night couldn’t get any worse.

“Daddy! That’s the one who broke my nose!” some girl yelled. The police officer in front looked at his little girl’s wrecked face and then narrowed his eyes on me.

Yeah, this night could definitely get worse.