Let Me Perfect It

Chloe's POV


"Where are Sophie and William?" Angie huffed, crossing her arms.

We all looked at her for a moment, for the past month and a half she has been getting crankier and crankier and most of it seemed to be directed at Sophie.

"They are meeting us at venue, Angie." Molly answered glancing at me.

"She thinks the whole world is all about her," Angie rambled on rudely.

I could see a glare form on Spencer's face as he looked at her.

"I mean, it's 3 in the afternoon! Hasn't she gotten her lazy ass up yet?"

"Do you ever shut up?" Spencer snapped.

"Excuse me?" she growled. Molly, Josie and I practically dropped whatever we were going to stare at Spencer.

"All you do is bitch and complain, fucking get over yourself."

Angie looked as if she'd been slapped and I looked around for a moment; everyone who'd heard Spencer was now staring at either him or Angie to see what her reaction was going to be

In an incredibly Angie-like fashion, she simply let out a small, 'humph!' before crossing her arms over her chest and storming out of the room.

“If I heard you right,” Molly said, taking a few steps towards Spencer, “I'm pretty sure you just called Angie a bitch.”

“I'm sorry,” Spencer said. I noticed him bite his bottom lip for a moment, “It's just, she was getting ridiculous.” He explained. “All we've heard, all morning. Sophie this, Sophie that. It's obnoxious.”

“I'm going to make sure you didn't piss her off too bad,” Molly said with a small laugh, obviously accepting his explanation for the sudden outburst, “If you want to come with me and do some sort of damage control, that would be pretty cool.”

Spencer nodded, and with that, they were off.

Angie's POV

...What the hell?
Seriously, how the hell does that Spencer think he can get away with yelling at me like that, calling me a bitch?

I can't even believe this.

Sitting on the bus, by myself, didn't help my current state of mind. Anger does not simply go away when you try to shove it and ignore it.

Anger especially doesn't go away when the cause of said anger walks into your hiding place with your best friend.

I attempted to ignore the fact that they'd even come on the bus for as long as possible until Molly stood staring at me for a good five minutes; I had no choice but to look at her.

"What?" I questioned, unable to snap at my friend. Molly and I had always been closest and I had never been able to keep my temper when talking to her. Spencer, however, received a well-earned glare.

"What has been wrong with you lately?" Molly questioned, "All of the girls have noticed your temper for the past month or so but haven't said anything. It all seems to be directed at Sophie."

“You'd be pretty pissed at Sophie if she kept telling you not to talk to someone just so she could pretty much start dating him a month later.” I grumbled. Usually, I could deal with Sophie's antics. I was usually level-headed, and she normally had good judgment over these things. But this whole situation, with William, had to be the straw that broke my back.

“What are you talking about?” Molly said with what sounded like a small laugh. “Wait.... William?”

“Yes, William. Have you seen those two lately? It's so unlike Sophie... and she practically stole him from me!”

“First of all,” Molly started, “I'm pretty sure you're the only person here who doesn't find peace in the fact that at least the two of them aren't biting each other's heads off constantly.”

“Wait, Angie, are you serious? You're bitter because of him?” Spencer interrupted.

“Shut up, Spencer.” I snapped before returning my attention to Molly.

“No!” Spencer snapped back, “You – you're really this mad because one guy that you like doesn't like you, too?”

I shook my head, but Molly spoke before I could. “I, I think I heard somebody calling me. I'm going back outside. You two stay here and work this out.” She said before leaving the bus quickly.

“You don't even know the whole story,” I snapped at Spencer, “Sophie wouldn't leave me alone about how much of a jerk this guy was and now she's all over him!” He sat down, although I was still standing. He no longer seemed angry and I could barely bring myself to calm down.

“She's never done anything like this,” I said – at this point I probably sounded more upset than I did angry. “She's changed.”

“I don't know if you have a hard time noticing this or something,” Spencer said with a chuckle, “But, she's actually happy. That's what should matter.”

"It's not fair," I growled, "She always gets what she wants!"

Spencer smirked, "Funny, she said the same thing about you."

I stared at him a moment, not really knowing what to say. Is that what Sophie really thought of me? That I was selfish? I opened my mouth to answer but no sound came out.

"You're gorgeous, Angie. Why don't you try to be happy for Sophie and find yourself another guy?"

"Like who?" I asked, finding my voice again, "You?" I added with a scoff.

Spencer smiled at me not looking insulted, even in the slightest. “Maybe,” His smirk grew before he stood and exited the bus.

Chloe's POV

“Where's Angie?” Sophie asked, looking around the backstage room of the venue after she entered.

“She stormed away after she wouldn't stop complaining about you and Spencer Smith told her to stop being a bitch,” Josie answered simply.

Sophie's eyes widened and I couldn't help but laugh. “Did anyone go make sure she's okay? I don't want her to be too mad..."

“She's fine,” Molly said as she returned to the room. “Her and Spencer are on the bus talking.” She grinned.

“Oh, alright. I've got to finish my makeup really quick – sound check is pretty soon and I left some stuff here. I'll be back,” She grinned before walking away.

Sound check was an hour later and the show started soon after that.

It must have been five minutes before our set was supposed to start when something switched on in my brain. The only way I could describe exactly what happened would be to say I panicked.

“Brendon,” I said quietly. I pulled him away from everyone, down a small hallway.

“What's wrong?” He asked, obviously noting my upset facial expression.

“I can't go out there. I can't.” I mumbled, my eyes widening.

“Chloe, are you alright?” He questioned. He looked highly concerned.

“No, no. I can't go out. He's going to be here, Brendon.” I said. I wanted to run away, hide under a rock, in the bus, anywhere.

“Who's -” Brendon started, but the sentence dropped as realization must have set in. He never finished his sentence, but he put his arms around me in a tight hug.

“He's gotta know I'm here,” I mumbled, my face buried in Brendon's shirt. “He's not dumb. He'll try to find me, after the set. The girls won't let me not go hang out after,” I mumbled. “I can't go out there!”

“Calm down, Chloe,” Brendon said calmly. He rubbed my back lightly, in an attempt to get me to relax as much as he could. “Just relax, don't get worked up. We'll figure something out, alright. But you've got to go on stage,” He said, moving me away from him so he could look me in the eye. “Just go out there, play drums, and get him off your mind. It's your hometown show, you can't miss it,”

“You're right,” I returned the smile and quickly kissed him. Molly, who was headed toward the stage, saw me and gave me a hurry up look before she continued on. “Time to go,” I sighed, giving him another quick kiss before heading to the stage as well.

Time passed too quickly on the stage, when the only thought I had was the music and the drums. Once our set was over I was again backstage, and I felt close to breaking down again.

"Hey Chloe," Sophie smiled, putting her arm over my shoulder. "How about you and Brendon go for a walk?"

I looked at her, knowing she could see the fear in my eyes. "But what about Tr-"

"I never want to hear you say that name again," she cut me off, shaking her head. "You have Brendon and that jerk never existed. Besides; I know Brendon would never let anything happen to you."

She was right. There wasn't anything for me to get worked up about, as long as Brendon was at my side. I followed her advice and during The Academy Is...'s set, Brendon and I were wandering around the venue, saying our hellos to anyone who approached us.

I was loosening up a bit, talking to people who've been fans of One Last Request for a while and people who first heard us tonight. It's amazing to know that people enjoy listening to the music we all work so hard to create.

"Chloe!" I heard a familiar voice behind me as Brendon and I were talking to a group of girls who claimed to have travelled a few hours for the show tonight.

I realized the mistake as I turned toward the source of the voice. I should've ignored it and continued talking to these girls, not turned to look at him.

Travis.

His light brown hair had grown since I'd last seen him. It now fell over his blue-green eyes; those eyes that at first glance, could catch you off guard and get your attention. Too bad the color was ruined by how many times I'd seen them cold and angry. His squared bottom jaw was shadowed by an obvious lack of shaving and that cocky, mischievous smile tugged at his lips as we made eye contact.

After a few moments passed that I didn't walk toward him, Travis took the initiative to approach me. "Hey," He stated simply once he was closer to me. "Good set tonight."

"Thanks," I grumbled, not keeping eye contact with him longer than necessary. I glanced down for a moment and noticed the cup in his hand. Drinking, of course. For some reason, this set me off, and I went from panicking over seeing him to, well, pissed. "What the hell are you doing here, Travis?"

I wish it was possible to say he wasn't completely serious when he said, "What, I can't come see my girl play her music?"

"What the fuck, Travis!" I snapped. "We broke up, at least a month ago. You know that. Why the hell did you come?"

Brendon must've heard our conversation because moments after my outburst, he turned the direction I was facing. He took my hand in his and slightly squeezed it before asking, "Who's this?"

"I'm Travis," He spoke up before I could, "Who the fuck are you?" He glared down towards our hands for a quick moment.

Now, it was my turn to give Brendon's hand a quick squeeze to calm him down as his jaw tightened and his brown eyes seemed to darken. Fortunately, before Brendon had a moment to speak, or do anything more drastic, Ian walked up to us. "We're on soon!" He said with a wide grin, "We've got to help set up when they're done playing. Hurry up!"

I took advantage of the situation and, still holding Brendon's hand, followed Ian backstage. "Why is he here, Chloe?" Brendon hissed in my ear.

I shook my head and whispered, "I have no idea."

"If he goes near you again, I'll kill him." He growled.

I needed a way to calm him down before he did something he would regret later. I wanted to do nothing but that, as I watched him help set up; he was barely talking to anyone and he was still, without a doubt, really pissed.

"What's wrong with him?" Ian asked me, looking towards Brendon for a moment as he pushed past someone to go onto the stage.

"He's just pissed," I mumbled, trying to think of something quickly. "This guy out there was being a huge ass to me." That wasn't totally a lie, was it?

I wandered away from Ian and found Brendon to pull him aside for a moment before he had to go onstage for his set. "Good luck," I said, giving him a quick kiss. "I'm going to watch your set from backstage. Have fun," I smiled and gave him another quick kiss and hug before he went onstage.

While he was performing, something about Brendon was off. Something wasn't right. It wasn't dramatically so; I'm almost sure people in the crowd wouldn't notice that he seemed tense. It was enough for me, though - I wanted to run out and hug him, calm him down.

As the set continued I couldn't help but worry more and more. I was glad when Brendon was back at my side and I could wrap my arms around him.

"Are you okay?" I whispered softly.

"I just want to kill that guy," Brendon answered through clenched teeth.

I looked him in the eyes and placed a kiss on his lips, "Just don't think about him," I said softly, thinking I should take my own advice. "He doesn't matter, what matters is you and me."

Brendon smiled softly and gave me a quick kiss. "Let's stay back here for Fall Out Boy's set," He said quietly, gesturing toward the couch to the side of the room.

Sadly, it wasn't long until our friends were pulling us from our comfortable spot on the couch and we were again out with the crowd. I stayed with Brendon as much as I could; I wanted to make sure he didn't end up near Travis... or Travis didn't end up near me.

After almost an hour without seeing Travis, Brendon had seemed to relax and I'm sure we both thought Travis was gone. "I'm going to go get something to drink," Brendon said, "Do you want anything?"

"A water, please?" I smiled and gave him a quick kiss before he left and I turned back to Josie to finish our conversation. I'd been telling her about seeing Travis here and had yet to tell her about Brendon's reaction. I explained the situation and after a few minutes she walked away to go backstage for something and I was on my own.

Sure, there were still a lot of people here but without someone at my side, like Brendon had been all night, I was suddenly nervous - maybe Travis was here.

I had no reason to think this - I hadn't seen him in an hour, at least. But I knew him; he wouldn't just walk away if there was a reason for him to stay here. To avoid the thought any longer, though, I moved to find Brendon. Five minutes into my search and I was stopped by Ian.

"Chloe! There you are!" He said, a wide grin on his face as he approached me. "There was a guy looking for you, back there," He glanced backwards for a second. "He said he had to tell you something really important. "

"Oh, alright. Thanks," I said with a quick nod. He walked away and without putting much thought into the matter, I headed in the direction he'd shown me. When I saw who Ian had been talking about, I made an attempt to turn around and walk away, like I'd never even been headed in that direction.

Of course that didn't work. "Chloe, where are you going? We've got to talk!" Travis's voice came from behind me. I took a deep breath and turned around to see him walking towards me.

Get me out of here.

"What do we have to talk about, Travis?" I snapped, crossing my arms in front of me. I hadn't expected myself to have such confidence, especially considering how scared I was at the moment.

"You know why," He said, his voice slurring slightly from his intake of alcohol.

"No, I don't." I responded, "There's no reason for you to be here - at all. Leave me alone."

"Don't even try to talk to me like that," He said. His voice was rough and there was no way to deny he was getting mad. "Why the hell did you leave me? To date that asshole singer from that band?" His voice slurred horribly and he moved to grab my wrist. I moved away from his hand quickly.

"You're the asshole here!" I snapped. I couldn't deal with this. "Besides, even if I did break up with you for Brendon, what's it matter? I'm obviously better off away from you."

"When did you become such a bitch?" Travis asked. I looked him in the eye for a moment only to notice that his expression had gone from making him look mad to beyond pissed.

Please get me out of here.

The next few moments were a blur. I remember Travis grabbing my wrist, I remember trying to get away from him. I didn't yell, even though I knew what was going to happen. I couldn't. I'd frozen and let Travis's hand, his fist, come in contact with my face.

There were so many voices around me; they were surrounding me. "What the fuck?" I heard someone say as Travis was pulled away from me. I was at the ground, hand over my face, covering my eye in hopes it would block the stinging, pulsing pain.

My entire body shook as I eventually pulled myself so I was sitting up. With my uncovered eye I looked around the room, seeing the shocked faces that fit with the voices all around me. Sophie and Molly eventually broke through the crowd, Brendon behind them. There was too much going on around me to understand anything they said and I didn't argue when Sophie and Brendon helped me stand up.

The next thing I knew, Sophie, Molly, and Brendon were helping me get to the bus and away from everyone. I heard Brendon behind me, repeating that he was "Going to kill the fucker."

Sophie, although I'm sure she would be all for it, kept telling Brendon to stay with me. She had to keep reminding him that even though she knew how badly he'd like to walk up to Travis and kick his ass, that we did not need him to get arrested.

Sophie and Molly left the bus once they were sure I was safe in Brendon's care. I was holding an ice pack over my eye - the same eye that I'd had to cover for so long, once again damaged - and I curled up next to Brendon. I was still shaking and wanted nothing more than to keep him by my side. "Don't leave me," I whispered after a few long moments of silence.

"I won't," Brendon returned the whisper and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead, "I promise."