Heroes...And The Rest Of Us.

I hear the doorbell ring from in the house. I pull myself from Adam's hug and walk as quietly as I can to the door, so that whoever is on the other side can't hear me. The dogs are barking so loud though, the chances of anyone hearing me are slim. I look out the peephole and see a cop standing. I go back out to the deck quickly.

"Adam it's a cop." I whisper.

"Shit. Get rid of those pills that are on the counter, I'll get the door." I run into the kitchen and grab the pills that Brad left on the counter lastnight. I take them in the bathroom and flush them down the toilet, then go to join Adam at the door. When I walk around the corner to the front door, I can hear the cop talking.

"Is there a Sophie Ross living here?" The cop asks Adam.

"Sophie Gontier." I say. They both look up at me. I smile pleasantly at the cop.

"Formerly, Sophie Ross. How can we help you officer?" I wrap my arm around Adam's waist.

"I'm reporting on a call that I recieved lastnight about a possible domestic violence issue."

"Domestic Violence? You got the call about us?"

"Yes, a neighbor called it in and said that they heard two people, presumably the two of you, yelling very loudly late lastnight. And also some loud noises that sounded like glass breaking or something of that nature."

"Well, we had a band rehearsal lastnight." Adam says.

"No, they said that they were used to the sound of your band rehearsal."

"My husband and I did have a misunderstanding lastnight, but that's exactly what it was. No violence." I say.

"What was the misunderstanding about?"

"I don't know if that's your business, officer."

"So, you're saying that there was no problem here lastnight? Your husband wasnt violent, or potentially violent with you, or anyone else?"

"Absolutely not."

"Because this isnt the first call we've had about domestic issues with Mr. Gontier over the years."

"I can assure you that nothing happened here. Trust me, Ive been hit before, I don't stand for men hitting women. I would be the first one to call if something happened."

"There were also several witnesses to my argument with my wife, who would attest to the fact that I never touched her." Adam says sounding slightly annoyed that his past with Chris is being brought up again.

"I'm going to let this go for right now but, if I recieve another call about a possible domestic case at this recidence, I can guantee you that there will be an investigation. This county takes these issues very seriously."

Understood Officer. I promise that there will be no more problems." Adam says. I look over the cops shoulder and see Neil walking up the sidewalk with Brad and Rhonda behind him. The cop turns and nods at them, then walks back to his car.

"Fucking nosy ass neighbors." Adam says after he's gone.

"That was about lastnight I'm going to assume?" Neil asks.

"Yeah, apparently we had the sliding door open downstairs when all of the excitment was going on and the neighbors heard."

"That door wasnt open." He says sharply and walks past us into the house. Adam and I exchange glances and follow Brad and Rhonda inside.

"Barry's on his way over so we can finish our interupted rehearsal. Do you guys think you can keep away from each other's throats long enough so that we can finish this time?" Neil snaps.

"Uh, yeah man. That's cool, lastnight was just a huge misunderstanding." Adam says.

"I'll say it was."

"I'm gonna go get dressed." I say. It's way too intense out there for me. I go into the bedroom and get dressed in the walk in closet. When I come back out to the living room, everyone is gone. They must have gone down to the basement. I plunk down on the couch and shut my eyes, listening to the music coming from downstairs. Barry knocks on the door a little while later and gives me a hug when I answer.

"You alright?" He asks.

"I assume you talked to Brad?"

"Yeah."

"I'm much better than I was when he saw me lastnight." I say. We go down to the basement together. It's still pretty tense downstairs. No one is really saying alot to each other. Adam and Barry are smoking and playing guitars, Neil is messing around with the soundboard and Brad is standing in the corner talking to his wife. I sit down on the couch with the dogs and watch everyone, no one pays me any attention. I notice Brad give Rhonda a kiss and see her go back up the stairs, she must not be staying for rehearsal. Brad goes over to Neil and they start talking but, I cant hear what they're saying.

"Sophie, come here a minute. We need to talk to you." Neil says a minute later. I look at Adam, who looks just as confused as I am. Barry gets up and walks over to the sliding glass door, making a place for me to sit next to Adam, closer to where Neil and Brad are standing. I get up and sit in the chair.

"Listen, Sophie, you know we love you alot." Neil starts.

"I love you guys too." I say, a little weirded out.

"We love you, but sometimes you're a little immature and crazy." I raise my eyebrows at him.

"Adam loves you so much, that he's influenced by the things you say and do, and how you act. Not that Adam is perfect, but when you take a little thing and act totally irrational about it, it affects him, and it affects the rest of us."

"Excuse me? Irrational?" I say, stunned.

"Come on Sophie, you took four fucking Oxycontin's lastnight after Adam left. You don't think that's a little irrational?" Brad says quietly. I look over at Adam, he's staring into outer space. I can't hardly tell if he's even listening anymore. Barry hasnt said a word, he's staring at his shoes.

"I think I had a right to overreact. My husband is a drug addict, I found pills that he hid in his guitar. You dont think I should have a reaction to that? I should just say, oh well, I guess he's on drugs again?" I say.

"That's not what I'm saying. I just think that the way you reacted was a little overboard." I roll my eyes.

"I'm just saying that, this band is our livelihood. It's our job. We shouldn't have to wonder if you two are freaking the fuck out on drugs or not. You need to get your acts together. The cops were here this morning, they thought that Adam hit you, Sophie."

"I'm well aware of what happened, Neil." I snap.

"Well, OK then, you need to think about that shit. Wouldn't that have been great? If he was arrested for hitting you and then came in here and found those pills? This isnt the first time that Adam's been pointed at for that shit."

"If Adam goes to jail, we're basically fucked." Brad adds.

"Whatever, I'm sick of being lectured. I'm outta here." I get up and slam out of the room. I go up to my bedroom and put on Adam's hooded sweatshirt, then stomp out to the deck to smoke.

I breathe deeply for a few minutes and chain smoke three cigarettes before I finally calm down a little. I can't believe those guys. I thought they were my friends, my brothers practically, and now they think they can tell me how to act in my house with my husband? Tell me I'm crazy and irrational, please. They need to get a grip. I wish I could hear what Adam said to them after I left. I can hear a loud guitar and Adam singing a Phil Collins song, coming from downstairs. I put out my fourth cigarette and decide that I need to get out of the house. I stomp back into the bedroom, put on Adam's red and black trucker hat and my aviator sunglasses, and take the sweatshirt off so that I'm only wearing a little black t-shirt and jeans. I grab my purse, cell phone and keys and on my way back down to the basement, I grab Mabel's leash from it's hook in the back hallway, next to the door that leads out to the garage. Adam is standing next to the soundboard, watching Brad play bass, Neil and Barry are sitting on the couch. I walk over to Adam and give him a quick peck on the cheek.

"I'm leaving for a little while. I'll be back in a bit, I want to spend some time being crazy and immature with you before I have to go to work." I say to him loud enough so that everyone can hear me.

"We'll talk later." He says.

"That's fine, I'm taking Mabel with me."

I walk over to the couch and grab Mabel by her collar, pulling her carefully off the couch. Neil and Barry watch as I attach her leash to her collar and walk out the sliding door. We walk up the hill to the driveway where my car is parked. We sold my truck a couple of weeks ago and bought a used black Ford Edge. It fits my life right now, more than the truck did. I text Billie to see if I can come over and chill out for a while and just try to calm down.

"Of course. What's wrong?" She texts back.

"Adzy and I r having issues with his band." I reply, refering to Adam by his nickname.

"????"

"I'm on my way over with Mabel." I reply and shut my phone off. I know that Adam will try and call me but, I dont really feel like talking to him right now. I drive to my parents house with a brand new pack of cigarettes and my bad attitude, and unload Mabel and myself out of the car and into the house. I plop down on the couch next to my dad and light up without saying anything to him.

"Hello, Dad. How are you doing? Mind if I smoke in your house?" He says sarcastically.

"Hi." I mutter.

"What's your problem?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Adam and I had a small misunderstanding lastnight in front of his band, and now they're acting like it was the fucking apocalypse or something."

"Small misunderstanding?"

"I found some pills in one of his guitars."

"Is he using again?"

"No. He hasnt done drugs since that time in Chicago when he was on tour and I had to go get him off of them."

"What did you do when you found the pills?" He asks.

"Went fucking apeshit."

"In front of the band?"

"Yup." I blow cigarette smoke out of my mouth.

"Kind of Yoko, dont you think?"

"That's what they're acting like."

"I see."

"Yeah."

"Are you and Adam OK? I mean, are you two like, pissed at each other?" He asks. I light another cigarette.

"No, we're fine."

"Good." He takes the cigarette from me and puts it out.

"I want you to quit smoking." He says. I sigh.

"OK." Here's the thing, no matter how old I am, my fathers words will always be my end all, be all. Whatever he says, I will do. No matter how hard that may be. So, if he says, quit smoking, I'll throw my cigarettes away, never to be seen again.

I get up off the couch and go to the kitchen. Billie's in there cooking something amazing I'm sure. I toss my cigarettes in the garbage can and grab a beer out of the refridgerator, and take it back to the living room. Mabel is sitting on the floor next to my dad, with her head in his lap while he rubs her ears.

"You talk to your brother's lately?" He asks when I sit back down.

"I talk to Mike everyday, and I talked to Brayden a week ago, he called but, he could only talk for a couple of minutes. He said that he wasnt in a combative area anymore, so that's good."

"Yeah, his mother called here yesterday and said that she talked to him."

"I miss him so much, I want him to come home. I hate that he wasn't at the wedding."

"Another month and he'll be home."

We sit in silence for another hour and just watch tv. I start to think about what Neil and Brad said, and I start to feel like the biggest fuck up that ever lived. Before I know it, I'm crying like a moron on my Dad's couch. He rubs my back and lets my cry on his shoulder.

"I don't wanna be like Yoko." I sob.

"You're not like Yoko."

"They said I was crazy, and that Adam's crazy when he's around me. They say that they love me, but they dont, they're just lying."

"They're just pissed, honey. They don't hate you, they love you."

"Then why did they say I was crazy?"

"Honey, you said that you went apeshit."

"I'm not crazy!" I wail.

"Shh, I know that." I cry for about five minutes, and then I put my sunglasses back on and leave. On my way back home, I stop at Tim Hortons and order a black coffee with a shot of esspresso and drink it all before I get home. When I pull in the driveway, I see that all of the guys are still here. Of course. I get out of the car and take Mabel in the front door. I see Neil and Barry sitting on the couch in the living room. I can't see Adam or Brad, but I can hear them talking. I walk into my bedroom and drop my purse and keys off, then I go back out to the main area. Adam is standing in the kitchen, and Brad is leaning against a wall on the other side of the bar. I walk around him and give Adam a kiss.

"Hey. Where did you go?" He asks?

"I was with my Dad." I say quietly. I'm still wearing the glasses and trucker hat. He trys to lift the glasses up to see my eyes because, it's evident by my voice that I've been crying. Anytime I cry I get this cigarette rasp that Adam has on a daily basis. I jerk away from him, I don't want him or the others to know that I was crying.

"Don't" I say.

"Alright, I'm sick of this." Barry says, standing up from the couch. "I haven't said anything since this started. Neil doesnt know how to talk sometimes. We don't give a shit about what you guys do, as long as you're not on drugs, because we all know that's an issue. All that we're trying to say is keep it together when we're doing band shit." We all stare at the ground. Barry is standing in the middle of the living room. I still don't like how all of this is coming up after one incident, but I think Barry made his point the best. I feel like he knew how he would want it said to him, so that's how he said it.

"It was one fucking time you guys." Adam says."I understand that we could have handled the whole situation better, but we didn't. So deal with it. It's not going to happen again. There, it's done. Move on."

"Good enough for me." Barry says. Brad nods his agreement and we all look at Neil.

"Whatever. I'm out of here. I have shit to do." He says getting up to leave.

"Neil." Barry says.

"I'm done Barry. I'm done talking about this, apparently I'm the only one who takes this seriously."

"So you're just going to leave in a fucking huff?" Brad says.

"You know what guys, fuck it. Let him go." Adam snaps. Neil slams out the front door and we all just stare at each other.

"I'm sick of all this serious shit. It was one fucking time, we didn't do it to flip everyone out. No one's on fucking drugs. I don't know why he cant just move the fuck on." Adam says. No one says anything.

"I have to get ready for work." I say finally.

"I'm going downstairs to record vocals, if anyone here would like to join me, you're welcome to." Adam says, turning and walking down to the basement. Brad and Barry join him and I go to take a shower. When I get out of the shower, Adam is standing in the bathroom watching me.

"I thought you were recording?" I say.

"We quit after five minutes. Barry said the vibes were off or some shit."

"Oh. I see. I'm sorry I caused so much shit for you and your band."

"Don't be sorry. I don't know what the fuck is wrong with Neil, but he'll have to get over it."

"And, what if he doesnt?"

"He will. We've been in a band together since we were in high school. I know him, he'll get over it." He takes his shirt off and pulls a pair of scissors and his hair clippers, out of a drawer in the vanity.

"Time for a haircut?" I ask him with a grin.

"Yeah, I wanna get drunk tonight, and I want to look good doing it."

"Well, OK then." I walk into the bedroom and start getting dressed. I'm walking around in my bra and black mini skirt when Adam comes out of the bathroom. His hair is really short, probably the shortest It's been since I've known him. I know that he used to have a mohawk, but that was before I knew him. He plops face down on the bed and watches me look for a shirt to wear to work. I can't seem to find any of my work shirts.

"Babe, do you know where my clothes are? I only have fifteen minutes to get to work."

"Come here, and I'll tell you." He says, sitting up. I give him a confused look and he smirks at me.

"Come here, you know you want to." I walk over to him. He's sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Where are my shirts?" I ask. He slides his hand up the bottom of my skirt and puts it inside my underwear. I run my hands through his hair.

"I don't have time for this, Babe. Where are my shir-whoa my God!" I yelp when he makes a fast, dramatic move with his hand that almost brings me to my knees.

"Maybe we should both stay in tonight." He says.

"I have to go to work."

"You should probably call in then."

"Why?"

"Because, if you dont, you're going to be very late, and in no condition to work." Oh boy, I'm starting to like the sound of this.

"Wheres the phone?" I ask, he grins up at me.

Afterwards, we lay on the bed, me with my head on Adam's shoulder. I take his hand with both of mine and twist the silver ring that he wears on his middle finger around. I'm pretty satisfied with my decison to call in, it was well worth it. I roll onto my side and lightly stroke his chest with my fingertips.

"Just so you know, I quit smoking this afternoon." I say.

"Really? What led to this?"

"My Dad told me to."

"That's it?"

"His word is my end all, be all."

"Nice."

About 15 minutes later, I can hear him start snoring quietly. I get out of bed and wrap one of the big, white knitted blankets that Billie got us for our wedding around me and walk out to the living room. I go through Adam's record collection and select Jeff Buckley's, Grace album, and put it on the record player. Simba and Mabel are laying on their beds watching me without moving their heads. I hum along with the music that's playing softly through the house and go into the guest bedroom. The angel that I was working on yesterday is still pinned up on the corkboard. I pull it down and sketch it so that it looks like she's staring up at something. I smile at the 'letter' that Adam and I wrote to each other under her body. I feel Adam come up behind me and he wraps his arms around me.

"Why did you leave?" He asks.

"The nights young, I thought I would listen to some music and fix my angels face a little."

"I think I have a spot on my chest for her."

"What?"

"For a tattoo, I think that I want my angel tattooed on my chest."

"Your angel?"

"She looks like you, Babe."

"Yeah, but I'm not an angel. I don't have wings."

"You're my angel. You saved me from my sins." I roll my eyes at him.

"Stop that. Take some credit for what you did to me." He says.

"You would have been fine without me."

"I disagree." I look at the drawing again.

"I want to get the lettering from this on my forearm, like your cuff." I say.

"You want the black cuff too?"

"No, just the lettering. And I want your initials on me somewhere."

"I'll set up an appointment for this weekend."

"OK."

"Now lets go back to bed."