You Can't Be Missed If You Never Go Away

Steff decided to let it go. Alex looking at Kyra didn’t mean anything, he was just shocked. Well that theory would have worked if it didn‘t happen again during the next show the girls caught, a week later. And to make matters worse, Kyra used her whole ‘Jack wouldn’t like it...' spiel to make Vinny let them out of merch booth duties.

Alex’s eyes would travel to the side of the stage, focusing on the shorter blonde. Kara knew something was up when she could hear Steff’s teeth grinding against each other. She hooked her arms around the taller blonde’s and hurried off towards the backstage dressing room that the boys hung out in earlier, not caring that said boys were in the middle of their set. Kara wanted to know what was up with Steff, and she wanted to know now.

“Steff, are you okay?”

“I’m fine…”

“Don’t lie now,” Kara cautioned as she pulled Steff into the small room and locked the door. “I know you are not okay, I can hear your teeth grinding.”

“Then why did you ask if I was okay?” Steff questioned, crossing her arms over her chest defensivly.

“I expected the answer to be no,” Kara said, pulling Steff to go sit on the couch. “Now what’s up?”

“Why does Alex stare at Kyra?” she questioned, dropping her head on the back of the couch so she was looking at the dingy white ceiling. “Every single day. I thought he was in shock and he’d get over it, but no, every single day he’s looking at her, not me.”

Kara got quiet for a moment then said, “He did tell you about her, right?”

“What about her?” Steff asked, getting curious all of a sudden.

“Kyra and Alex used to date,” Kara said. Steff just stared at her, so Kara continued to talk. “I mean, it was a while ago, like middle school. But they grew up together and Kyra stopped coming around a while back, like junior year since her parents couldn’t pay for the yearly trips she had here during summer with the Gaskarths. Her parents were divorced and she was pregnant with Alex’s baby at one point. That was when her dad killed her mom and kidnapped Kyra. Then he didn’t give her proper care and she lost the baby.

“You probably heard the stories about her dad, he was arrested in the airport and Kyra was placed into foster care. The morons that run the British government let her dad out of jail; remember he’s a murderer and kidnapper. But he ended up back in the states and found Kyra, killed her friend Mia, and I’m not to sure what happened, but she ended up at a show last winter, the hometown show on Alex’s birthday, and some federal agent killed her dad.”

“Wow,” Steff whispered. “That’s horrible. How… How do you know all that?”

“Rian told me," Kara answered. "Plus there is the fact that any time you say you’re having a bad day she’ll go ‘Oh you are having a bad day? Did your dad cause your unborn baby to die? Did her abuse you and rape you? No, I didn’t think so. So when something worse happens, come talk to me about bad days.’” Kara said, mocking Kyra’s voice.

“Does she think that just because she’s been through so much shit that she has the right to treat us like we are worthless?” Steff asked. Kara nodded. “She’s been that way since she’s been with Jack, but Jack is her protection, as soon as he is gone, Kyra’s going to crumble.”

“So technically if we break them up…”

“Jack will die inside,” Kara interjected, standing up and going to unlock the door to go watch the rest of the boys’ set. Steff followed the brunette’s lead with a sigh, standing on the side of the stage by Kyra just in time to hear the boys close the show with ‘Dear Maria, Count Me In.’

Alex looked at Kyra one last time before they left the stage and thought she was looking back at him with a smile on her lips, but she was looking at Jack, who was standing behind him. He didn’t even notice that his girlfriend had left half way through the song to go back to the merch booth.x-x-x

“Last bin,” Steff said as she snapped the lid on the plastic bin and pushed it towards Vinny, who placed it on the kart they were using to roll them to the van. She looked up through her bangs at the empty venue as Kyra, Jack, Alex, Kara, and Rian appeared.

“Oh, look who decided to show up since the work is done,” Vinny sneered.

“I don’t work merch,” Jack defended, thinking Vinny was looking at him.

“I meant Blondie,” Vinny stated coldy, muttering something else under his breath before readjusting his cap and pushing the cart away.

Steff sighed and picked up the remaining signs that had been left on the tables as Kyra rolled her eyes as she leaned against Jack. “I’m tired, Jackers.”

“Are you okay, Steff?” Alex asked. She turned back around to see her boyfriend standing next to her. Her hands automatically went to her hips as she looked at him with a scowl on her face. “Is there anything else you haven’t told me about her?”

“Her who?” Alex asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his skinny jeans.

“Her who?” Steff mocked. “Her, Alex!” Her finger pointed towards Kyra as she raised her voice. “Turns out she’s the girl you told me about in the coffee shop. And you know how I know that?”

Alex opened his mouth to speak, but Steff cut him off. “Because Kara told me because you will not stop looking at her when you have the chance. I’m sick of it, so is there anything else you want to tell me that I don’t know.”

He looked at his feet and muttered something.

“What was that?”

He kicked the ground and said, “I asked her to marry me, she said no.”

Steff looked at him in shock as the room went silent. “Well it’s obvious that you still have feelings for her, Alex. Until you figure those out, don’t bother with me.”