The Softer Side of Unbearable

"Bailey, seriously, just put some pants on."

"No! You woke me up to do an interview for your damn camera, now you have to deal with the consequences. I sleep in a giant tee shirt. I refuse to put pants on for you. Besides, I know you enjoy the view."

Spencer sighed from behind the camera lens. He shifted the angle so that Bailey's pale legs disappeared from the shot. She was smiling pleasantly at him, though dark circles rimmed her eyes and her hair was a tangled ball around her head.

"This was the only time that I could get you one-on-one," Spencer's voice explained patiently. "Let's get this started before everyone else gets up. What was your childhood like?"

"I don't remember," Bailey shrugged.

"Seriously, I want an answer."

"I was drunk."

"For your entire life?"

"Don't be stupid, Spencer. You don't develop a long term memory until the age of three," she grinned.

Spencer sighed heavily once again and re-adjusted the camera. "You're not going to make this easy on me, are you?"

"Nope. You woke me up; that deserves payback."

"Moving on, then. Describe your band mates in one word."

"Wonderful," Bailey responded promptly.

"No, I meant one at a time. One word for Jeff, please."

"Available," she winked at the camera. "That's for all those ladies out there who are interested. But in all honestly, I'd probably go with dependable. Jeff is always there in a split second if he's needed. He's great."

"And Angel?"

Bailey paused, thinking hard. "Feisty. She isn't afraid of anything. Except for talking on stage. She's not really a fan of that."

"How about yourself?"

"Oh, come on Spence. I'm not labelling myself. There's no way to do that fairly."

"Fine," Spencer's voice sounded almost cocky. "I'll just get the others to do it for you later."

As if on cue, Angel stumbled through the door that connected their rooms in the crappy motel. Her short black hair stood straight out on one side, and was plastered to her cheek on the other. She rubbed a closed fist against her right eye.

"Angel," Spencer called out. "Describe Bailey in one word."

Angel looked up abruptly, as though she hadn't noticed that she wasn't alone in the room until that moment. "Huh? Oh, um... the best damn bass player around. Does that count as one word?"

"No."

Angel looked Bailey up and down, trying to pin down one particular characteristic. "Passionate. She puts everything she has into our music. And it pays off."

"Who do you guys miss the most when you're away on tour?"

"My nephew," Bailey said immediately. "That kid is my favourite person in the world. Well, my favourite person that isn't here with me now," she corrected. Her eyes flickered past the camera and landed on Spencer for a brief instant before she looked back at Angel.

Angel grinned and sat down on the hotel bed next to Bailey, sliding her arm across the other girl's shoulders. "I always have my favourite people here. I mean, I miss my parents and a few other people, but Bailey and Jeff are my best friends. I feel more alone when I'm at home and surrounded by my family than I do when I'm on the road with these two people."

The TV went black as Bailey punched a button on the remote. She looked over at Josh with watery eyes, and he tapped his chin thoughtfully. His eyes were narrowed as he considered what he'd just seen.

"You said she won't listen to you and Jeff?" He asked.

"She definitely wasn't listening to me. And Jeff said the same thing."

"She looked like she was telling the truth in this video. I'd have thought that the two of you would have been the best bet. If she won't listen to you, I just don't know who else will get through."

Bailey slumped back against the couch cushions, scowling. "I was really hoping that you could figure it out with these videos."

Josh shook his head slowly, still deep in thought. "I'd say our best bet is an old-school intervention. Do you have any way of contacting her family?"

"No. I'm sure I can find them if I try though."

"Call Jeff," Josh got to his feet and began to pace the room swiftly. "I'll go with you guys. Maybe we should get some pamphlets on a few different rehab centers. I can get you all the information that you could ever need about Edgewood. I don't think that we'll have any use for drug awareness stuff; she knows the dangers of whatever she's gotten into. Reminding her of them might just piss her off. You've got to try and get through to the side of her that wants you around. Maybe bring up the music, that might snap her out of it. She'll want to keep some ounce of normalcy in her life, she's not that far gone yet. Maybe the band will remind her of what she needs in her life. It's a long shot, but we can't sit on our asses any longer. We've got to give it a shot."

Bailey listened calmly, but inside her heart was racing. She dreaded having a confrontation with Angel. To be brutally honest, this side of Angel was terrifying. Bailey hadn't thought that it was possible to be frightened of her before. But then again, a lot of things seemed to be a lot more frightening now. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't the same girl that she had been before Spencer's death. She was a coward. And what good would it do to try and fix Angel if she still hadn't managed to fix herself?

"Bailey? Are you listening to me?"

She shook her head to rid her mind of the thoughts that were plaguing her. "Yeah, I'm listening."

"Call Jeff. Have him meet us at Angel's place at six. That should give us plenty of time to get everything we need and get prepared," Josh instructed.

Bailey nodded, reaching for the phone. She dialed Jeff's number and waited patiently while the ringing echoed through the line. She breathed through her nose, trying not to let her mind wander to any dark places.

"Yeah?" Jeff's voice was rough as he answered the phone. He cleared his throat loudly.

"It's Bailey. We need to talk."

"Can it wait? I'm on my way to Angel's place."

"Actually, no it can't wait. Josh and I are planning an intervention. It won't work without you. Don't go to Angel's place now, okay? Wait for us. We'll meet you there at six."

"Waiting will only make it worse. I can't sit by any longer," Jeff said haughtily. He sounded stressed out and impatient.

"A few hours won't kill you. Don't go there yet, Jeff. She wont listen if we show up more than once in the same day."

"You saw her, Bailey!" His voice was laced with accusation. "We can't leave her alone anymore!"

Something inside of Bailey snapped in that moment. She was on her feet and clutching the phone with a surprising amount of force. Her knuckles were white and her voice came out as more of a roar than anything else.

"We can't leave her alone?! Have you forgotten something, Jeff? Where the fuck were you guys when I needed you? I thought you would be there for me, but neither of you ever called or stopped by to check in on me. And when you finally showed up, all she did was yell at me. Tell me why the fuck I should be trying this hard to get through to her when she didn't do a damn thing for me! It's amazing that I'm this worried about her when you consider all of that. Tell me, Jeff, were you ever rushing over to my place the way that you're running off to hers?"

"Bailey," Josh reached out toward her timidly. He was trying to take the phone from her, but he appeared to be terrified that she would attack him.

She could feel that her cheeks were flushed. In fact, she seemed to be running at a higher temperature than normal. She was aware of Matt's presence in the room, but she didn't turn around to face him. She was embarrassed that her outburst had made him come running. He had been sleeping in the next room. She'd kept him up half of the night before with another nightmare, and Bailey had convinced him to have a nap while she and Josh had discussed Angel's bleak situation.

She let her head hang low as she held out the phone toward Josh in a defeated manner. He took it carefully, watching her closely as he did. His eyes were still on her as he began to talk to Jeff.

"Hey, it's Josh," he paused. "No it's fine. She'll be okay. Matt and I are both here, she can talk it out after if she needs to. But seriously, man, wait for us before you go to Angel's." He waited for Jeff's inevitable argument, then pressed on. "Bailey will be fine, Jeff. She'll be there at six, just like she said before. Are you going to help us or not?" Josh sounded exasperated. "Good. I'm glad that you're on our side here. We'll see you later."

Once the call was disconnected, he approached Bailey and patted her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine. Sorry that I blew up like that."

"You had every right to."

Bailey breathed deeply for a moment, then looked over at Matt. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

He shook his head. "Don't be. I needed to get up anyways. What do you guys need me to do to help before we go to Angel's house?"

"We?" Bailey repeated dumbly. "You're both coming with me?"

Matt's eyes were suddenly uncertain and worried. "You don't want me there?"

"Of course I want you there. I just don't know what I did to deserve you guys. I mean, I'm constantly at war with the people that I thought were my best friends, and then you guys are always here picking me up and helping me. I'm constantly sulking, yet you stick by me even when I'm unbearable to be around. Why?"

Josh laughed. "We're your friends, Bailey. That's what we're here for. Besides, I know you would be there for us if we ever needed it. That's the kind of person you are. That's why you still want to save Angel even though she didn't do the same thing for you. And that's why we stick around."

Matt nodded his agreement. "Well, that and we kind of like you. Sometimes."

Bailey let out a small breath of quiet laughter. "I guess I kind of like you guys too. Sometimes. Like today. I definitely like you guys today."