The Softer Side of Unbearable

Bailey's hand gripped Matt's arm unnaturally tightly. He grabbed her quickly by the waist and slid a supportive arm around her. Her hands trembled, and she leaned against him.

"Bailey," he breathed in her ear. "It's okay. We'll go there now. We'll go and get her."

"Jeff lied to us," she whispered, dumbstruck. Every part of her ached with the effort that it took to remain standing upright. She wanted to vomit. "Why would he do that?"

"We'll go and find out. You can ask him yourself." Matt paused to look up at Mrs. Corbett and give her an unconvincing smile. "Thank you for speaking with us. We really appreciate it."

The woman nodded, but her face was ghostly white. She knew that she had said something of crucial importance, and Bailey knew that she was probably worried about betraying her daughter.

Matt adjusted Bailey's half-limp body and heaved her outside. He gave Mrs. Corbett one last wave, then focused all of his energy on getting Bailey safely inside of the truck. He could see that her eyes were shimmering with the early signs of tears. Instead of shoving her directly into the cab of his vehicle, he gently leaned her up against the outside of it.

"Hey," he said gently, leaning forward so that she would look him in the eye. "You know that she's alive; doesn't that count for anything?"

"Why didn't he just tell you?" She sniffled slightly, then drew in a shaky breath. "He obviously knew that we were looking for her. How could he go behind my back like this?"

"Let's go. We'll find everything out soon enough."

Matt reached over and opened the passenger door of his truck and waited while Bailey climbed inside. He gently closed the door behind her. By the time he got into the driver's side, Bailey had her feet tucked up onto the seat and was resting her head against the window. Her eyes were closed. He let the silence fall, heavy and thick, in the cab of the truck. He knew that, until they got some proper answers, there was nothing that he could say to make it better. Even though he was trying to keep it together for Bailey, Matt was seething over Jeff's betrayal.

The drive over to Jeff's house didn't take nearly as long as either of them would have liked. When they slowed to a stop in the driveway, Matt cleared his throat.

"Bailey," he said softly. "Whatever we hear in there, I just want you to know that I'll still be here after wards."

She sat up straighter and looked over at Matt. "I know," her voice was light and content for a moment as she gazed at him. "You've always been there, Matt. Through everything that has happened lately, you're the only constant that I have left. That's why I love you."

There was an uncomfortable, pregnant pause. Bailey's eyes widened as she realized what she had said. She fumbled over her words as she tried to recover the peace she had felt moments before.

"I know that it's a little soon for me to say that. I'm sorry. But it doesn't feel like it's soon. It feels like we've been together for a long time. I mean, you've slept in my bed for the better part of a year. I know that you didn't try anything, but I thought maybe there was a reason that you kept staying and I just-"

Matt silenced her with a playful smirk. "I may not have tried anything, but believe me, I thought about it."

Bailey leaned back against the seat, blushing.

"Bailey, it's okay. I love you, too. I figured it out when you booked those tour dates. I couldn't understand why I got so jealous over it. I realized then that I cared about you more than I thought."

Despite the warmth that spread through her at his words, Bailey frowned. "There was no reason to be jealous."

"I know. But the point is that I was anyways. I don't get jealous when I only consider a girl to be a friend. I wanted you to be more, and I didn't want some other guy to step in and wreck that for me. But then you came back so soon, and I knew that you must have felt the same."

A slow smile inched its way across Bailey's lips. "So you love me, huh?"

He leaned across the seat of the truck. He gently cupped her cheek in his hand and pulled her into a long, tender kiss. When he pulled away, his eyes were glittering. "Yeah, I really do."

There was a sudden cracking noise, and both of them were jolted from their intimate moment and back to reality. Bailey looked around in surprise as a pebble bounced lightly off of the windshield and down the hood of the truck. A child of about ten years old pushed off from the sidewalk and hurtled away on his skateboard once she caught sight of him.

"Stupid kid," she grumbled. "He ruined a perfectly good moment."

"Bailey," Matt whispered, as though he were frightened of his next words. "We need to go inside."

Bailey grimaced. "I forgot about that. Just for a minute. It was kind of nice. Thanks for the distraction."

"Come on, let's go."

They reluctantly got out of the truck, and Matt hurried around the front so that he was by Bailey's side. He slid a supportive arm around her waist, and she smiled up at him softly.

"Here goes nothing."

Matt nodded in agreement, then walked with her up the sidewalk and toward the house. The grass was turning a nauseating shade of brown, and dry leaves lay where they had fallen earlier in the season. Jeff was usually so careful with the upkeep of his house and yard. Clearly, he had had other priorities as of late.

Bailey knocked loudly on the door. There was no noise inside the house. The moments trickled by like rain. Eventually, she reached out and tried the door handle. It didn't really come as any surprise when she found that it was locked. She stepped off of the path and crouched down, looking through an assortment of rocks aligning the walkway. She shoved aside a few that appeared to be too small, then retrieved the one she was looking for.

"Idiot," she muttered. "Who has a key hidden in a rock these days?"

"Does this count as breaking and entering?" Matt asked nervously.

"Technically, I'm not breaking anything," she replied in a smart tone as she plucked the key from its hiding place and stood up straight. "It's his own fault for being terrible at hiding things."

Matt scratched the back of his neck. "Want me to keep a look out, just in case?"

Bailey rolled her eyes and slid the key smoothly into the deadbolt. "It's fine, Matt. He should know by now that he can't keep me out."

"Please don't get us arrested."

She shot him a cocky grin. "Calm down. You worry too much."

"No, you worry too much. I just worry when there's a legitimate reason for it. Can we just go in? I don't want anyone to notice how long we've been standing here."

Bailey opened the door and stepped inside. The lights were out, and everything was quiet. Bailey set the key on the nearest end table, then walked quickly across the room. Matt followed close behind as she headed down the hallway and to Jeff's bedroom. She opened the door with a little too much force, and it crashed against the wall with a loud bang. Matt flinched at the sound, but Bailey continued, unfazed.

She stopped when she found that the room was empty. Confused, she spun around and began opening every door that she came across. Every room was turning up empty. Finally, she found herself facing a set of stairs that disappeared into the black void of the basement. She reached out and flicked on the light, then peered down the passage with intense curiosity.

Wordlessly, she began to descend. Matt followed closely as she gripped the hand rail. In all the times that Bailey had been in Jeff's house, she had never gone down into the basement. Despite how well she thought that she knew Jeff, she suddenly wondered what he might be hiding down there. Maybe Angel wasn't his only secret.

"Jeff?" she called out as she reached the landing.

There was a sudden shuffling in a nearby room, and then Jeff appeared before them. He pulled the door closed behind him and looked at his surprise intruders nervously.

"Bailey, Matt; what are you guys doing here?" he anxiously played with his sleeves as he addressed them.

"We just came up empty-handed at Angel's parents' place," Bailey replied, trying to keep a calm and cool composure. "You didn't answer your door, so I let myself in with your spare key."

"Do you want something to drink?" Jeff stepped toward them and away from the door, trying to force Bailey to retreat up the stairs.

Bailey stood her ground, refusing to budge. "Why were you down here?"

"Just doing some cleaning. Are you hungry?"

"Are you hiding something?" she shot back.

"Don't be silly, Bailey. What would I be hiding?" As he spoke, his cheeks flushed visibly.

Matt folded his arms across his chest. "Oh, drop it, Jeff. We know. Your bullshit stories are no good anymore."

"Y-you know?" Jeff stammered. "What do you mean?"

"We know that you're harboring Angel here," Matt said. His voice was bitter and hard. As he spoke, Bailey pushed past Jeff roughly. She threw open the door that he had just left.

"Angel," Bailey greeted her friend acidly as she found Angel cowering on a mattress in the corner. "What the hell is your problem? Why were you two against me finding you here?" She rounded on Jeff with rage. "And why the hell were you helping her? She was supposed to be getting healthy!"

"I-" Jeff paused. He looked down at the floor in shame. "She wasn't herself when she was in there. I missed her. I missed the Angel that I know."

"But you guys fought all the time," Bailey pressed. "You said you wanted to kill each other almost every day on tour. Why did you choose each other over me?" Suddenly, she couldn't mask the hurt in her voice. She bit firmly on her tongue to keep from breaking apart.

"That's not what happened," Angel piped up. She raised her head from its resting place on her knees, which her arms were wrapped around tightly. Her eyes were hollow. "I couldn't be there anymore. I really couldn't handle it. It was just so... sterile. I was so smothered there. When I left, I didn't know where to go. I wanted to go home, but I knew that my mom would be disappointed in me. Then the thought of facing you... Bailey, I let you down. I couldn't even think about going to you without feeling like shit. I knew that you had faith in me, for some strange reason. I didn't want to lose that. I came to Jeff because I knew that he wouldn't think any less of me. I'll always be the same in his eyes. I'm really sorry if I hurt you, but I just cracked under the pressure."

Jeff slunk across the room and sat down on the mattress next to Angel. "She hasn't gotten high since she's been here. She hasn't left the house at all. She just needed to get clean on her own terms."

Bailey stared helplessly at the two of them. She heaved a sigh. "Are you lying to me again? Or are you actually still clean?"

Angel ran a hand through her hair and sat up straighter, as if that would make her appear more respectable. "I swear on my life, Bailey, I haven't touched it since that night I overdosed."

Bailey chewed on her fingernail as she thought. She hadn't really known what to expect when she came here, but it certainly hadn't been this. "Okay, Angel. I'm giving you another chance. But so help me God, if I find out that you've even so much as thought about meth, I'll be done with you. For good. There are no strikes left."

Angel nodded eagerly, though her eyes were dismayed. "I understand, Bailey. Thank you."

Bailey reached out and took Matt's hand. "Come on, let's go home. I just need some space to breathe right now."

As she and Matt left the house, Angel and Jeff didn't move. There was a sense of relief lingering in the air, but for some reason it wasn't enough. Bailey knew that she wouldn't be able to get over the feeling of rejection that she had right then. She held on to Matt's hand as if it were a lifeline. He was the only one that hadn't left her.

In her mind, he was the only one that really wanted her.