Ever After Never Came

I only lasted two days on tour, two days and one show. I didn’t even see them play.

I managed to make it back into town after about an hour of walking. My clothes were completely soaked through and I found myself shivering, despite the fact that it hadn’t been cold today. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep a grip on my bag. I’d finally stopped crying about fifteen minutes ago, after I couldn’t breathe properly anymore.

I found a motel near the end of town, a small desolate looking one. I frowned, not really wanting to stay there, but the rain was pouring down too hard to be picky. I sighed and walked to the building’s front door.

An older man was sitting at the front desk, newspaper in hand. He looked up once and did a double take when he saw me.

“Are you alright, Miss?” he asked. I nodded, noticing that his nameplate read Hank.

“Yes, I just needed a room for the night,” I replied, pulling out a wad of paper from my pocket. I frowned at the wet bills. I didn’t have much of anything else on me.

The old man smiled slightly. “Bad day?”

“You have no idea,” I replied, returning the lump of defaced cash to my pocket.

“Well how’s this? You can stay in room 13 and pay me tomorrow,” Hank stated, handing me a set of keys.

“Really?” I asked, stunned by his act of kindness.

“You seem like a nice girl. Can I trust you?”

“Yes, sir,” I nodded. “I will most definitely pay you for the room tomorrow.”

“Alright then,” Hank smiled. “It’s right out these front doors, take a right and it’ll be a few doors down,” he directed.

“Thanks so much,” I replied, adjusting the black duffel bag on my shoulder, ready to face the rain again. I ran out the front doors, almost slipping when I took the right Hank had mentioned. I finally made it to the green door with a 13 nailed to the front. I fumbled with the key as I tried getting it in the lock. Once the lock clicked and the door swung open, I was taken aback by the quaintness of the room.

Despite the building’s old, deteriorated appearance, the room seemed to be in good shape. The walls were painted a cream color, not quite white. A small TV sat on a table to my left, a small desk and chair on the other side. The queen size bed in the middle of the room took up half the space. The comforter was a solid, sage green color with brown accent stripes, and an array of matching pillows decorating the top. Everything seemed fairly clean, something I was extremely grateful for.

I locked the door behind me and made a bee line straight to the bathroom, where I stripped off my clothing and hopped into the shower. The hot water felt amazing after being out in the rain. The great feeling ended as I remembered why I was here anyway. I stepped out of the shower and wrapped one of the cream colored towels around me. I wrung the excess water from my blonde curls and used my fingers to brush them out slightly. I pulled a smaller towel from the shelf and laid all my money out to dry. I would need it tomorrow.

I flipped on the television just for some back ground noise as I pulled out items from my duffel bag. Luckily everything in it was still dry, including my phone. Thank god I’d thrown it in the bag instead of putting it in my pocket. I found seven new messages. I scrolled through them, noting that they were from everyone but Jack.

Are you okay? - Zack

Abby, you shouldn’t have left. Where are you? – Rian

You’re going to get sick. Where are you going? - Rian

I told them not to leave, but Matt said we had to go. Please say you’re okay. - Zack

Abby! We’re really worried here! –Rian

Who’s going to help me out with merch now? - Vinny

Abigail Dawn Stone! Where the fuck are you? – Alex

I smiled at Alex’s last text. Of course he’d be the one to cuss me out. I replied to everyone telling them I was fine and at a motel. Not two minutes later, my phone started ringing. Dear Maria filling the room. Alex calling flashed across the screen. I sighed and hit send, answering the phone.

“Hello?”

“Thank god, you’re okay. We were freaking out,” were the first words out of Alex’s mouth.

“I’m fine, Alex. I told you that,” I pointed out.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“A little motel right on the end of town,” I replied. “I’m staying here then hopefully flying out. I haven’t checked the airline tickets yet.”

“Abby, are you sure about going home? I mean you kind of just left spur of the moment. You even left your laptop here.”

“I’m sure, Alex. I can’t be in the same room as him,” I sighed. “I don’t trust him anymore.”

“It was the one time, Abs. He promised,” Alex stated. I could tell he was trying to be quiet, meaning Jack was around somewhere. “He’s a wreck.”

I didn’t reply, the thought of Jack pulling at my heart strings. I lay back on the bed, my hair dampening the pillows. “He’ll get over it.”

“Abby, I’ve never seen him like this. He’s sitting in his bunk, still soaked, staring at a picture of the two of you together,” Alex described. “He looks like his world just ended.”

I bit my lip. “Alex, don’t call me to tell me about him, okay? I’m hurt too,” I told him. “I don’t need to feel even worse because of him. He always blames me for everything. This was his fault.”

“I know it was, and so does he. He’s a complete mess. Zack had to drag him in so we could keep going after you ran off, which was stupid, by the way; you totally could’ve gotten kidnapped and raped,” Alex scolded.

“I’m fine,” I repeated. “Look, I just want to go home. I can’t deal with something like this. You know I can’t. It just makes me feel like I’m not good enough to keep my boyfriend, just like Jordan always said.”

“You’re really going to bring him up? He’s old news, Abby. That was two years ago. Where is he now?” Alex asked. “Probably working at a gas station where he can pump my gas and kiss my ass.”

I smiled. “I know it’s in the past, but I can’t help it. Hannah Adams has always tried to make my life hell. I thought I left that behind in high school. She finally succeeded. She took the one thing I love away from me.”

“That’s not true and you know it. Jack was drunk, he was totally wasted. Yeah, he screwed up, but he never went back to her. Tonight was just to get her off his back. After your fight, he felt bad and decided to get a drink. It’s not like he was out banging her,” Alex defended his best friend.

“When I asked him about who he’d been talking to a few days ago, he got defensive. You know what he said? That he would never, ever cheat on me. How could I even think that he would? He lied to my face, Alex, to my face. He expects me to be okay with that?” I argued.

“So let me get this straight, you’re more upset about his lying than you are about the fact that he slept with someone?” Alex asked, completely oblivious.

“No, I’m upset that he slept with someone when he’s supposed to be faithful to me, that he lied about it, and that it was Hannah fucking Adams!” I raised my voice. I sighed. “Look, I really don’t want to do this right now.”

“Fine, I just think you should calm down and think about you and Jack. You guys love each other more than anyone I know,” Alex said.

“Not as much as you and Lisa,” I replied.

“Uh, actually, about that…” Alex trailed off.

“What?”

“Lisa and I split up,” Alex said.

“What!?” I asked in shock. “When?”

“About a week ago,” Alex replied. “I kind of screwed up.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I cheated on her,” Alex stated flatly. “But before you freak out, she cheated on me too.”

I was speechless. One of the most adorable couples I’d ever met cheated on each other. What did that say about love? If they couldn’t do it, then Jack and I certainly couldn’t.

“I don’t even know what to say to that,” I admitted.

“It wasn’t easy, but we figured it would be for the best. I want to live the rock star life on tour, including everything that comes with it.”

“And you don’t think that Jack wants the same thing?” I asked.

I heard Alex sigh. “I don’t know, Abs. But if he did, I think he would’ve dumped you by now instead of going insane.”

“Thanks for using the term ‘dumped’. It made me feel real special,” I deadpanned.

“Just telling you like it is, Abby. Just, think about it. Forgiving Jack and working things out could be the best thing to do,” Alex said.

“Whatever, Alex, I’m going to sleep. Just, keep an eye on him, okay?” I asked.

“Of course,” Alex replied, like it was expected. “Want me to call you if he gets worse?”

I deliberated for a moment, wondering what I should do and what I wanted to do. “Yes, please.”

“I knew you’d say yes,” Alex chuckled.

“Why’s that?”

“Because,” Alex started. “You love him.”

I hung up a minute later, glad I was off the phone. I dried my hair, finally crawling into bed, staring at my phone’s background. It was a picture of me and Jack, the one taken in Bay City. It was a copy of the one I’d printed that was back home.

Was I sincerely hurt by the fact that Jack slept with someone else, or just that he lied to me? I wondered, recalling Alex’s question. It seemed so stupid to ask myself that, but in reality it was an honest question. I knew Jack had slept with plenty of other girls before we started dating. This was really no different, except that we were together. I was upset about that, I reasoned. But it may have been less upsetting if I hadn’t known who it was. I rolled over, setting my phone on the nightstand.

I guess what hurt the most was that I felt Jack didn’t respect me enough to tell me the truth, that and the fact that he didn’t deem me worthy enough to be the only girl in his life. But Alex had a point, Jack was wasted that night. He had no clue what he was doing or who for that matter. This was mostly Hannah’s fault, I figured.

I rubbed my face with my hands, completely confused. What the hell was I going to do? Racking my brain for answers proved to be useless so instead I flipped through the channels until I found something interesting to watch. I smiled to myself as the opening credits for ‘Pawn Stars’ started.

I fell asleep with Jack in my head, much like always. This time though, it wasn’t simply because I was head over heels in love with him.