Choose Me, Not Him

"Rise and shine!" Mike called, pulling the curtains wide open, the rays of bright sunlight falling into the room.

Chester turned his head away and mumbled some incoherent warning. He was laying on his stomach in bed with nothing but his boxers.

"Come on, Ches! Let's move! Its five o'clock in the evening and you're not even up?" Mike picked up an empty glass bottle from the floor and read the lable. "Jack, huh?" He walked over and tapped his drunken friend on the head with the bottle.

"Dammit, Mike! What do you want?"Chester's voice was muffled and slurred, but loud.

"Ches, there will be other girls,"was Mike's reply

"Not like her." For all Chester could think, his life was slowly changing for the worst, moving like a raindrop down a window pane. That could make a good song lyric. If he cared..

Mike bent down to be level with his friend. "Dude, your breath stinks. But seriously, she's getting married. You can't do anything about that."

"Go away."

"Ches, we're rock stars and there's a lot of girls that will have sex with you. Pick one of them if you have to because Kylee's not coming back."

Chester's eyelids opened to reveal bright red, blood-shot eyes. "Just leave it alone."

"Come to the recording and face her. She needs to realize–" Mike stopped and grabbed his phone from his back pocket. "Hang on. Hey, Teal." He was quiet for a moment. "Whoa, whoa. Teal, slow down." His eyes widened. "What? How bad?" He looked at Chester who lifted his head in interest. "Yeah. Yeah, we'll be right there."
--

Chester pushed through the doors into the long bright corridor of the hospital, followed by the other five guys of Linkin Park. Through the months of getting ready for recording, the two bands had become rather close. Hearing the news about Kylee affected them all. Chester's head was pounding from the alcohol and his fists clenched in anger. Josh, Cody, and Marco–the three other members of Dark Labryth–stood from their seats when they saw his approach.

Cody barred Chester’s way with his arm. "Take it easy, Chester."

"I need to see her," Chester said, keeping his eyes towards the hallway.

"Teal's with her. She'll let us know when we can see her,"Cody said trying to calm him down.

Chester finally looked at him. "How bad is it?"

Cody shrugged. "I don't know, but Teal was pretty worked up."

"Where’s that fucker at?" Chester demanded.

"You don't need to know!"Josh growled, his face suddenly inches from Chester's. "You've already done enough damage!"

"What?!" Chester barked.

"You heard me! You've completely messed everything up for her! You're the reason her fiancé just beat the living shit out of her! This is all your fault!"

His temper already on the rise, Chester snapped. "Fuck you!" He lunged at the guitarist, his teeth gritted. Mike grabbed the back of his t-shirt, Rob and Brad grabbed his arms. "Don't you dare blame me for this! This is that mother fucker's fault! I would never hurt her!"

"We know that," Cody assured him, releasing his own grip on a flaring Josh. Chester swallowed the profanity stuck in his throat and nodded, but his friends didn't let him go until his body relaxed. Apparently, the rest of Labrynth now knew about him and Kylee and soon the rest of the guys would too.

Teal came walking down the hall, her face ashen and worried. She walked right up to Chester and looked into his dark eyes. "Do you want to see her?" Chester nodded. Teal took his hand and led him down the hall. "They sedated her." Teal stopped him in front of one the door labelled 312 and gestured for him to go inside. "Its not real good," she warned, replying to his unanswered question.

He slowly walked into the dark room, towards the drawn curtain. When he looked around it, his heart nearly stopped. She lay on the bed, her face blotched with grotesque colors of black, purple, blue, and green. One of her closed eyes was swollen and a large bandage covered the right side of her head. Taking a breath, he stole the chair from the wall and sat beside her. She looked so fragile, like the bed would swallow her up and she'd forever be gone from him.

Sitting there, he felt incredibly alone and finally took her hand in both of his. He pressed his lips to her knuckle. "If you can here me, Ky...I am so sorry. I should've been there, should've been able to do something." His eyes watered and he quickly swiped the threatening tears with the back of his sleeve. "Just get better, 'kay?" The rest of your band needs you. Who else is going to make fun of me with Mike?" He paused. "I know you told me you didn't love me, but I still need you."

A hand rested on Chester's shoulder and he looked up over his shoulder to see Mike standing there. "She's gonna be okay,”he assured his friend. “Aren't you the one who always said she was a tough bitch?"

Chester almost smiled and rested his lips against their clasped hands again. "You're right," he said and he closed his eyes and did something he didn't do often, but she'd alway told him to do. He prayed.
--

3 cracked ribs. 2 bruised. Fracture in the left cheek bone. Minor internal bleeding from the stomach area. Severe concussion. Chester continued to thank Teal over and over again because if it hadn't been for her intervening, and if Derek had continued like he had, Kylee might have been dead. This only made Chester all the more angry with the man–and himself. He tried never to leave Kylee's side in case she awoke. She finally did, only briefly, and too sedated to understand anything around her. She then drifted back into a drugged sleep.

After spending two days in the hospital, Chester tore himself away and drove to the Derek's house. Or mansion. The guy liked spending money, that much was clear. He knocked on the door, his whole plan of telling this guy off already in his head. Hopefully, the bastard would be put away for a long time, but until his trial, he was a free man.

The door opened and Derek peeked his head around. "Who are you?" His eyes were shifty, constantly looking everywhere, never staying in one place for to long. He looked like an absolute crack job and no doubt Teal had scared the crap out of him after she'd come after him with a frying pan.

"Chester Bennington," was Chester's tight lipped response.

Derek's eyes narrowed. "What the hell do you want?"

"To talk."

Derek seemed convinced and opened the door more to allow the rocker inside. Chester studied the large entrance hall, adorned with priceless paintings and statues. If only his buddies were here. All the rest of the guys would gladly have helped tear this place apart. But he was only there to talk and possibly yell.

"I don't know where you expected to get with beating her, but you’re seriously not–" Derek's fist came slamming into Chester's jaw, sending him down on the linoleum floor. But he recovered quickly. "Fuck," he muttered, hurriedly getting to his feet.

The look on the guy's face was enough to conclude he was now a lunatic. He had his insanity to fuel him, Chester had his taste for revenge. Chester blocked his next punch and managed to get two in of his own. Derek was bigger and stronger than he was and quickly took advantage of the rock stars lack of bulky muscle. He slammed Chester into the wall, sending one of the tables over. Chester tried to get his footing again, but was met with a knee to the gut. He collapsed, his breath gone for a second. Derek had him on his back and wrapped his large hands around Chester's neck, forbidding him to get the breath he had lost.

"You little punk think you can come right into my house? You bastard should of stayed out of my business," Derek muttered, trying to squeeze the life out of his victim, his hands digging into Chester's windpipe.

Chester gasped for oxygen, but nothing entered his lungs. His thoughts flickered to Kylee and her horrifying state, making him wonder if this man was actually going to try and kill him too. He groped around desperately for something, anything. His hand landed on something solid and hard. Grabbing it by the edge, he brought it up with all his strength into the side of the other man's head. The vase shattered against his skull and he fell to the side, out cold.

Breathing heavily, Chester slowly got to his feet, rubbing his throat and staring down at Derek. He dusted off the fragments of the vase from his jacket. There was a sharp intake of breath and he looked behind him to see a maid dialling the phone.

--

Kylee's eyes opened slowly, the blinding light made her squint. She turned her head to the side and saw Chester sitting beside her. Underneath his eyes were dark and his face was paler. When he saw her blue eyes opened, he smiled. "Welcome back."

"Hey," she said. The parchness in her throat made her wince.

"How do you feel?"he asked, scooting his chair closer.

"A little...whoo. How bad do I look?"

"You don't look bad at all."

"Chester Charles Bennington...tell me the truth."

Chester winced at the use of his middle name. "You're a little black and blue, but that's it." He wasn't completely lying. The swelling in her face had gone down and some of the bruising had diminished.

Kylee's blurry eyes narrowed. "Chester, what happened to your face?"

Chester leaned back in his chair, turned and ducked his head slightly, and leaned against his hand to hide the deep bruising on his throat and the side of his jaw. "Nothing."

To his relief, a blonde, heavy-set nurse came in, slightly surprised to see Kylee awake and talking. The woman made a quick look-over and took some tests, then ordered that she get some rest. When she left, Chester leaned on Kylee's bed. "You better listen to her. She's a scary one."

A smile came across her lips. "I don't want to."

"You need to."

“Not while you’re here.”

“I’ll be here when you wake up again,”he promised.

Kylee let out an uneven breath. There’s was one thing she’d missed since she’d been away from him. His voice. "Will you sing for me?" she asked him, a pleading look in her eyes.

Chester smiled. "What do you want to hear?" Kylee shrugged. Anything coming from him would be perfect to her. He thought for a moment, then took a deep breath, starting off slower and quieter than the song usually was. "I want to heal. I want to feel, what I thought was never real. I want to let go of the pain I felt so long. I want to heal. I want to feel, like I’m close to something real. I want to find something I’ve wanted all along. Somewhere I belong..."

--

"Chester, you really don't need to do this," Kylee said as Chester set down her suitcase on the floor in his room.

"Doctor says you can't stay home alone for a few weeks." He paused. And maybe even after that, you'd like to stay permenantly. He looked at her. Unless you still don't want to be together.

"No! That's not it...its just...I figured you didn't want me around," Kylee said, rubbing her arm uncomfortably. "I treated you like shit, Ches."

Chester breathed an exasperated sigh and wrapped his arms around her gently. "Ky, I told you I'm not mad at you and that I love you and that never changed. And I know you still loved me, even after you told me you didn't."

"How's that?" she asked dubiously.

"You are a terrible liar,"Chester smirked. Kylee's mouth dropped open and she punched his shoulder. Chester laughed. "Its true!"

Kylee sighed and lay her head on his chest, relieved that Chester was being so light-hearted about the whole thing. It was like the weight had been lifted off her shoulders when he had laughed with her. She wouldn't have to be worrying about Derek for a long time. His court had only been the day before and he'd been found guilty for two charges of assault and attempted homicide, convicted to ten years in prison. Chester had got a free ride for knocking him out, it'd been left as self-defence.

Chester knew he had her all to himself now, never having to think of who's back they were going behind. There wasn't the stress, the tension, that had been there before between them, and both gladly welcomed the relief. The more time Kylee spent with Chester in public now and the amount of affection he was showing her, made her feel completely stupid and like such a bitch. But Chester had dismissed any idea of ever being mad at her and the two were enjoying their new, free relationship.

Chester lifted her chin with his finger and kissed her. He grabbed her hips and moved them closer to his, then ran his hands down her sides, careful of her bruises. She trembled when he touched her and he smiled into the kiss. "Do you want to?" he asked in between kisses.

"I don't know...my ribs..." Kylee gasped, pulling away slightly.

"I'll be gentle,"Chester smirked, pulling her closer again. Kylee nodded then and smiled. He gently brought her down on the bed and kissed down her neck. She lifted his black t-shirt off and threw it on the floor. Her hands ran down his tattooed chest. His fingers slowly unworked the buttons from her purple and black flannel shirt and it was soon dispatched off to the side as Kylee fumbled with the buckle of his belt.

"Hey, Chester, I need–OH MY GOD!" Chester quickly rolled off Kylee to see Mike standing in the doorway, one hand in front of him the other covering his eyes. Kylee snatched her shirt and ran into the bathroom, too embarrassed to face him at that moment. "I did not see a thing!" Mike assured them.

Chester was stifling a laugh. "Its okay, Mike."

Mike peeked under his hand to make sure, before removing it completely. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you to would be doing each other right away." There was a thud from the door as Kylee laid her head against it, her face turning red in embarrassment.

"What do you need?" Chester asked.

"To talk to Kylee," Mike looked towards the bathroom door, which slowly opened.

"Yes?" Kylee asked sheepishly, her shirt back where it was supposed to be.

"Are you decent?" Mike grinned and Kylee hung her head. He chuckled. "I'm just messin'. I came to inform you, I've talked to Warner and they listened to your demo. They absolutely loved it! They want to go into partnership with us when you let out your new CD!" Mike finished with his arms opening dramatically.

Kylee's mouth dropped open. "Shut up! You're kidding?!" Mike shook his head, grinning. Kylee ran and hugged him. Mike, I love you The emcee looked over her shoulder at Chester and threw him a cheeky smile. His band mate flipped him off, but he was smiling too.

Mike released Kylee. "Well, better let you two lovers get back to your...stuff. We'll talk more later." With that, he left, but not before Chester yelled: "Lock the door on your way out!" They could here Mike laughing down the hallway.

"Well...that was eventful," Kylee said, sitting on the bed beside him. She traced her fingers down the tattoos on his shoulder. "I can't believe Mike got us that great of a deal."

"We got your back," Chester assured her, leaning closer. "I'll always be there for you."

She ran her hand over his short black hair. "Thank you," she said softly. He kissed her and brought her on her back again.

"Thank you," he breathed.

"For what?"

He kissed her softly, his lips lingering on her's. "For choosing me."