Have Faith in Me

Rachel’s POV:
“I’m fine, guys, really,” I assured Johnny and Brian for the millionth time. Mike had believed me when I said I was fine the first time and had disappeared to the back lounge. Johnny and Brian, however, didn’t seem to believe me. I didn’t doubt it though since I had still been crying and sniffling. My sobs had calmed down now and there was just the occasional sniffle.

We heard the door open and the three of us looked to the door. Matt stood at the top of the stairs leading into the bus.

“Can you give us a minute?” he quietly asked. Johnny tossed me a glance and I nodded.

“Come on, Bri. Let’s go see what Mike’s up to,” the bassist said. Matt waited for the two of them to disappear before walking over to me and sitting next to me.

“Listen, Rachel, I am so sorry,” he started. I placed a finger on his lips to quiet him.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” I told him. I took my finger away from his lips and looked down at my lap. “The reason I started crying was because seeing Aaron brought back all of these memories and I didn’t want you to get hurt even though I know you’re more than capable of handling yourself.” Matt placed a finger under my chin and lifted head so I was looking at him.

“That’s why I did what I did in the first place. I hate the fact that he hurt you so I did one of the things I know best and that is beat up someone that hurt someone I care about.”

“I still don’t think that’s a valid reason for starting a fight.” He shrugged.

“I just don’t want him hurting you again, that’s all.” I looked away.

“I don’t know if we can avoid that, Matt.” Matt’s lips pressed against mine in a sweet, reassuring kiss.

“Don’t worry, Rachel. I’ll try my damnedest to make sure we avoid it,” he promised. I sighed before nodding briefly.

“I’m going to bed. God knows how much I want to sleep after seeing Aaron,” I muttered. I gave him a small kiss before going back to my bunk.

***

I woke up earlier than usual the next morning. I hopped out of my bunk, stretching and yawning. I glanced down at Matt’s bunk. He was still sound asleep, light snores coming from his mouth. A small smile found its way to my lips before I walked out to the front and climbed out of the bus.

“Someone is up really early,” a male voice said. I glanced to the side and saw Corey standing there.

“Hey,” I greeted, flashing him a smile. He smiled in return.

Over the weeks I had been on the tour, I had become good friends with everyone in Halestorm, Stone Sour, and Disturbed. If I was with the guys from Avenged, I was usually with one of them, particularly Lzzy or Corey.

“So what’s got you up so early?” he asked as he put his hands in his pockets. I shrugged. “I’m guessing what happened yesterday got to you?”

“You can say that twice.”

“I’m guessing what happened yesterday got to you?” I looked at him and he grinned. I shook my head as a small laugh left me.

“You wanna join me for breakfast?” I asked him out of the blue. “I haven’t talked to you in awhile and well, yesterday was…” My voice trailed off into an embarrassed mumble.

“Sure. There’s a Subway not too far from here. That’d probably be the only place we know of that’s open at six in the morning,” he agreed. I nodded and we walked out of the parking lot. We didn’t say much as we made our way to Subway. Once in the small restaurant, we each ordered our food before sitting down. “So how’s everything Matt?” Corey asked after taking a bite out of his sandwich. An involuntary smile spread across my face.

“Great. It couldn’t be better,” I answered. He smiled.

“That’s good.” He paused for a moment. “I’m sure seeing your ex yesterday was the last thing you wanted.”

“Yeah, I don’t exactly want to see him. Ever.” Corey’s smile turned into a wry one.

“I know what you mean. I’ve had my fair share of love problems,” he sympathized with a nod. “And it doesn’t help that he’s gonna be touring with us the rest of the tour.” I shrugged.

“As long as I can keep Matt from beating the shit out of him again, all’s good.”

“Matt must really love you if he went to the extent of beating up a guy that hurt his girl.” A blush covered my face at the mention of the word love. Corey’s smile turned into a smirk. I tired to shrug it off.

“I dunno. Maybe he just wanted to beat him up?” It was his turn to shrug.

“You never know.” We spent the rest of the time talking about random stuff, not focusing on anything in particular.

“Hey, there you are,” Matt greeted when Corey and I walked back to the buses an hour later. “I was about to call you to see where you were.”

“I went to grab a bite with Corey,” I told him as I pulled away from his hug. I turned to Corey. “Thanks for the breakfast.”

“Not a problem,” he dismissed. “See you around, Shadows,” he told Matt before turning and walking back to his own bus.

“What’s got you so happy?” Matt asked me when he saw the smile on my face. I looked up at him, my blue eyes connecting with his hazel ones.

“Just everything. Especially you,” I replied. He smiled warmly down at me, his dimples appearing. Kissing me softly, he led me back onto the bus.

“Hey, Rach,” Aaron’s voice greeted. I froze.

“Hey, Aaron,” I greeted in return after a moment.

“How are you?”

“Good.” My voice was guarded and my body language just as wary. He smiled at me, trying to be friendly.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Sure. Go ahead. Talk.” Aaron glanced over at the stage where the guys were performing. I knew he was trying to gauge how much time he had before Matt came over. I gave him 3 minutes since they had just started Almost Easy.

“Rachel…” His voice trailed off. He looked at the ground, looking thoughtful. Aaron looked back up at me after a moment. “Rachel, I miss you,” he finally said.

“Aaron-”

“Listen to me, Rach,” he cut off. “I miss you more than you can ever know. Every day I regret what I did to you. I should’ve never let you go.”

“What we had is over and done with,” I told him firmly.

“You can’t possibly believe that.” I wasn’t aware that the guys had stopped playing and that Disturbed was making their entrance.

“Aaron, you hurt me and there is no forgiving that.” He took a step towards me and took my hands in his. His blue eyes looked at me earnestly.

“I know, Rachel. Trust me, I know. But I would do anything to show you that I regret what I did.” Aaron’s was voice was quiet and full of honesty.

“Rachel?” Matt’s voice said from not too far away. I tore my gaze away from Aaron to look at my boyfriend. His hazel eyes were on me, full of caution.

“Rachel, look at me,” Aaron said. I looked back at him. “I cannot tell you how sorry I am for hurting you the way I did. Just give me another chance.” I looked from him to Matt.

“You’re not going to listen to him, are you?” Matt asked me incredulously. I looked at the both of them once more.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered before tearing my hands out of Aaron’s grasp and running out of the venue.