Through the Lens

Scarlet stared at the ceiling of the tour bus. She had practically memorized the texture of the ceiling now, having been staring at it for so long. She had no idea what time it was, only that the loud chatter from the front room had quieted down about an hour ago, signaling that the guys were either asleep or watching a movie. She would normally be joining them but instead she was laying flat on her back, curled up under a mass of blankets, alone in the back lounge area.

When Alex left her at the gas station, she called Matt and asked him the way to the tour bus, which she found easily. When she got on, Alex was hidden away in his bunk and everyone questioned her what happened but she ignored them and went to the bunk area.


"Alex?" Scarlet questioned quietly after she shut the bunk door after her, leaving her and the singer alone. There was no movement or sounds from behind the closed curtain of their shared bunk so she went to it and pulled it open. Alex was laying on his side, staring at the wall, showing her his back. "Alex, please." She reached her hand out and rested it gently on his warm back but he flinched away, turning to glare at her.

"Do not touch me." He warned, before sitting up and getting out of the bunk.

"Please, I'm sorry, Alex. I don't know what happened last night, I don't remember a thing." She begged him, tears flowing down her cheeks once more. She stared up into Alex's eyes as they softened a little, but then he crossed his arms across his chest and the glare was back.

"Max knows what happened last night, he didn't drink at all, so if he says you fucked, then you did." Scarlet shook her head.

"You know if I hadn't have drunk that much I would never go near Max. I'm with you, I want you, not him." Alex shook his head, still glaring down at her but he too felt tears prickling at his eyes.

"I'm hurt, Scarlet. I love you and you go and do this..." Scarlet took a step forward, resting a hand on his arm, glad that he didn't move away from her touch this time.

"I love you too, Alex. Please, you have to believe me. It was one mistake, a mistake that I will never make again. I promise, I need you." One single tear fell down his cheek before he shook his head.

"I can't, Scarlet, I can't." He stepped away from her and moved past her, leaving the bunk area.


That was 4 days ago, Scarlet tried to talk to him once more, but he became pissed off, screamed in her face and said that it was over; that was yesterday. Since then she had been cooped up back here. By now the rest of the band and crew had heard what had happened and were giving both of them their space. They only saw Scarlet when she came out to take photos at the show but as soon as the show was done with, she was back in her area, not speaking to anyone, not even eating.

She jumped a little when there was suddenly a knock on the door, tearing through the peace and quiet of the bus.

"Scar?" She heard a soft voice from the other side, recognizing it as Jack's voice. She said he could enter and sat up while he walked into the small space, closing the door after him. "I brought you a sandwich, you really need to eat." He set a place with a turkey sandwich in her hand and then handed her a bottle of water. She just stared at the sandwich, not making any move to eat it.

"Will you please eat. I haven't seen you eat a thing in two days." Scarlet just shrugged.

"Not hungry." Her answer came softly, making Jack sigh and sit down beside her. He took the sandwich and water, setting them down on the floor before taking her in his arms, letting her bury her face in his neck while his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Talk to me, tell me what's going on." He said softly, running a hand up and down her back.

"He broke up with me." She answered, her voice cracking as her throat became tight and her eyes stung with new tears.

"Yeah, we all heard that, he was pretty loud." He said, referring to the loud argument they had gotten into. "Why?"

"That night at the club, when I went missing, I was so drunk, I don't remember a thing, but the next morning I woke up in a hotel with Max who says that we slept together." Jack nodded, having already heard this from Alex, but he wanted to make sure that Alex wasn't just exaggerating or something.

"Are you sure Max is telling the truth? He could easily be lying, I mean he lied to Alex about you before, saying that you cheated on him." Scarlet shook her head.

"I don't think he's lying. He wouldn't do that to me now, not when I helped him get clean and sober." Jack chuckled a little at her words.

"It's Max Green, Scarlet. He's head over heels in love with you, and what I think is going on is that he lied about you two fucking, yes you woke up in a hotel with him, but that doesn't mean you had to have done something. Were you naked when you woke up?" Scarlet moved away from Jack a little and shook her head, wiping at her cheeks.

"I had my bra and panties on. I don't know about Max, I left the room before he got out from under the blankets."

"So you might have kissed a little or something, but that does not mean you two slept together." Jack spoke, shrugging.

"It doesn't matter if we really did or not, Jack. Alex still broke up with me, he still hates me." Scarlet spoke, looking down to pick at a loose string on her pajama pants.

"I'll talk to Alex, okay? I'll get him to calm down and come talk to you. You two are too great together to break up over something that I don't even think is true." Scarlet looked up at Jack and smiled a little.

"I love him, Jack. I'm in love with Alex. I can't lose him." Scarlet spoke quietly. Jack nodded and reached over to take her hand in his, squeezing it tightly.

"You won't Scar. He loves you too, he's just a little torn right now, he'll come around though. He always goes crazy on tour, but we get off tour in a week and a half, so he'll be able to go home, relax, and actually think things through and everything will be fine." Jack reassured.

"I can't go a week and a half, or longer, without him though, Jack. It's been hard not seeing him at all today or most of yesterday. It was hard when Max left me, but this is even harder. I don't know why, I just feel like a part of me is missing, like I'm missing a leg or something. I need him." She said, wiping at the tears that fell from her eyes.

"You'll get him back, Scarlet, I promise." She just nodded and fell back into his chest, clutching at him.

"I really hope you're right, Jack, I really do." He nodded and ran his hand through her long brunette hair.

"I'm always right, you know that." He said, making her giggle a little and nod.