Breaking Hearts and Breaking Bones Has Never Been So Romantic

"Gabe, leave my sister alone." This morning my brother's usual soft, gentle tone was replaced by a low growl, giving an edge to his voice what indicated his temper was short.

"I gotta talk to her though," came Gabe's reply, "I want to ap - "

"Let her wake up on her own free will." Alex demanded, cutting my boyfriend's argument short.

Both of their voices drifted into the bunk, sounding as if they had come from the front lounge. This morning I had been woken by my brother shifting beside me as he crawled out of bed. Seeing that he had woken me up, he leaned over, kissed my forehead gently, and told me to go back to sleep before he disappeared into the hallway, and shut the curtains behind him.

I did as I was told, drifting in and out of sleep. I'm not sure how long I've been lying here, moping around about how crappy the previous night had been. I'm not sure how long I've been lying here, thinking about how much I wished I had just stayed home.

Last night, in the process of trying to fall asleep, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't cut out for touring. Everything was so different than I was used to; I felt so out of place here.

I don't know, maybe it was just because it was the first time Gabe and I had gotten into a fight as to why I was feeling so uncomfortable on this bus now. Before last night, Gabe and I had never so much as raised our voices at one another, let alone disrespect each other, as Gabe had done to me.

Everyone clearly remembers how hesitant I was when my brother first starting suggesting that Gabe and I become an item. The incident last night was one of the reasons as to why I had been so hesitant to commit myself to another relationship. I'm wondering now, whether or not I made the right decision to jump back into the dating scene.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't even realize that the curtain had opened, and my brother was looking into the bunk, checking in on me. Feeling the warmth of his hand on my cheek, I looked up at me and found him to be giving me a sad look.

"Gabe wants to come and talk to you." He mumbled softly. "Do you feel up to it? Or do you want me to kick his ass again?"

Sighing softly, I shifted slightly, leaning more into his hand and then closed my eyes. "As much as I'd love to see you kick his ass again, I think that it'd time him and I talk things out."

"Alright." He whispered softly. He paused momentarily before he pressed his lips gently to my forehead. "I'll send him back here."

With that, my brother was gone, leaving me alone to think of what I was going to say to Gabe. I barely had so much as a minute to myself, though, when I heard the sound of the curtain being pushed back. Opening my eyes, I found Gabe to be standing in front of the bunk, a sorry look inscribed deep in his brown eyes. Upon settling my eyes upon him, the frown on his lips deepened before he lowered his gaze to the edge of the mattress.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry." He whispered, his voice barely audible. "I - "

I cut him off by raising my hand, signaling for him to stop. "Let's go to the back room and talk." I said.

Silently, Gabe nodded his head and held his hand without a cast out, helping me out of the bunk. Without another word to him, I led the way into the back lounge, which was empty of anyone, with the exception of my kitten sleeping soundly on top of one of the pillows. Releasing Gabe's hand, I crossed the room and sat down before I picked up my kitten, and set him on my lap.

It stirred slightly, enough to realize it was me, and then curled up into a ball, purring ferociously as it settled in for another nap. I watched Gabe as he closed the door behind him, and then crossed the small room in a few short steps to take a seat beside me.

He hesitated slightly before he reached over and placed his hand on top of my leg. Not in a sexually aggressive move, but rather in an attempt to comfort me.

"I'm sorry." He repeated. "I was a douche bag to you last night; you don't deserve that. No one should ever talk to you like that, least of all me. I'm sorry."

"Gabe, last night ... " I trailed off, not really know what to say. "I've been thinking that maybe I should just go home." I mumbled. "I don't think I'm cut out for the touring lifestyle."

"But ... is it just because of what happened last night?" Gabe asked slowly. "Or ... have you just not been happy with me on tour?"

"I ... I don't know Gabe." I sighed. "I thought I was, but now, I don't know. I just feel so confused right now Gabe."

"If you're scared because of what I did last night, you don't have to be anymore. I swear that I won't drink again for the rest of the tour." He insisted. "I promise you that I won't go and - "

"Gabe, it's not about you drinking." I mumbled. "It's just ... I don't know if you and I are really ready for this relationship."

"But ... what are you saying?" Gabe asked in confusion. "You're not ... are you saying that you think maybe we should break up?"

"Gabe, when we first started dating, we hadn't even known each other that long. Hell, I haven't even seen you drunk until last night. There're still a lot of things I don't know about you, and a lot of things you don't know about me."

"So tell me." Gabe said quietly. "Tell me whatever it is you think I need to know about you, and I'll tell you everything there is to know about me."

"Gabe, we can't just fix all our problems just by - "

"What problems, Angie?" Gabe asked, cutting me off. "Up until just now, I wasn't aware that we had any problems. Sure, you pointed out that there are some things we may not know about each other, but that's not something to break up about. It's something we can work though, sweetheart." He said softly.

"Gabe, I ... I don't know." I said slowly as I tried to make sense of all the jibberish running through my head.

"Angela, please don't break up with me." Gabe whispered. "I love you so much, I do. I don't give a damn if you say that I don't know everything about you; no one could ever possibly know everything about someone else. I love you." He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before he continued. "I'll have you know that there're not that many people who I say that to. It's hard for me to say it, and for me to say it to you as openly as I do ... that should mean something."

"It does, Gabe," I whispered, "I means a lot to me to hear you say that. It's just that last night - "

"I was being a jackass last night, I know." Gabe frowned. "I was drunk, and I was being naive. I - "

"Last night you reminded me of all the assholes I've ever dated." I blurted out. "All your hard work you put into making me believe that you were different from them automatically flew out the window last night. I didn't see any difference between you and them. That little 'performance' last night was the very reason why I was so hesitant to say yes to you when you first asked me out." I said, my tone a little more crude than I had intended it to be.

Gabe automatically closed his mouth and stared at me with wide eyes.

"Angie, I - "

"Gabriel, I really thought that you were different." I frowned. "But last night, you proved me wrong."

"Angie, last night was stupid. It was a mistake on my part. I was drunk, I shouldn't have even gone out and done that. I was grumpy, and I was upset about my wrist. It was just a stupid, drunken thing."

"Being drunk is no excuse, Gabriel." I mumbled.

Gabe sat there, studying me for about a minute or so in silence before he finally spoke. "So ... you really want to do this?" He asked. "You really want to break up with me?"

"I don't know, Gabe." I whispered.

"It's a simple question, Angie," Gabe muttered softly. "Either you want to be with me, or you don't. Which is it?"

His stare was so intense that I couldn't bring myself to look at him any longer, so instead I dropped my eyes to my kitten, and started petting him absentmindedly as I mulled things over. "I ... want to be with you." I finally said, nodding my head. "Just ... not the drunken, asshole version of you."

"I promise you that I won't even think about drinking for the rest of the tour." He said. "I can't guarantee you that I won't ever get drunk around you again, but next time I'm not going to be shitty to you like I was last night. I'm usually not like that; ask Alex, he'll tell you that I'm not like that."

"Gabe, I'll have you know that if you ever pull a stunt like that again I'm leaving you." I said simply.

"I know." He said softly. "I know that you said you'd only give me once chance; I'm not about to go out and fuck things up between us."

Looking back up at him, I saw the sincerity in his eyes. He wasn't looking to mess things up; like he pointed out, he was like me, hesitant when it came to falling in love. I think that last night Gabe had been just as hurt as I had been - emotionally at least.

Raising my hand, I placed my hand gently on his cheek before running my thumb softly along the outline of the faint bruising around his eye where my brother had hit him. He winced slightly, but then reached up, holding my hand against his face when I made a move to pull it away.

"There's not much of a bruise," he said, "but it fucking hurts like hell."

"How's the nose?" I asked.

"Sore." He admitted. "Your brother packs a hell of a punch."

"Word on the street is that you do too, Mr. Saporta." I replied.

Gabe shrugged his shoulders slightly. "When I'm not drunk."

Giving him a soft smile, I leaned over and kissed the corner of his mouth lightly. When I pulled away, I saw that Gabe's eyes were closed while his head leaned into the touch of my hand.

"Did you already eat some breakfast, Gabriel?" I asked.

Slowly, he shook his head. Opening his eyes, he focused them on me as he spoke. "I was too upset about last night to eat." He said. "I wanted to talk to you before I did anything."

"What time is it?" I asked quietly.

"Almost noon."

"Let's go get some lunch." I suggested. "And then after we eat, we gotta go get some food and stuff for my kitty."

Gabe's eyes drifting down to the kitten sleeping soundly on my lap before he looked back to me. "Think of a name yet?"

"Hmm, I was thinking maybe ... Gabanti." I teased.

Gabe raised an eyebrow before a bemused smile crossed his lips. "Funny." He said, rolling his eyes slightly. "How about Zig-Zag?"

"Zig-Zag?" I asked.

"Yeah, look at all those lines and stuff on him," he said, waving his hand in a flourish to motion to the patterns on my kittens coat. "They're like ... Zig-Zags."

"Yeah, I suppose." I agreed. "We can call him Ziggy for short."

At my suggestion, Gabe laughed loudly and then reached over, petting the little cat. "Ziggy." He smiled. "I actually like that."

Smiling softly, I carefully picked Ziggy up and set him back on his pillow before I stood up and helped Gabriel to his feet as well. Sighing quietly, he leaned over and pressed his lips to mine as he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, holding me close to him.

Whatever doubts may have been running through my mine earlier disappeared as soon as I felt his lips against mine. Maybe I was just overacting about what happened last night. Gabriel was different from the other guys I've been with.

Wasn't he?