She Could Make Hell Feel Just Like Home

Aria awoke to someone strumming a guitar and a low laugh. She opened her eyes, groaned and shut them again. The sun was bright, way too bright. She rolled over and pulled the blanket over her head, wrapping herself in the darkness, head pounding. She felt someone gently patting her calf, and she peeked out from the blanket to see Jaime standing next to the bed, a glass in one hand, the other one making a fist.
“Morning.” He said, his voice low. He opened his fist, revealing three pills. “Advil.” He told her when she looked at him confused. Aria took it, grateful and swallowed it down with the water he had brought.
“Jaime, did I say anything stupid last night at all?” Aria asked after a few moments. Jaime rested his chin on the bed and shrugged.
“Well, you called Vic Victor. But that’s not too stupid. And you called Mike a care bear and tried to rub his stomach, and you asked me if I stick my finger in a light socket to style my hair. Other than that, no.” Jaime finally said after a long moment.
“I called Mike a care bear?” Aria asked.
“Yup. You wanted to rub his stomach to see what his powers were. But you couldn’t get up; it was actually really funny.” Jaime told her, cracking a smile.
“I’m going to change and come out in a few, alright?” Aria told him after a moment. Jaime nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Aria hopped down and began tugging off her shirt.
“Whoa, whoa, hold on!” Tony shouted from his bunk, pulling a blanket over his eyes. “I’m still here!”
Aria yanked her shirt down and spun around to look at Tony, who had the blanket over his face and his hands over his eyes.
“How are you feeling?” She asked, tugging her shirt off and grabbing one of Vic’s instead of trying to find one of hers. She tugged it on, then pulled on a pair of skinny jeans. “And I’m decent now, minus my hair.” Tony pulled the blanket from his head slowly, meeting her eyes.
“Better, actually I’m a little hungry. Thanks for taking care of me and for going on for me, I owe you.”
“No way, you owe me nothing.” Aria told him, sitting on the edge of his bed and combing her fingers through her hair, frowning at each snag she hit. Her hair was always a disaster when she drank.
“I did it as a friend.”
“If you insist. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d actually like to change.” Aria smiled and headed out, shutting the door behind her. The guitar stopped and Aria turned around to look at Vic and Mike. Mike was stretched out on one of the table benches, and Vic was lying on the couch with his guitar and he was looking at her.
“Do I look that bad?” Aria asked after a moment. Vic broke eye contact and went back to strumming random chords on his guitar.
“Nope, you look fine.” He said, focusing on his guitar. Aria raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. She looked at Mike, who was now sitting up. He shrugged and she sat down at the table with him as Jaime came out and sat down next to Mike.
“You know what sounds good right now? Pancakes.” Jaime said to no one in particular, hoping Aria would take the hint. Aria sighed.
“If you get the stuff out I will make you pancakes, after I fix my rat’s nest of a hair.” She said, getting up and heading into the bathroom. She ran a brush through her hair, listening to Jaime and Mike scramble around the kitchen. Vic was back to playing his guitar, sounding like he was working on a song. Maybe that’s why he was so quiet and distant she decided. She went back out, and began making pancakes.
Vic avoided or ignored her for the rest of the day, choosing not to eat with the rest of them. Aria remained on the tour bus when they performed, trying to set up her classes for next semester. When the boys came back in, she shut her computer and looked up at them. Vic sent a nod in her direction, then jerked his head towards the door.
“We need to talk.” He said, then walked back outside. Aria looked at Jaime, Mike and Tony; who all shrugged in response, taking up stations and turning on the TV to play FIFA.
Outside, Vic had pulled out two folding chairs and was sitting in one. Aria sat down next to him and waited for him to say something. Minutes passed and Aria shifted uncomfortably. She slapped at a mosquito that had landed on her arm and she glanced over at Vic, who was staring off into the distance.
“What are we gonna talk about?” Aria finally asked, unable to take the nerves anymore. Vic glanced over at her, then let out a sigh.
“Last night, you started crying in your sleep.” Vic picked at a seam in his jeans, not meeting her eyes. “You were sobbing and crying, and screaming some guys name, telling him not to leave you, that you loved him.”
“Oh.” Aria said, a hard pit forming in her stomach. She clenched her fists and looked away from Vic, crossing her legs in the chair and snapping a band against her wrist.
“What I want to know is if there is someone else in your life that you would rather be with, and you’re just here with me for a quick leap to fame or for some rebound or something.”
“No!” Aria all but screamed, turning back to face Vic. “I never ever want to see him again, ever. God, no. Absolutely not.” Aria pulled her legs up to her chest, burying her head in her hands, breathing deeply as her body shook. “No.” She whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks as the memories slammed into her. She heard the chair creak and groan as Vic got up and knelt in front of her, rubbing her thigh.
“Aria, will you tell me what happened?” He asked quietly. Aria looked up at him and Vic felt his heart snap in half. Her eyes were wide with fear and she had tears streaming down her face. She looked terrified. He placed a hand on her cheek, wiping the tears away from her eyes. “Come on.” He said, pulling her up and into his chair with him, onto his lap. He hugged her close, rubbing her back as she breathed raggedly against his chest, curling her hands into his shirt.
Vic waited patiently as Aria breathing slowed and became regular and the shaking stopped. She pulled away from his chest and wiped at her eyes, her body relaxing as she came back into control.
“When I first went to college, I had this junior boyfriend. He was great, fantastic. He got me with the in-crowd, introduced me to all the right people. It was great for the first few months, then after a break, things got weird. He started putting me down, isolating me from my friends. We only went out to parties, and I had to stay near him the whole time, or he’d ignore me. Then it escalated again to him beating me. He would slap me, punch me, shove me, whatever. It was often unprovoked, and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. But I loved him, or thought I did, so I put up with him, too stupid or too afraid to leave him, I don’t rightly remember. But there was one night we were at a party. We were both drinking and I wandered off while he was in the bathroom and ended up talking to one of my friends. He found me and dragged me outside, where he proceeded to beat the shit out of me.” Aria took a deep breath and looked at Vic, who motioned for her to continued.
“No one called the police or anything. It was like it wasn’t happening, even though he was yelling at me and I was screaming for help. Finally, someone across the street saw what was happening and called the police. They came and got him, and took me to the hospital. The whole time I was screaming for them to take me back to him, to not arrest him, that he didn’t mean it. It took me months of therapy to accept that he abused me, and even more time to recover. The first social event I’ve gone to besides class is your concert.”
Vic remained silent, stunned by what he had heard. Aria looked away from him then a sniffled, more tears exploding from her eyes.
“And now you don’t want me right? Because I’m so ruined.” Aria got off his lap and moved to the door. “I’ll be gone in about an hour and out of your life.”
“God dammit Aria come back here and sit down.” Vic demanded. Aria turned back to look at him, shock settling into her features. “You are not ruined or damaged. Bad things happen and you’re going to be ok and I’m not going to let you walk away from me, not now. Now come back here and sit down.”
Aria complied, sitting in the chair next to him and sighing. They remained outside in silence for a few more minutes. Finally, Vic got up and walked to the door.
“To quote my friend Kellin, would you please stay and come inside baby, would you please stay and please be mine.” Vic grinned as Aria shook her head with a smile spreading across her lips.
“Cute, but way too cheesy.” Aria said, and then followed him back into the tour bus. Vic took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze.
“I will never do that to you. I will never hurt you.” He whispered, easing his other arm around her waist, letting his breath tickle her throat. He took a breath, like he was about to say something, then kissed her cheek and released her.