Without You, I'm A Disaster

When they pulled up to the venue, Crystal was the first to sprint from the back of the bus out the door. She booked it down the pathway into the building that they would be performing in, leaving the rest of the guys behind with grins on their faces.
Brendan came back from the driver’s cab and started picking up bags and boxes to carry off with him and the rest of the band members followed suit. Everyone had some sort of sound or light equipment in their hands as the descended the steps of the bus.
Before Reid could go down the small set of stairs however, he heard Jordan call his name from the back of the bus. He set the box down and headed back to her. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, “What’s up?” The girl took a step towards him, her ice-blue eyes boring into him. “Why’d you do it?” she asked angrily. Reid didn’t need to ask her what she was talking about, it was pretty obvious. He shrugged but didn’t say anything as he held the girl’s gaze. Jordan ran her fingers through her fire-red hair and let out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t get you Reid. You come to me for advice on how to make things work and then you go and fuck her over by screwing around with a bunch of other girls? Why? I thought you said that this time it was going to be different.” Reid ran his fingers through his hair, “I don’t wanna talk about this right now Jord.”
The girl flung her arm out in front of him to stop him before he headed back down the hallway. “Well too fucking bad. Because I want to talk about it. It doesn’t make any sense!” Reid sighed and leaned back against the wall, he knew he wasn’t going to escape without talking to her. “I didn’t know what to do,” his voice softened a little bit. Jordan sighed, “Well, NOT fucking other girls would have been a good start don’t you think?” Reid shot her a glare. She held her hands up, “Sorry, uncalled for. Continue.”
“You know how scary it was for me Jord? I really cared about her. I didn’t know how to handle that. I’ve never been in love like that before. It scared the shit out of me and the only thing I knew how to do was drive her away. I, I’m not good with fear.” Jordan took a step towards him and set her hands on his shoulders. “Reid Henry,” she said firmly but comfortingly, “that girl loves you more than life itself. She would do anything for you if she thought it would make you happy. And, as much as I want you to be together, don’t even think about it until you are willing to think the same way about her.” Reid sighed, “How do you do that?” Jordan chuckled, “There’s no set way to do it. People just mature into that kind of stuff. They learn how to balance their love with their fear. It’s okay to be scared Hon. But it’s not okay to let your fear hurt other people.” And with that, she gave Reid a kiss on the cheek before turning on her heel and going to catch up with her boyfriend and the rest of the band.
When everything was taken down after the concert, everyone was trying to figure out what they were going to do. “I was going to walk around town with Jord,” Doug said as he wrapped his arms around the girl’s waist and gently kissed her neck, “But you guys go off and do whatever you want.” Reid nervously tucked his hands into his pockets. He wanted to talk to Crystal, but he didn’t want to say that in front of everyone. No one else noticed his discomfort though. “Well,” Crystal said as she slid over closer to Matt. “Walst and I were going to go check out the local bar. Just to have a few drinks and unwind. You guys in?” she asked as she looked around at them. Brendan, who had been silent nearly all night, shook his head, “I’m gonna head back to the bus. I’m exhausted.” Sal nodded, “I’ll go with you.”
Before the boys could take off, Doug called after Brendan. “Yo Bren, can I have the couch since I’ve got a plus one and those bunks are the smallest fucking thing on the face of the planet?” The bassist gave a half-hearted smile and nodded before turning and walking back towards the bus with his Mohawked friend.
Crystal smiled over at Reid. “Come with?” she asked innocently. Reid couldn’t say no to the smile on her face so he tagged along as they walked down the paved sidewalks under streetlights to a bar they didn’t even know existed a few hours ago.
Right before they walked into the bar, Reid’s phone went off. When he saw the name flash across the screen. “I gotta take this,” he said slowly, “it’s my mom.” Crystal nodded understandingly, “Well, see you when you come in I guess haha.” He gave her a small smile as he hit the accept button on his phone and began to talk to his mother.
Once they were safely inside the bar and out of earshot, Matt turned to Crystal with a slightly annoyed look on his face. “Why’d you invite him?” he asked. Crystal shrugged as she picked a beer up off the counter, “He looked so…I don’t know. I just didn’t want him to be alone. I’m sorry.” Matt sighed, he hated seeing her beautiful green eyes begin to fill with regret. “Don’t apologize,” he said softly as he wrapped his arms around her waist, “I just wanted to spend a little time with you is all. I miss you, Sweetheart.” Crystal rested her forehead against the singer’s chest, “I miss you too.”
If Crystal was honest with herself, she knew that everything that had ever gone on between her and Matt was nothing more than a temporary distraction from her situation with Reid. She didn’t love the singer the same way she did the boy with the shaggy black hair. She and Matt were friends, and they always would be, but she didn’t have the same level of emotion for him that he had for her. But his lips and the strong hold of his arms provided a perfect diversion from the Hell that was inside her heart.
Reid walked into the bar and saw the two friends sitting on the barstools with beers in their hands, laughing and drinking away. When Crystal saw him, she waved and held up a beer that she had ordered for him. He smiled and gladly accepted it.
As the night wore on, the three of them were able to hold a civil conversation without any threats or snide comments being thrown in. It was quite a feat for the trio considering all that had happened between them. Although, both boys were waiting for the other to leave so they could have time alone with Crystal. Reid wanted to talk to her, while Matt wanted to do everything but.
Finally, Reid realized that even if Matt were to leave, he was too intoxicated to have a serious conversation with his ex about everything. So, he decided to leave while he still had a few of his wits about him. He nodded to Matt and gave Crystal a gentle kiss on the cheek before tossing money onto the counter and heading out of the bar.
Once the door shut behind him, Matt stood up and wrapped his arms around Crystal. “I thought he’d never leave,” he whispered to her as he pulled her up off the stool. The girl smiled and tried to hide the guilt that she was feeling deep down in the pit of her stomach. She knew that Matt was the last person that she should be with, but she couldn’t help herself. Ever since her fight with Sal a few weeks prior, she had found comfort in the blind lust of their singer. She knew that any real emotions that Matt had had for her in the past were gone, but she didn’t care. Because after all, she didn’t have any real feelings for him either. She loved Reid. She loved Brendan and Sal as well, but not in the same way. Doug was like an older brother to her, and Matt filled the category that she wouldn’t let any of the others slip into. He was her drug. He was the bad habit that she desperately needed to kick if she was ever going to fix things with Reid, or simply move on altogether.
Matt led her out of the bar and into the alley just to the right of the building. He ran his fingers through her shortened hair as he pulled her closer and kissed her passionately on the lips. His hands slid down her back and up underneath her shirt, tracing along the soft skin concealed by the thin cotton. Crystal’s hands were on the back of his neck as she pulled him closer and farther into their kiss.
Matt’s lips strayed down to the girl’s neck as he began to work his magic there. The pair of lips that released so many sweet melodies now coaxed out a whole new chorus of cries and moans from the girl who used to be nothing more than an employee to him.
He slid his hands underneath her and picked her up and pushed her back harder against the wall as he kissed her collarbone and the skin that was exposed by her low-cut shirt. Crystal wrapped her legs around him and tugged at his hair when his lips found hers once again.
“Crystal,” he said between kisses. The girl shook her head and covered her mouth with his. “Don’t,” she gasped before crashing her lips into his again. He pulled away slightly. “Sweetheart, please,” he said in a low whisper. She sighed as she let her heels hit the blacktop that was beneath her. She looked at the blonde boy standing in front of her and she ran her fingers slowly through his messy hair.
“You still love him don’t you?” Matt asked as he gently stroked the girl’s cheek. Crystal bit her lip, she couldn’t lie to him about that; he knew her far too well to get away with that. But she also wanted to finish what the two of them had started. She pulled his body right up against hers and kissed him hard on the lips, not saying a word. She quickly worked the buttons on his shirt and slid her hands down his bare chest. She felt him shiver and she knew that she had him back where she wanted him.