Without You, I'm A Disaster

When Crystal pulled back and wiped the tears off of her cheeks, she looked at Reid’s eyes. The brown and gray swirls drew her in like a moth to a light. He wrapped his arms tighter around her and kissed her forehead. He kissed her cheek and his lips slowly found their way to hers. He kissed her softly on the lips as he ran his fingers through her hair.
He laid her down on her back on the couch without breaking their kiss. He unzipped the sweatshirt that she was wearing and tossed it onto the floor. Crystal wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and pulled him closer. His hands ran down her back until they landed on her hips.
He pulled back out of their kiss just enough so that their lips weren’t touching anymore. “Crystal,” he said breathlessly, “this isn’t right.” The girl shook her head. “I don’t care,” she whispered as she pulled him closer and kissed him again. Reid slid his t-shirt off over his head as Crystal’s hands strayed down and undid the buckle on his belt.
Crystal ran her hands through the boy’s already messed-up hair. He kissed her over and over again as his hands undid the clasp on her bra and slid the straps down off of her shoulders. He tossed it alongside the sweatshirt that the girl had been wearing as he left a trail of kisses from her lips, down her neck that led to her collarbone and chest. Chills went up her spine as she tightened her arms around him.
Reid’s jeans were flung across the room as Crystal wrapped her legs around his waist when he firmly pinned her shoulders down and kissed her neck. His lips lightly grazed over the tattoo that spread just below her jawline. She shivered as she lifted his chin up and kissed him on the lips again. Reid hooked his thumbs onto her underwear “You sure about this?” he whispered. Crystal nodded as she closed her eyes and kissed him again.
The both of them knew that this was going to do nothing but complicate things even more, but they didn’t care. Crystal had been waiting and wanting to feel Reid’s lips against her own since the day that he left her. She wanted nothing more than to be with him, even if it was only for the brief time that they were alone. Reid had missed her more than he could ever admit. Trying to keep his cool about the situation with her and Matt was killing him because he knew that no one could ever love her the way that he did. She deserved better than Matt. She deserved better than Reid too, but that was another story for another time. Reid just didn’t want anyone else to have her. She was his. And maybe she wouldn’t be his forever, but right now she was, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Meanwhile, the guys were all wandering around town with Jordan. “Did you talk to him?” Doug asked her simply. She looked up at him from toying with their entwined fingers, “What?” He looked at her, “Reid. Did you talk to him?” Jordan nodded, “Yea. I told him to quit being an asshole to his ex-girlfriend. Why?” The drummer shrugged, “Well for one, I have never seen him offer to be the one NOT to go out. He’s usually the first out the door. That, and we’ve all been trying to get him to stop being an asshole to Crystal for months and didn’t get anywhere. You got him there in one conversation.” Jordan shrugged, “Reid and I are close. I’ve never fucked him over or steered him wrong before. We have a very good, albeit dysfunctional, friendship. We’re able to trust each other while at the same time, being able to be complete jerks to each other with the situation calls for it. It’s a beautiful thing really.” Sal laughed and piped in, “Yea, that and she’s really intimidating when she wants to be.” Jordan flashed a devious smile, “Well, that too.”
The five of them all wandered around town. Jordan was dragging them into a bunch of different shops to pick up new clothes for them. “Once you get home,” she said as she shoved Matt into a dressing room with an armful of shirts and jeans, “I will not have you guys running around looking like a bunch of hooligans.” “But MOM,” Matt whined jokingly as Jordan shut the door behind him. She laughed and shook her head as she leaned back against it to make sure that he couldn’t get out.
By the time the group of them were heading back to the bus, Jordan had bought them all practically a whole new wardrobe. “Well let’s face it,” she said with a smile, “half of your guys’ clothes have gotten trashed or given away throughout the course of the tour. And I’m not going to let you all live in the same three shirts when you get back.” Doug wrapped his hands around her waist from behind and kissed her shoulder, “You take such good care of us babe.” She smiled and nodded, “Oh I know.”
“Yea,” Brendan said with a hint of questioning in his voice, “why do you take care of us anyway? I mean, you’re only dating one of us.” Matt chuckled, “As far as we know.” Jordan let go of her boyfriend’s hand for a moment so she could slap the singer. “Fuck you Walst,” she paused and turned to Brendan with a sweet smile on her face, “But in answer to your question Love, I take care of all you guys because someone has to. And Lord knows you guys won’t listen to Crystal. I don’t understand why not though, she has more sense than all of you put together.” Brendan raised an eyebrow, “She dated Reid. She can’t have THAT much sense.” Jordan gave an exasperated sigh, “That’s not her fault. You can’t control who you fall in love with. And, well, if Reid wasn’t such an ass to her, they could’ve been good together.”
Brendan was the first one to walk onto the bus. When he got up the steps, he couldn’t believe what he saw. He set his bags down on the seats that went to the small table that they had attached to the wall of the bus. He stared at his two band mates in disbelief.