Without You, I'm A Disaster

him. Their lips were only centimeters apart. Matt looked at Crystal, he could see her emerald eyes daring him to make a move before she did. He leaned in and kissed her, softly at first, but when she kissed back, the kiss became heated and more passionate. He pinned her back up against the wall and ran his fingers through her hair as she quickly undid the rest of the buttons on his shirt. He slid his hands underneath her and lifted her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Crystal finally pulled back out of their kiss just enough so that their lips weren’t touching anymore. She rested her forehead against his as she placed her hands behind his neck. Matt leaned and began to kiss her neck and suck on the sensitive skin there. A shallow breath escaped her lips as she arched her back while trying to keep the balance that she had between the wall and Matt’s hold on her.
The singer’s soft lips had found their way back up to hers and they were soon locked in another intense kiss. Matt’s tongue traced her bottom lip and she quickly granted him entrance and their tongues were soon battling for dominance. Crystal lowered her feet back to the floor as Matt pushed her harder up against the wall.
Sal was going back out onto the stage because he had left his t-shirt out there since he had taken it off in the midst of the concert. He opened the door that led to the back stage and immediately saw Matt and Crystal locked in their heated moment. “What the fuck?!” he said angrily, the hurt in his eyes couldn’t be masked even by the fire in his voice.
Matt immediately stepped back from Crystal and fumbled to redo the buttons on his shirt. Crystal bit her bottom lip nervously; she knew she’d gotten busted and that this whole situation wasn’t going to end well. Matt ran his fingers through his hair and stared down at his feet. Sal hadn’t averted his gaze from Crystal. He shook his head and began to walk away. “Sal,” she called after him, “wait a second!”
He stopped and turned around, this time facing Matt instead of Crystal. “What the fuck Walst?” When the singer didn’t reply, Sal went back through the door he had come through and slammed it behind him without another word.
 
Matt and Crystal looked at each other, neither of them really sure what they should do at that point. It was clear that Sal wasn’t going to keep his mouth shut about what he had walked in on. But at the same time, what were they going to tell the rest of the guys? Crystal leaned her head back against the wall. “Fuck,” she said as she sighed and closed her eyes.
Sal stormed through the dressing room and was about to head back out to the bus when Doug snagged the chain on his jeans. “Dude, what’s going on?” Sal turned to him, his expression a mixture of anger and hurt. “Ask Walst and Crystal.” He started to head back out towards the bus. Reid and Brendan were sitting on the couch across from Doug. The drummer nodded to Brendan, “Go after him and make sure he doesn’t break anything…including himself.” The band’s bassist simply nodded and got up to go after him.
Reid looked over to Doug with a questioning look. He cocked a questioning eyebrow and the drummer just shook his head. “Don’t tell me that I actually have to explain what’s going on?” Reid slowly shook his head; unfortunately he knew EXACTLY what was going on.
Matt walked into the dressing room and glanced around. “Where’s Sal?” he asked somewhat calmly. Doug nodded towards the exit, “He stormed back to the bus,” he paused, “so what act did he catch you and Crys in?” Matt’s eyes widened in shock, “What?” Doug sighed, “Oh come off it bro. We all know that you like her. And the only reason Costa would ever get like that is if it has to do with Crys. So I repeat, what did he catch you guys doing?” Matt cast an awkward glance over at Reid before answering. “We were just kissing; it was no big deal.” Doug shook his head but didn’t say anything more.
Reid got up off the couch and went back out onto the stage to look for his ex-girlfriend. It didn’t take him long to find her; she was slumped down against the wall with her face in her hands. Reid sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around his bent legs. He looked over at her and waited for her to meet his eyes.
“Dare I ask?” he said carefully. Crystal sighed and lightly banged the back of her head against the wall, “Matt and I kissed. And then Sal walked in. And, well, you saw the rest.” Reid nodded. “But why Crys?” he asked with confusion woven deep into his voice. She shrugged and rested her face in her palms. “Because, well, he made it so easy. And I trust him, so I guess I just kinda let it go.” She looked over at Reid and he could see the guilt written all over her face.
He ran his fingers through his messy black hair. “Crystal, you know-” The girl held up a hand to stop him before he could go any farther with his lecture. “Rei, please,” she said pleadingly, “I don’t need this right now okay? I fucked up; I know that. I just want to move on from this. I want to forget it ever happened, and talk to Sal. That’s all. Once that happens, I just wanna forget about it all.” Reid nodded, but deep down, he knew that they both knew this issue wasn’t going to just fade into the background.
Brendan walked onto the bus and the first thing he heard was a slam coming from back where the bunks were. He took a deep breath to prepare himself for whatever he might be walking into.
When he got back to where Sal was, the guitarist had his head rested against the wall and there were multiple dents where Brendan assumed Sal’s angry fist had made contact with the wall. Brendan walked up and leaned back on the wall next to his friend. “Talk to me,” he said simply.
Sal looked over at him, “What do you want me to say?” Brendan shrugged, “Get your feelings out so you don’t continue to destroy our bus. This fuckin’ thing has to last us at least until the end of the tour you know.” Sal gave a half-hearted smile; even he had to admit that Brendan could make anyone smile no matter what situation they were in.
Sal backed up and sat down on the bunk that was across from Brendan. He put his hands on the sides of his head as he began to explain everything.
“I just don’t get it. I was always there when she needed me, even when Matt and Reid weren’t. I listened to her bitch about everything from family to relationships and I never said a bad word to the girl about anything ever. I never told her that she had to change anything about herself, and whenever Reid broke her, I was there to pick up and put her back together, piece by fucking piece. And even after all that? She goes and fucking sucks face with Walst.”
Brendan simply nodded as he listened to Sal go off on his rant. He knew that Sal just needed to get it all out. But, at the same time, it was hard for him to act like he wasn’t having some of the same feelings. He knew that the last thing the angry guitarist needed was for someone else to say that they liked Crystal as well, so Brendan respectfully kept his mouth shut.
“Are you going to talk to her?” he asked after a few moments of silence. Sal turned to him with a lost look in his eyes. “I want to,” he said slowly, “but I don’t know if I can.” Brendan gave him a sympathetic look, “Sal, I’m gonna be honest with you okay? You should just be straight-up with her about how you feel. And not just about this whole fuckup with Matt. I mean how you feel about everything.”
Before Sal could say anything in response, the rest of the guys walked on to the bus with Crystal in tow. They all gave her a little space as she walked back to where she knew Sal would be. She looked at Brendan and her eyes asked him the question her mouth did. The bassist gave an understanding nod and left the two of them alone.
Crystal sat down on the bunk next to Sal. “Can we talk about this?” she said softly. Sal nodded and waited for her to say something first.