Don't Make a Scene

Alex's P.O.V.

I walked into the studio and sighed. Brendon wasn't there yet. I sat down on the couch and turned my phone on vibrate in case Anna called me, "How's Anna?" Ryan asked. I smiled.

Ryan and Anna met before her and Brendon did. They were immediately close, which is strange for Ryan. It took me months before we could even have a conversation. He's like her older brother in a way. Or, I'm not sure. I think if she hadn't gone out with Brendon, her and Ryan would have tried. But I think they're more of brother and sister. It was when she introduced me to Gabe, I saw a connection. But I guess Brendon got to her first.

"She's great. Her and Gabe are in California now. I think they're gonna try to buy a house out there...They don't want to be in Vegas anymore." I added. He sighed happily.

"Good. I was going to talk to Gabe about him living here. I thought it would be best if they moved back to New York. But I think California is better." He smiled.

"How are you and Brendon?" I asked. He scowled.

"I haven't talked to him. I refuse to." He stated, pointing his nose in the air.

"Guess that makes two of us. I only talk to him if it's an insult." I grinned. He laughed and looked down at his guitar.

"I am going to miss Anna...You know, this all makes me think what's going to happen. I never thought Brendon could do such a thing. I don't know if the band can make it through another tour." He explained.

"Ry, the band is your job. It's like working with people you don't get along with. Like the guy in the cubicle that never shuts up and is always coughing. Like that. I think the band should at least finish this tour and album." He nodded.

"I want it to, don't get me wrong. I just don't know about anything else. I mean, Jon and Brendon nearly got in a fist fight the other day. I've never seen Jon as a violent guy. But that's how we are. If anything were to happen to you or Anna or Victoria we'd be the first to beat the shit out of that person...In this case you were the first to beat the shit out of Brendon. The ring was a nice touch, by the way." He complimented.

"Glad to know I could put it to use. Patrick nearly killed me when I almost flushed it down the toilet the other day. Or when I lost it and it was actually under the bed." I laughed. I could see Patrick smiling and shaking his head at me from across the room.

Ryan was about to speak, but the door opened and there stood Brendon. I hadn't seen him for a week. He still had a few cuts, thanks to me, and a bruise on his cheek. It was probably from Gabe. There were a few other damages, probably from Pete or Travis. I mean, Travis is pretty gangster. He can do some damage.

"Hey." Brendon mumbled, walking in. Patrick, Joe, and Spencer simply nodded, while the rest of us stayed silent. I could see Ryan clenching his fists at the sight of him.

"We'll run vocals first." Patrick murmured, switching on the microphones. Brendon slipped off his jacket. I could see he was wearing a long sleeve shirt, probably hiding the bruises the guys had given him over the past few days.

Brendon walked into the studio and put on the earphones before stepping up to the microphone. Patrick hit a few buttons and the background music started to play softly. Brendon started to sing along to the song, showing off his voice.

I sat back and watched Ryan text Keltie. I think she's coming down in a few days. I talked to her about the whole Anna and Brendon deal, she seemed pretty scared of him. She immediately called Anna to ask how she was doing.

I looked back to the studio and could see Brendon sitting, still singing. He was starting to sweat, probably burning up in that long sleeve shirt. His cheeks were starting to shade pink from the heat. I smirked, this was going to be fun.

Brendon stepped out of the room. He pulled the collar of his shirt to let air hit him. He chugged down a water bottle, still sweating, "You could have worn a short sleeve shirt." I noted. He ignored me and continued chugging his ice cold water.

I could see Spencer trying to tell me something, probably about being careful around Brendon. But I don't care. He should be showing those bruises. So people can see he got them for a reason and he had payed for it.

"Seriously, Bren. You can get a heat stroke. Maybe your voice will give out. Uh-oh, what will happen to Panic At The Disco?" I asked sarcastically.

"Leave me alone, Alex." He mumbled, trying to fan himself.

"But I'm sure you already have bad credit from what you did to Anna. I hear people buzzing."

"Please, just stop." He said, getting a little louder." Spencer was shaking his head, but I ignored him. Brendon deserved this.

"Go on, Bren. Just roll up your sleeves. Let the world know that you got beat up. Because it was your fault." I spat.

"Alex...stop." He whispered. I shook me head. I stood up and walked over to him. He was standing near the air vent.

"Why, just pull them up." I said, tugging at his sleeve.

"Alex..." He warned.

"What's wrong? Ashamed of the bruises? I'm sure the cuts from my ring was worse."

"Alex, please." He nearly begged. Why was he begging?

"What? It's not like it's a big deal." I said, trying to pull the sleeves up.

"Alex! Please!" He was actually begging. Apart of me wanted to stop. But another part wanted me to see why he was so protective.

I could see him sneakily moving his right arm, the one I wasn't holding, behind his waist to hide. I went to pull up the left sleeve, but I quickly moved and grabbed his write arm, "NO!" He shouted. I pulled up the sleeve and gasped.

COME BACK and MISTAKE was etched into his arm. More cuts surrounded the words. He slowly pulled his arm back, my arm still wide. I grabbed the other arm and pulled the sleeve up. The wordsLOVE SHOULDN'T HURT were scratched, with more cuts.

His arm was nearly covered in cuts. Some of them were still a bright crimson, most likely fresh. Others looked like they had been there for a while.

"Brendon..." I started. But he ripped away from me and ran out of the room.

"I told you, Alex." Spencer said softly. I blinked my eyes a few times, thinking this wasn't real.

"But...why?" I asked.

"He loves her. He obsesses over her. He won't tell me why he hit her, though. I think maybe you should talk to him...Before he does something stupid." He confessed.

"Why me?" I asked.

"Because, you're her best friend. He'll trust you because she trusts you."

I nodded and hesitantly walked out the door. I walked down the random halls of the Palms and tried to call him, "Brendon?" There was no answer, "Brendon, I'm sorry! Will you come out?" I called.

I came to a door that lead to the roof. My heart raced, thinking of Brendon standing on the ledge of the Palms Hotel. I rushed out the door, not caring if it were to lock behind me or not, and ran to the top, "Brendon!" I screamed, trying to find him. I heard no reply. I ran around, trying desperately, "BRENDON!" I screamed as loud as I could. I heard some running and Brendon appeared in front of me.

"Alex, what's wrong!?" He asked, out of breath.

"Are you okay!? Please, tell me you weren't going to jump." I asked, out of breath. He gave me a confused look.

"Jump?" He asked. He put two and two together, "You thought I was going to jump?" He asked softly. I shrugged.

"I panicked when I came to the door. I rushed out here." For a moment I saw care in his eyes, but they turned cold again.

"Why would you care? You already sent her away. Now you're making me relive that fact that my arm's all cut up?" He spat bitterly.

"Bren, I'm sorry. I didn't know." I replied honestly.

"Sure."

"Brendon, I know we haven't gotten along in the past two weeks. I mean, if you found out Ry was doing those things to Keltie what would you do?" I asked. He thought about it. Him and Keltie were good friends. They were friends before her and Ryan were friends.

"I'm sorry. I just can't help it." He said. I felt like he was going to cry.

"C'mon, let's go talk." I motioned for him to climb a small air conditioning unit. We sat on top of it and looked over the strip.

"I never thought it would go this far. I mean...I'm tearing up the band." He said softly.

"Why? That's my only question. Why would you start it in the first place?" I asked. He sighed.

"I-I just can't help it...I've always wanted a girl that I could help." He said.

"You call hitting her, helping her?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Let me finish," He sighed, "Before, I would hurt her so I could make her better. I would hit her all over, then kiss the bruises so tenderly. I would mend her. I would fix the girl that was broken for those moments."

"But you would hit her out of anger, too." I pointed out.

"That was later. I don't know...I became stressed and angry sometimes. I knew I had hit her, so I figured it would be okay to hit her when I was mad. Before I thought it was the same thing. As time went on...I stopped mending her after. I would just leave her to be in pain. I didn't mean to. I couldn't stop it." I turned and stared at him.

"You hit me." I said, remembering the day at the studio when he slapped me.

"I'm so sorry, Alex. I was just mad. It became an addiction. I had to hit something, anything. You were there, standing in front of me."

"Well, at least Anna is safe now." I sighed. I heard a sniffling and turned to Brendon. His head buried in his hands.

Is he sobbing?

"Brendon? You okay?" I asked, putting a hand on his back. He sat up, his eyes pouring out tears.

"I didn't mean for her to leave. I love her, Alex. I want her in my arms again. If I got her back I would make sure I would never touch her again. I would go to rehab, or therapy...anything! Gabe can't make her happy. I can." He said.

"Brendon, her and Gabe are just meant to be." I explained. He turned to me and glared.

"No. Me and her are meant to be. You want true love, you put me and Anna together. I'm where she belongs. And you can't tell me otherwise." He jumped off the unit and walked towards the door. There was a stick lying in the way, so that's how it didn't lock.

Brendon threw open the door and slammed it behind him. I turned back and looked out at the sunset over the strip.

Then my eyes widened. I slowly turned around and glanced at the door, the stick lying three feet away.

"Oh, fuck." I muttered. I grabbed my phone and pulled it out and dialed.

No reception.

"Oh, this is just fan-fucking-tastic," I stood up and walked over to the door, banging on it. "PAAAAAATRIIIIIIIIICK!" I yelled.