Seems Like We Lost It All

A month later Madison was sitting on the beach, watching the waves roll up on shore. It had been a mix of good and bad days ever since discovering Alex’s affair. Today was one of the bad days. Actually, if she was being completely honest they were all bad days recently.

She just felt like she was stuck and she hated every second of it. She had been having absolutely no luck finding a place of her own. She had grown so frustrated with sitting around doing basically nothing all day long that she’d started focusing on finding a job instead. She had no luck there either. She was tired of feeling like she was basically just existing.

Raising the bottle of Jack up to her lips again, she took a long drink, wincing slightly but enjoying the burn in her throat as she drank. The burn was good. The burn meant she could stop thinking about how pathetic her life had become for a while.

Groaning when she finished off the bottle she knew she’d have to go back into Matt’s house and face him and Val if she wanted more. She wasn’t looking forward to that knowing they would look at her with their concerned yet slightly judgy faces.

It seemed like they both expected her to bounce back quickly. Hell, even Madison thought she would be back on her feet faster than this. It was easy to be positive at first but then real life happened. She was struggling, she could admit that much, but she didn’t have a problem like they thought she did. She just needed some time to wallow in self pity, she could pull herself out of it whenever she was ready thank you very much.

When she walked into the house, she was met with Matt, Val, and Brian sitting around the kitchen island.

“What is this a fucking intervention?” snorting at her own joke she pulled open the cabinet where the liquor was kept. It was empty. What the fuck?

“Where is it?”

“We thought it would be best if we threw it all out,” Val said quietly.

“I don’t need this shit right now,” she said as she snatched her keys off the counter, instantly pissed off. Matt’s hand was immediately on top of hers, effectively holding her in place.

“You’ve been drinking, you aren’t driving anywhere.”

“I’m perfectly fine to drive, Matt. What do you want me to do? Walk in a straight line? Recite the alphabet backwards?”

“We’re just trying to look out for you, you don’t have to be such a bitch.”

She quickly snatched her hand away from him and tossed the keys back down. “Just stay away from me.”

She went back outside, slamming the door behind her hard enough the glass panes rattled. She plopped back down onto the blanket, happy to at least be getting some alone time.

“They are just worried about you, you know,” Brian said, shattering her every hope of being left alone.

“There is nothing for them to be worried about, I’m fine.”

“You’re fine? Tell me, how many days have you been drunk this week? No, better question, how many days have you not been drunk this week?”

“Not you too, Haner.”

“I’m worried about you too. I don’t want to see you get yourself into another situation like Vegas.”

“That’s completely different and you know it. I was drugged.”

“You were drugged because you got so drunk you weren’t paying attention.”

“Whatever, just go away.”

Sighing, Brian sat down next to her. “I’m not supposed to say anything yet, but Matt is going to ask you to come on tour with us. I think you should. You could definitely use a change of scenery to help get your head back on straight. I know you’re still hurting and you will be for a long time, but you’ve got to stop trying to push everyone away. Use the tour as a chance to work on yourself and to repair your relationship with your brother.”

“Our relationship is fine.”

“You’ve barely spoken in a week and when you do speak it’s to bitch at each other.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Madison said, finally giving in. “I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to get away from here for a while.”

“Great, we leave Saturday.”

“Saturday? That’s two days away! How am I just now hearing about this?”

“It’s funny how much you miss when you’re trying to push all your friends away, isn’t it?”

He pushed himself up off the ground, brushed his hands off, and walked away without another word. Madison watched his retreating form until he was out of sight then started gathering up her things. If she was going on tour in two days, she had no time to waste.

She found Matt still sitting in the kitchen when she got back inside. “Were you planning on actually asking me to go on this tour at some point? Or were you just planning on kidnapping me and chucking me on the bus?”

“I wasn’t against kidnapping if you refused. Remind me to punch Brian for telling you before I got around to it.”

“I have no idea what I’m doing. How do you pack for a tour in an actual bus? What do you pack and how much? The last time I went to a show with you guys it was in that smelly ass van.”

“A bus is so much better, believe me. Get Val to help you out, she’s gone with us before.”

Madison jogged up the stairs, feeling much lighter than she had only ten minutes before. Maybe getting away from California for a while was exactly what she needed.

She found Val stretched across her bed browsing the Internet on a laptop. “So apparently I’m leaving to go on tour with the boys in two days and I’m completely fucking clueless about what and how much to pack. Help me, please?”

Val gave her an odd look, no doubt wondering where the sudden change in her behavior had come from. But slowly a smile formed on her lips and she closed the laptop before jumping up off the bed quickly. “Sounds like we need to finally raid your boxes in the garage.”

Madison had pretty much been living in either a bikini or yoga pants and t-shirts since she’d been living with Matt and Val. The majority of her clothes were still packed up in boxes that were being stored in the garage.

Val sweet talked Matt into moving all the boxes containing clothes up to Madison’s room and before long it looked like a tornado had blown through the room. There were clothes and shoes thrown everywhere. There had even been an impromptu fashion show as Val forced Madison to try on several different outfits.

“I think this is the best it’s going to get. We’ve gone through everything I own,” Madison flung herself down onto the bed in her underwear, having just pulled off a tank and a pair of leather pants and thrown them into the ‘to pack’ pile.

Val surveyed the pile of clothes to be packed, frowning slightly. “I’m taking you shopping tomorrow,” she finally stated.

“Oh come on, I have plenty of clothes. Look around the room!” Madison argued.

“You have plenty of I’m taken and have nobody to impress clothes. You do not however have plenty of I’m single and ready to mingle tour clothes. I’m taking you shopping tomorrow whether you like it or not! We can get your hair done too!” Val squealed excitedly, clapping her hands as she bounced out of the room not even giving Madison a chance to argue anymore.

Sighing, Madison got up off the bed. She grabbed a tank top and pair of shorts at random and pulled them on. Then she got to work, knowing there was a ton of stuff she needed to do if she wanted to be even slightly ready for this tour.

She put away all the clothes that would be staying while washing all the clothes that would be packed. She borrowed a large duffel bag and suitcase from Val and got all of the clothes and shoes they’d picked for her to take put inside. There was still enough room left for whatever she bought the next day and all of her toiletries. She made a list on her phone of everything she would need to replace or stock up on the next day.

When she had finally done everything she could, she wandered downstairs. Brian was just letting himself in the house.

“Are you ever at your own house?” Madison asked as she crossed to the fridge. She grabbed a bottle of water and twisted the top off.

“I was actually coming to see if you wanted to go grab food with me? Val said you’ve been working your ass off all day getting packed. Thought you might need a break.”

“That sounds great, actually. Let me grab my bag and we can go.”

She jogged back up the stairs, grabbing her bag and slipping her phone inside. She ran a brush through her hair and shoved her feet into her favorite pair of low top converse.

“Okay where are you taking me, Haner? I just realized I am starving!”

“There is a new burger place on-” Brian started but was cut off before he could finish.

“That sounds amazing, let’s go!”

Brian shook his head as the woman rushed past him and flung open the front door. They both climbed into his car and Madison immediately reached toward the radio. Brian playfully swatted her hand away.

“No one touches that but me.” He turned the volume down to a level they could comfortably talk over. “I’ve got to say it’s a little impressive how much your mood has changed since this morning.”

“I’m sick and tired of feeling sorry for myself. This tour gives me something to finally look forward to. I get to get out of this place for a while and experience new things. I think this is exactly what I need right now and I’m excited to see what the whole tour thing is like.”

“Touring is amazing. We get to travel all over with our best friends. We get to meet so many people, so many fans that are the reason we can even do this. It’s basically a party every night. The long hours on the road get tough sometimes but it’s so worth it.”

Madison noticed the way Brian’s face lit up as he talked and smiled. It was written all over his face how much he loved his job.

“I can tell you really love what you do.”

“Absolutely. There is no way I could be happy doing anything else.”

Brian pulled into a parking spot outside of the restaurant and they went inside, placing their orders at the counter and seating themselves. Madison was amazed by the fact that it really felt like Brian was becoming her best friend. They had never been all that close before. Out of all of the guys, he would be the one she would be least likely to ask for help. But somehow he’d become the first person she could count on to drop everything and be there for her when she needed it.