Cigarette Burns

"You've GOT to be fucking kidding me," Shay's voice echoed through the bus the next morning, and various members of the band peeked their heads out of their bunks to see what the fuss was about.

"Shay, come on! Don't do this shit," Corey's voice echoed after her, and the guys who'd peeked their heads out all pulled them back in for fear they'd get hit by something flying from either Corey or Shay throwing it. Sure enough, things started banging against walls shortly after.

"'Don't do this shit'? Are you fucking kidding? You lied to me, Corey!" Shay yelled, watching as Corey got increasingly angrier and angrier. As it turned out, the 'friend' from the day before had been exactly what Shay had originally thought. She'd accidentally read an incoming text message of his that morning in which she'd been thanking him for the good time the day before. Shay had instantly shaken Corey's sleeping form awake beside her, and the argument had started shortly thereafter.

"I didn't think it fucking mattered! We weren't together, and we still fucking aren't," he said, and she felt tears rising to her eyes, and despite her best attempts to keep them from falling, they did anyway.

"You're right. We're not together. You've just been a fucking asshole, lulling me into this false sense of security so that you could fuck me and then dump me in the trash, right? Well, you got your wish. Fuck off, Corey," Shay said, her voice deadly quiet. Corey studied her, and his eyes made her feel heavy.

She turned and started to walk off of the bus and she could hear him right behind her but didn't stop. He grabbed her arm, turning her around so that she was facing him. She fought against him, but his strong hands held her there.

"Let me go," she growled, and he shook his head, beads of sweat forming on his forehead and bare chest in the already blazing-hot heat of the day.

"Listen to me, okay? Please," Corey said, his voice much softer than Shay would've expected. She stared at him, trying her best to gauge whether or not he was being sincere. She wasn't sure, but waited for him to speak anyway. "Yeah, you were right about yesterday, okay? But I had no idea what happened between us was going to happen last night. No fucking clue. If I'd have known, I wouldn't have even been at that girl's house, Shay. You've got to believe that," Corey said, and Shay shook her head.

"Maybe that's true, Corey, but it doesn't matter. What happened between us shouldn't have. If for no other reason than I fucking work for you, it shouldn't have happened. We... can't be anything, Corey. First of all, I'm not interested in being a rebound. Second of all, we barely even know each other," Shay said, her eyes full of tears again.

"Shay, come on," Corey said, trailing off and looking at her like he was expecting her to say something else. She didn't for a long while, and when she started to, Corey instantly started shaking his head.

"It can't happen again, Corey. I'll stay on as your assistant if you want me to, but I'd also understand if you didn't. But we can't let our relationship be anything more than casually friendly," Shay told him, and he stopped shaking his head and stared at her intensely.

"I don't want you to leave," he said quietly, and she nodded.

"Okay, then I won't, but from this point on we're nothing but the most fuckin' platonic friends in the world," she said, shrugging out of his grasp and turning to walk towards the McDonald's that they'd stopped in the parking lot of. Corey watched her go, shaking his head as he did so.

"That girl's gonna fuckin' kill me, I swear," he mumbled to himself, walking back up the stairs of the bus to get a shirt.