Fragile

(Jade's POV)

These last six months have been hell, to say the least. But I finally did it, all on my very own. Thankfully with the help of Melody and the long hours of studying and countless pieces of homework, I will be graduating in a few short hours. Regardless of it being from a continuation school, the important thing was is that at least I would be getting my diploma. I had finally turned eighteen too, so everything was coming together. Shae still kept in touch with me mostly every day. She still even threw my a huge party like she had promised, balloons and all. I honestly thought she was going to hate me after the whole incident on Christmas Eve with Chester, but she said she understood where I was coming from. That she probably would have done the exact same thing if she was in my position. She of all people understood what it was like to be thrown right into that life and she hung on tight. Her and Mike were set to be married in late February of next year before they started working on the new album. I was still curious as ever though, so of course asking about Chester and thinking about him was constantly on my mind. I always wondered how he was doing, how the shows were going, how the travel was. But I was too scared to call him, too scared to admit that I was more than likely wrong for ever making this decision. He did even actually send me a Happy Birthday text, but of course I didn't reply.

Shae would tell me that he always asked about me whenever they talked, that he was really missing me. I tried my hardest not to let it get to me and just stay focused, but it was no use. I did miss him too, a lot. He was supposed to be coming back by the end of this month but things always have a way of going differently, so I didn't keep my hopes up too much. Shae had insisted she wanted to do my hair and makeup for the ceremony so she stayed over at Melody's house to help us get ready. She was in the process of curling Mel's hair when her phone started to go off. I offered to pick it up for her but she immediately refused, reassuring me that she could get it. She glanced down at the screen and scurried off to the other room quickly. It must be Mike by that look on her face. I stared at myself over in the long mirror, taking in every one of my features. I had definitely gotten a bit darker and skinnier from what I could tell, which only meant I probably needed to eat more. "Are you excited to finally be over with this?" I nodded, sighing some. I knew there wasn't going to be much cheering done when my name was called but none of that really mattered. I just wanted it to be over with. "Have you talked to him yet?" I shook my head again. "Not since he left." She put a hand to my shoulder. "You really need to, Jay. I'm sure he really misses you." As I was about to say something smart, Shae came waltzing in with a huge smile plastered to her face. "Sorry guys, important call."

We finished up our hair and makeup in record time it seemed, looking up at the clock it was only one in the afternoon and graduation didn't start until three. "You guys look so beautiful! Let's take a picture!" Shae grabbed her camera before getting in between Melody and I. She had tears in her eyes and we did too, but I quickly wiped at them to not ruin my freshly done face. "Thank you again, Shae. For everything. You're a really great friend, I'm so happy for you." She beamed over at me, taking a quick look at the ring on her finger. We hugged tight "Thank you, Jay. You guys are the best friends a girl could ever ask for. Now come on, let's go show off to your mom Melody. I'm sure she's going to faint when she gets a look at you two hot mamas." I laughed slightly before following along out to the living room where Me's mom was getting everything set up for our little after graduation party. She almost dropped the dishes she was carrying when she looked up and saw us standing in front of her. "Oh girls, you look so beautiful." We then hugged her as the tears started up all over again. "Thank you for everything you've done for me, Mom. I couldn't have done it without you."

(Chester's POV)

After a long six months on the road I was finally coming back home. I still never stopped thinking about Jay no matter how hard I tried. I knew she just needed some time to figure things out as her life was just beginning, so I didn't take it too hard when she had asked me for a break. Of course it hurt at first, maybe even crushed me a bit, but I still loved her, I still missed her, I still cared about her and wanted to be with her. We hadn't talked at all but Shae did keep me in the loop with what was going on with her. I even made sure to wish her a happy birthday too. We had just crossed the Arizona/California border and hopefully would be there in time to make it for the beginning of Jay's graduation. Shae was giving me minute by minute updates so I didn't miss a thing. Regardless of whether we were together or not, I still wanted to be there for her on her special day. I knew she was going to be missing a huge chunk of her support since her family wasn't going to be there so I had convinced all the guys to come too, even though they already decided they were going to anyways. I made sure Shae kept it a secret and didn't mention anything to Jay because I honestly wanted to give her the surprise of her life. I was determined to try and win her back at all costs.

I nervously fidgeted with my fingers some the closer we got to L.A, the reality finally settling in on me that I was going to be seeing the girl that stole my heart very soon. "You feeling okay dude?" Mike asks as he sits down in the seat beside me. I nod, smiling some. "Just nervous I guess. I can't believe I'm finally going to be seeing her again, you know? I honestly don't know what to expect. I've missed her so much." He claps a hand to my back before chuckling lightly. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Shae says she asks about you all the time, that she's just too scared to talk to you because she feels like she messed up big time. I think this will benefit the both of you, you'll be there for her big day and she won't know what hit her." I grinned widely at him now, suddenly feeling a wave of relief wash over me. He was right, this was going to turn out perfect. "Thanks man. I'm just anxious to get there already." He turned and peeked his head through the window. "Well you better be prepared then, because we just got to the record company." I laughed now thinking he was only joking but when I looked for myself, he wasn't lying. We really were finally home.

After we had gotten everything situated and had a quick brief meeting, we all piled into my car as we hurried through the streets to make it right on time. My stomach started to do back flips the more I kept picturing the look her face on her face she's going to have when she finally sees me. It felt like a mixture of surprised with a bit of happiness. We rounded the corner and eventually found a decent place to park before we raced towards the stadium. Shae had called Mike, telling him specifically where to go so we could find our seats. She was sitting in a lone corner, keeping her eyes locked on Jay so she could notice if she started to look out into the audience. I suddenly felt the urge to throw up hit me like a ton of bricks as we finally found our place to sit. In a mere matter of moments I was going to see that beautiful face that made me weak walk across that stage and seal away the start of her life. I suddenly felt Brad nudge me in the side, pointing over at something. Only when I looked, I felt my lungs give out as I couldn't breath. There sitting in the front row in all her glory with Melody was my gorgeous life saver that I had missed more than the world. "There's your girl, man."

(Jade's POV)

As I sat on the stage waiting for my name to be called out I couldn't help but feel like everyone's eyes were watching me. I took a quick glance out into the crowd, instantly seeing Shae. She had the hugest smile I had ever seen glued to her lips. I was about to look further out when I suddenly heard the names starting to be read off to receive our diplomas. I gripped onto Melody's hand tightly as my nerves began to act up, my fingers shaking and trembling alongside hers. "We're almost done girl, this is our last time. Only a few names left." I shot her a nervous smile before I heard KayT's name being read, not wanting to seem immature or petty, I still even clapped and cheered for her whether she liked it or not. Up next was Melody, the entire stadium and I yelled at the top of our lungs for her. She was the top of her class and received the highest honors. She rightfully deserved it though, she worked so hard and never gave up to earn it. I was only a few people behind her now, the nervous feeling never leaving my body. I knew it was going to be a low crowd response for me but it didn't really matter, it still meant the world that at least Shae had came to watch. I zoned off for a brief second before I could feel Melody shaking me. "Jay! Hey! You're about to be called!"

I immediately snapped out of it quick, refocusing my attention back on the principle and the head director. They looked in my direction before announcing my name. "Jade Gabriela Martinez." The entire place had erupted in cheers as I got up from my spot slowly and walked over carefully towards them. I was the only girl in my class not wearing heels, either. I wore my trusty combat boots and everyone loved them. I was different, what else could I say? As I took the diploma and shook each of their hands, I turned to face the front for my picture to be taken. Only when I did, I noticed a face staring directly back at me that almost made me faint on contact. He was there, cheering his heart out for me. He was there, with tears in his eyes as he watched me walk across the stage. He was there, with all his friends just to support me. They all had came, after being gone for so many months just to come and see me. I could instantly tell by the look on his face that he was equally just as surprised to me as I was to see him. I felt the tears run down my face as I stared into his eyes. They were as vibrant as ever, looking so happy and full of life. Not like the last time I had seen them after we ended on a bad note. No, he was a completely different person standing there.

When I finally took my seat back beside Melody again, she had tears in her own eyes as well, hugging onto me tightly. "That, is the most beautiful fucking thing I have ever seen, in my entire life. I swear to God, Jay if you don't run into that man's arms the minute we get off this damn thing, I will literally kill you in front of the entire school." I laughed loudly at her comment, starting to cry hard as I realized that I had made the biggest mistake in my life by ever letting him go and thinking about things being better if we were apart like the way that I did. Clearly he never stopped loving me and neither did I. Now I was anxious more than ever for this to be finished with so I can run up to him and tell him just how sorry I was and that I never wanted to be without him again. He was the main reason why I kept going in the first place, he inspired me to follow my dreams and to never give up just because things got rough and seemed like they were never going to end. He was the only reason that I still believed in love and finding someone to love me for who I really was.

After we were released and we had thrown our caps into the air, Melody and I had practically ran as fast as we could off of the stage and away from everyone. We must have pushed through a few dozen people until we finally had made a break, seeing Shae standing in the back with all the guys beside her. I almost instantly jumped into Chester's waiting arms. He held me tight in his grip, not once letting go. "You came. I can't believe you actually came." I now cried into his shoulder as he continued to hold me. He just squeezed tighter, placing a soft kiss on the side of my head. "I love you, Jay. I wasn't going to miss this for the world. Regardless of everything that's happened, regardless of us being together or not, I wasn't going to just not come. This is an important step in your life and I wanted you to know that I was proud of you, that I supported you in all of it." I pulled back some, looking deep into his eyes. I couldn't contain it any longer as I kissed him hard and full on the lips. We kissed for what felt like an eternity until both of us were in desperate need of air. "I'm so sorry, Chester. For everything that I said and just for everything, I never should have let you leave the way you did. I love you, so goddamn much. You are the start of my life." He put a hand to my face and stroked my cheek gently. I had missed all of this, especially his warm touch.

"Sometimes things don't go the way we've planned them to, babe. But I know you were just under a lot of pressure and angry because you were hurting. So we'll just leave it as we're both sorry for now, because we'll both understand that we just needed some time to figure things out. I never wanted to say goodbye to you, Jay. It broke my heart even just thinking about being so far away from you. But I'm home now and all I want to do is just spend as much time with you as I can. I want to know how your birthday was, I wanna know what I missed in these last five months." I kissed him softly on the lips, a smile spread from ear to ear across my face. "First you have to tell me how the tour was and how the shows went, I want to know everything." He laughed lightly, shaking his head. "Hey love birds! We have a party to get to, let's get this show on the road!" We both turned, seeing everyone staring at us with smiles on their faces. I gave them all the bird with a grin before looking back at Chester and kissing him once more on the lips. "I love you, Chester Charles Bennington. You have turned my world upside down." He intertwined our fingers together before kissing the top of my hand. "I love you too, Jade Garbiela Martinez. You are my world."