Sound Effects and Overdramatics

Ian rolled over beside me, covered in sweat. Likewise, I was soaked, and gasping for breath. As he struggled to even his breathing, I stood and went to the tray on the dresser.

"Where's Gage think you are?" I asked as soon as I did a line.

"Work."

I kept my back to him, gripping the edges of the dresser. I didn't have a reason to turn him down when he showed back up after Brian left. Even if I hadn't wanted to let him in at first, he was persuasive enough to get through the door.

"Why are you here?"

"I miss you."

I scoffed and turned, leaning against the dresser. "Really? Sure as fuck weren't missing me when I walked in on the two of you. Or when you had me arrested."

"Baby," he cooed, slithering off the bed and sidling up to me. He locked his hands around my waist and kissed my neck just below my jaw. His teeth pinched my skin and I growled, grabbing his hands and pushing him away with the last shred of willpower that I had.

"I love you, Ian, but I don't think I can go through this again. I'm a mess, and I really don't care who I hurt. Unless you can accept who I am and what I do, there's no reason to get my hopes up."

I heard a door slam shut and footsteps storming this way. Ian nodded, seeming to hear me. I put on the basketball shorts I had been wearing before but didn't bother with a shirt.

"Jason!" My sister called.

I sighed, already knowing that something else had happened between her and Brian. If they ever managed to uncomplicate their lives, I'd get sober.

Chances were about the same.

Ian made no move to get dressed, or even remove himself from my general vicinity. He was here for the duration, and only he decided how long that was going to be.

I was an idiot.

I left the room, leaving the door open. If he wasn't leaving, he was going to have to come out eventually. It made no difference if Laurel knew he was here or not.

I found her in the kitchen, smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee.

"What's wrong?" I asked, noting the look on her face.

She answered after taking a huge gulp of coffee. "I caught him drunk and making out with Michelle."

"Well," I muttered, sliding onto a stool. She pushed a cup of coffee towards me, waiting for me to finish. "Was he upset about something?"

I wasn't going to make comments on her relationship. If Brian was kissing Michelle, it meant that he wasn't as hunky dory about things as he let on this morning.

I wondered if Laurel was going to ask me to talk to him, knowing what that involved.

"Kai showed up for a surprise visit and he wasn't exactly thrilled when I told him I was staying at Ali's while Kai was here."

"And you're surprised?"

"No, of course not. He asked if I was ever going to move in. I said something about Michelle still having stuff here. He left. Me and Kai went to eat. Brian called Ali and told her to let me know Zack was having a party and asked me to go. So, I went to go talk to him and that's when I caught him with Michelle."

I drank more coffee. Laurel refilled her cup and put out her cigarette. As she lit another, Ian came through the entryway and put his arms around my shoulders. Dutifully, I turned my head to kiss him.

Laurel stared, surprise plastered across her face.

"So you're here to wait for him or what?"

She cleared her throat, doing her best not to stare at Ian. She'd liked him well enough, until I told her he had cheated on me. Finding out he called the cops on me hadn't put him in her favor, either.

"I don't know. I guess staying here for a couple days wouldn't hurt, right? I mean, that's what he wants. Might as well."

"Okay. We were gonna order Chinese if you want some." She nodded, already lost in her thoughts. I brought Ian with me downstairs to the basement.

Brian had really been onto something when he'd thought to soundproof it and bring in the pullout couch.

As soon as we hit the bottom of the stairs, Ian had me pinned against the wall. He was a couple inches taller than me, and had more definition in his muscles than I did. We were similarly built-not scrawny, but not much else to look at either, unlike all of Avenged Sevenfold, who were addicted to working out.

Due to the drugs, I was losing weight, and I didn't have much to begin with. Within a few more weeks, I'd be shrunken next to even him.

Still, his skin glowed compared to my pale ass. Why he was attracted to me-why anyone was-was beyond me, but customers could be found anywhere, for the desperate, the dying, and the addicted.

Ian was much more than a customer though. So was Brian, for that matter, but that was territory I didn't want to go into, not while Ian's mouth was glued to my collarbone.

I pushed him away and went to the bar. Living with Brian had its perks. It was always stocked and he never asked questions.

"What's your problem?" Ian growled. I glanced sideways at him and poured two glasses of whiskey.

"I told you. I don't wanna share you."

"But I have to share you?"

I shrugged and tossed back my drink.

Laurel wasn't the only one who was selfish.

"It is what it is."

"Is that what you told your sister when she found out you were fucking her boyfriend?"

"You know what was going on two years ago."

"I'm not talking about two years ago, Jason." He sighed and held his glass on its edge. "I'm talking about what started this whole thing in the first place. The Rev's death, Brian calling you. Laurel popping in and out as she damn well pleases. Everything was good with us."

He wasn't wrong. He'd helped me get sober after Laurel left. Brian and I fell out of contact. We were happy.

And then Jimmy died and Brian needed a release that only I could give him and I didn't think twice about agreeing to it.

It was something I'd thought about a lot over the last two months. If he hadn't called, would I have gone back to the drugs eventually?

Would I have cheated on Ian at all?

Questions that would never get answered and were pointless to keep asking.

What mattered was where we were now.

Where everyone was.

The only thing I knew for certain was that as long as Laurel and Brian were having problems, he'd keep asking me, and I wouldn't say no.

I sighed and grabbed his hand. "What do you want me to say? I'm not going to make promises knowing I'm not gonna keep them. You showed up here this morning and refused to leave. It took Matt punching you in the stomach to get you to listen to me, and I clocked him for it. I don't wanna get sober, Ian."

"If I promised-"

I shook my head and cut him off. "You can't, because watching me go out with whoever whenever is too much for you. Waiting for me to get home to be with you at the end if the night is too much to ask of you, and it's bullshit, but I'm doing it anyway. You found Gage, so go be with him."

"What if I stayed? Here, I mean. With you." I poured another drink. He didn't know what he was agreeing to, and I wasn't so sure Brian would be all for Ian making himself a permanent guest. Laurel definitely wouldn't like it.

But a couple nights wouldn't hurt, right?

He stopped me from taking another drink and kissed me instead. I kissed him back, letting everything else melt away.

Until Laurel hollered down that she was still waiting for food.