Sound Effects and Overdramatics

"You ever think about quitting?" Luce asked me. She pulled the cigarette from her lips and lazily blew smoke towards the ceiling.

She was laying topless on the stage, her shorts unbuttoned over fishnet tights. She had one leg pulled up and her head was in my lap while my feet dangled over the edge of the stage. I bent down and kissed her.

"There is no quitting for me, Luce. This is my life. Why? You thinking about getting out?"

She sat up. "My sister kicked her boyfriend out. She's up in Seattle. She said I could move in."

"That's great. You should go."

I'd known Luce for a little over a year. We had both worked at the strip club together. It was how I met a lot of my customers. Even after I quit to save more fighting with Ian, we stayed friends. Now, she fed me clients.

"What are you gonna do without me?"

I shrugged. "I can manage. I got my sister, and Brian."

"I still can't believe you managed to bag Synyster Gates. How does that even happen? You would never know it by looking at him."

She was a huge fan of Avenged.

I didn't answer her. She sat up and swung her legs over. I hopped off the stage. It was well after closing time. I'd met her after the show, not really having anywhere else to go because I was too wired to just stay at the house.

"You wanna come back to my place?" She asked, grabbing my hands and locking her ankles around my waist.

I kissed her again. "Isn't your ex on your couch?"

"I miss you."

"Luce…"

"Come on, Jay. You're not working. We can mess around and I'll cook you breakfast."

She pouted at me until I gave in. While she was in the dressing rooms getting her stuff together, I did a line off the edge of the stage and ignored a call from Ian. I didn't want him to ruin my morning.

After he left the other day, we hadn't really had any other reason to talk. He called a few times, but I ignored it. I worked, had lunch with Monica, and even spent time at the studio with the band. Beth refused to go, insisting that her and Brian were slowly working things out.

Before I headed out earlier, Brian came in and announced that they were going to Vegas this weekend.

I didn't want to burst his bubble with how bad of an idea that probably was, so I hit the streets, hooking up with my dealer and a couple customers before meeting up with Luce.

By the time Luce came out and slipped her arm through mine, Ian had called two more times. Answering wouldn't have made a difference, because he was waiting across the street from the club.

It was after four in the morning. I stood with disbelief as he crossed over, slowly and with a limp, to greet us.

"What the hell do you want?" I snapped.

He slipped his hood off and stepped under the streetlamp. The house lights had been turned off half an hour ago. The street was dead and the sky had barely begun to lighten with the morning.

I recoiled. His eye was swollen shut and dried blood was crusted around his nose and upper upper lip. He kept one arm around his abdomen and he couldn't stand straight.

"Who?" I growled. Immediately, Luce was cradling him, leading us to her shitty nineties Buick.

I took his other side and he hissed when I moved my arm around his waist. He still hadn't answered me.

I opened the door and we eased him into the backseat. I slid in next to him and Luce got behind the wheel, waiting for instruction.

"Hospital." I instructed her. She nodded and gunned it.

"Baby, what happened?" I asked him. I lifted his shirt. Bruises were starting to form around his ribs.

He coughed and then screamed out some cuss words. "Gage...drunk...I was...late from...work." He choked out.

Fucking Christ.

I knew there was a reason I didn't like the bastard.

It was one thing to get into a fight with me, but to beat up Ian...he had another thing coming.

He coughed some more. I held him as he cried out with pain. If I'd answered my phone at all, I could have been there to stop it.

I wasn't there for Laurel and it almost killed her.

I shouldn't have left Ian.

Luce helped me get him through the ER doors and sat with him as I hollered for a doctor and had to go through all the procedural bullshit. While we waited for someone to do their goddamn job, I called Laurel.

"It's his choice if he wants to report it. I don't know the whole situation, and neither do you. If you won't stay out of it, encourage him to report it. It's harder to ignore something if there's a record of it."

"I'm scared." I admitted. They'd taken him to a room. I couldn't handle being in there whole they examined him, so I stepped into the bathroom.

"Do you need me to come up there?"

I sucked some powder up my nose. "Maybe later. God, it's so fucked up."

"Jason, listen to me." She ordered. I could see the stern look she had on her face, even though she wasn't here. I did another bump.

"You listening?"

"Yeah."

"It's not your fault. It's not his fault. People like Gage...and Finn…there's something wrong with them. You can't blame yourself. You can't blame Ian. You can be there for him, but if he doesn't want you to...you have to accept it. Okay?"

She was right. I knew she was right. I'd been there when shit hit the fan. She pushed Brian away. If she hadn't, they wouldn't be having the problems they did, but she did it trying to protect him.

"Jason." She practically shouted in my ear. "Promise you're not gonna do anything stupid."

I didn't. I just hung up and went back to Ian's room.

His face had been cleaned up. He had stitches in his eyebrow and an IV drip hooked to his hand.

He was still awake. I sat down and took his hand. He turned his head slowly to look at me. "You don't have to stay." He croaked out.

"Like hell I don't. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Not your problem." He wheezed. He licked his lips and winced when his tongue flicked over the cut there.

"Bullshit. I love you, Ian. Christ. You should have said something. I spent years watching my sister go through this. I'm not gonna watch you too." I was pleading with him, sounding stronger than I felt.

"So don't. Walk away."

"Is that what you really want?" I growled. Before he answered, the doctor knocked on the door and came in, two cops in tow.

"The police are here to get a statement and then I'll get your meds going."

Ian nodded and struggled to sit up in the bed. I stood and melted into the background. As soon as one of the officers started asking questions, I eased myself out of the room and the hospital.

The coke wasn't doing a lot to keep my head straight. I called Luce to have her come pick me up. While I waited, I called my dealer.

I didn't know what else to do.