FicWad

Gabriel_Saporta: @aureliejean how would you feel about performing our bedroom antics on stage in front of the fans?
somesaint: @Gabriel_Saporta @aureliejean film yourselves instead and sell it at the merch tables
aureliejean: @Gabriel_Saporta I like @somesaint ‘s idea better. At least we could make $$$

It was a wonder what I didn’t wake up to anymore. Within a few weeks, my life had turned into one giant backstage antic, Gabe always up to something that was always potentially dangerous. Lately, he had gotten into the habit of messing around backstage, sometimes getting me in trouble which eventually led to our first fight, and then freaky hot make-up sex the same night. The ‘thing’ between us was still not official, and figuring that it had been long enough since we started said ‘thing’, I wondered that maybe it was just unspoken and should stay that way."""

tuck_in_abi: @aureliejean beef, pork, chicken, mmm. Meet me there?
vickytcobra: @aureliejean @tuck_in_abi can I come too?
tuck_in_abi: @vickytcobra that’s what she said; yeah"""


“She knows the entire ‘Make a Man Out Of You’ song from Mulan in sign language,”

Vicky and I had decided to break out of the tour busses as early as we could so that we would be able to have the entire day to hang out with Abigail in downtown Sacramento. She had never met Abigail before, and as soon as I told her she could pass off as my older sister, personality wise, she was intrigued. Though, I think the very thought of female interaction after being stuck with a bunch of guys was the real calling. It would prove the perfect time to catch up on gossip, with both of them.

“Billy Jean,” I whipped my head and turned in my barstool at the high-table to see Abigail walking up to Vicky and I, her permanent sideways smile plastered on her face. I raised an eyebrow as she sat at one of the chairs and glanced at Vicky who chuckled lightly.

“Where do you get off calling me that?” I joked. Abigail shrugged and dumped her keys and phone on the table.

“Just been going though Tweets and found that is your code name among the fans,” she explained. I skewed my mouth to the side and sighed through my nose.

“I never realized I was that well-known,” I mentioned. Vicky scoffed and leaned over the table, sliding her coke with her and opting to twirl her straw as she talked.

“Well, you are dating Gabe,” she pointed out. Abigail chuckled and playfully elbowed me.

“Yeah, how’s that working out, Élie?”

I gulped and first thought about what Vicky had just mentioned and lowered my eyes in slight disappointment.

“Well, first off, it isn’t official yet, and I don’t really know if it will ever be official,” I mumbled, glancing up only after I was done. Abigail had turned her attention towards Vicky and the two both raised eyebrows at each other before both turning back to me.

“Do I need to talk to him?” Abigail asked seriously, making Vicky glance at her nervously.

“I think I could talk to him, he tends to actually pay attention to the words that come out of me,” she mentioned. I shook my head and held up my hands defensively.

“I don’t want either of you to talk to him,” I pushed. They looked at me surprised again. “I don’t want to bring it up,”

“Pussy,” Abigail remarked half jokingly. I rolled my eyes and Vicky shrugged slightly, nodding.

“Pretty much,” she paused and looked solemnly at me. “I know it doesn’t seem like it on the surface, but Gabe is one of those guys that cares deeply about his relationships,”

I sighed and nodded, still listening to my conscious who said otherwise. Abigail rolled her eyes, almost as if she was reading my mind, but gratefully, she changed the subject.

“So, guess what?” she started. I raised an eyebrow and Vicky copied. “I pulled a few strings and I’m gonna be spending the rest of tour with you guys, working the sound stage,”

I couldn’t help but let my sadness disappear and widened my smile, Vicky seemingly joining in on the excitement.

“Finally!” she announced. “More chicks,” Abigail laughed and waved her hand in front of her face.

“I’m also going to keep an eye on Élie here because Dirty asked me to,” she eyed me and I rolled my eyes, not surprised.

“He thinks just by having a baby he can father everybody,” I joked. Icky snickered.

“Yeah, everybody except himself,”

The three of us collectively laughed and continued sharing stories before Vicky spoke up again, changing the subject in a hard direction.

“OH! That reminds me,” she paused to swallow her sip of drink. “Tonight a lot of the bands and crew are heading to the club downtown and I was thinking us girls should stick together,”

Abigail shrugged and the two looked at me once more. I nodded but still had to let my mind wander off to Gabe. I wondered, in all honesty, if he could handle himself.

*

The night turned to be fairly strange. The three of us dressed up, and in a rare occasion, I decided to wear heels, which off the bat hindered me. I tripped, however, only once, and to be fair, it was a curb that I had not seen. Gabe understood the girls sticking together, and as soon as the giant group got through the doors, he walked off with Ryland. Abigail took the initiative to order us a round of shots right off the bat, which Vicky hooked her arm into mine, knocking my attention to her rather than Gabe’s back as he walked away.

“Did you talk to him?” she asked as she led us in the direction Abigail had gone. I paused reluctantly before shaking my head and lowering my eyes.

“He was busy all day and by the time he got back to the bus we were heading out,” I tried to explain. Vicky let out a breath but shrugged.

“Well then you’ll have to catch him at a better time,”

I raised my hand and scratched my neck impulsively.

“Do you think I should talk to him tonight, after we leave?” I wondered. Vicky chuckled loudly and wildly shook her head.

“You mean next morning?” I widened my eyes and Vicky shook her head. “Do not talk to him tonight,”

“Why?” I questioned.

“I’m surprised you don’t know by now that Gabe’s a heavy drinker,” she glanced over to where the male group had settled at a high table on the other side of the club. “You won’t be able to talk to him coherently and he won’t remember any of it the next day anyways,”

I nodded and ended the conversation there, not bothering to ask any more questions. Instead, I looked over to Abigail as we neared the bar and grabbed the first shot glass I found and threw it back, and then winced as I realized it was straight vodka. Vicky and Abigail shared a laugh and I shook my head, not caring that much. I was going to try and have as much fun as I could.

It was after the fourth shot that all three of us were approached for dances, but instead of following Vicky and Abigail I stayed at the bar, subconsciously staring across the club at Gabe’s entourage. I was only knocked out of it when a body bumped into me and I glanced to see Alex sort of beaming at me.

“Hey Billy Jean!” he yelled over the music. I laughed at him and observed the swig he took of his beer before leaning against the bar with me. “Where’s your chicks?” he asked.

“They are dancing with random bar guys,” I explained. Alex raised a curious eyebrow and pointed his bottle in my direction.

“Why aren’t you dancing too?”

“Well, I,” I paused and looked over in Gabe’s direction. “I’d rather dance with Gabe, but he’s with you guys,”

Alex shook his head.

“He’s with Ryland and some fans but those fans are groupies, that’s why I’m over here, I hate groupies,” he rambled and looked at me again as I flattened my expression. “You’re sweet, I don’t know why Gabe doesn’t date you instead of chasing after groupies for easy sex,”

I knew that what he was saying was out of a drunken stupor, but I couldn’t help but feel hurt by what he had just said. If Gabe hadn’t even told his bandmates that we had been at least somewhat together, then maybe I was the girl he used for easy sex when the groupies were out of stock. Alex realized what he had said and widened his eyes.

“Wait, now that I think about it, aren’t you and Gabe an item?” he leaned towards me again and I sighed, shrugging.

“Nothing official,” I flattened my expression. “And I’m even more convinced he has no plans to make it official,” Alex smiled weakly and turned across the room as well.

“Well he treats you different, not like the groupies,” he narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously. “That is, unless you guys haven’t had sex yet,”

I felt my heart drop and I choked a little bit, not believing he would have the guts to say something like that, be him under the influence of alcohol.

“Excuse me?” I yelled, widening my eyes.

“Never mind now,” he mumbled and I followed his eyes to where Gabe was doing a body shot off of a nearly naked bar girl. I was about to turn away in disgust but couldn’t do it fast enough until he took the lime from her mouth and after dropping it, opted to share a drunken make out with her. I felt my shoulders tense up as I whipped my body around and gripped the bar tighter, furious. I was hurt beyond words but what hurt worse was the fact I kept telling myself he wasn’t mine to be jealous over. Alex still let out a disappointed groan and handed me his beer before stomping away, no doubt towards his friends. I downed the rest of the bottle in one go, but out of my peripherals, noticed a slightly worn out Vicky and Abigail coming towards me.

“Whoa there Aurélie!” she announced. I snapped my head at her, my expression one that could have killed her with my stare. She froze and gulped before tenderly resting a hand on my shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” she mouthed. I jerked my head across the room and she glanced over before gulping.

“Let me guess,” she trailed off and Abigail pushed up the sleeves of her hoodie.

“Oh shit, what’s in the bucket,” she attempted to bring up an old inside joke but her expression grew even angrier once I didn’t crack. “If Gabe did anything stupid…”

“He’s about to,” Vicky announced and I turned around only to find Gabe stepping up towards the bar, now right in front of me. Almost as if she knew what to expect, Vicky stepped back and held Abigail’s arm as Gabe landed against the bar right next to me. I dug my nails into the wood and gripped the bottle I was still holding tighter.

“Aurélie, Alex just told me that,”

“I saw everything,” I finished, trying to keep my attention forward. The music seemed to get louder, and I had to push it back in my mind in order to hear Gabe.

“Yeah,” he gulped loudly and rested his arm around my back, placing a hand on my lower waist. I jolted up and stared at him, knowing that he was just as drunk as he had been that night in Chicago with Dirty and Pete.

“What are we, Gabe?” I paused and shook my head, watching as his hand slid away and back to his side. “Because I don’t know if it’s even right for me to be jealous!”

“Does it matter what we are?” he snapped back, slightly raising his voice. A few bar patrons eyed us and I knew I was going to snap if I didn’t get out of there. I threw my arms in the air and turned away, making my way towards the exit.

“Aurélie!”

I ignored Gabe’s drunken plea and walked outside, instantly shrugging my shoulders up at the slight coldness of the autumn wind. Hands landed on my shoulders and I froze, closing my eyes as they shifted and I was brought into a warm chest, but almost instantly knew it wasn’t Gabe.

“Vicky’s got him,”

Ryland.

“If he came after you it wouldn’t have ended very well,” he explained. I nodded into his chest and slightly peeled away, wiping at my eyes as I reluctantly started to tear up. Ryland frowned but took his arms away before shrugging off his jacket and handing it to me, noticing the goose-bumps on my bare shoulders.

“Sorry,” I breathed.

“I’m sorry that this had to happen to you,” he offered me his arm and I took it, and I figured he was walking me back to the bar when he turned towards the other end of the street, where we could catch a cab. “You’ll stay on the bus with Alex, Nate and I,”

“And Gabe?” I asked.

“Vicky and Abigail are taking him back and will give him hell in the morning,”

I sighed out my nose but nodded, dragging my feet slightly as we walked to the end of the sidewalk were Ryland waved for a cab and I reached down to take off my heels. Thoughts kept racing through my mind and I was hesitant to shake them away. I knew that if I didn’t try to calm myself down, I wouldn’t be able to handle myself when I decided to talk to Gabe. This wasn’t like our first fight, and defiantly not something that would be gotten over so quickly.