Aaron:
I whistled as I made my way to the bunks to grab my towel. Damn I was feeling good. As I was about to make my way to the bathroom I was thrown against the wall. I looked down panicked at the angry little ginger that was pinning me. "Alan, you ok?"

"You fucking asshole!" He shoved me against the wall harder, surprisingly strong for someone as small and skinny as him.

"Chill out! What the hell, man?" I pushed him off of me. He sniffed and I caught a glimpse at red swollen eyes. "Al, what happened?" I instinctively stepped towards him.

"You fucking moron! Isn't it obvious?!" He sobbed as he shoved me, hard.

"No, Alan, it's not. What did I do?"

He cast an angry glance at the door to the front of the bus, then shifted his gaze back to mine. Fresh tears peaked at the corners of his eyes before he turned away from me to take a shaky breath and lace his hands behind his head.

I looked at the door confused, until I saw the condom wrapper on the floor by my bunk. "You have feelings for Silver, don't you?"

"I've been fucking in love with her for two years," he hissed, spinning to face me.

I licked my lips. Well shit. What was I supposed to say? I didn't think I was in love with Silver, not yet. I sure as hell liked her, and I liked her company, but love? I'm thinkin' not. "Shit, Al." I ran a hand through my hair. "If you love her why are you such a cunt to her?" My hand flew to my mouth. I'd never said that word before in my life.

Alan actually laughed at me for that as I felt heat flood my face and neck. "I haven't been sober since Warped tour." He laughed once then fell silent. I watched as the realization of his words hit him. His hand went to his mouth as he slowly sank to the floor, a tortured sob escaping him. He sat there, his hand over his mouth, as he sobbed tearless, broken sobs.

I gingerly knelt beside him. "Al? Are you ok?"

"I-I, how long ago was Warped?" He finally looked at me, fear and desperation in his eyes.

"About five months," I said slowly.

He nodded once and swallowed. He stared at the wall for a while. I was about to go get Austin when Alan jumped up suddenly and slammed his fist into the wall. I winced as I heard a crack. Alan screeched out an oath at the top of his lungs. I sat there shocked as the door flew open behind me, letting in an onslaught of people.

Silver was in front of me immediately, fussing over me. "He didn't hit you right? You're ok? If he did I can rip his dick off for you."

I looked from her to Alan who was shaking his hand, swearing like a sailor. Austin had stepped forward to look at it, but he sighed. "Looks like you broke something, dude."

I turned back to the worried girl in front of me. "I'm fine. Sil, can we talk?"

"Umm, yeah I guess." She cautiously followed me to the front room as Alan argued with the guys over going to the hospital.

She plopped down on the couch like she owned it and arched an eyebrow at me. "What's up?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. We weren't really dating, so we weren't really breaking up...right? I sighed. "Look Sil-"

She held up a hand. "Save it, I get it. Alan's told you his side of the story and whatever we may have had is through. I figured." She stood up.

"No!" She looked back, confused. "Well, kinda see," I bit my lip. How do you tell someone the person that threw a bottle at them the day before is madly in love with them? "Sil, you don't have the full story."

I saw as she ground her teeth. "So he did tell you whatever fucked up version of what happened that he's decided makes me look the worst."

"No! Would you shut the fuck up for a minute?!" My hand slammed over my mouth. Two for two. First saying cunt and now yelling at a lady, you're on a roll today Aaron. I saw her bite her lip and look at the ground. "No!" I rushed up to hug her. She fell against me, burying her head in my chest. I bit my lip against how much I liked the feeling of having her close. "Sil, please don't cry, I'm sorry, it's just," I rubbed her back. "Sil, Alan's in love with you."

I felt her torso tremble, and I thought she was crying until I heard her laughter. "I'm sorry," her head flew back with her laugh for a moment, "Alan's what?"

"Alan loves you." She only laughed harder.

"I'm sorry, where you there when he shoved me, insulted me, and threw his empty at me?" She doubled over, holding her stomach.

I paced to the other side of the room, running my hand through my hair. I had to tell her everything Alan had told me. What could it hurt? "He does, though. Why do you think he was so upset with you at Warped? He thought he'd finally gotten you, but then you were off screwing Oli. I mean," I took a deep breath. "Fuck, Sil the guy hasn't been sober in like six months because of it."

She'd finally stopped laughing, and was just staring at me. "What do you mean?" she asked slowly.

I sighed. "I mean, I think you broke his heart when you told him everything was completely casual. He said he's been in love with you for, like, two years."

She smiled a little. "I've only known him two years." She shook her head, still grinning. "I was just finishing up my masters when I met that crazy little red headed college drop out. He'd still looked like a kid and had developed a grade school crush on me." She shook her head again. "But that's all it was. A stupid grade school crush that hadn't lasted so there's no way that Alan-" she choked on the words. She sighed. "Alan loves me." She wrapped her arms around herself as she shivered. "Ok, well, I need to go think some things through." She shook more. "Thanks, Aaron."

"For what?"

She gave me a sad smile. "Hurting me the way Alan never could." She ran off to the bunk rooms before I could even ask what she meant.

Notes

Shit, I'm not even sure where this chapter came from. Feedback? It's seriously appreciated. Hope you're enjoying! - Anna