"Glad I finally know you,

The reason for your shame,

Shout it out and never doubt,

I see you just the same." - Bach's Revenge debut album, track 11

Sebastian whipped his phone across the room, threading his fingers through his hair and sank to his knees. "Fuck!"

Robbie came over and crouched beside him. "You alright man?"

Sebastian wouldn't let himself cry in front of his friend. Well, maybe Lane, but definitely not Robbie or Sawyer. "She knows," he breathed.

Robbie's eyes moved as though he was checking a filing cabinet in his brain for the right thing to say. Evidently, he came up with empty contents. "That's brutal."

It was more than brutal. Panic set it, and Sebastian stood and began to pace. His breathing became ragged, and he imagined someone running to him with a paper bag at any moment. It was Sawyer, who marched over and gripped the fabric of his shirt. He flashed a smile at Jack and his crew, leaning into the microphone Sebastian had been using for the last few days. "Gentleman," he said. "We'll just be a minute."

Ushering Sebastian out the back door, into the alley, he shoved him against the wall. "Get your shit together," he hissed. "We've worked too hard for this yeah? You aren't going to ruin it."

"She knows," Sebastian said, still in disbelief.

"Yeah, I caught that. Lemme ask you something. What the hell are you going to do about it from here?"

Sebastian just shrugged.

"Right. Not a fucking thing. Get your head in the game Sebastian. You're vocals, you started this band, but if you think for a second that you're not replaceable, think again. If you don't think there aren't a thousand other singers who would jump all over this, give your head a shake. Lane, Robbie and I are the closest thing you've got to brothers. You will not let us down."

Sebastian looked at his shoes. Charlie's words rang through his head. I hate you.

Sawyer shook him out of his reverie. "You hear me? You will not let us down. You can do what you need to do, clean up your shit when we get home. Until then, you are Sebastian, the front man for Bach's Revenge and nothing else. Are we clear?"

Sebastian nodded.

"Good," Sawyer said. "Get in there and sing. The sooner we get this bitch done, the sooner you can go him and try to salvage any kind of relationship with Charlie."

Charlie tore through the hallway like her shoes were on fire. It wasn't until she got to the parking lot that she stopped, only because she saw McKenzie standing beside her Mercedes smiling and laughing with Darlene and Shelby.

She came to a screeching halt and just stared.

McKenzie placed her hands on her hips. "What's a matter Charlie? Didn't get enough at the meeting, you had to come back for more."

"You slept with Sebastian."

McKenzie gave a satisfied smirk. "And the light goes on. I always knew you were smarter than you look."

"Why? Why couldn't you just leave him alone?" Tears burned again, but she refused to let her rival see her cry.

"I did leave him alone. Sebastian came on to me."

Charlie shook her head in disbelief. "That's not true."

"Oh, believe me, it's as true as the day is long. And in case you were going to ask, he's great in bed. Best I ever had."

Before she could comprehend what she was doing, Charlie dropped her bag and surged forward, sending McKenzie barreling to the ground. She brought a fist up and pummeled her at the same time she heard Shelby start to scream.

When Charlie got home that afternoon, her mother was still at work but her father had left his office early because his car was in the driveway. She was nervous, hot and sweating buckets. She flipped the visor in the car down to reveal the mirror. After careful inspection, she decided she looked fine, on the outside. She sucked in a deep breath, trying to prepare herself, reason with herself that it would only be worse if her dad looked out the window and saw her sitting in the car.

Working up courage she didn't have, she went inside and her dad looked up from a pile of papers and glanced at the clock. "Hi, sweetpea. What are you doing home so early?"

"Suspended," she stated gruffly, marching forward to hand him her papers. She knew it was better to just admit it and get it over with.

"What?" He took the paper from her hands and skimmed it over. "Charlie, it says here you were fighting."

"I was," she told him.

He pulled his glasses off of his face and his brow furrowed "For Heaven's sakes, why?"

He was shocked because it wasn't in her nature. She didn't like conflict, didn't like fighting. "Because McKenzie couldn't keep her mouth shut about Sebastian," she confessed.

"So you punched her?" He blinked.

"Yeah," she shrugged and tried not to smile at the memory, "She has a couple black eyes, actually."

"Charlie Jane!"

"What? Dad, she was being awful."

"Your sister spends half her life being awful, you don't haul off and hit her, do you?"

"It's different," Charlie argued. "Totally different."

He set the paper down and a look of sympathy crossed his face before his fingers reached up and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Honey, I know this is hard for you. But you can't go around picking fights with everyone."

"She picked it with me," her voice was firm. "I was only defending him."

"Sebastian's a big boy, he can take care of himself."

"Sebastian is not here," she replied pointedly. At the very mention of his name, the tears returned. She hated him. She wished he was here, so she could pummel him right alongside McKenzie.

The hard look on her father's face changed. Waterworks always sent him over the edge, as tough as he pretended to be, he was a sucker, especially when tears were involved. He stepped forward and gave her a hug. "Oh, honey. It will be just fine."

"No," she argued. "It won't."

"Well give him a call then, I'm sure he'd love to hear from you." He was trying to provide some sort of solution to alleviate her pain, but what he just said was the dumbest thing she'd ever heard.

"I don't want to talk to him right now."

"Well, honey, what is it you that you want to do then?"

Charlie had no idea. She wanted her dad to be able to just snap his fingers and make it better. To take away the hollowness in the pit of her stomach, the way it churned every time she thought about him and McKenzie, to take away the guilt, that she'd almost dumped Mitch for him. She wanted her dad to do something. Instead she just looked at him and shook her head and cried. Her father wrapped his arms around her and she didn't want him to ever let go.

Making it through the afternoon, pretending everything was okay while his world was crumbling was the harder than saying goodbye to Charlie the day he'd left for Los Angeles. He was such a dumb shit. Dumber than a dumb shit. What he'd done was unforgivable.

When they got back to the hotel, he left the band eating dinner and headed directly for his room. He called Charlie and got her voicemail. "Bella," he said. "Please God, let me explain. Please don't throw this away. I made a mistake. I love you."

He wanted to talk to his mom, but he wasn't about to tell her he'd disrespected McKenzie in the worst possible way and ruined any chance he'd had with Charlie.

He closed his eyes, remembering just a few nights ago, which seemed now forever out of his grasp. The way he'd kissed her. The way her body felt next to his, the way her heart skipped against his chest, her breathing, her voice. God, he was glad he'd refused her advances, simply because if the situation could get any worse than it was now, that sure as hell would have been the cause.

He stood and opened the fridge, looking at the mini-bar. Unlike home, he wasn't legal here, but did it matter? He decided it was better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission and took the assortment of small bottles out. Forget mix. He drank it straight, glad that Moody records was footing the bill.

Five or six shots in, there was a soft knocking at his door. He was feeling surprisingly better when he opened it, revealing Lane, with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hey," Lane said.

"Hey, what's up?" Sebastian stepped aside, making room for Lane to enter the room.

Lane nodded toward the empty bottles. "I'd ask how you're doing, but the answer seems obvious."

"Yeah, well today kind of sucked."

Lane sat on the sofa. "I bet."

Sebastian poured himself another shot. "Want one?"

"Naw, you'll have a hangover big enough for both of us, thanks."

Sebastian cringed even though he knew Lane was right, he couldn't bring himself to care. "I totally screwed everything up."

"Yeah," Lane said. "You did."

"Thanks."

Lane leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. "Listen. I know it seems hopeless right now, but we're still here for at least another week or two, maybe even three. Maybe by the time we get back, all of this will have blown over and she'll at least be willing to talk to you."

"I don't deserve her," Sebastian said.

"Probably not, but you love her and I believe that she loves you."

"Correction. Loved me. She doesn't anymore. She told me she hates me."

"Sebastian, she's hurt. She can't possibly just stop loving you. I don't know what happened between the two of you before we left, but I'm assuming she finally admitted to herself that being with you is worth at least a shot. In her eyes, you've proved her wrong."

"I'm such a dick," Sebastian said, picking up his phone and shaking it at Lane, "and McKenzie will not stop calling me or texting me."

"You slept with her and left. She's female. Were you expecting something else?"

Sebastian downed the shot. "Did you come here to make me feel like a bigger piece of ass or is there a point to your visit?"

"I just want to tell you I know how it feels to want someone who rejects you," Lane said.

Even in his less than sober state, Sebastian was taken aback. Lane didn't even look at girls. He was too busy with the band, finding his chi and achieving the much coveted inner peace. "What are you talking about?"

Lane shrugged. "I don't know. You seemed upset. I just want you to know, you aren't alone in this. I know what it's like."

Sebastian shook his head. "Lane, what the hell? You don't even give girls the time of day, how could you possibly be in love with someone who rejects you. Does she go to our school?"

Lane nodded. "This person goes to our school."

"Who is she?"

Lane didn't say anything. Like his damned mouth was wired shut. Sebastian poured a shot, and shoved it across the table toward him. He picked it up and downed it.

"Who is she, Lane?" Why it was so important to him, he didn't know. He certainly was not in a position to be preaching about keeping secrets but the fact that someone so close to him had one, somehow made his problems seem trivial, or at least less...consuming.

Lane looked down and his hands and wrung them nervously. Sebastian sensed that there was something he wanted to say. "Look man, I know I've been selfish lately, putting all my problems on you guys and I'm sorry. But if there's something you wanna say, just say it. You have my word, it isn't going to go anywhere except between you, me and these walls."

Lane's complexion turned green as he looked up at Sebastian with desperate eyes. "If you tell anyone, it could get my ass kicked."

"I swear on my life," Sebastian pledged.

"I'm serious Seabass, I could get beaten within an inch of my life."

Wow, this was serious. "What, are you in love with your first cousin or something?"

"No," Lane said without hesitation. "I'm in love with Sawyer."