"I'll risk all of it to tell you,

To show you how I feel,

Just say those words I need to hear,

Tell me that it's real." - Bach's Revenge debut album, track 4

Lane climbed on the bed next to Sebastian. "We drew straws again today. To see who gets stuck with the job of trying to talk to you," he said. "I keep getting the short one. I've done the math and I've pulled the short straw every other day for the last three weeks. I think Sawyer is fixing it."

"Sucks to be you," Sebastian said, coolly, "sorry about that."

"Well it doesn't suck as much to be me as it does to be you, apparently. But Sawyer said if you don't at least shower and shave he'd kick your ass."

Sebastian shrugged. "Sawyer would never kick a man who is down."

"You'd have to be a man," Sawyer's voice carried through the bus. "As in taking it like a man, instead of some chick for that to count. I promise you I'll kick your ass if you don't pull it together for a few hours today."

"We have that interview on TV," Lane explained. "The boys are kind of worried you'll screw it up."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Right, cause I screw everything up."

"No," Lane said. "Because Charlie planted an emotional grenade inside your head the day you first told her you loved her and now it's blown up and you're a mess but that doesn't mean you need to look how you feel, okay?"

"It's not that bad. You're exaggerating."

Lane smiled. "I wish I was. Take it from me, there is not a single part of you right now that is remotely attractive."

Sebastian looked at his friend in mock horror. You love Sawyer, he mouthed so Sawyer couldn't hear him. "You clearly go against every stereotype for the gay man and must have no taste at all."

Lane raised his eyebrows. "Aww, you made a joke. That's a step in the right direction."

Sebastian rolled over. "Kiss my ass."

Lane pulled the blanket off of him and bolted from the room.

Sebastian stormed behind him. "Give me back the blanket."

"No," Lane said, defiant and proud. "I'm using it for yoga."

Sebastian huffed. "I hope you downward dog and slip and fall on your face."

"No," Lane said, "you don't. You hope the rest of the world can be as miserable as you are. Charlie dumped you. She broke your heart...again." He pointed a finger as he shrugged the blanket up further up his shoulder. "I promise you, Seabass, there are thousands of girls who would love to take her place but you need to pull it together."

Lane was probably right. He usually was. He needed to get over her. To stop thinking how her body felt, how her hair smelled, how her laugh sounded like the notes to his favorite song.

He scratched the side of his face.

"See," Sawyer said. "You're like a dog. A five o'clock shadow is alright but you're startin' to grow a pedo-beard which is socially unacceptable."

"Here," Robbie said, shaking a package. "I even went to the store and bought the most expensive razor I could find," he pulled the device from the bag and held it up and pointed to the label. "See. That's a sophisticated man right there."

Sebastian looked at the picture. Apparently, the razor in question, The Slayer, was represented an outdated looking man with an ascot. Despite his constant foul mood, Sebastian laughed because the guy did not look like he'd be slaying anyone. "He's a real badass," Seb noted.

Robbie grinned hopefully. "So you'll shave then?"

"Yeah," Sebastian took the package. "Guess so."

An hour later he emerged from the bathroom, looking like a new person. As much as he didn't want to admit it, his band mates were right. He'd been sulking far too long and it needed to end. He could be as broken as he was on the inside, it didn't mean the world had to know it.

Robbie continued to rent Bentley's every time they were in a city longer than a day. He loved them and it farfetched to imagine he'd been driving one soon after the tour ended. As Robbie drove to the TV studio for the interview, for the first time in a long while, Sebastian felt somewhat like himself.

The woman interviewing them was known to the world simply as Iris. "Insight with Iris" was a staple in daytime television. He knew this especially since they'd started the tour and there wasn't much else to do but watch TV or write songs. He couldn't help but think someone should have given Iris some insight that her face was pulled too tight, like she'd had a long standing love affair with Botox.

Her lips hardly moved as she introduced them. "With me today is a group of boys taking the world by storm. The hopeless romantic," her hand fluttered and landed on Sebastian's knee. "The brooding bad boy," she winked at Sawyer. "The joker," she said giving Robbie a nod "and the quiet, reflective mystery man," she said to Lane.

Holy crap. Iris did her homework.

"So," she spoke to no one in particular. "You are the winners of a nationwide radio contest, correct."

"That's correct," Sawyer said. "We had some tough competition, but in the end a lot of hard work payed off."

"So you immediately signed with Moody records."

They nodded.

Sebastian wanted to give her a much different answer for how he felt about signing with Moody.

"Sebastian," Iris said. "A year ago, no one knew who you were. Now Bach's Revenge is becoming a household name. What do you make of that?"

Sebastian shrugged. "I still don't know what to make of it. I'm just a guy who writes music and likes to sing once in a while."

"And now you're a guy who is much sought after."

"Yeah," Seb conceded. "I guess so."

Iris leaned forward and adjusted her glasses. "This leads me to my next question. It's been in the news recently that a crazed fan tried to kill you."

"Yeah," he said. "I guess she did."

"So, want to tell the folks at home what happened?"

Sebastian was silent. Hell no, he didn't want to tell the folks at home what happened. It was none of their God damned business.

Sawyer put a hand protectively on Sebastian's shoulder. "Actually, the investigation is still ongoing and we've been advised that we cannot speak about the events."

Thank God for Sawyer because Sebastian couldn't speak about them even if he wanted to.

Charlie was clearly a masochist. There was no other reasonable explanation why she continued to put herself through this. She sat on her bed, Kleenex in hand with her knees tucked to her chest playing, stopping and rewinding the interview. She was trying in vain to decipher the look on his face when Iris asked him about the shooting. Was he still hurt, mad, numb, sad... Thank God for TiVo.

The door to her room swung open and Tally marched in with Devin right behind her.

"Knock," Charlie ordered.

"Bite me," Tally said. "This is an intervention."

"I don't need an intervention," she said.

"Whatever," Devin rolled her eyes, marched to the television and hit the power button.

Charlie was sick of being sad. Pissed off seemed like a much better option. "Turn it back on," she said venomously.

"Uh, let me think about that," Devin replied. "No."

"Devin, turn it back on if you know what's good for you."

"Being a bitch is my job Charlie," Tally said, producing a makeup kit. "C'mon, we'll get you cleaned up and we'll go out, just us girls."

Charlie scowled. "I love you Tal, but please just go away."

"See," Devin said. "Told you, she's pathetic."

"Shut up!"

"Make me!" Devin placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side.

A challenge.

"I'm counting to three and if you don't turn it on, I'll make you sorry," Charlie threatened.

Devin raised a brow. "You and what army, loser?"

"Girls, let's be reasonable." Tally gave a nervous laugh.

"One." Charlie clenched her teeth.

Devin looked down and picked her nails as if she were bored.

"Two." This time Charlie tried to eliminate the angst from her voice and replace it with authority.

"I pray sometimes I'm adopted," Devin said.

Charlie sounded like she was chewing on sandpaper; her teeth grinding together. "Three."

Devin stood frozen in place but Charlie refused to let her win. Thirteen year old little punk.

Charlie lunged from the bed toward her, ignoring the pain in her chest and Tally's objections. She wrapped Devin's blonde ponytail in her grip and yanked her head down. Devin let an earth shattering scream and just as Charlie was forming a fist to haul off and punch her, Tally grabbed her wrist at the same time her father burst through the door. Their mother followed seconds later with her hands folded across her chest and an angry look on her face.

"Charlie Jane. What the hell are you doing?"

"She started it!" Charlie yelled, extending her finger at Devin. She knew it was juvenile, but she didn't care.

Their dad turned to Devin with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Devin threw her hands up in the air. "She was watching him on TV again, and when she's not doing that, she has that dumb song on repeat. Like it's going to bring him back!" she screamed.

"Shut up!" Charlie yelled back. "Just shut up!"

"Truth hurts Charlie. You're the idiot who dumped him!"

"Stop! You two stop it this minute!"

"Get her out of my room," Charlie said.

"Devin, honey, we'll talk about this later," their Dad said. "Leave Charlie alone now."

Charlie turned to her mom, "I need to go find him."

Tally let out an audible gasp.

"Afraid not."

"I need to go!" Charlie objected.

"You need to get it together young lady. Then you need to rest and recover."

"I'm going." She tried the not open for discussion route.

"So help me God Charlie. If you don't think I will lock you in this very room, you need to think again. You're not going."

It didn't take her long to conclude she was not winning the argument. But crumbling was a bad idea. It would let her mom know that she's was going either way, with or without consent. "Mom, I need to talk to him."

"And you will. When he returns at the end of the summer."

"But Mom-"

"No exceptions!"

"But-"

"None." The look she gave Charlie reiterated that she wasn't going to budge. "Devin, leave your sisters room right now. And you're both grounded."

"That's not fair!" Devin whined as their dad steered her from the room.

"Life's not fair!" Charlie shouted after her. "Get used to it."

"Shut up!" She hollered.

"Enough!" This time it was their dad who bellowed. Charlie could count on one hand the number of times her father had raised his voice. Involuntarily but very wisely, her mouth shut.

After they left, her mother spoke. "Charlie, I know things seem bad now, but somehow things always have a way of working themselves out, okay sweetie? The only thing you need to be worried about is your health."

She was only trying to help but Charlie didn't want to hear it.

I know she's only trying to help, but I don't want to hear it. Nothing would work itself out. "Thanks Mom," she said. "Could I just be alone with Tal, now?"

"Sure."

After she left, Charlie didn't turn the TV back on but instead locked the door.

"Tally?"

"Yeah, babe."

"I made a terrible mistake. I'm going to get Sebastian back."

Tally smirked. "Now we're talking." She walked to the computer and powered it on, her hands flying efficiently across the keys. "Let's see," she said. "Next show is in Costa Mesa, California at the Pacific Amphitheater, tomorrow night."

Charlie stood taller. "California, here I come."

They googled nearby hotels and found moderately priced one. Charlie double checked her banking information. There was a substantial amount of money in her account that Sebastian had given to her in case of emergency.

"Trust me," Tally said. "This is definitely an emergency."

Charlie was about to log off but Tally took the mouse and deleted the browsing history. "It'll make it harder for your parents to figure out where you're going."

Charlie nodded. "It's like you've done this before."

Tally looked at the ceiling. "Hmm, let's see, flew thousands of miles to beg my rock star boyfriend to take me back in a seemingly hopeless tour de force? Nope. That's still on my bucket list, actually."

Once her plan was solid and Tally had left wishing her the best of luck, Charlie showered and got into pajamas for show. When she was done, she trudged down the stairs to say goodnight to her parents. Devin, like Charlie was confined to her room.

She set the alarm on her phone vibrate at exactly 3:30 am and placed it securely underneath the pillow. She opened the window. The weather was beautiful this time of year and by having it opened, it ensured her plan would not be ruined by precautions she failed to take.

She fumbled in her desk for a pen and paper to leave a note.

Mom and Dad,

I know this is going to upset you but I can't sit here and let the most important person in my life go because a huge part of me went with him. It's all my fault and I have to fix it, or at least try. I'm gone to find Sebastian. Please don't follow. I'm a grown up now and I'll be fine, really. I promise. And...for what it's worth, I'm sorry.

XOXO

Charlie

She closed her eyes and prayed that if she dreamed at all, God would be merciful enough to keep the nightmares away.

***

At precisely 3:30 am, she was convinced her bed was made up of tectonic plates that were shifting because the entire mattress vibrated. She was no seismologist, but it couldn't possibly be her cell phone. It was. Her exit from bed to floor was less than graceful and it took a moment for reality to seize her.

When it did, she wasted no time, pulling her pajamas over her head, trading them for clothes. She took her shoes from under the bed and grabbed her cell phone\/virtual tectonic plate and her wallet, shoving them all into a backpack.

She slung it over her shoulder and crawled through the window. Looking down, she decided if she missed the mark, the tree in the front yard, she'd only fall about six feet or so, but that was about six feet too many. She closed her eyes and jumped. There was no going back.