AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey guys! So we are on Chapter 8 already and I am loving all your comments about the boys of this story :) This chapter features a mosh pit so I thought I'd add a pic of one to get you all in the RAWKING mood...!!

Please vote and comment if you enjoyed it, I really appreciate it! :D

Love Becky xx

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Chapter 8

The Pit

By the time I reach the end of my drink, the conversation inside our little booth is flowing from every direction.

Every direction apart from mine that is. I've thought of loads of funny comebacks inside of my head to all the stupid banter from the boys, but every time I go to form the words they end up getting stuck in my throat. I'm absolutely paranoid of saying something stupid and showing myself up in some way.

It's much safer to let Annabelle do most of the talking. She loves taking centre stage and that's exactly what she's been doing for the past ten minutes. I catch Chunk's eye across the table as she waffles on about her course and all her upcoming exams. He's perched right at the end of the booth now next to Raj and he gives me a secret smile of solidarity. We're both caught on the outskirts of the group, but at least we can be the odd ones out together.

Annabelle catches his grin and stops mid-sentence to tell him off. "Excuse me Mr. Monk, am I boring you over there?"

She's pretending to be joking, but I can tell she's genuinely annoyed. She doesn't like it when people don't take her seriously. Instead of biting back, Chunk chooses to laugh her off instead.

"Oh no, not at all. Sorry, my face just tends to make strange tics if you catch it in the wrong light."

"Or when someone's boring you to death?" Dev adds mischievously.

The booth erupts into laughter and Annabelle has no choice but to laugh at herself too. She scrunches her red lips into a pout and groans at everyone to stop making fun of her whilst Dev and Raj start up another round of chanting Chunk's nickname.

Beside me, Jaxon is electrified by the energy all around him. His eyes are bright and he's chuckling along with the others, letting his white wolf-teeth show on full display. Sadly, his arm is no longer around me. In fact, I'm beginning to suspect he's forgotten that I'm here at all.

I wouldn't blame him. I've let myself sink so far back from the group that I'm practically dissolving into the cushion behind me.

"So what do you think of The Fishtank then Ash?"

I look up in surprise. Someone's talking to me. Throwing me a lifeline. I realise that it's Chunk, smiling over and trying to involve me. I gaze at him with grateful affection.

"Yeah, it's really cool. We've never been here before."

"I honestly didn't think someone like you would hang out in a place like this," Annabelle interrupts, pointing at Chunk as she speaks. "You're a dark horse. I always thought you were just the sweet and innocent greengrocer next door, but it turns out you're a serious rocker boy."

"Nah," Chunk responds with a shrug. "Not really. I just go wherever these guys take me."

He glances around the table at the other guys, his gaze finally landing on Jaxon. I think it's obvious to everyone who the real "serious rocker boy" here is. Hint, it's the one right next to me who I still can't take my eyes off of.

And wait... Is he actually looking back at me now?! I thought I had become invisible, but he's suddenly looking at me so intensely I feel like I'm under a burning spotlight.

"OK Ash," he purrs into my ear. "Be honest with me. You hate this place right?"

"N-No!" I squeak in reply. "What makes you think that?"

Oh God, have I said or done something wrong? I mean I've barely said ANYTHING so I don't see how I can have... But who knows? If anyone was going to say the wrong thing in two words then it was bound to be me.

Jaxon gives a low laugh that makes me tingle all over. "You're such a good girl aren't you? Totally sweet and innocent. I bet you secretly hate rock music."

"No I don't!" I yell back defensively. "I've been to loads of rock gigs."

"Oh really?" he smirks. "Go on then, name a few. I'll tell you if I've seen them too."

For some reason, I can't think of a single band or musician off the top of my head. I gape soundlessly, wishing that I had never answered back at all. What was I thinking of?! There's no way I can win a war of words with someone as cool and confident as Jaxon. He could eat me alive without a second thought.

"See, I knew you were a good girl," he teases. "You can't even name one band."

Annabelle appears over my shoulder before I have time to think of any kind of response. "What are you two whispering about over here? Did I hear someone mention rock bands?"

She is batting her big, blue eyes innocently. Drawing all the attention back to herself as always. I know she is my best friend, and I do seriously love her, but sometimes I could kind of kill her too.

Jaxon folds his arms and leans back in his seat. "I was just trying to get to know Little Miss Ashleigh Apple a bit better. I'm not convinced that she's into rock music. She can't even name one band she's seen."

"What?!" Annabelle exclaims, her eyes widening. She nudges me with her elbow. "Didn't you tell him, Ash?"

"Tell him what?" I mumble inaudibly. I'm not sure I like where this conversation is heading.

"About Science Will Save Us?" she continues. "Or would you rather not mention it?"

I cringe on the spot. It looks like I don't have much of a choice now whether I want to mention it or not. Jaxon is cocking one eyebrow and looking at me curiously.

"Hey, I've heard of that band. They were on that car commercial right?"

Sarah shimmies closer from the edge of the cushion just as Jaxon finishes his question. Her glass of vodka and coke is empty and her speech is ever so slightly slurred. "Oh my God, are you talking about Science Will Save Us? That is a BANNED band from now on." She pauses. "A banned band! Ha! That's hilarious!"

As Sarah cackles over her own pun, Jaxon is looking at me in bemusement. I can't bear to meet his eye. I know my friends are only trying to be supportive, but did they seriously have to bring this subject up right now? In front of the hottest guy in the entire room, if not the entire world?!

Annabelle places a hand on my arm. "Hey, it's OK babe. Things might still work out with Kieran, you can't give up hope."

Her tone is brimming with a warmth and concern that has been non-existent up until this very moment. I feel a flash of irritation spark through my bones.

"You said it was all in my head and I should just get over it."

"No, I didn't!" Annabelle lies.

"You kind of did Belles," Sarah cuts in. "Don't you remember our three-way video-chat this morning?"

Dev pricks his ears up across the table. "Three-way?! When? Where? Count me in girls!"

He and Raj start slamming their hands against the table, their raucous laughter echoing around the booth. Sarah giggles along, but Annabelle scrunches her nose up and keeps arguing her point.

"Look, you two probably misunderstood what I was saying earlier." She keeps touching my arm, stroking it like I'm some kind of feeble puppy. "I'm just trying to look out for you Ashy. I don't want to see you getting hurt. That doesn't mean that I don't see how GREAT you and Kieran are together."

I sit there saying nothing. This is so utterly infuriating. She's obviously trying to look good in front of everyone. It wouldn't be so bad if any of this stuff actually matched up with what had been saying earlier.

"Who is this Kieran bloke?" Raj queries. He puts on a silly, high-pitched voice. "Is he your BOYYYFRIIEENNND?"

Chunk whacks him warningly. "Hey, back off. Maybe Ash doesn't want to talk about it."

I'm rather taken aback by Chunk's protectiveness. He's turning out to be a genuine true friend to me. I'm so glad that we're getting to know each other more. Of all the people I could have broken down in front of this morning, thank God it was him.

Sadly, his attempts at defending my honour are futile. Annabelle is on a roll.

"Kieran is the lead singer of Science Will Save Us," she explains without hesitation. "Him and Ash sort of had a thing going on, but they're going through a rocky patch right now."

I can't keep sitting here in silence anymore. My voice creeps out before I have a chance to catch it.

"It's not a rocky patch. He has another girlfriend."

For the first time since I found out about Sue-Ella, I feel like I'm finally accepting the truth. It falls out of me so sharply that I have no choice but to accept it.

"I don't think I was ever his girlfriend in the first place..."

"Don't be ridiculous," Annabelle answers, throwing her arm around my neck. "Of course you were! Or at least you practically were."

"You don't need some loser musician in your life," Dev calls over to me. "I've never even heard of that stupid band! Why don't you try dating a model instead?"

He flexes his toned arm in my direction with a wink. Annabelle decides to answer him on my behalf.

"Come on, quit messing around. This is serious guys! This could be the love of her life. She needs to see it through and find out where things could lead to."

Oh. Oh oh oh. Suddenly this all makes so much sense. The reason for Annabelle's 180-degree change of attitude is because she wants all the boys around the table to like HER and not me. If I have some behind-the-scenes boyfriend then it means they won't be interested anymore.

Not that they would even be interested in the first place. Does she actually think I'm any kind of threat to her?! Let's face it, she's the only one they're all looking at anyway.

This sucks. I just want to go home. I've had enough of boys and relationships and overthinking every little thing I do. I wanted to come out and forget about all my troubles, not find whole new things to worry about. Like the fact my friends are turning out to be not very good friends at all...

"Did you really date Kieran Jenkins?" Jaxon asks. It's clear from his tone that he knows who Kieran is. Of course he does. Anyone who's into rock and indie music is likely to have heard of them around here.

"Not really," I mumble honestly. "We were just friendly for a while. It was nothing really."

Jaxon is staring intensely at me. He probably thinks I'm a fool or a liar or maybe a bit of both. I feel so stupid.

"He broke your heart right?"

The question totally disarms me, but somehow I reply without a second-thought. "I guess so."

"Ash, you don't have to talk about it," Chunk speaks up fiercely. "Not if you don't want to."

"It's OK," I reply. "It's not exactly a secret or anything."

"Yeah, nothing's a secret when Annabelle's around," Sarah snorts. She's turning her glass upside down in an attempt to drink the last remaining drops at the very bottom. Annabelle shoves her so hard she almost drops the glass completely. "Hey, watch it, Belles!"

"Oops. Sorry."

As the both of them bicker and play-fight, I feel Jaxon's warm, strong hand spread across my back. I am instantly paralysed.

"That guy sounds like a grade-A twat," he whispers to me. "Fuck him."

He is honey in my ear. Sweet and sticky and everything that I'm craving for. All I can do is nod in agreement. Whatever he says, I know I will most definitely agree.

"Let's go into the pit."

It takes me a moment to fully understand what he's asking me. "Huh? The pit?"

"Out there," he says, nodding toward the mass of people jumping around to the music in the other room. All I can see are sweaty boys in thin T-shirts pushing each other around like they're getting into a fight.

"I can't go in there!" I screech, a little too loudly than I had intended to.

"Why not?" Jaxon grins.

"Because I'll DIE." My heart speeds up as I glance over again at the sea of people head-banging and tumbling into one another. "I'll trip over and literally get trampled to death."

Jaxon looks thoroughly amused at my horrified reaction. "Nah, you won't. I'll protect you."

Now my heart is pounding for a totally different reason other than fear. I can't believe he just said that. Is he flirting with me? Or is it just in my imagination? He doesn't seem to be asking Annabelle or Sarah to go off with him. Just me.

I suddenly decide I don't want to be boring and predictable anymore. "OK. Let's do it."

I'm not sure how the words leave my lips because they're trembling with terror, but I will them out of me. Jaxon instantly takes hold of my hand and pulls me into a standing position. My whole body goes numb with shock. He's touching me. He's actually touching me and we're actually standing up and we're actually doing this.

Annabelle clocks our movement immediately and leans right over to us. "Oi, where do you two think you're off to?"

"This is a rock club right?" Jaxon answers, squeezing past her and leading me out of the booth. "So we're gonna go rock."

"In the mosh pit?!" Sarah squeaks in surprise. She glances round the corner at the ever-swelling clump of madness I'm about to throw myself into. "Seriously? It looks a bit violent in there."

Jaxon arches an eyebrow at her. "You're not chicken are you?"

Just as Sarah is about to reply, Annabelle shouts over from the other side of the table. "No, we're not chicken. We go out to places like this all the time, it's no big deal."

She is such a mega fibber. We certainly don't go out to places like this all the time. Although I guess it never hurts to let the boys think we're a tiny bit cooler than we actually are.

"So you'll meet us in there then?" Jaxon smirks, nodding toward the crowd.

Annabelle clutches her empty glass to her chest. "Yeah, when I've finished my drink."

Raj and Dev start flapping their arms around whilst making clucking chicken noises. Sarah is cackling like crazy at their stupid behaviour, but Annabelle doesn't look quite so impressed. Despite all this happening around me, the only thing I can really focus on is Jaxon's hand which is still intertwined with mine.

"Let's go." Jaxon's voice pours into my ear once more and I feel myself being pulled away from the booth. In a blind daze, I stumble along behind him, gripping onto his fingers for dear life. Then another voice reaches me through the tangle of chatter around us.

"Ash, are you OK? You don't have to go in there if you don't want to."

It's Chunk. Looking out for me yet again. I flash him my most reassuring smile so he knows that everything is absolutely fine. "It's alright, I can handle it."

He is shifting to the edge of his seat as though he's about to jump up and join is. "It looks kind of rough out there. Maybe I should come too."

"Geez Chunky," Jaxon sighs. "She's a big girl, she can do what she wants. We'll catch up with you in a bit."

Before Chunk has a chance to respond, we are gone. I have been stolen by a pierced, tattooed thief and he is leading me into the chaos of a whole new world.

We launch into the noisy darkness, barging past shoulders and heaving bodies until we are right in the middle of the throng. I am surrounded by everything. People. Music. Life. White wolf teeth glinting at me and keeping me hypnotised.

"You OK?" Jaxon shouts over the chorus of electric guitars blaring out of the speakers.

I nod tentatively, trying to hide how overwhelmed I feel. He has thrown me in at the deep end and I've barely had time to assimilate. But he is still clutching hold of my hand so there is nothing I can't do.

Suddenly, a large guy in a biker jacket barges into me and I lurch forward, practically falling head over feet. The collision is painful and I let out a shriek.

Jaxon catches me by the shoulders, stopping me from hitting the floor. "Woah, I got you."

More bodies hit me from every angle, relentlessly. Apparently it doesn't matter if you're short or a girl or someone who never goes into places like this. Everyone is equal in the pit. We'll all wake up with the same amount of bruises in the morning.

Instead of fussing over me, Jaxon starts pushing back against the mass of people around us. He knocks gently against my arm, silently urging me to follow his lead. I try to ignore the stinging pain in my side and the lump in my throat, focusing all my energy instead on fighting for my life out here.

The beat of the music drives me on and I softly shove the guy in the biker jacket. He shoves me back instantly, but I'm prepared this time for my counter-attack. We go on like this back and forth, then without a warning I'm falling into a different group of people. We're all blurring together, pushing and dancing and throwing our heads around wildly.

I've never felt so free before. I'm lost in the song that's playing, feeling all my frustration explode out of me. I never realised I was holding so much in. There's no room for it now.

"You're a little surprise, aren't you?" Jaxon's whole body is pressed up against mine. I can't tell if it's done on purpose or not. There are so many body parts flying around that it's hard to tell. "You're the toughest one in here."

I bump into him on purpose with a giggle and he bumps me back. My whole body is electric, or maybe it's on fire. I don't know. Either way, it's more alive than I ever expected it could be tonight.

The song in the background changes to "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers. It's one I know off by heart. Apparently Jaxon does too judging by the way he's screaming along at the top of his lungs. We bring our faces together, singing in unison as we ride the wave of other people. His lip-ring rests against my skin and his hands brush my hips like they belong there.

I don't feel shy or nervous or self-conscious. I don't even notice the insanity enveloping us.

It's just me, Jaxon and Mr. Brightside. And it's sheer perfection.