Even Broken Bells Will Ring

Chapter 14-Are The Same

"I missed you, too," he replied before pressing his lips to mine again. We walked inside and were immediately greeted by a group of people. I clung to Jake's hand as he made his way through saying hello and introducing me as his girlfriend. I blushed everytime I heard, "this is my beautiful girlfriend, Raegan."

Jake was in a deep conversation with someone, as I mouthed that I was going to find a drink. He nodded and kissed me before I wandered through the house. It looked different filled with strangers. I made my way into the kitchen, and grabbed a bottle of vodka and a bottle of cranberry juice from the fridge before mixing my drink.

"Rae! I was wondering where you ran off to.." Sammy exclaimed as he walked in and hugged me. He smelled like vanilla and Mia's perfume, and it made me giggle. "I actually need to talk to you.." he added as his smile faded.

"What's up, Sammy?" I asked hoping everything was okay with Mia. He took a deep breath and motioned for me to sit down at the bar.

"I don't know how to say it in a way that isn't going to upset you, so I'm just going to say it.." he began, pausing only to take a deep breath. "I know that Jake cheated on you," he blurted. My heart started racing, but I couldn't make words form. "I'm sorry, Rae. I just thought you should know..I saw a girl leaving his hotel room the other morning, at one of our last stops."

I didn't want to believe it, but I knew Sammy wouldn't lie to me. I felt tears start to sting my eyes, but I held them in. I forced a smile and thanked Sam before marching back towards Jake. Without a word, I threw my drink in his face. He was surprised at first, but immediately got mad.

"What the fuck is that for?" He growled through gritted teeth. How dare he play dumb like that. I glanced around to see Josh staring at me with wide apologetic eyes. He knew, too.

"You played me. You played me like your fucking guitar!" I was screaming at this point with tears threatening to fall. Jake kept looking around at all the people watching this play out. I didn't care if I made a scene, honestly I hope I did and I hope it pissed him off.

"Raegan, what are you talking about? You sound insane.." he said trying to do some damage control. I knew that he knew exactly what this was about.

"I'm insane?!?" I spat back at him. "You fucked someone else while you had me here waiting for you then you had the fucking audacity to fuck me in the garage before I could find out? You're insane! The best part about all of this is I should have known better than to fall for you. You never cared about me at all did you? You only care about yourself and this fucking band. I was just some conquest or possession you could have..you know what? Fuck you, Jake," I hissed as I brushed past him to leave. I knew Mia could get a ride with Sam, but I needed to leave.

A strong hand wrapped around my left forearm twisting me back towards him. I pulled back my right hand and slapped him across the face. His face immediately started to redden, and I could feel all the eyes watching us. "Don't. Fucking. Touch. Me." I growled as I yanked my arm free and stormed out the door. Fuck him. I really should have known better.

As soon as the cool air hit my face, tears began falling freely. When I sat down in my car, I sobbed violently. I was mad at him and at myself for the whole thing. He had ghosted me before and truly given me no reason to trust him, but I did, stupidly. I tried focusing on my breathing so I could calm down enough to leave, but nothing was working. Finally, I resigned to just cry it out as I crawled over the seat into the back and pulled my knees to my chest.

The drivers side door of my car opened gently, and I started to look up when I heard, "Hey, little bird.."

Danny's POV
"Jake just kicked me out of the garage.." Josh complained as he sat down beside me on the couch. I knew that meant Raegan was here. I had thought about her often, and had a lot of mixed emotions. I knew I needed to set the boundary so she couldn't wreck me by choosing Jake, but I also knew that I basically pushed her into his arms and that killed me. He wasn't good for her, and she deserved better.