Sipping on Fire

Chapter 14

A/N: Sorry for the delay! Busy couple of weeks! 

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"Wear this." Brittney dug out clothes from her dresser. "It's the newest Tribe line. You'll look amazing in it." I picked up the brown ombre colored shirt and slipped it over my head and threw my jean cut-offs on. She handed me a pair of fringed suede heels and stepped back smiling. "You look - AMAZING!" Brittney tousled my hair a few more times, fixed my eyes and lips make up before grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the entrance of the bus. "Let's go get that man of yours."

It was about an hour before sound check, two hours from meet & greet, and four hours from showtime. I couldn't remember the last time I wore this much make-up. In all honesty, I hated make-up. However, if it really made my man happy - like Brittney said it would - then I was happy. Butterflies flew around in my stomach as my newly polished toes stepped off the bus and I saw the crowd of fans already surrounding the boys. "Ignore them." I heard Brittney mumble in my ear as she pushed her way through the crowd with me in tow. 'Whore.' 'Golddigger.' 'Homewrecker.' was all I could hear as I pushed my way towards Tyler. My eyes began watering, but I suppressed the tears. I would not let them see how bothered I was. I'm not a girl that let's people see her cry.

"Thanks guys, we'll see you at the show." BK waved at the crowd and locked his hand with Brittney's, pulling her away towards the stage.

Tyler's face lit up like a Christmas tree as he saw me through the crowd. I reached a hand through the last two rows of fans - I was stuck and needed his helped. He grabbed it and pulled me into his side protectively. "You ok?" He whispered, sensing that I was uncomfortable. I looked up and nodded while forcing a smile, blinking away the tears in my eyes. Tyler whisked me away like a knight in shining armor. Once we were a safe distance away from the crowd, Tyler turned to me and pulled me into his arms, slipping his hands into my back pockets - steadying my body against his. "You look beautiful, baby. But you always do - you didn't need a makeover." I squeezed a smile out and pushed the negative fan comments out of my head. "I wish they didn't steal you away from me for the whole day."

I wrapped my hands around his waist and pressed my lips to his. "But I'm here now." Just as he leaned in and captured my lips once again, I couldn't help but hear a group of girls walking behind us. 'Ugh - what a little slut.', 'I can't believe he's with her' one of the other girls chimed in. I pulled away from Tyler and dropped my head, staring at my feet. I felt my heart breaking with each and every comment.

"Did they just say what I think they said?" Tyler watched the group of girls stroll by.

"Just ignore them." I forced out a smile. "I'm fine." I took a deep breath and laced my hand through his. "You have sound check. Lets go." Tyler's eyes searched mine, he knew I was bluffing.

"You're not fine. I can tell." He ran his fingers through my freshly dyed and blown out hair and pulled my body into his protectively.

He pressed his forehead to mine as I closed my eyes as tight as I could. "They're never going to stop, are they?" My voice was quivering.

"Baby - don't let them get in your head."

"I can't help it." A single tear fell from my left eye. He quickly brushed it away with his thumb. "This is so hard."

He sighed heavily and pressed his lips to my forehead. "You don't deserve any of this."

"Hubbard - let's go. Sound check." I heard his tour manager yell towards us.

"Where's Kelsea?" Tyler asked me.

I shrugged. "Probably at your Merch tent buying everything."

"Go hang with her while I'm doing sound check. I'll come find you when I'm done, ok?" I nodded. He pressed a hard kiss on my lips. When he pulled away, he stroked my cheek softly. He had something to say, but for some reason he was holding back. He bit his lip and jogged off to the stage. I turned on my heels to go search for Kelsea. I couldn't help but laugh as I spotted her leaning up against one of the equipment buses, twirling a strand of hair around her finger smiling while flirting with one of the roadies. Typical Kelsea. I whistled over at her and signaled her to come over. She winked at her new man, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and walked towards me.

"You don't waste any time, do you?" I smirked with my arms folded across my chest.

"Hey - you can't hog all of the men. You gotta share, girl!" She linked her arm through mine. "What's up buttercup? You don't look as happy as I thought you would look."

I forced a smile. "Dating him...it's not easy."

She nodded. "It's safe to say you're the most hated woman here." I couldn't help but snort out a giggle at how blunt she always was.

"I don't understand why though. I haven't done anything wrong."

"That's not what TMZ says..." I stared at her in confusion. "You haven't seen it yet?"

I shook my head. "No - I'm desperately trying to take Brittney's advice and ignore everyone."

Kelsea sighed and pulled her phone out of her back pocket - pulling the TMZ article up. "Read the very last line."

I grabbed her phone and shielded the sun from the screen. "Could this Mystery Girl be the reason for Tyler's big engagement break-up?" "WHAT?!" I exclaimed. "How can they say that? His engagement ended months ago! We didn't even know each other!"

"It's just the press, Laur. Relax. They don't write things based on facts, they write them based on assumptions - just for the ratings." She grabbed her phone from my hands and shoved it back into her pocket. "You just have to relax. The fans don't know the facts. All they know is what they read."

My heart felt like it was going to explode through my chest. My face flushed. I looked around at the crowds and mobs of fans - it felt like everyone was looking my way and whispering. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Tears began welling up in my eyes. "I can't do this." I ripped my arm away from Kelsea and briskly made my way towards the bus. I went into full blown panic mode and did what I do best in tough situations. Run.

"Lauren, wait!" Kelsea ran after me.

As soon as my heels hit the first step of the bus, the tears - that I had been holding in for days - came flooding out. I ran straight back to the bedroom and began throwing all of my stuff in my suitcase. "Lauren - what the hell are you doing?" Kelsea exclaimed as she walked into the bedroom.

"I'm leaving. I can't do this." I shrieked. I ran around the room like a mad woman throwing everything I could possibly find into my suitcase.

"You can't just leave. What about Tyler?"

I shook my head, collapsing on the bed. I threw my head in my hands. "He wouldn't want me to feel this way."

"You can't just walk away from him. He's probably the best thing to ever happen to you." Kelsea rubbed my back sympathetically as the tears poured off my face. "Don't throw this away just because a few bitches are jealous."

I heard Tyler clear his throat from the doorway. Kelsea turned to look at him - I fixated my eyes on the ground. "Can you give us a minute?" He asked Kelsea quietly. She pulled me in for a brief hug and quickly walked away. "Whatcha doin' there?" Tyler asked, nonchalantly making his way toward me.

"I can't do this. I can't pretend I'm ok anymore." I stood up and closed my suitcase, zipping it up quickly - trying to avoid eye contact.

"So that's it? You're going to throw this away because of a couple of jealous fans?" I could hear the hurt in his voice.

"I don't deserve this harassment. I didn't do anything wrong. Why can't they just leave me the hell alone?" I felt his chest pressed up against my back. He wrapped his arms around the front of me and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Please stay." He whispered softly in my ear. "It will get better, I promise."

I turned around in his arms. "I can't keep up this brave face anymore. All of these comments and that article - it's breaking me inside. I can't handle this. I just want to go home."

He wiped the tears away from my eyes. "You can't go home, baby."

I threw my head back in frustration. "Why not?"

He grasped the sides of my face, making me look at him. He looked nervous. He placed a soft kiss on my lips and sighed before placing his forehead to mine. "Because..." his hands fell to my waist. I felt his heartbeat speeding up. "Because I love you."