My New Obsession [BxB]

Chapter Sixteen- Just To Hold You Close And Tight

We had agreed to pull out of the recording studio. We were to see how much work and money we could get in a month and then reassess the situation.

 Meanwhile, Matt was in trouble. We couldn’t leave him on his own for too long- he was pretty damn suicidal.

 Nothing could make him happy for too long because anything and everything would remind him of situation with Liam and Maisy. Nothing could keep him happy because he was drowning in fear.

 Liam had threatened to kill him.

 We, Maisy and his mother were the only people that could give him a sense of relief, however briefly. His birthday passed without celebration and his mother didn’t know how bad the situation had gotten; Matt didn’t tell her because he didn’t want to burden her. We’d told him to go to the police but he refused, and we didn’t want to cross him.

 It was all so ridiculous- all of this, death threats, depression… all this over a girl. Couldn’t they just agree that Maisy had already chosen Matt? Or, failing that, neither of them could have Maisy and then it would be other with? Either option would be fair. And Liam wouldn’t get what he wanted.

 We took the month off recording and in that time the manager of Skull, David Stone, became our band manager. He was the person we had been looking for, just in the wrong place. We had learned that he had been the manager of some of our favourite local bands already. We also decided to discontinue our affiliation with Sticks and Stones, and instead switch to Empire Records, another label that had been fighting for us- the one that Rich’s cousin worked for. We knew it was a step down- the studio would be smaller, everything on a lesser scale- but it felt better for our first album. That way, if it did well, if people liked it and it still had that punch without all the over the top work, maybe we would feel more of a reward from it.

 The end of the month was drawing nearer and we had to think about getting back to recording. Recently we had all been crashing at mine and Jake’s house. Nobody really wanted to me without each other; when someone was missing from the group, it felt weird.

 It was the last Friday in the month and we were sat in the living room, watching a rock music channel whilst we waited for Matt to get there so we could all hang out together. I heard the front door open; he had used the spare key.

 When he entered the room he was crying.

 He didn’t even have a moment to breathe before George pulled him into a tight hug, holding his brother close. We huddled round as he cried, concerned.

 “Maisy… M-Maisy broke up w-with me…” he stammered through his tears, and then new sobs took over and he couldn’t speak.

 I genuinely wanted to cry. Just seeing Matt so upset, hearing his sobs… it was heartbreaking. I wished there was something I could do. As much as neither him nor Liam having Maisy would be fair, I would far rather Matt and Maisy were happy together and that Liam would just leave them be. But apparently Maisy had a hope that if she and Matt weren’t dating then Liam might be easier on him.

 We sat in the living room, no music, no TV, no talk- just the sound of us breathing and occasionally shuffling in our seats. I looked around the room at all the hopelessly dejected expression on everyone’s face. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. I looked at Jake and he rolled his eyes. He unscrewed the lid on the vodka bottle we had been passing around and downed some before putting the lid back on and throwing it to me. I caught it easily, not even tipsy yet, and raised the bottle to my lips once again.

 “Oh fuck this.” Jake snapped suddenly, standing up. We all looked at him, apart from Matt who continued to stare into space. “We’re seventeen fucking years old and it’s a fucking Friday night and we should be out fucking doing shit, not moping around in-fucking-doors.”