And now, we are on tour. First stop, fucking Vegas. In a way, it does hold some good memories for me. It was the night that I knew I wasn't letting Tatum go again. I grinned a little at the thought of rushing to pack and make it to the airport. I remember being in a panic that I wouldn't catch her in time. But I did. The relief that washed over me when I saw her that night is one I'll never forget.
"Berry brothers reporting for duty!" I heard the twins yell.
I rolled my eyes and turned around to see those two jackasses saluting me. Tatum giggled at them. I had asked both of them to make sure Tatum was by them at all times while I was on stage. Of course they act like this. Why wouldn't they?
"Can you two dipshits handle this?" I smirked at them.
"This adorable, sweet, innocent woman?" Jason smiled, wrapping an arm around her.
"Get the fuck off of my girl." I growled at him.
"Dude, wanna pound on your chest like a fucking gorilla too?" Matt Berry asked me.
I let out a growl at them. Jason rolled his eyes at me and removed his arm from Tatum. I pulled her into me, hearing her giggle. I grinned down at her.
"Behave. No fights unless they start it first." I grinned at her.
"Bullshit." She mumbled.
"Let's go, my queen!" Jason yelled to her.
"Hey! That is not a name you get to call her!" I yelled out.
"Fuck you, Gates!" Mattie laughed.
"Dicks." I muttered.
"Calm down. I'm in good hands. You know this." She told me.
"I know." I smiled, kissing her.
"Let's go. Suck face later." Matt grumbled at us.
"Go on. You'll be awesome as always." She told me.
"Love you." I whispered to her.
"Love you more. Now go before Macho Man Randy Savage comes flying off the top rope at you." She smirked, referring to Matt.
I let out a laugh and headed to meet the guys. We all did our preshow rituals and waited for our queue. Hitting the stage, I heard the crowd roar. I grinned. I've missed this.
It had been one hell of a crowd tonight. The adrenaline high all of us get afterwards is one that I crave all the time. I yanked off my sweat soaked shirt as soon as I could. I looked around and didn't see Tatum. My heart lurched slightly. I reminded myself that she was with the Berry's. She is fine. I need to calm down.
Then I heard that giggle from down the hallway. The guys and I let out a laugh when we saw her. The twins are pushing a cart with some large amps on it, and Tatum is sitting on top of it. They came to a halt in front of us. I smiled up at her.
"You said treat her like royalty." Jason shrugged.
"They said I walk too slow." Tatum grinned down at me.
"So you put her on top of the equipment? Something wrong with a piggyback ride?" Johnny laughed.
"Yeah. Gates would break our legs. This is safer." Mattie chuckled.
I reached up and pulled her off the amps. I waved at the Berry's as they headed off. Matt smirked at her.
"Hit anyone tonight?" He grinned.
"Just your light tech guy." She shrugged.
"Tim? What the hell did he do? He barely talks!" Matt exclaimed.
"Calm down. Damn man. I'm kidding." She grinned.
"Thank god." Matt muttered walking off.
"That was....weird." Tatum said to me.
"You two being adults?" I smiled.
"Right?" She laughed.
"Come on. I'm tired." I said, taking her hand.
After we got showers and settled into bed that night, I watched as Tatum stared at the ceiling blankly. I know She is replaying that night in her head just like I am.
"Michelle called me out about having feelings for you that night. I couldn't deny it. I flat out admitted it. This was before I even had a clue of what was going on with you and Matt." I blurted out to her.
Tatum's head snapped over to look at me. I've never seen her eyes so wide before.
"Really?" She whispered.
"Yeah. I knew things between Michelle and I weren't good for a while. We put on a front for everyone." I told her.
"No wonder she hates me." She muttered.
"It's my fault, Tatum. Not yours. It just got to the point that even if you and I weren't together, I had to find a way to move past you. I couldn't do that with Michelle being there. It wasn't fair to her." I sighed.
"And what made you come to the airport?" She asked.
"After I got through trying to not kill Matt for having his hands on you the way he had, and then about Val, I realized you were gone. Johnny said you weren't sure where you were going. I prayed like hell it was the airport, so I grabbed my stuff and left. I decided right then that I wasn't letting you slip away a second time." I told her.
Tears slid out of her eyes. Shit! I didn't mean to make her fucking cry! Her tears are the one thing in this world that bring me to my fucking knees. It hurts watching her cry. I hate it.
"Oh god! Why are you crying?" I almost yelled.
"Because no one has ever done anything so sweet for me in my whole life." She whispered.
I relaxed then. Ok. I can handle tears of happiness. I smiled at her, watching her smile back at me.
"I'm so blown away by this. And here I thought you just felt sorry for me." She smirked, wiping her eyes.
I just laughed. I shook my head and smiled at her.
"I did feel terrible about what happened. But I also felt even worse for telling you to move in with Matt." I groaned.
"That wasn't your fault. Don't beat yourself up over it." She told me.
"But I remember telling you how loyal Matt was." I sighed.
"Oh my god, Brian!" She giggled at me.
"It was my decision in the end. Stop it. Can we not talk about Matt while laying in bed?" She asked with a smile.
"Oh gross! I'm sorry!" I laughed, watching her laugh.
"Thank you for telling me about the whole reason you and Michelle split up." She said.
"You're welcome. I've wanted to for a while now." I said.
"Tell me something." I said, changing the subject.
"What's that?" She asked.
"Why the hell did you never mention that you can sing and play the guitar?" I asked.
"Oh christ." She sighed. "Ready to hear another tragic story?"
"Only if you want to." I said.
"It's ok. I'll tell you. So, after high school, my best friend Teddy and I were in a band. We mainly covered old songs like Cat Stevens, shit like that. We weren't half bad. I learned to play guitar from Teddy's uncle Billy when he wasn't on tour and came around to visit her." She said.
"Hold up! Teddy was a girl?" I grinned.
"Her real name was Thea. She hated it. We called her Teddy." She grinned.
"Who the hell is her uncle then?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, uh, Billy Joe Armstrong." She said.
"Of Green Day?!" I yelled.
"Well, yeah." She shrugged.
"No fucking way! No shit?" I smiled.
"No shit. I love Billy. I haven't seen him in years though." She sighed.
"But what happened to the band you were in?" I asked.
"Um, Teddy died...one night." She said sadly.
"Oh my god. How?" I asked, feeling terrible.
"It was one night after a show we had. She was driving home. We took separate cars for once. A drunk driver killed her. Hit her head on. After that, I gave up any dreams of singing. I didn't want to. Well, unless it is drunk karaoke." She grinned a little.
"I feel so fucking bad now. I'm so sorry about Teddy." I told her.
"Thanks. She was the only friend I ever really had. I was picked on in school because I wasn't as toothpick thin as other girls and had glasses. And braces." She sighed.
"That's why you're a little hellcat now." I grinned.
"Yeah. I've always had a bad temper. But, kids are cruel. It was all day, every fucking day for years." She said.
"There was one guy that went out of his way to fuck with me every day too. I swear if I see that motherfucker again, I'll choke the fuck out of him." She said.
"What's his name?" I asked her.
"Jesse Parks. Fucking dick." She grumbled.
"I'll beat his ass for you." I grinned, pulling her into me.
"I have first dibs." She said.
"Fine. Then I get the rest." I chuckled.
"I can't believe you know Billy Joe. Fucking crazy." I muttered.
"Hey, at least I knew who he was, right?" She asked amused.
"Dick." I said, both of us laughing.