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Teardrop In The Fire	By : MysticNight Category: Singers/Bands/Musicians > Incubus Views: 3776 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not know the members of Incubus. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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*

Most of the night Claire found herself fearful of Brandon hearing her conversation.

It wasn’t as though she had said a lot, and Claire tried to convince herself of this by rehashing different versions of the conversation- adding more or less, and ultimately merging past conversations with Michael to the one they had the night before.

Just as she gave up ready to drift into unconsciousness, her phone began to vibrate and ring at a low tone. Reading the callers display, she ended the call instantly.

Moments later the mobile rang again.

“God dammit, Michael.” she growled into her pillow.

She ended the call one more time.

Reluctant to give up, her boyfriend called back again.

“What the fuck do you want from me?!” she hissed lowly into the receiver.

“So you were ignoring my calls.”

“Can we just get this over with? Say what you have to say so I can hang up.”

A gruff laugh escaped his throat “You’ve become so intrepid the 2 days you’ve been there…I wonder if it’ll follow you back home?”

“Michael, what…do…you…want”

“When are you coming back?”

“Like you give a damn” she continued to keep her tone as quiet as possible.

“Why are you whispering? Did you tell Brandon your no longer my bitch?” he smirked.

Claire took a moment to breathe, swallowing the lump in her throat.

She could feel the blood in her veins boiling at an all time high.

“Listen, and listen carefully. I am not, nor have I ever been you’re bitch and if you want to find yourself a bitch, take a good look at the female influences in your life.”

Michael listened to the sound of the dial tone for a minute before shutting the top of his phone and dropping it on the couch beside him…
*

The next morning, Claire awoke to the sound of laughter. As she stumbled out of the bunk she clearly heard José say “Yeah, she should be out of bed anytime now.”

“Are you timing me-”

Claire nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw ‘him’ seated on the couch in the main area.

Before she could sputter any words, the young man rose to his feet “Hey, baby! When you left I decided instead of sitting around waiting for you to get back, I should take a road trip with the boys. You were on the way so i thought i'd stop by before heading off again!” he estatically grinned.

She stood there still in shock, knowing full well there was no trip…he was here for her and only her.

“You look like a dear caught in headlights.” Mike Einziger laughed.

Michael laughed with him, placing a quick kiss on her lips telling her how it felt almost like forever from the time he last saw her.

More like, from the last time he beat her.

Claire shook her head trying to get her emotions in check “Hey babe” she smiled, reading the suggestive look Michael was sending her way.

“Hey, where’s Brandon?” Michael inquired.

“Oh, he’s out with Marissa.” one of the guys plainly answered.

She pretended to be unmoved by what she was just told although hurt was now consuming her.

How could he be with Marissa the very next day after learning what she had said to her yesterday?

Then again, this was the same man who told his girlfriend something she would have never expected him to let slip from his lips, ever.

“How you feeling?” Chris sat next to her.

“Better” she gulped.

“We’re going to a meet and greet thing, you want to get dressed and come with?”

She stared up at him ready to answer when Michael cut in “Well I was thinking me and her could spend a bit of time together before I head off again…”

Taking in a deep breath Claire swallowed down all of her animosity, trying to keep her balance in the given situation.

“We can spend time together while the guys are signing autographs” she insisted.

“Baby…” he whined, nuzzling closer to her neck.

God, was he ever a good actor, she thought to herself.

“Okay, why don’t you guys just chill here. We’ll be back in about an hour anyway, the mall we’re sighing at isn’t too far from here and we’re suppose be getting picked up any minute now plus, you aren’t even dressed” Chris pointed out.

If he didn’t know better she would have shot him daggers.

Instead, Claire kept her gaze to the ground nodding slowly.

There was no backing out of this one.

A few minutes later they all left, omitting Brandon who was already gone.

Claire couldn’t help but stare toward the door that had just closed.

She wanted so badly, to run out of the bus urging them to take her along but it was almost as if that boat had sailed, she had the opportunity but let it slip away.

Then again, Claire realized that the sooner she got the confrontation over with, the sooner Michael would leave, so face him she would.

The instant Claire turned her gaze from the door to the direction she was headed, she was met by Michaels face not even a centimetre away from hers.

They’re noses were practically brushing when he said
“I took a good look at my mother and sister and ironically I found no bitch. What else do you suggest Claire?”

Claire jutted her head away from his face, loathing the feel of his breath against her skin.

“I cant believe you came all this way for that” she mumbled, losing her sense of tone as he grabbed both her arms to hold her in place.

“DON’T! ask me what I came here for” he snapped.

Claire said nothing, realizing a long time ago that whatever she said in defense would only result in upsetting him more.

That turned out to be an understatement as well, because before any more words could be exchanged, Michael’s large hand cupped her face only to push her backward with the same hand.

She stumbled lightly, but caught herself before falling.

“What’s you’re problem Michael!... Just leave me alone” she calmed down, more aware of her tone with him.

“Why?? So you can be with boyd?!”

She sighed aloud, more than annoyed with the repetitive uprising of Brandon’s name in every conversation.

“So you’re not answering me now, huh? Where is all that fucking talk you had last night?”
Michael shoved her against wall viciously as the anger seethed within his body. “Tell me, Claire!”

“What the fuck do you want me to tell you!” she placed a hand at her back swearing she had heard something crack.

“Who in the hell, do you think you're yelling at?!” the rage grew in his eyes.

“I hate you” she said under breath now looking down, trying not burst into tears.

“What was that?” he bent down slightly to catch her eyes.

She shook her head, unsure of what to do or say.

“Aw, cat got you’re tongue?”

When she didn’t answer, he pushed her head up from her chin so that she was now looking at him.

“What happened to all that talk? Where is it? I know it’s in there somewhere” Soon enough Claire found his hand lurking in her mouth.

She gagged as he moved it around, unsure of what he felt he was he was achieving in doing so.

“Stop it!” she pulled it out, spitting to the ground.

“Oh I’ll stop it alright” he shoved her to the ground, now kicking her relentlessly in the abdomen.

She grunted in pain at first, taking them with stride.

But when her vision grew blurry, she wept miserably

“Stop it! You’re going to kill me”

“Get up” he commanded.

Not wanting to test him, she tried, but found herself unable to do so.

“Get up!” his fingers laced themselves through her thick curly tresses.

“You disgusting bitch” Michael shook his head, casting his eyes to the urine traces on her pants.

“Come on” he pulled her by her mane, all the way to the back and into the bathroom.

“Take off your clothes.”

She looked up at him asking “Why?” almost afraid of his response.

“If I wanted to fuck you I would have done it already. Looking at you only makes me sick, now clean yourself up, and get into bed and stay there. You fucking bruise too easily and I doubt you want to have to answer when they start showing up.”

“Okay” she nodded.

“I’ll call you when I get home. And since I don’t do laundry, I left it all for when you get back... but in the meantime I maxed out your card buying some new wardrobe for me and my lady friend."

“Okay” her voice was whisper.

Just as she thought he was leaving, she felt his hand on her face again. Looking her in the eyes, he told her empathetically

“I don’t know why you always have to force my hand like this, Baby. Just try and be good next time.” he kissed her tear stained lips, and left.

When she was sure he was actually gone, Claire fell miserably to the ground in a crumpled heap.

*

On the way out, Brandon spotted Michael leaving.

“What are you doing here?” he questioned approaching the bus.

“I came to see my girlfriend, is there a problem?”

“There must be, since you’re inquiring about one”
Barely giving him another glance, Brandon walked inside.

The first thing that caught his eye was the pamphlets and other objects surrounding the main area on the ground.

Figuring one of the guys must have been play fighting he walked past it into the back where the bunks were.

He changed out of his shirt and into another, Leaving again to meet up with the other guys.

Meanwhile, Claire watched from the bathroom door that was cracked slightly open as Brandon made his way out the front door.

After washing herself clean of Michael in the shower,

Tiredly, Claire crawled into the bunk still wearing her towel and collapsed.

*

The fans cheered hysterically at the mere sight of him. Smiling graciously at the warm welcome, Brandon waved now taking his seat at the table where the rest of the band had already begun.

“I should have known you were here… the screaming got louder” Jose scornfully joked.

“Yeah man, they were going to start a riot before you got here” Mike laughed

He smirked casually, responding with “Dont hate me because i'm beautiful”

Getting a few chuckles from his friends, Chris moved his head foreword to see Brandon a few seats down.
“Hey”

“Hey dude, What’s up?”

“You didn’t see Claire when you stopped back at the bus, did you?”

“No, I did not.” he plainly answered.

“You didn’t see Michael either?”

“I only saw him leave the bus, your sister not included” He replied casually taking the cap of his permanent marker.

*

Later on that evening when they all returned to the bus, Chris announced loud enough for Claire to hear wherever she was on the bus that they brought back food.

She didn’t respond or make herself present.

“Usually she’d be out here... 5 seconds tops” José made a comment.

“Maybe she’s asleep.” Mike said rifling through the bag.

“She must be really tired then”

Claire wasn’t a nap kind of girl.

“Well then go fucking check on her” Mike rolled his eyes impatiently.

“I will.”

Chris soon disappeared behind the small curtain separating the living area from the bunks.

He slowly pulled back the curtain of Claire’s bunk to see her on her side facing the opposite way. “Cupcakez, You awake?”

“No…”

He laughed lightly “Come get something to eat.”

“I’m not hungry at the moment.”

“Okay…” he playfully started “Is there something wrong with you? Are you catching a fever?” he laughed putting a hand on her forehead.

“Actually, I am kind of feeling under the weather…” she trailed off letting a stray tear slide past the ridge of her nose and onto the pillow.

She hated lying, especially for Michael.

The only reason she obliged with staying in that bunk wasn’t because she was afraid of Michael-although that was part of it. It was because she virtually felt as though she couldn’t walk; everything hurt.

Claire had never felt more alone in her life. She had no one to turn to, but herself.

“Do you want anything before the bus moves off? We’re heading to another city tonight.”

“No, I’m fine”

“Alright…” he ruffled her hair. “Call me if you anything.”

“I will, now close the curtain please”

He did as asked, joining his friends who already started on their meals.

“Where is she?” Ben asked expecting her to be behind him.

“Ah, she’s not feeling well”

“She seemed fine this morning” he shrugged shoving the fork in his mouth.

The entire time Brandon ate without making so much of an inquiry in the short conversation.

Just before 11pm when the driver was ready to take off, there was a knock at the door.

Brandon was nearest to it, so leisurely he jumped to his feet to answer it.

He wasn’t too sure of who to expect, it could have easily been a fan who got past security, or their road manager, but all in all Brandon’s deductions stood corrected as the young blonde stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up at him.

“Marissa,” he looked back to see if any of the guys were still looking in his direction.

They all were wrapped up in either video games, instruments or telephone calls to care, so Brandon stepped down and outside of the bus.

“I thought we...” he started, remembering the conversation they held earlier that ended in them coming to the agreement that it would be better for him to fly her out to their next destination and meet up with him there in order to avoid unwanted tension on the bus.

“We did talk Brandon, and I did agree. But then, I thought about it and decided why the hell should I be the one to run? She said as much as I did, the only difference is that I ended up with the bruises to prove it.” he pointed to the small gash sitting on her bottom lip. “I came here to spend time with you. I booked off from MY job to watch you do yours. I know what I did was wrong, but I love you and I don’t think it’s fair that we have to spend time apart just because of one silly argument”

“Mar you may think it was just a ‘silly’ mishap, but the majority of people on that bus found it to be more than that. Me and Claire are already on the outs as it is, and I just don’t want anymore drama, I can't stand the stuff.”

“That’s another thing.” she looked at him.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you and Claire weren’t talking?”

“Because it wasn’t worth mentioning. What would be the point in telling you that?”

“I just find it strange, that’s all” she sighed.

“Our relationship is about us, right? so why would anything concerning Claire and I need to be spoken about on our time?”

“Well when you put it like that…”

“exactly” he tried to get past the topic.

“It’s just-”

“It’s just what” he cut in growing exasperated.

“It’s just” she began again, emphasizing to finish her sentence “When we got into that argument, she didn’t tell me either, instead she kind of seemed to be taking up for you, telling me you weren’t my property”

The complicated look on his face remained “Marissa, I really can’t deal with this” he shook his head looking behind her at nothing in particular.

“With what? ..With me?” she raised her voice at the last two words.

“When you’re acting like this, yeah” he gestured at her. “Can’t
you just leave Claire alone? I mean, just stop letting her get to you the way she does, because honestly it’s not her getting in our relationship that’s messing things up, it’s you allowing her. And look,” he pointed out “We’re not even talking, so that should be a plus for you.” he said not all that enthused.

Unexpectedly, she put her hand on his arm “I’m sorry”

He looked directly at her since she was only one centimetre shorter than his 6’2 height.

He wanted to tell her she needed to direct her apology to another individual but took the apology for what it was worth. “It’s fine”

She quickly pressed her lips against his, “I love you Brandon, and I’m not going to lose you to anyone.” she wrapped her arms around him, as he remained in silence almost taking her declaration as an indirect threat.

Soon enough, Brandon found himself walking back into the bus with her behind him.

Each man paused momentarily wondering what the hell he was thinking. Chris, probably the most.

Brandon avoided their eyes, walking past them and into the bunk area.

“What the fuck is he thinking” Jose said aloud.

They all looked at him.

“Hey, everyone was thinking it” he shrugged in defence.

*

Claire lay there the entire time unable to catch an ounce of sleep. She brain stormed of ways she could get out of her situation and the alternate outcomes, but none of which she could ultimately be satisfied with.

Her thoughts were interuppted by a familiar female voice.

“Brandon, they all hate me” she hoped he would coax her thoughts otherwise, but instead he responded.

“Don’t worry about them right now, let’s just get some sleep.” He truly was exhausted.

At first Claire believed she was hallucinating, that Michael may have kicked her a little too hard, knocking her thoughts out with her dignity.

Things became worse as the two of them lay down above her.

A small kiss was heard right after she whispered to him “I love you, baby”

He kissed her back replying “Goodnight Marissa”

Claire closed her eyes, trying to steady her thoughts, her head pounding at the thought of the woman she wanted to strangle sleeping right above her.

A small giggle cut through her thoughts, hearing Marissa whisper something she couldnt quite make out, to Brandon.

“Marissa, I’m honestly dead tired.” he quietly told her.

“Then just sit back and let me do the work.” she told him teasingly.

Claire could feel tears well up in her eyes at how upset she was, but refused to cry over the situation unravelling above her.

She breathed in heavily, crossing over arms over her chest, before finally throwing off the covers, trying to steadily get out of the bed.

Although she wasn’t going to cry over feeling so hurt, that did not mean she was going to sit there and listen to Marissa give Brandon head.

At first she stumbled, crouching over in pain. Taking a deep breath, she straightened herself up and got out of that area.

“Shit,” Brandon sighed, sitting up and watching her leave. He knew she was there, but hoped his voice was low enough for her not to hear.

“She sleeps underneath you?” Marissa inquired, although she knew the moment she took notice of the floral blanket that draped outside Claire's bunk on the way up to Brandon's.

“Stay here” he told her, jumping down.

Once she was out in the main area Claire walked over to her brother.

“I’m leaving the bus” she firlmy told him.

“What?” he stood to his feet, now spotting Brandon standing at the passage way. “We’re heading to the next city, like right now”

“I’ll meet you there or something but I’m not spending another minute on this bus.”

“Why? What happened?”

She glanced back at Brandon, before walking in his direction and pushing past him

“Nothing, I’m getting my stuff”

Returning momentarily with a bag in her hand, Claire put her frustrations aside to tell the rest of the now confused band “I hope to see you guys in the next city, but if not, I love you all and I’ll keep in touch” Before anyone else could object, she walked down the small staircase, step-by-step, and off the tour bus.

“Brandon,” Chris started.

“No need” he raised a hand walking after her with Chris right behind.

She was a couple of feet away, unable to make it at the speed she would have liked to.

“Claire” he started, hoping she would stop.

She ignored him, continuing to walk until he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t put your hands on me” she warned angrily.

“Claire, be a fucking adult for a moment will you?”

She turned around so fast it caught him off guard.
“What did you just say? ME? You want me to be a fucking adult? Brandon don’t you dare start with me tonight. I have had more than my fair share for the entire day. So why dont you call it a night by being a good little rock star, and go back to your tour bus to get your dick sucked by your whoring girlfriend.”

“That’s not fair” he told her, remembering she started this entire thing.

It seemed as though each thing he said only dug at her more “What’s not fair is you discussing my personal life with your girlfriend back there. What’s not fair is her being able to throw something I worked so hard to get past, in my face knowing I have no one to blame but myself-”

“I didn’t tell her anything...” he ran a hand lethargically over his face.

He was butting up against an unforgiving brick wall. And naturally it hurt.

She stared up at him painfully “That was the most disrespectful thing you could have done Brandon. Do you know how that made me feel, hearing her above me after what she said? And you? I expected so much more from you”

“She’s my fucking girlfriend, Claire!” he retorted, now fed up at receiving all the backlash while she walked ahead of him.

“And you were my fucking friend!!” She turned around fuming, now pointing an accusing finger at him.

When he said nothing in return, she repeated it once more with an unmistakable saddness.

“You were my friend, Brandon”

Claire then shook her head, leaving him and an on looking Chris, Mike, and José in the background.

Brandon couldnt figure out what hurt more. How upset he had made her, or her cementing their relation in past tense.

Before Chris could say anything, Mike walked past him heading straight for Brandon. There was no question in anyone's mind that Mike was pissed off.

“Look. You are one of the best friends that I have in this world. But, I am not going to let you fuck up everyone’s lives including yours over stupid bullshit, and yes, that includes Marissa." He raked a hand through his frizzy hair carrying on "Man, I want to see you happy and you know that, but that girl is only making your life miserable. She’s compromising your relationship with everyone” he stared seriously at him hoping he took the hint.

Brandon was steadily getting more and more upset. He didn’t need anyone vocalizing his biggest fears.

He couldn’t disguise the pain seeping through his voice when asking “Then what the hell do you suggest I do, Mike? Dump her? I don’t want to hurt anybody.”

“Look around Brandon! You’re not hurting just 'anybody', you’re practically hurting everybody! You need to get your shit together, bro”

A weary look fell upon Brandon’s face, sighing inwardly he nodding that he understood what Mike was saying. “I’ll see you inside” Mike slapped his shoulder leaving Chris to have the last word with him.

“I’ve known you two longer than I’ve known anyone I hang out with up-to-date, and I also see the both of you when your together. Ever since the two of you had that bullshit argument-which I know is mostly Claire's fault... it's somehow gotten you lost. That whole aura you use to carry, isnt there anymore. The fans are starting to feel it; we know it.. even our crew notices it. I'm just saying you need to deal with how you feel about Claire, just as much as she needs to deal with her feelings for you.”

Brandon didn’t need to respond because Chris already knew how he felt. He understood the relationship between his sister and band mate better than anyone else in the group. She had been there through the good times and the bad, talking him through any and everything until whatever it was, was dealt with.

Overall, Brandon knew what he had to do, it was now just a matter of doing it.

TBC

ps. Sry about not updating regularly,lol i swear i never knew people were actually reading it! thank you for the reviews i truly appreciate them...so much that it's 3am and i just finished updating lol
anyway ciao!
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