Here's the update like I promised! I'm feeling more confident with the direction that the story is heading and I think that's why the story is starting to flow again. Please let me know what you think and I'll try to update as soon as I can next week!

Chapter 14.

I guess you never can know everything about a person…there's always going to be secrets that they're keeping and secrets you wish you never found out about…

Jordan felt very uncomfortable sitting next to Shane on the way to the meet and greet. He was certain that something had happened the night before between him and Rayanne; and if he was being completely honest with himself, he knew exactly what that something was. The problem was he didn't know how to bring it up, or even if he should bring it up. Shane was always there for him whenever he needed to talk, but this was foreign territory for him and he just wasn't sure what to say. He didn't think "So you're screwing Graff huh?" would be the best way to broach the subject.

Caleb wasn't being much help either. He kept making jokes about being the only one to not get laid the night before, and with each joke Jordan would look nervously at Shane to see what his reaction was going to be. But his expression was next to impossible to read; sometimes he'd laugh along with Caleb, and other times he wouldn't even take his gaze away from the window. It was making it near impossible for Jordan to figure out what to say next. Should he play along? Should he just pretend he never figured it out? Was he the only one who figured it out? Did Angela know? The questions were making his head spin.

"What do you think Catalano?" Caleb asked from his spot in the front seat.

"Huh?" he said, completely unsure of what they were talking about.

"What do you think about heading out of town tonight instead of tomorrow?" Caleb repeated, "We can get a jump on all the traffic and be in Vegas a little early"

"I think it's a great idea" Shane said, finally shaking himself out of his day dream and focusing in on the conversation for the first time that morning "I'm ready to just hit the bars and forget all about this city for a little while"

"Yeah, sure…sounds great" he said, trying to sound as convincing as possible. Truth be told, he hated the idea; he was hoping to spend a quiet night with Angela, but he knew that Shane needed to get away fast and he had always been willing to do anything for his friend.

"Great!" Shane smiled, clapping his hands once for emphasis "Let's get this meet and greet over with, and then blow this joint" he jumped out of the car as soon as it was stopped and headed inside.

"This is going to be a long night" Jordan sighed looking at Caleb for confirmation.

"Look" Caleb smiled shaking his head and putting his arm around Jordan's shoulder as they walked towards the building "I don't know what's going on, and I'm not sure I want to know what's going on; what I do know is that Shane needs a night to just let loose and forget about whatever it is that's eating away at that brain of his. And what better place than Vegas and what better people than you and me to help him out?"

"You're right" Jordan agreed, stopping before they reached the doors "Give me a minute…I'll be right in" he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialing Angela.

"Hey babe" she greeted brightly after only one ring. Jordan smiled naturally, his heart sinking knowing he wasn't going to see her that night.

"Hey" he greeted "So I kind of have some bad news…" he started.

"Yeah, me too" Angela interrupted "We kind of have some emergency band stuff going on so I'm not going to be able to see you tonight" she said softly.

"That's what my news was" he sighed, relieved that he wasn't the only reason they were going to be apart tonight.

"I'll miss you though" Angela purred softly "…all of you"

Jordan moaned into the phone "You don't play fair Miss Chase" he chuckled when he heard Rayanne and Rickie laughing in the background.

"I got to go" Angela laughed, "I'll call you later if I can"

"Bye" he said, hanging up his phone and heading into the meet and greet.

A few hours later they were loaded up into the bus and over half way to Vegas.

"So we should make it into Vegas at about 1 in the morning" Caleb said, lounging on the bench seat and tossing a Nerf football back and forth with Jordan who was sitting on the counter caddy corner from him. Shane sat on the bench seat opposite of Caleb and was mindlessly strumming on one of the many acoustic guitars they had laying around.

"You got a name for that song?" Jordan asked, throwing the football back to Caleb.

"Nah" he said continuing on without looking up.

"I like it" Caleb commented "We should try and use it. Does it have any lyrics?"

"I don't know," Shane shrugged, suddenly feeling a little self-conscience

"Let's hear it Shaney boy" Jordan smiled. He'd never heard Shane's lyrics before, he knew that he wrote stuff because he'd see him doing it periodically, but he'd never been brave enough to actually sing in front of anyone.

"It's not that good" he said, looking anywhere but at Caleb or Jordan.

"Come on man" Caleb pushed, "it's just us. Besides, you've heard some of the crap that Catalano writes, it can't be much worse than that" he joked.

"Hey!" Jordan fake pouted, throwing the football at Caleb's head.

Shane laughed, and sat up a little be straighter. "Ok, but it's not finished, so don't make fun of me"

He said "I am the devil, boy, come with me
And we'll make many storms"
He offered me the universe
But inside my heart there's a picture of a girl

Some call love a curse, some call love a thief
But she's my home
And she's as much apart for this broken heart, but see
Broken bones always seem to mend

I'll taste the devil's tears
Drink from his soul, but I'll never give up you
I'll taste the devil's tears
Drink from his soul, but I'll never give up you

He said "I am the devil, boy,
Come with me and we'll break many laws"
He offered me eternal life but inside my heart there's a picture of a girl

Some call love a curse, some call love a thief
But she's my home and she
And she's as much apart for this broken heart, but see
Broken bones always seem to mend

I'll taste the devil's tears
Drink from his soul, but I'll never give up you
I'll taste the devil's tears
Drink from his soul, but I'll never give up you

"Wow" Caleb said sitting up straight once Shane finished his last chord.

"You've totally been holding out on us man" Jordan said, jumping down from the counter and going over to sit next to Shane.

"It's nothing" Shane shrugged "I don't want to use it though, if that's ok" he said, looking at Caleb and Jordan seriously.

"That's up to you man" Caleb replied "but I think it's a damn shame" he got up and headed back towards the bunks and closed the door.

"It's really good" Jordan said "but I understand if you're not ready for people to hear it"

"I've been sleeping with Rayanne" Shane blurted out bowing his head closing his eyes.

"Wait 'sleeping'…as in more than once?" Jordan exclaimed. Shane nodded silently. "How long?"

"Once or twice a year for the last 5 years" Shane admitted, opening his eyes and looking at Jordan.

"Wow" Jordan mumbled, leaning back against the seat.

"It wasn't a big deal at first" Shane admitted, "It was actually kind of perfect. We'd meet up randomly, fight, get drunk and then hook up. She was always gone the next morning and we wouldn't have to see each other until the next time you or Angela drug us along to something or another."

"If it's that simple then why have you been acting like a zombie all day?" Jordan questioned, trying to wrap his mind around the idea.

"About a year ago I realized that this casual hook up had turned into something a little less casual, at least for me anyway" he scoffed at the memory.

"Wait a minute" Jordan jerked his head towards Shane "You guys were in contact a year ago? Me and Angela weren't even speaking then"

"Yeah, she uh…she called me to tell me about this tour…she thought it might be a good way to get you two talking again and wanted me to see if there was a way that I could get us involved" Shane admitted.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Jordan questioned.

"She didn't want you guys to think that we were setting you up" he smiled slightly "She's so insanely protective and supportive of Angela…it reminded me of myself…I'd do anything for you, you know that. Anyway, we just sort of started talking…I don't know how it happened, but I started texting her randomly throughout the day. I would find myself waiting to hear from her, and I'd be disappointed every time I'd check my phone and didn't have a message." Jordan smiled understandably at Shane. "I thought that she was feeling it too, but uh…this morning she kind of freaked out on me"

"That's just Rayanne though" Jordan defended "She seriously has commitment issues"

"I'm not asking for commitment" Shane scowled "Honestly, I'm not even sure I want a commitment. I just was hoping that she thought of me as more than just a joke"

"I doubt that's what it is" Jordan didn't know where to go from here. Asking anyone to get inside Rayanne Graff's head was like asking someone to put toothpaste back into the tube once it'd been squeezed out.

"Look man," Shane sighed "It is what it is. She warned me about this when we first started hooking up; I mean I knew what I was getting myself into. I just want to go out tonight and not think about her or this stupid mess I've gotten myself into"

"I think we can do that" Caleb said, storming back into the room dressed in the most ridiculous outfit they'd ever seen.

"Dude" Shane laughed, "I didn't know you were moon lighting as a pimp"

"Where did you get purple pants from man" Jordan laughed, wiping a tear from his eye.

"These gentlemen are a little gift from my wife" he said, throwing pants and shirts at them "she said and I quote, 'If you're going out anywhere without me, at least wear these so that I know no other girls will be hitting on you' but the jokes on her, cause I make this look good!" he said, spinning in a tight circle and posing.

"Yeah the jokes totally on her" Jordan laughed sarcastically.

"Fine, I get you having to dress like this" Shane agreed, holding up the teal button up shirt that Caleb had thrown at him "but why exactly does your wife not want me to get laid?"

"Oh come on," Caleb whined, "if I have to wear this then you guys do too! I can't be the only one that looks like a tool"

"Fine" Shane sighed, "but you're buying the drinks tonight"

"Deal" Caleb quickly agreed.

By 2 o'clock that morning the guys were already incredibly drunk and stumbling out of the second bar they'd been to that night. Jared and Caleb led the way down the strip while Shane was following behind them with a random girl he'd just met minutes earlier dangling off his arm. He was completely uninterested in this girl who had an annoying habit of agreeing with everything he said, but being completely honest he knew that this girl wasn't there to fill any other void then the empty spot in his bed that night.

Caleb stopped dead in his tracks and peered across the street to a karaoke bar that was blaring out an awful version of Katy Perry's California Girls.

"Dude, why are we stopping?" Jared slurred slightly, trying to follow Caleb's gaze.

"I think that's Lindsay" he breathed, rushing across the street with the others in tow.

"What would Lindsay be doing here?" Jordan questioned, dodging a few cars before stepping up on the sidewalk and peering into the window next to Caleb.

"I don't know, but look" he said pointing into the window "it's her and she's killing this song…literally"

Shane laughed at the sight of Lindsay as she drunkenly did a twirl and nearly fell over the microphone stand in front of her. "Let's go cheer her on" he smiled, leaving his 'date' behind and moving towards the entrance.

"Wait" Jordan whispered, looking harder into the window "Caleb no-stop him" Caleb turned to grab Shane but he was already past the bouncer.

"What's the problem man? It's just Lindsay" Caleb asked as they headed towards the doors of the bar.

"Lindsay's not who I'm worried about" Jordan said pushing past the bouncer and running into Shane who had stopped dead in his tracks in the back of the bar. He was staring at the stage with a pained look on his face. "It's who she's here with" Jordan finished, looking towards the stage where a laughing Rayanne and Angela were hugging Lindsay who had just walked back to their table in the front.

1 year ago…

Shane was kicking back and relaxing by the pool, his eyes were closed and his head phones were in. They had been working nonstop on the new album, and this was the first chance he had to just take a break in weeks. He felt his phone vibrate on his chest, and without opening his eyes, he answered it.

"What up?" he said lazily.

"Please tell me I didn't just wake you up" Rayanne replied "it's like 3 o'clock in the afternoon"

"Not that I have to explain myself" Shane sighed "but I've been up for three days straight, and I was just starting to relax. That is until I got this wonderful call from you" he said dryly.

"What's going on?" She questioned sincerely "Jordan cracking the whip a little too hard"

"He's just insanely focused on this new album" Shane replied, rolling over in his lawn chair and resting his head on his hands "I think he's going a little overboard, but at least he's focusing on something other than…well, at least he's keeping his mind busy"

"Angela's the same way" Rayanne sighed "Sometimes I wish she'd just let herself break down, all this avoidance is starting to wear me down"

"At least one good thing has come from this; we haven't been forced to see each other for while" Shane joked.

"Oh Shaney, you wound me" Rayanne fake pouted, "and just when I was starting to think we could really be….friends" she faked sniffed.

"That's where you're wrong doll" Shane played along "We'll never be just friends, not with this big old crush you have on me"

"Please" she laughed "we all know who the crushie is and who the crusher is. Not that I blame you, I'm totally hot"

"And so modest too" he pointed out. Rayanne giggled slightly. "So, what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Well, we just signed on for this new tour next summer" she started "it's going to be three months starting in LA and ending in New York. So far there's 5 bands including us that have signed on, and the promoters are looking to sign about 10 more. All the proceeds are going to be set to go to charities of our choice"

"Sounds awesome" Shane said, sitting up and stretching.

"I was hoping you'd say that" she smiled "cause I was hoping that you'd be interested in signing on too"

"I knew you missed me Graff" Shane teased.

"Be serious" Rayanne pushed on "I think that it's time that Angela and Jordan are forced to deal with this…whatever it is. But you know just as well as I do that forcing either of them into a situation they aren't ready for will cause even bigger problems then we've got now"

"The tour might not be a bad idea" Shane agreed "Our album should be due to release by the beginning of fall, so it would be easy to get Jordan to sign off on it."

"Can I ask you a question?" she said, sounding smaller than Shane had ever heard her before.

"Yeah sure" he said.

"Do you think they have a chance? I mean like, a real chance?"

"If anyone does they do" he replied without thinking.

"I just don't want her to get hurt again…" Rayanne said in almost a whisper.

"I've known Jordan practically my whole life. I've seen him in his best moments and I've seen him in his worst. I've known him to try harder than ever to get what he wants, and I've seen him struggle to keep things. But I've never seen him as completely real and happy then when he's with Angela" he said honestly. "What he did that night, will always haunt him; and I know that if she can ever figure out a way to forgive him that he would never do anything to let her regret it"

"I hope you're right" she sighed "cause I'll kill him if he does it again"

"You wouldn't have to worry your pretty little head about that" he chuckled "I'd kill him for you"

"Awe thanks, Shaney" Rayanne cooed.

"Anything for you doll" he smiled, leaning back against his chair.