Hey, guys! Song used in this chapter is You by The Pretty Reckless. I absolute love it, it's quite a bit slower than most of their mainstream stuff. Check it out :)
When Letty had gone to bed the night before, or more like early that morning, given how long her and Dom had rolled around in the sheets, she had expected to wake up to her alarm just after eight. She would get up, maybe be able to fit in a quick round in the shower, and then drag Dom along to her dress rehearsal, walking on cloud nine at having her boyfriend alongside her on their first tour.
She didn't expect to wake up to Monica banging away on the door and hollering out her name. Letty winced and cracked open an eye, looking over to Dom, who was blinking over at her, looking confused and not particularly happy about being woken up so ungracefully. Letty took in a deep breath and rubbed a hand over her face.
"I'll get it," she croaked out. She rolled out of bed and exhaled heavily through her nose as she found a shirt on the ground, pulling it over her head. Her bag was on the chair near the door, and she pulled out a pair of sweatpants, jerking them on before opening her door a crack and glaring outside. "What are you guys even doing here? It's not even seven-thirty yet, we don't have to be at the rehearsal until—"
"It's not about that," Monica said abruptly. She pushed open the door and Letty sighed, letting her agent in and then raising her eyebrows when she saw Brian behind her. Dom saw the two of them coming in and muttering under his breath as he attempted to roll out of bed while keeping his naked lower half covered. His briefs and jeans were on the ground, and he jerked them on, pulling up the zipper and the button. Monica waited until he had found a shirt before she pursed her lips and looked back to Letty. "There's a tape. Online."
"A tape?" Letty arched an eyebrow, looking lost. "Of what?" A mocking smile suddenly spread across her face. "Oh my god, was it Leon? That dumbass and the shit he gets into—"
"It wasn't Leon, Let," Brian interrupted her, his expression serious. The smile left her face and she just looked confused. Brian looked over her shoulder to Dom, who was standing there with his arms folded over his chest. "It's you, man." Dom frowned deepened and he looked between Brian and Monica, and then to Letty. "It's of you and Elena."
"Fucking hell," Dom let out a short laugh, rubbing his hand over his face, pinching at the bridge of his nose. From the way he was looking down at the ground, his face drained of color, Letty knew that there was indeed a tape, it wasn't some hoax. A wave of nauseousness flooded over her and she clenched her hands into fists at her side. She took in a deep, shaky breath and exhaled heavily through her nose before looking back at Monica.
"How bad is it?" She asked quietly, hoping her voice was steady.
"Well, we're getting it down as quickly as we can, but it's the internet. It went viral once people realize who it was," the agent replied. "Fortunately it's not you on the tape, but people already know you're with Dom, so it's almost as good."
"We just wanted to tell you before you found out from going online," Brian said to her. Letty nodded, maybe a couple times more than she needed to, like she was doing it as an automatic reaction while trying to process what was happening. Brian stepped over to her, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in for a tight hug. Dom watched the pair of them with his lips pursed in a light line, before walking over to the window and staring outside, his shoulders hunched. Monica was watching the three of them, her eyes furious.
"Okay, so, we need to look at spinning this the best way possible," she began, her voice brisk. "I'm assuming that this was all before you two started seeing each other?" She asked, looking over at Dom. Dom still had his back to her, but he nodded once. "And was she your girlfriend? Someone that you were serious about? Someone that you trusted?" She was firing one question after another and it was all getting muddled in the Cubans head. He frowned and then turned back to look at her, his forehead creased. "I need answers here, boy," Monica snapped her fingers, her phone in her other hand, her thumb poised to start texting.
"We weren't serious, no," Dom finally said.
"Oh, lovely," Monica sighed in annoyance. "So are there more of these sex tapes that we can look forward to? You make these with all of your one night stands?"
"Hey—" Dom began to protest but he was cut off by Letty.
"Monica," she said sharply, her voice steady despite the shaken look on her face. "He didn't ask for this. If he wasn't with me and that got out, no one would care. No offence," she forced a smile over at him, letting out a snort as she attempted to make a joke. Dom just stared back at her, his body wound tight. "So what do we do?"
"Well, we need to sort this out," Monica said. "If you're asked about it, say that she was your girlfriend. That you were serious about her, and it was a—a really loving relationship that you had going on, and you made it thinking that you were in a safe environment blah blah blah," she took in a deep breath. "Okay, you've got a concert today. Would you be willing to do an interview before hand? Just a few words? So that we can get a statement out there?" Letty sighed but jerked her head in a nod. "Okay, good," Monica looked back over at Dom. "Tell me this is the only one we need to worry about." Dom thought for a moment and then sighed.
"I don't know," he answered honestly, and Monica let out a growl. "Look, I don't know! We only fooled around a few times—"
"And you decided to document those special times so you can look back and get your dick wet," Monica muttered.
"She was into some different shit, ya know? I'm pretty sure there was only one, but I didn't even know about the tape until after, a few days after when she wanted to watch it together!" Letty cringed when he said that and Dom looked over to her. "Let, I'm sorry, I—"
"It's fine, it's fine," she swallowed and leaned back into Brian. Dom looked at the pair of them, a lump of jealousy in his throat that he hated. He knew there was nothing between them, it was all brotherly-sisterly love, but he wished that it was him who was hugging Letty right now, and trying to make her feel better. He had a feeling, though, that if he leaned in toward her, her body would stiffen and he wouldn't be able to make her feel better at all. So he stayed where he was, arms tight across his chest and his mind running through hundreds of different scenarios where he was making Elena pay for what he did.
He had never lifted his hand against a woman before, but this was pure spite, and it was making his body tremble in anger.
"We should get to rehearsal," Brian said, breaking the uncomfortable tension in the room. "It'll help get your mind off shit," he added under his breath, ducking his head so that his mouth was close to Letty's ear. She nodded and pulled herself away from him.
"I'm just gonna get dressed," she said, walking over to her bag and disappearing into the bathroom. Monica glanced at the door before shooting a glare over at Dom and then staring back down at her phone. Brian kept his mouth pressed in a firm line and his arms crossed, staring down at the ground. Dom didn't like the tension in the room, and he especially didn't like the fact he was the reason for the tension, but there was nothing he could say or do right now that was going to make things better, so he kept his mouth shut. When Letty came back out of the bathroom, she looked a lot more composed, wearing skinny jeans, a sweatshirt and hair pulled back from her face. "I'll be back this afternoon," she told Dom, dropping her bag and coming over to him.
"I can come with you if you—"
"No," Letty quickly cut him off, finally meeting his eyes. "I'll see you later." She gave him a brief kiss on the cheek before turning and heading out the door. Monica followed quickly after her and Brian nodded at him.
"Can you just drop me here?" Letty asked on their way back from their dress rehearsal at the stage.
"Are you sure?" Leon looked across the back of the taxi.
"Yes," she nodded.
"How are you going to get back?"
"Well, we're in a town car, right?" Letty rolled her eyes sarcastically and then leaned forward to knock her fingers against the glass. "Can you pull over here?" She asked. The driver nodded, slowing down and pulling over to the curb.
"We don't have it booked right now, you know there's going to be other people in there," Leon told her.
"That's okay," Letty shrugged as she pulled her collar up closer to her neck. "I just need one of the back rooms." Leon didn't look too happy about leaving her at the recording studio by herself and Letty sighed, reaching over to punch him lightly in the arm. "I've got my phone on me, and there's security. I won't be long, okay?" Leon nodded and leaned back into the seat, Letty sliding out of the car and heading toward the studio. The rehearsal was terrible, she knew that, even if the rest of the band didn't say anything. She missed her cues, and her voice bottomed out on the notes that were meant to be low and scratched when it was meant to be high.
She needed to get her act together before tonight, and she just needed some time alone, time to sing without pressure, to get back in the zone.
Letty swiped her card against the lock on the door and let herself into the studio. It was practically empty, a couple of sound technicians doing some mixes in the first couple of rooms, but other than that, she was all by herself. She went into the far room, going into the sound booth first. Coming alone into the recording studio was something she did quite often, and Jesse had shown her how to work things if all she wanted to do was put a track on, shove headphones over her ears and disappear into her own world.
It was better than the drugs and alcohol that she used to use to dissolve her problems.
Slightly healthier as well.
At the moment, all they had sorted out was an acoustic track. Undoubtedly, they would overlay it with some drums and the boys guitars before they released it, but for now, she liked the way it sounded. She plugged in her phone, and then walked into the sound booth, shutting the door and putting her headphones on. The music had started and she closed her eyes, bobbing her head up and down as she fell into the song.
You don't want me, no
You don't need me
Like I want you, oh
Like I need you
And I
Want you in my life
And I
Need you in my life
The lyrics were simple, but heartfelt. There wasn't a wide range, either, and so she didn't need to push herself. Which was what she needed. She liked the way the strumming of the acoustic guitar sounded, and she tapped her fingers against her thigh to the rhythm of the song.
You can't see me, no
Like I see you
I can't have you, no
Like you have me
Suddenly the music stopped and Letty's eyes flashed open, her eyes narrowing as she glared at the thick glass separating her from the sound booth.
Owen stood there, holding his phone in her hand.
"Oh, for fucks sakes," she hissed through her teeth.
Now! My music obsessions since my last update! Actually, heaps of old songs have resurfaced on my iTunes. There's Thinking It Over by Dana Glover, seriously this song makes my heart ache like every time I hear it. I think I obsessively listened to it when I was a teenager when I went through a break up, melodramatic child that I was. Then there's Pony by Ginuwine. LOL. Don't know what's got me so into that one all of a sudden. And the third one is Bring Me Back To Life by Extreme Music. Seriously, the Shadowhunters show has a pretty great soundtrack, I think I've fallen in love with every song I've discovered through there!
Oh gosh, aaaaaaaand there's this cover of a Jesse McCartney song, Beautiful Soul, by SoMo. I watched a Stydia fan video to the song, and I'm now just completely in love.
Oooooh, and in the post the other day, I got my Stilinski 24 hoodie. Can you tell I'm obsessed with Teen Wolf just a little bit? Yes? No? Maybe? LOL.
As usual, please feed my obsession with songs and reviews :) It'd make me very happy, and I'll send you a preview xxx
