"What happened? Why are you doing this?" Matt asked with tears streaming down his face.
"I… I couldn't take it anymore…"
"Take what?" He tried to keep himself from shouting.
"Austin… and that girl."
Matt sighed. "Kristen, I really hate to say this to you, but you have to let it go. Let him do whatever and if they break up and you still feel the same, go for it. But until then…"
"It's not that easy!" She said back through her own tears.
"Do you really think it would be easy for you and Austin to maintain a relationship at this point? Both of you on the same tour, us becoming famous. We have more important things to worry about and we need you. If all of your attention is focused on some guy then we're fucked!"
She sank down as she continued to cry, sitting on the edge of the counter. She knew Matt was just going to keep yelling at her and that wasn't going to help anything.
"It's not even about me, Matt! I just don't want him with her. Why can't he just be lonely like me?"
"He needs someone just as much as you do; only difference is that he doesn't want you."
Matt regretted his words as soon as he said it.
The hurt look that crossed her face almost broke his heart. He stepped over and put an arm around her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I'm so sorry."
"Don't be." She forced a laugh. "You're right."
"No, I shouldn't have said that."
She shrugged. "Which bed do I get?"
"Mine. Caleb and Kasey took the other."
She nodded and went to lie down.
Matt grabbed a small towel before following her lead.
As he crawled up next to her, he wrapped the towel around her arm.
"Thanks." She whispered quietly.
He didn't answer, but he did rub her arm for a second before leaving her alone to sleep.
...
At around 9AM, Matt woke up to find Kasey and Caleb already up and moving around, getting ready to go do whatever they'd planned for the day.
"When do you guys think you'll be out of here?" He asked softly, careful not to wake her.
"Before 10." Kasey answered.
"Okay, cool."
He got up and got himself ready as well, before picking up the phone and heading to the bathroom.
"Hello?" Austin answered. It sounded like he was already awake.
"Come back," Matt could hear Abby in the background.
He shook his head in disgust. "Look, Kristen needs you."
Austin's tone turned alert and worried. "What's wrong?"
"She kinda freaked out last night… I don't know why." Matt lied. "We're all leaving, and I want you to be here when she wakes up; maybe she'll talk to you."
"When do you need me?"
"In maybe, fifteen minutes?"
"I'll be there."
"No you won't!" Abby shouted angrily.
"Ignore her, yes I will."
Matt could hear her continue to argue with him but Austin had ended the call.
He believed that he would come; he just hoped she stayed asleep long enough.
...
When Kristen woke up, she noticed that the towel around her arm was gone, and that the scratches had healed up for the most part.
She sighed loudly as someone sat on the bed next to her. She assumed it was Matt, and she really didn't want him getting angry again.
Maybe if she pretended she was still asleep, he'd leave…
He leaned down a little bit, but was still sitting up. He took a bite of something, and other than that the room was silent.
She didn't want him to sit around and be bored just because of her.
She sat up and turned to face him. "Look, Matt, you don't have to-"
Her throat caught in the middle of her sentence when she turned around to see Austin looking back at her.
"Good morning." He smiled.
"Wha… what are you doing here?"
"Just chilling. Do you want me to leave?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm just confused."
"Why?"
"Are you here to mock me about last night? Because I really don't want or need that."
"Are you talking about us kissing? Why would I make fun of you about that?"
"I don't know, seems like men get a sick joy out of fucking with girl's emotions."
Austin frowned. "You really think that that's why I kissed you?"
She stared back at him with empty eyes.
"Kristen, no,"
"Save it."
"That's not fair." He pleaded.
"I think you should go."
His eyes welled with tears and he didn't know what to do.
He grabbed her face with a slight roughness and kissed her.
She only resisted for a second before she kissed him back. She could feel her chest tighten and almost cried knowing what she was about to say.
But first, she shifted her weight and pinned him down on the bed; kissing him deeply before she had to give him up.
The kiss lasted longer than it should have before they pulled away.
Austin sat back up and stared at her sadly. "We can't."
Kristen took a deep breath, and used every ounce of strength she had left in her body to say what she said next.
"I don't think we should be friends anymore."
He looked at her in disbelief, unable to speak. "Wha…?"
"There is no point in doing this to me and you're just going to go back to your girlfriend so just go, please, go."
"Is that really what you want?"
She didn't look at him. Her eyes watered but she choked out a "Yes."
He didn't say anything back, just sat still as he openly cried.
Austin hoped that after a few minutes she would say she changed her mind, but when she didn't, he decided to get up and leave.
His heart hurt. He hadn't hurt this bad since he lost his mom. Now he'd lost both of his best friends, and he knew it'd be basically impossible to cope with both of them gone. The only reason he was even able to be okay after his mom was because of her, and now what? Abby wouldn't care; no one else in the band would get it. He was screwed.
He walked back to his room with tears staining his cheeks.
He should've told her. He thought it would be better if it was just unspoken. But the pain in his chest told him otherwise.
Was he supposed to just leave this broken? Because he couldn't do that. He couldn't just, not have her around. She was his light. She made everything better. He couldn't just let her go.
When he walked back into his room, he found it empty. Apparently Abby had left.
He agreed that it was better as he jumped down on the bed and continued to cry.
There was no getting over this one.
...
For the remainder of their time in Vegas, Kristen didn't leave the room once. Not until the last day, when she was literally forced to go have dinner with everyone.
Austin spotted her when Of Mice & Men finally made it, and he moved quickly to sit next to her.
He sat down beside her and smiled widely when she looked at him.
She stared back for a second before getting up and walking to the other side of the table and sitting down next to Mike.
Austin's face fell, and he wasn't able to be interested in anything for the rest of the night.
He kept his eyes on her, but she didn't look at him even once. That was, until the end of the night.
They couldn't all fit on the elevator, so a few of them had to wait.
Kristen waited until everyone else was gone, but Austin waited with her.
She didn't speak or look at him, but the tension was obvious.
When the elevator opened for the last time, she walked on and Austin came with her.
It was quiet for only a few seconds before he broke.
"You were serious, weren't you?"
"Yes."
"But why?"
"Because I'm not going to keep hurting myself over this. You have your girlfriend. You're happy. If I keep being your friend, I'm going to keep being around you and it's just going to get worse."
"Tell me what to do!" He cried as the elevator opened.
She walked out and he chased after her, grabbing her arm and turning her around so that she faced him.
The other band members were all taking their stuff back out to the buses, but they were stopping to see what was going on.
"Give up. Just like I did." She said simply.
"But I can't!" His eyes threatened to spill again.
"Well I guess you better try. We have nine more weeks on this tour. Good luck." She pulled away and disappeared into her room.
Alan stopped when he got next to Austin.
"Are you okay? What's going on?"
"No."
"Come on. We already got your stuff on the bus; you can come talk to me."
He knew it would be pointless to keep waiting for her, so he silently nodded in agreement.
A/N: So I just wanted to say that if you've actually been reading this, I love you. So much. You're wonderful. Thank you! 3