Rock Bottom (Sequel to How it Happened is Irrelevant)

9

A/n: GOOOOO STREAM THE SHIT OUTTA CHEMICAL WARFARE CUZ THAT THING IS STRAIGHT FIRE BUT ALSO WATCH LIGHTNING STRIKE CUZ THE EFFECTS ARE FUCKING SIIIIIIICK

TJ's POV:

Why is Craig being so nice to me all of the sudden? I was starting to get good at this whole asshole game, and he's just reshuffled the entire deck as I'd memorized it. I opened the bottle of pills and popped two of them. I've got to find a way to get these to work more effectively faster.....

"Headache?" Robert asked, opening the curtain to my bunk without asking first. He stuck his tongue out. "Christ, it smells awful in here."

"You should talk."

"You've gotta stop being holed up in here all of the time, it's unhealthy." He grabbed my arm, pulling me out. "Dear Lord. You're so light!"

"Why is the topic of conversation always my weight?" I wrinkled my nose at him, disgusted. 

"TJ, you're gonna kill yourself if you keep this up." 

"I ate something just the other day."

"You had french fries, and you didn't even finish them all. That hardly counts."

"I thought only Thrash and Craig were worried about this shit."

"I worry about you too, you know. And now I'm really worried because you're popping pills!"

"Don't tell Craig!" I snapped.

"Oh my God, you really are popping pills!"

"Please don't tell Craig!" I pleaded. "Don't tell him, he'll think I'm only doing it for attention."

"You are an insane person! But I guess I'll keep your secret until he finds out."

"Really? After all that happened with Max?"

"Something tells me you're not doing what Max did."

"What?"

"You're not addicted."

"I could be."

"But you're not." He crossed his arms. "Believe whatever you want, but you're not addicted to it. And even if you're not doing it for attention, the point stands that you're doing it because of Craig."

"What difference does that make?"

"Admit it, you miss him like hell."

"I do...." I whispered, looking at my toes. "I wish I didn't, but I do."

He sighed, but walked away from me. I really thought that that conversation was going somewhere. My to my surprise, he came back, with his arm on Craig's. "Make up. I can't take this anymore."

"If Robert's getting involved, you know it's serious," Craig joked. "We must've really pissed people off."

"Either get back together, or we go through with the lineup change idea."

My eyes grew wide. "The what now?"

"It's not a definite idea," Craig started. 

"We've been talking about kicking you out for almost three weeks now," Robert explained. "Honestly, going through with it might not be the worst idea."

"You've all been in on this?! You all wanted to kick me out of this fucking band?!"

"Yes! And if you can't see why, then you're the one with the problem," Kevin called from the other part of the bus.

"Even you?" I asked Craig, who wasn't meeting my eyes. 

"Even me," He replied quietly. "You're dragging us down."

I blinked. "Could I at least finish the last week of the tour?"

"Well obviously," Robert answered. "We kinda can't play with only one guitar."

"It's not definite!" Craig argued. "It's not set in stone yet."

I shook my head. "No, you guys are right. This is unfair to all of you." I bit my fingernail. "I think I just need to use those vacation days I've got saved up, if you know what I mean." 

That night, I happened to overhear a rather loud argument between everyone about me. It's weird not being involved in getting fired, but I guess that's how normal jobs are. I would say I've got something to fall back on, but heaven knows that Craig'll probably kick me out of The Dead Rabbitts too. This is it, the end of my career.

"TJ! GET IN HERE!" Someone shouted from across the bus. Upon entering, I expected the worst. Maybe I wouldn't get to finish the tour after all. 

"Has the jury reached its verdict?" I sighed. 

"You can stay as long as you'd like," Craig answered. "But we have some conditions."

"What are they?" I cringed. I should be happy though, I'm not losing my spot in this band after all. 

"You can't drink more than one single shot before a show," Kevin answered. "And you can't black out more than three times a week after it."

"You can't snap at us every time we bother to ask you how your day is going," Robert continued. "And you have to eat at least one full meal a day from now on."

"You can't keep stealing my vocals on the heartbreak songs," Craig went on. "We have an equal split. And you can't not do backing vocals on the love songs, either."

"Those things are non-negotiable," Kevin concluded. 

"And if I refute them?"

"If you refuse them, which I should think that you wouldn't, then you have to personally apologize to Craig. He was the one who saved your ass, let you keep drinking, and got you your spot back in the band. He was even willing to let you negotiate the points, though that didn't work out so well."

I looked at Craig, who was looking at Kevin, who was staring me down. "I thought you said-"

"I told you I spoke to Ronnie. He....changed my mind about you." He wrung his hands. 

"That plus we couldn't afford losing another vocalist," Robert explained. 

"What?"

"I threatened to leave."

"You threatened to leave?"

"That is what I just said."

"You were willing to- You threatened to leave?" I still couldn't believe it. Why would he do that? Why would he ever do something so fucking insane?

"I threatened to leave."

"I accept all of the conditions." I looked them each in the eye. "Thank you." I grabbed Craig's arm and led him off of the bus. 

"What-? What-? What are you doing?!" He demanded.

"I should as you the same question! I've treated you like the scum on the bottom of my shoes and somehow you still wanted me around?!" I ran my fingers through my hair. "What the hell did Ronnie tell you?!"

"He told me that if our positions were switched, you'd still love me. You'd fight for me and-"

I held up my hand to stop him. "If our positions were switched, I would never have broken up with you."

"I didn't mean it like that. I mean the whole 'you're in a dark place' thing."

I rolled my eyes. "Why are you putting up with me?!"

"I thought that's what you wanted!"

"It is what I wanted!" I pushed my hand against his chest. "And that's why I hate that you're doing it! How am I supposed to get over you if you're not being a total asshole?"

"Then don't get over me!" We both just stared at each other in silence. "You want your way with me, right?"

I shook my head. "You've lost your mind." 

He reached out his hand and pulled on the ends of my hair. I didn't pull away. "Maybe I have." When he let go, I forgot why I was so upset with him in the first place.