What If I Can't Forget You?

{17}

Ian's POV

So, I now officially had a least favorite band member.

Mike was amazing- I could never begin to understand how fast his hands moved on the drums. Tony Perry was the most amazing guitar player I knew of. Vic's vocals made me jealous of his talent, not to mention his sick guitar skills.

Jaime though... Jaime was a good bass player. With some practice and comfort on stage, though, I could easily be better than him. Plus, he was an asshole to me ever since I got here.

When he went to the bathroom, I was already on the stage hooking up lights. When I looked up, there it was. His bass. It was a sweet instrument, dark ebony with a evanescent finish.

If you know me, you know I can't control myself around guitars. Before I knew what I was doing, it was in my hands. I was examining the neck, how perfect its finish was, how much it could have cost.

"Do you play?" A voice came from behind me. I jumped, nearly dropping the bass. Mike smirked at me, standing with his arms crossed. I nodded. "You know any of our songs on it?"

"Bulletproof Love, by heart." I replied, smiling.

"Well, let's do it!" He smiled, heading back to the drum set. "Vic! Tone! Bulletproof."

"Without Jaime?" Vic raised his eyebrows. Mike motioned over to where I stood, holding the bass. Vic nodded, looking impressed.

"Let's start at "This isn't fair", okay?"

Oh my God, I'm going to play a song with Pierce The Veil. I thought.

We started, and I hit every note of the intro flawlessly. Bob Becker, who quietly conversed with the tour manager Michele, turned around, surprised at the sudden sound of another song after his sound check had ended. He smiled, then his expression quickly turned to confusion as he saw me. No Jaime. Just me.

I was lost in the music, expertly fingering each note with my eyes closed. Then, suddenly, the sound of the bass was gone, and everything stopped cold.

I whirled around to see a fuming Jaime holding the cord to my amp. I was annoyed at him for a moment, but then I remembered who's instrument was in my hands.

"Hey, you little shit, the shirt says 'set crew', not 'bassist'." My heart dropped. Jaime wasn't exactly a little guy. His arms were thick and rippled with tattooed muscles. He could probably strangle me, and it looked like he wanted to.

My hands shook as I gingerly handed the bass over. My moment was gone. I felt like crying, or punching a wall, or both. Instead, I just stared at the floor and kept it together as Mike stormed over. I tuned out their heated conversation and turned to go. Jaime caught me by the shoulder, and I flinched, bigtime. Embarrassing.

"Hey, I'm sorry-" He started. I shrugged him off and got the hell out of there. I didn't want his apology. What did he have against me? I didn't understand it.

I found myself in the band's dressing room. I knew I wasn't where I was supposed to be, but I needed a moment. I sat on the floor, and took a deep breath.

The door flew open, and Jaime burst in. Oh my God, I'm going to die. He is going to beat my ass, and I'm going to bleed out on the floor. This is the end.

Instead of slamming me up against the wall with the force of a small train, he saw me and sat down across the room. There was silence for what seemed like forever. We both stared at the floor.

"Do you think, maybe..." He finally spoke. I looked up to meet his gaze. "That maybe you could forgive me for what I did back there? Forgive me for being such an ass to you so far. I just..." He buried his head in his hands. "I've been a little crazy lately... It's- it's not like me to be like this. I hope you can understand."

I still felt like he might explode and bash my head in. That's what he looked like he wanted to do back on the stage. I gave a gentle nod.

"Okay? Cool? Thanks, dude." He said as he stood, walking over and offering me his hand to get up. He helped me up, and we stood face-to-face. Well, more like he looked down on me. He started to turn to leave, but apparently thought of something else.

"Oh, and one more thing." He moved close, a dark shadow hanging over my head. "Touch Claire again, and consider your life over."