Hear You Scream Again || Chris Cornell

Chapter 1 - Prologue (Part I)

September 1991

Melissa

"Oh come on Mel. As my best friend you should be thrilled to celebrate Pearl Jam's album release. Don't be a party pooper" Eddie teased as he poked me in the arm a bit.

Yep. My best friend is none other than Eddie Vedder.

It was so funny that Eddie was originally best friends with my older brother Matt but somehow he ditched him and became latched to me for life.

"I don't know. You know I have social anxiety" I said nervously as we waited outside the club where the album release party was taking place.

"Yeah but... I don't know. I'm scared. And I don't know these people. Other than your music I don't listen to anyone else here. I shouldn't be here" I said in an attempt to run away before being pulled back by Eddie.

"You listen to Nirvana, don't you?" Eddie asked.

"Is Kurt Cobain here?" I asked with a hint of excitement in my voice, not bothering to hide my more than obvious celebrity crush on him.

"No" He said. I could feel my heart crush at that moment. "Careful, he has a girlfriend"

"Dammit" I pouted. "Is there any other hot musician I can crush on?" Eddie gave a knowing smile. "Other than Stone Gossard" I said with disgust evident in my tone. Eddie gave a chuckle.

"Aww, but Stone has the hots for you" Eddie teased, clearly finding the situation amusing.

"Would you even let me date him?" I asked.

"Hell no" Eddie affirmed as we shared a laugh. "But I can let him chase you, just to my own amusement" Eddie said with a sly smile. I rolled my eyes. "Now can we please go inside?"

"Don't make me regret this night Eddie. And don't you dare leave my side for one minute!"

"Yes ma'am" Eddie said. I took a deep breath as I eyed him suspiciously. There was no way Eddie could stay by my side throughout the night and he knew this.

I was so screwed.

Once we got into the club, Eddie to his credit stayed by me for a while but was pulled away by his girlfriend Beth leaving me alone.

And being alone in a club where you basically know nobody had its disadvantages. Namely, Boredom and the irking fear that some creep was gonna come up to me at any moment.

"Why hello Vega" I heard a familiar voice calling from behind me. I let out a low groan as I slowly turned around to come face to face with the individual.

Stone Gossard.

The guitarist in Eddie's band.

And the one band mate who just wouldn't let me have some breathing space.

"Gossard" I said crossing my arms over my chest. Stone smirked, knowing he was getting to me. He loved it whenever he got a reaction from me.

"Don't get your panties in a twist. Aren't you happy to see me?" He asked. I smiled a bit and just shrugged. "I saw that smile" He said, slinging his arm over my shoulder. "Now why are you alone at a party this awesome?"

"I know next to nobody here. And Eddie ditched me" I stated.

"Well that's why you've got me. C'mon we're gonna get you drunk" He said leading me to the bar as I narrowed my eyes at him. Any problem?"

"You just wanna get me drunk so you can fuck me"

"And that's such a bad thing because?" He teased. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. "Okay fine. On a serious note I just want you to loosen up a bit. You're kinda uptight. Especially when it comes to me. I've been trying so hard to be your friend but you're always shutting me out" He said.

My lips curved into a small smile at that statement.

"We are friends Stone" I stated as his eyes widened in surprise. "Now c'mon, let's get drunk. But any attempt to do anything with me will result in castration. Got it?"

"Yes tigress. And if this is how you are with your friends I hate to be your enemy" Stone joked as I cracked a small smile. "Now let's get you started you on something heavy"

And something heavy I started with. Maybe a little too heavy. Cause the next thing I knew, I blacked out. And when I finally woke up... it was on a strange bed in a strange hotel room.

Oh great, I had sex with Stone.

I could hear the sound of the shower turned on and I was about to march in there and give him a piece of my mind when I noticed I had some texts on my phone.

Two from Eddie and Three from Stone.

I decided to open up Stone's text messages first.

Eddie's looking for you, where are you?

Great, you're not picking up your phone. You're with a guy aren't you?

Take care and don't get knocked up.

Okay. So whoever it was in the shower was definitely not Stone.

And I sure as hell didn't wanna wait to find out.

So with the speed of light, I hurriedly put my clothes back on, grabbed my purse and bolted out of Mr. One Night Stand's hotel room and out of wherever I was.

Once I got downstairs, I decided to call Eddie to pick me up but his phone didn't go through which was shocking.

So I decided to call the next best person.

"Here I am, at your service" Stone announced as he stepped out of his car with two lattes.

"I could kiss you right now but, morning breath" I said with a small smile as I gave him a side hug and took the cup from him.

"So this guy didn't even let you use his bathroom? Talk about a dick" Stone laughed.

"Well, I actually snuck out while he was in the shower." I said biting my lip. "I honestly have no who idea who that guy is anyways. When I say I blacked out, I blacked out completely"

"Oh my God, that means you could be carrying some strangers bastard child right now?" Stone teased with a gasp. I laughed and hit his arm.

"Not a chance" I said.

"There's always a chance" Stone teased once again. "But of course, I'll always be willing to adopt the baby"

"Trust me, there's not a chance"

"Pill?" Stone asked. I was quiet for a while but ultimately nodded as I didn't really feel the need to go into any other detail. "Well good for you. To escaping pregnancy?" Stone raised up his latte in a mock toast. I rolled my eyes teasingly but ultimately brought up my latte for a toast as well.

"To escaping pregnancy" In more ways than one.