How to avoid falling for a Trohman for dummies

15

Joe

The funeral was held as arranged with our family and the guys from the band as well as Terry and Paul in attendance. It was a very sombre feeling looking at the size of the casket. There was almost nothing to bury really. It was worse seeing the same date of birth and death on her tombstone. Almost as bad as receiving your child's birth and death certificate at the same time.

I had barely spoken to Terry, she came and hugged me tightly and offered me her condolences and when I responded to her the way I did everyone else who had done the same, she looked slightly hurt and moved over to Marie, who was spending a lot of time with her and Paul trying to come to terms with things.

It was the day before we were set to leave on the next leg of our tour and the guys had said they were having a jam session at Andy's if I wanted to come. Truthfully, I should have gone and seen Terry to avoid any hard feelings while we toured, so I called her up but there was no answer. Thinking she'd return my call, I left for Andy's place where he had texted me, "door's unlocked, grab yourself a beer from the fridge and join us in the studio."

I did as I was told but as I got nearer to the sound of the music in the house, I heard female vocals mixed in with Patrick's. The woman was now singing and her voice was just that right type of velvety soulful that made a person stand up and pay attention and she hit all the notes perfectly.

"Find a safe place, brace yourself
Bite your lip
I'm sending your fingernails and empty bottles you've sipped
Back to your family 'cause I know
You will be missed
So you can find a safe place, brace yourself

They call kids like this vicious and carved out of stone
But, for what we've become
We just feel more alone
Always weigh what I've got
Against what I left
So progress report:
I am missing you to death."

I already had a feeling I knew who the singer was and I braced myself to come face to face with her after telling her that I basically didn't want to see her. My suspicions were confirmed as I walked in to find Terry dancing around the studio singing with a bottle of Vodka in one hand. She stopped the moment I walked in.

"Guys, I'm too drunk for this and we have to hit the road tomorrow so I'm going to let you practice and me and this bottle will be on our merry way."

I put my foot down. "There is no way I'm letting you drive in the state you're in."

She sauntered up to me, her hips sashaying the way they usually did but minus the heels she usually wore to feel a bit more level height wise. She pulled my head down and whispered in my ear, "What do you care? You're not my boyfriend."

I now understood how my words had hurt her that day and the guilt hit me hard. "Terry, I am so sorry. I was mad at the world and I took it out on someone who genuinely cares."

She laughed, "I don't care about aaaaanything anymore! They took my love and they filled it up! Filled it up with Novocaine and now I'm just nuuuumb!"

I looked at a very sad Pete, "How long has she been like this?"

He looked at me, trying to hold back emotions, "Since she left the chapel to see you. The only time she's been sober according to Paul and Marie was the funeral."

I grabbed her wrist, "We need to talk."

She took a long swig out of her vodka bottle and I held onto her as we walked to the kitchen. "Terry, I am sorry. So very sorry. I tried calling, but you didn't answer. I wanted to spend some time with you and make up for what I said out of grief and anger but you can't carry on drowning your sorrows in alcohol. Your body won't cope honey. Please give me the bottle, let's go home and let me take care of you."

She laughed and started singing, "I wanna scream I love you from the top of my lungs! But I'm afraid that someone else would hear me!"

"What do you mean Terry?"

"Joe I was falling for you so hard but when you said what you did, it hurt so bad. So, so bad. So fine, take me home and take care of me. Make it stop."

My first move was to take her bottle and ditch it. Then I shouted to the guys we were leaving and carried her out to my car where I put her in the passenger seat. I lit us each a smoke and gave her my sunglasses because she complained about the sunset being so bright.

Next, I took her to the Mac Donald's drive thru and got her a super size cola and a double quarter pounder to absorb some of the alcohol away. By the time we actually arrived at my house, she was a little more sober than I had found her. I carried her into my guest bedroom and told her to just stay put while I hunted for something for her to wear. I came back with a baggy t-shirt of mine that would definitely be long enough to cover up everything. "You need a shower honey."

"I think I can do a shower."

While the sounds of water running engulfed the guest bedroom, I looked for my phone and texted Paul about what had happened. He called me back straight away, not too pleased. "She's been out of control since the day you left her in that chapel. You better fix this. If you think Andy's good at kicking ass, you haven't had your ass kicked by a pissed off older brother yet."

I sighed, "Look, right now you and Andy could whip my backside black and blue and I would take it because I deserve it. I pushed her away when I actually care about her a lot."

A throat cleared at the door. Terry stood there wearing my shirt and a small smile. "I've got to go dude. Talk later."

I sighed and sat down on her bed, "Did you hear all of that?"

She nodded and came and sat on my lap, just like the night where she had finally let me in. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed being close to her. "Terry, I'm so sorry I pushed you away."

She snuggled into my chest, "I guess I can understand. You're grieving and sometimes, I guess you will need space."

I kissed her forehead and told her that she needed some coffee to sober up completely. We headed to the kitchen hand in hand where I picked her up and put her on the counter while I made a fresh pot of coffee. She had stayed silent the whole time and I was still feeling pretty shitty about myself until she told me to come to her.

I did as she said and stood between her legs with my arms wrapped around her waist. She ran her hands through my hair and kissed me the same way she had when we'd had our first kiss. It was still as electric.

I picked her up and took her into my bedroom where I lay her down, not breaking our kiss except to remove my shirt and we carried on, just going with the flow until we'd both gotten our fill of one another.

That night, Terry and I fell asleep tangled in one another and with a feeling of relief over us.