Matters of the Heart (Marianas Trench/Josh Ramsay)

Chapter 6

Josh walked back to the tour bus, hands clenched at his side. WHY would Simkin do this? If he didn't know any better, he would say his manager was trying to torture Josh out of the band. He opened the tour bus door and looked inside. Sure enough- there she was, sitting next to Matt, both of them laughing about something. Her hair was down, bangs falling in her face, and in blue jeans and a sweatshirt, it was the most relaxed Josh had ever seen her.

She was already beautiful; he couldn't argue that point with anyone, especially when she smiled. He was pretty sure she didn't wear make up, and yet her skin appeared to be so smooth, free of any flaws, and her blue eyes stood out like sapphires at a jewelry store- there was a natural beauty in her that one did not always see in other women. No wonder Matt is giving her so much attention; men in general must flock to her. In fact, observing her like this, seeing this side of her, almost made her seem like a nice person to him, someone he would want to get to know if circumstances were different...

But they weren't. A tight knot formed in his stomach as he watched her smile up at Matt, her eyes beaming up at him. Reminding himself that he didn't trust this woman nor her intentions with his friend, Josh scoffed to make his presence known.

Matt noticed him first, and looked at him in confusion, 'Hey man, didn't you go in and get something?"

"Uh," Josh looked down at his empty hands. That's right, with all of the chaos going on inside his head, he had forgotten his original purpose of going into the store. "I got to the front and just decided I didn't want it anymore- lost my appetite." That part was true, he decided, he would leave the reasons behind that loss of appetite to himself.

Matt considered his answer, accepted it, and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, then." He motioned to Becca, whose eyes were glued to the papers in front of her. Her facial expressions gave her away though. She didn't want to have to deal with talking to him either. Good. He thought, I didn't want to have to look at her anyway. "Becca is going to stay with us for the day." Matt said cautiously, "Simkin wants her to write about our daily lives on the tour bus." The latter sounded like a warning, and he could almost hear Matt's underlying message.

Be nice.

"So I heard." Josh walked over to the mini fridge and pulled out a soda, not looking at Becca. He knew it made him look like an ass, but he was angry that she was even there, and after the staring contest they had only moments before, being around her also unnerved him and made him feel ridiculously nervous.

"I get to be after Matt!" Ian called out from another area of the bus.

He heard Mike protest "Hey, that's not fair! I want to go next! I'm always last!"

Josh opened the soda can and took a drink before he responded. "Oh shut the fuck up, you two. I'll go fucking last. I don't even want to do the stupid interview anyway." He passed Matt and Becca without another glance. "This whole situation is bullshit," he muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"So let me see if I get this straight..." He heard her voice and turned to see Becca writing on a notepad. "Shut the fuck up, stupid interview, and bullshit." Her eyes rose to meet his head on. That familiar fire he saw at the concert was back in her eyes, and any other emotions she may have been having were hidden from him. "Can I quote you on that Mr. Ramsay?"

He put his drink down and crossed his arms over his chest. Two could play at this game. "Yeah, you bet your ass you can quote me on that."

"Good to know." She smirked, "would hate to have to lie to your fans about who you really are."

A wave of anger and frustration crossed over him. "Well considering lying is what you do for a living, I'm impressed you know how to write of any truth."