IF I WOULD, COULD YOU?

MIND RIOT

Salem woke up in a haze. She was feeling really weird and then the events from last night suddenly hit her. "Shit!" — she thought. She wished it had all been a dream. Just a bad dream. It was never her intent to hurt Chris. She loved him too much.

The door cracked open and Salem stepped out of her room feeling dizzy and tired. The sun was shining bright and everyone was awake, feeling very hungover.

"Shit guys, we kinda overdid it last night" — Mike mumbled.
"You think??" — Jerry laughed, "I think we should all go outside for a bit and enjoy the sun for once. It'll do us good" — he continued.
"Yeah, good idea" — everyone agreed.
"I'll pass. Just feeling weird" — Salem said and she caught a concerned look from Layne.
"Come on Salem, it'll be fun!" — Jerry tried to encourage her.
"Nah, really. I think I had too much to drink, I need to rest up." — she said with no enthusiasm.
"Oh we all did. Come on, go change and we'll wait in the truck. You can't stay here all day and cry about Chris!" — Jerry laughed.
"Ah alright you jerks" — Salem rolled her eyes and went back to the bedroom to find a fresh change of clothes.

"The Cramps or Discharge?" — she asked herself while picking out her t-shirt, "I'll go with The Cramps".

She also found some nice black corduroy pants, put on her Converse, sunglasses and voila she was ready to go.

...

With everyone in the car, still smelling like alcohol, she was squeezed between Sean and Mike, incredibly hungover. She kept her sunglasses on and clearly looked like she wasn't in a good mood.

"And you lovebirds, what's up?" — Sean turned around just to see John and Dee asleep in the back, they were hugging each other. Everyone chuckled when they heard no response.
"Oh come on Sean leave them alone you intruder!" — Salem laughed for the first time since this morning.
"There's our girl!" — Layne turned around and Salem stuck out her tongue in response.

...

Shortly after they arrived at their destination. Eventually John and Dee woke up and everyone headed to the beach. Although it was sunny in usually dark and gloomy Seattle, it was still quite chilly outside.

Everyone sat down on the grass and started chatting about the new Alice In Chains album coming out. Sean and Mike were cracking jokes as usual and Layne got closer to Salem.

"Hey, can we talk about what happened yesterday?" — he whispered to her, but in that moment everyone got quiet.
"Hey what do you mean what happened yesterday?" — Sean laughed.
"Did you guys kiss or what?" — Jerry laughed.
"What? The fuck! No!!!" — Salem screamed and got serious, which was clearly very noticeable.
"You don't have to get so defensive" — Mike answered, "Spill!"
"SPILL! SPILL! SPILL!" — everyone yelled.

Salem quickly got up. "Nothing fucking happened. Thank you Layne" — she turned around and started walking away.

"What's up with her today?" — Mike said quietly.

She turned around.

"NOTHING'S UP WITH HER TODAY!!!" — she yelled at him. She broke down in tears. "I just can't fucking do this anymore. I can't. First we lose Andy, I'm devastated, you're devastated, Chris is completely destroyed, he is completely numb, I'm tryna work this out but he goes away and now I'm here all alone. I can't. I just have to go now, sorry." — she cried.

Jerry tried going after her but Layne stopped her. "Don't" — he said with a straight face, "Just stay here".

Suddenly, Dee took off. She ran towards Salem.

"Hey, wait!" — she screamed, "Stop!" — Dee touched her shoulder. "Are you okay?" — she asked.
"No... that's sweet of you though. I just need to go home and call Chris, I really miss him." — she cracked a smile.
"Okay, I understand. But you know, ever since I met you I thought you were really nice. And you've always been nice to me. So call me if there's anything and don't hesitate, okay?" — Dee asked.
"Promise. And thank you" — Salem smiled again and hugged her.

...

She walked away from everyone and tried to find a cab ride home. Salem was standing on the street for quite a bit, she even considered going back to see if Jerry was still there so he could give her a ride but a car pulled up.

"Hey, would you like a ride?" — a nice young man rolled down his window and smiled at Salem. His dark blond curls and bright blue eyes made him look so familiar.
"Oh that's very nice of you. Thank you so much" — she hesitated, but got into the car.
"Where are we going?" — he politely asked.
"612 1st Avenue West please" — she said.

They started driving.

"Sorry if it's personal, but have you been crying?" — the man looked concerned.

Salem didn't like talking to strangers, but something about this nice man felt so comforting.

"Yeah... bit of a situation here. And I just... I've been away from my boyfriend for a while, he's a musician and I couldn't go on tour with him, so I just miss him so much. I know it must sound so corny... but it's true." — she felt like she was oversharing but she got a compassionate glance in response.
"I understand... I just moved here and I don't know anyone here so it does get a bit lonely sometimes." — he said, "I'm Eddie by the way... who's your boyfriend if I can ask?"
"I'm sorry, I know how that feels. And I don't know if you've heard of him but it's Chris Cornell. Nice to meet you Eddie, I'm Salem." — she answered.
"Oh wow! Chris Cornell? I love Soundgarden, what a great band! I've heard the best things about him. I'm also currently thinking about starting a band, music has always been my passion." — Eddie continued.
"Thank you" — Salem chuckled, "Yes, he's truly the love of my life. He has a good heart... maybe Chris could hook you up!" — she suggested.

They kept on talking and Salem managed to forget about last night and this morning, Eddie was very comforting.

"Aaand I think we're here?" — he said with a doubtful voice.
"Yes! Right here, thank you!" — she smiled at him, "it's so kind of you, thanks for the ride. I'd invite you in for a cup of coffee, but I feel like I need some time alone. Chris will be back in a few days though, so maybe we can all go to the bar and have a drink?" — Salem smiled.
"I'm sure we'll meet again" — he waved goodbye.
"There's this Alice In Chains gig at the Off Ramp on the 17th, meet us there?" — she asked.

"I'll be there." — Eddie smiled and drove off.

She unlocked the front door and ran up to the bedroom to call Chris. She couldn't wait. Salem always needed him, just like he needed her. She dialed the hotel phone number, asked for Chris, and after a few minutes she finally heard his voice.

"Hey Salem... how are you my love?" — he asked and she instantly started crying, "Hey shh, what's wrong?" — Chris sounded concerned which made her cry even more. "Shh, calm down, it's okay." — he tried to comfort her.
"It's just..." — she sobbed, "It's just that I miss you so much Chris. I feel so bad, I'm a bad person." — she cried.
"Why would you say that? Oh baby, I love you so much. And I miss having you by my side all the time. It's heartbreaking being away from you. Just a couple more days... I'll be back" — he continued.

Salem didn't say anything, she just kept on sobbing.

"I'm so sorry Chris. I wanna hug you. I need you" — Salem wouldn't calm down, "I love you, please come home."