Gone Forever (Adam Gontier #2)

Chapter 14

Brad's POV - THE NEXT DAY

What the fuck was I thinking? I've known that Neil likes Lara for ages now - even since before she and Adam got together. He'd even told me that he was going to ask her out before he found out Adam already had. So why the fuck did I go ahead and kiss him? 

"Brad, please can you pay attention for once," Barry calls out, raising his eyebrows at me with sarcasm. "I know you've got ADD but can you please just focus on the music? We need to get this sorted so that we can get on with the show tonight."

"I don't have ADD," I mutter, focusing on the cues. "Where are we?"

"Never Too Late," Neil says from his drums, scratching behind his ear and staring at his drumsticks as I glance over to him. He hasn't even looked me in the eye since last evening - and quite honestly I don't blame him. I don't know why the fuck I thought that would've been a good idea at the time, but it clearly wasn't. It was a fucking stupid idea; one that has only fucked things up. "Okay, fuck it."

"Fuck what?" Adam asks with a grin on his face, and Neil laughs. He looks at me.

"Can we take a break? My pedal-foot's messing up, I need to go fix it. Is that okay?" he asks, standing up and balancing his drumsticks on one of the drums.

"Yeah, cool. I need to check in with Rhi and LC anyways. Barry, can you make sure those two acoustics are tuned right? The techs are busy re-stringing some of the electrics and I need to organise for the acoustic numbers later on," Adam says, nodding at him as he lifts his electric over his head and balancing it carefully against a desk-chair. With that, him and Barry focus on other things, leaving Neil and I without anything to do.

"Brad, can you help me with something, please?" Neil asks, and starts to move into the back-lounge of the bus. I frown before taking a deep breath and following him through. He closes the door behind me and sits down on the sofa against the wall. "About yesterday..."

"I'm really sorry about that," I say, leaning my head forward and looking down in shame. "I don't know what I was thinking. It's okay if you wanna forget about it."

"Just shut up, Brad. I don't wanna forget about it." I look up at him in shock, trying to find the words to ask what he means, but not being able to move my lips to say them. "Okay, you're giving me that look. Um... yesterday kinda made me re-think a few things." I blink a few times, raising my hands to my face and trying to think clearly. What's he saying? He doesn't want to forget about it?

"I.." I mutter, trying to will myself to speak. "I don't get it." He rolls his eyes, standing up and stepping towards me, raising his hand to my shoulder and pressing me against a nearby wall.

"Do you get it now?" he asks, speaking slightly quieter. I blink, my breath catching in my throat. Is this actually happening? "Please say something, Brad. I need some indication of your thoughts here. Although at least you're focused for once."

"I don't have ADD," I mutter, smiling slightly.

"You most definitely do, Bradalina. We all know it," he replies, grinning at me. "But what are you thinking? Tell me."

"I... I thought you were pissed at me for what I did," I stutter, genuinely confused at his reaction. I'd thought he'd hate me. Wasn't he ignoring me? Didn't he stop even acknowledging me? Why is he saying this? "I don't...I don't understand where this is coming from. I thought you'd want to forget all about it and just not follow through with anything and completely ignore me. I thought you'd--"

He grips my face between his hands, pulling me against him and pressing his lips against mine with intense pressure. I widen my eyes in shock at the sudden feeling, but soon feel my eyelids grow heavier as I close them, raising a hand to his chest and leaning into his kiss. His lips part gently, moving with mine effortlessly and creating sensations I had never really felt before. Of course I've kissed people before, but it's never felt like this. I feel his hands trace up my arms, pulling me further into him and moving me away from the wall, slowly stepping backwards and tilting me towards the sofa. Pulling away for a second, I look him in the eye, feeling my breath shakily leave my lungs as he pushes me into the soft cushions, leaning towards me.