Faded Away

|TEN|

I drove to the tour bus as I fought back tears. I parked and found Mark to let him know that they could hook up the bronco. I gave him the keys and retreated to my bus. I automatically went to the fridge for a beer. I sat on the couch and cracked it open before taking a drink.

"Yo yo yo!" Carter hollered as he walked up the  bus steps. I nodded to acknowledge him and kept drinking my beer. He gave me a funny look and walked to the bunk area then came back with a confused look on his face. He leaned against the small kitchen counter and looked at me.

"What?" I asked, looking at him.

"Where's, uh, Jackie?" He gulped a bit.

"She ain't coming." I got up and grabbed another beer.

"She ain't coming? What? Why? You texted earlier and said she was coming. What happened?"

"She changed her mind, Carter. And there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it." I rubbed my hands over my face after setting down the can of Miller Lite in front of me. I felt the tears start flowing and at this point I I didn't care who saw me crying.

"We gotta go get her man. There has to be something to change her mind." Carter insisted.

"She said she can't. She made up her mind and I told her I understood. There's no way she's going to change her mind. This whole week was pointless and I was a fool to think any of this would work." I sighed heavily and continued to drink.

I heard the bus engine start up and was slightly rattled as we began to move. Carter shook his head and went back to the bunks. I watched the beach disappear through the window. The farther it got, the more my heart broke. It was all over. No more spring breaks, no more Jackie. That's what hurt the most. I'd probably never see her again.
I called up my momma and told her to take the boys for a few days. They couldn't see me like this. I was a train wreck.

As the night carried on, the amount of beer began to dwindle to very few. I found the liquor stash and it wound up being empty bottles on the floor by the couch. I was intoxicated and it didn't ease the pain I felt.

"Didn't she give a damn about the way I felt?" I cried as I saw Carter return from the bunks hours later.

"I don't know man. I hate to see you like this. C'mon let's get you to your bunk." He stood me up and I felt the queasiness in my stomach flow up. I ran to the toilet and vomited the contents of my stomach. After I finished, I stumbled to my bunk with the help of Carter. I faced away from the aisle and blankly stared at the wall. After a while, I heard the guys whispering to each other.

"We could take him out to drink and get him laid.." One them muttered.

"He's drunk right now and he's a mess because of it. The last thing he needs is to consume more alcohol. And he's heart broken, getting him laid won't do any good. What he needs is that woman who broke his heart to magically show up and fix it." Carter replied.

::::

"Jacqueline! Why are still here?" Blake asked as she came outside.

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't go. I'm afraid. What if things didn't work out? What if I couldn't be everything he wanted? What if I couldn't live up to the standards 'The Great Lillian Bryan' had set?" I said wiping a few tears from my eyes.

"You need to stop being so afraid. All your life you've been scared of leaving this damn place and you had the opportunity but you let it fade away. I'm sorry but you're insane because you didn't go with him. That man is in love with you. I saw it in his eyes, the way he looked at you. He looked at you like you were the entire universe, Jackie. Like you said, it's time you think about yourself and your happiness. If he's your one shot at happiness then you need to take it. Don't be dumb and don't let the 'what ifs' stop you." She said before pulling me into a hug. She's right, I was insane. I let the man I cried over and hoped that would come back go.

"Thank you so much." I sighed.

"You're welcome. Now what are you standing here for? Go catch up to him!" She said, shoving me a bit.

"Right. Catch up to him. You're gonna be okay?"

"I'm a grown woman. I'll be fine. Now go!" She said as she made the shooing motion with her hands. I ran to my jeep and started up the engine. I gunned to where the tour bus was supposed to be parked. And with my luck, they had already left. I cursed under my breath and rested my forehead against the steering wheel.

I drove to the edge of town before stopping again. I had never left this place before so I was gonna need a little bit of help. I grabbed my phone from the console and opened up the maps application then made sure it was blue toothed to my stereo.

I looked at my rear view mirror as the sun sunk against the horizon and the stars came out over my hood. I knew it was going to be quite the drive but I didn't care. I was going to drive all night if I had to in order to make it to Tennessee.

Author's Note:
I couldn't leave y'all hanging 😅

Short chapter, I apologize.

So I might update tonight and tomorrow because I'm going out of town tomorrow evening and will be gone all next week... Yay....(sarcasm intended)

Please vote AND COMMENT!

-sam🌸