Haunted

Shatter Me

"Do you see him?" Brent shouted into Maddox's ear over the pounding music.

"I can barely see anything," Maddox shouted back. "Wait, is that him?" he pointed to a corner table. There was a blond guy sitting very close to another guy. Much too close.

"That's him," Zack confirmed. "And that's against the rules," he added as Adam slipped onto the guy's lap, straddling him and kissing him.

"Which is why we're going to stop him," Maddox decided.

"Wait-" Brent started to protest but Maddox didn't wait to hear him argue. He was done trying to stay out of it and he was definitely not going to watch Adam hurt Cole. Not if he could help it.

Even though Hunter had been there trying to keep Adam under control for almost two months, Adam was still drinking a lot and he was stoned all the time. It seemed like the only thing Hunter could really do was keep him from being too high to perform or do interviews. So far only the band knew how bad things were.

"There you are!" Maddox shouted, sliding into the seat next to Adam. "We've been looking for you everywhere."

"Uh, a little busy, Dax," Adam glared.

"You left before we were ready. Hi, Maddox Bieber," he held his hand out to shake the guy's hand.

"Go away," Adam pushed his hand away.

"Hey!" Zack dropped into the seat on the other side of Adam. "This place is great, the floor is packed."

"You've got to be kidding me," Adam looked up at the ceiling. "Tell me you didn't bring my conscience."

"Hi," Brent waved when Adam turned to look behind him.

"Perfect," Adam slid off the guy's lap. "Nice meeting you. I have to go," he told the guy and then walked away. Maddox jumped up to follow him, glad Brent was still standing and could keep up with Adam.

"This way," Hunter was waiting and took them out the back door where a darkly-tinted van was sitting, engine on.

"Alright, Saint Brent, go on, give me the lecture," Adam lit a cigarette.

"I don't have anything to say," Brent shrugged. "This was Maddox's idea."

"Funny, I thought of all people you might understand," Adam gave Maddox a look.

"I do, Adam. I understand exactly what you're doing and why. But I also understand how much you'll regret it and how much you stand to lose."

"No, actually, you have no idea why I'm doing this."

"Well I'm not going to let you cheat on Cole, not in public and definitely not when I can stop you. Even if I have to babysit you for the next 36 hours until you're back in his house."

"Fuck you, Maddox," Adam threw down his cigarette and stomped on it before he got in the van.

Brent gave Maddox an "I told you so" look and climbed in after Adam. Maddox sighed as Zack picked up Adam's cigarette butt and dropped it in the trash before he got in the van too.

"I thought you two were friends now," Hunter gave Maddox a look.

"We are," Maddox insisted and climbed into the van.

It felt like a painfully long flight back to California the next evening. Normally Maddox had no trouble falling asleep on a plane but he kept waking up, wondering what would happen when they got home. He tried as hard as he could to stay there tucked under Brent's arm, listening to his calm, steady breathing and trying to get his heart to slow to the same even beat. When Adam got out of his seat and stumbled to the bathroom, Maddox gave up and got up to follow him.