The Cost of Freedom Is High

Blackout

"It's....it's...all......in." I gasped out, placing the last and overtly heavy box down in the kitchen.

"That's what she said." TJ chuckled.

"Fuck ....... you." I managed to get out.

"Thanks for bringing that all up." Sam thanked me, as he entered the kitchen.

I just nodded my head.

Today was December 31st and from what I've gotten and figured out based on the amount of alcohol I had brought up to the kitchen I figured things were going to get a little rowdy tonight.

I was thankful though that some of these guys were straight edge. I know I wouldn't have to worry about Chris, or Balz getting drunk.

"You can go now." Ghost dismissed me.

"Thank you, sir." I replied, and quickly made my way down to the patio that led to the backyard.

"Come here Peaches" I called to him as he was frolicking through the yard.

He stopped in his tracks, looked over at me, and came bolting at me incredibly fast.

"Yes, hi my baby." I cooed, picking him up as he smothered my face with kisses.

I had come to love this dog immensely, but the only bad thing about him was that he had managed to rip apart and even chew on a few of my sets of lingerie. I wasn't too upset about it, but I know Michael and the others weren't hyped on it.

Michael was still bitter though at the fact that Peaches had used him as a bathroom.

Now for the most part during the days if I was doing anything other than just relaxing and hanging around I just wore on of the guys shirt or tank tops that paired with just a regular pair of underwear.

It was much more comfortable than the other option.

Wiping his feet off with a small little cloth located on a small hook to the side of the door, I made sure that he was fully cleaned off and then I brought walked him down to the living room area downstairs.

"Bella." Cameron acknowledged me as I walked into the room.

"Hi." I replied, slipping a dog treat out of one of the many bags on the counter, and tried to get Peaches to sit.

As usual, he just gave me those puppy dog eyes, and I couldn't resist the cuteness.

I threw him the treat and he gobbled it up.

"You're not strict enough, you need to establish that you're the one in charge. He knows he doesn't have to do anything and he'll still get the treat. You've got to toughen up on him." Robert told me.

"He's a puppy, I'm giving him a break." I replied.

"Take it from me my dear, as I've learned with you giving breaks can often come back and bite you in the ass." Michael stated from the opposite side of the room.

I scoffed.

"When in the hell have you given me a break?" I asked him.

"Every time I don't crack your ass for back talking, consider it a break." Michael replied.

"You love me too much." I cooed, going over to him and cuddling up in his lap.

I was trying to soften him up, as I've been attempting for the past few days, but I've come to learn that that these guys were now much more serious than I originally thought.

I mean they still had their sense of humor sometimes, but I've noticed that things have become much more straight forwards and intense.

Tyler and Kuza were still a bit more lax, but I still had to be cautious.

Thankfully Cameron came in and like a hero switched the topic.

"Are you planning on drinking a bit with us tonight?" He chuckled.

"I probably shouldn't after last time." I answered.

"Last time?" Michael asked.

"You've never heard the story?" Cameron replied.

"No, please tell." Michael stated.

"I got drunk. End of story." I told him.

"Why do I have a feeling there's more?" Michael chuckled.

"That would be because there is more. Would you like to share, Bella?" Cameron asked me.

"No." I muttered, starting to bury my head in Michael's chest.

I had actually for a long time forgotten about that whole incident, but knowing how I acted I was still a bit embarrassed.

I was drunk though so I just kept telling myself it didn't matter.

Deep down though I know that it really bothered me.

"Okay so when we were still touring with ETF, and MIW Bella decided to chug down two full bottles of booze. She passed out straight on the floor, and of course we went over to see what was wrong. At first she was still fine and passed out, but after a few minutes she woke up and was very flirtatious to say the least. She was incredibly needy and wouldn't give up. In general she was actually pretty fun, but by the end she was really out of it." Cameron explained.

"Don't be embarrassed love." Michael whispered, carefully running his tattooed fingers through my hair.

"I'm not going to drink tonight." I replied.

"We'll see about that." Michael stated calmly.

I was beyond done with it, so I just snuggled up even more and relaxed in the confines of Michael's arms as I watched Robert tease Peaches with a tennis ball.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~25 hours later ~

I slowly opened my eyes, and I nearly died. For some unknown reason to me I was in one of the master bedrooms upstairs, naked. If that wasn't bad enough next to me was Chris and Danny, both passed out, and naked.

What the hell had happened last night?

I just remember being downstairs with Michael and a few of the others but that's when things got fuzzy.

My head was spinning, my stomach was on edge, and I needed to go and get cleaned up.

Not caring if I woke Danny or Chris up, I crawled over them, wrapped a sheet around my body, and stumbled my way down in the direction of the bathroom.

As I passed the kitchen I saw DJ curled up in a ball against the wall, Ben and James snuggled up with each other in front of the fridge, and Alan on the couch with half a bottle of something in his left hand. That was only some of the weirder things that I saw.

Luckily I made it unscathed to the bathroom, went inside the room, and made sure to close the door behind me.

I turned on the water, letting it run scorching hot at first, which has always been the way I've appreciated my showers.

I slowly began to take the sheet off, but suddenly a hand went over my mouth and I was pushed up against the wall with a death grip on my wrist.

"No!" I screamed under the hand, but it only came out as a mumble.

No one was going to hear me.

This person's face was covered in a hoody, but once they threw it back, I recognized them instantly.

"We need to talk." He said.