The Moon, The Sun, and Everything Else

Be Alright

Trying to get PTX World Tour tickets 😂

She paced her apartment, hands running through her head of hair that had been dyed countless numbers of times and in countless numbers of shades. He would be here any minute.

"Kirst?" His all too familiar voice filled the room that was only the turn of a corner away.

Speak of the Devil.

"In here." Kirstie's voice cracked.

"What's going on?" Avi asked. He tried to grab her hand and pull her into his chest, but she just pushed him away. He looked up at her glassy, tear filled eyes.

"I made a dumb mistake, Avriel." She looked away.

Avi's eyes widened. She never called him by his full name. "What? What happened? What did you do? We can fix it, Kirst."

"No, we can't." Kirstie pushed his gentle touch away again. "A-Avi," Her voice quivered. "The...the cigarettes you found earlier. They're not Carleigh's." She took a deep breath. “They’re Jack’s.”

Avi’s heart skipped a beat. “J-Jack’s? As in my--”

“Yes, Jack as in your band-mate’s.” Kirstie fell into a kitchen chair behind her. “He came over looking for you. Something about wanting a jacket back. You were at that party. Then, he stayed.”

Avi was furious. “What happened? What did you do?”

“We just kissed, I swear that is all that happened. Nothing past that, it’s just that--”

“That you cheated on me.” Avi filled in her blank.

“Avi, I’m sorry, it was a mistake!” Kirstie called as he started to leave.

Avi shook his head. "I can't just forgive you, Kirstie. Listen, I can't be here right now. I need to go clear my head." Avi left the apartment, leaving Kirstie crying in the middle of her home.

~~~~~

"Thanks for meeting me here." Avi said, sitting down at the bar.

"Of course." Scott sat down. "Mitch is at a brand meeting. Something with clothes." Scott chuckled.

"Don't worry about it." Avi half smiled.

The two men ordered their drinks, and opened a tab. "I'm kind of offended to hear I'm the second choice, though." Scott laughed.

Avi snickered. "You know Kev would've been my first choice, but he's in Hawaii on his honeymoon."

"Yeah, I know. Rude that he couldn't be here for you." Scott joked.

Avi nodded and gently chuckled along, thanking the bartender when he slid them their drinks.

"Bottoms up." Scott and Avi clinked their glasses together and Scott sipped half of the alcohol in his glass, while Avi downed the whole thing.

~~~~~

"I cannot believe I'm doing this for you right now." Mitch mumbled to himself as he knocked on Kirstie's bathroom door. He had just successfully gotten himself in to her apartment with the spare key she gave him years ago. Mitch traced the sound of crying to Kirstie's hall bathroom. "Kit, it's Mitch, can you let me in?" Mitch knocked.

Kirstie slowly opened the door and Mitch simply stared at her. She wasn't the independent, fun-loving, spunky woman he always knew. The woman on the floor before him was exhausted, sobbing, guilty.

"Mitchy, you have to help me." Kirstie sobbed, shaking. "I feel so, so sick."

The anger Mitch was feeling immediately dissolved. He finally saw the old Kirstie he always knew. He didn't see the cheating monster of a person he thought he would see.

"Kirstie..." Mitch dropped to his knees beside Kirstie. "C'mere, Darling." Mitch leaned the dark haired girl into his chest.

"I don't want to cry on your nice clothes." Her words were punctuated by hiccups and coughs from her crying.

"They can be washed. It's okay." Mitch told her.

Kirstie nodded and tucked her head into the crevasse of Mitch's tattooed collarbone. The two childhood friends sat there for what felt like forever.

After Kirstie calmed herself down, she managed to stand herself up. "Why are you so dressed up?" Kirstie asked, looking for any way to distract her from her own running thoughts.

"Stupid brand deal meeting. Didn't work out, doesn't matter. What matters is that--”

“I know what you're going to say. You're going to say that it matters I know what I did, and I do. I didn't mean to kiss his bandmate, but I did. I was scared, I was confused. I mean, Avi hadn't told me that in loved me in months, I…” Kirstie's voice trailed away. She pushed past Mitch and walked out of the bathroom. She fell onto her couch and picked her phone off of the table.

“Kirstin.” Mitch walked out into the living room. He took her phone from out between her weak fingertips. “You can't be looking at this.” He shook his head, seeing that Kirstie was looking through her old texts between her and Avi. “Here.” He handed her her phone back.

“Mitch!” Kirstie shouted, looking at her phone. Mitch had deleted all the texts.

“It's not good for you.” Mitch shook his head. He walked into the apartment kitchenette. He came back in the living room with a tub of ice cream and two spoons.

“No, I'm too guilty to eat ice cream. I feel so sick, Mitch, I can't even live with myself.” Kirstie shook her head.

“Kirstin, you made a mistake, and Avi should've heard you out.” Mitch set the dessert down. “You said he hadn't said he loved you in forever. You were just scared.”

“But I'm still a monster.” Kirstie mumbled.

“Monster is a bit of a stretch, Love.” Mitch opened the tub of ice cream and handed her a spoon. “Here.”

~~~~~

“No.” Scott pushed Avi's hand down. “I'm cutting you off. It's late, let's go.” Scott helped Avi to stand and walk to a called Uber.

Avi had spent the whole Uber ride back to his apartment talking about the situation he even started to drink over. He talked about Kirstie and how he never even loved her - which Scott knew was a drunken lie. Avi slurred sentences about how he was going to “kill Jack for kissing his girlfriend” when he got the chance to. This entire thing broke Scott's heart. He'd never seen Avi so wrecked.

“Alright, I'm going to stay here until you get to sleep, alright?” Scott led Avi into his apartment and to his bedroom.

“No need to.” Avi’s words blended together. “Go home.”

Scott half smiled to himself, at least Avi wasn't being an angry drunk and trying to go to Kirstie's place or something. “Okay, Man, get some rest.” Scott forced Avi to lay down.

Before he left, though, he placed two Advil pills, a glass of water, and a trash can by Avi's bed, just in case. He knew that considering the price on their tab, it would be a long night for Avi.

Scott got called another Uber, seeing as he lived across the city, since moving. Once he got into the car and buckled his seatbelt, he sent a text to Mitch.

Scott: How is she holding up?

Mitch: Not well. Him?

Scott: Passed out, drunk. Left him at his place to get some rest. God, I hated seeing him like that.

Mitch: Same here. Kirstie's a wreck, but we can talk about it when you get home, alright. Probably postpone rehearsal tomorrow.

Scott: Probably.

Mitch: You think they'll get through this?

Scott: They'll be alright.

~~~~~

Long time, no see! Song creds to Dean Lewis!