Roadie: A Summer Set FanFic

Chapter 17: Deeper and Deeper

Let's begin with a profuse apology. I know I promised a chapter weeks ago and I haven't posted one. I am so, soooo sorry for that. I've had a lot going on right now and I haven't been writing as much. But I finally finished this one. I wanted to post it as soon as possible, so the editing job isn't great. But here it is...

Tess's POV:

“Stephen!” I called, setting my guitar down and running after him. “Stephen, wait!”

Unsurprisingly enough, he ignored me and continued to storm away from me, away from the bus.

“Stephen, please!” I finally caught up to him and grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop. “I'm sorry.”

“Whatever,” he muttered, refusing to look at me, but he stopped walking away. I could see the hurt in his eyes as he tried to cover it with a passive yet angry expression.

“I am,” I said softly.

“Bullshit,” he growled, finally looking at me. “I can't believe you'd do this. After everything we've been put through lately!”

I flinched at his harsh tone, wanting nothing more than to erase and redo the last few minutes. “I'm so sorry,” I whispered, tears welling up in my eyes. But there was nothing I could say, nothing I could do to make this better. Nothing would change what I'd done, nothing would take away the pain in Stephen's eyes.

“Whatever,” he repeated, turning away from me. He started to storm away, to leave the parking lot full of people, but stopped about ten feet away and looked back at me. “Haven't we been through enough shit lately?!” he exclaimed, collecting the attention of everyone within earshot.

I couldn't reply, only stare as he left up the street. A tear slid down my cheek and I wiped it away in frustration. What the hell was wrong with me?! I rubbed the heels of my hands into my eyes, trying to rid them of the tears, of the image of Stephen's betrayed and hurt expression. Neither disappeared.

I could feel eyes on me, so I walked back onto the bus, wishing to avoid anyone questioning what had just happened. When I got there, John hadn't moved.

“I'm sorry,” I told him quickly. “I shouldn't have done that and I don't know why I did, but—”

“Tess,” he interrupted, pulling himself to a standing position. “It's fine.” His words were clipped and he didn't meet my gaze. Silently, he put his guitar on his bed and left the bus.

Stephen's POV:

Anger coursing through me, I turned back to her. “Haven't we been through enough shit lately?!” I yelled. It wasn't my smartest idea, considering we were in a parking lot full of people we knew, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I did, however, turn away to avoid seeing her undoubtedly hurt expression, and angrily stormed out of the parking lot.