Cataclysm (Sequel to Wanderlust) (Kellic)

Chapter 5

HOLY SHIT WOW HI HELLO YES IT IS I BRINGING THIS FIC BACK FROM THE DEAD

tbh i was gonna write some sort of super long author's note but yknow what im just gonna say hi the past nine months have been Wild and my writer's block has been Terrible but i have this whole thing planned out meticulously and i'm rly excited for it. i can say now that it will be 21 chapters like Wanderlust was, except that this one will also have an epilogue. it will hopefully be updated like maybe once a week ish ??? idk we'll see what happens when i finish Undress to Impress

also, a quick note: i have never read beyond the first fic in the IHBNTY series (so keep ur fuckin spoilers away from me). i got some people saying that this was turning out to be similar to the third fic HFIM and i'd just like to clarify that i had no idea bc i never read the fic. which is also part of why i made sure to completely remodel this story. also something big is gonna happen within the next few chapters that will send this fic in a different direction so.....wink wink nudge nudge

(aLSO why tf did wattpad rate this fic mature...nothing explicit even happened yet wtf)

so yh that's it and im just rly happy bc im excited to get back into this fic and im editing while listening to nicki minaj and im seeing a movie tonight and life is great here u go x

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Chapter 5 - Your Starless Eyes Remain

Pain blossoms around my eye from where Justin hit me, and I take a step back, gritting my teeth and reaching a hand up to touch my face. He doesn't make a move to attack me again, but it looks like he wants to. In the background, Jack and Gabe are both yelling his name, and Kellin's just standing by the side with his arms crossed and his hair in his face, uncaring.

This is the last thing I expected when I decided to come up to Oregon.

"Fuck you," Justin says simply.

I nod, because I know; I really do. "Thanks for that," I say in a tone of voice that implies that I'm being sarcastic when I'm actually not. "I've been meaning to punch myself for a while now."

Jack and Gabe are trying to hold him back, even though he really isn't going anywhere. He just stands there and glares at me. "Get out of here," he says. "I don't care how good you are. You're not staying, and you're certainly not playing with us."

"Justin!" Gabe says. "Do you realize how badly we need this guitarist?"

"I don't care," Justin says.

Finally, Jack clears his throat and gestures to Kellin. "Personally, I think we should give it a shot, but, y'know, why don't we ask the guy whose opinion of Vic probably matters the most?"

Kellin just stares at me for a long moment, biting his lip in an expression that I, surprisingly, can't read at all. He used to be a bit more of an open book. "No," he states emotionlessly.

Gabe groans, and then they're arguing again. Jack turns to me apologetically and says, "If you don't want to join anymore, I understand. But if you do, then you might wanna wait outside while we figure things out."

I nod again and take that as my cue to make an escape before someone tries to kill me.

I end up sitting outside on the steps in front of the door, thinking about what sort of shit I've just gotten myself into. As weird as it is seeing Kellin again, and as tense as it is for us to have to work together, I can't help but wonder if maybe we are each other's last hopes, or something close to it. They need a guitarist, and I need a band.

Just the thought of being with Kellin again causes my heart to beat faster, though I'm not sure what that indicates—I'm trying to suppress everything that I've ever felt toward him, knowing that it was never real. I'm no longer hung up on Craig or anybody else, but it's clear that Kellin wants nothing to do with me, especially not in a romantic sense. Letting myself want that is only setting myself up for another fallout, one that I can't afford to have.