Fallout

With You

Mike's POV

As we were driving back to California on the bus, I was contemplating weather or not I should ask Chester about this Sean guy back at his home town. I wanted to ask if that was cocaine in that bag he was holding on to and if Chester had ever consumed any of it. Joe had actually talked about that guy calling Chester just before we chose him to join the band. He was definitely right about him seeming possessive over our new vocalist, also about Chester being capable of carrying around a lot of baggage. I also recall Joe saying Chester hated Sean, which seems to make sense considering how he had reacted towards him.

That experience was by far the most bizarre thing I've ever went through. From witnessing Chester's crazy drunk ex girlfriend to Chester's possible stalker or even perhaps drug dealer. The entire situation seemed horrifying - for a lack of better words. Except Chester hadn't even seemed dazed by it. He reacted smoothly as though this has happened dozens of times before in the past, only loosing his temper when Sean showed up. I can't even begin to explain how thankful I was to get away from all that - I can't even imagine how relieved Chester must feel. Not to mention I felt much more relaxed when I realized Sean hadn't trailed us - I was being paranoid after all that and expected him to follow us for Chester, thinking all this madness would have no end.

"Yes, Sam! I got the job and I left... I did tell you! You were drunk! You locked one of my new bandmates and myself into my room," Chester shouted from the back of the bus. I got up off the bunk and went towards him. He was sitting on the couch, talking into his phone. I took a seat next to him. He mouthed 'I'm sorry,' towards me.

"It's okay," I whispered his direction. He gave me a cute smile before going back to listening to the blabbering voice on the other side of the phone.

"Yes, Sean does know!...I know what he'll try to do... I know he'll do that... Sam... Sam! I gotta go!... No, I don't know how you'll pay rent and frankly that isn't my problem! I've been paying everything since we got the divorce!... Bye." He suddenly said, clearly just hanging up on her.

"Money issues?" I ask him, feeling comfortable enough to ask him questions. I think we were getting along really well, he's actually a really cool guy.

"You have no idea," He laughed lightly. "I think I've been in debt since I was fifteen."

"How could you be in debt as a teenager?!" I asked, completely baffled. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed deeply.

"Just some shit I used to do. I owed some guys a lot of money. By the time I finally payed them off, apparently I was in debt to Sean. After I managed to pay him back, I was completely broke and moved in with Sam. We got married, divorced, and neither of us could move out so I ended up paying for all the payments. In debt yet again," He answered. I definitely was surprised at how open he was and I wanted to take advantage of him being so open, but I knew that was wrong.

"Did you do drugs?" I ask, still wanting to know at least that much more.

"Yeah," He answered. "I can't really hide that from you after you saw Sean, so don't think I'm always this open." He practically read my thoughts, which freaks me out a bit but figuring he must've had to explain this before to people, it must be obvious to him what I'm thinking.

"How often?" I look him in the eyes, trying to tell him he can trust me. He shook his head and I instantly knew I wasn't going to get an answer. "Do you still do them? I need to know that much. Don't feel like you have to lie to me, I just want to help."

"Why?" He simply questioned me.

"I-I know we just met and all, but I feel as though I've known you longer. I feel like you're someone I can confide to and I want you to feel the same way towards me. I care about your well-being, believe it or not. I think I've seen more of you than you wanted me to see." I replied, letting the responce flow from me. He looked to the ground and I notice his shoulders fall slightly.