Stay With Me

5

Vanessa listened as Dead and Euronymous screamed at each other once again. Their fights had become constant and they couldn't stand to be around each other even during practice for a show. The stress of it all had begun to finally catch up with Dead and was worrying Vanessa greatly. He had completely stopped talking to her, shutting her out completely. His walks through the woods lasted longer than usual and more and more cuts were appearing on his arms and legs despite his promise not to.

Their show was coming up in just a few days and Euronymous had begun accusing Dead of not working hard enough and not taking the band seriously anymore since she had shown up. Euronymous had become more hostile since he and his former girlfriend split up and Dead was getting tired of being the target of it all. The past week had been a complete mess with all of the fighting they were doing. The only positive was that Vanessa had finally gotten a small part-time job at the grocery store in town around where she and Dead first met. She had kept her end of the deal and always brought home fresh groceries for the house when she got off work, yet Euronymous still continued to complain about her being there.

Finally, the yelling stopped and the sound of stomping could be heard just before the front door slammed shut. She held her breath, letting out a sigh of relief when she heard the sound of the car engine. It was only Euronymous. She waited for the sound of Dead's boots to come up the stairs like they almost always did after a fight, waited for him to push open the door and begin his rants about whatever the fight was about this time. After what felt like hours, she heard the familiar sound of his boots coming up the stairs. The door opened and was quickly slammed shut once again as the blond vocalist entered the room, his eyes dark with anger.

"What happened?" she began to question.

He remained silent as if ignoring her question.

"Pelle?" she pressed further. "Talk to me, please. What started it this time?"

His brow furrowed even harder into a menacing scowl. "It's Dead."

Vanessa could feel her heart beginning to sink to her stomach.

"Alright, Dead , what happened?" she managed to say.

Dead scoffed. "Apparently I don't spend as much time with Euronymous anymore because of you. He said I've gone soft and that it isn't good for the band. That if things don't change I'll have to pick between you or the band."

Her mouth fell open, heart sinking to the pit of her stomach. "Pelle..."

"I said my name is Dead!" he hollard.

Vanessa jumped, her back now pressed against the wall. He had never once raised his voice to her.

Reaching out she took hold of his hand. "Pelle, I'm just trying to see what you're thinking. Just let me in and talk to me; let me know what's going on inside your head."

"Don't ever try and get inside my head," he snarled as he slammed her against the wall.

Her eyes widened in fear as she struggled against his grip to get her wrists free. For several moments they stayed there, tears falling from her eyes onto the floor beneath them. Finally, his eyes softened as he realized what he was doing. Falling to his knees he began to sob, holding onto her pants leg as he did.

"I'm so sorry," he cried. "Please forgive me, Ness. I would never do anything to hurt you. I'm angry at him but I could never be angry with you."

Vanessa shook her head and glared at the door, angry that Euronymous was stressing him out so badly. Moving down to her knees, she wrapped her arms lovingly around the blond man's shoulders and pulled him close to her, running her fingers through his hair as she tried to calm him down.