Surrender (5 page)

Ava

Standing there in the crowd at the band’s first gig I can’t help but feel like a sheep in between the cows. Most of the band have been really short with me and have kind of kept me at a distance. Emma and Tori have been fine but so much has changed. Brody and Jeremy still aren’t talking and Luke and Hunter seem to be feeling the stress. If I didn’t love Brody I would just break up with him for the sake of the band, however, I feel if I did that it would tear him up a lot more then it is Jeremy. I am deeply his and as much as I think Jeremy is a great guy Brody is it for me. I didn’t want to come along tonight, I feel like my presence with all of them together just sets everyone on edge, including Luke and Hunter.

Jeremy is the first to strut up onto the stage followed by Hunter. Brody gives me a kiss and I wish him luck. Glancing up at Jeremy over Brody’s shoulder, I see that he is frowning down at me, well us. I feel a pang of guilt shoot though me; I hate what I have done. Just as Luke is about to walk on stage I grab him by the arm, Brody looks over his shoulder with a curious look on his face. Smiling at him I reassure him everything is fine.

“Look Luke I’m really sorry about everything, I just want you to know that if I could fix it I would. If I could leave Brody I would but it would kill me. And he would never forgive Jeremy.”

Luke looks at me then wraps his arms around me. Breathing in Luke’s earthy scent I hug him back.

“Ava, you have a heart of gold. This isn’t your fault. You two fell in love. I’m sure we will be fine, they are both just so stubborn.”

“Luke I know, but I’m worried about how it’s affecting all of you. I don’t want you guys to fail before you even begin, I’ll do my best to fix this.”

“Ava they need to fix it. Not you.”

Luke walks off ending our conversation, sitting down beside Emma and Tori, I watch the band start their set. Hopefully the crowd won’t notice the tension onstage.

Tori places her hand on my knee.

“Ava it will all work out I’m sure of it.”

“How, Tori?”

“They have been friends for years. They won’t just throw all of that away.”

“Are you sure?”

Emma pats my hand and gives me a small smile.

“What can you do though Ava? Brody is not going to break up with you so you can go back to Stone.”

“Em, I’m going to have to work on Jeremy instead, I know Brody won’t drop this because we haven’t done anything wrong, I just don’t understand why Jeremy can’t be happy for him. He knows more than anyone how bad Brody’s life was. Jeremy can have any girl he wants. Why me? I’m not that special. After all he did cheat on me with a couple of skank groupies.”

“Ava he changed a lot for you, but in the end it was never going to be enough, Brody was always going to be there for you when times got hard. You two clicked straight away. That is life. Jeremy just has to learn to deal with it and move on.”

Jeremy’s voice brings my attention back to the stage.

“I hope you are all having a great time. We have a surprise for you all to finish off tonight… a new song. This song is really personal to me at the moment I hope you all enjoy it.”

“A new song?”

“Didn’t Brody tell you?”

“No, What?”

“Just listen.”

Looking back to the stage I listen to Jeremy sing the first line, Brody isn’t looking impressed. He is staring at me with a sad look on his face.

“
You stole my heart. You went behind my back.”

Standing up I look straight at Jeremy. That song is about me. He wrote a song about me and it isn’t a nice one.

Jeremy

As soon as our show ends I leave the stage and head toward the bar. I’m close to it when I feel a hand tug on my arm. I know who it is straight away.

“What do you want, Ava?”

“I want to know why you think it’s okay to air all of our dirty laundry onstage?”

I grin down at her “Who said that song is about you?”

I can almost hear her teeth grinding as she glares at me. “Jeremy, you need to get over this shit. You need to finally accept that we weren’t meant to be. If we were, I wouldn’t have caught you with your tongue down someone else’s throat.”

“Ava, I already told you, I was drunk.”

She shakes her head at me. “I don’t care. You obviously didn’t care enough about me to spare my feelings. You are selfish, Jeremy Stone.”

Grabbing her by her hips I pull her up against me “Dundee, you still want me. I can see the fire in your eyes. You want me bad.”

She forces her way out of my arms and slaps my cheek, hard.

“The fire you see in my eyes is anger, Jeremy. The only thing I want is for you to grow up and realize it is
over
between us.”

She walks away from me and I am stunned for a moment. I know she thinks she is in love with Brody, but she still seems to react to me with so much passion. I reckon I could have her again.

Stepping up to the bar I order a beer. I had a few before the show…and a few during the show and now I’m going to sit here and have a few more.

Leaning my back against the bar, my eyes scan the room as I rub my aching cheek. Someone turned on the jukebox after we finished our set and now there are couples covering the dance floor. Spotting a couple practically fucking, I look closer and realize it’s Hunter and Tori. God, those two are always going at it like a couple of teenagers.

My eyes drift further to the right and I see Luke, Emma, Brody and Ava sitting at one of the tables. Brody is staring straight back at me as the others are deep in conversation. I grin at him and he looks away. My eyes go back to the dance floor and I see a couple of girls shaking their hips and their fake boobs, dressed in tiny scraps of material. They notice me watching them and start running their hands all over each other. Grinning, I watch their little performance and throw back the rest of my beer, before walking over to them with all intentions of being the meat in their slut sandwich.

***

Five days later we are setting up for another gig in a bar similar to the last one. After playing in arenas and small stadiums when we were touring, these bars and clubs seem so fucking small. Hopefully Travis and the record company will come through with the National tour. Apparently, our album isn’t selling as well as they all hoped and they’re not entirely convinced a National tour is the right way to go just yet.

The other boys are pretty quiet as we set up our equipment on the small stage. This is the worst thing about the drama with Ava. It’s causing so much fucking tension between the band and our music is suffering as a result. Normally we would be rehearsing more and writing new songs, but seeing as I can’t really stand to be in the same room as Brody lately that’s the last thing I feel like doing. Travis is still pissed about what’s been happening and is constantly calling to check if Brody and I have sorted out our shit. But I’m not ready to do that yet. My best friend betrayed me and I’m not just going to let it slide.

From up on the stage, tonight’s crowd looks bigger than the last one. The floor is full of bodies between the stage and the bar, but the person I really want to see isn’t here. I guess after the last show she decided to give this one a miss. That’s probably a good thing. I don’t want to see her standing there watching Brody with so much adoration on her face anyway. I want her to be staring at me that way. The way she used to.

Halfway through the show we have a break and I make my way through the crowd of drunk, groping women and stop at the bar. After tossing back another few shots of Vodka I push through the crowd and back onto the stage again. As the band starts the intro for the next song, my song, the one that Ava rightfully thinks I wrote about her, I introduce the song to the crowd.

“Ladies and Assholes, this next song is one that is straight from my heart. It’s about being betrayed by the people you are close to. The people you call your family.” Glaring over at Brody I continue. “The people who swore they would always have your back, but as soon as a sexy little pussy comes on the scene, none of that fucking matters. Isn’t that right, Coops?”

Grinning I wait for Brody’s reaction.

Brody

I can’t believe he would go that low. Well, maybe I can. The blood coursing through my veins is hot and I’m holding back the rage that wants to escape. I expect the anger and cruel words towards me, but for him to talk about Ava that way in front of all these people, that’s what is stirring up the anger inside of me. I really need to get off this stage before I do something that I know I will regret.

As I lift the guitar strap over my head, Hunter stops spinning his stick around his fingers and watches me as I unplug my guitar.

“What the fuck are you doing, Brody?”

“That’s it. I’m done. I need to get the fuck out of here before I break my bass over his head.”

When Jeremy turns and notices the commotion I hear him laugh into the microphone.

“What’s wrong,
Bro
? Can’t handle hearing the truth?”

Ignoring him I mumble a sorry to Hunter and Luke as I place my guitar in the case and climb down off the stage.

Weaving through the crowd of shocked faces I leave the bar and strap my guitar case on my back before climbing onto my bike, starting it up and tearing off into the night.

A little while later, I find myself standing outside of Ava’s apartment. I’m thankful she had work to do and wasn’t able to come to tonight’s show. She throws open the door with a confused look on her face.

“Brody? What are you doing here? Is the show over already?”

Walking in I pull her into my arms and bury my nose into her long wavy hair, breathing in her delicious scent.

“I walked off the stage.”

She pushes me back as she tries to look into my eyes.

“What do you mean you walked off the stage? Why?”

Shaking my head, I walk past her into her living room and place my guitar case on the floor.

“Jeremy started talking shit when we were about to play his new song. I just couldn’t stand there and listen to it anymore”

Falling down onto the couch, I rub my hands over my face trying to relieve the ache in my forehead; obviously stress related.

Ava sits down beside me and takes my hand in hers.

“Brody, this has to stop. You can’t let him get to you like that. You can’t let the band fall apart over me. Maybe I should have just stayed in Australia. If I hadn’t come into your life, you guys could be the next big thing. I really hate that I have done this to you and Jeremy.”

Looking over at her I see a lone tear rolling down her cheek. Leaning in I kiss her gently and wipe her tear away.

“Ava, we were meant to meet in that elevator. You were meant to be in my life. You were made for me. Everyone can see that, but Jeremy. He’s too hung up on not getting his own way for once. The whole time we’ve been friends it’s always been the same. If he wants something he gets it, it’s who he is. For the first time in his life he can’t have what he wants and he thinks I’m to blame. In a way I think that’s what his whole attraction to you is. Of course, I believe that he wants you for the same reasons I want you; your mind, your compassion, your beauty and your soul, but he wants you more because he knows he can’t have you.”

She nods her head once and looks down at our clasped hands.

“I understand that, but he is your friend, your brother. You two have been friends for so long and I hate that I have destroyed that bond.”

“Ava, you haven’t destroyed anything, he’s doing that on his own. All we can do is hope that he will come to his senses soon.”

The next day Travis calls me and is pissed off. He threatens legal action for breach of contract and I just apologize and promise that I’ll be at the next show. I have no idea when that will be, but I really have no intentions to be part of the band again until Jeremy wakes up to himself and stops acting like a tool.

Just after I end the call with Travis I get another call. Looking down at my phone I see it’s an unknown number. I’m curious as I accept the call.

Holding the phone up to my ear I say “Hello?”

“Brody?”

The voice is one that I haven’t heard for a long time, but it’s not one that I will forget anytime soon.

“How did you get this number?”

She laughs nervously. “Oh that nice manager of yours gave it to me. It took me a few calls to get it out of him, but in the end, he gave it to me and said that maybe I could talk some sense into you. I don’t know what he meant by that, though.”

“So, what do you want? Why are you calling me?”

“Brody, I realize that I’ve made so many mistakes when it comes to you, but I’m hoping that we can meet up. I miss you. I want to see you.”

I can’t believe the nerve, does she think I will just forget about all the shit and forgive her?

“No. I’m sorry, I can’t”

Ending the call I tuck my phone into my pocket and grab a beer out of the fridge. What the fuck just happened? Why would Travis give her my number? He knows I don’t want to have anything to do with those people. And why the fuck would she just be calling me out of the blue? I try to forget about her as I sip on my beer.

Pulling my phone back out of my pocket, I scroll through and find Ava’s work number.

When she picks up the sound of her voice calms me.

“Hey, Baby.”

“Brody, what’s wrong?”

“I just had a really strange phone call. I just needed to talk to you about it.”

“Who was it?”

“Ava, it was my Mother.”