What You Do To Me (Unexpected Love) (36 page)

             
“Have you been talking to him?” I needed to know if he
had
been talking to Alex behind my back. I
knew
he already
did
it with Lexi, but this was different.

             
“Yes and no, He called me after his trip to see you. He was devastated and he told me
things,
Abbs, things you need to hear from him. He isn’t some guy who can’t love you and the girls. Why do you think I brought it up on my trip and told you I was wrong? You needed to hear it from the person putting doubt in your head. I set this up with Sam
though;
Alex doesn’t know you are here. The suite is from Sam. That
was
why I was upset. I thought you would figure this out and I was on the phone with her when you came out.
She’s
waiting for us now.” I
understood
things more, but I felt like Derek should have told me Alex called him. Derek was my friend. I
felt
betrayed
as
I
had
with
Lexi;
that
more
secrets
had
been kept from me.

             
“I
am
your friend. You should have told me, you are no better then Lexi. The lies and secrets.” I was so angry I wanted to punch
him, or
scream in his face, but I could barely find the strength
to
speak.

             
“I didn’t
lie.
You never asked if I talked to him. I didn’t tell you because I was hoping you would figure this out and do it yourself. Do you t
hink I like bringing you to him?
Abby, there
might
not be
an
attraction between us, but I love you and I
hoped
everyday that something would spark between
us.
I know I’m not your fate, but
it doesn’t change the fact I want
it
to be.”

             
I
looked
at
Derek, saw the hurt in his eyes,
and
realized
this
was
why he was so quiet at dinner. That he was
upset,
because he was bringing me to Alex and he knew that things with Alex would be settled and depending on how we
settled
them
, could decide
the chance he
had
in my future. Without
thinking,
I walk over to
Derek, hug him at the waist,
and lay my head on his chest. “I don’t hate you, I love you. I need you in my life, but you talking to him behind my back
is
not
okay
.”

             
“I know you don’t hate me and even if you did, I could wear you down and it wouldn’t last long.
See,
you could only hold the hatred for less th
a
n a minute.”  I
pinched
his side. “Hey, so are you ready to face this? Either
way, we’re
getting drunk
tonight.
All
this heartfelt talk is making me a little
nauseous
.” I
laughed
, because that
was
the Derek I
loved
so much.

             
“He doesn’t know I’m coming?” I
asked
quietly.

             
“Sam promised me
that
she wouldn’t say anything to him.” I wanted
this.
I wanted to talk to him, but I was worried if I talked to Alex in
person,
I would crumble.
“What
was
the worst thing that could
happen?
You
’re
already miserable.”
This
time,
I
pushed
him away from me, but he
was right.
I really was miserable.

             
“Fine, but if
it
doesn’t
work out
, promise me this is over. No more Alex talk and no more talking behind my back.”
I was
looking at him right in the eyes.

             
Swiping his hands over his heart in a cross
motion,
Derek
said
, “Promise, no more interfering with Alex.” I look at him wondering if he
was
done. “
Abbs,
have I ever broken a real promise?” We already knew that
answer,
so I didn’t respond.

             
We walked around to the
side, which was
away from the main entrance and there was a guy at the back door. I felt
my
knees growing weak and
I
wasn’t sure how my legs were carrying me right now. Derek talked to the guy and the guy spoke into the headset he was wearing. Then the door opened and
another man in all black escorted in us
. Without realizing it, I reached out and took Derek’s hand. I was
nervous.
I didn’t know why I just didn’t turn and run on the sidewalk.
As we walked down the
hallway,
I wondered how seeing Alex would go, what would I say or would I be able to tell him my real feelings. When we turned a
corner,
we saw
Sam.
She
was smiling and waving to us. She met us on our walk to her and she grabbed me and pulled me into a huge hug. “Abby, I’m so glad you are here. I had to work on Derek here to get him to agree to this, but he knew how miserable you are and Alex is just unbearable since his visit to see you. We needed to do this for the both
o
f you.”

             
“Sam, what if thi
s is a
mistake?
” I was looking at
her,
knowing it
was
a possibility
that this was
a huge mistake.

             
“It’s not
,
you need to see something. Something he does every show since he left you and it’s breaking my heart. Do you think you can hang in this room over here until the show
starts
?
I don’t want Alex to see you yet. I need
for
you to watch the show.” I
nodded
my head in agreement.  When we walk
ed into the
room,
Sam asked
Derek to
excuse himself so that she could
talk to me
alone
just for a second. I
nodded
to Derek that it
was
okay
and he
stepped
out of the room. “Look, I understand your hesitation with all of this and
honestly,
seeing how broken he was when he
returned,
I wanted to kick your ass. I really did, but after talking to Derek, I understand why. He told me why you pulled away, and I don’t blame
you.
Honestly,
I wish growing up I had a mother who put me first. I didn’t, I had Alex. I know Alex told you he isn’t my real brother, but Alex is the person who has taken care of me. He protected me from my foster parents who had us just for the check. When he signed at
eighteen,
he could have left me behind. He never
went
on long tours
,
and when he finally had enough to buy a
place,
he moved me in. My foster parents didn’t even notice or care,
since
they were still getting their money
.” She paused for a second and handed
me a tissue. I
hadn’t
even
notice
tears running down my face. “He put me through school and afterwards he asked me to work for
him,
because he wanted family around, said he needed family around. I couldn’t refuse and I didn’t want to. You need to get to know Alex before you judge him or his character. That is all
I’m asking from you.” She leaned over and gave
me a hug. “I’ll come grab you once they get on stage.
”

             
When Sam
left,
Derek came back into the room. I was crying and felt awful about everything that had
happened with
Alex. I judged him and Sam was
right,
I
hadn’t
even
given
him a chance to show me who he was. I look
ed
back and realize
d
I assumed it wasn’t possible to love my kids because they weren’t his and because he is a rock star. Which he use to tell me
repeatedly
he
wasn’t,
that it was just his job.

             
By the time Sam came back to get us,
I pull
ed
myself together and fix
ed
myself
in the mirror. She led
us to the right side of the stage area and we watch
ed from a darker spot where we were
not visible from the stage
. Alex looked amazing on stage. His jeans hugged all the right places and his shirt clung to him showing off his muscles underneath. Looking at him, I wanted him. I could feel his touch and I knew if he wanted me when we
talked,
I was already
his.
I couldn’t walk away again. After the main
performance,
before the encore, the band left the stage and left Alex alone on the stage with his acoustic guitar and he started playing. I immediately recognized the melody it was
Hey, There
Delilah
. This was a song that is not even close to the type the band normally sings. When Al
ex started
singing,
my mouth sho
t open when he didn’t say
Delilah
,
he said Abby. I froze and I think I may have stopped breathing. I had tears filling my eyes and my throat started burning from the tears that I was trying
to
fight. 
I watched him and he sang with his eyes closed. The whole time I felt my heart hurtin
g. I hurt for all the pain I saw I had put him
through,
and for the
pain,
I had put myself through. I wanted to run to him, but
knew better th
a
n to do it in front of thousands of people. When Alex
finished,
he exited to the opposite side of the stage. Everything went pitch black and the crowd was going crazy. Derek grabbed me by the waist and leaned in asking me if I was
okay
. I laid my head on his chest and
cried;
something that seemed to be a common occurrence for me lately.

             
The whole band rejoined on the stage for their encore performance and everything again seemed normal, everything except me. When they were
done,
all the guys exited together and I knew I needed to get to Alex. I looked at Derek and he knew what I needed. He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the back to the hallway
.  W
e saw Sam coming towards us. “I’m glad you finally saw
that.
Come
on,
he’s in the back with the guys.” We followed Sam. As we walked
back,
there were people moving everywhere and I saw girls, lots of them. When we got to the
door,
Sam turned to me. “Why don’t you walk in
first?
” Sam opened the door and I pushed it part way
open
and saw Alex. A girl was on his
lap, she was kissing on his neck,
and his hand was moving up her skirt
.
I took a step back, turning and started walking away. Derek tried to grab my arm to ask me what was
wrong
, but
I shook his arm off. He reached for the door
at
the same time Sam yelled my name. Tears were now streaming down my face. I felt like an idiot for coming.

             
As I rounded the
corner,
I heard my name being yelled out
again.
When
I
turned,
I saw it was Alex and I saw Derek grab and throw him up against the wall. I didn’t stay to see anymore, I needed to get out of there.