Crossed Affairs--Chapter One

Crossed Affairs.</i>
Chapter One.

“Bullet for the pain!” Theon screamed the last line of the song into the microphone, meeting the eyes of every girl in the front row that he could see.
He stood back and let the music absorb him. It swirled around him, flowing into every pore, making his heart beat faster. This was the feeling that he lived for. Music was what he was born to do. The feeling of standing onstage with complete control over the crowd, only having to wave his hand to command the masses that flocked in thousands to every Lovex concert was a wonderful feeling, an irreplaceable feeling.
The last notes of the song were played, and the stadium erupted into cheers.
Vivian stepped to the front with his guitar hanging from his shoulders and his arms spread wide. The fangirl screams and cheers grew louder, and he threw back his head, letting the waves of cheers wash over him.
“Thank you, Munich!” Theon yelled into the mic, stepping off the stage for a moment to high-five the people in the front row. It was no different this time; countless girls that had declared their “love” to him on more than one occasion now had eyeliner running down their faces, tears streaming from their eyes, as Theon brushed their outstretched hands with his own for only a mere second of their life.
But one hand managed to tightly grasp his own, refusing to let go. As Theon tried to pull his hand free, his eyes fell on the beautiful girl, whose hand was clutching his own as if it was her lifeline, the only thing that could possibly keep her alive. There was such longing in her eyes, and it was painfully clear that she was dying, that Theon had Sammy come down and lift her up over the barricades before she was swallowed by the crowd.
Once she was safely in Sammy’s arms, she looked up, smiled and promptly fainted, not from sheer disbelief, but from weakness that she could no longer control.
As Theon stared at her face, the stadium fell completely quiet as the spectators watched Theon on the images projected onto the arena screen as he took the unknown girl into his arms and rushed her backstage.
Julian left the stage, hearing the uproar caused by Theon’s apparent favoring of a fangirl. He shook his head, wondering what was so special about this girl.
Once backstage, he wandered off into the private dressing room that was closed off to everyone but the band members at that time. When he entered, everyone looked up but Theon, who was absorbed in the task of cleaning off the wounds inflicted on the girl’s arms.
He sat down next to Vivian, a grim look on his face, and sighed.  “What’s going on…?” he asked quietly.
“Apparently her name is Maria and she has something to do with Theon.” Vivian muttered.
Jason leaned in. “Maybe they had an affair.” he suggested.
Vivian sighed. “Surprise, surprise…”
“Maria…” Theon’s voice came from the corner.
Maria’s eyes slowly flickered open. She groaned and tightly gripped Theon’s arms.
Theon leaned down closer to her. “Maria, what’s happened to you?” he whispered. “I can feel all of your bones through your clothes…you’re so much thinner now…”
Vivian was absorbed in the strange scene. There were so many questions. Who was Maria? Did Theon have an affair with her?
A shrill sound came from his pocket. His phone.
Nobody bothered to ask as he rushed outside to take the call.
“Hello?” he breathed.
“Viv?” It was Mark, his best friend back in Finland.
“Hey Mark. Why are you calling while I’m on tour?”
“Uh. I have some…really bad news. Bad. Sit down.”
Vivian sat down against the wall, thoughts racing through his head. Could someone have died? Was it his lover, Haley?
“It’s about Haley.”
Vivian’s heart stopped. She couldn’t have died…
“The minute you left for Germany,” Mark began. “Haley made it public that she was sleeping with four other guys…she’s been doing that since…March? Yeah.”
Vivian clutched at his chest. “But…Haley…I love her…she’s my life…”
Tears came to his eyes. How could he have missed this? Haley loved him, he knew that. Why would she do this?
“Look, Viv,” Mark sighed. “Don’t let this bother you. She’s not worth it if she did this to you. Definitely not. Just-“
“What, did you fuck her?” Vivian snapped, his voice cracking.
Silence on the other end of the line. “Viv. Seriously. Why would I do that? I know who did it, and it definitely was not me. You know me well enough to know that I would never do that. I would never screw you over like that. Never.”
Vivian sighed. “I’m sorry…my patience just snapped right there. This is all so sudden…” A few stray tears fell down his face.
“Look, Viv,” Mark said. “Just call Haley. I know you really don’t want to do this right now, but you need to talk…you need to end it. She fucking cheated you. You deserve better. She’s a slut. Even the guys who slept with her said that.”
Vivian sniffed and ran his hand through his hair. “Okay…thanks Mark. You’re amazing for telling me this, you know? It would’ve hit me harder if I’d come home to her fucking someone in our bed…”
He said bye and hung up.
He and Haley had been dating for three years. Those three years were the best of his life. He was even going to ask her to marry him when he got off tour.
But all of that was gone. Just like that, it was all gone.
He wiped his eyes and dialed Haley’s number on his mobile.
“Mhmmm?” came Haley’s breathless voice through the phone.
“Haley. We need to talk.” Vivian said firmly.
She gasped. “Uh…I’m in the middle of something…can I call you back?”
“No, you can not fucking call me back!” Vivian yelled.
“Look-“ There was a clatter from the other end of the line, followed by moaning and heavy breathing that sounded far away.
Vivian’s eyes grew wide. That bitch…she was with someone right now!
“Bitch!” Vivian yelled into the phone. “Pick up the damn phone now!”
There was some muttering that sounded like she was telling someone to get off her. Then she came back to the phone, whispering, “Not now…mmm…babe, I’m on the phone-“
“Fucking slut!” Vivian screamed. “You’re fucking someone while you should be listening to me? What the hell has been going on while I’ve been gone? I’ve heard it’s been going on since March!”
“Babe-“
“Fuck you! I’m fucking talking right now! You won’t get a chance to say anything, because now what’s been told to me has been proved! You’ve been fucking sleeping around! Who the hell is there with you?”
“…Brian.”
“That bastard…and you’re a fucking dirty slut! Don’t ever speak to me again! I don’t want to see or speak to you ever again! Get all your shit out of my house and leave! Someone is going to check it tomorrow, so get the fuck out of there.” He sighed. “I thought you loved me, Haley. I loved you…you were my whole life. I would have died for you. But you fucking screwed me over. I hate you. You’re filth.”
“Listen…you weren’t paying attention to me,” she said quietly. “You were all absorbed in your music…I wanted more attention-“
“That’s bullshit!” Vivian yelled, anger pulsing through him. “I was paying plenty of attention to you, everyone said so! I was worried about that! If you wanted more ‘attention’, then you could have talked to me! Did you ever love me at all?”
“…Not after you started getting famous.”
Vivian’s heart stopped. Then he sprang up. “FILTHY SLUT!” he screamed into the phone and hung up, flinging it down next to him.
He sat down and buried his face in his arms, letting the tears come and the sadness devour him. If only he could have sensed her discomfort and done something about it…he would never be able to forgive himself…or Haley.
The tears came faster, and he sobbed, his world spinning out of control. How could this have happened to him? How could he have been so blind?
“Just…let me die…” he choked.