“After!” the crowd screamed, thousands of voices blended to one. “After! After! After!”
Fuck.
Sucking in a lungful of air along with his anger, Killy prepared to stomp over to the announcer and scream, “Hell the fuck, no!”
He’d made a single step in the direction of shutting down a clusterfuck, when Rob started tapping out the beat on his drums. Ace shrugged, gave Killy a “what the fuck should I do?” face, and relented when Killy blew out his breath.
An avalanche bore down on him, one he couldn’t outrun.
A glance at Elliot showed a scrunched brow and a gaze firmly riveted on the bass in his hands. He wouldn’t make the call. Never made the call.
Never stood up for himself.
Leaving Killy to do the defending.
Still not looking at Killy, El began playing, leaving Killian no choice but to follow. Killy strung out the introduction, eyeing his brother. If El so much as flinched…
Clever hands and a generous spackling of makeup hid the bruising on the side of Elliot’s face, and long sleeves covered even more. Still, Elliot opened his mouth and belted out the words to the love song he and Killy had written back when Rob first joined the band. When El believed he’d found the love of his life.
Before the anger, the beatings, the drugs, the cheating.
Back before Rob smacked Elliot down so far even Killy couldn’t reach him.
Rob and Elliot sang to each other, and Killy fought the urge to bash his guitar onto Rob’s head. How could he dare utter words like “cherish” and “devotion”?
If only Elliot would say the words “no more,” the asshole would be out of the band so damned fast.
But he wouldn’t.
“He didn’t mean it, Killy, he was just upset about…”
Upset about being on the road, upset about not being on the road, upset because a possum ran out in front of the bus, upset because it was motherfucking Tuesday!
If he wouldn’t alienate his brother, Killy would’ve dropped Rob off a cliff. He’d been adequate when they’d started off, playing to a handful of people in seedy bars, but now Rob thought himself above the band, too good for them, and he blew one hell of a lot of money on drugs.
He also performed like an amateur.
Tonight, after the show, Killy would try talking to Elliot one more time.
“When the world turns its back on me
When no one else will care
It’s then I find my place with you
In the shelter of your arms
After, always after, forever after always you
I cherish you, you cherish me
We’ll never be alone
After all is said and done
It’s you who’ll take me home
After, always after, forever after always you.”
