77 Nothing hurts when you’re dead

LJ

I could feel Rory in my arms as she cried her eyes out. I tried to hug her closer, but she was pushing me away, refusing comfort, refusing me.

"Baby," I hushed her. "It's me, it's me."

"I know!" Rory cried. "I hate you!"

I tried to reach for her face so that she would look at me but she kept turning away. I couldn't see her face. She had no face.

"Baby, it's me, everything will be okay," I said to her. I tried to embrace her again but she pushed me away again. Constantly pushing me away. So frustrating. I was beginning to lose my patience.

"Baby, just tell me what's wrong," I said.

Suddenly, she turned to face me and she wasn't crying. She smiled. It was a sickening, evil smile. "But you know what's wrong, Baby," she drawled. It was only then that I realised it was not Rory. It was Chastity.

I stood up, letting her go, and she fell to the floor like heavy bag. She was laughing. She laughed and laughed. But nothing was funny.

I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I turned around and a fist landed on my mouth. I fell backwards and felt my whole face throbbing in pain.

"It was that drunk woman who bumped into us outside the club, do you remember them?"

I tried to look at my attacker, but my vision blurred. "What?" I mumbled. It was hard to speak. I felt the need to punch his face in and reached for the collar of his shirt.

"She called me your bodyguard. Remember?"

"What the hell are you saying??" I shouted at him. I squinted at him to get a better view of his face but it was too dark.

He doubled. He was now two people. He ignored me and answered himself. "I don't remember what they looked like, I didn't look at them at all."

Then, there were three of them and they sounded like Ned. "Did you get a good look at them, Marky," Ned asked.

"I did, I would be able to identify her," Mark said. He looked like he wanted to go do that now.

"You don't need to identify her, she's not the suspect, I am, and she already identified me," Burt said to him. He looked at Ned. "But if there was anything at all that happened that could be considered physical contact, it was a woman and her boyfriend bumping into me as they walked out of a club while Mark and I stood on the sidewalk. But that's all that happened."

"You also bumped into them on your way to the bathroom," Mark said. "I kind of remembered that and now I realize they're the same people."

Burt was quiet for a while and hung his head. "I really don't remember."

I tried to sit up. My bones and muscles ached as if we had just performed a full show at the Dome the night before. I feel like death must be better than this. Nothing hurts when you're dead.

"What's going on?" I asked. As soon as I opened my mouth, I winced in pain.

"Hey, buddy, how are you doing?" Ned asked, quickly by my side. All three of them rushed to me, Marky helped me up while Burt pulled up my pillow so I could lean on it.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked again. They explained that Burt was being accused of harassing a woman at a club and had to go to the police station for questioning. I looked at Burt. "Burt?"

"Yes, kid?" Burt asked me, mistaking my reason for saying his name.

"Do they want to question me, too?" I asked and winced again.

"Aw, kid, what hurts?" Ned asked. Ned wasn't Asshole Boss Ned today. He was the way he was when I was 14. Funny how fame and fortune changes a man.

"Everything," I replied and shook my head slightly to tell him I'm okay. Even if I'm not. "Do the police want me too?"

"For what?" Mark asked, handing me a glass of water.

"I harassed a woman at a club too," I said, ready for Ned to turn back into Asshole Boss Ned.

"Yes, you did, but nobody is pressing charges." Ned already knew and was not transforming. "So just sit tight and get your pretty face back."

I looked at Burt again. I couldn't understand what was happening. Burt is being accused of harassing a woman at a club. Burt, who would cover my eyes when we walked in on the other guys watching porn, who scolded us when we used to talk about the girlband girls' body parts back when all we could do was fantasize about them, who offered his jacket to Rory at Matt's show when they had to do some physical activity and Rory's tube top threatened to slip. Burt, who was no fun.

Meanwhile, I actually had sex with a girl in a public toilet where a bunch of other girls could plainly hear what was going on and I wasn't being accused of anything.

"This is what irony is, isn't it?" I said aloud and winced.

"Your wounds are cracking open again, you have to stop talking," Mark tsked at me.

"Don't worry about it, kid, they have nothing to go on," Burt said, ruffling my hair. A sharp pain shot down my forehead. Burt must have seen my reaction through my face because he quickly took his hand away and apologised.

"You can say you would never do such a thing," I said. "You can tell them you're married and don't need to touch other women."

"That might work too!" Mark exclaimed.

"It doesn't work that way, kids," Ned said.

"Why not?" Mark argued. "They've been painting Burt as a sex-deprived pervert, but actually he's married and is a responsible father."

"But I can be married and still be a sex-deprived pervert," Burt replied, calmly.

"But you're not," I protested.

Burt laughed. "Actually, yes I am. You can ask Michelle."

"But they might throw you in jail if they believe the woman and not you," Mark said, all serious.

"That's not gonna happen, we have the best lawyers," Ned said.

"Why are you so calm?!" I almost shouted.

"I have to protect Michelle and Billy," Burt said, quietly.

We looked at him and quickly understood. If he says he was married to save his ass, it would expose his family to the public. And they would never get a moment's peace.

Just like the first time people started to talk about me and Rory, because we were too stupid to hide our relationship from other people and fans and anti-fans started to post clues that we were dating. I said I did like her when I was interviewed about it. I didn't say that we were together, I only said I liked her. The internet turned on her immediately, called her a slut, called her ugly, called her easy, called her the most hateful girl in music. And she cried and refused to see me for weeks.

I looked at Ned. "I need to see Rory," I said.

"Sorry, kid, that's not happening even if you did get your face punched in like that." Asshole Boss Ned is back.

"Does she know?" I looked at Burt.

"That you're in the hospital, yeah probably," Ned replied. "That you're in the hospital because you beat up Biff for punching you for having sex with his girlfriend, I'm not so sure."

"Thanks for taking care of me, Ned," I closed my eyes. I feel like death might be the best thing right now.