Tonight it's Fate - Part Eight

[wasted_rawkstar]

Tonight it's Fate -- Part Eight

Writer: Ally (wasted_rawkstar)
Fandom: Simple Plan
Rating: R
Summary: David's not sure he's taking the right path in his life. After an ill-fated motorcycle ride with friends he's even less sure, but he's not going to let that stop him from going after what his heart wants. He just has to hope that who he offers his heart to won't throw it back in his face.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven


The buzzer rang twice for the front door of Louna’s apartment building, and she ran to her door, hitting the button to let the person in from outside. It was a beautiful Saturday in July and she was getting ready to drive to an outdoor festival where Simple Plan was headlining. It would be her first time seeing David perform live since they’d officially been together and to say she was excited seemed a bit of an understatement.

A knock sounded on her apartment door and she opened it, grinning at Michelle.
“LuLu!” she exclaimed, grinning at her.

Louna laughed and offered her a warm hug. “LeLe!”

They pulled away and Michelle crashed into the apartment, dumping her backpack on the couch. “How fucking exciting is this?! I still can’t believe we get to do this,” she gushed.

Louna laughed, shrugging slightly. “Perks of dating a rockstar?”

They shared a look and Michelle shook her head. “Seriously… how did you get so lucky?”

“I don’t think luck had anything to do with it,” she replied truthfully.

It had been three weeks since the brunch at Michelle’s and now it was common knowledge amongst her friends that she and David were a couple. It hadn’t hit the internet, as far as she could tell, and she kind of wanted it to stay that way. They’d managed to settle into a bit of a routine, but the band had played more shows overseas the week before. It was odd to get used to David being there one week and completely gone the next. The only nice thing she found about that was it still allowed her the alone-time she was used to, so she was able to recharge a bit before being with him when he came back. They were working on finding a balance within the relationship and it seemed like it was close to happening. David assured her that his next few weeks off would let them settle into a groove and hopefully not alienate each other.

“Oh come on… with the way you two met and that ride from Ani’s? Definite luck or kismet or something,” Michelle stressed.

She shrugged again. “Maybe a bit of fate,” she conceded. “Divine moments of enlightenment.”

Michelle rolled her eyes playfully. “Because Buddha set you both on those paths and then they interlocked to go toward a greater destiny?”

Louna looked thoughtful for a moment, knowing it would drive Michelle crazy since she didn’t believe in much of anything and loved to mock Louna for what she did believe. She nodded after a minute and met her friend’s gaze. “I think you’re totally right,” she replied.

Michelle groaned exasperatedly. “No! Everything that happens is not because of Buddha and enlightened and all that shit,” she said. “You and David are just… meant to be somehow.”

“But not because our paths were destined to cross?”

“No. Shit happened and it’s working out. You don’t need a sign for everything,” she replied.

She smirked, refraining from making a smart-ass comment. “I guess not.”

Michelle looked smug and followed Louna back to the kitchen where she was packing food to take in the car. She raised an eyebrow at the spread. “Are you bringing an entire picnic?” she asked.

Louna frowned. “No… you know they never have food for me at things like this.”

“Fries?” Michelle offered.

She scoffed. “Cooked in the same deep fryer as the chicken strips, I’m sure.”

“Oh, yeah…” She was resigned, but not totally bothered. Louna’s diet was a chosen lifestyle and she was the only one who had to worry about it. Michelle had long given up on making apologies to her friend because of her lifestyle. “So, what’re you wearing?” she asked, quickly redirecting the conversation as Louna packed fruit into the bag on the counter.

She glanced at Michelle, who seemed to be dressed a little heavily in cropped jeans and a zipped up hoodie. Comparatively, she wore denim cutoff shorts and a white tank top. “This,” she said, unsure what her friend would say next.

Michelle arched an eyebrow. “No personalized shirt for David?” she asked. “Not even a band tee?”

She made a face. “Why would I do that? One, I don’t own band merchandise, and two, do I really need to advertise that I’m his girlfriend?” She was confused. Were there certain protocols for dating a musician that Michelle seemed to know about and she didn’t? And wasn’t it some standing rule that a person never wore the merch of the band they were going to see? And making t-shirts for a concert… she hadn’t done that since she was thirteen and had been a super fangirl for N*Sync and Justin Timberlake. She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Michelle grinned then and stepped back from her, unzipping the hoodie to reveal a t-shirt beneath it. “Too bad!” she cried. “I made you one too,” she said with a grin.

Louna’s eyes went wide and she grew mortified as she saw ‘David will you MARRY ME?!’ written in black and neon pink on the white shirt. “LeLe… no.” She shook her head. “There’s no fucking way I’m wearing that! He’d be mortified!”

Michelle rolled her eyes. “He would not. He’ll laugh the loudest, I guarantee it,” she reassured her friend.

Still, Louna shook her head. “I can’t. We haven’t even been together two months… he’d write me off for sure, even if I told him it was all your crazy idea.”

She nodded. “And that’s what you’re gonna do. I don’t think David would expect this from you… it’ll give him a good laugh. Now c’mon, you need to see yours.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she walked back to the living room where she’d ditched her bags. Louna trailed her reluctantly and watched in disdain as Michelle produced another white shirt from her bag. She shook it out and held it up to herself before turning around to face her friend. She watched as Louna’s cheeks flushed pink.

“LeLe…”

She giggled and threw the shirt at Louna. “You have to! He’ll love it!” She was adamant.

Louna picked the shirt off her shoulder and read over the text once more. It wasn’t as explicit as Michelle’s, but it was more obscene. Maybe she could compromise and not wear the shirt all day, but just for the show and for David to see afterward. She could only imagine the stares she’d get all day if she wore it around the entire festival. “It’s vile,” she said, folding it so the words were hidden.

“Oh! It’s not even that bad!” She countered. “I could’ve just put ‘David Fuck Me!’ on it… but I knew there was no way you’d wear that.”

“Oh, god no…”

“See? This is nothing. You’re wearing it, end of story. Everyone’ll think we’re aging teenyboppers and who cares? They’re right. Now let’s go… I don’t want to miss the boat races.”

Louna made another face. “Since when have you ever cared about the boat races? We have four hours to get there anyway…”

“Well I’m accounting for traffic… and the sooner we get there, the sooner I can have a beer.”

She laughed. “There’s the LeLe I’m used to…”

She flashed a smile. “It’s my excuse for when I blatantly hit on Pierre, even though he’s married… I don’t give a damn.”

“Umm…” Apprehension squeezed her stomach then and she wondered what David and his bandmates would think about her friend hitting on the singer. Unfortunately, for as much as she loved Michelle, sometimes the drunken moments her friend had could be hard to recover from. She didn’t know if now was maybe too early to have invited her to the concert or not, as it would also be her first time to meet everyone else in the band too.

Michelle giggled mercilessly then. “Oh please, I’m not that heartless! Now come on!!” She waved Louna back into the kitchen to finish packing and forty-five minutes later they were finally in the car on their way to the festival.

It took an hour to get down to the island where the festival was taking place, and fifteen minutes before they arrived, David sent a message, asking if they were on their way yet. Michelle smirked as she reached for Louna’s phone to reply, since Louna was driving.

“Don’t you dare write anything nasty, LeLe, I swear to god,” she warned her friend.

Michelle cackled. “You’re no fun! And unless you want to run us off the road, you don’t get a say!” she taunted Louna and opened the message. Almost there! Wait til you see my surprise ;)

“What’re you writing?” Louna demanded, trying to keep her eyes on the road now that they were off the highway and traveling side streets.

“Nothing bad… just teasing him a little.” She grinned.

“Oh god… LeLe…” Louna shot her friend a worried look, but didn’t say anything more. Maybe David would realize that she was driving so Michelle had to reply, but she kind of doubted it. Her phone chimed again with a new message, which Michelle read aloud.

“David says, ‘Cool. Wristbands are at will call for you. Text me when you get inside!:)’” She paused, then scrolled back through Louna’s messages with him, frowning slightly. “Does he never use the space key before his smiley faces?”

Louna laughed, suddenly not mad that her friend had gone through the texts. “Never… isn’t that the most random thing? I feel like that’s how I’ll always know it’s him texting, and not someone else.”

Michelle shook her head. “I don’t think I could put up with that,” she said. “Too weird.”

Louna shrugged. “I like it… it’s authentic to him, and he’s probably always done it, so I wouldn’t try to make him change now.”

Michelle made a face and a few minutes later they finally pulled into the parking lot outside the festival grounds. They gathered their backpacks and bags and made the trek into the site, easily getting the wristbands David had left and text him to say they were finally there. They wandered into the park, looking around aimlessly while they waited to hear back from David. It was a perfect summer day: the sun was bright but not hot, there was a cool breeze off the rover, and the spotty clouds were puffy and white against the perfect blue sky. They couldn’t have asked for a better day to spend watching boats race on the river, followed by an outdoor concert.

“Ah! Mecca!” Michelle exclaimed after a minute, breaking Louna from her thoughts.

She glanced up to where her friend was pointing and smiled. Leave it to Michelle to find the first beer garden within fifteen minutes of arriving. Louna glanced at her phone, feigning a check if David had texted back, but really just checked the time. It was just before three o’clock. Did they want to start drinking so early? She wasn’t even sure when the band was scheduled to go on stage. Thankfully, David had agreed to drive them home after the show, since he’d gotten a ride out with Jeff. Really what was the worst that could happen, aside from a ridiculous night and mega hangover the next day? Michelle’s gaze was expectant as she looked back to her. She sighed inwardly, resigned to beginning the shenanigans early. “Here goes nothing,” she said with a slight eyeroll. Michelle grinned and they went to the entrance to the beer garden, each showing their ID and getting another wristband to show they were of legal age.

Twenty minutes later they were both halfway through their beers and David finally turned up, having texted Louna to find out where they were. She smiled as he wove through the crowd, looking incredibly out of place in his black jeans, black button down short sleeve shirt, and black leather fedora over his shoulder-length hair. Hobo Chic may have started as a joke to them, but it seemed that David was pushing the limit of what he could get away with.

“Hey, hey,” he called as he walked up.

“Hi!” Louna greeted him with a bright smile and turned her face up, expecting a kiss as he leaned down to her. Instead, David kissed her cheeks and offered the same greeting to Michelle. She frowned for just a moment before realizing that any of the people around them could be fans and they weren’t there to have themselves found out.

“Glad to see you’ve made yourself at home,” he quipped to Michelle as he sat on the bench across from her, sliding in next to Louna.

She grinned. “Cold beer makes me a happy girl,” she replied.

He laughed. “I’ll remember that… so is this the plan for the day? Hang out here for the boat races and then mosey over for the show?”

Louna shrugged. “Unless you had other ideas,” she told him.

He shook his head. “Nah, not really.” He paused, raising an eyebrow at her. “Where’s my surprise?”

Louna looked confused, but Michelle laughed. “Oh, I think you’ll get it later,” she said, giving Louna a look.

She shook her head. “No. Never. I do not have any surprises for you,” she said.

“Oh come on! You can’t tease me with a surprise like that,” he replied.

“It’s not even my surprise,” she said. “It’s all her.” She pointed to Michelle. “And I’m not fucking wearing it,” she said pointedly to her friend.

“Ohhh, it’s something you wear?” he asked, intrigued. His eyes widened then. “Tell me you made a funny shirt!”

Michelle sat up then and leaned toward her, an accusatory look on her face. “I told you!” She met David’s gaze then and abruptly unzipped her hoodie, revealing her shirt with a grin. “Here’s mine!”

David laughed as Michelle stripped off the sweatshirt and held out the tank for him to read. “Nice!” he said, amusement in his voice. “A little over done, but I appreciate it… Thanks LeLe.”

She laughed. “Sure thing… just trying to support the cause, you know.” She winked at him and took a swig of beer.

Louna had fallen silent, watching the boats on the water. It didn’t matter to her that David had seemed okay with Michelle’s shirt, because it was much tamer in comparison, and even if he found the other shirt hilarious, she still felt an edge of discomfort about it.

“So where’s the one you’re supposed to wear?” he asked, lightly tapping Louna’s leg with his foot under the table.

She looked back at him, frowning slightly. “I’m not wearing it. I’ll put it on for one photo and that’s it.”

“Ohh, come on… it can’t be that bad.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s my choice and you’re both being fucking rude about it,” she snapped.

Michelle’s eyes widened and she looked away, taking a drink of her beer.
David shifted over on the bench and lightly touched Louna’s arm. “Sorry,” he said quietly. “Just… forget about whatever shirt, okay? Today’s supposed to be fun.”

“Yeah, real fun,” she shot back sarcastically.

David lifted his hand, realizing he wasn’t going to remedy the situation, or Louna’s mood, until she was ready. “All right, well… did you want to come backstage before the show, or just after? I already asked and there’s no room for side-stage tonight, so that’ll be another time.”

Louna didn’t meet David’s eyes, instead she looked at Michelle, who shrugged. Somehow her boyfriend’s comment had cut deeper than Michelle’s insistence over the shirt. She knew it was irrational to be so worked up over a stupid shirt, but didn’t they both have to respect that it was her decision to wear it or not? And it was taking most of her self-restraint to not push David away and curse at him. He was right: today was supposed to be fun, only he and Michelle were on the verge of wrecking it. She inhaled thickly and grabbed her cup, taking a long drink of beer. The awkward silent pause stretched the table and she took her time before finally answering. She wanted David to realize how unhappy his comment had truly made her.

“Let’s just do after,” she replied after the moment had gone on a few seconds too long.

David nodded. He could see then that Louna was dismissing him for the day. He wasn’t exactly sure what he’d said or done to justify the cold shoulder, but he’d gotten to know her well enough that it was clear when she wanted her space back. “Sure. Just text me if you change your mind, okay?” She gave a short nod and David looked back to Michelle, who gave him a tight smile and a slight tilt of her head to indicate that he should leave. He took the cue and slid out from the table, glancing at Louna once more before he left, but she was deliberately looking at the water and away from him. He suppressed a sigh and walked away from the table. He was disappointed with how the afternoon was turning out and hoped things would change before the show; he knew better than to hold his breath on it.

“Okay, he’s gone,” Michelle announced once David had left the beer garden. “Why did you pull the bitch card today?”

Louna’s face was hard as she looked at her friend. “Why did you? That shirt is fucking obscene and I’m not going to wear it. Nor am I going to let either of you bully me into it. It was fucking rude, I’m pissed, and now what I’d really like is another beer.”

Michelle frowned. “But you’re not-” She stopped mid-sentence as she watched Louna take her half-full beer and chug it down, dropping the empty plastic cup back onto the table.

“Done?” she asked, then stood up from the table. “Oh, I’m done.”

She marched back through the crowd to the beer station and Michelle drew in a heavy breath, knowing how this night could end up and hoping David would be strong enough to make it through, because Hurricane PB was just making landfall.

# # #

“David!” Louna’s voice rang clear and loud in the makeshift backstage area as she drew his name out in a sing-song tone. She held her arms out to him as she walked up, swaying just slightly on her feet.

He laughed nervously and shot a look at Michelle, wondering what had changed in the hours since they’d seen each other. “Hey,” he greeted her back cheerily; glad she was happy to see him after earlier.

She fell onto him in a hug, oblivious to his sweaty clothes and soaked hair. “Ohmygod you guys were amazing,” she gushed. “That show was incredible.”

He only half smiled. “Thanks,” he said, then looked at Michelle for some explanation, but he didn’t need one from her. Louna lifted her head and kissed him hard. All David could taste was beer, and in that moment he realized she was drunk. Very drunk. He pulled away after the brief kiss and brushed her hair from her shoulders, wondering if he should just take her back to the car right then.

She pouted slightly, her arms still wrapped around him, but then giggled. “Ohmygod, did you see my shirt?!” She pulled away and yanked down the tank top, stretching the words slightly as David looked at it in the dim light between the trailers.

He could barely make it out with the way she continued to shift around, and his contacts were shot from the show, but that was another matter. Finally, he pieced together the phrase: ‘David Can I Ride You All Night’ with some sort of pink heart beside it and he laughed, shaking his head. He could see then why she’d been reluctant to wear it, but now with the liquid confidence she had clearly dropped her reservations. He nodded at her, reaching his hands back around her waist. “That’s perfect,” he told her, smiling. “I like it.”

She laughed and kissed him again. “But will you let me?” she asked, looking at him with her best sultry eyes.

David smirked, looking past how drunk she was and the half-lidded gaze, which he knew for himself meant passing out was near imminent. “Mm, you know it,” he replied playfully with a wink at her.

She giggled and pressed into his embrace, her hands wrapping tight around the shirt over his hips.

He stroked down her back and looked at Michelle, who rolled her eyes. Unfortunately, after Louna had decided to start drinking and not stop that day, there hadn’t been much she could do, and she wasn’t going to offer excuses or reasons for her friend’s behavior to David. She knew he could come to the right conclusions on his own.

“All right, are you ready to go back to the car?” David asked. “I’ll have Jeff get my stuff and we can head out.”

She pushed away from him and pouted slightly, her eyebrows creasing into a frown. “No… when do I get to meet the guys?”

Her voice held genuine disappointment and David chewed his lip. He’d wanted to introduce her to the band earlier, but now he wasn’t so sure. He didn’t want their first impression of Louna to be while she was wasted; but he clearly couldn’t tell her that right now. The line he was treading was fine enough as it was. “We’ll do it at the next show,” he said gently. “Think we need to just get water and back to the car.”

She outright glowered then, moving further away from him, but still holding onto the hem of his shirt. She felt a little too unsteady on her feet and things weren’t staying in the right place as she looked at her boyfriend. She knew she was drunk, but she didn’t care and no one else should’ve either. It was her choice and everyone else could just deal with it. “What, you think I’m too drunk to meet your band right now?” she asked, her tone accusatory.

David replied slowly, his words cautious. “Maybe a little.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement outside the trailer that was their temporary dressing room and he sensed people walking up behind them. He hoped it was the event staff and that they’d just move on, but he knew he might not be that lucky.

“Fuck you!” Louna’s voice was shrill. “Like you weren’t drunk the first time you met me and didn’t even remember?!” She spat the words at him and held his gaze, wondering what sort of ridiculous reply he’d come up with to counter her.

“Whoa, David… you need me to get security for you?”

A voice she didn’t know cut through the tension of the moment and Louna dropped her grip on David’s shirt, turning to look at who’d joined them. She recognized Pierre immediately, but didn’t know the blonde woman standing beside him. She scoffed at the singer, not caring that this was how they were meeting officially for the first time. “Yeah, because he fucking needs security for his shitfaced girlfriend.” She rolled her eyes and tossed her hair haughtily over her shoulder, looking back at David with a smirk. “How’s that for a first impression?” Her words slurred just slightly and she stepped back, trying to keep her balance.

David blinked and stayed silent as Michelle stepped to Louna’s side and steadied her, the tension rising between everyone.

“LuLu, let’s go,” Michelle said quietly.

She glared at her friend for a moment before looking back to David. “Are you coming, or do you just want to ditch my drunk ass?” she asked him.

He held her gaze. “I’ll go with you, but only if that’s what you want,” he replied, his voice calm and masking the tension he felt.

She rolled her eyes again. “Don’t be fucking stupid… come on.”

He nodded, not wanting to start anything else between them. “Okay, let me get my stuff. I’ll meet you by the gate up there.”

Michelle replied before Louna could say anything. “Sure. We’ll be there.” She took her friend’s hand and started leading her back the way they’d came.

David watched them for a second then took a step toward the trailer. Pierre met his eyes before he could turn away and he shook his head. “Dude, don’t,” he said.

The singer shook his head. “I’m not saying anything,” he replied. “She was wasted… I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.”

Beside him, Lachelle nodded along with her husband. She’d been silent through the entire exchange and could see that David was uncomfortable with the situation. However, she’d been in Louna’s same situation a few times herself and couldn’t pass judgment either. “You just need to get her home… get food for the road.”

David made a face. “Yeah… catch up with you guys later?” They both nodded and David hurried back to the trailer to grab his things.

Jeff looked up as he walked back inside. “Hey! Where’s Louna? You guys missed Pierre and Chelle.”

He shook his head and stripped off his sticky shirt, ignoring the curious looks from Seb, Chuck, and the few other crew guys who were still there. “They met outside,” he said. “Lou’s a little wasted, so we’re gonna skip the rest of the introductions.”

Jeff’s eyebrows rose as he could hear the stress in David’s voice, clearly unhappy with what had happened outside and his girlfriend’s behavior. “She okay?”

He yanked the clean shirt on then kicked off his shoes, peeling off the sweaty socks and jeans. “She’s drunk. She’ll be fine.” His words were short as he stuffed the dirty clothes into his backpack then pulled on clean pants and slipped on fresh socks before pulling his boots on. He gathered the rest of his things quickly, grabbing extra bottles of water from the table along with some of the leftover fruit and a bag of trail mix. He barely said good-byes to his bandmates before he left, wanting to get back to Michelle and Louna and make it to the car before Louna passed out, or something worse.

He shook his head as he walked the backstage maze; was this really all because of the stupid shirt? It hadn’t even been that bad - hardly the obscene thing that Louna had originally said. And when had the alcohol changed her mind? And why had she let herself get so far gone? She knew that he wanted her to meet everyone tonight. Had this been some subconscious defense mechanism to guard against her insecurity of his friends not liking her? It sent an entirely different message to them that she’d gotten wasted at their show and acted like an idiot in front of Pierre and Lachelle. The only silver lining was that Lachelle was a party girl herself and knew firsthand what these nights were like. David hoped the couple wouldn’t hold the first impression against Louna, but that was beyond his control. He also didn’t totally care because he and Pierre had been at such odds the last couple years. They all had their own lives and as they all continued to grow up it was more apparent how they had more differences than commonalities anymore. He knew that they’d always be friends because of the band, but the couple was never his first choice to hang out with when it came down to it. No way were Louna and Lachelle going to hit it off and become best friends. He knew that would be a tenuous friendship at best and he was all the more grateful that Jeff had gelled so well with her from the beginning.

Finally, he rounded the corner and saw the backstage exit gate, but his stomach sank at the sight of Pierre crouching next to Louna, who was sitting on the pavement. Michelle stood beside them with a worried expression. Her eyes met David’s as he hurried over, anxious thoughts swimming in his head. Why had Pierre hung back with them? Had Louna said anything bitchy to him? And why was she sitting on the ground? He also wondered if they might be better off trying to find a hotel nearby instead of driving the hour back home. He honestly wasn’t sure what the best decision or scenario was, and maybe Louna would just bounce back after she’d hydrated a little. He’d never seen her totally drunk before, though they’d been out drinking together plenty of times. It seemed that she was a bit of a different person when the alcohol took over, and David knew what that was like. He’d been keeping himself in check the last few years to make sure those demons weren’t allowed to surface around the wrong people.

Relief passed over Pierre’s face as David walked up then, crouching beside them and reaching for Louna’s hand. He noticed a large, bloody scrape on her knee and she winced as he turned her hand over, seeing the heel of her hand scraped as well. He knew her other hand was probably torn up too and that she must’ve fallen down. He held in his sigh as she met his eyes, blinking blearily. “What happened?” he asked, keeping his voice quiet.

She dropped his gaze, looking down at her scraped up skin and shaking her head. “I just fell…” She took a short breath, suppressing the emotions that threatened. “I’m a fucking mess.”

David sighed outwardly then. “No you’re not,” he replied. “You’re drunk… there’s a difference.” She looked up at him, her lips forming a pout and he reached to tuck her hair back behind her ear. “C’mon, we’ll get you cleaned up at the car, okay?”

She took a deep breath, nodding slightly.

“Okay. You want to walk with LeLe?” She nodded again and David hid a smile as Michelle rolled her eyes, totally annoyed that she’d turned into Louna’s babysitter that night. “All right. On your feet.” He reached around her, carefully helping her up from the pavement and letting Michelle step to her side. Pierre held out an opened bottle of water to him and he passed it to Louna. “Drink that while we walk, and don’t puke on LeLe’s shoes, okay?”

Louna took the water and glowered at him. “I’m not going to puke,” she replied, too tired and her brain too muddled to come up with a snappy comeback.

David smiled slightly. “I’ll believe that when I see it,” he told her. He gathered the bags Michelle had set down and trailed after the two women.

Pierre fell instep beside him. “I sent Chelle ahead to the car,” he said. “Wasn’t sure if you might need help.”

David nodded, his eyes fixed on Louna’s feet moving steadily over the pavement; at least she seemed to be moving under her own power and not helplessly hanging off Michelle. She might not have been as bad off as she’d seemed earlier, but it was impossible to tell. “Thanks… but I can probably handle it from here.”

He nodded. “Think she’ll be okay in the car?”

David shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know… I’ve never seen her this drunk before.”

Pierre stopped walking then and turned to look at David. “Really?” He seemed surprised.

David stopped and faced him with a frown. “Is it that hard to believe? We’ve only been together for like six weeks, two of which we were in Europe.”

“Okay, yeah, I don’t know… I just thought,”

“What you thought,” David interrupted him, “was based on my relationships from years ago. I’m not that guy anymore, and that’s not the Louna I have a relationship with,” he said, gesturing to the pair who were still walking away from them. “We both know how that works,” he told the singer, implying how they’d both grown up, but also that Lachelle wasn’t the same person Pierre had met many years ago.

Pierre nodded, understanding exactly where David was coming from. It had been a testament to his friend then, how much he had changed in the last few years.
There had been a time when David wouldn’t have given a second thought to getting just as drunk as Louna appeared to be, or gotten inexcusably angry at Pierre for even touching the subject. Now David simply dismissed it with an easy logic and moved on. One night didn’t define his relationship with Louna and he knew all his friends had issues to work through, so who were they to judge his girlfriend for making some bad decisions that day?

“Please don’t judge her before you get to know her, man. This is not her… I don’t know why she fucking did this.”

David’s voice was tired and Pierre shook his head. “Dude, don’t worry. I know you’re with her for a reason. I get it. Chelle gets it, it’s cool. Jeff said he really likes her and I mean, that alone…”

He trailed off and David nodded, grateful for the singer’s acceptance.

“David?”

Michelle calling to him abruptly cut off whatever might’ve been left of his and Pierre’s conversation and he hurried to catch up to where she and Louna stood. Louna definitely looked more sober and David knew the walk and the water had helped to pull her from the edge she’d been teetering on. “How we doin’?” he asked.

Louna made a face, pressing her lips together in a frown. “I’m sorry,” she said after a second. David shook his head, but before he had a chance to reply, Louna noticed Pierre. “Oh fuck.” She turned away, lifting a hand to her face. “David, I’m so sorry… I totally fucked up.”

Her embarrassment shone in her words and he shook his head again, stepping around her so he could meet her eyes. “Shit happens, okay?” he told her. “You drank too much and we’re movin’ on. What do you need right now?”

She swallowed hard, trying to keep herself under control. She kind of just wanted to have a breakdown because she’d been such an idiot and gotten wasted and taken it out on him when he hadn’t deserved it at all. And even worse was having Pierre and his wife there to witness the worst part of it. At least she hadn’t screamed at Pierre when he’d first tried to help after she’d fallen; that wouldn’t have been so easy to come back from. Mostly this night had turned into humiliation on her part and David probably wouldn’t put up with her bullshit after this, because who would? She was half psychotic and clearly not relationship material for anyone, much less a rockstar.

“Lou, what do you need?”

David’s voice gently pulled her away from the deprecating thoughts and her control slid further from her grip. “I don’t know,” she told him helplessly. “Don’t hate me.”

His sigh was tired and he shook his head, reaching his arm around her. “Babe, I don’t hate you,” he reassured her. “C’mon, let’s just get to the car.”

She nodded and leaned on him just slightly as they finally resumed walking out to the lot. Ten minutes later they’d gotten to Louna’s car, attempted a bit of first aid on her scrapes, and then Pierre had left, saying a brief good-bye to the group.

As he walked off, Michelle couldn’t help but try to lighten the mood. “Well, I guess your drunk ass saved me from blatantly hitting on Pierre in front of his wife, so that isn’t a bad thing.”

David laughed outright, almost dropping the bag he was loading in the car. “Were you planning on it?” he asked her, still laughing a little.

She shrugged. “Kinda.”

He laughed again. “He would’ve loved it… Chelle would’ve been pissed, but he would’ve loved it.”

Michelle nodded. “That’s what I thought,” she told David. “Lou doesn’t believe me when I know these things, but I’m really good at reading people.” She looked at Louna pointedly. “Hence your shirt, which David clearly had no problem with.”

She rolled her eyes and made a face at Michelle, sticking out her tongue. “Fuck off.” She sighed then, standing up from the tailgate of her car and minding the gauze bandage stuck over her knee. “I need food.”

“Me too,” Michelle agreed. “David, you want to drive, or you want me to?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I can drive. Shotgun for drunky?” he teased Louna. She glared at him and he smiled. “Don’t want you to get car sick,” he said.

She rolled her eyes, shuffling to the passenger’s side and climbing in the car. “One more joke and I might puke on your shoes,” she warned him.

David grinned as he slid into the driver’s seat, looking over at her. “Just don’t get it on the shirt, okay? You need to wear that for me again sometime.”