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*p r e s e n t *
"She hasn't gotten out of bed in a week. I'm fuckin' worried about her."
Harlow could hear her brother's voice down the hallway. The idiot wasn't even trying to make sure she didn't hear. His gravelly tone wasn't even lowered. She shook her head, feeling like it was full of rocks.
"I don't know, Alicia. I don't know what to do. I've never seen her this fucked up," he said, apparently to his fiance, and Harlow closed her eyes tightly and sighed.
He was right. She hadn't gotten out of bed in a week for more than a few minutes at a time. She knew Corey was worried about her, and Mick had been around multiple times to try and light a fire under her and get her to at the very least play guitar with him -one of her favorite things to do normally- to no avail.
She'd barely even spoken to anyone. She hadn't told anyone about what she'd found when she'd gone to their house; when Mick had picked her up she'd been far to upset to say anything to him and he hadn't asked her to. Since, she hadn't said more than a handful of words to anyone who'd tried to speak to her. She'd just spent most of her time sleeping and crying. She hadn't showered, had barely eaten. She felt pathetic, small and more lost than she'd ever felt, but she just couldn't shake it.
She'd been so sure she and Jim would be fine - that the whole thing would blow over. But then... then he'd had whoever that woman was there. Then, he'd been serious about her leaving. Then, he hadn't answered her calls in a week. She'd gotten a few 'I'm sorry' and 'I hope you're okay' texts from him, but felt like she was having actual withdrawals from hearing his voice.
"I don't know what to do. Nothing's working. I just want her to feel better," Corey said to Alicia, snapping Harlow out of her thoughts.
"I can hear you, you fucking prick!" she hollered, and Corey went silent at once. He told Alicia goodbye and showed up in the doorway of the guest room.
"Sorry," he said quietly, stepping into the room and sitting on the edge of the bed. "It's true, though. I just wish I could make you feel better. I could fuckin' kill him."
It wasn't the first time he'd something similar. She'd had to stop him from paying Jim a visit multiple times. She figured Jim was probably expecting it, honestly, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to let Corey go scream at him and fight her battles for her. Besides, it wasn't going to do any good.
"I'm fine," she said, lying through her teeth. Obviously, he knew it.
"Yeah, and I'm the fuckin' queen of England," he said, making her smile unexpectedly. It surprised both of them and he raised an eyebrow. "I thought my dumbass dad jokes weren't funny, huh?" he demanded, making her full-on laugh. She'd been telling him his jokes weren't funny since they were teenagers, and usually they weren't. Usually, they were just stupid, and she didn't have a problem telling him so. For some reason, though, in that moment all she needed was some of his stupid humor.
"They're not funny. You're a fucking idiot," she told him, still laughing.
"Yeah, but I'm the fucking idiot that made you laugh, so I'll take it."
A few minutes passed, a contented silence settling between them. She sat up, leaning heavily against the headboard of the bed and he flopped onto his back at the other end, his head resting on her shins.
"'Knot leaves for tour in a week," she informed him quietly, like he didn't know. His eyes were closed and he didn't open them but nodded shortly.
"Yep."
"I can't come," she told him, shaking her head. Tears filled her eyes and his opened and he sat up, looking at her severely.
"What the fuck do you mean you can't come? We need you. We can't find another tech as good as you in a week, Harlow," he said firmly, shaking his head right back at her.
"Corey. I just broke up with the guy I've essentially been dating for most of my fucking life. I can't go live on a moving tin can with him for the next six months," she told him, adamant.
"Harlow, listen to me. You have to come. You have to work. You have to live. I am not going to let you pause your fucking life because of him, okay? You love touring. You love your job. You need to live. We'll have three buses; it'll be easy for you to avoid him," he told her, and she shrugged. She'd known there would be three buses; there had been for quite a while to accommodate for all the band members, crew, and family members that ended up on tour.
"Corey, I work next to him. I'm mainly his tech," she reminded him, and it was true. She'd started out teching for both Jim and Mick, but in more recent years the more varied the music and the guitars got, the band had hired another tech and she'd mainly transitioned to working with Jim.
"So you and Pat switch places. No big deal," Corey said nonchalantly, referring to the other tech. She shook her head again.
"I can't do it, Corey."
"No, okay? No. I'm not going to let you completely shut down. You're coming on fucking tour and I don't care what you say about it. I'll get Mick to help me drag your ass onto the bus against your will if I have to," he told her as a couple of tears slipped down her cheeks. "I'll be there, I'll be with you, okay? Griffin's coming out for a while too, so you can spend time with him. It'll be good, Harlow. I promise."
She thought about it, still unsure. She didn't want to, that much she was firm on. For all she cared, she could've spent the rest of her life wasting away in Corey'a guest room. It didn't much matter to her, but she knew Corey well enough to know that he wasn't going to let up.
"I'll try, okay? I'll try and if it's too hard, if it doesn't work, I'm coming home," she told him, and he raised his hands in surrender.
