3-25: Price of Fame

-----------------------------

The phone rang seven times before Harpia's voice came onto the line.

"What the fuck could you possibly want from me, Hunter?"

Apollo squeezed his eyes shut, glancing at the trees as they flashed by.

"I found your letter. And there's something I need to sa-"

Harpia's voice rose, and it was clear in her inflection that she was fucked up on something.

"I wrote that when I didn't fucking hate you, Apollo. Leave me alone."

Something heavy dropped into Apollo's chest and he swallowed hard, trying to keep calm.

"Harpia, listen to me."

"I don't want to fucking listen to you!"

There was a scuffle on the other end, and a new voice came over the line. He recognized it, vaguely, as the voice of her other childhood best friend, Casey.

"Sorry, I'm assuming this is Apollo, and I just want to say that Harpia's not in the greatest state of mind right now so don't take the shitty things she just said right now too personally."

Apollo let out a breath.

"Yeah, I can tell. Are you her boyfriend, now?"

Casey laughed, and Apollo relaxed a little.

"She bitches and moans about your ass and you guys are always fighting about some stupid fucking shit, but she still loves you. Even if I did have feelings for her, I wouldn't fuck her because I know her heart still belongs to you."

Apollo heard Harpia make a noise, and she said something in the background. Casey put his hand over the mouthpiece, but Apollo still heard him tell her to shut up.

"I'm sorry. She's really mad at you. But I swear to God, whatever she says, she's lying.

She still loves you."

Apollo cleared his throat, a tiny spark of relief in his veins.

"That's why I was trying to call. I had something to say to her."

Casey was quiet for a moment.

"I have a feeling I know what it is. And honestly, you should probably hold onto it. Tell her when you see her again. Right now, she's not going to hear it."

He noticed, somewhat, that Hale had come into the bus bedroom, and was watching him with curious eyes. He pulled his attention back to the phone, keeping his voice even.

"Alright.

Can you... Can you tell her that I'm sorry? And I'll see her in August, like I promised?"

Hale's eyebrows shot up and he crossed the threshold, tilting his head as he stared down at him.

"I can do that.

But a word of advice, Apollo.

Don't break this promise."

The line went dead and Apollo shoved his phone in his pocket, finally looking at Hale.

"What?"

"What do you have to tell her?"

Apollo rubbed his palms on his jeans, shaking his head.

"How much did you hear?"

"Well... You ran back onto this bus like a bat out of hell, pardon the non-intended pun, so I followed you.

So... everything."

Hale grinned, but there was something distant behind his eyes.

"It's nothing."

"The hell it is."

"It's between me and her."

Hale's tone shifted straight to incredulous, almost condescending.

"It's never been between just you and her."

Apollo walked through the bedroom door, down the hallway, and sat on the couch. And when Hale sat down next to him like he knew he would, he directed his attention to his now open notebook.

"Well, this time, it is."

-----------------------------

The noise on the other side of the stage vibrated the ground Apollo stood on. Or at least that's how it seemed. 

"There are six thousand people out there, Apollo. Is that a new high? Cause it seems like it is.

They love us, man!"

Apollo could barely hear Vega over the noise, but he laughed under his breath.

"Did you count every single person, or are you just guessing?"

Hale poked his head out of the side of the stage, raising his voice unnecessarily high.

"That's how many tickets were bought. You know you can look that up, right?"

He disappeared back behind the curtain and Vega followed, leaving Apollo alone. He had minutes until the show started, but he couldn't seem to get the same thing he'd been rolling around his head for days, out of it enough to concentrate.

"What's up, little brother?"

Apollo turned around so fast at the voice, he dropped the device he'd been trying to fit into his ear. He scowled openly at the sight of Icarus' face, bending down to pick it up.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Icarus didn't react to Apollo's open distaste, a huge grin spreading over his face.

"I bought a ticket to the show. You'd think as your brother I could have gotten one free. But you don't think about any of your family anymore, do you?"

Apollo shook his head, heading for the curtain behind him.

"We've never been friends. You've never given a shit about my music, or anything about me.

I don't want you here, Icarus. Go home."

Icarus brightened at his words, closing the distance between himself and his brother in mere seconds. He ignored Apollo's words, dropping his own on Apollo like a bomb.

"You're right. I don't give a shit. I was here for a different reason.

Artemis just happened to go into labor, and since I was already in this city... I thought I would tell you."

Apollo stopped short of the curtain, turning to look at his brother.

"You're joking, right? This is the biggest show of my tour so far. Are you fucking with me on purpose?"

Icarus grinned at him, shrugging a shoulder.

"Call her yourself. I don't know why she wouldn't have called you too."

His face folded in mock sympathy.

"Oh... wait. Yes I do. Because your music is the only thing that matters to you now. You don't call home, you don't give a shit about anything but those people who listen to your shitty music and feed your ego.

You already lost dad's respect. I guess Artemis was just waiting for her chance to do the same.

Shit, you even lost the one girl no one thought was possible for you to lose.

You destroy everything that you touch."

Before Apollo could think twice of his reaction, his fist collided with the side of his brother's face. He gripped him by the shoulders, and even sharing the height their father had given them, Apollo was at least five inches taller. He shoved him against the brick wall beside the curtain, his face inches away.

"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. You never did."

Harsh laughter left Icarus' throat as blood leaked from the side of his mouth and his nose. He reached up to wipe it away, leaving a smear of scarlet on his pale skin. He didn't even try to get out of Apollo's grip. It didn't even seem to phase him.

"Do you think I'm afraid of you? You can't do shit to me. You never had it in you.

Get on that stage where you think you belong. Cause you sure as fuck don't belong with us anymore.

Artemis will get over it. She always has, hasn't she?"

Apollo narrowed his eyes, trying to even out his breathing as he stared at his older brother. The one who had never really been what a brother should be. He'd spent his life making Apollo feel inferior. It's what he did. 

He released his hold on Icarus' shoulders, shoving him one more time.

"Get the fuck out of here, Icarus. 

And if you ever come to one of my shows again, I'll find a way to kill you."

Icarus laughed again, already recovered from what Apollo had done. He healed quickly, his vampire blood erasing the damage in minutes.

"I'm sure dad would forgive you for that. I guess it doesn't matter to you though.

None of us do."

Apollo flexed his knuckles, wiping Icarus' blood off of them and onto his jeans.

"You sound like a broken record. You should probably find a new song, that one's skipping."

Apollo pulled the curtain back, and he knew he was minutes late, he knew that the guys were wondering where the fuck he was. He started to go through it, pausing for one last second before at Icarus' words.

"I know you hate me. But you don't hate her. She needs you there.

Do something right for once."

He didn't even know if Icarus was telling the truth. Artemis would have told him. His mother would have. Someone other than his shitty brother would have told him what was going on. He glanced at Icarus, his words barely audibly over the increasing roar of the crowd.

"Go fuck yourself."

And he let the curtain fall behind him.

-------------------------------

"So... are you going to explain the blood on your jeans and the late arrival?"

Apollo ran cold water over his bruising knuckles in the bus sink, glancing up at Hale.

"My brother showed up. Told me that Artemis was having her baby. I punched him the face."

Hale leaned against the counter, both of his eyebrows ascending.

"Well that seems like a massive overreaction. I know kids can be annoying, but this one isn't yours, so shouldn't you be happy?"

Apollo snorted, grabbing a towel off of the counter behind Hale and drying his hands. His knuckles would definitely bruise, but at least they hadn't busted open.

"It wasn't the baby news. It was what he said other than that. And I'm pretty sure he was lying."

Hale walked over to the fridge, pulling out a coke. As he twisted the cap off, he looked at Apollo with uncertainty. He seemed to weigh his words, studying Apollo's face.

"He wasn't lying. Artemis sent Variance a picture of the baby."

Hale drank from the bottle in his hand, his eyes travelling in the direction of Variance's bus that was on the road behind them.

"She showed me after the show. Artemis named her Athena."

Apollo stared at his best friend for a long time. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. There hadn't been any texts. No calls. Nothing.

He let out a groan when final realization sank in.

"It's a new fucking phone. I never gave her this number."

Hale hesitated, drinking again from the bottle.

"Maybe that's why Icarus showed up. Have you called any of them?"

Apollo shook his head, letting out a sigh.

"Not since that shit with my dad. I haven't tried.

I saw my mom and Rhea briefly when I went back for a couple of days.

I figured my welcome there was worn out. Guess Icarus might have been right."

Hale shook his head, pulling a coke out for Apollo and twisting the cap off before handing it to him.

"I doubt that. You have the world's greatest parents. I should know, since they were basically mine too."

Apollo drank half of the bottle of coke in a few seconds, trying to resist crushing the phone in his hand into pieces.

"I fucked up."

"You do that a lot."

"I can fix it."

"Can you?"

Apollo mulled Hale's words over, pulling Artemis' number onto his screen.

"Do you ever think this whole music thing has fucked up as much as its helped?"

Hale watched Apollo send his 'I'm sorry' text with haunted eyes.

"I don't think it's the music, buddy. I think it's your choices."

Apollo slid his phone into his pocket, draining the rest of his beer. He looked at Hale, his voice imploring.

"Can I fix it?"

Hale tilted his head, his tone matching that of his best friend's.

"Can you change?"

Apollo stared at him in silence. Hale tossed the bottle in his hand into the trash, shaking his head.

"That's what I thought.

Nothing will change if you don't.

You want the girl, you want your family, you want the music.

Maybe you can't have it all. Maybe it's not meant to be.

Maybe you have to choose if you can't change the way you handle all of it."

Apollo threw his bottle in the trash on top of Hale's so hard, they both shattered.

"Maybe I can't change."

Hale fixed him with a stare full of an emotion he couldn't read.

"I think you can. You just haven't had enough of a push yet."

Hale turned for his bedroom, and Apollo raised his voice.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

But Hale didn't answer, just shut the door to his bedroom, silence settling in his wake.

-------------------------------

When I think of how cheap,
The price of fame has become
Is it all worth it
To try and be number one

It's hard to remember who I was,
When this began 
It's hard to take the lessons that I've learned,
And make amends

3-24: Everything But Me

--------------------------------

"Are you really drinking and staring at a piece of paper?"

Apollo lifted one hand to Hale, his other wrapped tightly around a bottle of whiskey.

"Yes. Go away."

Hale did the exact opposite of what Apollo said, sitting next to him on the couch of the tour bus. He had Harpia's letter sitting on the table, but he hadn't opened it yet. He wasn't sure he knew how to. And getting drunk enough to open it had seemed like a good idea. Until he reached drunk as piss and had kept going, the letter remaining folded haphazardly on the surface of the table.

"We're gonna be in New Orleans in like... ten hours. Are you going to drink all the way there?"

Apollo lifted the bottle and drank deeply, tasting nothing. He sat it down on the table with a sharp clink, nodding.

"Yep."

Hale shifted his incredulous eyes from Apollo's now empty whiskey bottle to the paper on the table, letting out a slow breath.

"Just read it, man. For the love of God. I'm going to leave this room, and go back to my bedroom, and if you don't read it before I come back, I'm reading it."

He got to his feet, taking the empty Jack Daniels bottle with him.

They were stopped at a gas station, Apollo had known that for a few minutes, but it hadn't quite registered completely. He took the letter, shoving it into the back pocket of his jeans and exited the bus. He wasn't drunk enough to stumble, but he wondered if he was a full blooded human if he would be.

He made his way into the gas station, finding the energy drinks in the back with ease. He grabbed two of them, and walked up to the counter. When he pulled his wallet out to pay for them, the girl behind the counter's eyes widened.

"Aren't you in Flatline?"

He glanced at her, his eyes slightly blurry with alcohol. From what he could see, the girl was pretty young. Around sixteen. She had short, cropped black hair, and was wearing an Issues band tee. She looked like most girls who ended up at his shows. 

"I am. Lead singer."

"And you play guitar, right? You guys are like, amazing.

That song, the last one of your album, who wrote that?

That was you, right?"

He watched her big blue eyes light up with wonder, and she dropped one of the energy drinks three times trying to ring it up as she spoke.

"Thanks. 

And, yeah. It was me."

She smiled up at him as he handed her the money, her voice shaking slightly as she continued to talk.

"I went to your show in Austin. You didn't play it. Why not? It's the best one on there."

Apollo took a step away from the counter, the drinks in his hands.

"I don't play that song at shows."

He backed up toward the door, and she studied him for a second.

"The girl in the song, she hurt you right?"

Apollo put one hand on the door handle, looking over at her.

"It's a song. A story."

She grinned, waving at him as he pushed the door open, her voice carrying through the air.

"I know. But that one's true. You can hear it in your voice.

Have a nice night, Mr. Hunter."

He waved back at her, the words she'd said playing through his head. Was he that transparent? Was the song?

Or was this girl just looking for truth in a story that was just that.

Fiction.

He blew air through his lips, popping the tab on one of the cans he'd bought. He sat down on the pavement next to the bus, watching the driver talk to some random girl by the pumps. He took a drink, and reached into his pocket.

His hands shook more than he thought they would as he opened it, laying it flat against his knee. 

The handwriting was scrawling, girly, and the paper smelled vaguely of perfume.

And it was definitely hers.

Hey, so you're asleep right now. I hope you're okay with me ripping a piece of paper out of your lyric notebook...

I probably would have done it anyways, though.
Also, it took me like... fifteen minutes to find a fucking pen. I almost had to write this in eyeliner.
You used to hole yourself up in the room all the time and write. Where the hell are your pens, man?

Okay, I'm getting off track. Or maybe I'm dancing around the subject.

I'm writing this because I'm too chicken shit to say it in person, but when you read this in a few days, I'll probably still be hanging with you in MD. When you do read this, let's sit down and seriously talk about it, okay?

Leaving you was such a fucking mistake.
Assuming you would hurt me and sleep with Caelum was a fucking mistake, too.
I've known it for awhile, and after spending these last few days with you... After making love with you again... It's made me just... Feel so fucking guilty.

I regret ever separating myself from you so much.
You know how I get and all about my lunatic tendencies. Dean really fucked me up, and I'm not using that as an excuse. I don't think I deserve good things. And if I actually get a good thing, I guess I just kind of subconsciously push them away because I feel like that good thing is either too good to be true or it's going to leave me eventually and hurt me. 

And you... You were a good thing. 
And I guess that scared me.

You made me so happy. 
And when I thought that you and Caelum had sex, I refused to even step back and get an understanding of the situation.

My first thought was that this amazing thing... You... had come into my life, and in almost a blink of an eye you had hurt me. 
And I should have listened to you.
I shouldn't have gotten the full story.
But nothing was going to convince me differently. 

When the shit hit the fan and I came back to Riverview, I started hanging out with Londyn more often and doing so many drugs.
Through Londyn and her drug-dealing boyfriend Casimir, I got involved in some gang related shit. And through the gang, I met Amos.

Amos was so kind. He wasn't just some douchebag thug.
He has a heart of gold, and he knew I was hurting.
He was my rock for so long.

He made me feel better-- well, I'm not sure if he really made me feel all that better, or it was just a combination of him and all the drugs.

I thought I loved him with all my heart, but after reconnecting with you, I've come to realize that maybe... maybe I've just been in love with the idea of him all along. 
Or maybe I do love him, but just in a entirely different way.
Platonically, and all that shit I guess.

After spending these last couple of days with you, it's become so evident to me that my heart's always belonged to you.
I don't think I've ever stopped loving you.
And I don't think I ever will, Apollo. 

I feel like I'm kind of just rambling right now, but...
I want to start over.
With you.

I think that I'm going to break up with Amos tonight, then I'll go with you to Baltimore and we can finally be together again. 

I don't even know why I'm writing this, anyways. By the time you read this note, you'll already know all of this. 

I love you so fucking much, Apollo Zeus Hunter.

I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.

Love,
Sage

The drink in Apollo's hand slipped out, hitting the pavement and spraying all over the tire of the bus. And his shoes. He stared at the paper, reading it again. 

And again.

It had to be a fucking joke, right? 

The tap on his shoulder caught him so off guard, he jumped, fixing the person with the dirtiest look he could manage.

It was Vega, and he looked as surprised as Apollo felt.

"We gotta go, Apollo. Everyone's on the bus. C'mon."

Apollo looked back down at the paper in his hand, and up at the gas station.

"I'll be right back."

He threw the words at Vega over his shoulder, and walked back in through the glass doors and up to the counter. He pulled his wallet out, and the tour flyer he'd kept since the announcement out of it. The girl behind the counter was staring at him with huge eyes as he scrawled something on the bottom of it with the permanent marker she'd left there.

"What's your name?"

She almost choked on her them, but finally managed words.

"Bekka. What are you--"

He added her name to what he'd wrote and held the flyer out to her. She took it, the shock on her face still evident.

"I felt the need to clarify that you were right, and the story is true.

And she did hurt me, but not as much as I hurt her.

This will get you into any show on the rest of the tour."

He indicated the flyer in her hand.

"Have a nice night, Bekka. 

And thank you."

He headed back for the door, but she called out to him, her voice curious.

"What are you thanking me for?"

He stopped with one hand on the handle, like he had a little while before.

"For making me realize it's more than just a story."

He let the door swing shut behind him, 'you're welcome' ringing in his ears.

------------------------------

Found a note hidden in my suitcase

Of everything that you just couldn't say

How'd you know I needed that today?

Wherever you are is where I want to be

Look around and tell me what you see

Everything, everything but me

No matter how many miles stand in between

In my heart is where you'll be

Holdin' on to all our dreams

With everything, everything but me

3-23: Tracking Time

-------------------------

"Do you think if you hit that thing hard enough, you'll just forget she exists?"

Apollo glanced up from the punching bag in front of him, Hale's voice pressing on the last tendril of patience he had. He turned back to the bag, hitting it so hard, the chain snapped and it fell to the wood floor of the gym. Apollo stared at it for a few minutes, rubbing the broken skin of his knuckles. It stung, but not enough to drown out the irritation. He probably should have worn gloves, but that would have defeated the purpose.

He turned to Hale, leaving the bag on the ground and walking toward the locker rooms.

"I think I have no idea what you're talking about. Or who."

Hale was on Apollo's heels, catching the door behind Apollo as he swung it open.

"Do you know how hard I had to look to find you? We're in fucking Dallas. How did you even find a gym that security would let you go to alone?"

Apollo ran a hand through his hair, sweat clinging to his fingers, making the cuts on his knuckles burn.

"Did you bother looking around? The place is completely empty. I rented it out."

Hale raised an eyebrow, taking a seat on the bench next to the lockers as Apollo ran his hands under the stream of water from the sink.

"I thought that was something you did for weddings. Churches and shit. Not gyms."

Apollo twisted the cap off of the bottle of water sitting on the sink, his hands still dripping.

"The power of money. It makes the world go round, you know."

He drained the entire bottle in one breath, tossing the empty container at the trash can. The moment he headed toward the showers, Hale got to his feet. Apollo turned to face him, his hair sticking to his forehead.

"Are you going to follow me into the shower too?"

Hale grinned, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Sorry. I squashed my crush on you a long time ago. I don't need to see you naked."

Apollo rolled his eyes, pushing through the door. The minute he had, he ducked out of the opposite door into the lobby, and out the front door. He could take a shower at the hotel. The last thing he needed was Hale's company right now. 

No, the last thing you need is a reminder of Harpia right now.

Which is exactly what Hale was trying to do.

So he would go to the one thing that was exactly the opposite of a reminder of Harpia.

------------------------

Caelum's voice bounced off of the walls of the hotel room, but it didn't seem to do much to permeate the haze in his head. He couldn't write with her in the room. He couldn't really play guitar either. She was either all over him, or talking.

And as much as he wanted to care about what she was saying, he didn't.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Her eyes were bright with the wine from her glass, but her tone was the opposite.

"I was.... trying?"

Her face turned into a scowl and she sat on the bed next to him, close enough to peer over his shoulder at the notebook in his lap. He shut it, his eyebrow raising as he stared at her.

"What don't you get about me not wanting you to see this shit?"

She reached for the almost empty glass on the end table, downing the rest of it.

"I just wanted to know what was more important than me."

She shrugged, but Apollo was instantly annoyed. The sigh left his throat before he thought twice of it. He turned to face her, sliding the notebook behind him.

"Why do you always say shit like that? You act like you have to be the most important thing to me. And you aren't, Caelum."

He knew his words were harsh. And he could tell they hit her hard by the way her entire body stiffened.

"I'm not important to you at all, Apollo. You make that pretty fucking clear."

Her eyes glittered, and even after all this time, he couldn't tell if it was anger or incoming tears. He wanted to make her feel better, but he didn't have it in him.

"I'm sorry."

She glared at him, dumping so much wine from the bottle into the glass that it almost overflowed.

"You're lying. And I should leave."

She brought it to her lips, spilling some on the gray blanket that still stretched across the bed. Her hair was still tangled, her dress rumpled. He wanted to have more than half assed affection for the girl he kept bringing into his bed. But he couldn't seem to manage it.

"If you want to leave, then leave."

She glared at him, running her tongue over her lips.

"You keep bringing me around, you keep fucking me, but you're never actually going to like me. Are you."

The words were a statement, and not a question. He knew it. And he could feel the ice in it.

"I don't know what you want me to say to that."

He reached out to touch the ends of her hair, but she batted his hand away, rolling her eyes. She shoved her fingers through her hair, trying to untangle it. As if him touching it had reminded her that it was messed up from spending all day in his bed.

"How about the truth for once."

She gave up on the untangling process, drinking from the glass again, facing away from him. When she finally looked at him again, her voice was shaking.

"I'll never be her.

And maybe if you stopped looking for her everywhere, you'd see what was right in front of you.

She leaves you over and over, and you come to me over and over. You won't stop chasing her. She treats you like shit, and you still go right back. 

You use me to get over her. And maybe you see her in me.

But I'll never be her."

She slammed the glass on the table, getting to her feet. Her eyes traveled back to Apollo, but he avoided them.

"I'm going to go."

Apollo pulled the notebook from behind him back into his lap, fixing his eyes on it.

"Alright."

He could see Caelum's hands find her hips in his peripheral, and he looked up at her, sighing again.

"You're not going to stop me?"

His eyes flashed with irritation, and the words came out in a torrent, uninvited, laced with anger.

"I shouldn't have to. I guess that's something she taught me that you seem to think shouldn't apply to you, but want to bitch about her doing to me.

You want me to chase you, but you just told me I shouldn't be going after someone who leaves me over and over. I guess you really do think that you're as special as you come across as thinking you are."

He got to his feet, walking over to the hotel room door. He pulled it open, and despite the fact that he knew her eyes were really shining from tears this time, he didn't care.

"You're a hypocrite of the worst kind.

And you're right. You will never be her. 

And thank fucking God that she'll never be you.

Get lost, Caelum. Whatever this was, it's done."

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she walked through the door, and he forced his eyes away. Because he fucking hated it when girls cried.

"I could have made things better. I fucking tried to. You just wouldn't let me.

When she leaves you empty and alone, like she always will, don't you dare try to come back to me.

You're going to regret this. "

She had stopped right outside the door, her voice full of sincerity. She sounded so sure of herself, it was comical. He glanced up at her, shaking his head.

"Maybe you're right. But that's my choice, isn't it? 

Good luck, Caelum."

And he shut the door.

--------------------------

Paige shoved Apollo's hotel room door open and leaned against it, clearing her throat.

"What the fuck did you do to Caelum, bat boy?"

He let out a long groan, tossing his notebook aside. He was clearly not going to get anything done that night.

"I dumped her. Or put an end to fucking her. One of the two."

She narrowed her eyes, walking toward him across the room, her arms crossing over her chest.

"Why?"

Apollo lifted one shoulder in a shrug, pushing himself back onto the bed against the pillows.

"Because I realized she reminds me more of Harpia than I thought she did."

Paige's mouth dropped open, but she regained the venomous expression she had in milliseconds.

"That's funny, because she came to our room crying about how you told her you were thankful she was nothing like Harpia."

Apollo nodded, once, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"And I am. Because all the ways she could be like her, she isn't."

Paige clucked her tongue, taking a few more steps into the room and looking around.

"So your solution to them being alike, or not alike, whatever your boy brain seems to think is the logical response, is to push them both away?

Are you stupid?"

Apollo ran a hand through his hair, annoyance bubbling in his chest.

"Can you just get out of my room, Paige?"

She walked all the way over to Apollo's bed, reaching into the back pocket of her denim shorts. She held out a folded piece of paper, watching him with careful eyes. Apollo glanced at the paper, and back up at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Is that a love letter? I'm pretty sure Blake would be pissed if he knew, midget."

She dropped it on his blankets with an eye roll.

"Caelum found it in your suitcase. She thought you should have it before she left."

Apollo went for it, turning it over in his hands.

"What the fuck is it?"

Paige turned back for the door, her voice soft as she left.

"She wouldn't say, and I didn't open it. 

But she said she knew it was more important than her."

--------------------
"She went through your suitcase?"

Hale's voice was full of surprise as he drank out of the beer in his hand.

"You can't actually be shocked about that. I had to bust my car window out because of her crazy antics before. I'm sure she went through my phone too."

Hale leaned against the bar, his face still flushed from the excitement of the show they'd just finished.

"So what did it say?"

Apollo could feel the letter burning a hole in his back pocket, but he just took another drink.

"I have no idea. I haven't read it."

Hale watched a girl walk by, and she shot him a huge smile, waving. He didn't smile back, and it didn't seem like he really saw her at all.

"Is it from Caelum?"

Apollo shook his head slowly, trying to make sense of why Hale would ever ignore the attention of a female. Especially one that had been wearing a skirt that short.

"No. It's her handwriting."

That seemed to illicit every scrap of attention Hale had.

"Harpia's?

And you're not the least bit curious what it says?"

Apollo drained the rest of his beer, watching Variance and Paige laughing from the middle of the mini beach-type bar's dance floor as they swayed. He wasn't even sure where Blake or Vega were. He was surprised they'd left the girls alone.

"She wrote that before I left. 

What would it change knowing what it says now?"

"It could change a lot.

If I were you, I'd want to know."

Variance and Paige appeared in front of them so fast, Apollo took a step to the side. He'd zoned out so much, he hadn't even seen them break away from the crowd. Variance slid her hand through Hale's, and Apollo scowled, turning to face the bar behind them.

"What's up, Apollo? Why do you look so... emo?"

Paige leaned against the bar next to him, she was barely a foot taller than it. He was surprised they let her order anything, even with ID. She had the height of a twelve year old.

"Doesn't matter."

She took the new beer the bartender slid him, flashing him a smile as she popped the top off, but left the bottle on the bar.

"You see, you say that, and it makes me believe quite the opposite.

Did you read the letter?"

"I don't care what you believe.

And no."

Paige kicked him softly in the leg, her voice dropping so low only he could hear her.

"You need to read it.

Because what she said, it's going to mean something."

She turned away, and he noticed Blake sliding up to the two of them. Apollo shouted at her as they walked away, his voice barely making it over the music.

"You said you didn't read it."

She shot him a grin, and Blake just looked confused, as she shouted back.

"I lied. Surprise!"

And the crowd met behind them, blocking them from view.

---------------------

And I've heard you said one time, 
that I never even fucking cross your mind 
And I guess I'll act like that's fine, 
but you should know that you cross mine all the time