-------------------------------
Apollo walked onto the tour bus, stopping short when he caught sight of his drummer.
"Where did you get that?"
Vega twirled a shiny pistol around his finger, a huge grin on his face.
"I found it after the show tonight! I don't think it's real though."
Apollo's stomach twisted for a moment and he held his hand out for the gun. He didn't fuck with the things on principal. He knew what had happened to his mom when he was young. That was enough to deter him from even wanting them near him, or anyone he cared about.
"Stop twirling that fucking thing and hand it over."
Vega placed the metal in Apollo's hand, and Apollo pulled the magazine out, looking down into the cartridge. It had at least half of the bullets left. It looked like they were blanks, but he wasn't an expert. And he didn't want to know what it had been used for, blanks or not. The serial number was scratched off. He put the magazine back in place, looking up at Vega.
"First, it's real. Second, it's stolen. But I'm pretty sure they're just blanks.
Despite that, why didn't you just leave it where you found it? No one on this bus needs a gun."
Vega's shoulders slumped and he pretended to pout.
"Why do you have to take all my fun away? I was just going to shoot at some trees when we got to Phoenix or something."
Apollo rolled his eyes, sliding the gun into the back pocket of his jeans.
"Well, I'm going to get rid of it. Talk to security or something."
Vega's face crumpled, this time into a real pout.
"If they're just blanks, why can't I have it back? At least until tomorrow?"
Apollo rolled his eyes at Vega's expression, pulling the gun back out of his pocket. He opened the window to the bus and aimed the gun out of it at the nearest tree. He switched the safety off, pulling the trigger in succession. The noise was loud enough to send every bird in a fifty foot radius flying, but the tree he had aimed at had no holes in it.
He looked back over at Vega, pushing the safety back on. He held the gun out to him, sighing heavily.
"Don't kill anything. Somehow. Blanks or not, I'm sure you could manage it."
Vega smiled as big as a toddler receiving candy, taking the gun. He saluted Apollo, his voice serious for once in his life.
"Yes sir, Hunter."
Apollo rolled his eyes as Hale slammed the door to the bus open, looking between the two of them.
"That sounded like a gunshot. Are you two okay?"
His eyes dropped to the gun in Vega's hand, his eyes growing dark.
"Why the fuck does he have a gun?"
Apollo shook his head, taking a seat on the couch. His ears were still ringing somewhat from the gun blast.
"It's full of blanks. He wants to play with it in Phoenix. I checked it. He's safe, dad."
Hale rolled his eyes, sliding the bus door shut and heading over to the two of them.
"Playing with guns. What a safe idea, you're right. Nothing could possibly go wrong."
Vega grinned down at him, waving the gun in front of his face.
"I'm glad you agree."
---------------------------
"That gun is the worst idea you've ever had, Vega."
Vega aimed the gun jokingly at the door of the bus making noises that sounded less like gunshots and more like an imitation of a lightsaber.
"That really isn't funny, you know."
Paige's words were careful, her focus directed at Variance's now fuchsia hair that she was braiding.
"Apollo already assured me they were blanks remember! And besides, he's taking it away from me when we get to Phoenix.
Let me have my fun."
As if on cue, the bus rolled to a stop underneath them and Vega's face crumpled. Apollo let out a laugh, holding his hand out for the gun.
"Fun time is over, drummer boy."
Vega made one more lightsaber-gun noise and handed it out to him, a look of mock sadness on his features. Apollo tried to grip it, but Vega let it go before Apollo could get a firm hold on it.
The gun slipped from Apollo's hand and a sound that he would never forget came from the metal as it hit the wooden table. It mixed with Paige's scream and Variance's recoil into Hale's chest.
"Whoa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I dropped it.
What? It's okay... They're just blanks. What are you-"
Apollo pulled his eyes away from the two girls, who were looking in horror at the other side of the couch. His breath caught in his chest and it took a few seconds for him to realize exactly what he was seeing. Blake had blood on his shirt, and he was staring wide-eyed at the still form beside him.
"Shit."
Apollo knocked Hale's drink over getting to his feet and kneeling beside Vega. Blood was seeping through the black fabric of his shirt, beginning to pool behind him on the couch. He wasn't moving, and when Apollo put his ear to Vega's chest, his pulse was faint.
Variance already had her phone to her ear, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Hello?
W-we need an ambulance. Outside the Hilton in Phoenix.
Jesus can't you look that up? Hold the fuck on.
.....10 east Thomas road, Phoenix, Arizona."
She looked up at Apollo, whose hands were shaking as he attempted to staunch the blood pouring out of his best friend.
"My friend has been shot."
She tossed the phone to the ground, pushing Apollo out of the way to attempt CPR on Vega's steadily fading heartbeat. Blood stained the front of her white sundress as her eyes found Apollo's.
"It was an accident, Apollo.
It was just an accident."
Tears continued to roll down her cheeks and her words were soft. Electricity went from her fingertips into Vega's chest, but it didn't seem to be doing anything. Apollo got to his feet and backed up until he hit the counter behind him. Sirens blared through whatever Hale had just said, and Apollo couldn't hear Vega's pulse either.
But he knew that had nothing to do with the sirens.
---------------------------
Apollo was staring at the Phoenix hospital's tiled floor, trying not to think. His eyes wouldn't seem to come into focus. It had happened so fast. He'd read in a book once that a gun firing from being dropped was a myth.
That book was obviously full of shit.
He could barely recall the doctor's words. Only pieces of them.
Dead on arrival.
Gunshot to the left side of the chest.
Pierced his heart.
We did everything we could.
Nothing we could do.
Hale was sitting on the ground against the wall, elbows on his knees. Beside him, Blake had a very pale Paige in his arms. And holding her hand, was Variance.
Apollo felt set apart of the rest of them. And how could he not? He was the one who shot Vega. Accident or not. He killed one of his best friends.
The florescent lights in the hallway were blinding. It reflected off of the tiles on the floor, leaving spots in Apollo's eyes. He looked up at the sound of footsteps.
Two police officers walked down the hall, stopping directly in front of the five of them huddled in a quiet group.
"Apollo Hunter?"
Apollo raised an eyebrow at the short, stocky officer that spoke his name. He had to force his words out of a tightly constricted throat.
"That's me."
They both nodded and the other one spoke this time.
"Can you come with us?"
They were asking, but Apollo knew he had no choice. He'd have to go with them whether he wanted to or not.
"Relax, son, you're not getting arrested. You didn't shoot Mr. Vega."
Apollo's shoulders tensed and he looked up at the officer.
"I'm the one who dropped the gun."
The shorter officer nodded, once, turning his attention back to wherever they were walking him to.
"It was a freak accident. A one in a million chance. But every witness there saw that gun fall from your hand. And your fingerprints aren't on the trigger.
We will likely close the case soon, and there's no reason for you to be implicated in his death.
You and your friends need your time to mourn.
We just want your statement."
Apollo glanced back down the hallway at his friends before they turned the corner. Every single face was pointed in his direction. And they all looked worried.
He had watched all of them get led away one by one too. He couldn't help but wonder why he was being questioned last.
And how these cops seemed to believe him so easily.
He took a seat at the metal table in the room they walked into, folding his hands on the surface.
"I'll tell you everything you need to know."
---------------------------
"Baby, are you okay?
This wasn't your fault. You know that right?"
Apollo could feel his mother's arms around his shoulders and hear the tears in her voice, but he didn't look up at her. And he didn't speak. He hadn't spoken to anyone since he'd told his version of events to the police.
"Please don't blame yourself for this. No one else is.
Taking the blame won't bring him back."
Rain brushed the back of her hand across Apollo's cheek, and he caught it with his own, trying to find something to say.
"Apollo. Talk to me."
Her eyes were pleading when they met his, but he couldn't find anything to say. He shrugged out of her hold, grabbing his cell phone off of the bedside table in the hotel. They'd cancelled every show for the next three weeks of their tour.
Leaving the only shows on the tour the final two at the end of July, and the six in August. The last one being on his birthday.
As he walked down the hallway, he noticed the time on his phone had reached midnight.
The phone rang in his ear as he leaned against the wall of the hotel hallway. He slid down it until he hit the carpet and that familiar voice came on the other end.
Before she could speak, he did.
"A year ago, I was on your front lawn and you were telling me that you loved me.
A year ago, I was there with you, and there hadn't been anywhere else I wanted to be.
I'm sorry, Harpia. I'm sorry that I hurt you, and I'm sorry for the way things ended."
He felt a foreign feeling in the back of his throat, and his chest felt blown open. He hadn't cried since he was a little kid, and he very rarely cried even then. Harpia was either shocked, or angry, because she took a while to answer.
"Are... Are you crying?"
Her voice was bewildered, but soft. Like she was talking to Paige instead of Apollo. When he neglected to answer, Harpia spoke again.
"What are you trying to say, Apollo?"
He glanced up as Blake and Hale took seats against the wall across from him. They both looked like ghosts. Like something had taken the life from their eyes along with Vega's. Variance sat down next to Apollo, burying her face in his shoulder. Her body shook as she cried, and he put his arm around her back.
He spoke into the phone as he ran his fingers through his cousin's hair.
"I'm saying that I'm coming home.
See you soon, Sage."
The line disconnected and he sat the phone on the carpet next to him, putting his other arm around Variance too. He leaned his chin on the top of her head, his words a dull whisper in the air.
"I love you, Vari."
She had a big heart. She was easily shaken. She and Vega had become very close since the beginning of the tour. And Apollo's few tears that he'd managed were nothing compared to the pain he knew was in his cousin's heart.
It had been an accident. Apollo knew it, but it didn't make anything better.
Vega was still dead. Apollo had still been the last one with the gun.
Nothing would ever be the same.
But life would still go on.
"I love you too, Apollo."
------------------------------------
Sorry, isn't enough, but it's all that I've got, It's all that I've got,
So release me, from the damage I've done,
Cause you're all that I've got,
You're all that I've got
Apollo walked onto the tour bus, stopping short when he caught sight of his drummer.
"Where did you get that?"
Vega twirled a shiny pistol around his finger, a huge grin on his face.
"I found it after the show tonight! I don't think it's real though."
Apollo's stomach twisted for a moment and he held his hand out for the gun. He didn't fuck with the things on principal. He knew what had happened to his mom when he was young. That was enough to deter him from even wanting them near him, or anyone he cared about.
"Stop twirling that fucking thing and hand it over."
Vega placed the metal in Apollo's hand, and Apollo pulled the magazine out, looking down into the cartridge. It had at least half of the bullets left. It looked like they were blanks, but he wasn't an expert. And he didn't want to know what it had been used for, blanks or not. The serial number was scratched off. He put the magazine back in place, looking up at Vega.
"First, it's real. Second, it's stolen. But I'm pretty sure they're just blanks.
Despite that, why didn't you just leave it where you found it? No one on this bus needs a gun."
Vega's shoulders slumped and he pretended to pout.
"Why do you have to take all my fun away? I was just going to shoot at some trees when we got to Phoenix or something."
Apollo rolled his eyes, sliding the gun into the back pocket of his jeans.
"Well, I'm going to get rid of it. Talk to security or something."
Vega's face crumpled, this time into a real pout.
"If they're just blanks, why can't I have it back? At least until tomorrow?"
Apollo rolled his eyes at Vega's expression, pulling the gun back out of his pocket. He opened the window to the bus and aimed the gun out of it at the nearest tree. He switched the safety off, pulling the trigger in succession. The noise was loud enough to send every bird in a fifty foot radius flying, but the tree he had aimed at had no holes in it.
He looked back over at Vega, pushing the safety back on. He held the gun out to him, sighing heavily.
"Don't kill anything. Somehow. Blanks or not, I'm sure you could manage it."
Vega smiled as big as a toddler receiving candy, taking the gun. He saluted Apollo, his voice serious for once in his life.
"Yes sir, Hunter."
Apollo rolled his eyes as Hale slammed the door to the bus open, looking between the two of them.
"That sounded like a gunshot. Are you two okay?"
His eyes dropped to the gun in Vega's hand, his eyes growing dark.
"Why the fuck does he have a gun?"
Apollo shook his head, taking a seat on the couch. His ears were still ringing somewhat from the gun blast.
"It's full of blanks. He wants to play with it in Phoenix. I checked it. He's safe, dad."
Hale rolled his eyes, sliding the bus door shut and heading over to the two of them.
"Playing with guns. What a safe idea, you're right. Nothing could possibly go wrong."
Vega grinned down at him, waving the gun in front of his face.
"I'm glad you agree."
---------------------------
"That gun is the worst idea you've ever had, Vega."
Vega aimed the gun jokingly at the door of the bus making noises that sounded less like gunshots and more like an imitation of a lightsaber.
"That really isn't funny, you know."
Paige's words were careful, her focus directed at Variance's now fuchsia hair that she was braiding.
"Apollo already assured me they were blanks remember! And besides, he's taking it away from me when we get to Phoenix.
Let me have my fun."
As if on cue, the bus rolled to a stop underneath them and Vega's face crumpled. Apollo let out a laugh, holding his hand out for the gun.
"Fun time is over, drummer boy."
Vega made one more lightsaber-gun noise and handed it out to him, a look of mock sadness on his features. Apollo tried to grip it, but Vega let it go before Apollo could get a firm hold on it.
The gun slipped from Apollo's hand and a sound that he would never forget came from the metal as it hit the wooden table. It mixed with Paige's scream and Variance's recoil into Hale's chest.
"Whoa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I dropped it.
What? It's okay... They're just blanks. What are you-"
Apollo pulled his eyes away from the two girls, who were looking in horror at the other side of the couch. His breath caught in his chest and it took a few seconds for him to realize exactly what he was seeing. Blake had blood on his shirt, and he was staring wide-eyed at the still form beside him.
"Shit."
Apollo knocked Hale's drink over getting to his feet and kneeling beside Vega. Blood was seeping through the black fabric of his shirt, beginning to pool behind him on the couch. He wasn't moving, and when Apollo put his ear to Vega's chest, his pulse was faint.
Variance already had her phone to her ear, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Hello?
W-we need an ambulance. Outside the Hilton in Phoenix.
Jesus can't you look that up? Hold the fuck on.
.....10 east Thomas road, Phoenix, Arizona."
She looked up at Apollo, whose hands were shaking as he attempted to staunch the blood pouring out of his best friend.
"My friend has been shot."
She tossed the phone to the ground, pushing Apollo out of the way to attempt CPR on Vega's steadily fading heartbeat. Blood stained the front of her white sundress as her eyes found Apollo's.
"It was an accident, Apollo.
It was just an accident."
Tears continued to roll down her cheeks and her words were soft. Electricity went from her fingertips into Vega's chest, but it didn't seem to be doing anything. Apollo got to his feet and backed up until he hit the counter behind him. Sirens blared through whatever Hale had just said, and Apollo couldn't hear Vega's pulse either.
But he knew that had nothing to do with the sirens.
---------------------------
Apollo was staring at the Phoenix hospital's tiled floor, trying not to think. His eyes wouldn't seem to come into focus. It had happened so fast. He'd read in a book once that a gun firing from being dropped was a myth.
That book was obviously full of shit.
He could barely recall the doctor's words. Only pieces of them.
Dead on arrival.
Gunshot to the left side of the chest.
Pierced his heart.
We did everything we could.
Nothing we could do.
Hale was sitting on the ground against the wall, elbows on his knees. Beside him, Blake had a very pale Paige in his arms. And holding her hand, was Variance.
Apollo felt set apart of the rest of them. And how could he not? He was the one who shot Vega. Accident or not. He killed one of his best friends.
The florescent lights in the hallway were blinding. It reflected off of the tiles on the floor, leaving spots in Apollo's eyes. He looked up at the sound of footsteps.
Two police officers walked down the hall, stopping directly in front of the five of them huddled in a quiet group.
"Apollo Hunter?"
Apollo raised an eyebrow at the short, stocky officer that spoke his name. He had to force his words out of a tightly constricted throat.
"That's me."
They both nodded and the other one spoke this time.
"Can you come with us?"
They were asking, but Apollo knew he had no choice. He'd have to go with them whether he wanted to or not.
"Relax, son, you're not getting arrested. You didn't shoot Mr. Vega."
Apollo's shoulders tensed and he looked up at the officer.
"I'm the one who dropped the gun."
The shorter officer nodded, once, turning his attention back to wherever they were walking him to.
"It was a freak accident. A one in a million chance. But every witness there saw that gun fall from your hand. And your fingerprints aren't on the trigger.
We will likely close the case soon, and there's no reason for you to be implicated in his death.
You and your friends need your time to mourn.
We just want your statement."
Apollo glanced back down the hallway at his friends before they turned the corner. Every single face was pointed in his direction. And they all looked worried.
He had watched all of them get led away one by one too. He couldn't help but wonder why he was being questioned last.
And how these cops seemed to believe him so easily.
He took a seat at the metal table in the room they walked into, folding his hands on the surface.
"I'll tell you everything you need to know."
---------------------------
"Baby, are you okay?
This wasn't your fault. You know that right?"
Apollo could feel his mother's arms around his shoulders and hear the tears in her voice, but he didn't look up at her. And he didn't speak. He hadn't spoken to anyone since he'd told his version of events to the police.
"Please don't blame yourself for this. No one else is.
Taking the blame won't bring him back."
Rain brushed the back of her hand across Apollo's cheek, and he caught it with his own, trying to find something to say.
"Apollo. Talk to me."
Her eyes were pleading when they met his, but he couldn't find anything to say. He shrugged out of her hold, grabbing his cell phone off of the bedside table in the hotel. They'd cancelled every show for the next three weeks of their tour.
Leaving the only shows on the tour the final two at the end of July, and the six in August. The last one being on his birthday.
As he walked down the hallway, he noticed the time on his phone had reached midnight.
The phone rang in his ear as he leaned against the wall of the hotel hallway. He slid down it until he hit the carpet and that familiar voice came on the other end.
Before she could speak, he did.
"A year ago, I was on your front lawn and you were telling me that you loved me.
A year ago, I was there with you, and there hadn't been anywhere else I wanted to be.
I'm sorry, Harpia. I'm sorry that I hurt you, and I'm sorry for the way things ended."
He felt a foreign feeling in the back of his throat, and his chest felt blown open. He hadn't cried since he was a little kid, and he very rarely cried even then. Harpia was either shocked, or angry, because she took a while to answer.
"Are... Are you crying?"
Her voice was bewildered, but soft. Like she was talking to Paige instead of Apollo. When he neglected to answer, Harpia spoke again.
"What are you trying to say, Apollo?"
He glanced up as Blake and Hale took seats against the wall across from him. They both looked like ghosts. Like something had taken the life from their eyes along with Vega's. Variance sat down next to Apollo, burying her face in his shoulder. Her body shook as she cried, and he put his arm around her back.
He spoke into the phone as he ran his fingers through his cousin's hair.
"I'm saying that I'm coming home.
See you soon, Sage."
The line disconnected and he sat the phone on the carpet next to him, putting his other arm around Variance too. He leaned his chin on the top of her head, his words a dull whisper in the air.
"I love you, Vari."
She had a big heart. She was easily shaken. She and Vega had become very close since the beginning of the tour. And Apollo's few tears that he'd managed were nothing compared to the pain he knew was in his cousin's heart.
It had been an accident. Apollo knew it, but it didn't make anything better.
Vega was still dead. Apollo had still been the last one with the gun.
Nothing would ever be the same.
But life would still go on.
"I love you too, Apollo."
------------------------------------
Sorry, isn't enough, but it's all that I've got, It's all that I've got,
So release me, from the damage I've done,
Cause you're all that I've got,
You're all that I've got
