3-1: California

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"Rhea. Open this fucking door or I'm going to knock it down."

Apollo's voice was low, almost a growl. But he knew his bratty little sister could hear him. She was only 14, and easily the most obnoxious 14 year old on the planet.

"No! I'm going to tell daddy that you're being mean to me! Again."

Her high pitched trill pierced Apollo's ear drums and he growled again, slamming his fist into the door. It left behind a dent, and he hadn't even tried. He was leaving a trail of holes wherever he went lately, because the anger issues were just amplifying.

He took a step away from his sister's door, clenching his fists at his side.

This is not fucking worth it.

He walked back to his bedroom, slamming the door into place behind him.

Blake looked up from his spot on the couch, his guitar sprawled across his lap.

"What just happened?"

Apollo replied through clenched teeth, his jaw flexing.

"She took the fucking drum pedal. Again. I don't know what the hell she thinks is so funny about it, but I want to suffocate her."

Hale snorted, taking a drink out of a beer that had probably come from his own house. The rest of them weren't old enough to drink yet, but that didn't stop any of them. Blake and Apollo were 18, Vega was 20, but Hale was 22 now.

"You won't though. But I would advise that you buy a lock for the garage doors."

Apollo leaned against the wall opposite his bed, searching his pockets for his cell phone.

"That would help if she didn't have the ability to move the locks with her mind.

Fucking vampires."

Blake hit a random note on his guitar and spoke quietly as Apollo scrolled through the texts on his phone.

"You're just like them. You can punch holes in bricks. Don't know why you're complaining."

Apollo had the urge to throw the phone in his hand at his friend's head, but resisted.

"Shut the fuck up, Blake."

"You two aren't doing this today."

Hale said the words with finality, getting to his feet.

"Y'all can bitch at each other after we practice."

Apollo found Vega's number and shot him a message, telling him what had happened to his drum set.

"Can't fucking practice without drums, Hale."

Hale pointed the beer bottle at Apollo and nodded.

"You have a point. So why don't we just go to this party instead?"

Apollo rolled his eyes, tossing his phone back on the dresser. It skidded and slammed into the fan there, and he'd be lucky if the screen wasn't broken. Again.

He didn't want to go to this party. More than that, he didn't want to skip practice. This band seemed so much more important to him than the others ninety percent of the time.

And it drove him insane.

Apollo sighed, pushing himself off of the wall.

"Fine."

Blake let out a noise close to a groan, setting his guitar back in its case.

"I'm only going because Paige is fucking excited about it."

Anger prickled at Apollo's chest at the mention of her name, and he rolled his eyes.

"What's new. You don't do anything without her."

Hale opened the door to Apollo's bedroom, finishing his beer and tossing the empty bottle in Apollo's trashcan.

"What the fuck did I say. Not tonight."

Apollo and Blake exchanged a look, tension settling between them.

Blake pushed past Apollo and his shoulder brushed against him roughly.

"Whatever."

Apollo clenched both of his fists at his side, slamming the door once they were all out of it.

God, fucking help me.

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The music bled out of the door before it even opened, and the walls almost vibrated with the volume of it. It wasn't anything new with this town and the kids in it. Way out in the country, no one did anything about it.

Lucian O'Conner was the only cop that lived close, and he didn't bust parties often. Apollo just wasn't sure if it was because he turned a blind eye, or couldn't find them. They always switched locations.

Paige's voice carried out of the door before she did, and she was already drunk. Her arm was around Harpia O'Conner's. And she was definitely drunk too.

Apollo halted at the sight of her, raising an eyebrow. He hadn't seen in her months. Last he knew, she was in the hospital because of her piece of shit ex. Not that she had told him, he found out from rumors.


"Blake! You're late!"

Paige made her way to Blake, somehow staying upright, wasted, in stilettos. The moment she was next to him, they were kissing. Apollo let out a groan, taking a step away. Hale just laughed and slapped him on the shoulder, disappearing into the depths of the house.

He looked back up at Harpia, and she seemed uneasy. She had been laughing moments before, but when her eyes caught Apollo's, it faded.

"You're alive."

Harpia took a long drink out of the cup in her hand, shouting when she spoke again.

"Speak up, Polly. I can't hear you over the music."

She walked over to him, kicking his shoe softly.

"Come on. Let's go get drunk."

Apollo was highly aware of the way she leaned against him to steady herself.

"It doesn't look like you need any help with that, but alright."

He spoke loud enough for her to hear, letting her take his hand.

She pushed through the sea of people, leading him into the kitchen. She was talking, but he didn't hear a word that she said. He was either trying really hard not to stare at the way her jeans fit, or avoiding drunk people dancing.

When she shoved a drink into his chest, it spilled down the front of his shirt a little and he looked up at her.

"You don't need anymore."

He took a drink out of the cup, and it was close to pure alcohol. But he didn't really care. He was more concerned she would kill herself by drinking too much.

"Still can't hear you, Polly!"

She laughed, and he knew she was lying. It was loud, but not nearly as loud in the room they were in.

She drained the rest of what was in her cup and poured more into it, bypassing him. Apollo sat the cup down and reached onto the counter, grabbing the bottle. He caught up to her in seconds.

"Did you miss me?"

She asked but Apollo just followed behind her until she dropped onto a couch. He glanced at the guy next to her, and he moved without hesitation. Apollo took his spot, pulling the cap off of the bottle.

"What do you think?"

He drank a fourth of the bottle without taking a breath, or looking at Harpia.

"I think you did!"

Apollo nodded, looking around the room. Paige was headed their way, and that was the last thing he needed. Why wasn't she with Blake anyway? Paige shot Apollo a dirty look, leaning down to whisper in Harpia's ear. 

"Jesus, do you have to be here right now?"

He mumbled the words, but Paige didn't straighten. She kept talking to Harpia like nothing had been said.

"Okay! Have fun!"

Harpia replied in a loud voice, completely defeating the purpose of Paige's whisper. She stood up straight, blowing a kiss at Harpia with a grin. On her way out of the room she flipped Apollo the bird and waved, a fake smile on her lips.

"She's going to go bang Blake."

Harpia said the words nonchalantly, but Apollo groaned.

"I don't care. Blake and his psycho can do whatever."

Harpia giggled again, leaning her head against Apollo's shoulder.

"I missed you too, you know."

Apollo stiffened, taking another drink out of the bottle in his hand.

"You're drunk."

Harpia nodded, and a weird feeling ascended into Apollo's chest.

"I am. But I mean it.

Dean was a dick, but you're not."

She said his name. And she was acting really okay for someone who had spent months in the hospital because her ex had beaten her almost to death. It was reminiscent of what he knew about what happened to his mom. And it made his blood boil.

If the dude wasn't in prison, he'd be lucky to still be breathing.

He inhaled, trying to calm the anger pulsating at the edges of his vision.

"He was something, yeah."

A waste of fucking oxygen.

The music seemed to get louder in the space of time that he sat with her. Apollo listened to her talk, not paying much attention to what she was actually saying. It was slurred and close to incoherent, and he was getting close to her level the more of the bottle that disappeared.

His vision was blurry, and he could feel her body heat pressing against his.

He waited for a pause in her rambling, trying to ask gently. But he was never very good at gentle.

"So are you okay, Sage?"

Her eyes seemed to brighten for a moment at the old nickname, and she smiled, her words dripping with the alcohol in her veins.

"I'm fine! He beat the shit out of me, but you know. It's whatever. I probably deserved it, right?"

Apollo squeezed the bottle in his hand, a crack shooting down the side of it.

"No."

He drained the rest of the bottle and put it on the floor so he couldn't shatter it in his grip. One more comment like that out of her mouth, and it was inevitable.

The lights overhead flickered, going out for a second before coming back on.

"You didn't deserve what he fucking did. He's just pathetic."

Harpia shrugged, tipping the cup she was holding back. It was empty too, and she was faded beyond reason.

"Seems like you're the only person who thinks that."

He'd heard those rumors too. And he'd punched one guy in the face. Suspended for ten days over a guy he didn't even know, talking shit on a girl who didn't speak to him anymore.

Until now, it seemed.

"Doesn't matter what they say, Harpia. No woman deserves that. Least of all you."

Harpia leaned her head against Apollo's chest, putting her hand on top of his on the couch cushion. She was going in and out, close to falling asleep. He knew it well from her after how many times they'd had sleepovers as kids.

Her voice was quiet, but he picked up on it even through his drunken haze and the blaring music.

"Thank you, Polly."

He hesitated for a second, tracing his fingers through the ends of her long brown hair.

"You're welcome, Sage."

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Apollo awoke with a start, sitting straight up on the old, beaten couch. His memory of the night before was spotty, but he knew he'd fallen asleep with Harpia on top of his chest. He knew that he probably should have went home, too. But he hadn't. He'd stayed with her.

And now she wasn't next to him.

The house was quiet, dark from the black out curtains pulled over all of the windows. The room he was in was empty, but he could hear distant voices somewhere. He followed the sound of them, running his hand through his hair.

Hale looked up from his seat on a random chair, a white substance on a mirror in front of him. Apollo shook his head, looking around the room. There were a couple of girls sitting on the arms of the chair he was in, but no Harpia.

"You want some?"

Apollo raised an eyebrow.

"No? I just woke up. What the fuck are you even doing?"

Hale cracked a smile, leaning down to inhale the white powder.

"I never went to sleep."

What a surprise.

He handed the mirror to one of the girls sitting next to him and Apollo turned for the door, more concerned with Harpia than his bassist's cocaine habit.

He looked in every room, but she was nowhere to be found. He sent her a text, heading for his bright red convertible.

But even after he'd made it home, showered, and checked his phone, there was nothing.

Guess she'd gotten over the night before pretty quickly. She'd been wasted. Now she would probably go back to not talking to him like before.

He'd been used to it, but now that he'd seen her again, it was harder.

He took the stairs down to the living room, surprised at who was sitting on his living room couch.

"Mr. and Mrs. O'Conner.

What's up?"

He looked at his parents. Rain was sitting nervously on the edge of her seat, and Ryan was leaning against the wall, his face concerned.

"Harpia is missing.

We were wondering if you knew where she was."

Apollo's chest flipped and he looked between the two of her parents, shoving his hands in his pockets. Was he supposed to say where she'd been the night before?

How quiet did he stay?

"She came to practice last night. But I haven't seen her today."

He lied smoothly, watching the eyes of Harpia's mother grow a little darker. Lucian nodded once, pushing the cup of coffee Rain must have provided away from him.

"She has been going through a lot lately. We have a feeling this has something to do with what happened to her. She's a little out of control right now."

Apollo didn't know how to respond to that. It was as if Lucian thought that he and Harpia were still as close as they were as kids. 

But it wasn't like they'd been public about how she'd found a man and didn't want to hear Apollo's protests about what kind of man he thought he was.

"Okay. Well, if you hear from her, can you let us know?"

Apollo felt guilty, for a moment, directing his eyes onto his father at the sound of the crack in Sparrow's voice. But it hadn't been a complete lie. He hadn't seen her today.

"I will."

Where the fuck did you go now, O'Conner?

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