Thnks Fr Th Mmrs

Scott glared at Tara, but it lost most of its power due to the fact tears were still streaming down his cheeks and his eyes were red and puffy. "Guess," he hissed, his voice breaking, and burst into a fit of tears again.

*~*~*

Parker stepped back, unused to seeing a guy cry. His band didn't have anyone that emotionally unstable in it, unless it was Ethan when it came to Scott. But, he had usually kept his emotions in check. He looked at Ethan and said, "... I don't what to do. Scott's crying." He stood there confused. He didn't know how to console people, or how to pretty much 'knock sense into someone', as Kai kindly put it, due to his lack of interaction with people.

"You apologized, and he dissed you?" Tara guessed with a shrug. Truthfully, she had no idea what was going on, but, based on the fact that Ethan was missing, it was probably an Ethan issue.

***

Ethan sat sullenly in the back seat of the taxi, looking out the window. The driver had the radio on, and the radio station was apparently starting some song battle.

"Ok, guys, tonight's a real competition. The latest song by Ethan Vaughn against Scott Copeland's newest, and I hear that they're starting a tour together..."

Ethan groaned almost inaudibly, burying his face in his hands. Perfect... he thought sullenly, Just perfect. And, as if to make the ride even more torturous, Scott's new song seemed to be about anger toward an ex...

Perfect.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Scott barked. "Are you sure we can't cancel this tour?!"

"Unless someone finds Ethan, we may have to," Tara sighed, massaging her temples anxiously. She then looked at Scott and added, "But we'll find him, so don't even think about it."

"Scott, we can't cancel the tour. You heard Tara, we just can't. It's all over the news, radio, TV... It'd be weird if we suddenly canceled," Kai explained, shrugging. "Just calm done, Scotty. We'll go back to the trailers and get some candy or something... I have lollipops! I know you like the cherry ones! Gummy bears? Mike and Ikes? Peach rings? Sour gummy worms? Just stop crying already!"

"Candy's not going to make me feel better!" He looked at his manager desperately. "Can you just take me back? I wanna go to sleep."

"Looks like we have to go," Tara sighed, turning to look for Valerie, "Ethan's missing, it's getting dark, and it looks like it's gonna rain." she looked up at the sky as the drops began to fall.

***

"This storm's gonna be hell," the driver said gruffly, turning on the windshield wipers as the rain suddenly to pelt against the car. Lightening flashed in the distance, and Ethan stiffened, hearing the thunder practically shake the vehicle.

"A-actually," he said, voice shaking, "can you drive me to a different place?" he relayed the address of the lot where the trailers were, pulling his knees up to his chest as another blast of lightening struck.

"All right, you three," Valerie began. "Scott, just try and go sleep. Parker, you text Ethan and see where in God's name that boy is and if he's coming back anytime soon. Kai... you do whatever you do. Go play video game or watch TV in your trailer or something, okay?"

~*~

"Oh, Parker?" Kai asked. "After you text Ethan, do you want to come back to my trailer and watch a movie or something to wait out the storm? I'm gonna get bored all alone. Come ooooon, I'll even make cookies."

"Sure, I'd be honored to," Parker teased. "But, yeah, sure, I'd love to watch a movie. And who could turn down perfectly good cookies and company? Hey, Scott, do you wanna come too, or are you just going back to your trailer?"

"NO!" Kai shouted. "I mean--no, Scott, you don't want to come, right? You must be tired and worn out. You can just go back to your trailer. Don't worry, we won't have too much fun without you. Bye, Scott!" He grabbed Parker's arm and began hauling him towards his trailer.

Scott waved by to them, smirking as he watched his best friend tug the brunette away with him. Great, why was his love-life completely nonexistent while his friend's was exploding into radiant rainbows? "Life isn't fair," he muttered to himself as he entered his own trailer. He flopped down on his bed, not bothering to get changed, and pulled the pillow overtop of his head to drown out the noise of the thunder. He sighed contently, closing his eyes as sleep immediately came to him.

*~*~*

"Wait, hold on, Kai," Parker said. "I have to text Ethan or else your homicidal manager will kill me." He pulled out his cell phone, and texted his friend.

To: Ethan
Message: Valerie wants to know if you're coming back soon =_= Or if you're coming back at all, I mean. o.o; Try and hurry up replying--I'm gonna watch a movie with Kai.

Ethan nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone vibrated. He flipped it open to see a message from Parker.

To: Parker
Message: I'm on my way now. The fucking storm. And enjoy your movie, although I doubt you two will be actually watching it.

Parker paled, and began texting back furiously.

To: Ethan
Message: WE'RE JUST WATCHING IT. We are F.R.I.E.N.D.S, you idiot. Christ =_= And hurry back. You might be able to catch Scott before it's too late!! O: Work on your own relationship issues before you butt into mine. >.> And I mean that in a helpful way.

To: Parker
Message: Go fuck yourself. No, on second thought, go fuck Kai already. Better than those sluts you usually bring.

Ethan snapped his phone shut as the taxi pulled up at the lot. He tossed two fifties through the slot and dashed out, praying that it wouldn't thunder again while he was outside.

However, since the universe seemed to hate him like that, there was a huge bolt of lightening not too far away, and a giant clap of thunder made all rational thought leave Ethan's head. In desperation for cover, he blindly ran toward the nearest trailer, threw the door open, and collapsed to the ground.

He didn't notice that it was Scott's trailer.

"What the--?!" Scott grumbled, cracking open his eyes as he heard his door open. Grumbling cusses under his breath, he flipped the light on his bedside table, and stared at who trespassed into his trailer. "Get out! Why are you in my trailer?!"

"I--" Ethan began, but then another clap of thunder made the trailer practically shake and all Ethan could do was curl up like a little kid and whimper, placing his hands over his ears.

"Ooh, still scared of a little storm, are we now?" Scott scoffed teasingly, snickering. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, but you really need to get your jackass out of my trailer, and into yours. Or else I will pick you up, and throw you outside to decay."

Ethan had a witty reply in his mind, but the thunder just kept effing coming, and he could only shake with fear. "Fuck.." he whispered, remembering the fact that they were in a metal trailer, "Fuck, fuck, fuck..."

"Ethan, seriously, get out of this trailer before I kill you," Scott ordered, pointing to the door. "You already pissed me off plenty of times today, and I managed to keep my self-control. But God help me, if you don't leave right now, I will hurt you again. I don't want to see your face right now. So get the fuck out!"

Ethan was silent for a moment, and, when no thunder came for thirty seconds or so, he managed to stand up and make his way out of the trailer without a word. He was beginning to go back to his own trailer when the loudest clap of thunder so far boomed across the sky, and Ethan fell to the ground with his hands over his ears. The storm kept getting worse, and he eventually drifted toward an uneasy sleep.

Maybe the worst part, he mused in his last moments of consciousness, was that half of me expected him to try to comfort me...

"Jesus Christ," Scott muttered, slamming his face back into his pillow. His closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, but stayed awake due to the guilt that kept eating at him. Sighing, he stood up out of bed, grabbed an umbrella, and wandered outside.

"Ethan!" he shouted, looking around. "Ethan--Hey!" He ran towards the curled up figure on the ground, and bent over, holding the umbrella over both of them. "Ethan," he whispered, trying to shake him awake. "Goddamn, Ethan. Wake up! You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here in the rain. If you don't get up, I'll pick your bastard body up and carry you to my trailer if I have to!"

Ethan blinked away the rain, looking up at Scott with confusion, "Fuck..." he muttered, "Still dreaming. Real Scott wouldn't do this..." But he stood up, figuring that he might as well enjoy the dream, and decided to follow Scott...or dream Scott. Or whoever the hell was there.

"Okay, Mr. Delusional," Scott grumbled, shoving Ethan in his trailer and slamming the door shut. Scott looked Ethan up and down disgustedly. "It's the real Scott, so shut up and be grateful I'm doing something nice. You would've died out there if it weren't for me."

Ethan simply nodded, not wanting to argue with his savior. He had completely forgotten about the storm issue until there was another burst of thunder. On instinct, he clung to the nearest stable thing, which happened to be Scott's arm. He looked up at him, then said, "Sorry." and began to back away.

"It's fine... Are you seriously still that scared of thunderstorms?" Scott asked, and sat on his bed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to kick you out. Well, I did, but... You were just being a big idiot earlier, and I still haven't forgiven you."