Chapter Thirty - Williams

"Well, you weren't kidding when you said this wasn't the best place out there," I muttered.

My hands were resting on my hips as I checked out the place from its packed parking lot while Matt fetched his guitar from the backseat of his car.

He shot me a look. "Do I ever?"

I rolled my eyes, turning towards the entrance of the bar, which was concealed by a long queue of people, and most of them appeared to be drunk already. And it wasn't even 6 p.m.

I eyed the last guy in the line who was swaying from side to side while hollering the word 'tomorrow' at someone over the phone, and the woman with emo makeup in front of him screaming at people ahead her to 'move it'.

With an exhale, I started walking towards the queue until a hand wrapped around my arm and pulled me back.

Matt stared down at me with a little frown. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Into the bar?"

"You—" he cut himself off, struggled for a moment and when I raised a brow at him, he finally cleared his throat and continued, "just remember that if they ask for your name, like they mostly do in these places, give them a fake one."

I frowned. "Is this place illegal or something?"

He didn't answer right away as he shut the door of his car and motioned with his chin for me to start walking with him. "They pay good."

"Since when do you need the money? You have tons of it."

"Just because I do, it doesn't mean everyone in the group does."

I don't know why the fact that he was considerate towards others made me feel all nice and weird inside. Can you be anymore pathetic, Becks?

"But you could find better gigs," I said. "I'm sure you guys can do better than this fossil town."

I usually wasn't the one for judging, but going by the old wooden planks for walls with various cracks serving as peep holes and a roof that looked like it hadn't had any maintenance in a century, one couldn't help but form an opinion.

"It isn't as bad as it looks from the outside." He shrugged.

"Let's hope we don't find otherwise."

Just as we reached the queue, Matt's phone rang and as he pulled it out of his pocket, I averted my attention to my surroundings, focusing on the drunk guy who was still last in the line. Once I got behind him, I made sure I maintained at least three feet between us.

"How long do you think this is going..." I trailed off when I realized Matt wasn't next to me anymore.

What the hell?

I stood up on my tiptoes to catch him in the front, cutting the queue and walking right past the huge male bouncers at the entrance like he owned the place.

Huh? I started after him, staring unsurely at the bouncers as I neared them. They were eyeing me too, and as I awkwardly began to walk past them, one of them held up an arm to stop me.

"Get in the line," he said gruffly, looking a little alert as if I he was expecting me to break in.

"Uh, actually... you know the guy who just walked inside? I'm with him."

"Oh." They looked between each other for a moment.

And when one of them nodded and started to step aside, I knew they'd almost let me in. Almost.

"Me too," somebody shouted behind me, and before I knew it, a woman with pink hair highlights had thrown her arm across my shoulder like we were pals. "We're both with him."

My brows pulled together. "Who are—"

"Right?" She passed me what appeared to be a creepy grin at first, but I soon realized it was just a tired, drunken smile. Right then, the stench of alcohol wafted to my nose as she smiled wider and small wrinkles appeared around the corners of her eyes.

"Right?" she asked again, squeezing my shoulder a bit roughly, and before I could even begin to push her arm off me, she quickly started to pull us inside the bar with a smile. "Let's go, girl."

And our way was blocked by the bouncer's arm again.

"I'm sorry," the other bouncer said. He sounded way less scary than the first one. "We can't let you pass through. Obviously, you're both lying."

"What? No! Just ask him about me. He's—" I pointed inside the bar, then my jaw dropped as I realized something. Was this Matt's way of making sure I wouldn't be at the gig? Was he really leaving me stranded outside a freaking bar?

"That unbelievable asshole," I said under my breath, and the scary bouncer raised a brow at me.

"Gus." My head snapped towards the entrance. Matt had just stepped back out and was in the middle of shoving his phone in his pocket. He gave me a grave once-over like it was my fault he'd left me behind, and then his eyes fell on the woman beside me.

"Are they with you?" The mean one, who I now knew was Gus, pointed between us.

I shrugged the woman's arm off me just as Matt pointed towards me. "This one's mine."

For some unknown but utterly pathetic reason, a little blush warmed my cheeks, and I felt the need to mask it with irritation as I held up a finger, clarifying, "only musically."

My enemy's face remained devoid of any emotion as Gus looked between us for a moment before nodding. "Fine. You can go. And you..." he said to the woman. "Nice try. Get back in the line."

She walked back with a huff, and I felt kind of bad for her once my irritation was gone. She was only trying to hitch a ride inside.

But the tiniest feeling of guilt was overthrown by surprise when Matt grabbed my arm and pulled me into the bar with him.

"Really?" I deadpanned. "Dragging me along like a child now?"

"Since you obviously can't keep up."

"I thought you'd deliberately left me behind."

He threw me a pensive look over his shoulder, then shrugged. "I might as well have."

I yanked my hand free with a sardonic smile just as his phone rang again, and I read the contact right before he lifted it to his ear with a scowl. It was Parker.

"Yes, Parker. I understood the first time you called." I heard muffled voices on the other side. "Yes, I'm here. I'm on my way to you if you could just stop calling me for a moment."

He motioned with his chin to start walking towards the stage, but a woman's voice made me stop in my tracks.

"I need your name."

I turned around. She stood behind an old, wooden podium with a register and some larger than usual paper strips. Right then, I noticed one of the guys wearing it on his wrist as he passed by.

"Go," I told Matt.

With a roll of his eyes, he took a few steps away and stood there while still talking to Parker. I realized he was going to wait for me there.

"Whatever. Suit yourself."

I walked up to the woman with a smile, who seemed utterly bored but still gave me a smile. It looked fake as it disappeared just as quickly as it had come.

"Name?"

"Rebekah. Not R-E-B-E-C-C-A. It's R-E-B-E-K-A-H. People often tend to get it wrong."

She sighed while writing it down, and that's when I remembered Matt had told me to give a fake name. Instead, I'd made sure she knew my exact one. I almost facepalmed myself.

Wait! I can fake the last name so no one knows exactly who I am.

"Williams," I said the first thing that came to my mind.

She nodded, writing it in a surprisingly neat cursive.

Facepalm. Again.

I cut a glance at Matt. He was a little far, so I doubted he would've heard me even if he wasn't on the phone. Thank God!

"Um, is it too late to change that to Villin?"

She raised a brow.

"My mom...just remarried so I keep forgetting," I made an excuse.

Facepalm. Yet again.

She gritted her teeth. "Is that with a V or a W? Because I'm already done with W-I-L-L-I."

"Could you make me a new one?" I asked hopefully.

"No. They go with the head count."

"Fine. Williams is fine." I pushed my wrist forward in annoyance. She curled the paper strip around it and stapled the ends together.

"Do you deliberately make all your customers look like hospital patients?" I frowned.

"Just doing my job, princess," she said, bored. "I'd love to chat, but there's a line behind you."

"Alright." I took one step forward and hooked a finger in the paper strip band to rip it.

"And don't try to take this off because if a guard catches you without it, they'll throw you out. No questions asked," the woman warned, and I looked back to find her eyeing my hands with a scowl.

Great. Just great.

"Thanks for the heads-up. I was seconds away from trashing it." With that, I walked away with a sigh.

For once, I wished I was wearing long sleeves so I could hide that abhorrent mistake from the one person who would never let me hear the end of it.

He was hanging up the phone when he saw me walking up to him, and his eyes averted down to my wrist. I instinctively curled it inwards to hide it.

"Where's your stupid paper strip?" I asked.

"I'm performing, so I don't need it. Members of the band are not counted as crowd."

"Wait." I frowned. "I'm a member."

"Are you?" He raised a brow. "You're not performing, and like you said earlier, you're not setting up the instruments either."

"Right." A little miffed, I crossed my arms and started walking through the crowd with Matt following behind me. I found my way towards the stage and spotted Parker next to it, frantically pacing back and forth.

"Hey, Parker," I greeted.

"Becks! Matt! Finally!" His eyes were wide.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Will's not answering his phone."

"Oh. When's the last you talked to him?"

"An hour ago, when he was about to leave. He should be here. What are we gonna do? We're supposed to be on that stage in fifteen minutes."

"We'll go through the first song without him. He'll be here soon," Matt said.

"And if he's not? If only we had another singer with us right now."

Oh?

My eyes met the floor while I could feel theirs on me. Despite the raucous crowd around us, there was absolute silence between the three of us. I slowly lifted my gaze, risking a glance at them. While Parker looked hella hopeful, Matt was unreadable as he eyed me.

"There's no way you actually want me to sing at your gig." I raised a brow at him, knowing he would never be on board with it, but when he seemed to be considering it, I started to panic.

"I-I don't think I'm ready," I added quickly.

With a roll of his eyes, my enemy scoffed like I'd just proved I didn't have it in me or something. I opened my mouth to argue, but Parker cut in.

"Come on, Becks," he pleaded expectantly. "You're more than ready. I believe in you."

"I really don't know, Parker."

"But I do." He stepped up to me, his eyes honest and hopeful as he said, meaning it, "you will be amazing up there. Trust me. I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't sure. It's not like I want to ruin our gig."

I bit my lip in thought, then nodded. "Okay. But only because you're asking so nicely, Parker."

Matt raised a brow at me, which I ignored.

Parker punched the air in excitement. "Awesome!"

"Tell me the songs. But you should know I'm freaking out, and if I'm taking the stage with you guys, I need some of that stuff in my system." I pointed to the bar behind me. "Now."

Throwing a quick salute, Parker sprinted towards the bar while Matt scowled at me. "You didn't have that stuff in your system on the first day of school."

"Yeah, I also didn't know I was about to perform. It was sprung on me out of nowhere but now, I know it's coming and it's..." I took in a deep breath and slowly released it. "...scary. Very scary."

"What are you gonna do when you have to go through with the challenge?"

My stomach was in knots from anxiety at the mention of it, and I exhaled shakily. "Will you stop talking?"

"Here!" Parker made his way back with two glasses. "I got you vodka. Cool?"

"Great. Thank you." I swiftly downed the shots one after the other, cringing at the aftertaste and fanning my face. "Come on! Hit me! Hit me! Hit me already!"

"If I have to drive your drunk ass home again, Andrews..." Matt warned.

"Don't listen to him. I'll drive your drunk ass home," Parker assured me, pulling his phone out. "Here's the first song."

I took in a deep breath and looked around. "I'm losing it. I'm losing it. I wasn't prepared for this."

"You know what?" Matt cut in. "It's fine. We can handle this, Parker. She's a bundle of nerves. The last thing I need is her throwing up on stage two minutes into the performance."

I gasped. "Why would you say that? Now I actually feel like I'm gonna throw up."

He rolled his eyes while Parker started to panic again. "Matt, are you sure we can—oh for fuck's sake! Where the hell were you?"

His eyes were wide and directed somewhere behind me.

I turned around to find Will weaving past the crowd towards us.

"Hey, guys. I know I'm late. I'm so—"

"Oh, thank God!" I leapt forward and threw my arms around him. "Thank God you're here, Will."

He patted me on the back, sounding a little taken aback. "What's going on?"

"Take your time. It's not like we're in a rush." I heard Matt grit out and pulled away with a roll of my eyes.

He started to tune his guitar while Will quickly climbed up on the stage to make sure the instruments were set up well. Parker, however, came back with another vodka shot, sat down on a stool and downed it, shaking his head and cringing at the aftertaste.

"I usually don't drink before performance," he said when he caught me noticing. "But today was kind of a whirlwind."

"Tell me about it. How are you guys not nervous before every performance?"

"You get used to it."

I shrugged. "Guess I'll never know."

"Of course you will. I have a feeling that next year, you'll be the one leading the music club instead of your evil namesake. Hell, I'd want you to lead it. I've heard you sing."

It was a bittersweet feeling to hear him say that for some reason. Next year, they wouldn't be here. Matt wouldn't be here. Just the thought of someone else taking over the music club after him was a little unsettling. I couldn't see anyone else doing it, let alone me.

I blinked. Why would I care if Matt left? I must've been thinking about Sean and got confused.

My eyes averted to where Matt was before but he wasn't there anymore and it was just his guitar lying on a chair. I looked around the room in confusion until I spotted him in the crowd.

He was making his way over, and his eyes were fixed on me. Did he just catch me looking for him?

I looked away, pretending to mind my own business. Then I cut another subtle glance, and this time, I discovered he was heading straight towards me. His eyes were strangely bright, and he had a little smirk playing on his lips.

What was going on?

"I went back to Cassie to make sure the house was full and if they wanted us to begin soon."

My brows furrowed. "Who's Cassie? And why are you telling me that?"

"Because I happened to take a look in her register of fake names."

I deadpanned. I'd completely forgotten about my blunder.

"I looked for a recent entry, someone with the last name Villin, since you seem the kind to do something like that. But I was surprised when I found a Rebekah Williams." He smirked, lifting my wrist up so we both could see the stupid paper strip.

I swallowed. Why did I always have to embarrass myself in front of him like that?

"Don't flatter yourself," I retorted, yanking my hand out of his grip. "I call you by your last name all the time, and we've been hanging out a lot lately, so it just rolled right off my tongue. And then it was too late to change it."

"I see." He nodded with half amusement as he went back to his guitar.

"It doesn't mean anything," I called after him, feeling the need to clarify for some reason.

"I never said it did," he said back over his shoulder.

"Except for the fact that it was such a horrible mistake that I can't wait to get out of here and throw this stupid paper strip up in flames."

"Whatever you say, Rebekah Williams."

My jaw dropped. "Fuck you, Williams!"

Even though his back was to me, I could practically feel his gloat as his cheeks lifted into what I presumed was a very infuriating smirk.

I gritted my teeth in annoyance just as he climbed on the stage with the band. A loud cheer broke out from a corner of the room, and soon, the entire crowd had their attention, especially the girls.

The music started flowing out of the instruments, and the lights in the room were dimmed to throw more focus on the stage.

Realizing that I had to save my argument with my enemy for later, I stomped towards the bar and settled down on one of the stools, ordering myself a Bloody Mary.

Matt's voice filled the room, and as much as I didn't mean to, I smiled. I was never gonna admit to him how much I admired his prowess on stage. The way he carried himself, like he was made for it. It was like he owned the room from the moment he walked in.

"There you go," the bartender slid the glass across the counter, and I grabbed it, turning to the stage and enjoying the show while sipping my drink.

"How honest of you." I heard a chuckle and looked over at the bartender. He was an old man with a white beard and round belly. If his shirt was red instead of black, I'd easily nickname him Santa in my head.

"What?" I asked.

He pointed towards my wrist. "People barely manage a fake name, and here you are, with a last name as well. And you're still wearing the damn thing."

"She told me the guards can throw me out if I take it off."

He burst out laughing. "Yeah, Cassie's kind of a bitch but how naïve of you. Look around. Do you see anyone else wearing it? If we threw people out for that, we'd be out of business pretty soon."

I looked around. No one was wearing it. In fact, I could now spot a few strips discarded on the floor.

"A bitch, indeed," I muttered as I took it off my wrist. I was about to crush it but stopped. Instead, I curled it and put it in my bag. I can throw it later.

"Thanks," I said to the bartender and looked back at the stage.

Matt's eyes were sweeping across the crowd and I wondered what or who he was looking for until they landed on me and stopped.

I did my best to put on a straight face but his voice had this weird, magical effect on me and it made me smile. I gave him a little wave of my fingers while throwing my head back to finish my drink.

When he shot me a glare, I was taken aback. And after a few minutes when the first song ended, I watched in surprise as he stepped off the stage and advanced straight towards me.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

"What?" I blinked.

"You're distracting me."

"What? I can't even wave at you when you're on stage? Fine! I won't—"

"Stop drinking."

I blinked.

"What?" I scoffed. "What makes you think you can tell me that?"

"Rebekah." His eyes were dead serious. "The last thing I need is you roaming around drunk while I'm up there and can't do anything about it."

"After two shots and a Bloody Mary? Give me some credit, Matt."

"I don't care. Just sit next to the stage until the performance is over and then you can do whatever the hell you want."

I rolled my eyes and followed him to the area beside the stage like a child following their grumpy parent.

"Now sit there." He pointed next to his guitar case. "And stay there."

"Sure, dad."

I sat down with a huff and he climbed back to his spot next to Parker, who was throwing him a little smile for some reason. The background went up a few notches all of a sudden and I immediately recognized the song.

Ever since I'd played it for the first time in his car, I'd imagined what it would sound like in his voice. It was like he'd read my mind...or he'd simply liked the song just as much as me.

"I made the devil run..."

I forgot all about my frustration with him from earlier and let out a chuckle in surprise. His eyes fell on me, lingered for a few seconds, and then moved back to the crowd. I was having a very good time, and I didn't care if he knew that and took the credit.

The entire room came alive with their performance, and before I knew it, everyone was out of their seats, dancing and singing along with him.

I loved to dance, and literally everyone in the room was dancing except me. What the hell?

As if the universe wanted me to have fun too, one of the girls from the crowd came up to me with an excited smile. She appeared to be just a bit older than me, perhaps in college.

"Are you...last gig...pig onesie?" I heard her in bits over the loud music.

I nodded. "Yes. That was me."

"What are...doing...sitting there? Come on!" She offered me to join her friends, and I nodded enthusiastically. Everyone was dancing anyway, and I'd be damned if I let Matt stop me from having fun.

"Hell yeah! Count me in." I followed the girl with a chuckle. She was there with a few more girls and guys. It was a group of about ten people, or maybe they were all strangers, I couldn't tell.

Either way, I quickly blended into the crowd with her and began moving, throwing my hands up as I swayed with the music. And within five minutes, I was dancing with a whole other group. That's how wild and energetic the crowd was.

I looked up at the stage to find Matt's eyes shifting back to where I was supposed to be, but when he didn't find me there, his gaze fell on the crowd again, searching.

Oh, come on! You can't let me have some fun? I raised my hands to catch his attention, but it was pointless amidst the wild crowd. With a sigh, I started making my way back until I felt a hand wrap around my wrist and turned around.

"Hey! Don't dance alone. Join us!" It was a guy, completely out of his senses as he bobbed his head mindlessly with the music.

"No thanks," I declined politely, but he didn't let go.

I gasped when he pulled me to himself, my back tightly pressed against his chest as he started dancing.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" My voice came out a bit struggled as I tried to get out of his hold.

"Dance!" He chuckled into my ear.

"No."

"You're cute. Come with me." He started dragging me somewhere, to his friends' group I presumed as I could see a few girls and mostly guys dancing where we were headed.

"Hey! I said no!"

He was too drunk to care or listen, so I yanked myself free, but that didn't seem to sit well with him as he pulled me to his chest with a laugh. "Come on, sweetheart! What's the matter? Why are you being like that?"

Seriously?

"You disgusting pig, let me go."

Clenching my jaw angrily, I kneed him in the groin. Hard. The moment he yelped and doubled over in pain, I took that opportunity to weave past people and escape, his groans fading behind me in the distance. Served him right.

I crashed into someone walking fast in my direction and almost apologized, still trembling from the incident, until I heard a furious roar from the stranger.

"Where the fuck is he?"

I blinked up to find Matt. His eyes were blazing with anger as they searched behind me until they found the guy. I could tell it because they were now glaring daggers at a particular spot. Oh my God! Had he seen it all?

Mad with fury, he glided right past me and advanced towards him.

"Matt." I followed after him with wide eyes. "Where are you going?"

He wasn't listening to me. His fists were tightly clenched beside him and I'd never seen him that angry before. Not even when I thought I was pushing his buttons real bad.

I was a little shaken from before, but it was like being set on autopilot as I followed him. He charged at the guy like a bullet released from a gun—there was no stopping him. And I shuddered when he violently grabbed a hold of his collar.

The guy was slouching in his daze until Matt yanked him conscious, making his eyes widen with horror. But he was so drunk, he could barely keep them open.

"What the fuck did you just do to her?"

His other fist balled up and almost launched at the guy.

"No! Please stop!" I quickly grabbed his arm and squeezed it. When I felt his muscles harden, I realized just how bad he was dying to beat him up. Taking the tiny halt as an opportunity, I stepped in front of him and placed my palm on his chest desperately. "Matt, please. Look! He's already passed out."

His eyes were dead set on the guy who could barely tell day from night but was still making pathetic attempts to free his collar somehow.

I really didn't want to know how different the situation would be if the guy was just the least bit conscious with the way Matt's eyes were murderously set on him.

Right then, I saw a whole other side to him. I always knew he had a temper and could be dangerous, but I was just witnessing it now.

"Please," I begged softly.

His eyes snapped to me, and my breath hitched at the sight. They were burning with anger. I had no idea how he was keeping it all at bay. Then, to my surprise, he let go of the guy's collar and it was like witnessing a hungry predator letting go of his prey.

The guy fell back on the ground with a thud, and soon, he was being carried out by the bouncers, and I was thankful for that. I don't know how many seconds passed with us just standing there, immobile.

And I finally looked up at his face when he took in a deep breath.

"We're leaving."

"What about your performance?" I pointed to the stage and found Will and Parker wrapping up the instruments with other members of the group. "Is it over, or did you leave it in the—"

"Now, Rebekah!" he cut me off abruptly, took my hand, and started walking out of the bar.

Nobody was booing at them. If he'd abandoned the performance, people would've been booing, right? In fact, there were still some cheers all over the room.

"Wait! Your guitar," I reminded him.

He ignored that and made his way to his car. The passenger door was snatched open by him, but before he could push me inside, I freed my hand from his grip.

"I'm not leaving unless you tell me you didn't leave your performance in the middle."

He didn't look at me, but I could feel his anger rolling off him as he took in deep breaths to calm himself.

"I don't even get why you are so mad—" I jumped when he slammed the door shut and snapped his piercing gaze to me.

"Why am I mad? Are you fucking kidding me?" He backed me up against the car. "I know these places and I told you to stay close. You didn't listen to me. And look what happened."

"Nothing happened," I retorted. "I took care of him."

"Took care of him? Was that before or after he laid his fucking hands on you?" He was absolutely livid as he ran a hand through his hair as if he had forgotten all about it and now, I'd reminded him again. "God, Rebekah. It's taking everything within me to not go back and find him and beat him to a pulp. I don't know what I'm gonna do if I ever see him again. So just get in the damn car and let me take you home. Because if I stay here, I'll lose my fucking mind. I..."

He trailed off, his eyes lowering to my hands and after a moment, I felt something on my wrist. It was his hand. He touched it so gently, it was like he was afraid to hurt me. Then he lifted it up.

I shuddered at the sight of it. The guy had grabbed it tight enough to leave a mark but it was fading. I hadn't had the chance to think about it until now.

I became too engrossed in looking at my wrist to realize when he brought one hand to my face and touched my cheek. His hand was rough, but the touch that came from it was gentle.

"Hey," Matt's voice was surprisingly soft, and I raised my eyes to meet his. His brown eyes searched my face as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Are you okay?"

And I could see him. All of him. It was right there. The worry, the pain, the anger, the desperation—it was all because of me. For me.

"Are you okay?" he asked again. I leaned into his hand slightly. And I felt a strange sense of serenity.

I nodded, dazed.

"Are you hurt?"

I shook my head, slowly leaning into him as my gaze swept across his lips. Maybe the alcohol was finally hitting me because I could not think straight. And what I could think, I couldn't do. I shouldn't, I thought, forcing my eyes off his lips.

"Thank God!" He shut his eyes for a moment, breathed and when he opened them, there a struggle in them before he reluctantly let go of me and took a step back.

And I wanted to demand why the hell he was doing it if he was so reluctant about it. Why couldn't he just...

Just what, Becks? What do you want him to do?

I snapped out of whatever I was pulled into and blinked. "I'm sorry. I should've listened to you."

"No." He shook his head, staring intensely into my eyes so I knew he meant it when he said, "no, it's not your fault. Never blame yourself for that."

It was a relief to hear that from him.

I nodded.

"I'm taking you home."

"Okay."