[Complicated] Fight Night

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire slowly moved her feet from fourth position to fifth, third, sixth. Taking in a slow breath, she looked around the room before giving a sigh. There was a time where she would have dreamed about the glitz and glamor, where Shane Madden was on the poster in her bedroom. But the thing was, every single thing in her life had changed; except for one. She still was insane about that man. And she was almost confident she fell more and more in love with him each time she was around him. He was magnetic. Even now she couldn’t help but smile, watching him come back towards her with the ginger ale in one hand and the beer in his other. Thankfully he had remembered to get the pickles she wanted and placed them in the ginger ale glass. “ Hi,” she said quietly to him as he approached her, still able to find herself lost in his embrace, like they were the only ones in the world even if they were surrounded by hundreds of people. How was it possible that their love hadn’t slowed down yet? Claire placed her hands around his jawline, standing up on her toes to give him a kiss. He was the most devastatingly handsome man she had ever laid her eyes on. Which always seemed to surprise some people – but how could he not be? His smile felt infectious, reaching into her own soul and making her smile each time he did. His eyes had to be the most beautiful things she had ever stared into, his hands fit perfectly around hers. Every little detail about him in her mind was perfection; and she honestly couldn’t understand how he had been led to her. Some fluke in the universe she was sure had granted her the ability to be loved by him, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to try and change any of it. “ I love you so much,” she said, squeezing her arm around him tightly before she rested back on her feet. Claire lowered her hand to Shane’s, intertwining her fingers through his as she looked over her shoulder at hearing her name called. “ Hey Cody,” she smiled as he approached them. He was swaying as he walked, looking visibly drunk. “Yikes,”Claire muttered, giving a small shake of her head. “ Well you look beautiful,” he bellowed out. “ Well thank you, Cody.. and how many girls have you said that to tonight?” she said while shaking her head with a laugh.

[Cody Jensen Cavanaugh]

Cody slammed back what had to be a double digit shot. He’d been drinking a lot tonight, more than he should. But once he got started it just sort of started rolling. Not to mention she was here, with Shane. And honestly… from an outside perspective, they looked like a damn cute couple. To him, it was just annoying as shit. He rolled his eyes, taking in another shot before he made his way over, saying hello to a few people as he made his way over. ”Claire!” he yelled out, waiting for her to turn around. “ Well you look beautiful,” he said with a broad grin. He waited until she gave a response, a cheeky one at that, before he rolled his eyes with a smile of his own to match hers. “ I was lying to the rest of them,” he said jokingly as he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, to which she looked slightly surprised. “ I know you can’t drink so I’ve been drinking for the two of us” he said, smiling at her for a moment before he looked at Shane, dropping his grin slightly and offered him a robotic, “Hey,”. Cody cleared his throat before licking his lips and looking back at Claire. ” Hey how about we go knock some boots together?” he said, tilting his head back to where people were dancing. “Unless you want to do it at my place,” he said with a slight lift of his eyebrows.

[Tyson Jay Ritter]

Tyson looked down at his phone. Rosie and her damn adorable snapchats. His friendship with her was this masochistic repetition of metaphorically slicing blades into his heart and then holding his palms over it so he wouldn’t just die from it, long enough so he could catch another glimpse of her. But… he did what he needed to stay friends with her. If she knew it pained him, she would put her own feelings aside and quit talking to him and spare him. Couldn’t have that. So instead he picked up the girliest drink he could find near him and pretended to be taking a drink of it to send a snap back to her as well. But he could hear Cody’s drunken presence before he could see him. Tyson set his drink down, sliding his phone into his back pocket as he started to make his way over. And it sounded like it was just in time too. Tyson made a face which could easily be read as ‘come on man’. But he wasn’t stopping, he was going to be relentless about this. And just as Tyson saw Shane starting to form his own fist, Tyson stepped in, reaching his own arm back before landing his fist against Cody’s nose. ” She’s a fucking married PREGNANT woman.. to one of your friends, dude,” he said, pushing his hand against Cody’s chest to push him away one more time before looking over his shoulder at the wrong time.He grunted, feeling Cody’s body tackle him into the ground roughly.

[Blake Emma Renner]

Blake pushed her bangs from her eyes as she looked around the party. Kenzie was at home probably watching a movie with Brayden, she was on break from her tour, so her and Logan could finally have a peaceful date night out. Finally. “Wanna dance with Mr.Renner?” she asked, mindlessly redrawing the same image of their names within a heart saying that they were BFF4EVER. Her mind flashed back to his junior prom, seeing him and Scarlet standing on his porch. Scarlet had been so beautiful in red prom dress. Blake had spent the night dancing in her mirror, wondering what it would be like to be noticed by him. If she fell deep enough into the memories, she could still remember the tear soaked pillows, the stabbing feeling in her heart every time he looked at Scarlet with eyes she knew couldn’t ever belong to her. It all came in a quick flashback. The retainer, dorky clothes, huge glasses, curls, terrible bedroom dancing, tripping in hallways, having food spilled on her, locked in janitor closets,Logan opening a door,giving her a ride home, inspiring a song, being in her studio, helping her record, falling asleep working on projects together, falling in love. He had worked so hard on the label when it started out. People didn’t believe in him, laughed in his face, told him he didn’t have a chance as a newcomer in a world that so many were already failing in.But she believed in him all along, just as much as he believed in her. Her eyes lit up, finding a napkin she started to write out lyrics to a song. She did a double take as Logan approached her, having already written on three napkins front and back. ”What do you think.. Sweet as fiction…Sweeter than fiction,” she said, debating to herself as she let him read the lyrics to himself. The sound of a broken glass, a shriek that sounded like Claire, and two guys yelling caused her to tense her shoulders before she turned around. “ What the heck…” she said quietly, seeing that Cody and Tyson were fighting. And already people were getting their phones out. Blake gave a disappointed sigh, looking over at Logan and shook her head. “ Go,” she said, gesturing with her hand to go over there before running her hand in frustration over her forehead.

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane had gone to get drinks for himself and Claire, ginger ale for her with pickles... in it... and a beer for him. Shane knew half of taboo was shitfaced drunk already but he was taking it easy. Claire couldn't drink, he couldn't imagine she wanted to babysit Shane tonight. He returned, handing her her drink which she had so oddly requested, yet at this point, this was the second time around. Shane was pretty familiar with her weird ass cravings. He knew better than to question her. Shane smiled own at her, kissing her softly and took her hand, "I love you more," he added, taking a drink of his beer. Shane said nothing when Cody approached, visibly drunk, and commented on how beautiful Claire looked. Well of course she did, she was always beautiful, and Shane would know. he got to see her at all times of the day. And these day she was looking more beautiful all the time. Claire always glowed. Still Shane said nothing, Claire could fend for herself on this one, at least for the moment, handing a feisty comment back. Shane tensed up when Cody leaned down to kiss her cheek. Would this guy ever give it up? It was just disrespectful, not to mention Shane had done nothing to make Cody act like this. It was just rude. Who did Cody think he was, to walk in and say that Claire was too good for Shane, that he wasn't the guy she should be with or some shit? What an asshole. What made Cody, in his eyes, a better man than Shane, that he thought HE deserved her more? He didn't even know Claire. People had crushes, but this was too far. Claire belonged to someone. She was married. With a child. And another on the way. Cody was making him self look like the scummiest asshole on earth more an more. Did he not understand boundaries? Respect for other people's space and feelings? His actions were totally uncalled for. And Shane tried really hard to be a decent guy, he tried to accept everyone, brush off the bad. But Cody was a straight up douchebag in Shane'e eyes. The way he looked at Shane like he was nobody, like he wasn't standing right their, holding his WIFE'S hand. Shane had no respect for him anymore. Drunk or not. The more Cody spoke the more Shane began to see red and he realized he'd never wanted to kill someone before, but this seemed like a fine time. At some point Shane had let go of Claire's hand, getting in front of her, his anger bubbling over, he could only think of one other time when he'd been angrier. And even then, this was pretty damn close to that. Shane's fist had formed itself, drawing back with all the fury of a guy defending everything he'd built so carefully, this asshole didn't get to come in and mock him like this. But before Shane could even get a good aim, there was someone else yelling, stepping in front of Shane, another fist colliding where Shane's would have been if not for... Tyson? Shane stared, off kilter for a second, gathering in the scene that had unfolded in front of him. He heard Tyson's words. and some how the words slipped from his own mouth, if only a mumble, "he's no friend of mine." Just as fast at it had all happened, Cody had plowed back into Tyson, Shane pushing Claire back gently, getting her out of the way. It wasn't long before Logan was present, along with a couple of bouncers, and an angry Leah. Logan was yelling, Leah was standing back, hands on her hips, as the two were both pulled apart.

[Logan Chase Renner]

Tonight was important for a lot of reasons. Since the label had become successful, Logan had taken on a number of business ventures that he'd been very excited about. TabooTV was one of them, resurrecting Punk'd, as well as concert coverage, music artist specials, interviews, biography documentaries, a TRL type afternoon show that counted down all the top hits; you name it, Logan had recreated it. Every music involved type shoe MTV had ever nixed, Logan had brought back to life full force. Music had been losing all the focus on the music itself, but Logan knew they needed to reverse that, get back to the roots, get back to the music. He'd also been in the middle of a film production company, starting small with music videos, but he and Collin had their eyes set on bigger and better things. Full length films, musical films, etc. They had started with Taboo related films, Joel's Never Say Never had been a start all that time ago, Believe was in theaters all over the place. Katy's movie, the knew One Direction film. Straight to DVD? The R rated version of a Taboo Films video biography. Blake's had been a hit in multiple countries. And then of course he was dabbling in real estate because why not? This venue was the product of Logan spending copious amounts of money because he had it ti spend. It was for concerts, for taboo people, other artists, a club, designed intricately to allow for film equipment. Tonight was the grand opening. It was kind of important. Also, Logan had done just about everything he could, being involved in the paint colors and the tables, the lights above the bar, but tonight, Leah was running things. Which was nice because, she was one of the most organized people he knew. And Logan could sit back, let her handle the business tonight, she ran all the staff anyhow. She knew how to manage a place, that was for sure. And Logan could sit here and have a beer and enjoy himself with Blake. A calm, relaxing date night. Logan laughed, looking over at Blake at their table, "Oh I get to dance with you? It's my lucky day," he winked, giving a wave to an industry guy walking by. Logan really knew too many people. But sitting her at this table for two was exactly where he wanted to be. Logan brought his attention back to Blake, looking over the numerous napkins covered in lyrics, mulling over the song titles she was mentioning. Before he could respond, he heard glass breaking and a ruckus from over by the bar, "Aw come on!" he said exasperatedly. Because though he knew the bouncers would handle it, the number of cell phones taking pictures told him it was Taboo people. Which was bad. He was so close to a relaxing evening. "Ugh. I'm sorry. I'll be back." he never said I'll be right back, because that was always a lie. Always leave the time frame open for discussion. Logan leaned down to kiss her temple, giving her hand a squeeze and headed in the direction of the problem. He asessed the problem. Claire, dumbfounded. Shane, standing in front of her, pissed, yet slightly dumbfounded as well. And Tyson and Cody in a scuffle on the floor where two bouncers were yanking them apart. "Hey!" Logan yelled, seeing his sister appear out of pretty much nowhere, her eyes all business. Logan got between them, "What the hell is going on?" One of the bouncers asked Logan if they should throw them out, but Logan replied instead they should just be separated for the time being. And the bouncers at the door were told to do something about all the cell phones. Delete the pictures before they left eh building, yell at people for being indecent vultures, he didn't care. Just handle it. Leah laid a hand on his shoulder, "Logan, chill. I can handle it from here, go back and sit down. Don't worry about it. Breathe." Logan looked at her, taking a breath. When Leah told him to chill out, he usually did. For a long few years in his life, Leah had to play mom. Which meant she broke up every stupid bicker between him and Lance over who's GI Joe was who's and whatever other stupid things little boys fought about. "I need to talk to them," he said decisively, but she shook her head, "Talk to them tomorrow, that one's drunk anyways. Don't know what good it would do." Leah left, speaking to the bouncers with authority, one moving Cody in one direction to cool off. Leah had gone over to Tyson to try and find out what was going on, speaking with Shane and Claire as well. Probably asking Claire if she was okay. Such a Leah thing to do. Logan motioned to Shane that he was going to go back and sit with Blake, and headed back to her, sitting down and placed his hands on the table before taking a long drink of his beer. "Leah's handling it," he said with finality. "Something about Cody being drunk, Tyson punched him I guess."

[leah]

Finally, life for Leah was settling. After a young marriage, two kids and a divorce, she was back on her feet again, back in a career again. Her name was Leah Renner again. It was great because for as long as it took Leah to finish college, she was actually able to use her degree. Finally. She and the girls had a cute place in Chelsea. They were fairly close to Logan and Blake so the girls got to see them and Kenzie often and Leah was making an effort to better her relationship with Lance. And she'd put everything she had into this club. It was something to be dedicated to. Something for herself. Especially since the girls were in school, her little one in preschool in the afternoons. Leah needed something to keep her busy during the day. It kept her mind off her ex husband and how much he wasn't around as much as he should be. Leah was deep in thought, barely hearing one of the bartenders talking to her as she heard a commotion a little ways away. That wasn't good, this opening needed to go off without any problems. Leah motioned to some bouncers who were already heading over, going to see for herself what was going on. Leah herself may not have the fame her little brothers did, but she knew names and faces that were part of their worlds. She knew Tyson and Cody were both on Logan's label. She knew them fighting wasn't a good idea. So after they'd been broken up and Leah had sent Logan back to Blake to stay out of the business tonight, Leah sighed, watching Cody be led away. Hopefully he'd cool off. Leah turned to the rest of them, placing a hand on Claire's arm, "You're alright?" Leah looked at Shane, who looked frazzled, which was a funny look on him. She'd known Shane Madden since he was in kindergarten, he wasn't the type of guy to get frazzled. Shane mumbled something about needing a minute and walked away, Claire gong with him which left Leah looking expectantly at Tyson Ritter. This must be how Logan felt all the time, being around so many damn famous people. Leah had been a fan of All American Rejects since before Lance's voice dropped, this was her generation of punk rock. And what girl didn't have a crush on the lead singer? But Tyson was older now, a bit more of a man then a boy in a band with his buddies. His eyes were ten times bluer in person, it knocked a girl back a bit. She offered a friendly smile, "So, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you guys friends?" She nodded when he responded, motioning to the bartender to get Tyson another drink. Punching your best friend wasn't all butterflies and rainbows after all. She found herself staring at him, assessing whether anything else was hurt on him or if he needed ice and mentally told herself to look away. She needed and off switch from mom mode.

[Tyson Jay Ritter]

Tyson couldn't believe he had actually just punched his best friend. If anything Cody was just going to see t as an act of defiance in which he was replacing him with Shane as his best friend. Out of everyone at the label he probably got knf best with Ryan anyway. But there were some lines you didn't cross. Hitting on a pregnant woman was one of them. But he also understood Codys side of things. Shane had never wanted the girl he couldn't have... Not in the dream girl sense. Claire was his dream girl. He had her. He won. And Tyson knew his would always be Rosie. He remembered a brief exchange with Shane, then being pummeled to the ground by a pissed off Cody. They were each able to get in a few hits before they were being pulled apart. Thankfully he wasn't bleeding the same way Cody was. Tyson clenched his jaw as he realized Logan had witnessed it. Great. Trip to the principals office tomorrow. But after the dust had settled someone had stuck around to talk to him. Tyson looked over at Leah, bringing his hand to the side of his hair. " yeah we are best friends" he replied with a slight smirk. " sorry... I know it's opening night and all. But what's rock and roll without a fight?" But in all honesty he did feel bad. He didn't know much about business. But music was his baby. He understood this was probably hers. Tyson sighed while looking around. It would be best to get everyone talking about something different. " no chance Blake and Logan have a sex tape? I hear that's going around the label" he said lazily before reaching down to take off his shirt. Tyson was not a muscular man. But he always played with his shirt off. Always. " I'm about to throw another wrench in your plans. " he said before looking back in her direction to finally look her in the eyes. " you know you're pretty hot for a mom" he said, in the kind asshole way he seemed to perfect. Tyson gave a quick smile before he headed forward the stage, leaving her room to follow if she wanted.

[Blake Emma Renner]

Of course someone had started a fight on opening night. Oh, of course Shane Madden was involved. Because why wouldn’t he be? Blake nodded as that made perfect sense when Logan reapproached her. ”Well…” she said, bringing her hand to the back of her neck and scratching it slightly. “ There was a lot of commotion. I got the jist of it… Shane and Claire okay?” she asked as she lift her eyebrows. It was just a matter of time until the Cody thing had spun out of control anyway. Her entire career was writing about love; for a while it was specifically about unrecognized love. So she knew the way that Cody looked at Claire, even if Claire was oblivious. You couldn’t really blame Claire for being so in the dark about it. Sure it was obvious to everyone else. But Claire was so in her ‘Shane world’ that she didn’t notice when other people were hitting on her. Why would they, didn’t they know she was married to the worlds most perfect human in her eyes? Blake reached out, covering Logans hand with both of her own. “ You were back sooner than usual,” she said with a slight smile. But she also felt like it was coming with a caveat. Sure Leah had it under control, but if Cody popped off again, then she knew that Logan would have to get more directly involved. Blake sat up, watching as Tyson was shirtless. “ He’s shirtless. Why is he shirtless” she questioned, already knowing the answer before she spun and looked back at Logan. “ He’s going to perform?! You said no work tonight.. He gets to perform and I don’t… how is that fair..”

[Logan Chase Renner]

Logan sighed, looking back over his shoulder to see where Shane and Claire had disappeared off to, "Yeah I think so, I don't think Claire even knew what happened," he chuckled. "Shane's pretty angry though I think." Logan turned back and looked at Blake, smiling brightly at her and squeezed her hands, "Well you know, it's this new thing I'm working on, letting other people deal with things. I can't do it all, I'm starting to figure that out." For a while in the beginning when the label was small still Logan could everything, but now that they had grown and he'd taken on so many other projects, he was realizing it was okay to let people be in charge of things. It was nice actually, hiring people to do the many jobs he couldn't do all at once. He got to meet and work with a lot of talented people, and it was even greater because he wasn't stressed out every moment of every day. He could come home and actually be home. He didn't bring the office home with him in his mind anymore. He could leave work and go home and be dad and be the husband and if he got a call about work he could say, I'll deal with it tomorrow, or call so and so, they can handle it. Logan had this other part of his life he was putting a lot of focus on, being a family man. If he never had time to spend with Blake and Kenzie, then what was the point of all this fame and money? Logan looked over when he saw Tyson, shirtless no less, approaching the stage and let out a breath. "Relinquishing control, relinquishing.... control..." he said tight lipped, taking another breath and then drinking half his beer in one sip. "See? The universe is testing me. I need to learn to let it go. I can keep my stress levels down, and when I come home I get to spend more time with you guys. We could do more family stuff." He shrugged, thinking back to about a year ago when he was a workaholic and he'd come home and Kenzie was already sleeping and he was tired and just wanted to go to bed and it needed improvement. "I mean, obviously we weren't planning on Kenzie, I definitely... i think it took me a while to get that balance right. I just don't want to be that guy that works all the time and doesn't spend any time with you or Kenzie, thats not really fair. We both kind of agreed because our careers were so... demanding, that we should hold off on the family thing. But if I don't slow down a little now, when will I? How long are we going to put off the family thing? Because honestly our careers aren't going to slow down unless we make them. But until then, I don't want to miss anything now. And if we decided to have more kids, I'd want to make sure I'm around as much for them as I am with Kenzie, you know? Theoretically, I mean."

[Blake Emma Renner]

Blake narrowed her eyebrows, sitting up in her seat slightly as she watched Tyson heading towards the stage, keeping her hands on Logans. “ Babe he’s really going to perform.” she said, bitterness on her tongue as her eyebrows deepened in thought. She had missed the first couple words of what Logan was saying, but he hardly ever spoke in this tone and it sounded serious, so she did her best to look away from Tyson and at Logan, feeling her eyebrows still tense with her hands around his tightly. That wasn’t fair. He was in a room of Taboo artists, and he got to perform? He wasn’t even in the original crew. “ Wait what?”Blake questioned, trying to play catch up in her mind with everything Logan was saying. Years ago sitting in her small little desk at school, this is everything she had dreamed of. But whether Logan realized it or not, he proved to her that he was madly in love with her and their little family every day of their life. There hadn’t been a day in their marriage that she had questioned how he felt about her. Even in the Scarlet ordeal – that had been more or less so that Logan could get that terrible ‘what if’ off of his back. But she knew then, that even he knew he was supposed to be with her, that he loved her. They completed one another, there wasn’t any other way to describe it. Neither of them would be where they were today if it wasn’t for the other. There may have been a lot of couples in their world; but they were the only ones whose success had derived so much from the other. “ I’m… I mean, we’re both at the top of our game right now..I..” she said, shaking her head in slight confusion before she tilted her head, “ Are you asking me in a place that serves alcohol and at some point will host a slew of All Time Low STD’s if I want to have another kid right now?”

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane ran his hands over his hair, walking away from the bar where it was crowded and found a quieter nook, knowing Claire had come with him. Shane spun around, frazzled mostly, but asked her anyways, "Are you okay?" he looked at her, unharmed and confused, "You're fine..." She was fine. She should be asking if he was. Which he was sure she would in about 2 seconds. "Are you... like...is this what you... pictured?" Shane sat down, motioning for Claire to sit down beside him, "I know you think I'm crazy for even asking, but was I even close to what you imagined for yourself? I know we do things kind of out of order, and we didn't exactly plan anything. Come to think of it I don't think we planned a damn thing. But it just... drives me crazy. People like that.They think they like... deserve you, or something. But he doesn't even know you." He waved his hand off toward the bar, remember what Cody had said. "I know you always say you feel lucky, and that's flattering and all but let's be serious, you could have had anyone. You could have had the world's sexiest man and I'm sorry if it's obvious to you but it still just... you picked me. I mean," Shane laughed at his own expense, gesturing to himself, "You could've gotten something better looking." Shane sighed, offering her a small smile, "Everyone kind of jokes that you're out of my league, but... I know what love is. I don't think that guy even knows the meaning of the word. It just irritates me because, I just... ugh. It's not really important." It really wasn't. Cody's opinion didn't mean anything in the world of Shane and Claire.

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire followed Shane in confusion, holding one arm over her stomach and using her free hand to push her hair behind her ear. But when they finally got somewhere quiet, Shane seemed more hectic than the scene that they had just left. She didn’t even know what had just happened. Cody was drunk and goofing around. Tyson hit him. Shane was…angry? He was never angry. She was just about to ask him if he was okay, but he was already ranting again. No. He was not okay. Claire lift her eyebrows, finding it best to just let him get it out of his system since he rarely had these moments. Claire instantly narrowed her eyebrows, almost making a disgusted face. “ No. This isn’t what I pictured,” she said before reaching out to take his hand. “ You have no idea how much better it is than what I pictured.” she said softly, moving her body closer against his so we could wrap her left arm around his lower back and place her cheek against his chest. “ Fuck everybody else’s ‘orders’ and the way things’ should happen’. I don’t care if you think I’m in some league that you aren’t. It bothers me that you don’t think you’re attractive. And don’t downplay how I see you… You don’t think you’re the sexiest man in the world? You love me .. with all of my imperfections. You have given me a life that I couldn’t have thought up in my wildest dreams. You keep me safe.. You’ve given me two miracles now. “ she said, touching the side of her stomach instinctively. “ I wouldn’t be me with you, Shane,” she said, pulling her cheek away from his chest so she could look into his eyes. “ People aren’t interested in me.. your fans don’t really know you… What they want is something they can’t have, a love like ours that permeates. This isn’t what I pictured… I pictured someday I would fall into a routine, a nine to five.But instead every day you give me excitement, and just… pure joy. More joy than Brayden gets when he opens his batman toys.” she said with a small smile. “ More joy than you get when you open Brayden’s batman toys” she corrected herself. “ I don’t know if you’re right, but… maybe I could have had anyone I wanted. Maybe. But.. you’re the one I need. “

[leah]

Leah offered a small smile, bringing her hands up in defeat, because honestly, what was things without a fight? It was bound to happen. Good to know the security staff was on top of things. "True." she nodded, hearing him talk about ways to change the focus, cringing slightly at the sound of a Logan Blake sex tape. Ew. Little brother. No thanks. But before Leah could respond he was taking his shirt off, telling her he was going to go mess things up. What? But he took his shirt off. And those blue eyes were looking at her and telling her she was hot for a mom. What? For a second she just stood there as he walked away, did he really just say that? Why am I still standing here, good god, she though to herself. "Hey, hang on, what exactly are you doing?" She said throwing her hands up. As he walked away she rolled her eyes good naturedly, musicians. She waved away the drink the bartender offered, Tyson was already half way across the room. Leah followed him, putting his last comment in the back of her head, catching up as she pulled the walkie talkie off her belt, talking to the techies about making sure the sound system and lights were up and running. Seconds after her request, some employees were on stage getting live mics going. She may not expect these things, but she was prepared for them. She knew her brother too well and the people he employed. All spontaneous performers. And what was he planning on doing anyways? Was his band just going to appear out of the crowd? And he really could clean a little of that blood off his face. She wasn't even sure it was all his. "Okay," she said, glancing up at the balcony next to her office to see her daughter waving excitedly trying to her attention. Of all nights for her babysitter to bail, it just had to be this one. But honestly she didn't mind bringing them. They didn't bother anyone, they entertained themselves. She smiled, waving back and turned to Tyson, "What do you need. A guitar, a mic, a beer...?" She offered. Someone was already setting things up. So prepared. "The beer offer still stands," she added, smiling slightly and shrugged, seeing as that was all she was good for at the moment anyways.

[Shane Alexander Madden]

There were many moments in Shane's life when he was an open book. He was honest with fans both face to face and through his music. They felt as if they practically knew him; he knew this and didn't regret it. The connection with those people helped him feel like he was doing something substantial. They knew many of his attributes. People who knew him called him funny, charismatic, friendly, kind hearted. An all around great guy. But there were sides of Shane people didn't see. People didn't see the pain, the anger that he hid. No one saw the insecurities. But he had them, like everyone else. And when someone threatened the very happiness that he lived for, it hit him in a vulnerable place. For a long time he had empty spots, parts of himself he refused to face. But Claire had filled the holes. She was something to live for, someone to live for. She, and Brayden, and now this new child they'd call theirs. He'd rebuilt his life, focusing on his own happiness. Just having Claire in his world moved him forward. He needed her more than anyone. Cody had no right to threaten that. It was a wonderful kind of life Shane had built for himself, opening up to someone else and letting them in, but it was fragile too. One moment and a a few poorly placed comments could break his spirit. The inadequate feeling was such a distant familiarity, and it returned in such a rush he never knew how to handle himself when he freaked out like this. But he didn't need to. Claire knew how to deal with him. It was easy for her, she knew all the right things to say to him. All she had to do was speak with her own honesty and it was enough reassurance he'd ever need. He knew she loved him. And he loved her more than she'd ever know. Shane looked at her, all the love in the world clouding his eyes and he couldn't believe he and this girl shared the same feelings mutually. It was a funny thing, love. He reached out and took Claire's hand, suddenly at a loss for words where moments ago he had so much to say. "And somehow that was exactly what I needed to hear... but you knew that." Shane leaned over, brushing hair away from her face and kissed her softly, his heart everywhere but in the club. Off somewhere in a higher place. Inches from her face he smiled, in disbelief at life and how these things panned out, he couldn't believe they'd crossed paths when they did, somehow finding themselves running parallel. He was grateful for her, in awe of her, he could talk over all the noise in the club and say that he loved her, he could shout it from the rooftops if he needed to but the way he was looking at her said it for him, he was sure of it.