Joel gave a nervous sigh & looked around at the people surrounding him, then looked at Billy who sat next to him, giving him a reassuring look as he nodded slightly. Joel looked at the others again & swallowed a small lump in his throat. "Well, I'm sure you guys are wondering what crawled up Benji's ass & died, so I'm taking Billy's advice & coming out with what's going on," Joel said, his knee bouncing because of his nerves. He sighed again & looked at the space between Chris & Paul, knowing he couldn't look at them directly. "Rienna," he said, looking at her. "Guys," he said, looking at the space between the other two again. "I can't really think of any way to beat around the bush with this, so I'm just going to be blunt about it."
"Honey, just say what it is. I'm sure it can't be all that bad," Rienna said. "I mean, come on. Remember how much he flipped when you spilled a little soda in his car? Even though you had it thoroughly cleaned as soon as you could just so it wouldn't stain the carpet or attract ants to his car?"
"Rienna, this is a little bit more serious that a little soda spill..." Joel said, looking at her.
"What is it then?"
"Okay... I'm..." -I can't do this to her,- he thought to himself. -I can't tell her I'm gay because knowing her she'll take it like it's her fault. Worst comes to worst, she could run to the public & tell everyone. The group would be ruined by this...- "Rienna, Paul, Chris... I'm..."
"Geez spit it out already," Paul smiled slightly even though he felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"I'm getting married," Joel finally blurted out, mentally hitting himself in the head for mentioning marriage.
"What?! To who?!" Rienna demanded, jumping up from her seat on the couch.
"It's someone you don't even know Rienna... I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
Rienna walked over to Joel & slapped him as hard as she could, turning his head with the force of her slap. "Joel Madden, you are a pure asshole! I hope your new tramp ends up having an STD or two that the both of you can share!" She yelled as she slapped him again on the opposite cheek before she stormed out of the house, slamming the door.
Joel rubbed one cheek then the other, tears stinging his eyes from the pain of her slaps & her words. -Dammit...- He thought to himself. -I'm sure be being gay would've been worse to tell her.-
"Joel, how could you do that to her?" Chris asked, giving his friend a shocked look. "I thought you two were doing just fine."
"What I'm wondering is how did he really find the time to cheat on her & end up engaged," Paul said, his face showing that he wasn't too thrilled.
Joel looked down. "I�m not engaged to anyone... I just couldn't hurt her with the real truth," he whimpered. "I'm not even close to getting married for crying out loud. I just know that the truth would hurt her far more than me just getting married to some other chic."
"Then what the hell is the truth because I would sure like to know," Paul said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm gay Paul."
Paul's arms loosened slightly before he leaned forward, resting with his elbows on his knees. He stared at Joel, one eyebrow arched. "That's the truth? That you're gay?"
Joel nodded, looking up at him. "Do you hate me now Paul?"
"No, why would I? I'm okay with people being the way they are. To each his own," he said with a shrug. "Just don't go around grabbing my cock... I don't mind the flirting that comes with someone being gay & liking you, just as long as they don't cross my boundaries," he chuckled.
"Chris?" Joel asked, looking at the drummer. "What's your say?"
"Same thing with Paul man. I just don't like being touched in any sexual ways... The normal hugs & handshakes are fine."
Joel smiled, feeling a little more at ease. "Thank you guys, for not hating me because of this."
"Hey I can't help it if I'm a good friend," Paul smiled. "I just can't believe Benji got upset over that."
"Me either," Billy said, rubbing Joel's back since his eyes still held the look of pain that was there when Benji was yelling at him. "Maybe Benji will come off his high horse & see what he's doing to the bond you two have."
"I doubt that," Joel said. "This is Benji you're talking about, or have you forgotten? It'll take him a few weeks to come down from something like this. Maybe even longer if the worst things end up happening."
"What he says is kind of true Billy," Paul said.
"Yeah I know..."
"He's been gone for about four hours now, maybe someone should go looking for him," Chris said, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees like Paul. "Anyone have any ideas of where to start looking?"
-+-+-+-+-
Tisha looked down at Joel as she held him close & rocked him slowly. He had been in her arms for a good ten minutes & for the first four of them he had been sobbing, but now he had stopped since then. Before he was pulled into her arms, he had been sobbing with his face in his hands, so he was happy to accept the invitation. It had been an hour since Billy convinced Paul to go look for Benji, & so far there was no sign of him. "Honey, things will be okay. Paul will find Benji & bring him back here so you two can talk everything out & hopefully solve your problems," Tisha murmured softly to him.
"Things won't be okay Tish. You don't know Benj, like I do," Joel replied, his voice as emotionless as his stare. He felt so empty right now that he couldn't even smile if he tried. Everything that he was afraid of happening was actually happening, & there was nothing he could do about it. He knew it would take a long time for Benji to come around to his senses, & he really doubted that he would still be around when that time finally came.
"Joel, things can change with people."
"Not this quick."
"Has he always been against gay people?"
"No. How could he be when one of our friends in another band is gay himself? Why should I make a difference?"
"I don't understand it either sweet heart. But right now, I think you need to eat or drink something."