"You're obviously not okay," I told him, pulling my hand from his grasp. “This is the third nightmare that I've witnessed, and my guess is, you've had more. I want to help you, Linc," I said with a gentle voice, in an attempt not to cause friction between us. The last time I asked him, he made it perfectly clear that it wasn't up for discussion, and now that we had both admitted that we loved each other, I didn’t want to push him away.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and rested his head in his hands. Several long moments stretched between us, and just when I thought he was not going to say anything, he spoke.

"If I tell you, I'm afraid it will change the way you look at me. I'm afraid that you'll see me differently, and I couldn't take that. I love you, Honesty and I don't want to pull you into these nightmares with me," he said, lifting his honey colored eyes to meet mine. There was so much pain hiding behind them that my heart broke for him. “I'm afraid you'll walk away," he admitted.

I climbed from the bed and dropped to my knees in front of him, taking his face in my hands, and I placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

"There is nothing that you could tell me that would make me walk away, ever. If we're going to work, there can't be any secrets. You have to let me in," I told him.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "I didn't exactly grow up in a loving family. My mom died when I was in middle school, but even when she was alive, there wasn't much she could do to keep my dad from beating me," he said with a furrowed brow. “He would be waiting for me when I got home from school some days. I knew to expect his belt when he came home from work, or wherever he had spent his day. When I got older, I threw myself into music. My best friend, Joseph, and I would play guitar in his room after school. His dad played in a local band around town. He taught me how to play, using one of his old Fenders. He said I had a natural talent for it and I knew he was right. It didn't take long before I was playing a lot of songs that he and his band played, which were insane. He gave me that guitar. I was so proud of it. I would sit in my room at night and run my fingers over the strings, and it would calm the noise in my head. No matter how many times my dad told me that I was worthless, that I'd never amount to anything, the music took all those hurtful words away, if only for a short time. It gave me peace. It did for a while, at least until he suggested that I just go ahead and do the world a favor and kill myself. He said he'd be better off if I did," he said and I gasped. What kind of evil monster tells his own child to kill himself?

"Oh God! Linc," I cried and he shook his head.

"Don't do this. Don't you dare look at me that way; I don't want pity, and I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me!" He said. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. It's bad enough that you've seen the results of his cruelty, but I can't deal with you feeling sorry for me. "What you need to understand is that I'm getting the help that I need now from the meetings and my therapist. I know that all the spiteful things that he said were because he was a sick man. He was an addict himself and I guess that's where I got my addictive personality. The first time I tried coke, I was hooked. It not only helped me to function through a grueling schedule, but it also quieted his voice that always lingered in the back of my mind," he explained. "While I was in rehab, I even thought about taking some time off and writing, maybe doing some studio work, but when I found out that you were my new sober companion, I thought that I could still tour with the guys, as long as I had you by my side, there wouldn't be any problems. After last night, I'm not so sure about that," he admitted.

What the-- Please don't tell me that you used.

"I'm being honest with you, okay?" He asked, taking both of my hands in his and lacing our fingers together. I nodded in understanding. "Last night, when you found me outside the venue," he paused and I felt my heart skip a beat with worry for what he was about to admit. "I had gotten several texts from Teagan yesterday. She was telling me that she had some drugs and that she missed me. She wanted me to meet her at their bus at midnight. I had gone to tell her to stay away from me, that I was finished with the drugs and with her," he paused, as if he were expecting me to speak, and when I didn't, he continued. "She met me at the bus door, naked, and the next thing I knew, cameras were going off. That's when I turned and headed back inside. Then I saw you. Please believe me, Honesty. I swear to you nothing happened. I never touched her or the drugs, and if you don't believe me, I'll take a drug test for you right now," he said and tried to stand from the bed, but I stopped him.

"Linc, stop. I believe you." I told him. He looked at me like I'd grown a third eye. "I know what you look like when you're high, and last night, you weren't high. Sex crazed? Yes, but not high," I said with a laugh, which seemed to put him at ease, because I could practically see the tension leave his body and his muscles relaxed.

"Baby, you have no idea how much that means to me. No one has ever believed in me," he told me and my heart broke a little more for him. "I love you," he whispered against my lips.

"I love you more," I said, kissing him back. I wanted to find Teagan and pull her hair out by the roots, and then maybe I would stick my boot up her ass. If there were cameras there last night, I was sure it had already made its way into the tabloids, which meant Court will be making an appearance soon.

Damn.

There was a knock at the door. I rushed to slip on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt before Linc opened the door.

"What is this?" Court asked through gritted teeth as he thrust a newspaper at Linc. "And where were you?" He glared at me. He was highly pissed by whatever was in that paper and I had a pretty good idea of what it was. Looking down at the paper, I could read the title: "Linc McKay, bass player for Dirty Affliction, is fresh out of rehab and back in trouble." There, as plain as day, was a picture of Linc, facing Teagan. Her body was blurred except for her face, so it was pretty obvious she was naked.

What kind of woman does this?

I knew drugs could make someone do things they normally wouldn't do, but I couldn't imagine standing naked in front of a bunch of strangers while they took pictures of me. It looked as if Linc was about to climb on the bus with her. If I didn't know any better, that was what I would have thought too, but I believed him when he said that nothing happened. I could see in his eyes that he was telling me the truth. In my heart, I knew it.

"What the fuck man?" Linc yelled, getting up in Court's face. "You can yell at me all you want, but don't fucking come in here and raise your voice at Honesty. She did exactly what she was supposed to do. It's not her fault I slipped out when she went to the bathroom. Teagan wouldn't leave me alone. She'd been texting me all day long. I went to the bus to tell her to leave me alone. How was I supposed to know there would be paparazzi hiding behind the bus to take our picture? I fucked up! I admit it. If you're going to yell, yell at me, but leave her out of it," he said, pushing the paper into Court’s chest causing him to take a step back. There was a fire in Linc's eyes that told me he was about to lose it if Court pushed him much more, so I decided to step in and try to diffuse the situation.

"Look Court, I'm sorry. I know I was supposed to stick by his side--"