Demona was going to kill Jessica.

 

The entire drive back to the house was filled with silence, the blonde having turned off the other woman’s music even. The night had been nothing but trouble, and while the show itself had been a success (possibly even one of the best nights for sales that The Hideaway had seen in years), for Demona, it had done more damage than she could’ve predicted. Seeing Eddie on that state, seeing how he chased after her, how he still wore the matching guitar pick necklace that she wore . . . it was a lot, and the fact that he had only been willing to let her leave when she did because of his manager left her wondering just what would’ve happened if she had been able to finish her sentence.

 

Parking the car, Demona threw her door open before slamming it shut, ignoring how Jessica called after her. The two girls had argued in the past, yes, but never like this. Demona had always been willing to at least listen to her friend, but this time was different. It had been Jessica who had set up the show with Corroded Coffin knowing better than anyone else just what the band meant to Demona, and while some would’ve taken it as a kind gesture, Demona knew better. For years the girls had bickered about Eddie and what Demona would still mean to him. Jessica was convinced that Eddie had truly moved on and forgotten about her, and that Demona was nothing but the crazy ex-girlfriend who wanted to feed off of her ex’s fame. She was fully convinced that there was nothing left between the two, and that the only way Demona would actually be willing to listen to that ‘fact’ was to see for herself when Eddie saw her and didn’t even flinch. She had been very wrong, though, and had ruined two nights with her choice.

 

“Mona, stop!” Throwing open the front door, Demona continued to ignore her friend, dropping her purse on the couch while heading back to the bedroom. “Can you just listen to me???”

 

“What, Jessica???” Stopping in her tracks, Demona whipped around, hair flying over her shoulder. The pink-haired woman froze, too, but held confusion and borderline fear in her eyes as she stared back at the rage that filled her roommate’s blue eyes. “What is so important for you to say?? Because unless it’s an apology, I don’t want to fucking hear it.”

 

“It is, actually.” Shifting her weight, Jessica glanced to the side with a deep breath before closing her eyes tight, almost as if the next words were painful to say. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you said that Eddie would remember who you were. I’m NOT sorry for setting up the show.”

 

As the woman’s words fell over her, Demona just STARED at her. They were lucky the night had ended as smoothly as it had, and that was truly saying something, considering the sobbing Demona had done in the back room after entering the bar again. All Demona had wanted for years was a chance to talk to Eddie again, and while it was true that Jessica had made that happen, she hadn’t done so in order to help her friend. She had done it for a simple ‘I told you so’ that wasn’t even true, and after a brief moment of silence, Demona stormed off to the bedroom in order to change out of her work clothes.

 

“Mona!!”

 

“WHAT??” By now, Demona was actually shouting, shoving her dirty clothes in the corner after half-ripping them off. She was only careful about her tee shirt, not wanting to rip her old top, and as she threw on an old Iron Maiden tee shirt, she turned to stare at her roommate as she walked in the door. “I don’t want to hear another goddamn word out of your mouth, do you understand me?? Tonight was a disaster, no matter what the fucking sales say, okay?? You disrespected me on so many levels, and I don’t even know where to start explaining just how you did that. Not to mention that you don’t even SEE what you did wrong. How could you put me in a situation like that and expect me to just sit back and watch HIM on stage, knowing everything you know about my history with him and how I still feel???”

 

Silence. Silence answered Demona’s question, and after a brief moment, Jessica held out Demona’s phone, a single text message notification resting on the screen. This time, though, when she finally spoke, her voice was far quieter than before.

 

“Here. I’m going to my parents’ for the week, but I figured you would want to see this.”

 

Demona half-ripped the phone out of her roommate’s hand as she pushed past her, leaving Jessica to pack her things. Her eyes, however, were only on the screen, staring at the message. It was Eddie, asking her to call him the next day, and she quickly saved his number before hesitating over the ‘favorite’ button. Part of her didn’t want to overreach in where she sat with Eddie at the moment, but at the same time, she didn’t want to miss a phone call if he happened to call her first. She finally decided there was no harm in adding him to the very short list of favorite contacts, and after pressing the button, she tossed her phone on the island before moving to the fridge. She didn’t even say anything to Jessica as she watched her storm out the front door with her suitcase, but the moment she was gone, Demona slid to the kitchen floor, arms wrapping around her knees. She wanted to cry, wanted to feel something, but as she stared at the counters in silence, all she could manage was to dig her nails into her legs in some desperate attempt to spark an emotion other than rage. It did nothing, not even as she felt the skin give under her middle nail on just her right leg, but hearing the door slam open before shutting quickly again, she closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. Jessica clearly forgot something, and gathering all of the energy she had, Demona spoke up, unaware of what was actually happening.

 

“I swear if you just forgot something stupid that you could live without, I’m GOING to change the locks while you’re gone.”