"Brad, you son of a bitch!" Mike practically screamed, storming downstairs, not bothering with Chester, who had fallen to his knees, grieving as the secret was revealed. Mike ran down the stairs as Brad tried to rush out the front door.

Mike managed to snag his shirt and yank him back before Brad could get anywhere. The guitarist screamed out, frightened over what Mike would do to him. He struggled as Mike clambered on top of him, his hands snaking around his friend's throat. He squeezed, ignoring the shouts from the other guys. He watched as Brad tried gasping for air, without any success, wriggling underneath Mike's form.

"Mike! Mike, stop!" One voice got through to the rapper while he was in his rage. He slowly stopped strangling Brad, letting him go. He stood up, tears in his eyes as he looked at Chester. His lover's beautiful - yet, haunting - big, brown eyes were bloodshot and desperate. He went over to the vocalist, engulfing him into his arms as he realized he had left Chester to hurt Brad.

"Chester, are you okay?" Mike asked quickly, to which Chester shrugged off by nodding.

"Yeah. Just... Don't hurt him. You don't understand," He frowned and pulled away from Mike, going up to Brad. He pulled the guitarist in for a hug, bursting into tears. Mike wanted to rush forward and pull him away, but was frozen where he stood.

"What... What's going on? Chester, why are you hugging him? He's been hurting you!" Mike exclaimed in confusion, unsure what to do or how to feel. Apart of him suddenly thought that Brad and he had been having an affair behind Mike's back, but he tried shoving the jealous thoughts away. 

"You don't get it, Mike. It's not his fault he's doing this to me. It's not his fault..." Chester repeated, trailing off. "Brad, please, tell them why you've been doing this. Please. You have to. If you don't... I'm afraid... I'm afraid Mike might do something awful to you."

"I'd listen to Chester, Delson," Mike confirmed the threat and Brad let out a shaky sigh, running a hand through his hair. He gestured for his friends to sit down, to which they obeyed and took a seat on the couch and chairs. Brad remained standing, being able to look all his friends in the eyes while he told the story he had been hiding from them for so long. 

"Okay, okay, guys. Um... There's no easy way to get through what happened. Only Rob knows a bit about it and Chester knows the whole thing... Chaz, I-I'm sorry-"

"Cut the shit, Brad, and explain," Mike snapped and smirked as Brad flinched at the sudden tone. 

"Before the last tour started... the last day of the tour previous, I was feeling restless and you all went out drinking, except Rob, who was sleeping when I left. I walked around the city and came across an alley and this guy shouted at me, telling me he was hurt. I went to help him, when he jumped me... and raped me... I was sobbing like a fucking baby the entire way back to the bus and Rob found me. I told him what happened and begged him not to tell you guys what happened.

"He tried to talk to me about it, but I insisted on pushing him away. I was feeling so empty inside and when we were getting ready to leave for the last tour, I saw how happy Mike and Chester were. I wanted to feel like that and Chester had been so nice to me, comforting me when he saw I was upset and giving me advice nobody else could give... I cornered him and hurt him to try and feel less hurt. I... I actually thought he wanted it after the first couple of times. I heard all of Mike and Chester's kinky conversations and it sounded like he was a masochist...

"I knew it was wrong when he was admitted to the mental facility. I knew I really fucked up and I was destroying myself while he was in there. But then I realized I never felt empty when I was hurting Chester. I could feel something, even if it was remorse. I hurt him again while he was in the facility and not a day goes by where I don't want to kill myself for doing what I did to him."

"Why... Why didn't you just tell us, Brad? When you realized what you did, why the fuck didn't you just tell us?" Mike's features softened, realizing that not only was his lover raped, but so was his best friend. All of his anger had diminished into a small flame, to which he still held onto with determination. He wanted to be angry with Brad, he wanted revenge for hurting the person he loved. 

"I'm so sorry, Mike. I don't know what's wrong with me. I started... I started hurting myself after I found out Chester had. I wanted to copy what he did to make himself feel better. I wanted to be better too," Brad chocked out and broke into sobs. Chester rose and went to hug Brad again, though Mike could still notice the fear wrecking through his boyfriend's body. 

"It's okay, Brad," Chester murmured, just loud enough so the whole band could hear his forgiveness. They all knew the vocalist was always quick to forgive, but wasn't sure what to think.

The majority of them were aware of Chester's desire to not let the band fall and wondered if that was the force driving his forgiveness. Mike was sure this was the case, but he wasn't sure what step to take next. He decided they would figure out what to do about the situation, perhaps admitting Brad to the mental facility Chester was in would help. Either way, he knew he had to obey Chester's wishes to forgive their friend.

"I don't agree with your actions. If Chester wasn't so forgiving, you'd be lying dead in our front lawn. Consider yourself lucky," Mike sighed deeply and noticed the gratitude in Brad's eyes when he pulled away and brushed away some tears. The others silently nodded, unsure what to do other than follow Mike's lead and hope for a solution. Perhaps everything will be fine.

~

A/N: Alright, we have one more chapter left... Hope to hear your thoughts!