We stumble in a tangled web

Decaying friendships almost dead

And hide behind a mask of lies

We twist and turn and we avoid

All hope of salvage, now devoid

I see the truth inside your eyes

So take all this noise to your brain

Send it back again

I’ll bear the cost, shed my skin, call you up and then

I’ll say the words out loud…

“WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE ABOUT YOU?” Chester screamed.

“IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT ME! GOD YOU’RE SUCH A FUCKING ASSHOLE!” Mike screamed back.

Chester laughed bitterly. “I’m an asshole? God, Mike, why do you have to be so…so—”

“So what?” Mike challenged.

“So…so goddamn paranoid about everything?”

“I am not paranoid! I’m not the one who fucked things up with my wife! If you had any real sense, you’d remember who is still happily married and who is lonely, desperate, and looking for a good fuck!” Chester’s mouth dropped open and Mike realized he’d just said the wrong thing.

“FUCKER!” Chester’s eyed glowed with fire. He tackled Mike to the ground and began attacking him with his fists.

Mike struggled to fight back but Chester had him pinned, raining blows to Mike’s face and stomach.

Mike finally got on top of Chester and fought back, clawing at his skin, hitting his face.

The next thing they knew, Brad and Rob were screaming at them to stop and pulling the two men away from each other. Mike had a cut on his lip and a bloody nose. Chester looked like shit. He had a black eye, his shirt was torn, and he had a fine rivulet of crimson blood trickling down his face.

You could resurrect a thousand words to deceive me, more and more

A thousand words will give the reason why I don’t need you anymore…

Brad and Rob had worried looks on their faces. “What the fuck were you two doing?” Brad asked, restraining Mike.

“We were FUCKING river dancing! What did it look like we were doing?!” Chester yelled.

“OKAY! Calm down. What in God’s name were you two fighting about now?” Rob asked.

“He’s saying it was my goddamn fault that Sam and I got divorced! I’ll kill the fucker, I swear I will.” Chester said.

“Is that the only reason for this?”

“No,” said Mike. “I’d tell you the other reasons but I’m too fucking PISSED to remember them!”

Time manipulates your heart

Preconceptions torn apart

Begin to doubt my state of mind

But I won’t go back on what I said

I won’t retract convictions read

I may perplex but I’m not blind

So take all this noise to your brain

Send it back again

I’ll bear the cost, shed my skin, call you up and then

I’ll say the words out loud…

“Alright, I want you two to apologize and then I want Chester to go to one end of the bus and Mike to the other end. Now apologize.” Brad said sternly.

“Fine, fine. I’m sorry…” Mike mumbled reluctantly.

“Good,” said Rob. “Now Chester?”

“Apologize??? Are you kidding me? I’ll never apologize to that asshole!” With that said, Chester stormed off to the back of the bus.

“Dumbass,” Mike said under his breath.

Brad let go of Mike and he threw himself down on the couch.

You could resurrect a thousand words to deceive me more and more

A thousand words will give the reasons why I don’t need you anymore…

Mike closed his eyes and tried to remember good times he’d had with Chester before their friendship went sour. Heaving an exasperated sigh, he got off the couch and went into the kitchen to get something to eat. As soon as he got in there, his eyes narrowed. Chester was in there, sitting at the table, drinking a beer. As soon as he saw Mike, he said, “Fuck off and die.”

“Get out,” Mike replied.

“No! I wanna know what your fucking problem is!”

“Get…the fuck…out of…here. NOW. Before I do something I really regret.”

“Like what???” Chester laughed.

Mike grabbed a knife off the counter and pointed it at Chester. “Get out or I swear on my life I will murder you.”

“I’d like to see you try!”

Throwing the knife onto the floor, Mike said, “That’s it! I’m going old-school,” and lunged at Chester, wrapping his hands around his neck and bashing Chester’s head repeatedly into the floor.

Soon, the other four guys were in the kitchen, trying to break up the fight. Joe grabbed Mike and tried to pull him back but Mike took one hand and forcefully shoved Joe away. “Mike, stop!” Joe yelled. “You’re gonna kill him!”

“That’s what I was fuckin’ going for,” Mike grunted as he continued to beat Chester into oblivion.

I’ll say the words out loud, I’ll say a thousand words or more

Manipulation, fabrication

Conversation, annihilation

I’ll say a thousand words or more…

He let go of Chester’s neck and grabbed the beer bottle off the table, preparing to smash the other man with it. He raised the bottle over his head and looked into Chester’s eyes. Fear was evident in Chester’s brown eyes, along with something else.

Pleading.

Damnation, frustration

Elevation, procreation

I’ll say a thousand words or more…

Chester seemed to plead for his life, all by the look in his eyes. The fury in Mike cooled and the anger left. He set the bottle down and put a hand over his mouth in shock at what he’d just done. Mike faintly heard Rob yell, “Grab him!” and he was being pulled off of Chester without a fight. Joe held Mike back while the rest of the guys went to Chester’s aid.

“He’s gonna need to go to the hospital, but I think he’s gonna be okay,” Dave said to Joe. Mike heard this and breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn’t believe what he’d almost done.

He almost killed Chester Bennington.

You could resurrect a thousand words to deceive me more and more

A thousand words will give the reason why I don’t need you anymore…

END

A/N: I'm thinking of writing a sequel to this. Review and let me know what ya think.