Chester woke up to a knock at his door in the middle of the night. He groggily opened his eyes, seeing the door begin to open. He froze in his spot and pretended to fall back asleep. He heard footsteps approach his bed, his mind flooding with images of his friend coming towards him. He started shaking in fear, eyes tearing up.

"Don't hurt me, please don't hurt me, I won't tell, just don't hurt me, please..." Chester muttered repeatedly, causing the person in his room to pause. He heard the footsteps fade away and the door close again. He cried himself to sleep, trembling.

~

Mike let Joe into his house, the two taking a seat in the den, on the couch. Joe seemed confused, unsure why he was here and not the other guys. He looked at Mike uneasily.

"What's up? You said something about Chester?" Joe asks, kicking their conversation into gear. Mike visibly stiffened and sighed deeply.

"Yeah. He confirmed that he was being... you know," Mike tried, not needing to say more, as Joe nodded his head. "He said it was someone in the band and that it started the beginning of tour and... whoever it was did it again when we went to visit."

"Seriously? One of us? Are you... are you sure that's what he said? That's impossible," Joe's eyebrows furrowed together, his breath getting caught in his throat as he tried to talk. He buried his head into his hands. "It's impossible."

"He said it was and I believe him."

"Who did it? Which one of us hurt him? I swear to god... If it's true, I don't care which one of us it was, I will fucking disown them for laying a hand on someone who trusted them," Joe cursed, before pausing.

"He didn't tell me who, I've been trying to get it out of him, but he refuses to let the band fall apart," Mike inhaled slowly, trying not to tear up. "It scares me, Joe. I love him more than I love our band, I'm okay with letting it fall apart if it means justice for him, but he just won't let that happen."

"How come you trust me? As for the band... I'm on board with you, I'm just afraid of what will happen. Some fans love the band more than we do, we'd break a ton of hearts. I care about those people, I know Chester wouldn't want anyone to know what happened, so they wouldn't understand, but I'm afraid for them too."

"Chester said you didn't do it and that I could trust you. I know the fans would be devastated, this is something we'd have to talk about all together. I don't want to replace anyone... We're a family... but family doesn't fucking rape each other," Mike slammed his hands down on the table in front of him, groaning, letting a tear fall from his eye. "It's scary, Joe. Who do you think did it?"

"I don't know... I can't even narrow any of us down, we're brothers. Phoenix wouldn't do it, but neither would Rob or Brad. I just don't know," Joe confessed and Mike nodded.

"I feel the same way, but one of us did it. We can at least try and decipher one of us, can't we? Like, at least try?" 

"Phoenix. He couldn't have done it, he loves Chester, he's protective over him."

"Protective or possessive..." Mike thought aloud. "I'll call Phoenix over and we'll just interrogate him. We'll get what we can out of him and then determine whether or not we can trust him." 

"Are we going to do that to everyone?" Joe asked softly and Mike shrugged.

"We'll see what happens after Phoenix," Mike sighed and picked up his phone. He rang Phoenix's cell.

~

"Hey, thanks for coming," Mike welcomed Phoenix inside. He wanted to be harsh to everyone, but knew not everyone was guilty. He didn't want to lose all of his friendships with the guys, knowing he already has to lose one.

"Yeah, you said this was about Chester? What's going on? Is he alright?" Phoenix asked, taking a seat in the chair across from the couch and table, which Joe and Mike still sat on.

"Um... Not exactly and honestly, neither are we. But... we do have some questions for you," Mike decided to go the route of seeing how Phoenix would react to different questions and whether or not his reactions were genuine, would be the judge.

"Well... Fire away," Phoenix said in uncertainty.

"Have you ever thought about Chester in a 'romantic' way?" Mike asked, waiting for Phoenix's reaction, which was immediately confusion.

"Uh... No, Mike. Not at all. He's my best friend," Phoenix frowned, wondering what this was all about.  

"So you haven't thought or have had any sexual 'tension' with Chester?"

"No! Gross, Mike. I'm straight as a dry noodle. What? Do you think he's cheating on you with me and that the guilt got to him?" Phoenix tried to fill in the blanks, but he noticed the relief covering Mike's face. "What?"

"It wasn't you. It couldn't have been," Mike smiled warmly at him a little, getting up and giving him a small hug. "Now you can help us."

"Help you guys with what? What's going on?"

"Chester confessed that someone in the band was consistently raping him since the beginning of tour. He said Mike could trust me and we decided we'd face you first to see if you were innocent," Joe filled in the gaps for Phoenix, who's face turned white - all the color dropping out of his features.

"Someone in the band has been hurting Chester?" He said in a low tone, that sounded as though he was ready to go to war. He looked to Mike for confirmation, who slowly nodded. "I am going to slaughter whoever did it and I don't care who!"

"Dave, calm down, we can't do anything Chester doesn't want us to. He's in a bad state," Mike used Phoenix's real name to show how serious this was and that he absolutely couldn't murder someone in the band. At least... Not without Chester's consent. 

"I just... I can't believe any of us would do that... So what? That leaves Brad and Rob? I..." Phoenix stopped, as if he just realized it was his friends; his brothers. "They wouldn't..."

"You trust Chester, don't you?" Mike asked softly and Phoenix nodded.

"Let's catch the son of a bitch."

~

Author's Note:

Okay, so this story is going to be short - probably about the length of Fallout. I feel like I've written a story very similar to this before... hmm... Well, anywhore, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'd love to hear your thoughts!