My Story Ends Not Far From Where It Started

Rosalie played with the pass hanging around her neck as she made her way to the Avenged Sevenfold dressing room. She tended to wander and explore the venues while she waited for the guys to go on stage and this time was certainly no exception. But a glance at her phone told her it was already 7:45, which meant the guys would be heading out on stage in about fifteen minutes. And she certainly didn't wanna miss the opening song, since they would be playing Afterlife, which was one of her favorite songs. She'd talked Johnny into teaching her how to play the bass part, but so far he hadn't done diddly shit.

Rosalie had just rounded the final corner before the dressing room when she bumped into someone. She immediately began mumbling apologies, but stopped short when she realized who stood in front of her. "Well jeez Zack, watch where you're going!" she shouted.

---

Matt chuckled as he watched Jimmy flail about the small dressing room. It was easy to judge how long they had left before going on stage by watching Jimmy. The closer to the show they got, the more excited Jimmy became. "Jimmy, I think you need to save a little of that energy for the concert!" Matt laughed. Jimmy ignored him, plopping down onto the couch directly on top of Johnny, who gave a cry of outrage.

Matt shook his head, deciding to head out to the stage to see how Leanne was doing with the guitars. He was honestly surprised when Larry told him that he'd be getting a new tech for the tour and at first he hadn't liked the idea. But Leanne seemed nice enough and he was sure Rosalie would appreciate having another girl around.

Zacky rolled his eyes at the red head, a nerve being struck immediately. She was the one who wasn't paying attention to what she had been doing and had ran right into him. He didn't know why, but he felt like the girl had it out for him. There always had been attitudes exchanged between the pair of them, rarely ever was there a nice tone used. He raised an eyebrow at her before he began to speak, "Well, if you didn't walk around with your head down you would have seen me standing here."

He swiftly moved around her and walked to meet up with the rest of the group, letting out a heavy sigh as he tried to get into show mode.

~~~

Leanne was crouched over to guitars with her electronic tuner, trying to get them perfect after she had changed the strings on them. She was nervous, to say the least. It was a mere coincidence that she had landed this job--something that she had been waiting for for a long time. She sensed footsteps approaching her from behind so she stood up and turned around. Matt was walking towards her, a look on his face that she couldn't quite described. She gave him a small smile and turned back around to pick the guitars up and rack them.

He was still standing, almost hovering, so she decided to speak up. "Hey, can I help you with anything?"

"Well you don't have to be so fucking rude about it!" Rosalie shouted at his back. She turned back towards the dressing room with a huff. If Zacky wanted to be late for the show, that was his fucking problem.

"Who the hell were you yelling at?" Jimmy asked when Rosalie stormed into the dressing room.

The red head rolled her eyes. "Who do you think?" She didn't know why he even had to ask; it was no secret among their group that Rosalie and Zacky didn't really get along. They never had, and Rosalie had known Zacky since she was twelve.

Something strange flashed in the oldest man's eyes and an impish smile blossomed across his face. "Why are you smiling like that?" Rosalie asked warily. "I don't like it."

"No reason, darling!" Jimmy replied. Rosalie didn't get a chance to say anything else, because seconds later the guys' manager Larry peeked his head in the door, telling the guys in the dressing room that it was five minutes until stage time.

---

"No uh, I just wanted to come check and see how you're coming along," Matt spit out. He grinned at Leanne. "The show starts here soon and I'm sure you already know how Brian is about his guitars." The lead guitarist was very particular about his guitars, especially his customs, but Leanne seemed to be doing a good job and Brian only had good things to say about her.

"So are you liking being on the road so far?" Matt asked. "I know it takes a little bit of getting used to." Matt leaned back against the wall, smiling at Leanne. She definitely wasn't displeasing to the eye, which was a plus.

As the lot of them stood around waiting to go on stage, Jimmy came up and patted Zacky on the back. "You probably shouldn't make your flirting with Rosalie so obvious,"

Zacky narrowed his eyes and then immediate rolled them at the taller man. He wasn't flirting. The girl had had it out for him since the very day they met. Why would he flirt with someone who was so blatantly rude to him from the get go? "You gotta be fucking kidding me, Jimmy." Instead of a response, he got the dimming of the lights which gave them their queue to get to their spots on the stage. He though he briefly saw a glint of a smirk flash across Jimmy's face before they parted ways.

After the show, they all made their way back to the dressing room. Rosalie was hanging out on the couch playing on her phone as Zacky peeled his sweat drenched shirt off of him, earning a disapproving look from Rosalie. "What is it now?" he all but snapped.

~~

"Oh," Leanne said softly. "I like it just fine, I think everyone is pretty solid." She watched as he eyed her a bit yet again, before telling her it was close to stage time. She finished tuning everything up, racked the rest of the guitars, and made her way to her spot on the side of the stage. During the show, she only had to change a few strings, making her job pretty uneventful. On the other hand, she enjoyed being able to sit back and watch the show for once.

After everything was said and done, she met everyone else back stage in the break room, earning smiles from mostly everyone there. Matt had tucked himself away in a corner, almost brooding, and didn't speak to the others. The fuck is his problem? she thought to herself.

Rosalie smirked. "Nothing, I just feel like I might lose my lunch after seeing that," she replied scathingly, referencing the fact that Zacky had taken his shirt off. She knew his weight was a sore spot for him and she took every opportunity to poke fun at him about it. Rosalie bit back a laugh when she saw the look that flashed across Zacky's face. Unfortunately, she didn't get the opportunity to go on, since her phone started ringing. It was her mother calling, and Rosalie would rather not be around anyone when she spoke to her, because there were only two ways a conversation with her mother would end: screaming or tears, both on her side.

It was her mother's fault Rosalie liked to avoid home so much. She could never do right in her mother's eyes and she had quickly grown tired of the constant nagging. Thankfully Jimmy was a good enough friend to notice when she needed a cop-out. Like many others, this conversation ended with Rosalie in tears; luckily she was able to wipe them away before the person approaching could see them. "You okay, Rosie?" Jimmy asked. She smiled slightly when Jimmy called her by her old nickname. She'd grown out of it long ago, but still let Jimmy use it.

"My mom called," Rosalie replied, and that was all she needed to say.

---

After the show, Matt decided to start making plans to go out. He knew the guys wouldn't say no to a little alcohol, and he was hoping he could talk the girls into tagging along as well. Especially Leanne, because he was hoping to get to know her a little better before any of the other guys could snatch her up. Unfortunately the signal in the venue wasn't very good and so Matt had a sour look on his face when Leanne arrived backstage after the show. Wonderful way to make a good impression.

"How does everybody feel about a little outing?" Matt asked, shoving his phone into his pocket. Rosalie had disappeared but he was sure Jimmy would pass the news along to her. "I managed to find a couple of good bars nearby, so I thought we could do a little barhopping, get fucked up. So what's everybody say?"

"I'm down," Johnny said from the couch.

Matt glanced over at Leanne. "What about you, Leanne?" he said. "You wanna come drink with us? It'll be fun, I promise."

If Rosalie was a man, Zacky would have smacked her right upside the head. For some reason that girl just knew how to get under his skin. He also knew how much she loved to do it as well. He grabbed one of his clean shirts off the side of the couch that he had stashed before the show and tugged it over his head. As soon as he saw the look on her face after she hung the phone up, he couldn't help but smirk a bit. Served her right to be put down after what she had done to him. He did feel bad about some of the things he had overheard her telling Jimmy about her mother, but he wasn't focused on that part of it at the given moment.

Zacky nodded in agreement to Matt's proposition, he needed a drink--or ten. He grinned over in Matt's direction and then looked right back over at Rosalie, "Hell yeah, I'm all in to go out and get purely shit faced, man."

~~

Leanne could feel the tension in the room and it was making her more than just slightly uncomfortable. Listening to the lot of them discuss bars and going out made her slightly nervous. She didn't drink too often, but generally when she did, she over did it and always ended up not remembering the night. But this new job was about new beginnings, right? She wanted to make a good impression and she wanted everyone to be able to hang with all their antics. She didn't want anyone labeling her the prude.

Brian piped up after being quite all night, "I think we all should go. No more fucking excuses, people."

She looked over at Matt and bit her lip slightly before responding, "I mean, sure I guess. Sounds like fun."

Rosalie decided she didn't want to change clothes before they went out - she wasn't looking to bring anybody home, anyway. Once the cab arrived, they were off to the first bar and Jimmy immediately dragged Rosalie off to the bar to take a few shots. "You know, I have a theory as to why you and Zack don't get along," the drummer mused.

Rosalie rolled her eyes at the sound of the guitarist's name. "Enlighten me," she mumbled. This should be interesting.

"It's because there's too much sexual tension between you two," Jimmy chirped, dissolving into laughter at the look that passed over Rosalie's face.

---

"Just stick with us and you'll be okay," Matt said to Leanne as they entered the bar. He'd have to get her and Rosalie acquainted so she'd have a girl to hang out with. Hoping not to seem too obvious, Matt placed his hand on Leanne's elbow and gently led her over to the bar.

"So what's your poison?" he asked, grinning. In his head, he had her pegged as more of a vodka girl, but you couldn't ever tell. He wondered what kind of drunk she was, or if she was even gonna get drunk at all. "Don't worry about paying, it's all on us," Matt added. He grinned at her, hoping she wasn't feeling as awkward as he thought she did.

Zacky had been behind Jimmy and Rosalie waiting to get his shots as well only was slightly in ear shot of their conversation. He raised his eyebrows with slightly wide eyes, and decided that it may be best for him not to be hearing any of the conversation. He met up with Johnny at the other end of the bar, who had grabbed a round of shots and was holding one out to Zacky. He immediately reached out and grabbed it, tossing it back before the liquid could even touch his lips.

Johnny laughed loudly, "You trying to forget something, son?"

Zacky licked his lips and shrugged his shoulders, "I guess you could say that."

~~

Leanne crossed her arms over her chest as she peered behind the bar, eyeing everything that they had in stock. She looked at Matt through the corner of her eye, seeing just how handsome he was. But she was always taught it's not best to mix work and love so she pushed the thought tot he back of her mind as she began to speak, "Well I've always like Jack and Coke. But I also really love Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey. That shit is delicious if you shoot it straight."

Rosalie made a sort of snorting noise. "Jimmy, no," she said. "I wouldn't touch Zacky with a twenty foot pole. There isn't sexual anything between us." Rosalie couldn't understand where Jimmy would've gotten that idea. She and Zacky hated each other, always had, always would. And for good reason; Zacky was the most infuriating man Rosalie had ever met.

"I'm telling you, the two of you just need to fuck and get it over with," Jimmy said. He thanked the bartender when the drinks arrived.

Rosalie reached over and took a shot. "Don't hold your breath," she mumbled.

---

"So you're a whiskey girl, then," Matt chuckled. "I never would've guessed." He noticed Leanne looking at him from the corner of her eye and he smirked, but decided not to say anything. The last thing he needed was to scare her off, because Larry would be fucking pissed if they had to hire a new tech in the middle of the tour. Matt caught the bartender's attention and ordered Tennessee Honey for Leanne and Heaven Hill for himself.

"So what made you want to be a guitar tech?" Matt asked, sliding Leanne her drink. If he was gonna get to know her, he had to start somewhere. And he figured it was a little inappropriate to ask her life story.

After a few more shots and a few lingering looks at the red head at the other side of the bar, Zacky began to feel pretty emboldened by the liquid courage he had consumed. He wanted to have a flat out honest conversation with Rosalie and figure out what exactly it was about him that set her off. After setting his shot glass down on the bar with a sounding thunk, he made his way over to her. He spotted and empty bar stool next to her and plopped himself in it, earning a glare from the younger girl. He held his hands up in defense as he began to speak, "No problems, just wanna talk." he leaned back and let out a small sigh. "Why do you dislike me so much?"

~~

Leanne shrugged as she tossed back a portion of her drink. She didn't really understand how to answer his question. She had always been involved in music. She had started playing the guitar before she had even turned six, but was always in the shadows of her two older brothers music abilities. She licked her lips slightly before she spoke, "I dunno. I was raised on playing music and learning about it." She ran a hand through her hair, "Just figured I could make money doing something I'm good at, ya know?"

"I think I'm just gonna go," Jimmy said. He looked between Zacky and Rosalie before darting off.

"You know, I could ask you the same question," Rosalie said to Zacky. She took a sip of her drink, a glass of Jack and coke on the rocks. She looked over at Zacky. "Why do you even care, anyway?" Jimmy's little idea was still nestled at the back of Rosalie's mind, but she pushed it away. There was no way in hell that was true. But then why was Zacky suddenly wanting to have this conversation with her?

---

Matt nodded. Obviously to be a tech you had to know about and play the instrument, so it made sense that Leanne would be a good guitar player. "If I'm bothering you, don't be scared to tell me to fuck off," Matt said, chuckling. He only said this because Leanne still seemed to be feeling a little awkward. "And we can go join the guys back at the table, if you want?"

Zacky caught the bartenders attention and ordered a Long Island before turning his attention back to Rosalie. He furrowed his eyebrows at her for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. He didn't really have anything against her, she actually seemed like a pretty down to earth girl--but for some reason they had always argued. "You don't even have grounds to ask me that question, Rosie." He said as he nodded his head in thanks to the bartender. He took a nice long sip before continuing to talk, "You always start the pity bullshit and I am sick of you getting under my skin, is all. I'd like to get along with you, we are in each others vicinity quite a bit for fucksake."

~~

Leanne shrugged once more at the tattooed man. She was never good at talking about herself or going through the small talk "lets get to know each other" phase of things. She sipped at her drink again, pulling her eyes away from Matt as she spoke, "I'm just not good at this." she laughed a small note, "I guess I can be severely introverted at times."

"Don't call me Rosie," Rosalie snapped at him. "You don't get to call me that. Only Jimmy gets to call me that." Rosalie picked up her glass and swirled the alcohol around before taking a large sip. She didn't want to be talking to Zacky right now, especially not about this. She wanted to get drunk. "And I think I do have the grounds to ask you that question, because all of this shit isn't on me, Zack. So if you're gonna try and make all of it my fault, you can just walk away right now because I'm not in the mood for it." In all honesty, Rosalie had no idea why she and Zacky didn't get along. Their problems had surfaced during a time in Rosalie's life that she tried hard to block out.

---

"Well if you hang out with us enough, that'll change," Matt said, laughing. He knew the guys wouldn't let Leanne get away with sitting in the corner. But he also understood that small talk was pretty fucking awkward. "Well uh, did you wanna go back to the table?" Matt asked. "I'm sure everybody's wondering where we are." Grabbing his drink from the counter, Matt led Leanne over to the table the guys were sitting at.

"Oh fuck off, Rosalie." He said with an exhaled scoff, "All of us have always fucking called you that. And no, for your information, I am not pinning this all on you. I've been an asshole because you've been an asshole. I don't want to do this bullshit anymore." He stood up, contemplating on whether or not he should just drop the whole situation. "Ya know, it's really shitty of you to treat me like that when I am coming to you to try and reconcile all off this. There's nothing even for us to argue about. But ya know what? Fuck it."

~~

Leanne sat down in between Matt and Brian. She took another large sip of her drink, starting to feel the effects of the alcohol take a hold on her. She looked over at Brian, giving him a smile in which he returned. "Your guitars sound okay tonight?"

Brian nodded as he clutched onto his beer mug, "Perfect babe. You did a good job and I'm glad we hired you."

Leanne could feel Matt looking at her and she didn't know what to do besides slam down the rest of her drink and sit there silently.

"I don't know what little fantasy land you've been living in, but there are only two people who have ever called me Rosie and one of them is dead," Rosalie hissed. Only her grandpa and Jimmy - the two most important men in her life - ever called her by her childhood nickname. The others knew not to. Except for Zacky. "You wanna know why I don't like you?" Rosalie said. "Then I'll fucking tell you. When I met you guys, I was going through a really shitty time in my life. I needed people to lean on and you acted like you just didn't a shit and it made a really sour impression on me, one I've never been able to get out of my head." Rosalie sighed and put her face in her hands. "I don't know how to fix this."

---

"If you want another drink, just let us know," Matt said to Leanne. He noticed his own glass was just about empty, so he finished it and motioned a waitress over for a refill. Just as the waitress was walking away, Jimmy scurried back over to the table. "You okay, Jim?" he laughed.

"Yeah, but." Jimmy ended his sentence bluntly, jerking his thumb in the direction of the bar, where Zacky and Rosalie were sitting.

"Those two don't exactly get along," Matt explained to Leanne, who looked a little confused. She might as well know about the only bit of drama between the group.

Zacky looked at her with wide eyes and all but spat out his next words to her, "You have got to be fucking kidding me. You knew for a fucking fact that I was going through some shit when you came along as well, Rosalie. I had just ended an engagement because I had been cheated on and then had money taken out of my bank account that I couldn't ever get back. I tried to be there for you just as much as everyone else had but I was dealing with shit of my own as well, Rosalie. If you don't like me, I'm fucking sorry. But I am not doing this bullshit with you any longer, I can't fucking stand it."

~~

Leanne formed the shape of an '"o" with her mouth as she looked across the bar at the pair who seemed to be arguing. "Maybe they just need to man up and fuck because they look really damn tense with one another."

As soon as the comment left her mouth, her hand flew right up to cover it. The effects of the alcohol were making her thoughts come out with out a filter. All the boys started laughing at her and Brian piped up, "Jimmy and I have been saying that for fucking months."

"You and I must thinking of different times, because I know you didn't cut off an engagement when we were twelve," Rosalie said. "And I'm sorry you had to go through all that shit Zack, I really am. I'm sorry. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Rosalie sighed and called out to the bartender to bring her a shot. She slammed that one immediately and asked for another, quickly taking that one as well. Arguing with Zacky always made her need to drink. "If you're done screaming at me, I think I'm gonna go join everyone else at the table," Rosalie said to him. "Right after I order another drink."

---

"More like years," Matt laughed. He stretched his other arm along the back of the booth, behind Leanne. "But they won't. I wouldn't be surprised if they hate each other guys the rest of their lives." He was a little surprised that Leanne had picked up on their idea so quickly, and even more surprised that she'd said it out loud. She just didn't seem like the kind of person to say something like that. "Thanks so much," Matt said to the waitress. He took the glasses from her and said one to Leanne. "I took the liberty of buying you another drink, I hope you don't mind."

"None of this bullshit like what we are doing now started happening until the past four or five years," he sighed. "We've always argued and gotten on each others nerves, and I whole heatedly believe that will continue... But this volatile one upping of trying to hurt the other person I am done with." He looked at her for a long moment and then said in a small, soft voice, "I wasn't screaming at you, by the way."

~~

Leanne looked over to Matt and took the drink from him. She smiled as she brought it to her lips to take a drink. She knew she definitely didn't need another drink, as she was well past the point of inebriation. She didn't drink too often, and was what most would consider a light weight. She sat the glass down on the table, placing her two hands beside it to steady herself as the room had started to wobbly slightly. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"I guess you have a point," Rosalie relented. It would probably make her life a lot more enjoyable without the constant arguing. "I'm gonna go back to the table," Rosalie mumbled. She grabbed her new drink from the bar and said off the barstool, wobbling a little when she got to her feet. "Damn, I took those last two shots a little too fast."

---

"We might have to put you up in Rosalie's room so she can keep an eye on you," Matt said to Leanne, chuckling slightly. She was definitely on her way to being drunk, if she wasn't already. "And I think we'll cut you off after this one." He hadn't meant to get Leanne drunk, and he hoped she didn't think that was his intention. She was a beautiful girl, but he wasn't looking to take advantage of her.