pick your poison.

"Actually I think I'm going to go with this wine color," Kayla said, snatching the bottle of nail polish from the little shelf. She sat down in the pedicure chair, handing the bottle to the attendant. She looked over when Ava showed her the phone, furrowing her brows. "Hmm, Zacky just texted me, too," she said, looking at her own phone when it vibrated. She quickly read over the text from Zacky, her eyes widening slightly when she saw what it said. "Probably nothing, though," she added, looking over at Ava. "If it was a big deal, they would call, right? Let's just relax and enjoy our pedicures." Even high, Kayla knew that knowing that Johnny had been arrested would ruin the day for Ava. If she found out Johnny was in jail, she would go running back to him, which would only really reinforce his idea that it was okay for him to keep drinking like this. "Man, I love these massage things they have on the back of the pedicure chairs."

---

At one point or another, Johnny managed to doze off again. He was jolted from his sleep by the sound of loud tapping on the bars of the cell. Looking around wildly, he spotted the guard standing in front of the door, keys in hand. "You're in luck, Seward," he said, unlocking the cell door. "You made bail."

Johnny was on his feet as quickly as he could manage. "Ava came?" he asked. He felt the hope rise inside of him, only to have it deflate when Brian appeared from around the corner. And the guitarist looked none too happy with Johnny, which didn't really surprise him. Shrinking in on himself as much as he could as he followed Brian and the guard down the hall, collecting the things that had been confiscated from him before leaving the jail with Brian.

"You're lucky I give a single shit about you," Brian said as they both slid into the car. "Actually, no. You're lucky I give a shit about Ava, because if this was about you, I would've let your stupid ass rot in there."

Ava took Kayla's advice, putting her phone back in her purse. "Yeah, you're right." She yawned, dipping her feet in the hot water. The redhead nodded in agreement with Kayla's statement about the massage chairs. "Oh, for sure. I mean, I would kill to have one of these in my house. They have ones that massage your legs and stuff now." Ava yawned, just relaxing as the pedicurist worked on her feet. The text message from Brian kept itching at the back of Ava's mind-- why the hell would he text her out of the blue? She shook away her thoughts and tried to focus on relaxing. "Do you wanna get lunch or something after this? I'm pretty hungry."

--

Zack shook his head as he read through Brian's texts from picking Johnny up. He groaned when he saw that Brian had already gone ahead and texted Ava-- that was the last thing she needed. Zack knew that Ava would drop everything to go check on Johnny, and the bassist would never learn to get everything in check. He knew that if things kept going on the way that they did, they wound end up burying Johnny within a year, at most. Brian already fucking texted her. I swear to god, I'm gonna end up punching him in the face. None of this is helping. He fired off another text to Kayla.

It was honestly a bit easier for Kayla to relax than she thought it would be. The energy from the cocaine was still coursing through her, but having someone rub her feet certainly helped to slow things down. When her phone vibrated, she knew it was Zacky texting her. Yeah, she told me she got a message from him. But I convinced her not to mess with it right now. Hopefully she'll forget about it. Kayla sat her phone back down in the seat, turning to Ava when she spoke again. "Uh yeah, we can get lunch," she said. "You can choose, I'm not really feeling anything in particular right now." If there was one thing she remembered from her days as an addict, it was that she hardly ever had an appetite. It was one of the things that made it hard to quit, because when she stopped using she started eating more and it made her gain weight.

---

Johnny didn't say a single word to Brian as the guitarist drove him home. He knew Brian was mad at him; he could feel the anger radiating from him. They all hated him at this point, he knew it, and it was because of what he was doing to Ava. They stopped caring about him a long time ago. Ava was the only one that still did and that's why Johnny needed her to stay, even if he didn't give her a reason to. In the back of his mind, he knew that Ava and everyone else was better off without him. Maybe that's why he couldn't bring himself to stop drinking. He was trying to slowly rid of the burden. Johnny was surprised when Brian shut off the engine after pulling into his driveway. "What are you doing?" he asked. "You don't need to walk me inside, I'm not a child."

"No, but I'm still going to go through your house and find every bottle of alcohol that I can and then pour that shit down the drain," Brian said.

Ava nodded her head, kinda glancing sideways at Kayla. Something was off-- she couldn't quite place her finger on what, but it was definitely something. "Maybe that little sit down Mexican place across the street from here? It's been forever since I've been there. And it's super cute inside." The redhead spoke, focusing on the person doing her toes. She always found it incredibly soothing, watching them work. A pedicure could always help ease her worries, relaxing her so much that she fell asleep. "I'm probably not gonna eat much, maybe like a quesadilla. I gotta get something in my stomach." Her phone buzzed again, a reminder of the text that Brian had sent. She bit her lip, ignoring the feeling in the pit of her stomach.

--

Let's hope so. Try to keep her mind off of it, babe. We'll figure out how to break the news to her when you two come back. Zack texting Kayla back, a light yawn leaving his lips as he stretched out on the couch . He was hoping to get something of a nap in before the girls got back, and they had to explain to Ava that Johnny had gotten arrested yet again. Zack grabbed the flannel blanket off the back of the couch and pulled it over himself, letting his eyes fall shut. He had just started to doze off when his phone pinged again with yet another update from Brian. "Jesus Christ...." Zack grumbled, putting his phone on vibrate after texting Kayla he would be taking a nap.

"Yeah, that place sounds good," Kayla said. She was glad to hear Ava say that she probably wouldn't eat much, because then maybe she wouldn't seem so strange when she didn't eat much. When her phone vibrated again, she knew she had a message from Zacky and she sighed as she read it. She didn't want to have to break that news to Ava, because it would only make an already awful situation worse. When Zacky texted to tell her he was taking a nap, Kayla tucked her phone underneath her leg, closing her eyes as she relaxed against the massage chair. She'd always found pedicures so relaxing and the foot rub that came along with them was a bonus, since it was hard to get Zacky to do that. Once they were finished with their pedicures, Kayla slipped on the little foam flip flops before she went over to the station to get her fingernails done. "I'm glad we decided to go out and pamper ourselves," she said to Ava. "I think we deserved it."

---

"You can't do that!" Johnny huffed, following after Brian. By the time he managed to make it to the house, the guitarist had managed to find Johnny's easiest hiding place and was headed to the kitchen with a half-full bottle of whiskey. "Brian, stop! That's mine!"

"Yeah, well you don't fucking need it," Brian said. He twisted the cap and turned the bottle upside down, pouring the liquid down the drain. "You don't need any of this shit, Johnny. I mean, for Christ's sake, your wife is about to leave you because you won't stop drinking. Do you really think you need this whiskey?"

At the mention of Ava, Johnny felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He didn't need to be reminded of that, thank you very much. "She won't leave," Johnny said, although he was sure that was for himself than for Brian. "She can't leave."

Ava nodded her head in agreement. "Oh, for sure. We definitely deserve a day for ourselves. With all the crap we put up with?" She joked, turning her attention back to her pedicurist, who was currently painting her toes. "I'm probably gonna get a gel manicure instead of the dip stuff," The redhead mused, looking over at Kayla. "That way we can just get up and go." That was one of the main things that Ava hated about getting her nails done. It took forever and a day for the polish to dry. She was way too impatient for that. "Do you think I need to get my eyebrows done, or do they look okay?" Ava broke the silence again, turning to look at Kayla so she could judge.

--

Zack slept for a whopping twenty minutes before giving up and deciding to just lay on the couch and watch television. There were no more text updates from Brian, so he assumed that everything was going good and he had gotten Johnny home. There also wasn't anything from Kayla, so that had to mean she and Ava were still out having a nice time. Good, Zack thought to himself. After the shitty morning that Kayla had had, she definitely deserved to have some fun by herself. Feeling thirsty, Zack got up and headed to the kitchen to get himself a soda or juice or something along those lines.

"I think you should get your eyebrows done," Kayla said. "They don't look bad or anything, but that way you won't have to wait around while they're finishing with my nails. Because I'm definitely getting the dip manicure. It lasts longer than the gel." Kayla sat down at the nail station, looking through the color choices to find the closest match to her pedicure before telling the nail technician. The time it took to get the dip manicure was well worth it in her opinion since it lasted a long time and didn't chip. And it didn't damage her nail beds like acrylic nails did. When she was finished, she paid for everything before waiting by the door for Ava. "You ready to go eat now?" she asked.

---

"Yeah, well keep up with this shit and she's going to leave," Brian said. He tossed the empty whiskey bottle into the trash before leaving the kitchen, storming into the living room. Johnny had no doubt that he would tear apart the house to find all of his stashes, so Johnny figured it would just be easier to give Brian the alcohol. He could always buy more later. Besides, if Brian found all of his hiding places, he would tell Ava and then Johnny would have to find new ones.

Johnny made a quick trip around the house, collecting the various bottles of whiskey and vodka. "Here," he grumbled, shoving them at Brian. "I'm going to take a nap, lock the door when you leave."

Ava finished up with her eyebrows, quickly paying the girl and giving her a generous tip before meeting Kayla at the door. "Yeah, let's go. I'm starving." She fished her keys out of her purse before hitting the unlock button on the key fob. Ava climbed into the driver's seat and buckled her seatbelt, waiting for Kayla to do the same before starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. "I can pay for lunch," the redhead offered, driving the little way down the road. The restaurant wasn't that far, about maybe a half mile down from the nail salon. "It's the least I can do for dragging you out with me." She joked as they pulled into the parking lot of the Mexican restaurant.

--

Zack grabbed a La Croix water from the fridge before sitting back down on the couch. Having fun with Ava, babe? He texted before putting his phone back on the coffee table. The guitarist grabbed the remote and flicked through the channels, looking for something that caught his eye. Zack was half tempted to go back over to Johnny's and see if Brian needed any help with stripping the place of booze, but decided against it. If Johnny made one more smart ass comment about he and Kayla (no matter how deserved it was), Zack would knock him the fuck out. Friend or no.

Kayla followed Ava out to her car, climbing inside once the doors were unlocked. She bounced her leg absentmindedly as they drove to the restaurant, still feeling extremely energized. Had she felt like this every time when she did coke before? She didn't remember it. Maybe it was because it had been a year since the last time she used. But she didn't really use. Right? She just took a little and she wasn't going to take any more. She was still sober. She was still sober. "You don't have to pay," Kayla told Ava, climbing out of the car. She laughed at the redhead's next comment. "You didn't drag me out, I left willingly. I'm sure Zacky would attest to that." Normally when she went to eat Mexican, she was hungry as soon as she walked in the door. But this time Kayla barely even noticed the smell of the fajita meat cooking in the kitchen or the burrito on the table near the door. She wasn't hungry at all and she knew it was because of the cocaine.

---

The first thing that Johnny did when he got upstairs to his bedroom was go to his closet, finding the small bottle of whiskey hidden at the back. He hadn't given this one up on purpose, because after the day he'd had, he needed a drink. Deep down Johnny knew he should pour it out, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. No one was here right now and he was about to lay down for a nap, so who would it be hurting? His liver was already damaged enough, it could handle a few more shots. And no one else would be the wiser, because by the time anyone else showed up, he would have slept it off. Once he'd finished off the bottle, Johnny went downstairs to toss it in the trash with the other bottles Brian had poured out. There were a good five or six bottles in the trash, bottles he would have to replace. If he weren't so damn tired, he would go now. But he needed sleep.

"I know I don't have to pay, but I really want to. Let me do something nice for ya." Ava laughed, nudging Kayla gently in the ribs as they waited to be seated. The hostess took them to their normal table and set a plate of tortilla chips in front of me. "These are what get me every time... I swear I could put away three or four plates easy." She joked. Ava ordered a soda for herself and waited for Kayla to do the same, thanking the server before turning her attention back to the menu. "I think I'm gonna get the cheesy chicken quesadilla... switch it up from my normal steak." She closed the menu before looking over at Kayla. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem quiet today."

--

Zack looked at his phone when it pinged. It was a text from Brian, telling him that he was about to leave after he'd poured all the alcohol down the drain and Johnny was upstairs napping. Don't leave. Don't trust him at this point. As soon as your car is out of the driveway he's going to go buy more booze. My best suggestion is to just park yourself on the couch, take his wallet and his house keys. He shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off the oncoming headache. Zack never thought they would reach this point-- but here they were.

"Well I mean, if you insist," Kayla said, grinning at Ava. She followed the hostess to their normal table, thanking her when she sat a bowl of chips in front of them. "Yeah, I usually eat way too many of these and by the time my actual food gets here, I'm full," she said. Kayla waited for Ava to order her drink before she did the same, looking over the menu once the waitress walked away. Normally she had a hard time deciding what she wanted because she was so hungry that she wanted everything, but this time she was having a hard time because she wasn't hungry. "What? Yeah, I'm fine," Kayla said. She closed her menu. "Just thinking. I think I'm going to get just a plain cheese quesadilla."

---

Johnny was halfway up the stairs when he heard the front door open again. He turned around and peeked around the corner, glaring when he spotted Brian on the couch. What was he doing back? He was supposed to leave. Johnny bet it was Zacky who'd told the other guitarist to stay and babysit him. Turning back up the stairs, Johnny went to his bedroom. He might as well actually take a nap now, while he could still sleep comfortably. There was no telling how long he would have a babysitting downstairs and he probably had around twenty four hours before the withdrawal started to kick in. The few shots he'd just had wouldn't help much. His tolerance was too high at this point.

Ava nodded her head, shaking away her thoughts. "That's the most thought I've EVER seen you give Mexican food." She teased, thanking the server when their drinks came. Ava took a sip of her Pepsi before sighing gently, deep in thought. "I need to go back home soon," she mused. The redhead needed to grab some more clothes-- she also wanted to make sure that her house wasn't completely destroyed. She sighed before looking over at Kayla. "Maybe I should give Johnny more time to dry out? Fuck, who am I kidding, he's probably drinking as we speak." Ava shook her head.

--

Zack nodded to himself when Brian texted him back, letting him know that he was sitting on Johnny's couch for the time being. Good. Hopefully this would help Johnny dry out. Maybe if they got the other guys involved as well, maybe taking shifts of some sort, then it could actually work. So, update. Brian's keeping himself posted at Ava and Johnny's. We're trying to dry him out as much as possible. Has Ava looked at her phone yet? Zack fired off another text to his wife before putting his phone back down on the coffee table.

For a second, Kayla was worried that Ava might be starting to get suspicious, but she shook the thought away. She'd only had a little, it didn't show that much. Besides, Ava was distracted by Johnny, or at least, she would be when she found out that he'd been to jail. "I don't think he's drinking," Kayla said, reaching for her drink. "But if you want to go home when we leave here, I'll go with you." You're going to have to work in shifts to dry him out completely. And you know it's dangerous to force him to detox like that without medical help, right? You'll have to take him to the hospital eventually if you're trying to take it that far. And no, she hasn't looked at her phone. But I think she may want to go home after we leave the restaurant.

---

Johnny really wanted to sleep, but he just couldn't. The only reason he'd been able to sleep in the drunk tank was because he'd still been, well, drunk. But now he was starting to sober up and it was getting harder and harder to do anything but think about how he was going to get his next drink. He was almost willing to climb out the window and sneak away, but not only would he probably hurt himself, but he wouldn't be surprised if Brian or Zacky told the liquor stores not to serve him anymore. He was honestly surprised that they hadn't done that before. And besides that, Johnny's wallet was downstairs. He was at the mercy of his friends now and he knew they wouldn't let him anywhere near so much as a drop of alcohol.

Ava looked over at Kayla, biting her bottom lip. "I couldn't ask you to do that, after how he talked to you this morning." She spoke before sipping her pop again. "But if you're gonna insist, I can't stop you. I just wanna make sure that my place is still standing." A soft sigh left her lips and she pushed her hair out of her face. Ava felt a rush of affection toward her best friend-- despite how Johnny had treated her when she and Zack visited that morning, Kayla was willing to go back to Ava's home with her. Ava was about to speak again but she was interrupted by the server bringing them their lunch. "Thank you," Ava spoke, giving him a polite smile. She handed Kayla's plate to her before taking a bite of her quesadilla. "Mmm, this is absolutely perfect." The redhead spoke once she'd swallowed her food.

--

You know what, you're absolutely right. Wait, Ava going home might be a good idea. She might be able to convince him to go to the hospital... or have a better chance of throwing his ass in the car. Just warn her before she goes, so she's not walking in blind. Zack texted Kayla back. She had a point-- if they tried to dry Johnny out without any help, it could potentially go wrong. As much as he wanted his friend to go back to normal, Zack wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to Johnny. I'm going to text Matt and have him head over that way, too. I feel like we're gonna need to make a huge effort. He made sure the text went through to Kayla before texting Matt, telling him of their idea.

"No, I-I know you need to go home and I know you're going to need support," Kayla said. Ava was likely going to need a lot of support in the near future if they were going to attempt to dry out Johnny. It was going to be hell for both of them, especially when the bass player really started to hit withdrawal. Kayla didn't even want to think about how difficult it would be to convince Johnny to go to rehab. She knew it hadn't been easy for everyone to convince her. The threat of prison time had really been the only thing that had been able to. "Thanks," Kayla said softly, taking her plate from Ava. She picked up her phone when it vibrated, reading the text message from Zacky. I'll let her know when we leave the restaurant. She at least deserves to enjoy her lunch. Yeah, bringing in Matt will probably help a lot. Might as well call Jimmy, too. You'll probably need all of the manpower you can get.

---

When Johnny heard the front door open and close downstairs, he was immediately on his feet. Maybe Brian was gone now and he could go and buy some more alcohol. But when he headed downstairs and peaked around the corner, instead of an empty living room he saw not only Brian still on the couch, but Matt and Zacky as well. And he could guess that Jimmy wasn't far behind. Johnny frowned. Were they seriously about to stage an intervention? He would withdraw and go to rehab when he was ready. But in a way, he didn't think he would ever be ready. Alcohol withdrawal was hard, mentally and physically. And Johnny was so dependent that it could go very wrong. "You guys can go ahead and fuck off if you're here to do what I think you're here to do," Johnny called out from the staircase.

Ava nodded her head. "If you insist," she spoke quietly before taking another bite of her food. She knew she would never be able to repay her friends for everything that they did for her during this time. In a way, Ava hated being pitied. She liked to project herself as this strong, brave woman who needed no help from no one. But more often than not, especially recently, that just wasn't true. That was one of the things that Ava disliked most about her husband. He made their friends look at her like some sort of charity case. She continued to eat her quesadilla in silence, glancing over at Kayla every so often. "Thank you, by the way. I honestly don't know what I would do without a best friend like you." Ava mumbled before taking a sip of her soda.

--

That's a good idea. I'm gonna call him, and then I'm gonna head over there, too. Like you said we're gonna need all the people we can if this is gonna work. Zack fired off the text to Kayla before calling Jimmy, telling him to get his ass to Johnny and Ava's because they were gonna try to dry Johnny out and take his ass to the hospital. Once he finished up with that call, Zack headed upstairs and changed out of his sweats. He made sure he had his keys, wallet, and phone, before heading outside and climbing into his car. Zack buckled his seatbelt before turning the car on and peeling out of the driveway.

"I know you'd do the same thing for me," Kayla said. She remembered a point in her life when she was far from a good friend; when she'd been addicted to coke, she was more preoccupied with how she was going to get her next fix to care about helping anyone else. When they finished with their meals, Kayla waited for Ava to pay before following her out to the car. She knew that their next destination wouldn't be as fun, because Johnny would likely fight them every step of the way, even with Ava there. As they drove to Ava and Johnny's house, Kayla felt her phone vibrate again, knowing it was a message from Zacky. We're headed that way now, too. Hopefully this won't be as hard as we think it will. Kayla didn't even know why she'd said that. Of course this was going to be hard. Johnny was stubborn as a fucking mule and he'd probably already been without a drink for a good twelve hours. He was sober and he was cranky. Never a good combination when it came to Johnny.

---

"We're not going anywhere, Johnny," Brian called back. "Not until you agree to go to rehab. And you're going, even if we have to knock you over the head and drag you out of here."

"Fuck you, I'm not going anywhere," Johnny hissed. He stormed back up the stairs, shutting his door with force and locking it behind him. They couldn't take him anywhere if they couldn't get into his room and he doubted they would knock down his door. Ava wouldn't let them. She'd be pissed. Before long, Johnny heard someone else enter his house and then he heard Jimmy's voice join the others in the living room. Boy, they all really thought they were clever, didn't they? They thought that a show of force would convince him to go to rehab, but they were wrong. And even if they somehow manage to make him go, they couldn't make him stay. He was an adult, so his stay would be voluntary.

Ava bit her lip as she continued the drive back to her house. The Mexican restaurant was only about ten or so minutes away from the entrance of her gated community, so the drive really wasn't that long. Ava punched in the code for the gate before continuing to her driveway. She raised a brow when she saw all the cars in her driveway, including Zack and Jimmy's. "Wait a second. What the fuck is going on?" She turned to look at Kayla, brow raised incredulously. "Is there something I don't know about?" Ava turned off the car and dropped her keys in her purse before looking over at Kayla again. "Seriously. Tell me."

--

Zack looked out the window when he heard another car pull up in the driveway, signaling that Ava and Kayla had arrived. "Alright guys, Ava's here... let's home this goes smoothly." He opened the front door and watched as Kayla and an understandably shocked Ava wandered inside. "So, I'm assuming Kayla told you everything that happened today. We need your help, Ava. If anyone can convince Johnny to go to rehab, or at least dry him out a bit, it's you." Zack sighed. "And we figured you would need all the man power you can get."

As soon as they approached Ava's house and she saw everyone's cars parked in the driveway, Kayla realized she'd forgotten all about telling the redhead what they were planning. The whole idea was for her not to walk in blind and that's exactly what Kayla almost let her do. "Johnny got arrested last night," Kayla began, looking at her lap. "Brian bailed him out and brought him home about an hour ago. That's why he texted you. I guess Zacky came up with the idea of drying him out and trying to get him to go to rehab, so that's why everyone is here. They figure you would be the best one to convince him." Kayla climbed out of the car and led Ava inside. She wasn't exactly sure what to do or say at this point. She and Johnny were close, just like she was with all of the guys, but not as much so recently because of his drinking. She wouldn't be much help in this situation.

---

When Johnny heard yet another car pull into the driveway, he went to the window to see if he could see who it might be. He instantly recognized Ava's car and he immediately felt conflicted. On the one hand, he was glad that she was going to be remotely close to him but at the same time, he knew that the guys would try and use her to manipulate him into going to rehab. They all knew Johnny would do just about anything for Ava. It wasn't very long at all until the doorknob to the bedroom jiggled, followed by a knock on the door when the person on the other side realized that it was locked. "Go away," Johnny shouted, not caring to know who it was. "I'm trying to take a nap."

"It's just us," Jimmy's voice called back. "Let us in. We just want to talk."

"No, fuck you," Johnny hissed. "Leave me alone."

"Well, if you won't let us in, will you at least let Ava in?" Jimmy asked. "I know you want to see her."

Ava felt like she had been hit with a whirlwind of emotions. Anger at her friends for keeping this information from her. Worry for her husband. And, weirdly enough, relief as well. She would finally have some backup in her quest to get Johnny to go to rehab. The redhead nodded at Zack's words, smiling slightly. "Thanks, you guys.... I'm gonna need all the help I can get." She whispered before walking up the stairs, accompanied by Jimmy and Matt. A frown graced her features at Johnny's harsh words towards their friends. She gently rapped on the bedroom door, a soft sigh leaving her lips. "Babe, it's me. Could you please let me in? Just me, I promise." Ava practically begged.

--

Zack watched as Matt and Jimmy accompanied Ava upstairs, electing to stay downstairs with Kayla. She shouldn't have to deal with Johnny being an asshole for the second time in a day. He turned to face his fiancee, pressing a kiss to her head. "I love you." He whispered as he gave her a gentle squeeze, sitting back down with her on the couch. "So how was your time out with Ava? Aside from the obvious, of course." Zack asked, listening intently to what Ava had to say. He felt like something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Are you thirsty or anything? Ava's got some tea and stuff like that if you are."