where do we go from here

Cora Parks

Brian Haner

Cora smiled as she unpacked the last box in her daughters room, putting the stuffed animals up on the shelf. She could hear her daughter, Ava, coming towards the bedroom, “Ava, come see your room!” Seeing Ava run in and her eyes go wide with excitement, Cora laughed softly, “It’ll be nice to have your own room, won’t it?” Ava nodded, “Uh huh!” Cora watched as her three, soon to be four, year old ran from side to side of her room. Cora had never thought she would be living with her best friend again, but when the two moved back to California, she loved the idea of moving in with Jenna.

Leaving California years ago had been one of the hardest things she had done. Everything had been moving so fast, Avenged Sevenfold was finally starting to get the recognition they deserved and starting to tour. So when Cora took the pregnancy test and it came out positive she spent two weeks deciding on how to handle it. It broke her heart to end things with Brian, but she did, she left and took care of Ava.

---

Matt finished his beer as he looked over at Brian and the others. They had just finished another tour and they’d be home for awhile, at least until they finished another album. The feeling of performing in front of huge crowds never got old and Matt loved every second of it. It had always been their dream to get big and they had been living the dream for almost four years now.

There was a downside though, with all the touring and album work, Matt hadn’t had time to find someone to settle down with. Of course, he wasn’t in any rush, but it would be nice to have someone to go home too.

@ Argonaut

Brian sighed softly as he finished off a beer, tossing it aside and getting another one. He was still pretty exhausted from tour. Living it up and partying like a rockstar never really hit him while on tour but once he got home it hit him like a ton of bricks. He always felt like he’d aged a million years, it was crazy. You would think that he’d learned from his mistakes but nope.

“I swear we need to stop partying so hard,” he groaned, yawning a bit. “We’ve been home for a good while now and I swear I haven’t done shit. I desperately need to go grocery shopping because I have literally nothing to eat in my house but I’m just so lazy.” Brian shook his head and popped the top of his bear, taking a sip.

---

Jenna grunted as she pulled a heavy box into her room. Her and Cora were finally moving to their dream home in California and starting fresh. She smiled as she listened to Ava’s little footsteps run down the hall and to her new room. Jenna was happy that they could finally give that precious little girl her own bedroom. She furrowed her brow as her stomach growled, rubbing it and sighing. It was probably getting a little late and way past dinner. They had been unpacking all day. “Who wants pizza?” She called out, searching for a number on her phone. She was probably just going to go pick it up instead of having it delivered. Plus she really wanted to get out and get some fresh air.

Hearing Jenna mention pizza, Cora watched as Ava ran out of her bedroom and straight to Jenna’s, “Me!” Cora shook her head, shutting the light off and following her daughter, “Pizza sounds great, especially since we finally finished unpacking.” She stopped in the door way of Jenna’s room and picked Ava up.

---

Matt laughed, but he knew Brian was right, they were always drinking. He decided against getting another beer, thinking it’d be the best idea to sober up. “I was thinking about ordering some food, do you want something?” Matt asked.

@ Argonaut

Jenna giggled as Ava ran into the room, clearly wanting pizza. "Alright, alright. Let me just place an order and we'll be good to go," she said as she pulled out her phone. She called the nearest pizza place and put in an order for one small cheese pizza and a large of what she and Cora usually got. "I'll be back in a few, i'm gonna go pick up pizza!" she called out to Cora, ruffling up Ava's hair. She grabbed her jacket and slipped on her shoes before heading out. She wasn't to worried about her appearance or anything since she was almost certain that she wasn't going to be running into anyone anytime soon. At least she hoped so.

---

"You should go get pizza!" Brian said with wide eyes. He was definitely craving some greasy pizza, and if Matt was gonna go get it then he was all for it. "You can't tell me you're not in the mood for some tasty, cheese oozing pizza." Brian licked his lips and rubbed his stomach, dreaming about that mouth-watering pizza. He knew that all of the guys would agree with him on this since they were still drinking and pizza was usually their go-to meal.

Cora took Ava into the living room and sat her on the couch before turning a cartoon on for her. She made her way into the kitchen and got herself a bottle of water. She hoped it wouldn’t take Jenna too long to get the pizza, her stomach was already rumbling.

---

Matt rolled his eyes as he heard the rest of the guys join in with Brian. “Alright! I’ll get pizza,” he called and ordered their pizza. Grabbing his keys, he walked out and went to his car. He wasn’t anywhere near drunk, not even tipsy. Driving to the pizza place, he went inside and sat down, enjoying the peace and quiet for the moment.

@ Argonaut

Brian had wished that he had gone with Matt after a while because sitting here with the guys was actually pretty boring. He huffed and finished offf his beer, tossing it in the trash before grabbing himself another one and popping the top. He leaned back in his seat and took a few sips of it, almost impatiently waiting for his pizza to arrive. He was absolutely starving and he knew that he could probably eat about three large pizzas himself.

---

Jenna got to the pizza place as soon as possible, sighing softly as she got out of her car and went inside. She walked straight up to the counter and asked them if her order was ready yet, nodding when they said it'd be a few minutes still. Jenna walked over to the soda cooler and grabbed three drinks, setting them up on the counter to ring up when they were ready. She walked over and sat down, running a hand through her hair. She looked around the place, taking a double take at the man sitting a little ways away from her. He looked identical to Matt Sanders, one of the boys her and Cora had gone to school with, as well as the best friend of Ava's father. Jenna just kept staring at him, trying to figure out if it was really him or not.

Since Ava was occupied with her cartoon, Cora took the free time to finish unpacking the rest of the kitchen. She put the dishes away before taking the boxes and placing them by the door.

---

Matt heard someone else come in to the pizza place, but didn’t look that way. He looked around after a moment when he felt eyes on him, his eyes met hers and Matt was shocked. He hadn’t expected to see her again, “Jenna?” Matt stood up and walked over to where she was sitting.

@ Argonaut

Brian sipped on his beer as he watched Jimmy do his usual crazy antics, shaking his head. This man was crazy. Brian really wished that Matt would hurry up and get back with that damn pizza since he was starving.

---

Jenna cursed herself for staring, really wishing he hadn't noticed her. Now that her suspicion was confirmed she wasn't really sure what to do. What was she supposed to say? Maybe she should pretend not to know him. No, that'd be rude. She was staring after all. "Hi, Matt. How've you been?" she said, running a hand through her hair.

Cora finished up in the kitchen and made her way back to the living room with her bottle of water. She sat down on the couch next to Ava and smiled, seeing her daughter as she watched tv. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she realized just how much Ava looked like her father.

---

“I’ve been pretty good, just got back from touring a while ago. What about you, how’s life?” Matt asked, genuinely interested in how she had been these last few years. He was surprised to run in to her, “So, are you living around here?” He asked.

@ Argonaut

[I'm going to just skip out on Brian for now until Matt gets back, hope that's okay. ]

Jenna licked over her lips as she looked down at her feet, then back up at him. "Touring? That's really great, Matt," she said with a small smile. "Life is great. Cora and I just moved here, actually. I decided to take a break from packing and came to pick us up a pizza," she said with a small laugh. Jenna wouldn't dare say anything about Ava. If she accidentally let it slip, then Matt would probably start asking questions and she really didn't want that.

[Thats Fine! ]

Hearing Jenna mention Cora, Matt knew he’d have to tell Brian when he got back. “It really is. So, the two of you are living together? We should all get together sometime,” Matt suggested. He knew Brian would jump at the chance to see Cora again and to be honest, Matt wanted to see Jenna too. He frowned slightly when he heard his name being called and that his pizza was done. Grabbing a napkin, he quickly wrote out his number, “I’m having a cookout on Saturday, if you feel like it, you and Cora should come, catch up with the guys. Give me a call or text if you’re interested and I’ll send you my address. I’m glad you’re back, Jenna.” He handed her the napkin before going and grabbing his pizza.

@ Argonaut

Jenna grinned as she listened to Matt. She was about to respond to him when his name was being called for his pizza. She sighed softly and ran a hand through her hair. Jenna was really excited when he wrote own his number, feeling like she just won a million bucks. "I definitely will. Hopefully, I can drag Cora out of the house," she told him with a wink. Jenna knew that it was going to be a challenge, especially since Brian was involved. Jenna waved Matt goodbye as he got his pizza and left, her name being called soon after. Jenna got the pizza boxes and her drinks in a bag, leaving the pizza place and heading home.

Cora had Ava relaxing on the couch, she looked over at the door when Jenna walked in. “I’ll grab the paper plates so we won’t have dishes tonight,” Cora said as she got up and went into their kitchen. She put the pizza on a plate for Ava and got her a juice.

---

Matt got his pizza and waved to Jenna before walking out. Once he got back to the guys, he walked in and sat the pizza down, getting himself a piece. Glancing over at Brian, he decided to say something, “You’ll never guess who I ran into when I got pizza...” Seeing that he caught Brian’s attention he added, “Jenna, I guess she just moved back here with Cora.”

@ Argonaut