If I Was Perfect Then This Would Be Easy

The evening after the pool party was pretty silent. I had the whole apartment to myself. Jack was out with Megan (or whatever her name was). Truthfully, I kind of wanted to meet her, but I didn't want to press Jack.

I didn't want to go with Cate to see her mom, mainly because they needed time together. However, Jimmy gave me a call and asked if he could come over to spend some time.

"It's not much, but it's my place," I admitted once I offered him something to drink.

"You have to be kidding me. Did you really expect me to start talking shit about your place?" I shrugged.

So we both plopped on the couch once I cleaned up the mess. Thank God there wasn't too much. I grabbed my guitar and placed it my lap. I began playing, although my thoughts weren't really on the damn thing. I began thinking about the pool party, about Zack's closeness, about Bri--

Brian?! I sighed. His new behaviour surprised me, though I couldn't complain. I kind of liked it and now that I'd gotten the chance to talk and laugh with him, I realized I actually simpathised him. Of course, I wouldn't admit it to anyone.

"Die, die, die, my darling!" Corey yelled at the top of his lungs as the door closed. I didn't get up from the couch, but turned my head to see Dom and Corey appear in my living room.

"What the fuck are you assholes doing here? And how did you get in?" Corey jumped next to me, stealing my guitar and beginning to play something himself, while Dom gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Your door was opened. Don't worry, we locked it behind," Corey assured. The guys saluted Jimmy.

"A little bird told us you were in need of some company," Dom added, while Jimmy took a seat at Jack's drum set.

"Oh really?" I enquired sarcastically. "Did that little bird have a name, too?" Dom, Jimmy and I began laughing out loud as Corey said Cate's name through coughs.

"Charming. Guess what? We have Catherine back," I announced. Corey stopped playing suddenly and Dom chuckled. "A7X got her to tell them her real name. And now everyone calls her Cate."

"Damn," Corey muttered as he looked at my guitar thoughtfully. I noticed this, and so did Dom. For one, Cate didn't really allow anyone to use her real name. She had a problem with that and only the people whom she really loved got the right to call her 'Cate' every once in a while. Secondly, Corey had always had sort of a crush on Cate and the appeareance of Matt in the picture wasn't exactly something he enjoyed.

"Aw, come on, man, don't be like--" But Dom was cut off by his cellphone ringing. He picked up and after a short conversation, he looked at us. "I have to go. My fucking cousin's coming to town and I'm supposed to motherfucking babysit him." Corey laughed.

"How old is your cousin?" I asked, leading him to the door.

"He's alot older than you. Don't ask. I have a crazy family. And he's in town with business. Wants to start his own company or some shit like that. Anyway, I'll call you tomorrow. Good night!" He hugged me and left.

I sighed as I sat on the couch next to Corey again. I placed my head in my hands and felt his and Jimmy's hands on my shoulders.

"Fucked up week, huh?" Jimmy enquired.

"You know what? It wasn't really that bad. I mean, the only motherfucking thing that pissed me off was that pompous asshole who wanted to be our manager. I'm sick of this," I muttered. Corey was the only one I around whom allowed myself to let my guard down. Well, him and Jimmy.

"But you won't quit. If you do," I looked at Corey sadly, "then what would become of everything you taught us? You know...<<Never back down>>, <<Be who you want to be and fuck the rest>> and all that..."

"Dude, you can be such an optimistic bastard," Jimmy mumbled and we laughed.

"How did Syn act around you today? Fuck, how was that party?" I smiled and Jimmy and I began telling him all about the pool party. He would laugh, gasp and shake his head at everything we said and was really impressed to hear that Brian began talking to me. I didn't miss tell him about Zack, though.

"Oh, you so got to him," he declared grinning. I gasped.

"Corey, I did not!" I shrieked, making him laugh.

"Oh yeah, you did," Jimmy encouraged, looking through some of my CD-s. "You should've seen Zack and Brian. Everyone cleared the fucking house," he laughed. "Everyone apart from Matt. He wanted to make sure they wouldn't break anything." Jimmy's laugh got even harder at the sight of Corey and I. We were both staring at him like idiots.

"What happened?" I asked and Jimmy sat on the coffee table in front of me.

"Well, I heard Zack made an attempt to kiss you." This earned a gasp from me and a loud "Fuck yeah!" from Corey. I tried to say something, but he cut me off, "After Cate and you left, they were really tensed around eachother. Is it true that right when Zack was about to kiss you, Brian told him I was looking for him?" I nodded and finally caught onto the trick. Brian could be such a tricky asshole. "I wasn't looking for Zack. Vengeance then decided to face Brian and talk to him. I'm telling you, it was priceless. But they'll probably get over it."

"Poor...Dom," Corey said between laughs. I raised my eyebrow. "Well, you know...his crush on you...this won't do him any good." I shook my head. Just as I opened my mouth to say something, the door opened and Jack appeared.

"Sis, let's get some ice-cream, sit on the couch and watch gay soap operas. Hi, Corey. Jimmy, it's nice to see you again." Jack went mechanically to his room and closed the door. Being the observant sister I was, I realized from his tone that something had gone wrong. Corey and I looked at eachother understandingly as Jack came out of his room, no longer wearing his fancy jeans and buttoned up shirt, but a pair of shorts and a Diesel wife beater. He headed towards the kitchen without making a sound.

"I'll let you talk to him," Corey said and kissed me on the cheek, then making his way to the door. "Talk to you tomorrow. Nice seeing you again, Rev. Bye Jack!"

"Do you want me to go, too?" Jimmy asked and I shook my head.

"You can stay, if you want to." Truthfully, I sort of wanted Jimmy to stay around for a little longer.

My brother came out of the kitchen and sat next to me, turning on the tv. I placed my head on his shoulder and put my hand on his. Jimmy sat on the armchair. We stayed quiet, waiting for him to talk. And he eventually did.

"That stupid bitch!" he yelled and my head jerked up. "I went to get her a drink and within a couple of seconds, she was sucking faces with another dude at the frickin bar!" He took a deep breath and calmed down. "Why the fuck am I even trying? I thought I could find a girl...the right one...but every single one is the same."

"Jack, you are sort of a manwhore," I stated, looking at the tv. I loved my brother to death. I really did, but he could sometimes play with other women's hearts too much.

"Dude, you should lay off a little. Think about this shit. Change something, ya know?" Jimmy explained, waving his hand in the air. Seeing the confused look on Jack's face, he sighed. "Jack, if you want a girlfriend, you gotta do better than those chicks you dated." I patted my brother's leg. Of course I'd told him this before, but sometimes I guess he just needed a guy to tell him.

Jack sighed sadly. This was one of those moments I felt like the sky was coming down on me and I wanted to strangle my fucking self.

"Jack," I murmured and hugged him tight. But he inhaled decisively and shook his head.

"Jim's right." Jimmy patted his chest proudly and grinned like an idiot, making me chuckle. "Thanks, man."

"No problem, dude. But I should be heading off home," Rev said as he stood up and high-fived Jack. I began leading him to the door.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Leana's probably waiting for me...hopefully in one damn hot outfit." I laughed. "And I might have to check on Brian and Zack...see how they've solved their issues." He winked at me and I rolled my eyes. He put his hand on his chin in a thoughtful look and looked me over. I was in the same pair of camouflage boardshorts and a green t-shirt. I patiently waited for his next words. "If I didn't have Leana, I'd probably be hitting on you, too."

I gasped and punched his arm.

"Oh, and Jimmy...would you mind calling me and let me know about the situation between Brian and Zacky?" He smiled.

"I would've called you either way."

"And thanks again, Jimmy. For the thing with Jack."

"Not a problem, Lexa. Just a spoon full of Jimmy helps to save the world!" he yelled as he jogged towards the elevator.

"That is now my favourite line, Jim!"

I waved at him and closed the door behind me. Truthfully, I was slightly annoyed by the situation between Zack and Brian.

"Bitch, grab some popcorn and let's watch a movie!" Jack yelled from the kitchen. I rolled my eyes, but obeyed nevertheless. As I sat on the couch, Jack wrapped his arms around me and grabbed the popcorn.

"You heard about Dom's cousin?" he asked.

"Yeah, he moved back here in Huntington. Dom wanted to spend some time here, but had to go."

"Did you find out what he does?" I shrugged, grabbing a bottle of coke and starting to drink. "He works for some major music label."

I began coughing and looked at him bewildered.

"Are you motherfucking shitting me?" He laughed. "You think we can set up a meeting?"

"Dom said he'd give him some of our CD's. The thing is he didn't know what his cousin was doing either, until an hour ago or so. He called me right before I got home." The last part of his sentence was in a low tone. He probably recalled what happened at the bar with that bitch. I couldn't let that happen.

So I dragged him to his drum kit and within seconds, we started playing some of your songs.