House of Jealous Lovers

"I'm not gonna lie, this movie gives me the fucking creeps," I said as I leaned against Zacky's body.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Just cuz the whole thought of that rape scene in the beginning is so horrific. I just remember reading the book and feeling so grossed out by it," I said honestly, shuddering at the thought of such disturbance.

"I actually like this movie a lot," Matt said.

"That's cuz you're sick and twisted," I laughed.

It was Saturday evening and we were sitting in Matt and Val's living room, watching the end of 'A Clockwork Orange' with pizza and beer. Jimmy wasn't there because he was getting ready for his dinner date with Morgan. Any minute now, he could be engaged. I was excited for him, since he seemed to really want her. I was hoping that things would work out for him. I just wanted to see my friends happy.

Everyone decided that we needed to get together for movie night and of course; Zacky had to pick this movie for us to watch. No one listened to me when I suggested something else along the blood and guts lines. They all wanted to watch a Kubrick classic. I think Zacky secretly picked this movie because he knew that it bothered me a great deal. He loved watching my reactions to the disturbing scenes. I wanted to watch a regular horror movie rather than one that made me feel extremely uncomfortable by its content.

The movie finally ended and I clapped, feeling completely relieved.

"I'm gonna have nightmares now," I said.

"Aw come on babe, it's not that bad," Zacky said, squeezing my shoulders.

"Yeah dude. That movie's actually pretty cool," Brian agreed.

"Whatever. I need something else in my life, preferably a funny movie so I don't feel so creeped out," I said.

"Aw, you're really feeling creeped out?" Zacky asked.

"Definitely," I nodded.

Zacky wrapped both arms around me and hugged me tightly. I couldn't help but feel my cheeks tinge pink as he did this, enjoying the closeness between us.

"I'm sorry. I thought that movie would be ok for you," he whispered in my ear.

"Its fine," I said breathlessly, feeling his warm breath against my ear.

He pulled away from me a bit and placed a kiss on my forehead, causing a goofy grin on my face to appear. I loved moments like this with Zacky. Though we weren't alone, we were always able to squeeze in private moments for the two of us. It made me feel like we were a couple in a way, only playing further into my delusion of Zacky being the perfect boy for me.

"Alright, but before that, are we just gonna hang out here or are we doing something tonight?" Val asked.

"I don't really feel like going out tonight," I said honestly.

"I kinda wanna go to the bar tonight," Matt said.

"You always wanna go to the bar," Danni laughed.

"Well, it's fun to get wasted and play some pool. What can I say?" he shrugged.

"We could head to the bar tonight," Brian said, nodding.

"Ugh, you all have fun with that then. I'm just gonna go home and sleep," I said.

"But it's Saturday night!" Johnny said. "You need to party with us!"

"I need to sleep," I laughed.

"Ugh, you're no fun," Johnny whined.

"Oh I know but you'll get over it eventually," I said.

"Vengeance, you better make your friend go with us," Brian said.

"Sorry guys but I won't be joining you either. I've got plans tonight," he said with a shrug.

"Plans?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of plans do you have not involving us?"

"Some things are just better left unsaid," he winked.

"Holy shit. Zacky's got some secret rendezvous planned out," Matt smiled.

"It's not like that. I've just got something else planned tonight," he said. "It's no big deal."

I remained skeptical of his reason for not going out with everyone since he was glancing around the room. He always had shifty eyes when he lied. I didn't want to say anything but it made me curious as to what his prior engagements were for the evening. If it really was another girl, he would've just said so. I wondered what would be so secretive that he kept it from even me.

"Well, since we're all heading to the bar later, should we watch another movie before we go?" Johnny asked.

"Sounds good to me," Val smiled in agreement.

"So what're we gonna watch now?" Brian asked.

I heard my Muse ringtone blaring from my purse so I started looking around for the bag in question to answer the phone.

"It's by your feet hun," Danni said.

"Thanks," I mumbled, grabbing the strap and pulling it into my lap.

I started shuffling around for the phone, trying to pin point its exact location in my oversized purse. I finally found it as it vibrated against my hand, ringing loudly, begging to be answered. I checked the Caller ID, seeing Jimmy's name flash across the screen. I stood from the couch and hit the green button, holding the phone expectantly to my ear.

"Hello?" I answered, walking towards the back door of the house.

"London," he miserably croaked.

"Are you ok Jimmy? What's going on?" I asked, suddenly feeling panicked.

"What are you doing right now?" he asked, his voice sounding completely pained.

"I'm watching movies with the guys at Matt's. What's going on? I thought you were supposed to be out with Morgan."

"Do you think you could come over, just you?"

"Yeah, I can do that. Are you at home?"

"Yep."

"Will you please tell me what's wrong?" I asked.

"When you get here. I'll see you soon," he said.

I opened my mouth to reply but he had already hung up the phone.

I pulled the phone away from my ear, looking at it questioningly as I tried to figure out Jimmy's cryptic phone call. I didn't understand why he was calling me now. It was early into the evening and he was supposed to be out with Morgan on his date. Did they reschedule or something? What he messing around with me by calling me? I wasn't sure.

I tucked my phone into my front pocket of my jeans and walked back into the room, seeing the group of eyes focused intently on me. I sighed a bit, unsure of what to really think by this display and unsure of what words I had to offer them.

"So, who was the mystery caller?" Brian asked.

"It was just Felix. There's an emergency down at the bar so I gotta head into work," I shrugged.

"But it's your night off! That sucks," Danni said.

"Yeah I know but Felix needs me and who am I to refuse him?" I fake smiled to keep the façade going.

I grabbed my bag from near Zacky, meeting his green eyes that were burning into my violet ones with curiosity. He wanted to ask me who it really was but I knew he wouldn't. He knew that I knew about his lie from earlier so he wasn't going to question mine. Zacky didn't like to be hypocritical in such situations. He would let it go, allowing me to mind my own business for now.

"I'll see you guys later," I waved, heading towards the door.

"Hey! Call us if you get out early and wanna hang out," Val called to me.

"Definitely," I smiled, opening the front door.

I briskly walked out of the house and to my car that was parked on the street once again. I threw my bag into the car and quickly started up the engine, hearing it hum lowly against the blaring noises that were emitting from the speakers of the stereo system. I drove towards Jimmy's house quickly, concerned about the nature of his phone call. He sounded so pained. It was definitely something I hadn't heard from him before.

I got there about seven minutes later, parking in the driveway next to his car. I grabbed my bag and shut the car door behind me on my way out, locking the doors as I went. I let myself into his familiar house, looking around the foyer and listening for signs of life.

There were none.

The living room was a complete wreck, There were papers thrown everywhere and pillows astray on the couches. Books were strewn across the floor as well as sheet music from his piano. The chair was knocked to the ground and broken glass frames everywhere. It looked as if a tornado had blown through the room.

"Jimmy?" I asked, looking around for him.

There were no signs of life anywhere in the downstairs portion of his house so I started walking upstairs. I heard faint music through the closed door of his bedroom, which made me walk towards the door quicker. I raised my hand to the white door, knocking loudly so my presence was known to him.

"Jimmy? It's London," I said through the wooden barrier.

"Come in," I heard in muffled reply.

I walked into the room and looked around, seeing that he was slinked off the right side of the bed in a heap on the floor. I immediately rushed to him, seeing a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels and him dressed in a nice pair of black pants and an untucked, unbuttoned red dress shirt. He was already drunk.

"Jimmy?" I questioned, crouching down in front of him. I cupped his face in my hands, forcing his head up to look at me. "What's going on?"

"My life fucking sucks right now," he slurred emotionlessly.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"I was fucking on top of the world Londy. I woke up feeling fucking amazing today because it was the day. You know, the day I've been anxious about. Everything was perfect too. I had finalized the reservations and made all the necessary arrangements to make it perfect tonight and shit and then what happens?"

"I'm not sure hun. What?" I pressed on.

"She called me," he said bitterly, grabbing his bottle of Jack and taking a large sip from it.

"Alright, you're gonna give me the bottle so I can at least sit here and get drunk with you," I said, taking the bottle from his hands. I, then, took a large chug of the bottle, trying my best not to vomit at the taste of a large amount of liquor running down my throat. I gasped, holding my hand to my chest as I gave it a moment to settle. "Alright, so she called you? Was that a bad thing?" I questioned.

"At first I didn't think so," he explained. "She told me that she needed to talk to me and that she was outside of my house. I was in the middle of getting dressed when she called," he slurred.

"Alright, so you let her in?" I questioned.

He nodded, "She said it was important. She came in and sat down, not dressed at all for tonight."

He went silent for a moment as if he was remembering the entire thing like a play by play. I waited patiently for him to continue talking but he just remained quiet. I took another swig of the brown liquid, grimacing at the taste before setting it aside. He was staring intently at the ground beside him, still completely silent.

"What happened next?" I asked gently.

"She fucking broke up with me," he said, his voice completely strained as he uttered those words.

"What?" I yelled angrily. "She broke up with you? Why? What the fuck?"

"She didn't want to be tied down to one person."

"So she wants to be tied down to many people then or what?"

"She said that she had been seeing someone else this entire time and that she had fallen out of love with me. She didn't want to continue this relationship since she had been untruthful to me so she ended it. I begged her to stay with me but she refused," he explained.

"I can't believe it," I said, thinking aloud to myself.

I looked to Jimmy's face and saw heartache written all over it. I knew that he wouldn't cry though. He had too much pride to cry in front of me. He would just drink his feelings away until he passed out. He was always the kind of guy who drank when he was upset, which always worried me because he wasn't always the most cautious of things he did when he was drunk and angry.

"I'm so stupid. I should've seen this coming, you know?" he laughed bitterly.

"How the hell should you have seen this coming? You thought things were ok. This is all on that dumb bitch, not you. You've done nothing wrong," I said, trying to think of words of solace.

"I feel like a fucking idiot for wanting to propose now," he said, punching a hole in the nightstand next to us. "Ow fuck!" he bellowed in pain, cradling his left hand.

"God damn it James! What the fuck?!" I said, using his full name. Whenever I was angry with him or trying to stress importance, I used his full name. He hated it when people called him James. He was always known as happy-go-lucky Jimmy. "You'll break your fucking hand and then where we be?" I snapped, examining his injured hand.

"Why do I always end up being the one that gets hurt in the end?" he asked sullenly.

I could relate to his heartache. Trying to live with this unbearable love for his friend definitely took a toll on me. Every time he would wander off with some other girl, my heart would sink further into my chest and cause tremendous pain. I understood rejection. I lived it almost every day but what Jimmy was going through had to be so much worse.

I had no idea what to say to him to offer any kind of comfort. I wasn't good with being sincere with my words. Normally I was a smartass and I joked around, the same way Jimmy and Zacky did most of the time. I had no idea what I could offer him in condolence so I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I'm sorry Jimmy," I said quietly.

I looked at his bleeding hand and sighed. It was cut up pretty badly from the drawer he put a hole in. This needed to be cleaned immediately. I stood up and pulled him with me, trying my best to guide him to the bathroom. I turned the water on, sticking his hand underneath the facet to wash away the blood.

I glanced at his face and he looked utterly destroyed. There was no ounce of happiness in his face at all, no trace of the Jimmy Sullivan that made me smile. I wasn't used to seeing Jimmy this distraught over a girl before. I knew that his relationship with Morgan was short lived, only being about a year long but he obviously fell hard for her. It angered me that she had been seeing someone else while leading my friend on. If I saw her again, I would smack her for hurting Jimmy like this.

"I'm so sorry Jimmy," I repeated again after a long moment of silence.

He nodded, unable to bring himself to words. His face remained emotionless, empty as I grabbed a washcloth and dried his hand. He didn't even wince in pain but I suspected that the pain in his hand was nothing compared to how he was feeling inside.

I let his hand drop back to his side and lunged myself at him, standing on my tip-toes to wrap my arms around his neck. He seemed caught off guard by this at first, his body tense to the instant contact but soon enough, he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, burying his face into my shoulder. His arms held me securely against his body, lifting my feet slightly off the ground due to our height difference. I heard his uneven breathing against the nape of my neck, sending a chill down my spine from the sensitivity. I didn't dare pull away from him, knowing that he would let go when he wanted to.

Hugging him was the only thing I could offer him to take away the pain caused by someone who was too stupid to know what she's lost.

We stayed like that for five minutes, neither one of us saying a word to break the deafening silence. I knew that he just needed to be held feeling this heartbroken. Jimmy was too nice a guy to be treated this way by someone, especially someone who was supposed to love him. It killed me to see him in so much pain.

He pulled away from me slowly; his breathing ragged as if he had been struggling to keep himself from crying and looked at me. His joyful blue eyes were sucked of any kind of life and stared vacantly into my concerned violet ones.

"Thanks London," he mumbled drunkenly.

"She doesn't know how lucky she was to have you," I told him quietly. "She's thrown away one of the best men I've ever known and if she's that stupid to let you go then you definitely deserve better."

His lips slightly curved at the ends, giving me a weak smile before letting his face fall again. I cupped his cheek with my hand, leaning up on my tippy-toes once again to kiss the other side of his face, trying my best to offer any kind of comfort I could. I was just so unsure of what I should be doing since I had never been in this kind of situation before where I needed to help mend a broken heart.

"I'm glad you're here London," he said, pulling me into another desperately needed hug. "I can't think of anyone better to call in a situation like this."

"Any time Scarecrow," I whispered, hugging him back.

I pulled away from him a moment later and smiled at him, trying to spread a positive mood over the two of us. His eyes were beginning to regain life to them, though he still looked extremely pained. At least his eyes had that sparkle to them I was so used to seeing.

"Ok, so I think we should get you changed and then hop into bed with the remainder of that booze, get drunk, and watch some 'Robot Chicken'," I said, patting his arm.

"Alright," he nodded.

Before that, I tended to his injured hand once again. I cleaned the wounds with peroxide he had handy in his medicine cabinet and then put many band-aids over the various scrapes. I brought his newly bandaged hand to my lips and gave it a light kiss. He smiled weakly in response to my actions.

I led him into the bedroom once again, leaving him to get changed while I got the DVDs from downstairs. Jimmy and I lived for 'Robot Chicken', always getting drunk together and watching the show whenever we needed a pick-me-up. The randomness of this show just reminded us so much of how we acted when we were with everyone else. I had a feeling that if we did our ritual of getting smashed and watching this show, he would feel a little better.

I grabbed the last season and climbed the stairs again to his room, thinking he was changed into different clothes by now. I glanced over my shoulder to the mess in the living room, thinking about how we would have to clean that in the morning.

When I peeked into his room, he was already changed into a pair of basket ball shorts and no shirt. He was holding a shirt and pair of clean boxers for me, making it clear that this evening was going to be a sleepover. I had a feeling that he didn't want to be alone and I didn't want to leave him alone. I grabbed the clothing he offered me and retreated to the bathroom to quickly change.

Changing took a little longer for me than I thought it would since I was a lot more buzzed than I thought I was but I managed. I folded my clothes and left them neatly in a pile on the counter of his bathroom, grabbing my phone from the pants pocket.

I wandered back into the bedroom to see Jimmy already in bed with his bottle of alcohol as I grabbed the DVD case. I pulled the first disc out and popped it into the DVD player, leaving the case on top of the cabinet.

I crawled into bed next to Jimmy, placing my phone on the table beside me and snatching the bottle away. I took another swig and made myself comfortable on his bed. He shifted so he was resting his head on my stomach, watching as the opening credits began to roll. I ran lazy hands through his hair out of habit as the alcohol took sudden effect on me.

If tonight wouldn't have been so horrible for Jimmy, this would've been a typical night in for the both of us. I only wished there was more I could do for him to take away the pain he was feeling right now.