The Words I Thought I Would Never Say

"Uncle Maaaatt." Riley whined as he picked her up and walked toward the water with her. She flailed in his arms but for all intensive purposes, Matt could have held her by her ankle and she wouldn't get away. It was safe to say he was going to get her wet. I chuckled as I took a sip of my coke from my beach chair that was perched slightly in front of the gazebo we had set up. Matt had insisted on a day at the beach and we had invited the guys in hopes that Riley and I could re-acquaint ourselves with them.

"Hey Jade." I turned at the voice and saw Brian walking toward our setup with a case of beer in his hand. He set it down beside one of the coolers and took a seat beside me.

"Hi Brian. How've you been?" I covered my mouth slightly as I watched Matt hold a screaming Riley halfway in the water. She didn't know how to swim yet so he had to keep a hold on her.

"I've been alright. What about you? Settling in well?" I nodded.

"Yeah. We've been great down here. It sure beats the mess I left up north. How was your date the other night?" I didn't really want to pry but I figured since he had told me he was going on one I could ask how it was.

"It was alright." He started slowly as he took a beer out from the case. "Holly is, well, she doesn't have much of a personality. But we're going on another date tomorrow." I cocked an eyebrow when he told me that. That didn't make much sense to me. Why would he go on a date with a girl that he didn't sound like he really liked?

"Why? You don't sound like you really like her." Riley let out a scream as Matt dunked her under water and then brought her back up while he laughed. She hit him on the chest but then started laughing too as he tossed her up in the air.

"Well, she's great in bed and looks amazing." I closed my eyes and turned to face him. I scoffed out loud and he just smirked.

"Well, all is right in the world then if she's good in bed." My sarcasm flowed out without any hesitation. If there was one thing that annoyed me in this world it was a man who acted like Brian. Only after the woman for her bedroom skills. I shook my head and stood up from my chair.

"You haven't changed one bit." I shook my head while he looked sort of shocked at my comment. Although I have no idea why that would surprise him. I set my coke down on the table and started to dig out some of the salads that Matt and I had fixed up. Brian looked like he was contemplating what he wanted to say but he never got his chance since Zacky decided to make his entrance.

If there was one other guy I was close to besides Matt it was Zack. I grinned at him and noticed he too, much like Matt, had changed quite a bit. He adorned more tattoos than ever before and his lips and septum had silver rings in them. His hair was messily spiked on top of his head and his black board shorts matched his black shirt which he quickly tossed over his head.

"Jade!" He exclaimed as he finally spotted me standing. He dropped his case of beer as well and set his shirt and flip flops down on the chair next to Brian, completely ignoring him. He ran over to me and engulfed me in a hug, picking me up off of the ground in the process. I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck as he swung me around.

"It's been forever since I've seen you! Damn you look great!" He told me as his eyes skimmed over my body once he had let me go.

"Thanks Zack. So do you." I said in all honesty. He looked around for a minute before spotting Riley and Matt walking back from the water.

"Wow. She's grown up too." He said in awe as he gazed at the little girl he hadn't seen since she was a baby.

"Yeah she has." Matt picked her up and threw her over his shoulder so that her head was beside his and she could see where they were walking. He set her down as they approached and she turned to face Zacky. Her eyes grew in size as she looked from his feet all the way up to his face.

"Oh my gosh! You're Zacky Vengeance!" She said in awe as he nodded and squatted down to her level.

"That I am. You must be Riley. I haven't seen you since you were only a little baby." She tucked her hands behind her and stubbed her toes into the sand. Matt had come to stand beside me and was watching the scene unfold with just about as much interest as I had.

"Can I give you a hug?" She asked sheepishly as she stared into his eyes. His lips twisted into a grin and he nodded as he held his arms out. She launched her tiny frame into his arms and squeezed him around the neck. Her eyes closed as he chuckled and winked at me.

"Hey what about me?" Brian asked as he pouted. I turned and saw he had his arms folded over his chest. Riley pulled away and she turned to look at him. Her eyes widened again and she let out a squeal.

"Riley you hugged him yesterday when we first got to Uncle Matt's house." I reminded her.

"But I didn’t know he was Synyster Gates mommy! I was too excited to see Uncle Matt! Hi Syn." She said shyly as she gave a small wave.

"You can call my Brian sweets. Do I get a hug too?" She nodded and went racing to where he was sitting. She jumped up into his lap and threw her arms around her neck the same way she had with Zacky. He grinned and tickled her sides a little bit making her laugh and squirm.

She continued to sit on his lap and giggle every now and then before she leaned into his ear and whispered something to him. He nodded and she jumped off of his lap and ran out a bit into the sand.

"If you guys will excuse me, I've got a sand castle to help build." He stood up from his chair and took his shirt off leaving him in just his board shorts. After he put his shirt into his bag he took off after Riley who was yelling for him.

"Well she seems to like him." Zack commented as he took Brian's chair while Matt continued to dry himself off.

"She likes all of you guys. Too bad Brian's still a womanizer though." I added the last part in a quiet tone. Matt and Zack both exchanged a look before they raised their eyebrows at me.

"You still like him don't you?" I turned and gave Matt a shocked look.

"I never liked him in the first place. I mean, yes, he's attractive. As all of you are. But I certainly don't like Brian like that." Matt just squatted in front of me with his eyebrows raised still. He placed his hands on my knees and tiled his head to his right.

"You always have had a thing for him. You don't have to admit it, I know you have. The girls he dates don't see it, but you don't like the way he thinks of women." I leaned down and patted Matt on the cheek lightly earning a laugh from Zacky.

"Nice try cuz. You and your theories keep me entertained." Matt just rolled his eyes and stood up stretching.

"You'll see Jade. I know I'm right." His smirk made me stick my tongue out at him.

The truth was, Matt was right and I didn’t like it. I don’t know why I couldn’t have been attached to Zacky like I was with Brian. Zacky was like a brother to me though. Brian on the other hand, was someone I would love to date if he changed some of his ways. I just don't think I could handle him how he is now.

I took a moment to glance over to where Riley was sitting and piling sand up while Brian would go get some water and then add it to make the castle stronger. Brian slowly reached into the bucket and got his fingers wet before he flicked some of the water on Riley who squealed and laughed.

I had to admit, he was good with kids it seemed.

Just not so much with the ladies from my perspective.

"Holy shit. Jade is that you?" I turned and faced a grinning Jimmy and Johnny who had just approached. Jimmy had been the one who had spoken and he had the largest grin on his face.

"No. I'm Sarah, Zacky's girlfriend." I said in all seriousness while I wrapped my arm around Zacky's middle playfully. Jimmy raised an eyebrow at me and it was apparent Johnny didn't believe a word of it.

"Zacky doesn't have a girlfriend." I just grinned at Jimmy innocently and he looked around before pointing at Riley and Brian.

"And that little girl I believe belongs to you. Get your ass over here and give me a fucking hug." He demanded as he held his arms out. I laughed and embraced the tall giant that he was. It was sort of awkward when he picked me up because I was so much shorter than he was. Hugging Johnny felt more fitting to me.

"Damn kiddo, you've grown up." Jimmy told me as he looked me over carefully.

"Yeah someone got boobs." Johnny snickered earning a slap in the back of the head from my over protective cousin who was scowling at him.

"Dude, she's also got a kid now, of course she's got boobs!" Zacky said as he gestured to Riley who had now spotted Jimmy and Johnny.

We all watched as she dropped her bucket and stood up. As she took off running toward us Brian groaned as her feet spewed sand all over him.

"Wow you're really tall." She told Jimmy as she stood in front of him and stared up in awe of his height.

"And you are really small. I'm Jimmy." He told her as he bent down to her level.

"I know who you are silly. And you're Johnny!" She said excitedly as she looked from the drummer to the bassist. "You're more my height so you get a hug first." She said as she turned and held her arms out to Johnny. He chuckled and let her wrap her tiny arms around his neck. When she turned back to Jimmy he was pouting with his arms folded over his chest while he was still squatting on the ground.

"That's not fair." He whined.

Riley placed her hands on her hips making me giggle. I knew what was coming.

"Mommy always tells me that whining will get you nowhere." She told him. I stifled a laugh but the guys didn't. They all howled and laughed as Riley told off Jimmy.

"I'm sorry. Can I please have a hug now?" He asked as he held his long arms out. She nodded and ran into them while giggling.

Wow she was happy today.

"Mommy, I have now met all of Avenged Sevenfold!" She announced as she faced me still in Jimmy's arms.

"Yes you have sweetie."

"Uncle Matt I'm hungry." She told him firmly but yet still politely.

"Well babe you'll have to tell Brian because he's barbecuing." Apparently this was news to Brian because his eyes widened and he turned to face Matt who was smirking.

"Fuck no I'm not!" Riley gasped and wiggled out of Jimmy's grip to march over to Brian. He looked down and bit his bottom lip after realizing his mistake.

"That was a bad word!" She told him as she narrowed her small blue eyes at him. His Adam's apple bobbed as he gulped trying to figure out what to say to the accusation.

"I'm sorry babe. It slipped. It won't happen again. I promise." She looked thoughtfully for a moment before turning to me without replying to him.

"You were right mommy. They do have dirty mouths." I choked a tad bit on my coke that I was still sipping and blushed as five sets of eyes were directed at me. Riley gave Brian a final glare before she skipped back over to their abandoned sand castle.

"What? I had to tell her something when she asked why you guys said bad words in your songs." I just shrugged and grabbed the barbecue tongs before handing them teasingly to Brian.

"Now I believe you have some cooking to do." He raised his eyebrow at me but took the tongs anyway.

He held them open and then clamped them dangerously close to one of my nipples through my swim suit. The sheer act was a bit crude but I could tell by his eyes he was being playful. "You wouldn't dare." I told him as he began to close the gap between us with a smirk on his face.

"Oh but I would." I squealed as he reached out with the tongs and I jumped backwards into Zacky's arms. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close to my chest.

"She's all yours Syn." He told him making my jaw drop.

"Zack!" He just grinned and held my struggling frame as Brian inched closer. Behind his back Matt was making kissy faces at me. I reached my hand up as far as I could with Zack's arm holding it down and pointed at him in warning. Me eyes narrowed in a glare as I stuck my tongue out at him.

Unfortunately enough for me, Brian took the opportunity to grab my tongue with the silicone covered tongs trapping it in place. My eyes snapped from Matt's teasing ones to Brian's mischievous chocolate ones.

"Ohhh looks like someone is a bit speechless." He continued to taunt as I tried to utter a word to him.

Realizing that I needed to escape this situation I let my fingers that were resting at my side reach back and start to rub circles on Zacky's thighs that were behind me. He let out a yelp and backed his hips up some but still held a firm grip on me. Brian didn't know what was going on and he loosened his grip on the tongs allowing me to slip my tongue out from between them.

Without missing a beat Brian moved his hand down and clamped the tongs onto my left nipple through my swimsuit. I let out a surprised yelp that I strung out a tad bit too long because it caused Riley to look over. Brian leaned in to shield my body from the curious toddler while Matt made his way over to her as a distraction.

"Brian!" She yelled. "You better be nice to my mommy!" She said while wagging her finger at the two guitarists. Zacky chuckled and releases his grip on me as did Brian after being scolded. Zack placed a playful slap on my butt before he took the tongs from Brian and went over to start the barbecue.

"Welcome back babe." Brian told me as he chuckled and retreated as I stuck my tongue out at him behind his back. "Don't stick it out unless you plan to use it!" He called to me over his shoulder.

I grumbled under my breath as I took a seat beside Johnny who was casually sipping a beer.

If there was one thing I was already seeing it was that I had a group of great guys that I knew would help me through this mess that I was stuck in. Mike was still floating in the back of my mind and he made a front stage appearance every now and then but the guys were slowly showing me that he wasn't right for me.

I blinked a few times as I watched Riley drop her bucket of sand for the second time today and run up to Brian. He smiled down at her and leant down to pick her up and rested her on his hip as he chatted with Zack.

She laughed at something Zacky told her and then I saw a pink tinge emerge on her cheeks as she leaned in and pressed a quick kiss on Brian's cheek.

He chuckled and his cheeks turned a bit pink too.

I think things would be alright here and these guys were proving that to me after only the first day of seeing them all.