If I Never Hold You

When we got to the station, we were given our phone calls. Though we knew Mel was getting it taken care of, the guys had me call her anyway.

“Johnny?” she nearly bawled into the phone.

“Hey, it’s alright sweetie. It’s okay.”

“Are you alright? Did they hurt you?”

“No, we’re fine. Soaking wet, but we’ll live. Can you-”

She interrupted me, “I’m sorry but I need to go, I’m trying to figure this entire situation out. I can’t just go get you, I’m underage, I’m not about to call my parents for this one. Oh, fuck Johnny, what the hell!?”

“Apparently some neighbor saw the fight and called the cops. We shouldn’t have run but…”

“That’s beside the point, Johnny. I’ll get you out if it’s the last thing I do…”

We exchanged quick ‘I love you’s and hung up.

Now, we wait.

Mel’s POV

Pacing the living room, I tried figuring out what to do. Fuck, they got into some deep shit!

But who could I call?

DANNY!

Reaching for my phone, I quickly dialed his number; it was pretty late and I was praying that he’d be home.

“Yo.”

“Danny!” I screamed.

“Whoa, cool it. What’s going on?”

I took a deep breath, “so, someone called the cops and now the guys are in jail!”

Danny laughed loudly, “of course.”

“This isn’t funny.”

“I think it is.” He shot back.

“Well, where the fuck are you?”

He paused, “Close to home, why?”

I took a breath, “because we need your dad to get ‘em out.”

“Ah, alright. We’ll be right there to pick you up.” We hung up.

I rung out my hair in the sink, rainwater dripping out. Reaching down, I was about to grab my hair tie that should have been on my writ. That’s right, Johnny took it…

There was a loud honk outside and I darted out the door, completely forgetting shoes, but locking the door behind me. I jumped into the back of the car, ruffling Danny’s hair.

“Thanks for picking me up, daddy.” I was so close to his father, I called him my second dad.

He chuckled, backing out of my driveway, “anytime, sweetie.” I relaxed back, closing my eyes, “So, why all wet?”

I blushed, gazing down, “shit! Well, they sort of…ran down my street and I kinda didn’t care it was raining.”

“Ah.” He laughed.

“You’re a tard.” Danny poked me.

“No, you’re the tard.” I sighed, arms crossed across my chest as I rolled my eyes.

We sped down the road, toward the police station. When we arrived, we bolted out and went inside.

“No shoes?” Danny looked down.

“Fuck!”

“You’re just full of mistakes today, aren’t you?”

“Fuck off, bro.”

He linked arms with me and we watched as his dad talked to the cops. It seemed to take an eternity but finally, his dad paid the cop who walked away and came back with the five boys.

My heart raced when I met Johnny’s eyes. He smirked at me.

“Didn’t change first?” he asked.

Danny stepped up, “that, and she forgot shoes.”

“Smart one.” Matt pats my head.

“Look who’s talking.” I snapped, hitting his arm, which did nothing.

We quickly left in Danny’s father’s car.

“Thank you so much.” The guys thanked his dad.

“You’re very welcome. Danny tells me you’re the ones who want a record deal, right?”

“Yeah, actually.” Matt spoke.

“Well, we can’t record when you’re in jail, now can we?”

We laughed and I clung to Johnny’s arm.

“Well, we’ll pay you back.”

“No. It’s fine. Just come over tomorrow and record the demo. I’ll take it in to work.”

“Work?” Zacky asked.

“Warner Brothers.” Danny reminded him.

“Oh, that’s right!” he laughed.

We dropped everyone off at their house, Brian and I were last and then Danny went home.

Brian came inside with me for a bit.

“You alright? That was pretty…intense.” He chuckled as I walked up to my room, him following behind me.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just…shaken up. You know, that’s the last thing I want to see.”

“Right.”

I dug through my dresser, pulling out a shirt and shorts.

Pushing him out of my room, I closed the door and changed quickly. When I was done, I opened the door and watched his smile.

“But, it’s over now. Tomorrow’s gonna be awesome.”

“That it is! Recording!?” he pumped his fists in the air.

“I’m really happy for you guys. I’m sure everything’s gonna go perfectly. You’ll have a record deal really soon!”

“I hope so.”

I smiled, hugging him tightly, “It’s pretty late, Brian. Do you want to stay here for the night and avoid your parents?”

He pondered this, “nah, I’ll have to face them sometime.”

“True.”

“They won’t have a problem. I know it.” He turned to leave, “I’m glad we’re cool again.”

“Same here.”

“But I have something else to warn you about.”

“What’s that?”

“Johnny’s parents might have a problem with this. The others will be alright. His parents might get pissed.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful…”

“They’d always threaten to kick him out. You never know but…well, we’ll just have to wait and see I guess.”

“Right. Goodnight, Brian.” By now, we were at the door. I hugged him again and he left. Locking the door behind him, I ran a hand through my hair. My makeup was still fucked up under my eyes but I didn’t care.

The tears that fell again wouldn’t help my bleeding mascara…