Take This Shot

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Yes. They are."

"Jim," Matt sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Scooby Doo and Shaggy will never abandon the Mystery Inc gang. There's never been an episode where they said they would. So, shut up."

"But--"

"Jimmy!" hollered Brian. "Shut the fuck up."

Jimmy sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. Nibbling on his bottom lip, he glanced over his right shoulder and smirked. Spencer was over by the amps, setting up the merch table for the show tonight. Over the few years that she's worked for them, her and Jimmy have developed a friendly bond and have always stuck together through the small tiffs the band seems to differ over. Although, the result seems to always end up 2:4, Jimmy and Spencer have always had fun dragging it out.

"Hey, Spencer?" Jimmy called.

The petite brunette looked up from her dismembered pile of merchandise and grinned, tilting her head. "What is it now, Shorty?"

Jimmy frowned, nodding towards his band mates. "Tell them that Scooby and Shaggy did plan on leaving the gang. They don't believe me," He narrowed his eyes at Matt. "I tell you, it happened."

"Uhm," Spencer laughed. "Sorry, short stuff, but I don't think they did."

Johnny laughed, shoving Jimmy's shoulder. "Left in the dirt, dude. Where's your backup, now? Huh?"

"Shut up, Christ." Jimmy glared at Johnny before standing up. He scanned the room quickly and quirked an eyebrow, noticing the absence of one of the boys. "Where'd Zacky go?"

Matt rolled his eyes, nodding towards the door. "Out in the hall. Jen called again."

"Jen?"

"Yeah," Matt mumbled. "She's putting Zacky in a bad mood, again. She's startin' to piss me off, calling all the time, and shit. We don't need him like this before a show."

Brian nodded. "I think they've drug this out as far as they could. Didn't Zacky say he was tired of her shit?"

"Yeah," Johnny nodded. "Honestly, if I were him, I would've ended it after she cheated."

"Which time?" snorted Matt.

Spencer couldn't help but ease drop in on their conversation. She knew about Jen; Zacky had confided in her about Jen a couple years ago when they were doing a gig over in Ohio. Apparently, that was the first time she cheated on him -- or the first time Zacky had told her about it.
Spencer frowned thinking about it. Zacky was a good guy and didn't deserve half the shit people put him through. She even remembered the first day they met; Spencer could tell Zacky was special, even then. She'd be lying if she said she didn't admire the man for what he does. Hell, she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel for him romantically. But, Zacky had made it clear that he wasn't interested in anyone -- except Jen -- and that he wouldn't do anything to put their relationship in jeopardy.

He even quit drinking with the band a couple months ago because Jen had called and said that she didn't like it. As expected, Zacky threw away the old J.D. bottle and continued to try to make things work.

Things only fell further on the downward spiral.

Glancing over at the boys, Spencer sighed and wandered off to find her co-worker, Ken. There was no way she would be able to sort all the bands merch by herself; and, maybe, she wanted someone to talk to.
Turning a corner, she heard muffled talking coming down one of the hallways. They sounded angry. As she got closer, she soon recognized the voice as Zacky's, and stopped by the corner to check.
Zacky was pacing around the small space with one of his hands feverishly running through his midnight locks and the other pressed to his ear; fighting with someone.

Zacky groaned. "Listen, I... Yes, I know, but... Shut the hell up for a minute!... Fine... If that's how you want it... Then, go get your shit... No... No, I won't... You know what? Fuck you, Jen." Zacky cursed under his breath and flipped his phone shut. Turning around quickly, he noticed Spencer and glared. "Enjoy the show?"

"W-Wha--"

"Forget it," Zacky snarled, knocking her shoulder as he passed. "I'm tired of this shit."

Spencer's jaw went slack as she watched him walk away. She didn't mean for him to see her; she figured she'd be gone by the time he had gotten off the phone. She bit the inside of her cheek as she left to go find Ken -- embarrassed about the incident.

* * *

Spencer was alone on the stage, cleaning off an amp, when she spotted Zacky's guitar; It was a left-handed Schecter. She'd always had a hand at playing guitar when she was a teenager. She could sing, too, but was too shy to let anyone hear her. Especially to show the boys -- them being big-time rock stars, and all.
Peeking over her shoulder, she noted that no one was around and decided that it wouldn't hurt to... tune his guitar for him before he played. Besides, it wasn't like he'd find out anyway. Picking it up, she pulled the strap over her head and settled herself down on the edge of the stage. She didn't plug it in for fear of being found out, so, instead, she played it raw; Which sounded a bit like dragging a razor blade across a violin string. But, if she kept at the steady pace her fingers were going, it sounded alright.
Zacky dropped the cigarette on the pavement, stubbing it out with his shoe, and walked back inside the building. Soon enough, his feet had brought him back to the hallway near the stage. Shrugging his shoulders, he moved to head back when the familiar hum of a guitar hit his ears.
His guitar.
Zacky snarled as he rounded the corner and saw Spencer siting on the edge of the stage, strumming his guitar. He shook his head, stalking towards her, but stopped when he heard the melody she was playing. He didn't even know she was singing; she was singing so quietly. He watched her lips move, whispering the words to Seize The Day. The closer he got, the more angelic her voice seemed. He smiled to himself as he leaned against the stage; Enjoying the rest of the song.
Spencer finished the song and sighed, hanging the guitar back up on the rack. She was completely unaware of her one man audience. That was, until he broke the silence.

"That was pretty good."

She jumped, whimpering when she nicked her ankle. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Zacky laughed. "For what? That was pretty bad-ass. We might have to consider dumping Matt for that."

"What?"

He smiled, pulling himself up on the stage. "I didn't know you could play guitar, Spencer."

She blushed. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to touch your--"

"It's alright." He laughed again. "It's fine."

Spencer nodded, biting her bottom lip and fumbling with the burgundy in her hair. Just when she was about to open her mouth and apologize again, he beat her to it.

"Look, Spence, I'm sorry. I shouldn't've snapped at you earlier."

"It's o--"

"No," He shook his head. "It's not. I was just having a really bad day and you were the closest thing I could yell at. I didn't mean to."

She nodded. "I understand."

He sighed, tugging on his hair. She smiled at him quickly before averting her eyes to her hands. Before now, Zacky had never really noticed the specks of gold throughout her eyes or multiple colors in her hair, allowing her small face to stand out more.
Before now, Zacky had never noticed exactly how beautiful the girl really was. He was always too aggravated by Jen to pay attention to anything or anyone.

But, tonight, it's different.

Tonight, he was free and there was nothing he wanted to do more than to get to know the frail girl in front of him.

Spencer looked up, meeting his eyes, and smiled. She began to feel nervous when he didn't look away; afraid there was something on her face. "Is there something on my face?"

He laughed again, brushing some hair away from her eyes. "No."

"Well, then--"

He cut her off, gently pressing his lips to hers. He pulled away slowly, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm sorry, Spencer."

She shook her head, fumbling with her words. "For what?"

Zacky laughed. "I don't know."

Zacky nudged her shoulder lightly as she smiled at him; Showing off her dimples. Spencer couldn't take her eyes away from the boy in front of her. She had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't going to wake up and realize it had all been a dream.

Zacky smirked, entwining their fingers. Forget Jen. His chance at a new beginning was standing right beside him.

His chance for happiness.