Let Me Be the One to Call You Baby

° FF 3 Days ° Monday °

]|[ No One ]|[

“Die die die!” Johnny repeated franticly at the TV.

“Damn!” Syn frowned and dropped his controller.

“Yes!” Jimmy cheered and hi-flied Johnny.

“Nice one Syn,” Matt groaned, dropping his controller.

Brian just huffed, “Shut up.” He then looked at band-mate Zack. “You up?”

Zacky glanced down at his cell phone in his lap then looked back up, “I guess.”

He moved to grab the controller from his friend when his cell phone rang to the tune of, ‘They say “Aha, ahha”, Keep your hands off my girl, Keep your hands off my girl.’ Retracting his hand from grabbing Syn’s controller, Zack quickly picks up his phone.

Jumping up from his spot on the couch, he spouts a, “Be back. Don’t bug me!” and then quickly moves out the room and to the bunk room.

And couple minutes pass till, “Ok what the fuck?” the remaining guys all look at Johnny. “Why the hell does he do that every time that song goes off? Who’s calling him?”

The guys just shrug but Matt admits, “he met a girl. They’re official. Zack didn’t want to say anything to you because… well, Jen.” (The girl that cheated on him.)

Johnny frowned with a glare, “That’s why he didn’t tell me? That’s fucking gay! How long have they been going out?”

Jimmy shrugs and looks at the other two unsure, “Ummm… I dunno. Maybe 2 weeks? A little less?”

Johnny was pissed and they could tell. Picking up his controller, Johnny turned back to the TV, glaring at it.

“Come on Christ,” Matt frowned. “Don’t be pissed at him. He didn’t want you to get all pissy about him starting a new relationship because of how bitter you were with how it ended with Kelsey and Jen.” Johnny turned to Matt and opened his mouth to speck but Matt continued. “Don’t even start to give him or us shit about keeping that from you! You keep things from us! What about that one ring tone of yours? You know which one I’m talking about.”

“Forget it,” Johnny muttered.

“Oh no!” Brian said loudly. “You wanted to start this shit. Why don’t you tell us your secret?”

“I don’t have one,” Johnny muttered angrily.

“Don’t give us that shit!” Jimmy glared. “We’re your best friends! What ever it is, you can tell us!”

Else were on the bus:

“Is someone yelling Zack?”

Zacky groaned, “Yeah, but I don’t want to go check. I wanna talk to you, baby.”

Blushing, through she couldn’t see him, she told him softly, “Zacky. You should probably go check what it is. I need to call my brother anyways; I only have a couple minutes till my next lesson.”

Zack whined but then gave in with a loud sigh, “Ok… I’ll try to call you back later tonight if I can. I miss you baby.”

“I miss you too,” Alice whispered back. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

Hanging up, Zacky got up and moved back to the room where all the guys were yelling at yeah other.

“Hey!” Zack yelled over them, they quieted down. “What the hells going on?”

At that moment, ‘There’s a point I think we’re missing, It’s in the air we raise our fists in, In the smiles we cast each other, My sister, my brother…’ Johnny’s phone suddenly goes off.

“See!” Matt, Jimmy, and Brian cry out once Johnny’s secret ring tone goes off.

“Fuck off!” Johnny yelled back and moved out of the room and to the bunks with his cell, like Zack did moments ago.

“What the fuck guys?” Zack asks once Johnny was gone.

“Forget it,” Matt muttered, turning back to the video game.

Jimmy and Syn did the same.

“Ok,” Zacky whispered to himself and sat down, taking Johnny controller.

° FF 2 Days ° Wednesday °

“Zacky.”

Looking up from his guitar, Zack looks at his friend, “Yeah Johnny?”

“What’s her name?”

Zacky knowing that Johnny knew he gave in with a smile eager to tell the last of his best friends. “Her names Alice! She’s supper shy and sweet. Short brown hair and brown eyes. Couple tattoos and piercing. I can’t wait for you to meet her! You’ll love her.”

“Alice?” Johnny asked unsure, it sure did sound like his sister. “Alice what?”

“Alice Roberts,” Zack answered. “Why?”

A little relieved, Johnny smiled. “No reason. She sounds great.”

Oh silly Johnny. Completely forgetting that he had Alice lie all the time about her last name.

Zacky nodded with a proud smile. “She’s beautiful man. She’s shorter than you too!”

He was glaring at the last part until he realized, “Whoa! You just called her beautiful.”

“Tell me about it!” Zack and Johnny both look at the person who made the comment. Brian was coming from the bunk area, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “You won’t believe what he did,” Syn smirked, flopping down on the couch beside Zack.

“Shut up,” Zacky frowned.

“What?” Johnny asked.

“Guitar lessons!” Brian answers, busting out laughing.

Johnny, not completely understanding but laughing because Syn was, manages to get out, “What?”

Syn, still laughing softly says, “He met her at a music store. She gives guitar lessons and—”

“Hey!” Zacky cuts in, “I’ll tell my story. Thank you.” Brian rolls his eyes. “Ok then, when I met her, she was real shy and stuff so to break the ice, I asked for guitar lessons.” As Johnny breaks out into uncontrollable laughter, Syn too, Zacky waits with a bored look on his face. When they’re down to only chuckles, Zacky continues, “As I was saying… It broke the ice for a while and then we had our first date. We kissed, and I asked her to be my girlfriend.”

“Well Zack,” Johnny nods, “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“You’ll love her!” Zack insister again as Brian nods in agreement.

° FF 3 Days ° Saturday °

“Alice!” Before she can get a reply out, Alice is engulfed in a hug. “We missed you!” the two voices from before exclaimed.

“I missed you too,” Alice said softly with a large smile.

“Heather! Cecil!” another voice called out from behind the three.

“Zander!” Heather and Cecil exclaimed, moving from Alice to squeezing him.

“Oh my God!” Zander exclaims, “I missed you girls! Alice and I were soooo bored without you two drunks.”

“Hey!” the two pouted.

Cecil through a shoulder over Alice’s shoulder, “Sooo what’d we miss.”

Heather and Cecil watched as Alice’s face flames up and Zander smirks.

“Ohhh!” the two girls squealed.

“What have we missed?!” Heather yells, causing several people in the airport to look at them.

Zander takes a look at Alice’s face and suggests, “Why don’t we get your stuff and we’ll tell you in the car.”

“Nooo,” Cecil whines.

“Teellll uuusss…” Heather pouts.

“Quiet down young ladies or you’ll wait till we get you home,” Zander scolds them as if they were 5-year-olds.

° * FAST FORWARD * °

“Oh I can’t wait to meet him!” Cecil gushes for the hundredth time as everyone walked Alice to the door.

Blushing lightly, Alice repeats, “He’ll be home in 3 weeks.”

“A little shopping tomorrow?” Heather asks with a smile.

Alice nods with a smile, “Sounds great.”

“Great!” Cecil confirmed with a grin.

“Ok let the girl go,” Zander cut in giving Alice a hug good-bye.

“Ok,” Cecil rolled her eyes and then gave Alice a hug too. “Bye girl.”

“Bye Ally!” Heather said cheerily.

“Bye girls,” Alice said back opening the door and walking out to her car.

“Oh my God!” Zander said as soon as he saw Alice’s car leave.

Looking confused, Heather and Cecil both asked, “What?”

“There’s something you two and Alice don’t know about her Zacky,” he told them with a smirk as he sat back down in the girls living room.

“What?” the two ask sitting at his feet, Heather forward on his knees and Cecil sitting back on her heels.

“His name…” he laughed lightly. “Is Zacky Baker… Vengeance.”

“No way!!” the girls screamed, mouths falling open.

“Tells us everything!” Cecil said bouncing up to sit next to him.

“Ok… but remember Alice doesn’t know.” He waved his hands around then continued, “It happened just like this…”

° FF 4 Days ° Wednesday °

“Stop mopping around guys!” Johnny exclaimed looking at his band mates.

They had just finished their show a couple hours ago and wouldn’t be leaving for the next show till about 4am.

“Can we please go to a club? I need to get laid.”

His band mates laugh and Brian gets up, “Ok. Come on guys,” he addresses the others. “let’s go to a strip joint to help little Johnny out. Plus I could go for some half naked chicks.”

“No touchy Bri,” Matt scolds in a fake Michelle voice.

Syn rolls his eyes but smiles, “I know. I know.”

And he did. Earlier in their band career they slept around all the time, even if they had a girlfriend. Not Matt though because Val was their tour manager in those years and there for him to fuck when needed. Sure the girls did know that the guys went to the occasional strip bar but as long as the guys looked and not touched then all was good.

As the guys stood up ready to go, Zacky frowned, “I dunno guys.” They all looked at him. “All your girls know we go to strip bars but Alice doesn’t know I do. She doesn’t even know I’m famous or in a band.”

“Well,” Jimmy started. “You have 3 options.”

“One,” Matt took over, “Call and tell her.”

“Two,” Syn began, “Go and not tell her.”

“Three,” Johnny smiled, “Don’t tell her and don’t go.”

Zacky sat there thinking for a bit, then decided, “I think I’m gonna go with three.” His friends all groaned. “Shut up. I wanna tell her about me being in a band in person. It’s better that way. And plus even if she did know… it doesn’t feel right. You guys go. Have fun.”

“You sure?” Jimmy asked.

Zacky nodded, “Yep.”

“Ok,” Johnny shrugged, “It’s up to you.” Looking at the others he whined, “Let’s gooo… I need to get laid!”

° * FAST FORWARD * °

“I miss you so much baby,” Zack said softly into his cell phone.

“I miss you too, Tamu.”

“Tamu?” Zacky asked with a little laugh. “What’s that?”

“Well,” Alice blushed on her end of the phone. “You call me baby… and well…”

Sensing her nervousness and shyness, Zacky reassures her, “It’s ok baby. I like it!” he tells her happily. “I have a nickname! It’s cute. What’s it mean?”

Laughing at how he said cute, Alice tells him, “It’s Swahili. It means… sweet.”

Smiling with pride she couldn’t see, Zack told her, “I love it baby. I didn’t know you spoke Swahili.”

“Only a little,” she confessed. “From one of my foster parents when I was little. My brother doesn’t even know I can speak some.”

Zacky figured the only reason that the brother didn’t know was because the two may have been spilt up when younger, that can be a reason he’s so protective of her. The two continued to talk for a couple more hours, that is till Zacky heard his loud, and drunk band mates.

“Baby, my friends are back… and drunk. I have to go.”

“Ok Zack,” Alice said softly. “I’ll talk to you later. I miss you Tamu.”

Smiling at his pet name, Zack answers back, “I miss you too baby. Sweet dreams.”

“Good morning,” Alice laughs back. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

° FF 3 Days ° Saturday °

‘They say “Aha, ahha”, Keep your hands off my girl, Keep your hands off my girl.’

Matt looked up from his magazine and looked around the room. With no Zacky in sight and knowing that was Alice’s ring tone, Matt got up quickly to search for the phone. He finally found it on the other side of the room, under a chair.

He quickly pressed the ‘accept call’ button, “Hello? Alice?”

“Tamu?”

“Tamu?” Matt asked confused. “Who’s Tamu?”

“Who’s this?” Alice asked softly with a bit of hesitation.

“This is Matt. Remember me?”

“Oh Matt! I’m sorry… I didn’t know you were with Zacky on his business trip.”

“Uhhh…. Yeah.” Knowing what Zacky had told Alice, Matt came up with his answer, “Um I’m friends with the two guys that also own the restaurant so I decided that I’d come with Zack for a short visit.”

“Oh.” Alice said in understanding and with a nod he couldn’t see. “It’s good talking to you Matt but… is Zacky there?”

Walking out of the room, and then the venue, Matt starts quickly towards his tour bus. “Yeah, let me see if he’s in the… other room.”

“Ok.”

“Hey Alice? What did you say earlier?” Matt steps into the tour bus. “When I picked up the phone?”

“Oh…” Alice whispers with a blush, “I said um… Tamu.”

“What’s that?”

Before Matt can answers, another voice questions, “Matt? Why the hell do you have my phone?”

Looking to his left, Matt answers, “Hey Zacky. Found your phone. It’s Alice.”

“Gimme!” Zack cries rushing towards M and grabbing the phone. “Hi baby!”

Matt huffs and rolls his eyes, leaving Zacky to talk to his girl in private.