Burning It Down, All the Way to Bat Country

Blaze’s POV
I woke up the next day around noon, extremely confused as to why I was curled around my friends; all of us touching in some form. Then I remembered; Trinity had a nightmare last night. I tensed as I remembered Trinity’s story, my vision hazing in anger as I thought about what that bastard had done to her. None of us had known her that long, but we saw something in her that screamed of past wounds that needed to be healed. She was part of our family now, she was mine and Evan’s little sister, and we protect our family. I decided to get up and go in search of food, as Trinity had told us last night before we went to sleep that if we woke up before her to help ourselves. I was thinking about the best ways to keep her safe at school when I literally ran into Matt.

“Hey kid, where are the others?”
“Those bums are still sleeping; I was just searching for food.” He laughed and nodded.
“Come on then, I think I’ve got some Trix or something.”
“Saweeet, cereal at noon!” I laughed and punched the air, following Matt into the kitchen. He grinned at me before handing me a bowl, spoon, milk, and cereal. After I had sat down and out the food away, Matt looked at me and spoke.
“So I’ve been meaning to talk to you, since you seem to be the ringleader of your little group.” I looked at him questioningly and nodded, surprised by the topic.
“Ok, what’s up?”

“How did you make friends with Trinity so quickly? Lynnie dropped her off at school and came back thinking she was going to get a call in the middle of the day to come pick her back up, and instead I come to pick her up at the end of the day there she is, standing with a whole group of people. What made you want to be friends with her?” He asked, genuinely curious. I could understand the reasoning behind the questions; I wouldn’t trust us either if I was him and just randomly decided to be friends with his daughter.

“Well, to be honest, Mistey didn’t really give her a choice. She did what she always does with new people that she might wanna hang out with, and bounced right up and said hi. We talked to her for the rest of the day, and she just seemed really shy. When we got home that night we conference the rest of the group and discussed this sad looking girl we had met, and decided that she was going to be a part of our family. Last night she told us her story, and me and Evan made a promise to protect her, and we’ll keep that promise forever, ya’ll are stuck with us now.” I finished and Matt grinned, standing up and clapping me on the shoulder.

“Alright kid, you’ve got my approval. I’m telling you now though, if anything happens to her when she’s with you guys, I’ll hold you responsible, and trust me, it won’t be pretty.” I nodded and he left the room. Well that was weird.

Lynnie’s POV
“Bri, do you really think she’ll be ok? She’s been through so much, and she’s so young.” I whispered against Brian’s chest. We had decided to be lazy today and not leave our room.
“Yeah baby, she’ll be fine. She’s already adjusting and she’s only been here for a few weeks. She’s strong, and she’s got all of us, and that group of kids seem like they’re gonna stick around. Stop worrying, everything is fine.” He pressed a kiss to my hair and I nodded, snuggling deeper into his side.

Jaz’s POV
“Johnny, quit fucking CHEATING!” I yelled, shoving him back from my spot next to him on the couch. We were playing NHL 4 on the PS2 and he had just thrown a pillow at me, making me mash a few buttons and fuck up the perfect pass that I had lined up.
“But babyyy, cheating is fun!” he whined. I just laughed and delivered a back check to his player, making him pass the puck off to my team. One of my forwards shot it with three seconds left and scored, making us win the game.

“YES! I WON, I WON, I WON!” Johnny laughed and tackled me back on the couch, kissing me softly. I smiled into the kiss, deepening it. He groaned, tangling his tongue with mine, batting for dominance. He suddenly pulled away, pecking my lips once before smiling at me.
“Hi baby.” I grinned and he smiled softly before kissing me again.
“I love you.” He said seriously. I looked at him in confusion.
“I love you too baby, always.” He smiled before pulling something out of his pocket.

“Marry me?” I felt the huge grin split across my face, right before the tears started.
“Oh my god Johnny! Are you serious?” He nodded and I squealed, throwing my arms around his neck.
“Of course I’ll marry you!!” He grinned, kissing me before slipping the ring on my finger. It was so pretty, I loved it.
“Holy shit Johnny, baby it’s beautiful!”
“Good, took me two months to pick that thing out.” I laughed before pushing him away and jumping up, digging through my purse for my phone. I finally found it and pressed 2, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up.

“Hello?”
“Hey mama!”
“Jaz, hey sweetheart. What’s up?”
“Mama, I’m getting MARRIED!!!” I shrieked and heard her squeal on the other end.
“Oh my lord, my baby’s getting married! Aww honey congratulations! I’m so glad, oh sweetie I gotta go call everyone, tell Johnny I said hi!”
“Haha ok mama, give daddy a hug for me! I love you.”
“Love you too darling, bye!” I laughed and hung up my phone before running upstairs to Aja’s room, where Jasey and Jimmy were playing with her.

“Jasey! I’m getting married!” I yelled, showing her my ring. She shrieked and jumped up to hug me.
“Oh my god, he PROPOSED? I thought he was just getting a promise ring!” She yelled.
“Wait! You KNEW ABOUT THIS!!!” I yelled and she grinned and nodded.
“Oh honey, I’m so happy for you, have you called your mom yet?”
“Of course, and now she’s probably calling all of Georgia.” She laughed and nodded.
“Probably. Come on, we need to have an Avenged meeting, you gotta tell everyone!” We laughed and ran through the house, yelling at everyone to come downstairs. I just called Trinity and told her to get her friends up and in the family room. Once everyone was assembled in the family room, I made Johnny stand up with me. I was trying to think of a way to go about this before I decided to just do it.

“I’m getting married!” I screamed, showing everyone my ring. The girls squealed and I was enveloped in hugs, while the guys all clapped Johnny on the back.
“Time for a party bitches!” Jimmy yelled, and we all cheered, let’s get this shit started!