You're Just A Diamond In The Rough.

I’d waited out side the theatre for about half an hour, hoping he would come back for me. I’d been fighting back the tears the whole time, even more so when I realised he definitely wouldn’t be coming back. Sighing, I decided the best thing to do now is walk back to the hotel; maybe I’d see him on the way? Or maybe he’d gone back there? It was raining outside by now and Zack had my umbrella so bracing myself, I left the shelter of the theatre and started to make my walk back to the hotel. It wasn’t hard to remember the route Zack had brought me before since it was pretty much straight roads.

It took me less than 15 minutes to get back to the hotel and I stomped through the lobby soaking wet and fuming. I was now hoping Zack wasn’t here because that walk home had the anger bubbling again and I’d probably have slapped him. I reached the floor which had all of our rooms on and stormed out the elevator, just wanting to get to my room and change. Of course that’s an impossible wish when you’re on tour.

“What the hell happened to you?!” Matt asked from his spot in the corridor with Val, Jay, Brooke and Mark. I sighed and tried to walk past them but Mark grabbed my arm.

“Charlotte, what happened? Where’s Zack?” He asked seriously, I felt the tears fall down my cheeks and I tried to pull myself from his grip but he wasn’t letting go. He pulled me into a hug and I silently cried onto his shoulder. The other four were looking on worriedly.

“He’s a prick, Mark!” I cried, “He started an argument in the theatre because a guy gave me his number then he stormed off and left me, I’ve had to walk back here in the rain!” Mark rubbed my back trying to calm me but I was angry and confused and they’re never a good combination.

“What do you mean a guy gave you their number?” Val asked.

“I was in the candy line and some weirdo guy came over and I was just being polite and he kissed my cheek and gave me his number and Zack saw and took it the wrong way.” I explained, sniffing quietly. “I did tell him that it was nothing but he was having none of it, he said I should’ve pushed him away, even though the other day he was letting that slut be all over him.” Mark gripped me tighter, trying to stop me getting worked up. Matt sighed from where he was leaning on his room door.

“That sounds like Zack alright, a selfish bastard when he wants to be. So you don’t know where he is now?” He asked. I pulled away from Mark and shook my head.

“I was hoping he’d come back here? I didn’t see him on the way and I waited for half an hour in case he came back to the theatre.”

“Well, we’ve just been in your room, he’s definitely not here.” Jay replied. I rolled my eyes at the fact they’d been in my room but didn’t have the energy to argue.

“Probably best, I’m so angry at him, seeing him now would just cause more problems.” I sighed, “I just want to go lie down, I have a headache.”

“Babe, go to your room, get some dry clothes on and have a rest, leave Zack to us, we’ll find him.” Val smiled caringly, giving me a gentle push towards my room. I nodded and walked slowly away from them in the direction of my suite.

“Just let me know if you find him.”

- - - - -

I sat up suddenly, momentarily forgetting where I was. I looked over at the clock next to mine and Zacks bed; I’d been asleep for 3 hours. I jumped out of bed, straightening myself out quickly before making my way to Matt, Val, Brian and Michelle’s room. It only took moments for me to reach it since I was practically running. I just wanted to know he was okay. I was still mad but I wanted to be mad whilst knowing he was alright. I knocked on the door waiting patiently until someone opened it, which happened to be Brian.

“Oh Charlotte, you’re up, come in.” He smiled; I followed him into the room where all the Avenged guys and their girls were. Well, all of the guys but Zack anyway.

“Guess you didn’t find him?” I sighed. Matt smiled over at me sympathetically as I took a seat next to Leana.

“No we didn’t sorry. We’ve tried ringing him and texting him but he’s ignoring us.” He said. I groaned resting my head in my hands. What a mess, why did he always have to be so dramatic.

“You reckon he’ll come back?” I asked glancing up at all the sympathetic faces that were staring back at me.

“Of course he will.” Matt replied. “We’re off to Australia tomorrow night, he won’t be stupid enough to miss that flight and plus he’ll have the tour managers on his ass if he does.”

“He’s a big boy, he’ll be fine” Jimmy laughed. “He’s probably just drowning his sorrows somewhere thinking of how much of a prick he is.” I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the smile that made its way onto my lips.

“That’s exactly what we should be doing!” Leana exclaimed, sitting up from where she was lying on the floor next to me. “Let’s go out tonight, by the time we get back I’m sure he’ll have turned up. At least it’ll take your mind off things.” Everyone seemed to like that idea and even I thought it made sense. I could either sit in my room worrying until he came back or go have fun with my friends.

“Well, that sounds good to me.” I smiled. It was getting pretty late now already so the guys pushed me out the room and told me to get ready as quick as I possibly could. Getting ready quickly was a difficult task for me since I usually take time on my appearance but I figured I’m not trying to impress anyone. I have the love of my life even if I didn’t know where he was, so what did it matter if my make up wasn’t done to perfection. So an hour later I was ready, I was actually pretty happy with how I looked considering the time limit. I grabbed my purse and my phone and headed off to meet everyone in the lobby.

“Charlotte! You look lovely.” Michelle exclaimed as I reached the group. I laughed and twirled around on the spot and took a bow as everyone joked around and wolf whistled. The girls all rolled their eyes and slapped their men jokingly as they continued their cat calls.

“Come on, let’s go!” Jimmy cheered, dragging us all to the awaiting cars. I got in next to Matt, pulling the door closed behind me. The other 4 occupants of the car were chatting about where we were going or what we were doing tomorrow or something but I wasn’t listening. I was too busy staring out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Zack. I pulled my phone out my bag, checking it for the 100th time today, still nothing from him. Sighing, I threw my phone back in my bag; this is going to be a long night.

- - - - -

“Come on Charlotte, just one dance?” Leana begged. I just shook my head still refusing to move from the seat I was located on. Leana scowled at me and attempted to drag me from my seat but had no luck.

“You haven’t moved the whole time we’ve been here!” She snapped. I looked down at the drink I’d been holding for an hour; it was still pretty much full.

So much for drowning my sorrows,

“Please?” She continued, “Just one dance?” I sighed in defeat, taking a big sip of my drink before following her onto the dance floor. The heat radiating off the dancing people was ridiculous. I’d never noticed it before; probably due to the fact I was usually always drunk. Even so, I tried to get into the spirit of things as we reached the rest of our group and I let the music take over me. After five minutes or so the heat and noise was starting to get a bit unbearable so I excused myself and made my way over to where I knew the toilets to be. Once inside the slightly quieter room I breathed a sigh of relief. The cubicles around me seemed to be empty so I pulled my phone out my pocket, deciding to end the ‘I’ll just wait for him to call me’ plan, I scrolled down my contact list until I reached Zacks name. I let my thumb hover over the call button for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and pressing it. I placed the phone to my ear and heard the ringing signalling I was calling him. It rang and rang and rang..

But there was no answer.

I groaned quietly to myself in annoyance, this was getting stupid now. I didn’t want to be here anymore, if anything this is making me think of Zack more not less. I just wanted to go back to hotel and make up with Zack; I just wanted to at least know he was okay. Surely he’d be back there by now? Deciding I definitely wanted to leave the club I stumbled out of the toilets back onto the dance floor to find Leana. It didn’t take long to find her, grinding with Jimmy on the centre of the dance floor. I rolled my eyes and laughed slightly at their stupidity as I approached them.

“Leana!” I shouted over the loud music, she turned to look at me and smiled. “I’m going back to the hotel.” The smile fell from her face and she looked like she was going to protest but then saw the look in my eyes and instead simply nodded, telling me she’d see me back there later. I quickly let everyone else know I was leaving and walked out of the club. I found one of the cars that were waiting for us and asked for the driver to take me back to the hotel.

It didn’t take too long to get back, maybe 10-15 minutes. It was still raining outside so once the car reached the hotel I pulled my heels off deciding to hold them instead of wear them so I could run to the lobby and hopefully not get too wet. Lucky for me it was only a few metres of a run so I managed to stay pretty much dry. I contemplated putting my heels back on once I reached the lobby in fear of people thinking I was strange but then I realized that was the least of my worries at the moment, so I continued to hold them. I reached my room and fumbled through my bag for my room key, taking a deep breath I opened the door. The room was pitch black so I switched on the main light but there was no sign of Zack. I sighed, shutting the door behind me as I made my way more into the suite. If he isn’t here where the hell is he?

I placed my bag down on the couch and was about to sit down when I heard a noise. I glanced over at the closed bedroom door that belonged to me and Zack and listened carefully but it was silent. I was about to shrug it off as me going a bit mad but then I heard it again. I walked over slowly to the door, trying to be as quiet as possible; I was just about to press my ear to the door when a floorboard creaked under my weight. I froze as the creak echoed through the suite and that’s when I heard it.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” A girl purred from the other side of the door.

“Nothing, sorry, I just thought I heard something.” Another voice replied.

I felt my blood run cold when I realized that was Zacks voice.

My Zacks voice.

I wasn’t even really thinking anymore as I threw the door open harshly. The girl shrieked and pulled the sheets over her obviously naked body. My eyes filled with tears when they fell onto Zack, the sheets were bunched round his waist but it was easy to tell he was also naked. I shook my head slowly in disbelief as the tears started to fall down my cheeks, I guess I’d hoped I was mistaken and it wasn’t his voice I’d heard. He was still looking at me, guilt, regret and sadness shone clearly through his eyes. I also noticed they were bloodshot, indicating he was drunk but that meant nothing. Alcohol isn’t a reason to cheat, there’s no excuse for this. It felt like I’d been stood there for hours but it had only been a matter of seconds. The mysterious girl was pulling on her clothes and running out of the suite but I didn’t give a crap about her, my eyes were still glued to Zack. The supposed love of my life, the guy who was supposed to love me had just shattered my heart into a million pieces. I was shaking; I wasn’t even sure how my legs were still supporting me. I couldn’t believe what was happening. Zack seemed to snap back to sober reality, I could almost see the colour drain from his face as he realized how serious this situation was

“Charlotte.” He croaked, “I c-can explain.”