Carry Me

“Today?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”

“I didn’t think it mattered.”

“Ads, really?”

“Okay, fine, I know it does. But I didn’t want you freaking about it. Like you are now.”

“I’m not freaking,” Levia huffed.

“You are,” Addison argued.

“It’s just Papa Roach, Lev. Oh wait…”

Levia frowned at Brian, “Asshole.”

He smiled cheekily, “You love me!”

“Not as much as she loves Jacoby.”

“Oh I am going to kill you!”

Levia lunged after CJ who laughed and pushed her away. The two continued to play fight until a doorbell interrupted them all. Freddy jumped up, nearly knocking Matt over in the process, and ran for the door.

“I’ll get it!”

Matt shook his head, laughing, “I love your brother, Lev.”

Levia giggled, “Me too.”

In the short time she had discovered her new family, she had grown pretty attached to them. She hadn’t seen Pete, Emma, or Rose much, but enough to know that Rose had a crush on Johnny, which she found adorable. Freddy had bonded immediately with Levia, much to her delight, and he seemed to like Matt too. Addison was upstairs helping with Damien, and Zacky was doing something up there too. Levia wondered what.

“Greetings, my fellow fuckers!”

“Hey! There are children here! Watch your mouth!”

Jacoby scowled as Jerry smacked him upside the head. Tobin and Tony laughed, while Freddy appeared indifferent.

“It’s nothing I haven’t heard before.”

Tony laughed and turned to Levia, “Who’s he?”

“That’s my half brother, Freddy,” she answered, ruffling his hair. He grinned at her.

“I didn’t know you had siblings other than Addi,” Jacoby said thoughtfully.

“I have six half-siblings.”

Jacoby laughed, “Well, I guess I know that now.”

“Levee!”

Levia smiled widely as Makaile and Jagger appeared in the doorway and ran towards her, both of them engulfing her in a hug at the same time. She laughed and hugged them both back.

“How are you guys?”

“Good!” they both answered. Makaile spotted Freddy and wandered over to him, and the two boys began to talk about music.

What a surprise.

Jagger spotted CJ sitting on the nearby loveseat, smiling at him. He smiled back and walked over to her.

“You’re pretty. Like Levee.”

Levia stared down at the floor while CJ giggled and gave him a pat on the head, “Thank you.”

“Okay, you little womanizer, that’s enough,” Jacoby laughed, tickling Jagger and forcing him to submit and sit on the couch. Next to the now seated Levia, of course.

“Oh, guys, this is my half-sister, CJ,” Levia introduced.

The guys waved and CJ mumbled a ‘hello’ before turning her attention to Brian, who was sitting on the back of the loveseat leaning against the wall, his legs on either side of her.

“Care for a massage?” he asked, beginning to rub her neck and shoulders.

CJ gave him a weird look, but relaxed once he started doing it anyway, “I guess I don’t have much of a choice.”

Levia crossed her arms and playfully glared at Brian, who grinned in response.

Tobin sat on the other side of Levia, “So where’s the rest of this crazy family we’ve been hearing about?”

“Addi and Lev’s mom and her family are staying in some fancy hotel since she’s a stuck up bitch,” Matt answered, earning a few laughs, “and her dad and his family are upstairs. Except for Freddy.”

“Zacky’s somewhere up there too, I think,” CJ added, sighing contentedly at the end of her sentence.

“Yeah, I was wondering where that fucker was,” Jerry said, seating himself near CJ, but scooting when she began looking like she was enjoying her massage a bit too much.

Levia sighed, getting up from her seat, “I’ll go get him.”

She was wondering where he was and what he was doing, and what was taking him so long. As she left the room, her worried thoughts were interrupted when she caught Jacoby watching her. He gave her a small smile, which Levia returned, but she noticed he looked a little…sad? Maybe it was just her imagination.

It was always her imagination.

---------------------------

“You know, I actually think you’ll be a good mother someday.”

“Wow, thanks, Zack. That means a lot.”

“I was being serious!”

Addison smiled as she held Damien, “I know. Thanks.”

Zacky shrugged, “No problem.”

He kicked his foot around at the dark blue carpet in the room. After going to the bathroom, Addison had called him in here to talk. Barry and Sylvie promptly left, making Zacky even more confused. Addison was playing with Damien, and she seemed pretty distracted, so he wondered what was so important that she needed to say.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

“About what?” Zacky asked.

“My sister.”

Zacky gave her a confused look, “What about Levia?”

Addison sighed, setting Damien on the ground, allowing him to sit next to her, “I just…don’t want her hurt.”

Zacky sat down on the floor across from her, “What makes you think I will?”

She paused before answering, “I know how you can be-”

“This is different,” he interrupted.

“How?”

Zacky pursed his lips together, not sure how to answer it. How do you explain a feeling? It’s just…a feeling.

Addison sighed, “I know we don’t always get along, Z, but just…don’t do anything to hurt her feelings. Don’t say anything bad, don’t insult anyone or anything she likes, and whatever you do, never reject her in any way, shape, or form.”

“Why would I do any of that?” Zacky asked, slightly offended that Addison thought of him that way.

“You might not mean to, but you could,” she replied, playing blocks with Damien, “I know you.”

Zacky was becoming peeved, though he tried not to show it, “No, Addi, you don’t know me.”

“You’d be surprised what I’ve heard.”

Just as Zacky was about to give her a piece of his mind, Levia’s voice interrupted him.

“Addison? Have you seen Zacky?”

She peered around the doorframe, her face immediately brightening when she saw Zacky.

“Never mind. I found him,” she said, a bit of a giggle to her words.

Addison smiled at her sister, but gave Zacky a stern look as he stood up. He tried his hardest not to glare at her since Levia was right there, but it was just too tempting. He faked clearing his throat as he stood up and took large strides to get over to Levia. She gave him a questioning look, though she said nothing.

Zacky smiled at Levia and took her hand, giving her a sweet kiss on the lips and catching her off guard. She blushed as he pulled away, causing a small smirk to form on his face.

Was there anything about this girl that wasn’t cute?

“Nice to see you too,” she said. He could tell she was embarrassed, for whatever reason, and it made Zacky just want to kiss her all over again.

He restrained himself, choosing instead to ran a hand along her cheek, “What ‘cha need?”

She bit her lip, another thing about her Zacky loved, “I was just wondering where you went. The Papa Roach guys are here.”

Zacky smiled as she put her hand on top of his on her cheek, leaning into his touch. She closed her eyes for a moment before looking up at him again with those beautiful, light green eyes of hers. They were so light that sometimes they looked almost white, and he just couldn’t get enough of them.

And she always told him how pretty his eyes were. She had no idea what her own looked like.

Zacky stepped a bit closer to Levia, neither of them realizing that Addison had got up and shut the door, since they were still standing right outside of it.

“I guess we should probably go down there then, huh?” he said, his voice low. He mentally kicked himself, knowing that he shouldn’t be doing this now, but she was just so damn cute when she looked at him all innocent like that…

Levia looked from Zacky’s lips to his eyes, back down again, “We should.”

Just when he brushed his lips against hers, a loud, booming voice interrupted them.

“Hey, Levia, have you seen your sis-oh shit! I’m sorry! I didn’t realize you were…busy.”

Zacky slouched, knowing the moment was ruined. Levia looked utterly mortified.

“Uh…it’s…okay…Dad.”

Zacky stiffened. Her dad?

He was about to get his ass kicked.

Barry laughed nervously, “My bad. I bet I just ruined that, didn’t I?”

“Just a little,” Levia mumbled, staring anywhere but her father.

“Addi’s in the room with Damien,” Zacky spoke up, not making eye contact with Barry.

Barry nodded, “Thanks.”

Zacky tensed when Barry put a hand on his shoulder as he opened the door to the room.

“You better be careful, boy.”

Barry flashed a cheesy grin at the two before disappearing into the room and shutting the door behind himself. Zacky paled.

“You okay?” Levia asked, not hearing what her dad told him.

Zacky coughed, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

Levia sighed, grabbing his hand and leading him down the hallway.

“We’d better get down there before anyone else comes up.”

Zacky nodded slowly, now even more afraid of Barry. One of these days he would scare the shit out of Zacky.

Literally.

---------------------------------

“And then she said, ‘Yeah! And then we all made out and had an orgy in a melted chocolate hot tub! It was great!’. I tell you, the girl has the most amazing dreams.”

Levia froze in her place after hearing CJ’s sentence and the guys’ laughter. Zacky frowned and put an arm around her waist.

“You want to wait a little bit?”

Levia shook her head, her cheeks flushed with humiliation and annoyance towards her half sister, “No, it’s fine. Let’s go.”

The laugher ceased when Levia and Zacky walked into the room. Jacoby’s eyes focused on the hand firmly on Levia’s hip, and he tried to keep from looking unhappy.

Jerry was polite enough to try to hide his laughter, as was Tony, while Tobin and Brian started full out laughing their asses off. Jacoby joined in on the laughter after he got over his little episode as well. Levia narrowed her eyes.

“Cameron Jane Wallace!”

CJ visibly winced, “What?!”

Levia shook her head, her face still colored. Zacky shrugged and plopped down next to Brian, patting his lap and grinning mischievously at Levia. She playfully rolled her eyes before going to sit on his lap. Just as she was going to sit down, she locked eyes with Jacoby, again, and knew she wouldn’t be able to stand being on Zacky in his presence. She was already in the process of sitting, so she’d have to think fast if she wanted to get out it. So she did the only thing she could think of.

She sat on Brian.

Brian gave out a grunt of surprise, but didn’t object.

“Why hello there, Lev-Lev.”

Levia looked displeased, though she smiled inwardly at the amused, possibly relieved, look on Jacoby’s face.

“Hey there, Bri-Bear.”

Zacky crossed his arms and pouted, “Fuck you, Syn. Stealing my girlfriend.”

“Well, I guess if you wanted to fuck me too we could do a threesome…”

Levia smacked him and tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but it only made things for uncomfortable for all of them.

Levia gave Zacky an apologetic look, causing him to smirk in response.

“I saw that, Zack. What are you two gonna do to the poor girl?” Jacoby asked skeptically. He was slightly worried for Levia’s safety.

“You shouldn’t worry about her so much,” Tobin mumbled. Jacoby shoved him away in response.

“Oh, nothing,” Zacky said innocently, getting off of the couch.

CJ snickered, “This should be good.”

Brian winked at her, making her giggle. Levia scowled and tried to get out of Brian’s hold again, but he just held her tighter. She was closer to Brian right now than she ever had been with her own boyfriend.

Brian moved his legs so Levia now sat inbetween them, and Zacky stood in front of her. She gulped.

“What are you doing, Zacky?”

Zacky smirked at the way she said his name, almost in a begging manner.

He liked it.

Jacoby, on the other hand, was less than pleased. He childishly stuck his tongue out at Zacky’s back, making CJ and the other Papa Roach guys laugh at his immaturity.

Zacky sudden sat on Levia, straddling her and Brian, and pushed his head into Brian’s neck.

“Oh fuck, Bri! Harder!” he screamed.

CJ and the guys roared with laughter, while Levia squeaked, completely uncomfortable.

“Zacky! Oh shit! Do it again!” Brian moaned in a shrill, high pitched voice.

“Get me the fuck out of here!” Levia yelled, making everyone laugh even more.

“What the fuck are you guys doing in here?”

Zacky and Brian stopped when they heard Matt, and Zacky let out a breath of relief.

“Oh, shit. For a second I thought you were Barry.”

“He’s on his way,” Matt laughed evilly.

Zacky jumped off of Levia, pulling her with him and causing both of them to fall on the floor. Jacoby peered over the end of the couch to look at the tangled two on the floor.

“Well aren’t you two cute,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his words.

Zacky grinned like a kid in a candy store and pet Levia on the head, “Aren’t we?”

Levia sat up, not comfortable with the two’s exchange. Zacky and Jacoby both frowned at her, neither satisfied when she wasn’t happy. Noticing this only made Levia more awkward, and she stared at the floor.

Barry sauntered into the room and stopped when he saw the Papa Roach guys, “You guys look familiar…”

“Levia always used to have a huge poster of them in her room, remember?” CJ pointed out.

Barry snapped his fingers together, “Oh, yeah! You’re uh…Papa…”

“Roach,” Jacoby finished.

“Right! And you,” Barry said, pointing to Jacoby, “were the one she used to drool over-”

“Dad!”

He chuckled at his daughter, “My bad.”

Zacky’s hold on Levia suddenly became tighter, which didn’t go unnoticed by Barry, as Jacoby waved him off.

Barry sent a knowing smile at CJ and then gestured to Zacky, who’s arm was around Levia in a rather protective manner since the mention of Jacoby. CJ grinned and nodded, signaling that she had noticed it already.

Levia relaxed into Zacky, like she always did, but was strangely aware of Jacoby’s looming presence on the couch above them. For a second, she thought about all the times she had imagined Jacoby holding her like this, all the times he would treat her like Zacky did. She couldn’t get him out of her head.

But that was high school, right? This was real life, and those were just daydreams: the wishes of a fan hopelessly in faux love with the lead singer of her favorite band. None of those could ever happen.

When she twisted her neck around to look at Jacoby, though, her thoughts changed. His posture was that of someone depressed, but once he saw her looking he straightened up and gave her a smile. Levia smiled weakly back, but couldn’t ignore the tiny, silly thought in the back of her head.

Maybe there was a chance. A strange, twisted chance…

“Earth to Lev!”

Levia turned her head back to the concerned face of Zacky, and she felt a pang of guilt.

Part of her wanted to let herself fully like, and eventually love, Zacky, but another part of her couldn’t let go of that childish crush she had on Jacoby.

It wasn’t such a childish crush anymore.

“Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly.

Zacky shrugged and gave her a peck on the cheek, making her smile.

Jacoby slumped over again and Tobin poked him, trying to get him to sit up. Jacoby just ignored him.

“So are you guys staying here too?” CJ asked curiously.

Jerry nodded, “Yeah. Matt and Addi said we could until the wedding.”

Levia was confused, “How? There’s not enough room here.”

“They’re all staying in the basement,” Matt answered, taking a drink from his beer bottle. Barry did the same.

Levia nodded in understanding, “Oh.”

Jacoby gave Levia a pat on the shoulder, “Sorry to disappoint you, Levee, but none of us can stay in your room with you.”

“You could. There’s plenty of room,” CJ said, trying to hide her devious grin.

Tony laughed, “We could all have a sleepover again!”

“Again?” Barry asked, confused.

“It’s a long story, Dad.”

“I have time.”

Levia sighed, shaking her head. Jacoby laughed.

“You don’t even want to know.”