The Love of My Life

Mia and Nikki were standing on the side of the stage again. Tonight they were on Brian’s side. It had been his idea as he claimed that it was only fair when they had been on Zacky’s side the night before. Zacky had rolled his eyes at his guitar playing friend but since he hadn’t protested and neither had Mia, Brian got his wish.

Val had stood with them for most of the set but then she got a phone call that she had to take so she excused herself and left.

”So where did you and Zacky disappear off to earlier?” Nikki yelled to Mia.

”Oh, you noticed? I didn’t think you would since your eyes were fixated on Brian the whole time!” she yelled back.

”I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

”Uh-huh, doesn’t he have a girlfriend?”

”He does, not that I see why it matters since I’ve barely talked to the man!”

Right then, the guys finished the song and for a short while, yelling wasn’t necessary.

Mia turned to her best friend. ”I just don’t want you to get hurt, that’s all.”

”And I appreciate that, but you know what I’m like. If I were to hook up with him, not saying that I am, I wouldn’t be getting emotionally involved with him and so I wouldn’t be getting hurt. He’s a rock star, Mia. He’s not the kind of guy you end up marrying and having babies with.”

The good mood she had been in ever since her private moment with Zacky died a little at Nikki’s words. She was probably right. For the first time in a long time, Mia wished that she could be like her friend and focus more on having fun in the moment, rather than thinking and worrying about the future. If she was truly honest with herself, she would realize that Zacky was just like Brian, not the kind of guy you ended up being married to.

Nikki saw how Mia’s smile disappeared from her face. ”Hey, remember who we’re talking about here. Brian’s always been the one with the manwhore reputation in the band and I’m sure Zacky is nothing like that.”

”Yeah, sure.” She smiled as she once again focused on Zacky out on the stage, but this time her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

An hour later the show was over and the girls were waiting for the guys who were showering and changing. At first Mia had wondered if Val ever got tired of seeing them perform night after night but now she couldn’t see how that was possible. This was only her second time seeing them live, yet she was already able to notice all kinds of little differences between the two shows. Besides, even if they had been completely the same, it would be worth watching just to hear the guys' banter on stage. When things got thrown up to them, they would make little comments about the stuff and they also commented on signs that people in the crown were holding up. Some of the things written on them were enough to make Mia blush and she wasn’t even the person they were directed at! She would have to ask Val how she dealt with knowing that fans wanted Matt to ”make them scream the way he does”. Having a boyfriend subjected to that every night couldn’t by no means be easy. Then again, she figured that as long as both parties trusted each other, there wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Mia looked up at the door from the couch she was sitting on when she heard the door open.

Johnny was the first one to walk in. ”Hey, did you like the show?” he asked.

”Yeah, it was really good,” Mia replied.

”Much better from my side, right?” Brian was the second one to return.

”No way, dude. Everyone knows that my side is the best side,” Zacky said behind him.

”Sure, if you want to be watching short-shit all night,” Brian said and the guys all laughed. All except for Johnny that is, he simply glared at Brian.

Instead of it being just the band like it had been the night before, more and more people entered the dressing room, sitting down and standing around, all wearing the passes around their necks. Mia didn’t fail to notice that she didn’t see any of the groupies one would assume could be found backstage at a rock show. It only added to her already made up opinion that they were good guys. She soon found herself in a conversation with Jimmy and Val. Zacky was on the other side of the room, talking to two guys who everyone referred to as the Berrys.

After quite some time had passed and most of the crew had disappeared to pack up everything, the only ones left in the room were Mia, Val and the guys. All except for one, Brian. She wondered if anyone else noticed that he was missing along with Nikki. If they did, nobody mentioned it. Although Brian had said that he was going out for a smoke so there was no reason for anyone to be suspicious. Not for anyone who didn’t know Nikki. Mia on the other hand was very suspicious and she wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she walked outside and found them without their clothes on. Not literally of course, he was famous so they wouldn’t be doing it outside. At least she hoped that they wouldn’t be doing it outside. However, just to be on the safe side, she decided to stay in.

Mia and Zacky hadn’t talked yet. There had been too many people around and after what had almost happened before the show, it seemed a bit awkward to talk in front of everyone else. But now the room was almost empty so it was time for one of them to take the first stop. Like magic, their eyes met and they smiled at each other. Without saying so much as a word, they both stood up and walked out of the room.

”Hey, where are you two going? Huh? What, are you like a couple now or something?” Jimmy called out after them while Val told him to be quiet and let them be. Zacky rolled his eyes and Mia just laughed.

He stopped once they were in the hallway. ”Do you want to,” he motioned toward the room they had been in before, ”or outside or…?”

Remembering what she might find outside she quickly decided that wasn’t an option. ”In there is fine,” she answered and headed toward the room. Zacky followed her. Just like he had done earlier, he carefully closed the door behind them and then he sat down on the couch next to here.

Things didn’t seem as easy as they had before. Neither wanted to talk about why it was, but both were aware that they had almost kissed. Almost. There were few things as uncomfortable as a kiss that almost happened, but didn’t. It was left hanging in the air, waiting for someone to be the first to grab onto it and make it happen. Until that took place, it was inevitable that some awkwardness would occur.

”Good show,” Mia said, feeling the need to say something to relieve the tension.

”Yeah? That’s good. Were you actually able to see anything from that side of the stage though?” he asked.

She didn’t understand what he meant. ”Uh, yeah. Why?”

”I just figured Brian’s major ego would be blocking the view.”

”Oh!” She laughed. It was an obvious nervous laughter but he gladly took it because nervous laughter was a lot better than no laughter.

It got quiet again.

”Hey, Zacky…”

”Yeah?” he said, instantly relaxing when he heard her speak.

”I think we should probably hang out more before we… you know.” She gave him a look. It was a look that she hoped explained exactly what she was hinting at without her actually having to really hint at it at all.

”Yeah… Yeah, you’re right. We wouldn’t want to jump into anything. That would probably be bad.” He scratched his head as he spoke. ”Right?”

”Right. I’m glad we’re on the same page because… well, I think you’re sweet, Zacky, and then maybe…” She gave a slight shrug.

”No, I totally get what you’re saying.”

A somewhat uncomfortable silence took over the room. They both seemed more occupied with staring at their hands, rather than staring at each other. Mia worried that he wouldn’t be interested in her now and wanted her to leave. Zacky worried that she hadn’t been interested in him to begin with and that she wanted to leave.

The door opened and they looked up. In came Brian and Nikki, who either didn’t notice or didn’t care that the room was already occupied. They were completely focused on each other as Brian pushed her up against the back of the door and then they started making out. Very loudly and very intensely.

Mia made a shocked face as she looked at Zacky who was mostly trying not to laugh out loud. ”Oh my god!” Mia mouthed a few seconds later as Brian’s hands went underneath Nikki’s shirt. She could imagine where this was heading and it wasn’t exactly something Mia felt like she needed to see her best friend doing. She opened her mouth to make them aware that they had company but before she could say anything, Zacky put one hand over her mouth as he shook his head.

He stood up slowly and quietly. They didn’t notice. He took her hand in his as she stood up beside him. They didn’t notice. Holding on to her hand, he walked them so that they were behind the couch. Then he crouched down. They still didn’t notice.

Mia stood up as she looked down at him, wondering what the hell he was doing. He motioned for her to come down with him. She gave him a confused look before she too crouched down. He put his index finger over his mouth, telling her to be quiet.

They were down there for what seemed like ages in Mia’s mind. This was definitely something she hadn’t been expecting would happen tonight. She was hiding behind a couch with Zacky Vengeance while her best friend was making out with Synyster Gates in the same room. It was definitely a strange night.

Then there was movement and a loud thump. Mia assumed that the horny twosome had moved from the wall to the couch. Some things were simply more comfortable to do lying down than they were standing up.

Zacky put up his fingers and counted down from three. As he reached one, they peeked up from behind the couch. ”BOO!” Zacky yelled.

The speed in which Brian and Nikki jumped off the couch had to be unheard of.

”Holy shit! What the- Dude! Where did you come from?!” Brian yelled out as Nikki quickly tried to fix her clothes and make her look a bit more presentable.

Zacky and Mia looked at the flustered couple before looking at each other and then they burst out in laughter.

”Oh my god… you should have seen… seen the looks… on your faces,” Mia laughed as she tried to copy the way Nikki had looked while Zacky did the same with Brian. Seeing the same looks on each other’s faces only made them laugh even harder.

”That wasn’t fucking funny,” Brian muttered. For a second Mia worried that maybe he was mad for real and if he was, then maybe Nikki was mad too. But when she looked at her friend she realized that she was having a hard time trying not to smile and finally, she laughed too.

”What, you thought this was funny?” Brian asked her.

Nikki nodded. ”You realize that they have been here the whole time, right?”

Brian’s eyes widened. ”Well… shit.”

”I don’t know what’s more disturbing,” Nikki continued, ”that we didn’t notice them or that they didn’t let us know that they were in here to begin with.”

Mia put her hands up. ”Hey, don’t blame me. This was all his idea.” She pointed to Zacky. ”And a pretty good one at that,” she added quietly, just for him to hear.

That is when realization seemed to hit Brian. ”Fuck. Zacky, this, uh, this isn’t-”

”This isn’t any of my business,” Zacky said, finishing Brian’s sentence. He stood up and reached out his hands to Mia, pulling her up too.

He walked over to Brian. ”Look dude, whatever you do is up to you. No judgment. Just make sure Matt doesn’t find out because you know as well as I do that he will tell Val. I’m sure you can figure the rest out for yourself.”

He turned to Mia. ”Ready to go?” he asked with a smile. She nodded.

As she walked by Nikki, she whispered to her, ”Remember what I said before and call me when you want to leave.”

”I’ll be fine,” she replied.

With that, Zacky and Mia left the room, feeling a lot lighter. Their little joke had managed to get rid of some of the previous tension they had been feeling.

”Why do I feel like I won’t be seeing her for a while?” she asked him.

”You probably won’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if he locks himself up in some hotel room with her for a night or two instead of going home with us tonight,” he explained.

”Should I be worried about her? I mean, does he do this kind of thing a lot?”

”No.” He noticed the unsure expression on her face. ”I’m not saying that because I’m his friend, but because it’s the truth. Michelle and him go though these rough patches every now and then and when that happens, this happens. I just wasn’t aware that they were going through one right now.” She still didn’t look like she fully believed him. ”Don’t worry. Besides, Nikki looks like she can take care of herself if need be,” he continued.

”You’re probably right.”

They both looked away before looking at each other again.

”Look I just wanted-”

”I want you to -”

They laughed again, having both spoken at the same time.

”You go first,” he told her.

”Okay. I just wanted to tell you that I would really like to spend some more time with you. I get if you don’t want to anymore but-”

”I do,” he interrupted her.

”You do?” She looked almost surprised.

”Yeah. I want you to know that I completely agree with you. It’s good that you don’t want to rush into anything like those two,” he nodded toward the room Brian and Nikki were it, ”and I would really like to spend some more time with you too.”

She smiled. ”Alright. Glad we have that cleared up. So, Matt told me that you have the next couple of days off. What are your plans?”

Zacky shrugged. ”I guess I don’t really have any. I’ve kind of been dreading going home. I haven’t been there since the break-up so I’m sure it’s going to be hard. Don’t get me wrong, I’m over her and all but it’s still going to be weird going to an empty house, you know.”

”That makes sense. Where exactly is home?”

”Huntington Beach. It’s near-”

”I know where it is. Pretty long drive from here.”

”Unfortunately…”

Mia was quiet for a while as she thought over an idea she had. It might be completely crazy, actually she was fairly certain that it was completely crazy, but something in her was telling her to go for it.

”I have this kind of crazy idea,” she said hesitantly.

”Okay, shoot.”

”It’s four days, right? Then you’re leaving again?” He nodded in reply. ”And you don’t really want to go home?” He shook his head. ”So, uh, what if you don’t?”

He looked at her questioningly. ”Where would I go then?”

”That’s sort of the crazy part. What if you came home with me?”

”What?” He looked at her, a bit stunned considering that the night before she hadn’t even wanted to come back to the hotel with him.

”Feel totally free to say no, I just thought that maybe if you’re going away again, it might be fun to get to know each other a bit better and hang out like normal people. Somewhere other than a concert venue.” She smiled nervously.

”I don’t know what’s crazier, that you would come up with this or that I’m actually saying yes.”

”You are?” she said, pleasently surprised that he wanted to.

”Yeah, I think it could be fun.”

”Great. You do know that you’re not sleeping in my bed, right?”

Zacky laughed. ”Yeah, I figured. Your loss though because I’m a great sleeping partner. I never hog the covers and I always stay on my side.”

It was her turn to laugh. ”Well, you never know what might happen…”