The Love of My Life

”Wait, so you’re going on tour with Avenged Sevenfold after having been personally invited by Zacky Vengeance?” Nikki said after Mia had explained what had happened to her best friend over the phone.

Mia was quiet for a few seconds, wanting to make sure that the shower was still on before she said anything else. ”Yes! He asked me completely out of nowhere and I know it’s a little crazy, or a lot of crazy, but… I really think this is right, Nikki. I really, really think that he could be the one.”

”Mia,” Nikki sighed. ”You don’t know him well enough to think something like that.”

”I know that,” she said, defending herself. ”But how am I going to get to know him better if I don’t go with him?”

”Good point. And it’s not that I think this is a bad idea or anything, you know as well as I do that I would be up for it in a heartbeat. I guess I’m just a little concerned because it’s so unlike you to do something like this.”

”I know… But he makes me want to be braver. I’m well aware that I’m taking a chance here, but he makes me want to do that. I think he could be worth it.”

”Then you should go for it. I’m happy for you, Mia, I really am. I think it’s great that he wants you to come along and I think it’s great that you want to go along. And if things work out, that’s awesome. If they don’t, at least you’ll know that you gave it an honest chance.”

”Exactly. At least I’ll know that I tried and that I wasn’t too scared to take a chance and try something that was out of the ordinary for me,” Mia said. ”Hey, speaking of chances… Would you come if someone, I don’t know, say Brian, asked you to?”

Mia could practically hear the smile on her best friend’s face as she said, ”I probably would. Or… No. No, I definitely would,” she laughed.

”Really? Now why is that? Could it be that some unexpected feelings developed between the two of you?” Mia asked.

”What? No. God, no. You know I don’t do feelings, Mia.”

”Oh, yeah? Then why would you go?”

”Hello! Did you not get my text last night that mentioned the best sex ever? Hell, I would travel around the world and back just for that,” Nikki said.

”There’s no way he was that good. I refuse to believe it.” As Mia said this, the bathroom door opened and Zacky stepped out, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

”Are you kidding? I stayed with him for three days and we didn’t leave the hotel room, not even once. That says it all. But hey, if you don’t believe me, maybe you should try him out yourself.”

Mia looked at Zacky who was going through the clothes in his bag. ”No thanks,” she said absentmindedly into the phone. ”I think I’m pretty happy with what I’ve already got.”

At that exact moment, Zacky turned around and looked at her, smiling. She smiled back, feeling so thankful that she had been given the opportunity to meet him. He was amazing. He was sweet and nice and gorgeous and funny and everything she could ever hope for and more. He was perfect.

”Mia! Mia! Are you even listening to me?” Nikki said on the other end. Mia seemed to have completely forgotten about her when Zacky took over her brain.

”Huh? Yeah, of course. Of course I’m listening to you. What were you saying?”

Nikki huffed, feeling very ignored. ”Did Zacky come into the room or something?”

”Something like that,” Mia said with a smile.

”Great. You meet one guy and you’ve already forgotten all about me, your best friend.”

”Oh, shut up,” Mia laughed. ”Do you think you’ll see Brian again?” she asked.

Nikki took a few seconds before she answered. ”No, I don’t think so. He seems somewhat serious about Michelle, even though I don’t understand how he could be when he cheats on her. What kind of relationship is that? I don’t get it. I would gladly hook up with him every now and then, but I would never ever consider an actual relationship with him. If he cheats on someone with me, he’s going to cheat on me with someone. It’s a simple equation and it never fails. There’s no way in hell I would even consider setting myself up for that kind of situation.”

Mia nodded her head as Nikki talked. ”I couldn’t agree more. I think it’s a little sad though. You two seemed to have great, how should I put this, chemistry maybe, when we were at the show and you were… you know.”

Nikki laughed. ”Hell yeah, we did. But sexual chemistry, as fantastic as it may be and it certainly was with him and me, does not a relationship make. It definitely makes for great fun and we had a great time, but you need more than that to be a couple.”

Zacky had disappeared into the bathroom again, most likely putting his clothes on, so Mia felt comfortable saying what she was thinking. Just to be on the safe side though, she whispered. ”See, that’s why Zacky and I haven’t even kissed yet. I want us to build on something and be something more.”

”I’m sorry, I must have heard you wrong because it sounded like you said that you haven’t even kissed!” Nikki started out speaking calmly but her voice rose with every word.

”Shh, he’ll probably be able to hear you through the phone if you yell like that.”

”Well, I’m sorry but that is insanity! You can’t go on tour with the guy if you haven’t even kissed him!”

”Yeah, I can and I will,” Mia whispered.

”No, you can’t and you won’t! Oh Mia, you’re completely screwing this up right now. You are going to be friends and nothing more if you keep on being such a prude and refusing to do anything with anyone.”

There was one thing Mia absolutely hated and that was when she was called a prude simply because she wasn’t comfortable with sleeping around. ”I am not a prude!” she hissed.

”Then stop acting like one! He could have any girl in the world, do you realize that? And he’s not going to stay away from every other girl out there just to wait for someone who won’t even kiss him!”

”It’s not that I won’t kiss him or that I’m refusing to kiss him.” She found it harder and harder to speak calmly and quietly when she was feeling this frustrated. ”We’ve talked about this and we agree that this is how we’re going to do it.”

”Well, good luck with that, Mia. Don’t be surprised when you find him fucking someone else,” Nikki said in a rather obnoxious tone.

”You know what, I’m sorry that I can’t be more of a slut like you, Nikki. I really am. I’m sorry that I’m not comfortable with fucking random guys who have girlfriends and wives and probably even kids. I’m sorry that I actually have some morals.” Mia had gotten so upset that she hadn’t even noticed that Zacky was standing there, looking at her, a surprised expression on his face.

”Fuck you!” Nikki yelled. ”Don’t you dare-”

Mia hung up.

It was the first time they had ever been this mean to each other. They had fought but it had always been over little things. Never had they ended a conversation in anger. This was different because Mia was angry. She was really angry. So angry that she started crying. She looked at Zacky as the tears started running down her cheeks and she tried to dry them away with her hands before he saw them. It didn’t work.

Instead he came and sat beside her. ”Was that Nikki? Did you two fight?” He knew it was a stupid question as soon as he heard it out loud, obviously they had had a fight, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

She nodded as she kept on drying the tears.

”Don’t cry, Mia. I’m sure that whatever it was about, you’ll work it out,” he said. He always felt a little awkward around people who cried because he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to act around them. Some wanted a comforting hug, some wanted a friendly pat on the back, some wanted nothing at all. He had no idea which category she belonged in.

”We- we’ve never really fought before but now she- she called me a prude and I-I called her a slut,” she said, speaking through the sobs and sniffles.

”Oh.” He had missed that part. He scratched his head. ”Don’t worry though, it’ll be fine once you both calm down a little.”

Mia cried harder. ”She’s my only friend!”

That’s when Zacky went with his instincts and he hugged her. She leaned into the hug and he knew that he had made the right choice. ”You’re wrong. I’m your friend too, Mia,” he whispered.

It made her feel a little better.

***

Later that day Mia found herself sitting on a plane that would take them to another place that would then take them to England. Along with her were the band and Val. She was relieved that none of the other girls were there. She got along with Val already and she felt comfortable with her, that made it all so much easier. The two of them were sitting next to each other. Val had told the guys that they needed some girl time to be able to talk and bond. Mia thought it was sweet, although she figured that Val was most likely more interested in hearing some gossip about Mia’s days with Zacky, than she was in any kind of bonding.

They were going to be spending the following week in England and Mia was excited. She had never been there and she hoped that she would get some time to be a full on tourist and experience London the way one was supposed to.

She had been upset after her talk with Nikki and she still wasn’t ready to talk to her. Zacky had done a great job in making her feel better and it hadn’t taken long before her sad face had turned into more of a smiling one. It had only ensured her that she was doing the right thing here. Although she couldn’t deny that Nikki’s words had etched themselves into her brain a little, making her wonder if she was really running the risk of putting them in the ’friends zone’ unless something happened soon. But something had happened the night before. They had slept in the same bed and to her, that was a really big deal. The only other guy she had ever just slept next to was her ex-boyfriend, because she thought that was something that was very intimate.

Once the plane had had it’s shaky beginning and was finally flying smoothly in the air, Val relaxed next to her. Apparently she hated flying, especially the take-offs, and she had said that she couldn’t talk while it was happening because she was to busy hoping that the plane wouldn’t crash. Mia found it a bit funny but she hadn’t said anything about it.

Now that it was over, Val turned to her. ”Tell me everything,” she said with a smile.

Mia laughed, not at all surprised to hear this. ”I don’t even know where to start,” she replied.

”I do. How was he?” Val’s smile turned even bigger.

”How was he with what?”

”Come on, how was he in… you know, bed,” she whispered the last word.

”I don’t know, I didn’t sleep with him,” Mia said truthfully.

”You didn’t?” He stayed over for four nights and you didn’t sleep together?” Val was surprised, but in a good way.

”No, we didn’t.”

Val made what sounded like a very excited sound. ”That is so great, Mia!”

”It is?” she asked surprised. It wasn’t exactly the kind of reaction she had been expecting, especially not after the response she had gotten from Nikki.

”Yes! That means that he really likes you!”

”It does?” she asked, even more surprised.

”Of course! If he wasn’t truly into you, you two would have just done it. But you didn’t do it which means that he wants to really get to know you first and… aaw, that is just so sweet!”

”Val, do you really think I would have asked her to come with us on this trip if I wasn’t into her?” Both girls looked up when they heard Zacky’s voice.

”Zacky, were you listening in on our conversation?” Val asked, narrowing her eyes.

”Don’t be silly. I was on my way to the bathroom and I heard that you were talking about some guy and I just had to make sure that I didn’t have any competition.” He winked at Mia as he said this. She giggled.

”Cute. Well, off you go, because we aren’t anywhere near being finished talking,” Val told him and motioned for him to keep on walking.

He started walking away but before he had gotten very far, Mia called out to him. ”Hey Zacky, if you actually had some competition, do you really think I would be here?” She winked at him and he laughed as he continued on his way.

She turned to Val again who looked a little impressed by her. ”Nicely done,” she said. ”Who would’ve thought that the girl who seemed so nervous when she first saw him at the show, would be all flirty with him not even a week later?”

Mia shook her head. ”Honestly, even I wouldn’t have thought that. Something about him brings out that side in me. It’s like,” she tried to find the words that would best explain it, ”it’s like I’m less scared with him. Like he brings out this side that I didn’t even know I had. I don’t know if it makes any sense but-”

”It does,” Val said. ”Trust me, it does. That’s exactly what Matt did to me. Granted we were a lot younger when we met, but I was shy back then. And then I met him and got to know him and fell in love with him and he made me so much braver. Knowing that he’s always going to be there for me, makes me feel not scared of anything. I am who I am today in large part because of him.” Val looked over to the seat where Matt was sitting as she talked about him, her eyes beaming as she looked at the man who truly was the love of her life.

”That is amazing. You two have like the perfect love story. It makes me so envious because that’s exactly what I wish I could have.”

”Yeah, we really do. It’s like a fairytale,” Val smiled. She looked from Matt to Mia. ”You know what though? Something tells me that you and Zacky will have that too.”

Mia smiled, her eyes immediately going to where Zacky was just sitting down. He turned around and looked at her. He smiled when he saw that she was looking at him too. Mia hoped that Val was right. She really, really hoped that Val was right.

***

It was the next day when they finally arrived at their destination. They were all exhausted after the flight from Los Angeles to New York and then New York to London. Even though it was daytime, no one was interested in anything except getting to the hotel and to bed.

Mia had sat next to Zacky during the second flight. It had been a lot of fun. They had watched the same movies, constantly making little comments to each other that made them laugh while they watched. They had been lucky enough to sit in a row for three people with no one beside them so they were able to spread out more. Mia had sat with her legs up on the seats and leaning on Zacky. She was sure that they looked like a couple to everyone else on the plane but she didn’t mind. She didn’t think he minded either.

Two people who definitely didn’t mind letting everyone on the plane know that they were a couple were Matt and Val. Val had walked by them first and they hadn’t paid much attention to it. However, not very long after that, Matt had walked by them and he made some comment about having to ensure their membership in the Mile High Club. Mia thought it was a little weird for them to not only have sex on a plane but to actually tell everyone that they were doing it, but it wasn’t her place to judge and she had honestly gotten a laugh out of it. The best part of it all had definitely been Jimmy’s reaction. A few minutes after the soon to be very happy couple had disappeared, he had turned around to talk to Mia and Zacky and with a very sad face, he had asked if Mia could help him with his membership. For a second she hadn’t known what to say because he had looked so serious, but then she had burst out in laughter and the guys had all done the same. She had then suggested that maybe his hand could help him out and Jimmy had given her a high-five and welcomed her to the gang.

It meant a lot to her that the guys were including her and making her feel like it was completely normal for her to be there with them. Not that it was the first time they brought girls along, of course it wasn’t, but they didn’t know her and yet they seemed to be okay with it. She was really grateful that they were so accepting of her. She only hoped that if the time came when she would be meeting their girlfriends, they would be as sweet as Val was. She could already imagine how uncomfortable it would be to meet Michelle, but she decided not to worry about something that might not ever actually take place.

Instead she focused on the conversation going on around her. They were standing by the hotel reception and the three guys that came on the trip without girls were trying to sort out which two were sharing a room and who was the lucky one to get one for himself.

”When those two decide to get drunk, I’d rather not have to be there to take care of them,” Brian complained.

Johnny rolled his eyes. ”Anyone remember France? Who was the drunkest one there, Brian? I’m pretty sure it was you Mr. ’pink is the new black’.”

”That happened once,” Brian replied and the rest of the band laughed.

”Yeah, once when it was caught on film and put on a dvd for the whole world to see,” Matt said.

”Dude, just share a room so we can be done with this already,” Zacky said, taking hold of Mia’s hand. ”We’re tired.”

”Yeah, I’m tired too which is why I want a room by myself!” Brian protested.

”Just give him his damn room already,” Johnny said. ”I’ll share with Jimmy, who cares.”

”No!” Matt said. Everyone looked at him, a little surprised that he would care. ”It’s supposed to be fair and the last time this happened, he got the solo room. It’s Johnny’s turn this time.”

”But I really don’t care,” Johnny replied.

”Well, I do,” Matt told him. He did care, but no one knew his reason why. Brian had been in an awful mood during the flight and Matt concluded that it could only mean one thing, he had had another fight with Michelle before they left. After what had happened in San Francisco, Matt knew that Brian hadn’t stopped his whole thing with cheating whenever they were fighting and that was why he refused to let him have his own room. He wasn’t going to run the risk of Brian picking up some girl and taking her with him to his room, only for Val to accidentally come across them. It would upset her and he wasn’t going to let that happen.

He turned to the receptionist. ”Is there any way we can put all three of them in the same room?”

”What?” Brian and Johnny yelled. Jimmy on the other hand didn’t seem to care very much either way. As long as he had a bed to sleep in, he was happy with whatever arrangement.

”Certainly,” the woman sitting behind the desk said and soon after they were given three room numbers. One for Matt and Val, one for the guys and one for Mia and Zacky.

As they stood in the elevator, Mia thought of how it was a little strange that they had never actually discussed whether or not she and Zacky would be sharing a room. It had just been assumed that they would. She wondered if he had been the one to make that decision or if it was one of the other guys. Maybe Matt, he seemed to be somewhat in charge. The more she thought about it, the more certain she got that it most likely been Matt who had decided and she wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Val had had something to do with it also. She didn’t mind that they were going to share a room, she wanted to, but she was a little nervous that they were going to be sharing a bed for several nights. It had happened once but that was different as it had been very impulsive. This would make it so much harder to keep things at a safe level. Or the prude level, as Nikki would probably call it now that she was being a bitch. She could feel how her grip on Zacky’s hand tightened as she thought of her best friend. He felt it too.

”Is something wrong?” he whispered, a concerned look on his face, as they got out of the elevator.

She shook her head, not wanting to discuss it around everyone else.

Zacky didn’t like admitting it, but it worried him. They had had fun during the plane ride and he had been so comfortable sitting next to her with her head on his shoulder as they had watched movies, made small talk and laughed at silly jokes. He had been so happy that he had made the decision to bring her along and spend more time with her. It might be silly but right now, he couldn’t imagine not being with her. He wanted to get to know her to the point where he knew everything about her. But now she was acting strangely and it worried him. What if she had changed her mind and she didn’t want to be here with him anymore? What if she was freaked out that they would be sharing a room? Maybe she thought that it had been his idea. It hadn’t. Matt had told him during the first flight that Val had said that she thought it was a good idea. Zacky hadn’t thought much of it, in his mind it made sense that they would be sharing a room as they were the ones who would be spending the most time together. The fact that they would also be sharing a bed, hadn’t actually crossed his mind. But maybe it had crossed Mia’s…

As they stood in the elevator, Val watched Mia and Zacky. She wondered if she had made a mistake when she had decided to pair them up in a room together. After all, that had been when she thought that they had slept together but now that she knew that they hadn’t even kissed, it made her doubt her decision. Mia had told her how important it was for her that they took things slow and didn’t rush into anything. Val didn’t think that sharing a bed for close to a week was taking things slow. She would be so mad at herself if this would somehow lead to things being messed up between Mia and Zacky. Matt thought she cared too much but Zacky was her friend and so was Mia, even though they hadn’t known each other very long, not to mention that she loved being a matchmaker. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with wanting others to be as happy as she was with Matt. But as she was standing in the elevator and she noticed the tense look on Mia’s face and then the worried look on Zacky’s, Val couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she had been a bit too optimistic about their possible relationship.

When they got off on their floor, they all headed to their rooms, saying that they would see each other tomorrow. Just like that, Mia and Zacky were alone again. She instantly got on the bed and closed her eyes. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had been this tired. Zacky stood up, watching her, before he sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked at her again but her eyes were still closed. He didn’t think that she was asleep already.

”Mia,” he said.

”Mm,” she answered, turning a little toward him but not opening her eyes.

”Are you okay?” he asked as he laid down beside her.

”I’m fine, I’m just really tired.”

”You sure? You’re not mad at me or anything like that?”

She sat up right away and looked at him. ”Mad at you? Zacky, of all the people in the world that I could be mad at right now, why would I be mad at you?

He shrugged. ”I don’t know, I just got the feeling in the elevator that you were upset and that maybe you were upset at me over something.”

”No. No, no, no. I’m not.” She got back to her previous position and as she did, she moved her pillow a little closer to him. ”Yeah, I got a little upset because I was thinking of Nikki, but it definitely wasn’t because of you or something you did.”

”Alright,” he said, but Mia didn’t think that he sounded completely convinced.

”Zacky, you are great. You are… beyond great actually.” She smiled at him. ”I’m really happy that I met you.”

”Yeah?” he said, a smile forming on his lips.

”Yeah,” she confirmed.

They were looking at each other and smiling. It was one of those moments that would not only be perfect for a kiss, but it would be even more perfect for a first kiss. They both knew it and they both knew that the other knew it. The room was suddenly very tension filled, but it was the good kind of tension. The kind that makes you feel jittery, makes you feel butterflies, make you feel good. It’s the kind of tension everyone hopes for before they first kiss someone.

Zacky put his hand on her cheek, stroking it with his thumb. ”I thought we were taking our time here,” he said quietly.

”I thought so too but…” she replied.

”But what?” he asked, still smiling.

”I-I’m confused. As much as I hate to admit it, I guess Nikki got to me a little yesterday. I don’t know if we are just taking things slow or if we are taking things too slow?”

”We’re taking it whatever way you want. You decide and I’m fine either way.”

She smiled at him. ”See? I said that you were great.”

”Huh, I guess I am.” They laughed and all was well again. Mia was amazed at how easy he was to be around. She couldn’t imagine there ever being a day when he wouldn’t make her feel comfortable.

”Come here,” he said as he put out his arms and she got closer to him, his arms enclosing tightly around her. ”Don’t worry, things will work themselves out, I promise,” he whispered and kissed her on the top of her head.

She smiled and fell asleep very comfortably in his arms.

Mia woke up sometime in the middle of the night, her back against Zacky and his arm around her waist. She needed to go to the bathroom, so she carefully slipped out of bed so as not to wake him. They had slept for hours and she couldn’t believe that she was still tired. She also couldn’t believe that she wasn’t the least bit hungry. Airplane food was notoriously bad and it was all she had eaten during the day. Not that it mattered if she had been hungry because it was in the middle of the night in a foreign country, so where would she possibly have gone for food anyway?

She wondered if she should turn on the light and look for some clothes to sleep in. Going back to bed while wearing jeans wasn’t the most comfortable thing she could think of. But she didn’t want to be selfish and wake Zacky up either. So no, turning on the light wasn’t an option. Maybe she could lift her bag into the bathroom and go through it there. Although that thing was heavy and since she had just woken up, she definitely felt way too weak for that. So no, that wasn’t an option either. She looked down at her clothes. She really didn’t want to go to sleep wearing this. At least not the jeans. She stood watching Zacky sleep as she tried to think of what to do.

That’s when she realized that she didn’t really need to sleep in any pants at all. If she got under the covers, no one would be able to see anything anyway. Yes, that was her best option. She quietly pulled off her jeans and got back into bed, this time slipping under the blanket instead of lying on it. She got closer to Zacky, wanting to feel as much of his warmth as possible. As she started drifting off, she wished that he would put his arms around her and pull her near him…

When Zacky woke up, it was dark out. When he looked at the time, he realized that it was early morning. Or very late night, depending on how you looked at it. He was surprised that he had slept that long. Not only that, but that he felt like he could sleep even more. He knew that traveling through different time zones could be tiring, but this was beyond that. He carefully removed his arm that was around Mia, he didn’t want to wake her, and got out of bed. That’s when he noticed that she wasn’t lying on top of the blanket like they had fallen asleep, she was lying under it. He wondered how she had ended up there. He quietly tiptoed to the bathroom.

When he opened the bathroom door, allowing some light into the otherwise very dark room, he saw that Mia had pushed off the blanket. He didn’t fail to notice that she was no longer wearing pants. He felt fairly certain that she had been wearing them when they both fell asleep. That meant that she too had woken up sometime during the night.

He closed the door behind him and once again found himself in the darkness of the hotel room. He wondered what he should do. He could open up his bag and try to find a pair of sweatpants to sleep in, he could try to sleep while being uncomfortable in his jeans or he could sleep without either of them. Mia had obviously gone with the third choice, so he didn’t see why he couldn’t do the same thing.

A minute later he was getting into bed again, quietly of course, as he didn’t want to wake Mia by moving around too much. He joined her under the blanket and got as close to her as he thought was appropriate. The warmth radiating off of her skin made him want to get even closer, but he decided not to. He didn’t want to scare her off. Instead he threw one arm around her, lying the way they had been when he woke up. Hopefully she would be okay with that. Soon Zacky was sleeping again.

The way they woke up the next morning was something quite different from what either had been expecting. She was used to being woken up by a regular alarm, he was used to at least one of the guys coming to wreak havoc on the door to whatever hotel room he was staying in. Instead, their morning started out a lot more pleasantly.

Mia opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Zacky. His face was almost right by hers. She realized just how close to each other they must have been sleeping. He was still sleeping, giving her plenty of time to look at his face. She noticed that he had great eyebrows. They were almost too perfect, like he had them plucked. She found the thought quite funny. He had cute lips too. The bottom one was plump and perfect, like it was begging to be kissed. Then he opened his eyes and all she saw was green, green, green. There was no question that he had the most amazing eyes she had ever seen.

”Good morning,” she smiled at him.

”Good morning,” he smiled back at her.

When Zacky woke up, he was met by the sight of Mia being very close to him and looking at him. Her hair was a mess, like one might expect after having been sleeping for at least twelve hours. Her mouth was slightly open, a smile on her lips. Her brown eyes were watching him intensely, it gave him the feeling that she had been checking him out.

”Were you just lying here, staring at me?” he asked.

”Maybe,” she replied sheepishly.

He laughed. ”Weirdo.” He put his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, her head now lying on his shoulder. He breathed in her scent. He didn’t know if it was her shampoo or her perfume or maybe just her, but she smelled like apples. It was definitely a scent he could get used to.

As Mia lay there with Zacky, she instinctively brought up her hand and started tracing the tattoo on his chest. It was a different take of the band’s symbol, the deathbat. It was nice but it wasn’t her favorite. The one she liked the most was one that was in hiding at the moment, the word ’Vengeance’ written in red letters on his upper back. She hadn’t seen a lot of it so far but she liked what she had seen. She thought it proved how the Zacky Vengeance part wasn’t just a stage persona. It wasn’t just a character he played in the band, it was really who he was.

Zacky felt her fingers move across his chest and it was the best feeling he had felt in a long time. Her touch was light. So light that if he hadn’t been able to see it, he would have been convinced that he had imagined it. When she was finished, he shivered. She looked up at him with a smile. He had one arm under his head while the other started running through her hair.

”You look adorable in the morning,” he whispered.

”Just in the morning?” she asked jokingly.

”No,” he laughed, ”every day since I’ve met you. But a little extra right now.”

That’s when it happened. That’s when she leaned forward a little and their lips met. It was a short and sweet kiss, but it was a kiss. When she pulled away, she wasn’t sure if she had just made a mistake.

She rolled over and looked away from him. ”I’m sorry,” she said.

He turned so that he was facing her once again. ”You’re sorry? For what?”

”I shouldn’t have done that. We talked about it and decided not to and so I shouldn’t have… done that. I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sorry.”

”Mia, seriously, stop with the apologizing. Remember what we talked about last night?”

She looked at him, surprised by the very serious tone in his voice. ”Yeah, I… Well, no. I mean, I remember what we talked about, of course I remember, but I don’t know what exactly it is that you’re talking about right now,” she explained.

He laughed as he shook his head at her. ”Adorable… What I’m talking about is when I told you that we’re doing this your way, in whatever pace you want. If you want to take things slow, that’s what we’ll do. But if you want to ravage me in the morning, I’m fine with that too.” He had a glint in his eyes that made her smile. There he went again, making her feel so comfortable when she had just felt so nervous.

”I wonder how you do that…” she said, more speaking out loud than actually talking to him.

”Do what?” he asked.

”Make everything feel okay. It’s like the fifth time already when I start getting anxious about something and you completely remove all the doubts that are in my head. I don’t know how you do it.”

”I don’t either, especially considering that I wasn’t even aware that it’s something that I do. Sounds pretty cool though, makes me feel all important.” He winked at her.

She laughed. ”Cute.”

”Zacky!” someone yelled followed by some very loud knocking on the door.

Mia looked down at her bare legs and quickly pulled the blanket over them while Zacky got up to open the door and see who today’s intruder was.

”You know, Jimmy, a simple knock will do. You don’t need to bang on the door like that,” Zacky said as he opened it and let in his friend.

”I wasn’t banging on it, I was drumming,” Jimmy replied as he walked in. ”Oh hey, Mia! Still in bed, huh?”

She nodded. ”Yeah, hi.”

Jimmy turned to look at Zacky who was standing by the door, waiting to hear why exactly it was that he had barged in here this morning. ”Why aren’t you dressed yet?”

”Because I just woke up?” Zacky said as more of a question than an answer.

”Huh, yeah, you better hurry then because we’re leaving in like… five minutes or so.”

”Leaving for what?” Zacky asked. ”We’re supposed to be free until six.”

”Change of plans, my friend. Last minute add, some radio thing. But good news is that since it’s radio, no one will be able to see that you have total ’I just got laid’ hair.”

Mia’s cheeks instantly reddened by Jimmy’s comment.

”We figured that that was why you both missed breakfast this morning. Nice going, man,” Jimmy did a thumbs up to Zacky and then winked at Mia who was about ready to die of embarrassment.

”Shut up, Jimmy. It was nothing like that,” Zacky said.

”Yeah, I’m sure you’re still in bed at one in the afternoon because you’ve been lying here talking. But hey, if that’s the story you want to stick to…” He put up his hands as to say that he didn’t care.

He turned to Mia. ”Val said that she would come by in half an hour or so, she wanted to go shopping, I think. I assume that that’s what you girls do when you hang out. I love your hair by the way.”

Mia’s hand instantly reached up to touch her messy and desperately in need of a brush-hair and laughed. ”Uh, thanks, Jimmy.” She was starting to get used to his randomness. He was an odd but hilarious one.

”You’re welcome,” he beamed. ”Now I’m going to go harass short shit for a little bit before we leave,” he said and then looked at Zacky, ”you should hurry up,” and then turned to Mia, ”I’ll make sure to bring your boyfriend back to you safely.” He left the room and as Zacky closed the door behind him, he could hear him call out Johnny’s name. Zacky laughed as he started picking out clothes for the day.

”Sorry about that. Jimmy’s an interesting guy to say the least.”

”I like him. He seems like a lot of fun,” Mia replied as she sat on the bed with her legs crossed and watched Zacky. She felt an intense urge to go up to him and trace the tattoo on his back, but she knew that it would without a doubt make him think that she was crazy. So she sat there on the bed and watched him as he got dressed.

When he was all done, he walked up next to the bed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. ”I’ll call you when we’re done to see where you are, okay?”

She nodded and smiled. ”Bye,” she said as he opened the door and walked out.

She sat on the bed, wondering what she was going to do now that he was gone. Was it silly that she already felt like she missed him? For someone who was very much a loner, right now she didn’t enjoy being alone. Although Val was coming over soon, so maybe she should start getting ready. She got out of the big, comfortable bed that she was lucky enough to be sharing with Zacky and walked into the bathroom, having decided to take a quick shower before she met up with Val.