I Swear I Love You

For the third show in a row, Jess didn’t turn up to watch Avenged Sevenfold play in Ohio. Neither did Coral. In fact, the pair of them bypassed the state altogether to remain in New York, since on the day the group were meant to be heading off she couldn’t even make it out of her bed. Some lies did have to be said since both Jimmy and Brian seemed to be adamant about not leaving her, such as implying that she was simply in the bathroom on the roadie’s bus when they set off, which was why they didn’t see her when they walked on. Larry decided to wait until they were well into the journey before he told them otherwise, solidified into reality when Zacky passed his cell phone onto Brian after a brief conversation with Coral.

“Trick or treat motherfuckers!” Matt yelled into the microphone as the rest of the band threw various sweets into the screaming crowd, all scrambling in the pits to grab a piece of candy from them. He couldn’t help but laugh at how frantic they were being, deciding to just throw the whole pot into the back of the crowd rather than throw them separately like the rest of them before waving as he walked off.

“I thought that candy was for the kids?” Val chided as he returned backstage, a lolly stick jutting out of his mouth.

“I wanted one.” He pulled it out and offered it to her. “Want a taste?”

“That’s alright.” She leant in and kissed him. “Mm, strawberry.”

He grinned “You know it.”

The rest of the band followed shortly after, with the first conversation beginning much like it had in Ohio. “Any sign of Jess?”

Val shook her head as both their drummer and lead guitarist looked at her. “No.”

“Not even a call?”

“No,” she repeated. “I’ve checked all of yours as well before you ask, she hasn’t called.”

“Oh.” Jimmy ripped his sodden shirt off and threw it to the side, clearly irritated that the conversation hadn’t gone as he had hoped. After all, any person would have been the same if they hadn’t met the person they basically confessed their heart to since that time. “I’m going to go for a shower.”

Val called after him as he walked off. “What about meeting with the fans? It’s in half an hour.”

“I’ll be back.”

“He seems to be really missing Jess, doesn’t he?” Val mused. “I wonder how long her and Coral are staying up in New York? I still need to meet her you know.”

“She’ll tell me when she’s making her way back,” Zacky answered. “She said that she’ll meet us at one of the shows.”

“How?”

“She said she’ll get a flight over.”

“Oh. Well, that certainly works,” Val said before turning to the others. “Are you lot not going to clean yourselves up a bit? No offence or anything, but sweaty band members isn’t as attractive to your fans as you like to think.”

--

“I swear they bring more shit to sign with each greet we do,” Matt whispered sneakily to Zacky beside him as he scrawled his signature again. This time however it was on someone’s breasts instead of a ticket stub or album cover. “Not that I don’t mind the boobs.”

Zacky chuckled. “Don’t let Val hear you say that.” He looked up at the next fan that stood in front of him. He was the first one along the table to greet the fans so he always took the time to make some small talk before passing them on to Matt. “So did you like the show?”

“It was really good. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He smiled and took their offered album of City of Evil, looking down at it with his pen poised, ready to write. It seemed brand new, but he didn’t question it. Sometimes people bought their CDs again just to have them signed because their others had scratches. “Thanks. We do try. Now who should I make this out to?”

The fan reached up and gently tugged upon their hood that had been obscuring their features. “Coral, if you don’t mind.”

“Coral?” He looked up at the unveiled female and saw Coral standing in front of him, a soft smile formed just for his viewing. “Coral…” He rose slowly from his chair as if he couldn’t believe his eyes before suddenly wrapping them around her and swinging her around, laughing in delight. “I can’t believe you are here! I thought you said you would ring when you were coming back?”

She laughed as he inevitably had to reluctantly pull back, using his hand instead to softly caress the rose spikes hanging by her cheek. “I wanted to surprise you.” She kissed him tenderly. “I didn’t get to last time.”

“Well you certainly surprised me,” he murmured. This time the kiss they shared was more passionate, which simply left Matt who had been sitting beside him staring at them.

“Am I missing something here?!” Matt stared wildly between them. Obviously since Coral never made it to the evening show back in New York, he didn’t know her. “You can’t just make out with a fan!”

Zacky laughed as he turned with Coral, his arm secured to her waist. “Shads, this is Coral. Coral, this is Matt.”

“Hey Matt.” She smiled and inclined her head slightly in greeting. “Or should I say M. Shadows?”

“Whatever you want.” He rose from his seat and warmly embraced her before stepping back. “Coral, right? It’s nice to finally meet you.” He glanced at Zacky. “Guess I owe you some money, eh?”

“Money?” A confused Coral turned to Zacky who simply laughed. “What does he mean?”

“In the morning before you got to New York Shads here said he’d pay for your flight over,” he explained, “but it had already been arranged.”

Coral looked at Matt. “But why would you pay for me? You don’t know me.”

“Nah, but he knows me.” Zacky grinned. “Basically his gift to me for my birthday is you.” He pecked her. “Which is the best thing I can wish for.”

Her eyes grew wide. “It’s your birthday?!”

“Well. In December.”

“Oh. That’s good. I wouldn’t want to miss it.”

“Well as long as you stick around for the end of tour I’ll show you how to celebrate a birthday Avenged Sevenfold style,” he chuckled.

It seemed that Coral had purposely hung back to appear like the last fan so that the others would have gone before her arrival, meaning that she wasn’t actually interrupting their signing session, simply taking advantage of it. By this point the other band members had pretty much twigged that the greet was over and rose to join the trio. Brian and Jimmy were familiar with Coral so no introductions were needed, but when Val walked over along with the Berry brothers it became much more like a show and tell lesson, with Coral being Zacky’s new toy.

“It’s nice to finally meet you Coral,” Val said, embracing her as if she were an old friend and not a new one. “Zacky, you’ve caught yourself a fine Australian.”

He chuckled and looked adoringly at Coral, who happily returned his gaze. “More like she caught me.”

Jason looked at his brother and grinned, and in perfect unison began to sing; “Coral and Vengeance, sitting in a tree, f-u-c-”

“Oh shut up,” Zacky laughed, grabbing a pen from the table behind him and throwing it at them.

This simply spurred them on more as they joined together and began to waltz around the couple, much to Coral’s confusion. “Are they always like that?”

“Unfortunately,” Val sighed. “You and Zack are so cute together.”

Coral smiled. “Thanks.”

“Seems like a fairytale right? Meeting up with a rock star on his tour…”

“Yeah, it is,” Coral agreed, blissfully pressing herself to Zacky’s chest. “It’s like I’m in a dream but haven’t woken up yet.”

“She always does seem to end up getting exactly what she wants once she sets her mind on it.” All heads turned to see Jess emerge from offside, sliding off one of the instrument boxes near to the backstage exit. “I don’t think anything has ever happened that she didn’t want to.”

Val smiled in greeting. “Hey Jess. Are you feeling better now?”

She nodded. “Much better, thank you. It’s just nice to get out of that hotel.”

“But weren’t you staying in that really nice suite?” Val asked, sounding confused. “Why wouldn’t you like it in there?”

“Luxury isn’t that fun when you’re stuck in it against your will,” Jess replied cynically. “I’ve been stuck in that bed since the New York show; downing vitamins and anything else to try and get the stupid flu to pass. And I had to go get another flu shot done.”

“But I thought you don’t really mind needles?” Johnny interjected. “I mean you do have to do your insulin every day.”

“Oh, it’s not the shot that bothered me,” she replied, “more so the fact of who did it.” She looked over at Larry who had been lingering in the corner. “I find it weird that your brother has seen my bum. I swear if he tells you I’ve got a pimple or something or that it’s falling off-”

He laughed loudly, cutting her mini rant off. “I assure you Jess; the state of your backside won’t come into our conversations.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m not relieved.” She looked back to the group. “I’m glad I waited until today to see you. You guys were unbelievable.” She turned to Johnny. “Not too sure about the banshee mask you wore though.”

He grinned. “You saw that?”

“Yep.” She rolled her right shoulder in a few short circles, trying to ease the cramped pain hiding there. “Larry hooked Coral and me up with front row in the pits.” She grimaced as her muscles began to groan under her movements. “Never thought it was going to be that bad though.” She looked over at Matt. “Next time, do think of the people simply there to watch you guys perform when you ask for a circle pit.”

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Sorry Jess. Didn’t see you there.”

“Sure you’re sorry,” she grumbled. “You’re not the one with a crappy shoulder.” She stopped trying to free up her tense muscles within her shoulder and simply rested her hand upon it. “It was for a good cause though, so I guess I can’t complain much.”

“You’ll shake it off.”

“I’m sure I will,” she chuckled. “So what are the festivities for tonight then?”

Matt looked at her oddly. “Festivities?”

“Well, it is Halloween isn’t it? Don’t tell me the members of Avenged Sevenfold are going to ignore a chance to party?!”

His confusion morphed into a grin. “Ah come on Jess, you know us better than that!” He glanced at the others who shared his expression. “When have we ever needed a chance to party?”

--

Due to the fact Coral and Jess had flown over they obviously didn’t have rooms to go into when they all trooped back to the band’s hotel, but luckily between them they had enough options to gatecrash somewhere to change. Coral obviously went to Zacky’s room, and despite the offer to join her Jess took up on Jimmy’s, not wanting to overcrowd the normally two-person room.

“Hey Jimmy?”

“Yeah?” His answer emerged from the bathroom before his body, his chest baring his vertical fiction tattoo as he walked in without a top on. Being a drummer it could be argued he pretty much preferred walking around without one on, especially when he normally gets too hot during shows to keep one on anyway. “What do you…” He trailed off once he saw her, his voice dropping in volume. “…want?”

Jess was standing with her back to him, her hair swept across her left shoulder as she looked back over at him from her right. Her hands were pressing a black corset to her frame, and from the white lacing that hung loose against her spine, exposing her back, he could tell she wasn’t wearing any underwear underneath it. “Could you do this up for me?”

“Erm… sure. Just let me wipe this gel off my hands.”

Jess chuckled as he wiped his hands on a towel hanging off the back of chair, before taking up position behind her. “You take a long time doing your hair.”

His grin could just be caught in the corner of her eye. “Perfection takes its time Jess.” He picked up one of the laces in each hand. “So what do you want me to do exactly?”

“Just pull on them.”

“Pull them?”

She nodded. “Until they are tight.” When he suddenly tugged them without warning Jess found herself stumbling backwards, only just able to correct her posture before falling on her ass.

“Oh shi-! Sorry Jess!” He dropped the laces and reached out to catch her, his hands grabbing her bare shoulders to steady her.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jess dismissed. Since the laces had been tightened slightly she no longer needed to hold it up at the front and this time positioned her hands upon the table edge in front of her. “Just be a bit gentler this time, okay?”

“Okay.”

Jimmy’s movements were softer this time, still drawing the laces together through each small metal circle with enough force but making sure it didn’t jerk her body like he had accidentally before. In fact Jess didn’t even realise he was done until he said, since she didn’t really take much notice of the corset binding to her body at all since he was being so careful about it. “You’re done.”

“Oh, really?” She ran her fingers up her spine across each diagonal cross of laces and smiled. “I guess I am. Thanks Jimmy.”

“No problem.”

“So how do I look?” Jess asked as she turned round and posed for him with one hand on her hip and the other cheekily blowing him a kiss. The corset itself was lined with steel boning which helped to emphasise an hourglass figure upon her, with the top lined with a white lace to give the impression of a shirt underneath. Poking out from the bottom of the corset was a deep scarlet skirt, which could be best described as poofy from the multiple layers underneath it that helped to give it volume more akin to a tutu. The bottom of this garment was hemmed in a similar fashion to her corset, floating at a finish just mid-way down her thigh. To finish it off she wore a pair of simple black court shoes, but with killer stiletto heels to help offset her normally short stature.

Once he finally got full view of her outfit he was made speechless. “You look…”

She grinned. “I look…?”

“Jessie!” A knock diverted the conversation to the door, and soon all momentum was lost between the pair as Jess went to see who the visitor was- not that it wasn’t already clear from her joyful tone or deep-rooted native Australian accent. “Oh darling you look gorgeous!” She seemed smug. “I knew you would totally rock that outfit I chose.”

Jess laughed. “I’m sure Zacky loves your outfit more. I don’t know how you won’t freeze in that though.”

Coral had decided to fully embrace the excuse of Halloween to wear perhaps as little as possible, but she did do it in a slightly less outlandish way to the usual slutty vampires or pirates. True to her water-baby nature she easily complimented being a mermaid, wearing a pale pink bra she had bought back in New York which she had then customised in the front with glitter, sequins and feathers- among other things- to create a seashell effect, but still utilise a balance between cleavage and plain exposure. Her lower half was embraced by a tranquil turquoise which slowly seeped into ocean blues and soft purples towards the edge, customised in a matching fashion with sequins and the like to her top. A single slit rose up the left side to expose her leg, which she had curled a golden anklet. This had also been found in their Halloween shopping in the big Apple, decorated with seashell charms and mermaid tails hanging from the links. To finish the ensemble she had purchased some wedges to wear instead of heels in a light, sandy colour, secured around her ankle by a small golden buckle on the outside of the bone. For some people her outfit could probably be lumped together with the short skirts of vampires and pirates, but years within the water had given her a body none of those other girls could compare with, and in her case she just came across more of a natural beauty rather than one trying too hard.

“I’ll be fine. Anyway I came over to give you this.” She held out the vast folds of scarlet material in her arms. “You must have forgotten that you packed it in my stuff since you had no room.”

“Oh, cheers Coral.” She took the material at the top and allowed the rest to straighten out to the floor, exposing its true identity of a hooded cape before tying the ribbon around her neck so it settled around her shoulders. “How does it look?”

Coral whistled. “Oh I wouldn’t mind having some of your treats Miss. Hood!”

Jess shoved her friend playfully in the side, causing the dangling trinkets pinned to in the confines of Coral’s hair to chime merrily. “Where is Zacky anyway? I wouldn’t have thought he would let you out of his sight looking like that.”

“He hasn’t actually seen me yet.”

“He hasn’t?” Jess sounded surprised. “Didn’t you get changed in his room with Brian?”

“Well the bathroom yeah, but I wrapped up so he couldn’t see when I walked out to come see you.”

“Wrapped up how?”

“Used your cape.” She grinned. “It’s mighty handy.”

“Maybe it was a good thing I left it in your bag then,” Jess chuckled. “Are Brian and Zacky nearly done?”

“Done? Oh you mean getting changed!” She laughed. “Yeah, they were done a while ago. Not much creativity in their costumes though.” She sighed. “I knew I should have picked up that pirate costume back in New York…”

“I’m sure their costumes are fine,” Jess replied, resting her hand on her hip with a frown. “They can’t be that bad.”

Coral rolled her eyes. “You’ll see.” She peered past Jess to look at Jimmy, who had been left standing there. He jolted backwards when he realised he had been caught out staring at them and attempted to make excuses to return to the bathroom before Coral called him back. “Hey- what are you meant to be?”

“Erm… me?” He looked down at himself. “I wasn’t really going to go as anything.”

“What?!” Coral screeched. Jimmy flinched at the sound of her voice, moving backwards towards the bathroom just as Johnny peered out.

“What the hell…?” He grinned and cheekily wolf-whistled at the two females. “Someone is looking fine this evening.”

Coral smiled at him. “Thanks.” Her expression darkened once again as she turned back to Jimmy. “I did not go through this much effort to have a kickass costume just to go out with some half-assed attempts! Didn’t you wear a mask or try and go out as something on stage tonight?”

He shook his head. “Nah. I get too hot. Didn’t bother.”

She tutted. “Well, I’m not letting you go out in nothing.” She cocked her head and frowned, looking at him up and down in thought. “Do you have a white shirt at all?”

“A white shirt? I’ve got a t-shirt…?”

“No buttoned one?” She frowned. “I guess I’ll have to make do.” She stuck her hand out. “Give me it.”

“Oh. Alright.” He rummaged in a bag off to the side and passed her a shirt which she then draped over her arm. “What are you going to do with it?”

“Make you a costume.” She held out her other arm. “Now give me a pair of jeans.”

“Erm, okay.” He grabbed a pair from the top of his bag and handed them to her which she rested on top of the shirt. “Anything else?”

“One more thing. Do you have any gloves or anything? Fingerless would probably be better now I think about it.” He gave what she asked. “Cheers.” She placed her hand on top of the small pile of clothing. “I’ll be a while.” She turned to leave.

“What are you going to make?”

She smiled. “It’s a surprise. I’ll see you in a few, Jess.” Coral disappeared after that to return to her temporary room with Jimmy’s stuff, leaving Jess to slide a comment casually to Jimmy.

“I hope you didn’t really like what you gave her.”

“What? Why?”

Jess grinned. “Because I don’t think you’ll get it back in the same condition.”

--

Despite the amount of work and effort that had been put into Jimmy’s outfit it certainly didn’t take her long to finish it off, knocking once again on the door about twenty minutes later, this time however with Zacky and Brian in tow.

“It’s open!” Jess didn’t want to get up since she was lounging quite happily across the expanse of Jimmy’s bed, especially when bending wasn’t exactly forgiving with her corset on. Jimmy and Johnny sat at the top of the bed, their legs off to the side, their laughter from the previous conversation slowly dying as the trio walked in.

“You’re done?” Jimmy’s gaze instantly sought out the pile of folded material in her arms, trying to spot any differences. He didn’t see any.

“It was only something quick I managed to throw together,” Coral replied. “It’s just a good thing I bought a sewing kit for my own costume since I needed it for yours.”

“Sowing… costume?” Jimmy didn’t like the sound of that. “What have you done to my clothes?”

“A masterpiece in the time it took me.” She walked into the room and tugged him to his feet before pushing him in the back. “Come on. Hurry up and get changed.”

“But what have you done?”

“Jimmy dear, I’ve made you a costume. I promise it isn’t anything bad, I would never do that to someone I’ve only met a few days ago.”

“Oh.” That was a slight comfort. Then again, it did ask the question what she would have done if she had known him longer.

“Now hurry up and change.” She had somehow managed to steer him into the bathroom. “Knock when you’re done then I’ll come in.”

“What?!” He twisted back to her just as he hit the bathroom tiles with his feet. “Why are you going to come in?”

She tutted. “To fix up your costume of course! Did you think you would just be shoving on some clothes I had customised? God no!” She gave him one more shove for good measure and slammed the door behind her. “Hurry up and get changed!” She leant her back against the door and glanced over at Johnny. “Where’s your costume?”

He pulled the same, banshee mask from the side and held it up.

“Typical.” She rolled her eyes. “Not that I have the time to fix anything else together. I’ve already ruined my favourite scarf for his. I’m not sacrificing anything else.”

Once Jimmy finally finished changing and knocked on the door Coral slid inside, not allowing any of the others time to witness what she had created. Instead Jess decided to quiz Brian and Zacky, since she knew Coral was using their room as a base camp to create this so-called masterpiece. “Do you know what Coral has made for Jimmy?”

Zacky shook his head. “No idea.” He glanced at Brian. “She kicked us out.”

“She kicked you out?”

“Yeah. Said we weren’t allowed to see what she was doing.”

“Oh.” She frowned. “That’s annoying. I wanted to know what she had done.” She then looked at the pair and their costumes. “Your costumes aren’t as bad as Coral made them out to be.”

Closest to her was Zacky, who was dressed in formal attire, including a suit jacket with tails and an intricately designed inner waistcoat, decorated in various metallic spirals. His hair had been slicked back with gel to the nape of his neck, which seemed to be a suspiciously pale colour. Even his eyes seemed sunken in- traced in a soft violet looking as if he hadn’t slept for days. Then there was the question of his eyes- a deep, vivid scarlet.

Zacky laughed at her comment and exposed a set of lengthened canines. “Vampire Vengeance, at your service.” He bowed elaborately. “Product of Coral Incorporated.”

“Coral huh? I wondered who done the war paint,” Jess chuckled. “It looks good.” She then turned to Brian. “Are you Coral’s doing as well?”

The lead guitarist of Avenged Sevenfold seemed to be dressed formally as well, but instead of the deep black colour of his friend’s suit his seemed to be pinstriped in alternating colours of black and white, with the same design upon his jeans except the white was replaced with thin lines of grey. Underneath the jacket sat a white buttoned shirt, with the collar brought together with a black tie hanging from his neck. His makeup vastly differed from Zacky’s however, instead his eyes ringed with black to contrast the stark white of his skin. To complete his outfit, his normally purposely spiked hair had been ruffled into disarray, instead sticking out from his head like he hadn’t brushed it in years.

Brian nodded. “I have no idea how she managed to put this together, but she did.”

“Beetlejuice, am I right?”

He saluted. “That’s me.”

Jess smiled knowingly and leant back against the bed once again, looking up at Johnny beside her. “Regretting not enlisting Coral’s help for a costume now?”

The young bassist looked regretful. “Kinda.”

“Coral might be able to fix you up. She’s quite something under pressure.”

The bathroom door opened then and Coral happily skipped out, singing, “I’m done!”

“You are?” All four of them that had been waiting sat up, Jess with some effort.

“Oh I am so good!” She sounded pleased with herself. “May I present to you, under the full moon of Halloween, Jimmy Werewolf!”

“Werewolf?!”

After her presentation Jimmy stepped out of the bathroom into the public viewing of the main room, clearly the epitome of Coral’s work of the night. Starting with his hair it had been gelled into tufts to recreate a furry look, and concealed within them were two furry, pointed ears. His face had been masked with streaks of brown and black from the sides of his hairline and jaw directed inwards, further giving the illusion of fur. His nose had been covered in black and defined with cleverly placed shadow to make it seem like an elongated snout. The white shirt and jeans Coral had requested now had various rips and tears within them, and trimming the outlines of each carefully placed cut was similar black fur that his ears were crafted from, making it seem as if his body had morphed into a wolf underneath the clothing. To finish it off the gloves had been trimmed with this same black fur and a tail jutted out from underneath his shirt.

Jess laughed out in a mixture of shock and surprise, which the sounds just made Jimmy embarrassed. “I knew this costume looked stupid. I’m going to go take it off-”

“No! Don’t do that!” Jess managed to force herself upright and quickly ran across the room to grab his arm as he turned away. “You look great!” She pressed herself too him. “Super cuddly too.”

“Hey!” He held her at arm’s length. “I’m a scary werewolf! Not a teddy bear!”

She laughed again. “Whatever.”

“Are you two done making a mockery of my work?” Coral’s joyful expression had been subverted to a pout. “Shall we get going before you say that Zacky is nothing more than an insomniac butler or that Brian is a suited ice cream worker?”

Brian and Zacky looked at each other. “Wha-? Hey!”

In her huffing, her irritated gaze swept across to a sullen looking Johnny as she made a move to the door. “What’s wrong with you?” She demanded. “We’re going now, don’t worry! I’m not going to make you wait any longer for these stupid costumes of mine!”

“Oh no! No! I’m not bothered about that! It’s just…” He ran his fingers through the fake hair of his mask.

“It’s just what?”

Jess sidled up to her. “He wants a costume too.”

“He does?” She sounded surprised. “Why?”

“Because I’ll look shit compared to you lot. Your costumes are really good.”

“They are?!” She perked up considerably as she skipped happily to him and grabbed his arm. “Come on Johnny! I’ll make you something really good for that!” She dragged Johnny from the room along with a bag of his things, which left the three of them, all in costume, behind.

Jess shook her head as she returned to the bed, falling back against it as she gestured to Jimmy and Brian. “Shall we see what’s on TV?” The pair of them sat on either side of her as she grabbed the TV remote and switched the device on. “Something tells me it’s going to be a while before we leave.”

--

In the end it took only about forty five minutes for Coral and Johnny to return, and by this point the party had already been going on for half an hour since Matt and Val joined them. Of course the contents of their mini bar had to be brought to subsidise the contents of Jimmy’s since with the lot of them they got through it quite quickly, and as such needed more. If Coral had taken any longer with Johnny’s costume they would have needed what Zacky and Brian had from their room as well, which would have just caused an earache for the band in the morning from Larry because of the abnormally large room bill.

“We’re back!” Matt and Val both gasped as Coral twirled in, clearly reeling from how much she was exposing in her costume. They hadn’t seen her before now so their reaction were perfectly acceptable while the others’ were muted in comparison, more interested in the man that followed her in. “I am so good.”

Instead of Johnny Christ of Avenged Sevenfold walking in the darker character of Van Hellsing was in his place, replicating the trench coat wearing church warrior of the Underworld films perfectly. Every part of his costume seemed to be taken exactly from the film- he wore multiple layers including a plain inner shirt, then a leather jacket underneath the heavier, longer leather coat on top. His Mohawk had for the time being been flattened to frame the sides of his face which a thick brimmed leather hat then mostly hid, but the smirk of knowing how awesome his costume was clearly visible.

Coral fleeted past the open mouths of Brian, Zacky and Jimmy to grab a packet of peanuts off the other bed where they had dumped the mini bar contents earlier. “He hunts vampires and werewolves you know.”

Johnny purposely raised the bulky crossbow in his arms and rested it against her shoulder to compliment her words, his grin growing. “I’ve got to do my duty.”

Val looked at him disapprovingly. “Your costume is great Johnny, I’m not denying that, but are you seriously going to take that thing with you out?”

“What this?” He patted his crossbow and shook his head. “Hell no. I only brought it because I thought it would be fun to do this.” He quickly dropped into an offensive position and before the guys could react, fired a single shot at Brian, Zacky and Jimmy. Then he tossed it aside. “Now I can drop it.” His victims stared listlessly down at themselves to each see a single foam arrow sticking from their chest, the very same ammunition used in Jess’ toy guns which had caused the band’s bus to get broken. “That expression alone is worth hauling this thing here.” He turned to the others. “Should we get going?”

Jess manoeuvred herself upright and off the bed, grabbing each of the foam arrows and throwing them aside in the same movement. “I think so. We’ve been waiting long enough.” She had just joined Coral’s side when she noticed the dropped expressions of Matt and Val. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Your costumes are so…”

“Oh god,” Jess groaned. She returned to the bed and flopped back on it, reaching out for a packet of peanuts and tearing them open. “Are we ever going to get out?”

--

It had just gone past midnight by the time they did manage to make it out from the hotel, with Matt and Val now incredibly happily in their costumes of a devil and angel respectively. How Coral managed to make a pair of feather wings for Val or Matt’s devil horns with her limited time and supplies she didn’t know, but one thing was for definite- Coral was a master of makeup. Jess almost wished she had hers done by her as well- then again, she probably would have ended up more fairytale than simply herself in costume.

“Does she ever stop?” Zacky grumbled. His gaze kept sneaking to Coral as she leant against the bar, a smile gracing her lips as she chatted to the male bartender. From the look on his face it was clear to anyone within a hundred yards that he was interested in her. It was clear to anyone in a hundred miles that he was extremely interested in her breasts as well.

“I’m back!” Coral came bustling back with a couple of drinks, a sunset coloured cocktail for herself and a pint of beer which she placed in front of a grumpy Zacky.

“How did you pay for that? Your bag is here.”

“Mark gave it to me on the house.” She twisted and waved at him as he did the same back. “We were talking. He’s quite nice.”

“I’m sure he’s nice.” He got up and edged around Coral to stand up. “I’m going outside.”

“But what about your drink?”

He didn’t turn back to her as he answered, “I don’t want it.” Then he walked off, leaving Coral standing up staring uselessly after him.

“I shouldn’t have done that, should I?”

“Nah, Zack’s fine,” Matt replied, partially draining his drink.

“He didn’t seem fine.” She looked back at him sadly. “I didn’t realise doing that would have this effect...”

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” he said reassuringly, “Zack… Zack just didn’t act right, that’s all. He’ll come back after a smoke and be fine, you’ll see.”

“Alright.” She sat down slowly. “I guess you know him more than I do.” She twirled the point of her cocktail umbrella in her drink and sighed.

“What’s the matter Coral?”

“Nothing.”

Jess frowned. “Can you look after my bag Brian?” She passed her handbag to Brian before turning to Jimmy on her other side. “Excuse me Jimmy.” She crawled across him and walked to where Coral was sitting, looking glum. “Come on Coral. Come talk to me.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to.”

“Oh come on Coral, don’t be like that.” Jess forced a reluctant Coral to her feet before she faced the others. “We’ll just be a minute.” Jess pulled her across the dance floor and found the club exit. They took shelter off to the side in a small alcove in the wall so that the wind didn’t get to them. “Now.” She turned to Coral. “What’s the matter?”

“I told you. Nothing.”

“Nothing my butt,” Jess replied. “Now come on, you can tell me.” She crouched down and peered up at Coral’s eyes as she tried to turn away. “Come on. You know you can tell me anything.” She frowned when she didn’t answer. “Is it Zacky?” Coral’s shoulders instantly sagged. “So it is Zacky. What’s happened?”

Coral sighed. “I don’t know. One minute he was fine and the next… the next he seemed moody with me.” She looked at Jess. “What have I done?” Her eyes slid past her friend to the subject of her worries as he flicked aside the last of his cigarette and walked back in. “He didn’t even notice me.”

“Look, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Jess said. “Look, let’s go back inside. I’m sure he just needed some fresh air.” She took a few steps to the entrance. “You coming?”

She shook her head, instead walking forward into the cold Baltimore weather and resting her hands on the metal barrier lining the steps to the club. “I’m just going to stay here for a while.”

“Do you want me to stay with you?”

“No, it’s alright. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“Okay.” Jess knew when her friend needed some space, and this was definitely one of those times. She touched her gently on the arm. “Just ring me if you need me, okay?”

“I will.” Her head hit her crossed arms on the barrier with a sigh, her eyes watching as people on the sidewalk underneath her stumbled by. It seemed that despite her expressionless exterior earlier in front of Jess she wasn’t as impervious to the cold as she thought, soon finding that her native Australian self wasn’t used to the colder seasons in America.

“You shouldn’t be standing out here like this- you’ll get a cold.” Something warm was pressed to her shoulders, blocking out the wind from brushing against her exposed skin. “Here.”

She fingered the linen jacket and smiled. “Thank you.”

“So what’s a good looking girl like you doing standing out here all alone?” After a brief look at her saviour she realised him to be the same bartender from earlier.

“I’m just thinking.”

“Well why don’t you think aloud?” Mark mimicked her position leaning against the bars. “I’m a good listener.”

“I’m sure you are.” She straightened and looked at him in the eye. Mark wasn’t a bad-looking guy- in fact, he’d probably go down a treat if she took him back home. Coral didn’t need to look under his shirt to know that he had a perfectly defined set of abs. His smile was perfectly heart-melting as well, and had she thought twice she might have fallen for it. But she didn’t need to think twice. “I’m sure you’re lovely Mark…” She pulled his jacket from her shoulders and handed it to him.

He took it with a dumb look. “But?”

“I can’t do this.” She smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry.” She ran around him to the man who hovered a few metres away and jumped in his arms, laughing along with him as he stumbled back into the wall.

“I’m sorry for being such an ass back then Coral,” Zacky murmured, resting his forehead against hers as he lightly eased her back onto the floor. “I shouldn’t have taken any notice. You were just talking.”

“Don’t be sorry, I shouldn’t have done it.” She wrapped her arms around his chest and squeezed him tight. “I just thought if you saw me…”

“If I saw you?” He pushed her away and held her at arm’s length. “You did it on purpose?”

She nodded. “I thought if you saw me… you would get mad at me.”

“But why would you want me to be mad at you?”

“So you wouldn’t care when I…”

“When you…?” He looked put out. “You’re not… You don’t want to be with me, do you?”

“No!” She exclaimed, shaking her head frantically. “It’s not that at all! It’s just…”

“It’s just…?” He looked at her in concern. “You can tell me Coral, I just want to understand.”

She bit her lip. “We can’t work Zacky.”

“So you don’t want to be with me.” His arms dropped from around her. “Why didn’t you just say-”

“No! Zacky wait!” She grabbed onto his hand as he tried to walk back inside. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“How could you mean it any way else?”

“I live in Australia!” She shouted desperately, wiping tears furiously from her eyes so not to mess up her makeup. Coral calmed down slightly as he turned back to look at her. “How can we work Zacky? We live on opposite sides of the world for God’s sake.”

“Well I…”

“It doesn’t work Zacky. We don’t work.”

“Well you can stay here while I’m on tour and then I can visit you in Australia when it finishes-”

“And how is that fair?” She looked at him imploringly. “How can you do that? How can you expect me to do that? My home is in Australia Zacky. Can you really ask me to leave it?”

“Well… I guess not.” He seemed stumped. “Well I guess we can talk on the laptop when I’m on tour, then I can come see you when it finishes and-”

“I can’t ask you to do that Zacky.” She reached up and touched him tenderly on the cheek. “This tour is only short from what I’ve heard, but what happens when you go on a longer one, one that lasts most of the year? What would you do then? Could you really save yourself for me?”

“Of course I would-”

“Zacky, don’t be stupid.” She paused to sigh. “I’m just a friend of a girl you know. We’ve talked sure- but it was over a laptop. This… this isn’t a real relationship. It’s just a fling.”

His heart seemed like it would break. “Coral… It’s not-”

“Zacky, this has to stop.” She smiled sadly. “I’m glad I met you though.”

He cupped his hand over hers. “Don’t do this Coral… Not now. At least not until the end of the tour...” He trailed off when she looked away, her expression leading him to guess his next comment. “You… You’re not staying until the end of the tour… are you?”

She barely even whispered her reply. “No.”

The volume of his voice dropped to meet hers. “When are you leaving?”

“This Thursday.”

“That soon?!”

“They need me back at work. I got the call about an hour ago. Apparently a couple of the other dolphin trainers have come down with something and can’t make it in, and Olly can’t handle looking after all of them and work with Poppy while I’m away…”

“Poppy? Who’s that?”

She smiled softly. “She’s the dolphin I work with the most. We saved her from some fishing nets when she was just a pup and helped her get better. I pretty much hand-reared her myself because those fisherman killed her mother.” She sighed forlornly.

“You’ve only been here four days and you sound like you’re already homesick.” He copied her sigh. “I couldn’t ask you to leave home for me. You’re right; we wouldn’t work.” He squeezed her tight. “I’m going to miss you.”

She returned his embrace. “Me too.”

“Does Jess know you are leaving?”

“No.”

“You haven’t told her?”

“I couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because… because I know what will happen if I tell her.” She broke away from Zacky and returned to her spot against the barrier. “She’ll beg me not to go, to stay with her.” She turned around and leant her back against the barrier so that she was facing him. “She’ll use you against me.”

“She’ll use me?”

“She’ll ask how I could just leave you behind after only just meeting you, and then ask why I don’t just stay until the end of the tour, since it finishes soon…” She shook her head. “She’ll say it in such a way that I’ll end up agreeing with everything she says.”

He reached out and held her hand. “And what’s wrong with that?”

“You know I can’t stay Zacky, as much as I’d love to.” She squeezed his hand. “I’ve got to get back home. You couldn’t just leave this tour, if someone asked you to do something else, could you?”

“No, I couldn’t,” he admitted. “I still wish you could stay though.”

A tender pause. “So do I.”

He gently pulled her to him and offered a small smile. “Well if you are going soon…” He pecked her softly on the cheek. “Shall we enjoy the time we’ve got left?”

She pressed herself to his chest. “I think that’s a good idea.”

He smiled. “So do I.”