Better Sorry Than Safe

Isabelle stepped out of her Chevy Impala and looked up at the apartment complex in front of her and smiled. The clear blue sky and warm air of Las Vegas was a comfort to her, it was her home. She slid the key into the lock of the door and turned the knob to be greeted with sounds of Avenged Sevenfold, telling her Lilly was home.

“Belle!” Lilly exclaimed as she changed the song from Blinded In Chains back to Burn It Down. The two had become friends soon after Isabelle had moved there and had been roommates for the past few years.

“Hey Lilly,” Isabelle sat her keys down on the coffee table and walked towards the kitchen. “has Zack called yet?”

“Not yet! But when he does I am answering the phone!” Lilly had liked Zacky since she met him only a few months after meeting Isabelle. The two talked at least three times a day but were still “just friends” for the moment. Isabelle was waiting until one of them told her they’d became a couple and smiled to herself at Lilly’s words.

“Okay you do that then!” The music filled the kitchen as she opened the refrigerator and grabbed a can of mountain dew. She’d just opened it and took a drink when her cell phone started ringing. The ringtone was the tell-tale give away of who was calling before Isabelle looked at the phone and saw his picture. “Hey.”

“Hey Belle are you home?” Chris’s recognizable voice floated through the cell phone’s small speaker. The two had met a little over a year ago and had been dating since a month after they’d met.

“Nope I’m on the moon.” She took another drink from the Mountain Dew can and smirked to herself.

“Do you always have to be a smart ass?” He tried to sound disappointed but the amusement in his voice was winning.

“It is a gift and a curse. Are you planning something? I can hear you hiding something in your voice. What is it?” Isabelle hated surprises and had since she was 18 years old, it was a well known fact. It was also a well known fact that only two people could get away with surprising her. Unfortunately for him Chris was not one of them.

“Nothing. I just wanted to know if you would like to go out to dinner with me tonight?”

“Oh why not? What time?”

“8 sound good to you?”

“Sounds perfect.”

“I’ll see you at eight then.” After the two hung up Isabelle took another drink of mountain dew before sitting the can on the counter and turning around, before she scram. Lilly was standing there, watching her, with a grin.

“Lilly you scared the shit out of me!”

“I meant to! So you are going out with Chris tonight again?”

“Yeah we are going out to dinner. Is that so weird?”

“No I was just wondering. When do you think Zacky wi-” Lilly’s question was interrupted by the phone ringing and a smile spreading over her face. She ran into the living room to answer the phone, that is when Isabelle knew it was Zacky.

♥♥♥

Matt sat in Jimmy’s living room as Zacky placed the same call he did everyday around this time. Jimmy looked over at the singer, who was now strumming on Zacky’s guitar, and knew that something was bothering him. “Dude what is going on?”

“What?” Matt asked as he looked over at Jimmy, his reverie broken the second Jimmy’s voice entered his ears. He knew that she had moved on long before. At least she was happy. Matt had moved on too, only to an extent though. He still had his days where she was all he could think about.

Today was one of those days.

“I said dude what is going on?” Jimmy repeated as he watched his friend closely. The truth was none of them knew why Matt sometimes got like this. When she’d left they’d went on tour the next day and he’d been able to hide his pain from them. Since then he’d been able to move on somewhat and these days came less frequently with each passing month. He’d somehow managed to keep his best friends clueless. Or so he thought.

“Nothing, I was just thinking about an idea for a new song.” Matt went back to strumming the guitar and humming idly. He knew that would be enough to get off the subject for now.

Thirty minutes later Zacky rejoined the singer and drummer in the living room, smiling after his conversation with his sister and Lilly. “Isabelle and Lilly both say hi.” He told them as he sat down. Jimmy nodded and smiled while Matt remained in his reverie. “What’s wrong with him?” Zacky asked pointing at Matt.

“He has a new idea for a song.” Jimmy shrugged before taking another drink of his beer. Little did the two know Matt had once again came back to reality and was listening to them talk. He waited for the details from Zacky about how she was and what was happening in her life.

Until his phone rang.

♥♥♥

Isabelle hummed along with the song that was filling the inside of The House of Blues later that night. Chris was observing how she seemed to fit in so well with her surroundings. She seemed to be more at easy whenever there was music playing, no matter where she was. It was a part of her.

The sounds of the song were calming down Isabelle’s nerves now, the ones that had raged the second the sounds of some kind of music weren’t filling her ears. It was another one of those days for her. Then Zacky had made it worse when he’d made his declaration only a few hours before.

“Well when the guys and I go back to Vegas I am making you introduce me to this Chris character Isabelle. I won’t let you out of it.

“Belle are you okay? You seemed jumpy before we got here.” Chris finally sighed, watching as she stopped humming and looked at his blue eyes.

“Zacky wants to meet you.” She admitted as she waited for a reaction.

“Okay when?” She knew that he was ready to face her family, any member of her family. She wasn’t sure who would be worse though, her twin or her father. At least it wouldn’t have to be both of them at the same time.

“Next time his band comes to Vegas.” Relief flooded through her when she realized that wouldn’t be until for another month or so at least. There was still time.

“Why don’t you want me to meet your family Belle? It’s been over a year since we started dating.” She looked away from his eyes, hiding the reason that was shining through in her eyes, and took a deep breath.

“Chris I’ve told you already, my brother and my dad don’t take kindly to the guys I date right away.” They hadn’t last time anyway.

“They aren’t going to scare me away Isabelle.” He meant it and she knew it, but it didn’t change her feelings. The guilt sat in quickly and she excused herself to the bathroom. Atreyu was now playing which only reminded her more of her old life.

Isabelle just stop it! You are having an off day that is all. Remember you are happy here. Everything will be just fine when Chris does meet Zacky. You don’t feel anything for him anymore either. You’ve moved on! Now go out there and have dinner with your boyfriend! She told herself mentally as she washed her hands.

When she returned to their table she felt much more relaxed. She’d pushed all the thoughts that were bothering her out of her mind once again. The rest of the night went smoothly and she managed to keep herself from feeling anything she thought she shouldn’t, until she got home.

She didn’t want Zacky to meet Chris, she didn’t want to face that. But she wanted to see her brother as soon as possible. She missed him more than she wanted to admit. The two had always been close, they’d done everything together as children and it was hard for them to only see each other every few months. Growing up the guys had made jokes that the two shared a mind, although they did tend to think a lot differently than one another.

When she finally went to sleep she was lucky enough to have a dreamless sleep. No dreams about the worst when Zacky met Chris, no dreams of Zacky not being able to come, and most importantly no dreams about the past and him.