If Everyone Cared

Lauren sighed as she pulled up to her father's driveway. Her plane landed at the Los Angeles International Airport almost two hours ago and after getting some coffee and renting a car, she came straight here.

She couldn't take the absence of her father, McKenna or Suzy anymore. She really wanted to see them and it was now or never. It was time to face the music. The drive to Huntington Beach didn't take long, it was a little bit more than an hour, which she wasn't very happy about. She didn't feel herself ready yet.

She was afraid of what her father would say or what would her step mother, Suzy think of her. She knew that McKenna wasn't angry at her at all, she just really missed her big sister. She hadn't talked to Brian in a quite long time either, the only person she talked to in this month was Jimmy. And still, he didn't knew that she was coming either.

Sighing, Lauren opened the door of her rented Range Rover and got out the car, grabbing her bag. She knew that her family in the house would be awake by now, or at least Suzy would be. It was around 9 AM and she saw movements in the house, so she knew that there was no going back now.

Hugging her cardigan to herself, she walked up to the house and rang the doorbell. She didn't know what to expect, she was too nervous to even think about things like that. She just wanted to see her family after all those years.

Soon enough she heard footspets approaching and she took in deep breath, preparing herself for what was about to come.

Once she saw the door open, Lauren came face to face with Suzy Haner. She looked at her for a second and than her eyes widened. Five years might have passed, but Suzy still looked great.

"Oh my, is that you sweetheart?" asked Suzy as she opened the door wide.

"Morning, Suzy." said Lauren, smiling at the person that she refered to as her second mother.

Suzy stepped out and embraced Lauren in her arms, hugging her tightly, which she gladly returned. They stood there for a few seconds and when Lauren felt her eyes water, she pulled away to smile at her step mother.

"Am I interrupting?"

"Lauren Cassandra, when are you interrupting? Nonsense, come on in, sweetheart. We just wanted to have a breakfast." she said as she pulled Lauren inside of the huge and beautiful house. "Brian, come here! Someone came to visit us, honey!"

Here we go, thought Lauren. Suzy guided her into the enormous kitchen where she found her father reading the newspaper with a mug of coffee placed in front of him. When Suzy cleared her throat, he looked up and she could swear that his breath was caught as he looked at her daughter.

He didn't say anything, he just stood up from the table and walked up to his daughter, looking at her from head to toe. Lauren was afraid to say anything, so instead of talking she just kept looking at her father's face, searching for some emotion, but she could find none.

However, her worry was cut short when she saw her father smile at her and then open his arms for her. Not wanting to wait anymore, she quickly ran into them, squeezing her father as much as she could. She breathed in his scent as a tear ran down her cheek, and she chuckled a bit.

"My baby's back." she heard her father say.

"Daddy."

Brian Sr. pulled away so he could take a look at his oldest daughter. There she stood in all her beauty, smiling at him with tear filled eyes. He still couldn't understand how could he be so selfish when he didn't want to let her go on her own way.

"You aren't mad at me, dad?" Lauren asked as worry washed over her features.

"Of course I'm not, Lo. I'm very proud of you, baby girl."

That's all that Lauren needed to hear to let the tears fall down. She wasn't sad, those were happy tears. She was more than glad to know that her father accepted her decisions that were made in the past, but strongly affected the present.

Their moment of happiness was interrupted by a squeal that came from the kitchen door. Both turned to see what happened and saw no other, but McKenna. Lauren realized how much she missed her these years. McKenna's voice changed, her curly brunette hair was already waist lenght and she was around 5'1" already.

Soon, two small arms found their ways around Lauren's waist as her little sister hugged her. Lauren heard her baby sister mumble something along the lines 'I knew you would come'. She bent down to hug the girl that now had her arms around her neck.

"I promised you that I would come, now didn't I?" she asked, storking the girl's hair.

"I love you, Lulu." said McKenna, causing everyone to laugh in the kitchen. That was her special nickname for Lauren since she was a baby and couldn't pronounce her name.

"I love you too, Kenna."

After letting go of her sister, Lauren was seated at the table and they started eating breakfast. While eating, her family asked many questions about her life in New York and about what happened with her in the past few years.

"So, you're famous too?" asked McKenna.

"I wouldn't say so, but people do know who I am."

"How much do they know?"

"Dolce & Gabbana knows." answered Lauren quietly, causing McKenna's mouth drop to the floor.

"Who else?"

"Heatherette, Marc Jacobs, Whitley Kros, Ed Hardy, Diane von Furstenberg, Givenchy, Alexander McQueen, Donna Karan."

"Can you show the fashion shows, please?" asked McKenna, using the puppy dog look on her, whick worked every single time.

"Only if you're not planning on becoming a model." Lauren stated sternly, causing her father laugh.

After a few moments, Suzy looked at Lo, "Honey, Brian and Michelle invited us to their house for dinner tonight. Are you coming with us?"

"I'd love to come. Is there going to be anyone else?"

"As far as we know, all the boys and I think Matt's parents are coming too." said Brian as he filled Lauren's glass with orange juice.

"Sweet, I haven't seen them in a while." she smiled and earned weird looks from the people sitting beside her. "Or anyone at all, except Brian, Michelle and Jimmy."

In the late afternoon, Lauren started to get ready for the dinner. She didn't know why but something in the back of her mind told her that she should dress up. Suzy and Brian insisted on staying with them, but she thought it was better if she stayed in her friend's house while she was away. It was the best for her if she got some privacy.

Just as she was finishing her make up and she was about to put on her pumps, the ringing of her phone stopped her. She knew the ringtone, and the Ayo Technology only belonged to one person and that was no other than Brian.

"Yep?"

"No hello, oh hey dear brother. I feel so unloved." Lauren could easily see him smirking at the other end.

"Poor thing, no love for you. Now, why are you calling? I have somewhere to be and I have no intentions of being late, because of my whining brother." she said, knowing exactly that by now he and Michelle knew about her presence in the town.

"You're coming tonight, right?"

"Of course I am, Bri. Why wouldn't I want to go? I miss you guys so much!"

"We miss you too. Anyways, do you have a place to stay?"

"Yeah, a friend of mine has a house in Costa Mesa, so I'm staying here while she's visiting her family in New York."

"You know that you could stay with us."

"Yeah, I know. But I don't want to be a burden, you and Michelle have your own life, where you don't need me. I'll be glad if she won't kick me out of her house for not calling her." She heard Brian chuckle at her statement.

"Anyways, what's up with the Avenged WAGs?"

"Leana and Jimmy are just Leana and Jimmy. Zacky's planning on proposing to Gena, Johnny and Lacey are great, and well Matt and Valary..." He started but didn't finish his sentence.

"Are they arguing again?" inquired Lauren, knowing perfectly well that Val and Matt were having serious relationship problems. "Is it serious?"

"Worse." he said with a sigh. "Matt broke up with Val about two weeks ago. She crossed the wrong lines and Matt told her pack her shit and don't even dare to connect him again. So, yeah. It's pretty serious, he's really out of in since then."

Lauren didn't know if she should be happy, because Val wasn't in the picture anymore or she should be sad about Matt's condition. He didn't deserve to be left heartbroken and knowing Valary, that's exactly what she did. No offense, but if she wanted to be then she could be a heartless bitch.

A luod sigh escaped her lips and she packed her things into her clutch. "Poor Matt, he deserves better, way much better."

"Maybe you two should talk." Now, that caught her off guard.

"What do you mean, Brian?"

"You guys were like best friends and maybe you should give him some advice or help him move on a bit." he said and Lauren hummed loudly, not knowing what to do. "Anyways, how are the things with Kellan?"

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! Jackpot, Brian! Jackpot!

"I, um... We broke up last month. Unfortunately the things just didn't work out well. But I don't want to talk about it, this was the best choice for the both of us."

"Shit, I'm so sorry, Lo."

"It's okay, I'm trying to get over it. I'd rather talk about it than bottle it up." she said and lookd around the apartment to see if she needed to grab anything else. "Hey, I have to go now, I still need to grab my things. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay, drive safe, baby girl."

"Oh hey! Don't tell anyone about me, okay? And make sure Suzy or dad won't either until I'm there, okay?"

"Sure, bye sis."

"Bye, bro."

After grabbing the three bottles of Crystal champagne, checking her make up and outfit, Lauren decided that she should start driving so she could get to her brother's house on time. She was really excited to see all the boys that had accomplished so much in those years while she was away. As far as she knew, they were still working on their newest album and some songs were still missing.

About half an hour later, Lauren pulled up to her brother's driveway. She saw everyone's car already there, so unintentionally she was late. She really wanted to be on time, but hopefully they won't think bad of her, because of not being on time. As she stepped out of the car, Lauren immediately regretted that she didn't choose the longer dress. This one only reached to her mid-thigh and considering that it was the 23rd of December, she could consider herself pretty under dressed.

After ringing the doorbell she heard heavy footsteps approaching and she just knew that Brian was on his way. Her expectations were right, the door did reveal her brother who seemed to have a little bit shorter hair, but he didn't change anything at all. She couldn't help but smirk at how good Brian looked. Michelle was a very lucky girl.

"Finally!" he exclaimed as he grabbed Lauren by her arm, dragging her inside of the house. "Everyone has been waiting for you!"

Lauren shot him a disapproving look, "You told everyone?"

"No, I only told them that a special guest is coming tonight. You look gorgeous, by the way." he said and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Thanks, bro." said Lauren, flashing her brother a warm smile.

"Come on, they have been waiting for you." Brian ushered Lauren to, what she thought was the living room of the house and from where the noise of people came. Brian cleared his throat and loudly yelled for everyone that he's bringing the surprise. "No sneak peeks, Jimmy!"

Everyone in the room laughed, mostly because they heard the Rev curse at Brian. Lauren chuckled silently as they made their way toward the room. Brian looked at her in a 'are you ready' way and she nodded with a smirk still on her full lips. Her brother grabbed her hand as he lead her to the room and she saw all of the people inside. There were her parents, both Brian and Jan with their family, Jimmy with Leana, Lacey and Johnny, Michelle was sitting alone with a free seat on her side which probably belonged to Brian, Zacky was with Gena. And then she saw Amy with Gary and Kim on her side, but one Sanders was missing.

"Syn, how the hell comes that you don't have a fucking bottle of champagne in your house?!"

Uh oh...