This Is a Reason for Broken Wings

I was released a few hours later with a Vicodin prescription and an order from the doctor saying to take it easy for at least a week (because of my broken ribs). I had bruising all around my abdomen and some defensive bruises on my arms. It hurt to walk, it hurt to move, it hurt to talk, it hurt to swallow, it hurt to sit still, and it fucking hurt to even think.

We headed back to our bus, where my brother made me up a little bed in the back room so I didn't have to worry about climbing up onto the bunks. He slept with me, of course, that night, partly to make sure I didn't move around too much while I slept and partly because he knew I didn't want to be by myself.

The next couple of days were crap but I eventually got my strength back. I reassumed my usual merch duties, although now there was always someone with me. I know that Zacky had told them not to let me wander off by myself and honestly, I'm glad he did because I was scared to be alone now.

I now knew how it felt to be physically helpless; to be at the mercy of another. And it was a scary feeling. I constantly walked around paranoid that someone was watching or even following me and it drove me nuts. I hated having to look over my shoulder constantly because I thought that someone was planning on snatching me or that someone was waiting to step out from behind some booth and ambush me.

But I knew it was all in my head and that I was going to have to face my fears and overcome this 'phobia' myself.

Zacky's POV
A week has passed since that terrifying night and I know that Lauren's still scared of going out by herself. I don't blame her; I mean, I can only image how scary it must have been for her to have gone through something like she had.

Val's been stopping by to see Lauren regularly. Of course she heard what happened; this like this seemed to spread around like wildfire and there was a slim chance that there wasn't one band who remained to be clued in as to what went down that night.

It's also been a week since I witness Matt kissing Lauren and her willingly kissing him back. It was weird and yeah I wanted to kick his ass. But then I thought better of it. I mean, I knew Matt wouldn't randomly do that while he was sober with no reasoning behind it at all ... Would he?

If Matt had feelings for Lauren then that was fucking awesome.

He knew how she felt about relationships and love and if he had enough balls to still fall for her even if it had heartbreak written all over the idea, then I give the motherfucker props.

Maybe Lauren would be able to see through his macho bluff and discover whether or not he had feelings for her. And maybe, just maybe, once she knew what it felt like to be loved and desired on an intimate level, she'd tear away the stone tomb encased around her heart and actually love them back.

It's a long shot but eh, it's worth a try, right? So that's why I didn't kick his ass. But the thing was, though, that I've never seen any sign of intimacy shared between them again after that.

Maybe Matt didn't have any feelings for Lauren after all. And maybe that kiss was a result of the emotional situation and the relief that Lauren, his good friend, was alright. I have no fucking clue.
End of Zacky's POV

"Come on Lauren, move your fucking ass, we're gonna be late for the movie." My brother said as me, him, and Matt made our way through a crowd of people.

"Zacky it starts in half an hour." I retorted as we cleared the mob and set off through the parking lot where the busses were parked.

"Yeah, but, whatever." He huffed, walking slightly head of me and Matt.

"Moron." I mumbled under my breath.

I caught Matt's grin flash across his face from the corner of my eye and I turned to grin back at him, only to stop short when my eyes caught on someone standing behind him about twenty feet away.

"U-um, I don't really feel like going now." I mumbled when Matt stopped short as well. "I'm gonna head back to the bus, you guys go ahead."

"Lauren, wait." Matt said softly, grabbing a hold of my hand to stop me. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just ... " I trailed off as my voice became dangerously shaky.

"Sister, what's up?" Zacky asked, coming back over to our place. "Holy shit, you look like you've seen a ghost, what's wrong?"

I shook my head, glancing back over Matt's shoulder.

"I just wanna get out of here." I said weakly.

"Lauren, just tell me what's-"

"It's ... them." I managed to choke out.

"What? Wh-" Zacky stopped himself in mid-sentence, realizing who I meant by 'them.'

"Where the fuck are they?" He snarled, turning to look in the direction I was. "Those motherfuckers over there?" He asked, nodding towards them.

"Yeah." I said weakly as a few tears fell down.

"Which ones?" Matt asked with the same amount of venom shining in his voice as there was in Zacky's.

"The one in the black t-shirt, the one with the red beanie, and the one on the end." I whispered, clutching onto Matt. "Please, let's just get out of here." I added, tugging on his arm slightly.

He turned around and looked down at me for a split second and then back to Zacky.

"Alright, let's go back to the bus then." He said gently, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as if to protect me.

It didn't take long to get back to the bus; it was just a few busses down from where we were at.

"Hey, I though you guys were gonna watch a movie." Alyssa said as we walked up the steps.

"We had a change of plans." Zacky said. "You girls, stay here." He ordered as he and Matt headed to the back of the bus.

"Sweetie what's going on?" Amber asked as I sat down next to her, wiping away my stray tears.

"I-"

I stopped short when the guys reappeared, this time with Syn following close behind, all of them with a stone cold expression plastered on their faces.

"Don't fucking go anywhere." Zacky said, glancing back at us just before they disappeared down the steps.

"Zacky? Zacky don't!" I yelled, getting up to chase after them but a pair of strong arms wrapped around me, holding me back.

I looked down and saw my own brother's portrait looking back at me.

"JB, let me go." I said weakly, trying to fight him off.

"Lauren, even if I did you wouldn't be able to stop them."

The thing was that Zacky, Matt, and Syn didn't fully understand what those guys were capable of.

Matt's POV
As we headed to go regulate on some bitches, I heard Lauren screaming back on the bus for her brother. I know Zacky heard it and I knew it hurt him too but we continued on, not saying a word until we got back to the bus where those motherfuckers were.

I recognized a couple of them to be some roadies from My Chem's crew and the third one ... I recognized him from when Lauren got really spooked that day. Although I only caught a quick glimpse of him that time, I was positive it was him.

"Hey what's up gu-"

Zacky cut him off by landing a punch right in the corner of his jaw, making a dull thud when his fist came in contact with the bone. I'm not really too sure what happened after that, but I knew that I had pulled Zacky away from the son of a bitch so I could take care of him.

He's the one who planned the whole fucking thing; he's the one I wanted.

The anger and hatred pulsing through my body quickly took over my actions as I started to punch him, hitting every part of him that I could reach. However, the guy wasn't that dumb and he started to fight back.

He caught me with a good left hook and it dazed me for a couple of seconds, but I recovered and grabbed a handful of his hair, slamming his head into the side of the bus.

I knew that if I didn't still have a hold of his hair that he would have fallen to the ground but for some reason I didn't let go. His breathing was unsteady and his eyes were closed.

"You know, she moaned just like a whore." He said weakly, opening his eyes to look straight into mine.

"What the fuck did you say?" I snarled, wrapping my hand around his throat, pushing into the side of the bus.

"You heard me." He said rather calmly, flashing me a sickening smile. "You know, just like she was when you had your way with her around the back of your guys' booth that time ... And when you ate her out in the bathrooms."

His smile widened as he studied the horror that flashed across my face. How the fuck did he know about that? I tightened my grip around his neck a great deal, causing the smile to fade from his face.

"You stay the fuck away from her." I spat as he squirmed around, gasping for air.

Just as his face was turning a violent shade of blue I let him go, catching him before he fell to the ground just so I could punch him a few more times. There was blood covering both of my hands but I didn't give a fuck.

Finally I felt someone grabbing a hold of my arms, pulling me away from him. I turned around and saw that Zacky and Syn had finished their guys and were trying to keep me from putting my guy into a fucking coma.

"Hang on." I snapped, jerking myself out of their grip.

I saw that the son of a bitch had slumped to the ground and pulled him up by the top of his shirt.

"If you look at, talk to, or even fucking think about Lauren ever again I will fucking kill you." I said coldly, making sure every single one of my words sank into his sick and tormented mind. "You got that?"

Mustering what was left of his strength he nodded and I released him, letting him fall back to the ground.

Zacky led the way back to the bus and thankfully we didn't run into anybody on the way there. I glanced down at my bloody hands as we stood waiting for Zacky to punch in the code to get inside. I heard the hinges creaking as the weight of the door shifted on it and soon a blast of cool air coming from inside fell upon me.

"Zacky?! What the hell did you guys do?!" Lauren asked, looking at us in horror as the three of us came up the steps.

"We took care of them for you." He said quietly.

For some reason I though that Lauren would be fucking, I don't know, 'overjoyed' when she found out what we did but it actually hurt to see the fear in her eyes as she stared at her brother.

"Zacky, why the fuck did you do that?" She cried standing up to shove him slightly. "Why the FUCK did you do that? Damn it Zacky, you guys could have been hurt or fucking ... killed or something! Those guys are crazy!"

"Lauren, nobody gets away with something like that." He mumbled. "Why the fuck are you so angry about it?"

"Because for a second there was the possibility that I might not ever see you again. You don't know the kind of stuff they did to me, how they tortured me. I was scared that they might do the same to you."

"What? Rape me?"

"Zacky!" Lauren sobbed. "You think I got these burns from them shoving their dick in me over and over?" She asked, showing him the palm of her hands.

There were some gasps that escaped from the girls and my own mouth dropped when I saw the wounds inevitably caused by something no less than a car cigarette lighter.

However, Zacky's eyes only lingered on her palms for a split second, clearly indicating that it wasn't the first time he's seen it.

"They put a fucking gun to my head and threaten to kill me if I ever told anybody about what they did to me."

"Lauren ... I promise you that no one will ever hurt you again." Zacky whispered, wrapping his arms around her as she started to cry into his chest.

"Please don't do anything like that again Zacky." She mumbled, her voice muffled by her tears and Zacky's shirt. "I love you so much brother and I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."
End of Matt's POV