Such a Surreal Place

“Sooo...?” Zacky had pulled me away from the after party into his changing room.

“She seemed very keen about it...” I started and he made a fist and said ‘yes!’ while pulling it into his side. “But...”

“There’s always a ‘but’,” Zacky said disappointedly.

“But she said that you would have to ask her parent’s permission first,” I finished and he sighed.

“Damn. That kinda ruins the whole surprise thing,” he said and I nodded.

“But...” I said, sounding a lot more positive and enthusiastic.

“Please tell me this is a good ‘but’?” he asked, almost bouncing on the spot from his excitement.

“But after doing another show here tomorrow night, the next stop for your tour is in Colorado,” I explained. He didn’t know what I was talking about, and I saw his excitement slowly fade. “Where her parents are.”

“Oh. You’re joking,” he said slowly. “That would work out perfectly!”

“But...” I repeated, but this time a bit more sadly.

“Oh! Enough of the ‘but’s!” Zacky almost shouted and we started laughing. “But what?” I laughed more.

“But that’s a very small amount of time for you to plan a whole wedding, if you still want to have it on the same day, to really surprise her and sweep her off her feet,” I continued and his face fell.

“That’s a good point...” he said as he sat down. “Oh crap. What am I gonna do?” He looked up at me with pleading eyes.

“You’re lucky you have me,” I said sweetly and his eyes filled with hope.

“Why...?”

“’Cause I already have a plan,” I said and begun to tell him...

*An hour later*

“You’re awesome,” Zacky told me, standing up to hug me.

“I know,” I joked as he embraced me for a long time.

“I love you sooooo much right now!” he said and I frowned. He shouldn’t be feeling like that...

“And what about Mel?” I said with a smile, but he ignored me. We both knew he was just joking at that he loved Mel, and not me.

“If this all goes to plan, I am so helping you plan your wedding!” he said, letting me go so I could finally breathe.

“Uh, my wedding?” I asked cautiously. Syn wouldn’t propose to me... Would he?

“Yes! I’m sure you and Syn are going to get married and live happily ever after!” he said while picking up his bag and chucking a jacket into it.

“Are you hinting at something here?” I asked, prying for more detail.

“Um, no, I don’t think so... I was just joking around... Why?” He put a belt into his bag as well before doing the zip up.

“Just wondering. We should get back to the party with the other guys,” I said, heading for the door.

“It’s probably over,” Zacky said as I opened the door and listened for laughter, talking, anything from the rest of Avenged Sevenfold. I walked out and checked down the corridor, searching for any familiar faces.

“I think it is,” I said and Zacky walked out behind me. “Bummer – I was looking forward to it.”

“I owe you a lame after party then,” he joked as we headed out to the tour bus. The light was still on at the front of the bus and I could see Jimmy and Matt inside, no doubt laughing their heads off at jokes that aren’t actually that funny.

“Hey you two! Where’ve you been?” Matt asked as he got another beer out of the small fridge.

“Talking,” I answered as I quickly scanned the room for my man. “Where’s Syn?”

“Sleeping,” Jimmy replied while resting his head on his hands in the sleeping motion.

“Oh. Already?” I checked the clock on the wall. It wasn’t THAT late. But then again, it is tour. He was meant to get tired.

“Well, it was a rough show tonight,” Zacky said quietly from behind me, sensing my disappointment. He went and sat down next to Jimmy.

“Johnny’s out to it too,” Jimmy said, getting a bit restless. I decided to leave them to it, before Jimmy got super hyper again. I walked through the door to the sleeping area, shutting it behind me. I didn’t hear the soft breathing that Brian made while sleeping (I only heard an unfamiliar snoring, which must be Johnny’s), so I knew he was still awake. I slowly opened his curtain at the head end and saw him lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He didn’t turn to look at me.

“Hey. You okay?” I asked. No answer. “Syn? Brian?”

“What?” he snapped violently, still not looking at me.

“Are you okay?” I repeated, suddenly feeling a bit shaky. I noticed how his arms were crossed tightly across his chest, his muscles flexed. His eyeliner was still on and so were the 3 unnecessary belts he wore on stage that night. Why couldn’t he be bothered taking his stage gear off?

“No. No, I’m fuckin’ not okay.”

“So... What’s wrong?” He still didn’t make eye contact with me. “Something to do with me, huh?”

“Yup,” he snapped, still not looking at me. I think his eyes actually flickered away in the opposite direction.

“So, be a man and talk about it with me,” I suggested nicely but forcefully so he would actually do it. A moment of silence passed, and I prepared myself to try a different technique.

“Fine.” He got out of his bunk and walked down the back of bus where we all loved to play video games. He turned the light on and I smiled when I saw the controllers on the ground – they were always too lazy to pick them up and put them somewhere safe. Syn sat down on the couch, his arms still crossed and still not making eye contact with me. This wasn’t going to be good.

“So?” I asked after I had shut the door quietly, trying not to wake Johnny. My smile had long gone.

“You’re cheating on me,” he said and I quickly sat down on the large couch too, before I fell down.

What the hell?

Where did he get THAT idea from?