Second Chance

Whatever strings Matt and the management team had been forced to pull to allow me to go along with the guys, they must have pulled them hard - because everything happened so flawlessly that (had I not known better) I would have believed that I was supposed to be a part of this journey all along.

Before I knew it, I was on a plane headed to New Zealand; I made sure to take a long, hard look at the country as we flew over it, knowing that I would probably never be privileged enough to see it again. As few flew into the capital that night, city lights twinkled back up at me - a mesmerising sight no matter where in the world they were viewed. And that was when I decided that my next home, when I got the money to move into one, was going to be high up in Sydney city. Somewhere that I could see the lights whenever I wanted.

It had come as a relief when Brian had stopped glaring at me whenever he saw me. I much preferred his new method of simply pretending I wasn't there. But the less that his eyes travelled in my direction, the more that Jimmy's did; the drummer was constantly watching me, though he would never say a word when I spoke to him. To say the least, it was creepy.

The day after we arrived in Auckland was the day that they were to play their show - the last show that I would be with them for. Their venue this time turned out to be Auckland Town Hall, which was (hands down) one of the most stunning buildings that I had ever laid eyes on. I literally felt my jaw drop when it was first pointed out to me. It seemed far too grand to be a concert venue - but then, I never would have guessed any of the other venues as being fit for concerts either. But this place just looked more fit for a wedding.

As per usual, I trailed along behind the band as they approached the building from the rear, where a group of fans were (now predictably) already waiting. I found a place to sit and wait while they did their mingling - something that I was now constantly making a note of staying out of. And thus far, I had managed to do so at every show I had been taken along to.

But tonight was different. I didn't see them approaching until they were only a few feet away from me, but then I was quick to turn to the two girls. They were definitely fans of the band (their choices of t-shirt told me as much) but for the moment their focus was on me. It was more than just a little unnerving.

"Hi," the taller of the pair said after a moment, then extended a hand to me. "I'm Madison. And this is Chloe."

The girl beside her gave a tiny smile to acknowledge her introduction, though she kept quiet. I noticed too that she remained a few steps behind her friend. Clearly the shy one of the pair. Their accents stuck out to me as much as the guys' did. If anything was going to remind me that I wasn't in my home country, it was the fact that now I was the one with the stick-out accent.

"I'm Abigael," I replied uncertainly, looking between the two. They watched on expectantly, as if waiting for me to go on. "Ah...the band's just over there, you know?"

"Oh, we know." But instead of heading over to the guys, she took a seat next to me. I turned my attention to my shoes, kicking at the dirt in front of me. She didn't leave. "We were sorta hoping you'd tell us who you were."

My defences went up at once, though I wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps it was the way that she asked the question, more like a demand than a request. I looked over at the guys, all busy chatting with fans or signing things. I was on my own.

"I'm nobody," I replied simply. "Why would you think otherwise?"

"You're travelling with the band," she replied matter-of-factly, flicking her hair back over her shoulder. "And don't try to deny it," she added, as I opened my mouth to do exactly that. "There are pictures online to prove it."

I raised an eyebrow. There were pictures of me with the band out there? This was news to me, and I wasn't sure that it was something I liked. Everything was due to go back to normal after tonight - how was that supposed to happen when I had people asking me who I was?

"I'm..." I searched for a good story to tell them before decided that sticking (mostly) to the truth wouldn't be so bad. "I'm just hanging out with them for a few days. They're helping me out."

"Are you a friend of theirs?"

"Ahh..."

"She is," Zacky replied, suddenly sitting down on my other side. The two girls turned to face him, wide-eyed. He slipped an arm around my shoulders and grinned at them. "And you'd better get used to seeing her around, 'cause she's gonna be with us for a while."

"Is she your new girlfriend?" Madison asked bluntly as her friend simply regarded me curiously. "Don't you think she's a little young for you?"

As soon as she said the word "girlfriend", I felt him tense beside me. A quick glance in his direction told me that he had paled - it was barely noticeable to the two girls, I felt sure, but since I'd been around him quite a bit recently it was something that I noticed at once. That cocky, carefree attitude that he had brought with him when he sat down had disappeared without a trace; I couldn't have been happier when Matt approached us and quickly shooed the two girls away, citing the need for us to all go inside.

He looked concerned.

"What happened?" he demanded the second we were inside the old building. "What did they say?"

Johnny, Brian and Jimmy had followed close behind us, and after hearing Matt's sudden demands they immediately began looking concerned. I took a few steps back and observed the scene, gauging their reactions. Zacky merely shook his head and walked away from his friends, taking to sitting by himself on the floor. I watched him lean back against the wall and shut his eyes.

"What'd you do?" Brian narrowed his eyes at me. I sighed - so much for our ignoring each other. "The fuck did you do, kid?!"

Much to my relief, Matt held up a hand to silence him before turning to me and asking, in a much politer tone, what had happened.

"One of those fans asked if I was his new girlfriend," I told him. "He went all weird after that."

I instantly turned to Brian, bracing myself for whatever nasty insult he was going to shoot at me.

"Fuck," he swore instead, running a hand through his mess of hair. "And he was doing so fucking well."

I looked between the four men, waiting for more of an explanation, but none of them said anything. They simply glanced over at their friend.

"What's going on?" I asked at last, realising that I would get my answers no other way. "Why's he acting like this?"

It was now that Brian chose to snort and roll his eyes at me, his expression changing back to one of annoyance. I figured this meant I was due for another telling off, but I never got to find out for certain - because Johnny chose now to speak up.

"He lost his girlfriend," the bassist informed me in an undertone, successfully silencing anything Brian had been about to say.

"She dumped him?" I asked, surprised.

I hadn't known him all that long, sure. But I could see from the brief period of time that we had spent together that Zacky was kind-hearted and sweet. Any woman would have been lucky to have him as her boyfriend. It was almost unfathomable to me that somebody could have ditched him.

"No." Johnny looked uncomfortable as he watched Zacky, and I could see that he felt he should stop talking now. As it was, he went on with a soft, "She died."

Shock. That was what I felt. No wonder the guy was torn up. Nobody deserved to go through something like that - least of all sweet, caring Zachary. The thought that he'd been forced to suffer through it literally made me feel sick to my stomach. Matt put a hand on my shoulder to steady me, though I hadn't realised that I'd been shaking.

"Don't look so stunned," Brian growled. "You might fool them, but you don't fool me."

He assumed that I had already known this. I could see that now. Matt's words came back to haunt me: "You been taking advantage of him?" Coupled with Brian's earlier taunt of, "Money? Fame? You wanna sleep with him?!" things began to fall into place in my mind.

So that was why Brian hated me. That was why Jimmy was constantly keeping an eye on me. They thought I was just some crazy fan, trying to get into Zacky's pants for whatever reason. Trying to weasel my way into his life. While knowing that they could think so lowly of me truly hurt, I couldn't help but admire the way that they cared for their friend so much.

Suddenly, they didn't seem so bad after all.

"I think I understand now why you don't like me," I told Brian firmly, "but I swear to you, I didn't know. And I'm really sorry to hear it. Nobody should have to go through something like that." Brian snorted, so I went on. "I don't know why you're getting so worked up about me being around, though. I'll be getting out of your hair in a few days, anyway. Right, Matt?"

I turned to the man that I had come to regard as their leader, and felt my heart drop when I saw that he now looked uneasy.

"Matt?"

"Given the circumstances, it...may take a little longer than we originally planned."

"How much longer?"

The look he gave me told me exactly what I needed to know.