I Saw Your Heart as It Overtook Me

Zacky's POV
I rolled my eyes as Syn and Johnny stopped for the fifth damn time on the way back to the bus from the bar to laugh at some stupid George W. Bush campaign poster that someone had drawn all over. I swear those two ...

"Come on you guys." I said impatiently, giving either one of them a little push to remind them that we actually wanted to get back before the sun rose.

The only thing was that it's a bad idea to push a couple of guys that were drunk off their asses. Syn went down first, taking Johnny down with him as he flung his arms about trying to grab onto something to keep him from eating dirt ... or sidewalk in this case.

"Damn it." I mumbled, rushing over to help them up.

"Dude, that wasn't a friendly thing to do." Syn slurred, attempting to point an accusing finger at me. "It was rather rude."

"Yeah, whatever, let's go man." I said, 'guiding' them back towards where our bus was parked.

I looked back and saw Jimmy and Alyssa in the distance slowly making their way back as well. And Matt was stumbling somewhere ahead of us. Alright, so we were all accounted for. We had to stop a couple more times before we finally made it back to the bus.

I reached over and started to punch in the code to get onto the bus, but stopped short when I though I heard someone cussing around inside. I strained my ears to listen again but I didn't hear anything so I shrugged my shoulders and started to reenter the code.

"Damn it Matt, stop it!" Lauren yelled suddenly.

"Fuck you bitch." He spat back venomously.

My mouth dropped open and I stood there in shock at to what I had just heard. And that's when the anger took over me. Nobody talks to my sister like that, least of all her fucking boyfriend.

I punched the code into the key pad for the third time, and yanked the door open as soon as I heard it unlock. Completely forgetting about Syn and Johnny, I stormed up the stairs and saw Matt glaring at Lauren while he was holding JB in a headlock.

Suddenly JB broke free from Matt and the two started to slug it out ... again I'm guessing, judging by Matt's busted lip he already had and JB's bloody nose. JB landed a right hook on Matt who in turn tackled him to the floor and started to punch which ever part of him he could.

I rushed over and grabbed a hold of Matt, jerking him away from JB.

"Dude, that the FUCK are you guys doing?!?" I yelled [fuck, I was trying to spell that 'yeld' ::shakes head sadly at what a crappy speller I am::] slamming Matt against the wall to keep him from getting back at JB.

"Kicking that fucker's ass." Matt snarled, shooting daggers at JB.

"What the hell f-"

"Because I caught those two together." He said angrily ... alright, 'angry' is an understatement but oh well ... turning to narrow his eyes at Lauren.

"What?!" I asked, turning my own gaze to my sister. "Is that true Lauren?"

"No, it's not." She said weakly, shaking her head furiously. "Zacky, I swear it's not."

"Fucking liar." Matt snapped. "I saw you with my own two eyes."

Well, that's not really saying much since his sight was clearly corrupted by tequila and So Co.

"Matt, come on, let's just calm down man." I said, trying to get him to have a seat. "Why don't we just sit down and see what was really goi-."

"What's really going on is that you're sisters still a fucking whore and she always will be." He spat, pushing me away, and stormed off back towards the bunks.

Any other time I would have followed him and kicked his fucking ass for talking about my sister like that but since I didn't know what really happened, I decided to get Lauren and JB's side of the story.

I turned around to find that Lauren and Cordell were helping JB to the couch, checking to make sure none of his cuts needed stitches. Judging by Lauren's trembling bottom lip and her glossy eyes, she was trying her hardest not to cry about what Matt had just said.

"Lauren?" I asked, walking over to her. "Don't tell me it's true." I said slowly.

Her eyes snapped from JB to me, a new kind of hurt written all over her face.

"Zacky ... do you really think I'd do something like that?" She whispered, her voice breaking slightly.

"I ... " I trailed off, mentally kicking myself in the ass for even thinking that she'd do that to Matt. "Well, no."

I sighed as she continued to stare at me on the verge of tears and took her in my arms. She let out a little sob and clung onto me, burying her face in my chest. Soon her muffled cry reached my ears, breaking my heart as it did so.

"Shh, Lauren." I cooed, rocking her in my arms. "Just tell me what happened."

"I-I ... " She trailed off, sobbing even more.

"It's okay, come on." I said, picking her up.

I packed her over to the other couch and sat down, cradling her in my lap. She wrapped her arms tightly around my middle, trying to stop herself from crying anymore. I started to rub her back for comfort, figuring that it'd just be best to ask JB what happened since it didn't seem like Lauren would tell me anytime soon.

"JB, what the hell happened here?" I asked quietly, staring intently at him.

He shook his head, wiping the now dried blood away from his nose.

"Lauren and I were sitting on the couch talking about Matt. She was worried that she didn't deserve to be with him and shit and I was just comforting her, telling her that he loves her very much. And then we hugged and she was just fucking kissing my cheek to thank me or whatever. And that's when Matt walks in and yanks Lauren away, punching me in my damn jaw. Then ... we got into a full blown fist fight and ... yeah, you know the rest." He mumbled.

I let out a long sigh and nodded my head, looking back down at Lauren. Hearing her steady breathing I knew she had managed to calm herself down a bit and pushed her away a little so I could look into her eyes.

"Matt hates me now." She muttered.

"Shh ... No he don't. He loves you very fucking much." I said softly, brushing the hair out of her face. "He's drunk and he overacted. I'll go and talk to him pretty soon, alright?"

"Okay." She whispered, resting her head back on my chest.

"Lauren, I'm sorry that I let that thought of you cheating on Matt cross my mind ... I just ... " I trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

"Its okay brother, don't worry about it." She said quietly just as the front door opened up once more.

Soon Syn, Johnny, Alyssa, and Jimmy appeared at the top of the stairs, trying their best to stagger straight. Johnny reached us first and he stopped short to look back and forth between a very rough looking JB and Lauren curled up on my lap.

"Alright people, what did we miss?" He asked.

I shook my head and patted the spot next to me on the couch, indicating for him to have a seat. Luckily he was still aware enough to take a hint and he plopped down, resting his head against the couch.

I stood up and gently sat Lauren on his lap. He sort of looked at me in surprise that I was actually letting him touch my sister but regained his composure and wrapped her in a hug to comfort her.

I glanced one last time at JB and made my way back to the bunks, stopping in front of Matt and Lauren's. I saw that the curtain was closed but I knew better than to think that Matt was already asleep.

"Matt, open the damn curtain man." I said.

"Fuck off."

I let out a frustrated sigh and reached over, yanking the curtains back to find that Matt was lying on his side with his back to the hallway. He rolled over and shot me a death glare.

"Matt, you owe my sister an apology." I stated simply.

"Well, you can tell her to fuck herself ... or JB for that matter." He said coldly.

I narrowed my eyes at him as my older brother instincts took control and before I could stop myself I punched him as hard as I could.

"Don't you dare think of saying anything like that to my sister again." I snarled and turned on my heal, storming back towards the front room.

Damn, how many times was that now that I've punched him in regards to my sister? Three I believe. And I have a feeling this wouldn't be the last time either.

**********************

The next morning I woke up early, way too early for my liking. I looked over at Lauren, who was cuddled up to me, finding that she was still asleep. I carefully pried her arms from me and gently moved her head to let it rest on the pillow rather than my chest.

I opened the curtains up and peaked out into the hallway, checking to see if anybody else was awake. The hallway was dark, deserted, and deathly quiet. I had a half mind to roll over and try to get back to sleep but for some reason I was already wide awake.

I slowly crawled over the edge of the bunk and climbed down, making my way to the bathroom. After I did my thing I decided to head on out to the front room, thinking to steal one of my sister's go-gurts. I took one step into the room and a figure sitting quietly on the couch caught my eye.

Matt sat there, hugging his knees to his chest, staring blankly at the wall opposite him. Judging by his swollen, bloodshot eyes he had spent a lot of time crying. He didn't look at me, or even acknowledge my presence in any way, when I took a seat on the vacant couch.

"Zacky, I didn't mean any of those things I said last night about Lauren." He mumbled, still staring at the wall.

"I know you didn't."

"And I know that Lauren wouldn't cheat on me or whatever."

"Yeah."

"And I know that she hates me now."

"Matt." I sighed. "My sister doesn't hate you; I don't think she could ever hate you. She loves you too much to do that, man."

Matt slowly shifted his eyes from the spot on the wall he had been staring at ever since I sat down and focused them on me. It hurt in a way to see the tears start to fall down. I mean, come on, it's never easy to watch a man cry, let alone one of your best friends.

"Matt, why don't you go talk to her." I said quietly.

"Is she awake?"

I shook my head.

"She's sleeping up in my bunk. But I don't think she'd mind if you woke her up."

"Alright." He said, clearing his throat and wiping his face.

He stood up and started off back towards the bunks.

"But one last thing." I said, causing him to stop in his tracks and turn to look at me. "If I ever hear you talk to my sister like that again, regardless of whether you're drunk or sober, I'll castrate you myself."
End of Zacky's POV

I woke up when I felt someone kiss my forehead as they scooted closer to me on the bunk.

"Zacky, go back to sleep." I mumbled, trying to burying my head deeper into the pillow.

Soon, I felt them place a hand on my cheek, caressing it with their thumb. I instantly knew that it couldn't be my brother because their hands were larger than Zacky's and a lot softer as well.

I slowly opened my eyes to find myself looking straight into Matt's tear filled ones.

"Matt?" I whispered. "I-"

"Lauren, I'm sorry." He mumbled. "I'm sorry for accusing you of all that shit and I'm sorry for being such a douche bag."

"Matt I-"

"I love you so much Lauren. So much that it hurts sometimes."

I smiled softly and reached up to wipe his tears away.

"I know. I love you too baby." I whispered, kissing his lips gently, seeing as how it was still pretty fucked up from last night.

"Mmm." He mumbled, pulling away from me. "Make up sex?" He joked, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"Not in my bunk you sick fucks!" Zacky yelled from the front.

I smirked over at Matt.

"Wanna bet, Zacky?"

I could literally see the poor man shudder in horror at the mere thought of me and Matt gettin' it on in his bunk; God knows what would happen if we actually did. Well, we were about to find out ...

Yeah right people, I'm not that mean to my brother.