Tasting Fame

BECCA'S P.O.V.

I spent the night tossing, and turning. I was no doubt pissing Johnny the fuck off because I kept rolling in every direction and changing positions as I tried to get comfortable, thinking about the night's events.

I couldn't believe what Valary had done. In all the time that I've known her, I never would have imagined that she would do something like this. I've had Kitty since I was 14. I got her from my parents as a middle school graduation gift.

After 2 hours, I decided to let Johnny get some real sleep, so I quietly climbed out of the bunk. I replaced my body with my pillow, which was soon after placed in a death grip by Johnny.

Careful not to wake anyone else on the bus, I made my way to the front of the bus where the mini-fridge was at, and grabbed the half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels, and took a swig. It's been awhile since I've drank, so the liquor burned as it made it's way down my throat. My eyes watered and I shook my head slightly as I took another drink from the bottle and made my way to the back living area.

Now, normally, I'm not a big drinker. But I was overwhelmed by what Valary had done. I took yet another swig of the mind-altering substance, and sat down in front of the television. I flipped it through the channels ..... nothing was on.

"Son of a bitch," I said, louder than I originally intended.

I heard some shuffling coming from the other side of the door, and a few seconds later, Johnny walked through wearing nothing but his boxers. His eyes were almost closed and his hair was sticking out everywhere. What was left of his hair, anyways. He cut of his 'hawk, and dyed his hair blonde with black spots.

"Babe, what are you doing up?" he asked as he came over to join me on the couch. "And what the hell are you doing drinking that?" he asked as he pointed to the now almost empty bottle of Jack Daniels that was in my hand.

"I couldn't sleep, and I felt like it," I said as I downed the rest of the bottle. It's been almost 6 months since I've drank any kind of hard liquor, so I was now what someone would consider to be drunk.

"You're not old enough to be drinking that shit. And look ..... you're fucking drunk," Johnny said as he grabbed the empty bottle from my hand and threw it in the trashcan across the room.

"That never stopped your ass from fucking doing it," I slurred.

"Becca, don't let what happened get to you. Valary's just an insane psycho bitch."

"I've had Kitty for 5 years, Johnny. I can't just fucking forget about what happened!" I yelled as I started crying again for the second time in the past 5 hours.

Johnny went over to the door and shut it so that my screaming and sobs wouldn't wake anyone else up. Then he walked back over to the couch and pulled me on the his lap and rubbed my back.

"I know that, babe. But getting drunk isn't gonna solve anything. It only makes things worse."

"Yeah, I know."

I felt bad bringing up when Johnny cheated on me. I knew that he knew what I was talking about because he brought my face up so we were looking at each other. He glared at me for a second, then let go of my face and continued hugging me and rubbing my back.

"Sorry," I muttered. We just sat in silence until Matt joined us.

"What are you guys doing in here?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"Well, Becca said she couldn't sleep, so she got up and decided to drink 1/2 of the fifth of Jack Daniels that Zacky had in the fridge. Said she drank it because she was so upset about what Valary did to Kitty. And now she won't stop crying," Johnny said as he scooted us over so we could make room for Matt on the couch.

"I never would've imagined that she would've done anything like this. She's gone psycho on me. I'm gonna fucking get her for this," Matt said through clenched teeth.

"Don't be so fucking stupid. Plus, we'd have a hell of a time finding someone as good as you to be singer in this band," Johnny said with a smirk.

There was a sudden unsettling feeling in my stomach, and I ran to the bathroom to throw up. What can I say? I can't hold hard liquor that well. After the third retch, I felt someone pull back my hair, luckily they did it before I puked in it.

"God, you're a mess," I heard Johnny say.

I just ignored his comment and continued sacrificing my stomach contents for the porcelain God. After I was done, I shakily got to my feet and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand as I flushed the toilet.

"How long did it take you to drink that?" Johnny asked as he wiped my forehead with a wet towel.

"Less than 10 minutes," I said as I started to brush my teeth.

"Shit, Becca. Zacky doesn't even drink it that fast," he said to me as we walked out of the bathroom and he guided me back towards our bunk, seeing as how I couldn't walk very well on my own.

"Maybe not. But he would drink it like that if something happened to Ichabod."

"What happened to Ichabod?!"

Zacky fell out of his bunk and on top of Johnny, then frantically scrambled to his feet.

"Zacky, calm the fuck down, man. Nothing's wrong with Ichabod," Johnny said, trying to stifle a laugh. "We were just talking about what you would do if anything ever happened to him."

"Oh. Okay then."

And with that, Zacky got back into his bed, as Johnny and me climbed back into ours.

"Please, just get some sleep Becca, alright? You're gonna be in for hell when you wake up."

I already knew that I would most definately wake up with the hangover of all hangovers.

I climbed under the covers with Johnny and he shut the curtain to the bunk. I found it a lot easier to get to sleep this time as I slowly drifted off to Johnny softly humming the tune to Warmness On the Soul.

"Becca, wake up. We're home."

I opened my eyes to see Johnny standing over me with most of my luggage in his arms.

"What time is it?" I whispered as I yanked the covers off my body.

"It's 9. Now get up," he said.

"Can you please not talk so loudly?" I asked.

Johnny just laughed as I literally rolled myself out of the bunk. I landed on my hands and knees, and slowly began crawling towards the bathroom. I was feeling a little bit lazy and energy-less right now.

"Rebs, we've already gotten everything off the bus. Now get your ass out here so the driver can leave!" I heard Matt shout from somewhere outside the bus.

I groaned, knowing that it would be at least another 2 minutes before I could get some pain killers into my system. What? I'm very impatient.

I slowly pulled myself up using the counter top, and quickly glanced at myself in the mirror. Damn. How much did I drink? I was thinking about how much I look like shit right now when I was yanked off the ground.

"Damnit, Matt! Put me the fuck down!" I screamed.

"I told you to hurry your ass up, and you didn't listen. This is what you get for it."

"Unless you want me to hurl all over your backside, I suggest you fucking put me down."

Matt hastily put me back on my feet just as we were nearing the door to the bus. I stumbled down the steps after saying a meager goodbye to Earl.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I hardly ever drink hard liquor," I said as I leaned on Johnny for support as we all made our way inside the house, earning several laughs from the rest of the gang.

"Thank goodness the house is still in one piece," Matt muttered as we entered the foyer.

I'm guessing that he was thinking Valary would've torn it into pieces after last night. To be honest, it shocked the hell out of me, too.

I started to cry when I noticed Kitty's bed in the corner of the living room. Johnny went to hug me, but I shoved him off as I made my way up the stairs and to my room. I closed the door and locked it, then went over to my bed and flopped down on it, face-first. I didn't even think twice about taking anything for my hangover. I heard several people bang on my door and beg me to open it, but I just ignored them, and continued to lay on my bed. I was no longer crying, but I still didn't feel like being around anyone. I eventually fell asleep again.

"Becca! Wake up! The cops are here!"

I lazily opened my eyes and noticed that it was now a little after five in the evening. The after effects of my hangover were still lingering, but were starting to wear off. I remained in my bed, hoping that Matt would leave me alone if I didn't answer him or come down the stairs. I had no such luck.

"Damnit, Becca. This is the second time today that I've had to drag your ass out of somewhere. The cops are here, so get you ass downstairs," Matt said as he stood in the doorway.

"Matt, you know what the cops around here are like. How do you think they're gonna react when they see a 19 year old with a hangover, living in a house with a bunch of 25 year olds and a midget?" I asked as I slowly sat up to keep my headache from getting worse.

"It's Officer Brody downstairs. He's not gonna care. How do you think I kept getting out of all that trouble with the cops in high school? Just get you ass out of bed."

After Matt left my doorway, I slowly climbed out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. I laughed slightly at my hungover self as I brushed my teeth and then made my way to the closet to grab a clean pair of jeans and an A7X shirt. After putting my hair into a ponytail, I slowly made my way downstairs to see my brother and Johnny sitting in the living room with Officer Brody.

"Hello, Officer Brody. How are you?" I groggily asked.

"I'm fine, Becca. Are you alright?" he asked as he stood up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just feeling a little under the weather."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Actually, I was here to talk about your cat. Now, Matt said something about there being a letter? Can you show me that letter?"

"Sure. Matt, where did you put Kitty's kennel?" I said as I tried to hold back tears.

Matt just looked at me like I was retarded.

"We left it at the venue. Remember when we took Kitty's body.....shit. Their trash service probably already took it. I never even thought about it."

I just sat down on the couch, not realizing that I was sitting on Johnny.

"Well, unfortunately, without proof, there's nothing I can do. If you ever, by chance, find the letter, give me a call and I'll be happy to help you out."

And with that, Officer Brody rose up off the couch and shook hands with Matt, and then Johnny after he managed to get me off his lap. How the fuck could I have forgotten to bring the letter home?

Suddenly, there was a noise that sounded a lot like breaking glass that came from the kitchen.

I stumbled hurriedly into the kitchen with Matt and Johnny, and we were shortly followed by the rest of the gang, minus Brian. In front of us was Aileen, a broken liquor bottle in front of her on the table, some of the broken glass on the floor, and an angry looking Zacky standing beside her. Damn. I think our crew has a drinking problem.

"What the fuck is going on?" Matt asked.

"Aileen, what the fuck were you thinking?" I asked as I walked over to the pile of glass that was once a Jack Daniels bottle. "You know you're not supposed drink, especially not the hard stuff."

"I'm sssorry," she slurred.

"Zacky, why was she drinking in the first place?" I asked as I began to sweep up the mess. I had quickly sobered up in the past 5 minutes.

"She got a call from her mom. Apparently, her and Barry are back together again. He 'supposedly' has changed," Zacky said, using air quotes.

"I'm gonna.....ffffffucking kill the thhhh- son of a bbbbbitch," Aileen slurred out of nowhere.

"Mother fucker!"

Brain had suddenly skidded into the kitchen with the rest of us, and went sliding across the kitchen floor, cutting the bottom of his foot in the process.

"Stupid ass," Matt snickered.

Matt went to go clean up the rest of the glass as I got out the first aid kit to help clean the cuts on the bottom of Brian's feet. I grabbed the kit, and went back over to Brian.

"No fucking way," he said as he pointed to the rubbing alcohol in my hand.

"Quit being a pussy and sit on the table," I said.

Brian just stood in his spot and stared at me.

"Brian, if you don't sit your ass on that table so I can clean the cuts on your fucking feet, I'm gonna lift you up there myself. I don't want it to get to the point where you have to sit down and play during a show."

Reluctantly, Brian got onto the table so I could clean his cuts just as Matt finished cleaning up the glass. Suddenly, there was a huge bolt of lightening, and a huge clap of thunder.

"Shit," I said. I had finished cleaning Brian feet and putting gauze on them. "Fan-fucking-tastic."

By now, everyone was just standing around the kitchen, talking. To be honest, we had all forgotten about my best friend's drunken state as we all heard a chair being scooted away from the table. We all looked over to the table to see Aileen standing from the table and trying to steady herself with a blank look on her face.

"Aileen, babe, are you okay?" Zacky asked.

It looked as if Aileen was about to throw up, when she suddenly fell over to her right and passed out on the floor. Zacky went over to her and I walked up behind him. I noticed that her breathing was becoming weird and irregular, and she had started to lightly shake.

"Matt, call 911 right fucking now!" Zacky yelled.

Matt ran into the other room and grabbed the phone, running back into the kitchen just as the lights went out.

"Fuck!" he yelled. "When the power went out, the lines went dead too."

That's when Johnny took a lighter out of his pocket and lit it.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Jimmy asked as he came back into the kitchen with Acey, a flashlight in his hand.

"There was no light!" Johnny said as he flicked off his Zippo.

"Dumbass," Brain muttered from across the room.

"Shit. Zacky, we gotta get her to the hospital. If we don't hurry, she's gonna have a massive seizure," I said as I grabbed my car keys.

ZACKY'S P.O.V.

After Becca grabbed her keys and made her way into the living room to grab her shoes, I picked Aileen up off the floor and hurried to the living room to find the rest of the group rushing down the stairs, grabbing their keys and running out the door. Everyone was still waiting for Brian, Jimmy, and Acey to come out of the bathrooms, when Johnny snatched Becca's keys from her.

"There's no fucking way you are driving. I don't give a shit," he said.

I made my way with Aileen out into the pouring rain and out to Becca's car. Becca and Johnny were following close behind me, and Becca helped me open the back door and get Aileen into the back seat.

"Matt, you stay here and then come in your car with everyone else. We're gonna go ahead and go," Becca yelled.

I climbed into that back seat with Aileen, Becca climbed into the passenger seat, and then Johnny quickly got into the driver's seat. I had barely gotten the seatbelt's onto Aileen and myself when Johnny pulled out of the driveway, and sped towards the hospital.

"Johnny, slow the fuck down or you're gonna get us killed!" I yelled. I knew that my girlfriend was in serious trouble, and I wanted to get her to the hospital just as fast as anyone else, but Johnny was doing 110 on a rainy road.

"Shit, Zacky! If we don't hurry up and get Aileen to the hospital, then she could die!" he said as he stopped at a red light, maneuvering his arms so Becca could put his seatbelt on him, seeing as how he wasn't gonna do it himself. He's kinda careless like that sometimes.

I knew he was right, and placed my arms across Aileen's shaking body as he sped across the intersection as the light turned green, to keep her from jerking against her seatbelt.

"Johnny, please slow down. You're scaring me," Becca said as she leaned back into her seat.

"Fuck!" Johnny yelled.

Before I could blink, there was a sickening crunch of metal as another flash of lightening made its way across the sky, and there was a sudden sharp pain that shot through my entire body.

After what seemed like an eternity, the car had stopped and landed in a ditch and flipped over so it was now laying upside down.

Aileen had fallen out of her seat and slipped out of her seatbelt, landing on top of me, so I was now holding her. I was now laying on the part of the car that was on the ground. All the windows had shattered, and I was laying on broken glass. Johnny was hanging upside down from his seatbelt, still conscious, and Becca had somehow been flipped around so she was facing the back of the car, with her head just touching the hood, still being strapped in her seatbelt. From what I could tell, she was still conscious herself, but I couldn't see whether or not she had sustained any injuries.

"Zacky! You alright?" I heard Johnny say.

"Yeah, I think I'm alright. There's some broken glass in my back, though. We gotta find a way to get out of this car. Aileen's getting worse."

I had noticed that Aileen was shaking worse than she was before. After a few minutes of struggling, Johnny managed to hoist himself through his broken window. He walked over to the side that Aileen was on and carefully lifted her out of the car. He set her out away from the car, where there were no rocks, or bushes, or anything that she could hurt herself on. I heard some yelling and tilted my head so that I could see out the window. There were two teenage boys, and what appeared to be their parents. He motioned for the boys and the father to follow him as the mother pulled out a cell phone, presumably to call the paramedics.

"Zacky, this is Collin, and his sons, Travis and Jared. Collin and Travis are gonna help you get out of the car. Jared, you come and help me get my girlfriend."

By the time I had gotten out of the car, and Johnny and Jared had managed to get Becca out of the car, the paramedics had arrived. I decided to ride in the ambulance with Aileen, while Becca and Johnny were checked out on the scene.

I hadn't realized that I had started to cry. It was a good thing that it was raining, because I no doubt would've been made fun of by my fucking band mates. 'You fucking pussy!' That's what Brian and Jimmy would say. I mean, I'm Zacky mother fucking Vengeance, and I was crying like a little bitch. I was about to climb into the back of the ambulance when one of the paramedics stopped me.

"Excuse me, sir. But you can't ride in the back of the ambulance with her unless you're a family member."

"I'm her fucking husband, now get out of my fucking way!"

I shoved the paramedic out of my way, and climbed into the back of the ambulance. The tears were still flooding down my face, and I wasn't even paying attention to the EMT as he was checking to make sure I was alright.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!" I yelled as we went over a bump.

"Sir, it was just a bump. Now please calm down. We'll be at the hospital in no time."

JOHNNY'S P.O.V.

"Hey, are you alright?"

I turned around to notice the occupants of the other vehicle.

"I'm fine, but we need to get the other two people out of the car, and we need to get her to the hospital as soon as possible. She's having a seizure," I said.

"I'll call 911, you guys get the other people out of that car," said the middle-aged woman.

"I'm Johnny," I said as I hurried my pace towards the car.

"I'm Collin, and these are my sons, Travis and Jared."

I shook my head to acknowledge that I heard what he said, and we were soon back at Becca's car.

"Zacky, this is Collin, and his sons, Travis and Jared. Collin and Travis are gonna help you get out of the car. Jared, you come and help me get my girlfriend."

By the time we had gotten everyone out of the car, the paramedics had arrived. Zacky went with Aileen to one of the two ambulances, and they soon sped away. Becca and I sat in the back of the other ambulance as the cops dealt with getting everyone's information, and sorting out everything that had to do with the crash. Luckily, I got out of there with some bruising across my chest and my torso from my seatbelt. Becca had some bruising on her back and chest, along with a pretty good size gash across her forehead. Other than that, we were fine. I used Collin's wife's cell phone to call Matt, and he arrived at the scene just as the cops and the ambulance were leaving. Jimmy, Acey, and Brian climbed into the back seat so that Becca and I could climb into the middle seat. Then Matt sped off towards the hospital, although he was driving slower than I had been.

"So, you guys gonna tell me what the fuck happened?" Matt asked as he eyed me through the rearview mirror.

"Well, I was speeding, and another car hit us, but I didn't tell the cops that I had been going 110. The other guy was freaking out, because he was driving on the wrong side of the road. So he got the ticket, and Dee's gonna let us know in a couple weeks what's gonna happen," I said.

"Who the hell is Dee?" Jimmy asked.

"He's an old friend of the family. Our mom used to work for him when we lived in Missouri, and he's like my second father," Becca said. "He's the best defense attorney in the Midwest. He's flying out on Friday to talk to the insurance companies and the other person's attorney, and we'll just see what happens."

"Where's Kaitlyn?" Becca asked, turning to Brian.

"She went home at about 3 'o clock this afternoon. She wanted to tell you goodbye, but knew that you were upset, and didn't want to wake you."

She just shook her head, and turned back around in her seat. I put my arm around her, and she rested her head on my shoulder.

The rest of the ride to the hospital was silent. After we got there, we all walked into the seizure ward. Becca asked the receptionist about Aileen, and she told us that the doctor's hadn't told them anything yet, and that we just needed to wait for the doctors. We took our seats in the waiting area and ..... well ..... we waited.

Becca had fallen asleep in my lap, but everyone else was still awake when a nurse came out into the waiting room with Zacky. Matt was the first to spot him.

"Fuck, Zacky. Are you alright? How's Aileen? Are you alright?"

Zacky just chuckled. "Shads, calm the fuck down, please. I'm fine, except for some cuts on my back from the glass. And Aileen will be fine, too. She's sleeping right now. Johnny, are you and Becca alright?"

I was about to respond when I noticed that the nurse was staring at me. It wasn't necessarily a look of lust. She didn't look like another groupie who just wanted to fuck me, then leave. It was one of those familiar stares.

"Johnny?" the nurse said softly.

I just stared back at her, not having the slightest clue as to what the fuck her problem was.

"Johnny Seward?" she said a little bit louder.

"How do you know my name?" I asked with a shocked look on my face.

"Johnny, it's me. Lacey."

I racked my brain for any woman that I had ever known named Lacey. Then it hit me. She was my last girlfriend. The last time I saw her was two weeks before we got off tour that we were before I got together with Becca. If that made any sense at all.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked as I took a step backwards, away from her.

"I work here, silly," she said with one of those fake laughs that make me wanna hurl.

The stares that she was getting from the guys told me that they all remembered her as well. I can't believe Zacky didn't recognize her before now.

"Johnny, babe, what's going on? Is Aileen alright?"

Becca had woken up and had joined me and the rest of the gang. I pulled her to me and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"Ummmm, Becca ..... meet Lacey. Lacey, this is Becca. My girlfriend."

They shook hands, and luckily, Lacey had enough sense not to say anything to Becca other than 'hi'.

"I actually came out here to tell you guys that you can go and see Ms. Renee if you'd like."

Everyone went to go check on Aileen, except for me and Becca, who stayed back in the waiting room. Lacey just stared at me like she was waiting for something.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to work?" I asked.

"Well, yeah. But there's something you should know."

I looked at her with a look of utter horror. I had a pretty good idea of what she was gonna tell me, and, evidently, Becca did too. I was receiving a look of hatred from my girlfriend, and a smirk from my ex.

"Johnny, I'm pregnant," Lacey said.

I just stared at her in disbelief. She's pregnant? But how? I mean, I know HOW, but I mean, why didn't she tell me sooner? I know she had my number. It hasn't changed since we broke up. Okay, take a deep breath, Johnny. I looked at her, but something just didn't seem right. Like she wasn't telling me the truth.

"You're a fucking liar," I said. "Even if you were, it couldn't be mine."

"Johnny, you were the last person I slept with. I haven't slept with anyone since you."

"This can't be," I said, averting my gaze to Becca, then back to Lacey.

"Johnny, whether you want to believe it or not, I'm pregnant, and this kid is yours."

"Then why didn't you try to contact me sooner? My number hasn't changed since we split."

"Well, I had to go to my grandma's funeral in Chicago. I was there for almost 2 weeks. By the time I found out, you were on tour, and no one would tell me how long you were gonna be gone. I did have your cell number, but I didn't wanna ruin your tour. And plus, your girl looks like she's about to kill me, anyways."

I looked at Becca, and Lacey was right. Becca's fists were clenched, as was her jaw. I could tell that it was taking all her self control to not attack Lacey right then and there.

"Your last remaining, living grandparent died two months before we broke up, Lacey," I said as I turned back to her. "I even went to their funeral with you."

"Well ..... I ..... ummmm, well ....."

Then Becca spoke.

"And where the hell is the fetus? In the bank for safe-keeping, cause you sure as hell aren't carrying one," she said.

"What's going on out here?"

I turned around with Becca to see the rest of the gang, minus Aileen, standing behind us. I wonder how much of that conversation they had heard.

"Well, this stupid bitch was trying to convince Johnny that she was pregnant with his kid," Becca said.

"But, the last time Johnny saw Lacey was that one night on tour, and ..... there's no way she could be pregnant with his kid. That was almost 4 months ago, and she would be showing by now," Matt said.

"Way to go, Captain Obvious. That's just what I was saying to her," Becca said as she turned around to face Lacey.

"Fucking homewrecker," she said. She spat at Lacey's feet and then walked across the room and sat down in one of the waiting room chairs. I could tell that she was on the verge of tears, yet again, but she wouldn't let them fall. God. This woman has been through a lot of pain in the past few months. And it's all been because of me. Except for that incident with Tristan, but that's a whole different story.

"Why the fuck would you try to do something like that?" Zacky and Matt said to Lacey at the same time.

"I don't see what business it is of yours," she said with sarcasm.

"He's in our fucking band, you twit. Of course it's our business," Zacky said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Well, I was short on cash, and the hospital was fixing to fire me, and I just found out that I was pregnant with my current boyfriend's kid. I figured it was a good thing to do," Lacey said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and that Matt and Zacky were fucking retards for even asking her.

"So," Acey started. "You were gonna weasel some money out of Johnny because your boyfriend is a bum, and you can't hold down a job. Then you were gonna break up him and his girlfriend in the process?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Lacey said as she just stared at everyone. "So, Johnny. You gonna help me out, or what?" she asked, looking back up at me.

"Hell no!" I said. "I can't fucking believe you'd even ask me that. You're nothing but a money-guzzling, cock-juggling thundercunt."

Everyone was shocked at my comment, even myself. Before I had any more time to think about what I had said, Acey had jumped on Lacey, and started to beat the shit out of her. I was kinda enjoying what was going on, cause, in my opinion, Lacey fucking deserved it. But I figured that we should get Acey off of her before the cops were called. Jimmy and myself pulled Acey up off the ground, while Matt picked Lacey up and sat her in a nearby chair. She just stared at all of us like we were nuts, then she stood up, straightened out her uniform, grabbed her clipboard off the floor, then disappeared through the elevator doors.

I had completely forgotten about Becca sitting on the other side of the room until Acey and Sarah walked past me to her. I walked over to Becca and pushed them out of the way. I pulled Becca up from the chair and pulled her into a tight hug. She was trembling, although she wasn't crying. I could sense an awkward silence around us all as people were searching for the right words to say. Of course, Shads was the one to break the silence.

"Maybe we should all head home. They're gonna keep Aileen over night for observations. Rebs, she said that she really wanted to see you, but she was extremely tired from everything, but she wants you to come by tomorrow. Now why don't we all just go home and rest?"

"I'm just gonna stay here tonight, Shads," Zacky said.

"You sure?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah. I just feel like I should be here for her tonight," he said.

Zacky did one of those manly-hug things with all us guys, and hugged all the girls goodbye. The rest of us made our way out to the parking lot, and got into Matt's SUV. We dropped Jimmy off at Acey's apartment, Brian at Kaitlyn's house, and then me, Becca, Matt, and Sarah made our way back to our house. When we got there, Becca and I got out of the car, but Matt and Sarah stayed put.

"You guys coming?" I asked as I walked over to Matt's side of the car.

"Nah. I'm gonna crash at Sarah's place. Besides, I'm sure you guys could use some alone time right now."

I couldn't tell if just wanted Becca and me to be alone, or if he thought that something else was gonna happen, but I could swear that I saw a small smile play across his face. But it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. I shook his hand, said goodbye to Sarah, then walked with Becca up to the house. After we got in, I quickly locked the door, and checked all the other doors and windows. I came back into the living room but found that Becca was no longer there. She must be up in bed already. I turned off a few lights except for the porch light, then made my way up the stairs, which I found to be quite difficult because I had turned off the stairway light. I was mentally calling myself a retard at this point.

I walked into Becca's room, and she was laying on her back in the bed, looking up at the ceiling. I quietly backed out of the room so as not to let her know that I was there. I went down to my room and changed into a pair of boxers, then made my way back down the hallway to Becca's room. I noticed that she was still in the position that she was in when I left. I just stood in the doorway and watched her. Kinda creepy sounding, but I just wanted to look at her.

"Are you just gonna stand there all day, or are you gonna get in bed with me?" she asked.

I was a little taken aback by her statement cause I wasn't aware that she knew I was standing in her doorway. I detached myself from the doorframe, and crawled under the covers with her. I was laying on my side, looking at her when she suddenly turned onto her side to look at me.

"Why didn't you tell me about Lacey?" she asked.

"I didn't think it was important enough," I said truthfully.

She let out a long sigh as she continued to stare at me, then spoke again.

"Why did you guys split?"

"Well, it was the day after we slept together the last time. I heard her talking to one of her girlfriends, and she was saying something about how she couldn't handle all the girls that were constantly throwing themselves at me. She was insecure about our relationship, and kept fearing that I would leave her for one of them."

She slowly blinked and then stared into my eyes again.

"You would still love me, even if the kid had been mine, right?" I asked.

She scooted closer to me and gave me a long, deep, passionate kiss. A few moments later, she pulled away.

"Of course I would have. I mean, it's not like we were dating when it happened. You still would've loved me if the kid had been yours, right?"

I just looked at her and stroked the side of her face.

"I love you more than life itself. And you know that. Don't ever forget it."

I kissed her again, and things eventually turned into a heated make-out session. I must say that I was enjoying things, as it's been a while since we've really done anything. Let's see ..... the last time we did anything like this was ..... November 12, on her birthday.

I wasn't sure if she was even in the mood to do anything tonight, with everything that's happened. I broke our kiss and looked into her eyes, asking for permission. She must've known what I was thinking, because she nodded her head and smiled slightly. I smiled as well, and continued to kiss her as I climbed on top of her and pulled the covers up over us. I really loved this woman, and I was about to show her just how much.