Tasting Fame

Zacky's P.O.V. - FF 1 WEEK

It had been a week since the bar and hospital incidents, and things were still tense around the house. Every time Johnny and Becca were together, Matt would get completely silent, and wouldn't even look at them. I thought they had this shit taken care of already. It's starting to piss me off. It's even affecting our band practice. Matt stays on the side of the stage that I'm normally on, and Johnny stays on the other side of Syn. They better get their shit together, cause we leave for another mini-tour in 2 weeks. I haven't even told Aileen yet. She's probably gonna kick my ass.

Band practice on the top floor of our house had just ended, and I went to find Aileen. She was out back, swimming with Becca, Acey and Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn had suddenly become their new best friend. She was cool, and she was Brian's new girl, so I guess it's alright.

"Hey, Aileen. Can I talk to you inside for a second?"

"Sure, Zacky. Guys, I'll be right back," she said, getting out of the pool. She wrapped a towel around herself, and waited for me to lead her inside.

We went inside, and up to my room. I shut and locked the door, and sat with Aileen on the bed.

"Zacky, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Well, I am not really sure how to break this to you, so I'm just gonna come right out and say it. We leave for a 2-month long mini-tour in 2 weeks," I said, hoping she wouldn't hit me.

"Does Becca know about it yet?" she said. She wasn't gonna hit me. Score!

"No, Johnny was gonna tell her after practice today. Jimmy told Acey yesterday, and I am surprised that she hasn't told Becca yet. I don't know if Brian's told Kaitlyn yet, but I'm sure he has. You gotta promise me that you won't say anything to her until after Johnny tells her," I said, pointing my finger at her.

"I promise I won't tell Becca. Why hasn't Matt told her?" she asked.

"To be honest with you, I don't know why Matt hasn't fucking told her. They haven't talked much at all since that night at the hospital. The only thing he ever does other than practice is talk to some girl on the phone. He won't tell anyone who she is. But you can't tell Becca, or Johnny's gonna be in some shit for not telling her sooner," I said getting up.

"I already told you that I wouldn't tell her. Now give me a kiss so I can get back in the pool with my friends," she said.

I had no objection to that, then I slapped her ass as she left the room. She shot me a playful glare, and went back outside. Johnny suddenly appeared in my doorway.

"You tell her yet, man?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just did," I said. I sighed, and ran my hand through my hair. The next two weeks are gonna be hell.

"How'd she take it?"

"Just fine. I made her promise not to tell Becca. But you better tell her soon, man, or she's gonna kick your ass. If her friend is any indication of how she acts when she's mad, she might do worse to you then Aileen ever did to me."

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go tell her right now. Do you know where she is?"

"Yeah, she's out in the pool with Acey, Kaitlyn, and Aileen. Good luck, Christ."

"Yeah, Zacky. I think I'll need it."

I fell back on my bed and stared at the ceiling. What's gonna happen to our band next?

JOHNNY'S P.O.V.

I went out into the backyard where the girls were at. Their conversations immediately stopped when I reached the edge of the pool.

"Hey guys. Can I steal Becca from you for a sec?"

"Sure," they said in unison.

Becca got out of the pool and put on her clothes that were outside. Then we went up to my room. I sat her down on the bed, and took her hands in mine.

"Johnny, what's wrong? You act like you're dying or something," she said, looking at me with concern.

"No, I'm not dying. I have something to tell you. I would've told you last week, but after everything that happened, I figured I should wait. I didn't wanna upset you, being on your meds and all"

"Johnny, you're rambling. Now just tell me what you wanted to tell me," she said.

"Well, we're leaving for a mini-tour in 2 weeks. We'll be gone for 2 months," I said, hanging my head down.

And then she did something that I couldn't stand. She started to cry. Not loudly, but I noticed the tears as they rolled down her cheeks.

I put a hand on her face to wipe the tears away. She grabbed my hand and held onto it like she would die if she ever let it go.

"Babe, don't cry. It's only gonna be 2 months. We'll be back before you know it," I said, trying to comfort her the best I could.

"But everything was going so well. Johnny, I don't think I'll be able to stand being away from you on my birthday," she said through tears.

I mentally slapped myself for not remembering. I was gonna give her a promise ring on her birthday, but since I'm gonna be gone, that's not gonna be possible.

I couldn't get her to calm down, so I did the only other thing I could think of. I kissed her with force, and the sobbing immediately stopped. She kissed me back, and put her hands on the back of my neck. I layed her back onto the bed, and climbed on top of her, straddling her waist, never once breaking the kiss. I could feel her breaths becoming ragged and shorter as I parted her lips with my tongue. I balanced myself on the bed with one hand, and ran the other hand down her side. I tugged at the hem of her shirt, and she put her hands on my chest to stop me from going further.

"Johnny, stop. As much as I want this to happen, and you to be my first, I just can't do this. Not right now," she said, her breathing starting to return to normal. She was still laying on her back, and I was still straddling her waist.

"Wait, you mean you're still a virgin?" I asked her. There's no way that could be true.

"Ummm, yeah. Did you think that Zacky was kidding when he announced it to the world a few weeks ago on TV? He really did try to get into my pants, and I told him I didn't want to do anything with him because I was still a virgin, and that I didn't want to do anything with him cause I was too scared to. Then Matt hit him in the face, and his attitude towards girls in general changed altogether," she said looking away, almost like she was ashamed of herself.

"Why are you scared?" I asked her, using my finger to turn her face by her chin so that she would look at me.

"Because. I want my first time to be meaningful and special. You know, the whole cliche thing that us girls like. I don't want to get hurt. I guess now I know why Matt was so protective of me throughout the years," she said, starting to cry again.

Man, this girl sure has been crying a lot lately. Maybe it's because if her pain meds. Or maybe it's because of everything that's happened over the past week. Or maybe it's both. I wish she wouldn't cry, though. It hurts me when she does.

"You don't have to be scared with me. I won't hurt you, and that's a promise," I said, leaning down and kissing the trails of tears that were on her cheeks.

"For your sake, I hope you keep that promise. I don't want Matt to break you in half," she said, her face lighting up a little.

I just laughed and kissed her again.

"Johnny, dude, Matt wants a band meeting downstairs, now," Jimmy said from the doorway, his back turned to us.

"Jimmy, you fucktard, you can turn around, you know. We still have all our clothes on," I said standing up.

"Okay, I wasn't sure. I didn't feel like seeing my friends dick today. Anyways, Matt wants us all downstairs now. He's got something important to tell us all," he said.

"Okay. Let's go babe," I said, lifting Becca up by her hand.

Everyone had settled in the living room when Matt finally showed up with some girl that none of us had ever met before.

Amazingly enough, this girl was shorter than me. She had dark brown hair with lavender highlights, and she looked quite shy.

"Guys this is Sarah. Sarah, that's Brian, Kaitlyn, Aileen, Zacky, Johnny, and my sister, Becca," Matt said, going around the room and introducing everyone. "She's our new tour manager," Matt said.

"New tour manager? What happened to Valary?" I asked.

"Well, I fired Valary after we broke up. We needed a new tour manager for the upcoming tour, so I went through the applicants, and she seemed to be the best person for the job," he said.

By the looks on everyone's face, they all knew about the tour coming up. But I still couldn't believe what Matt had done.

"What the hell, Matt! You hired a new tour manager without telling the rest of the band?" I said standing up.

"You would've noticed if you weren't too busy trying to get into my sister's pants," he said with anger.

I began to walk over to him, but Becca put her hand on my arm and stopped me.

"Don't, Johnny. He's just trying to get a rise out of you. It's not worth it," she whispered in my ear.

I sat back down, and the meeting continued.

"As per the record label, no girlfriends allowed. We aren't allowed to take any extra people," he said, looking in mine and Becca's direction.

"But I'm going with you, Matt," Sarah said.

We immediately realized what had just happened. Matt didn't want Becca to go with us because he didn't want anything happening between the two of us on the tour.

"So this must be the girl that you've been talking to on the phone so much. Your new girlfriend," Becca said, standing up herself. "Sarah, I have nothing against you, it's just that my brother has been a huge asshole lately. You get to go with them because you're their tour manager now. I don't get to go because I'm dating Johnny, and my brother doesn't like it. Matt, I need to talk to you in the kitchen. Now," she said.

"I don't think so....." He started.

"NOW!" she screamed.

Matt followed her into the kitchen, and everyone just looked around the room, nervously.

"Sarah, it's nothing against you. It's just that Matt and Becca have been fighting a lot lately because Becca's dating Johnny now. We got into a bar fight last week, and Becca and Johnny got hurt really bad, and had to be take to the hospital. Matt found out that they were dating, and started choking Johnny in the hospital bed. Matt accidentally hit Becca, and they've hardly talked since we came home that night," Brian said.

"Wow. I really came into the picture at a bad time, didn't I?" she asked nervously.

"Kinda, but it's not your fault. You didn't know what was going on. It's just a little tense around here right now, that's all," Zacky said.

"You know, Johnny, your girlfriend has balls talking to Matt like she just did," Jimmy said.

"Yeah, I know. And that's why I love her."

BECCA'S P.O.V.

I had just got into the kitchen behind Matt. I was so pissed at him right now, it's not even funny.

"What the hell was that all about, Matthew?" I screamed at him.

"What the hell was what all about?" he asked, playing dumb.

"You know what I'm talking about! Going out and getting a new tour manager without consulting the rest of the band?"

"If Johnny wasn't so busy trying to get into your pants, then....."

"Don't even try to blame it all on Johnny, Matt. We haven't even had sex yet. If you have a problem with me, then take it out on me, and not your band. You're not gonna cause your band to break up because of me. I know you're hurt about what I said to you at the hospital, but you're gonna have to learn to deal with me having a boyfriend who just happens to be in your band. You're starting to turn into our father, and I don't want that to happen."

"I know that I've been saying this a lot, but I'm really sorry. I promise I'll do better," he said, getting up, and walking over to me.

We gave each other a huge hug, and walked back into the living room, and Matt walked up to Johnny.

"Get up, man."

"No. You're probably gonna try and choke me again, or hit me, or something," Johnny said.

"Stand up for Matt, Johnny," I said.

He slowly stood up in front of Matt. Matt, pulled him into one of those manly-hug things. Johnny looked a little shocked at first, but then hugged Matt back, seeing the smile on my face.

"Congratulations man. You and my sister should be real happy together. But what I said to you at the hospital still stands," Matt said with a smirk.

"Don't worry, Shads. I don't plan on breaking her heart," he said, then came over to me and gave me a hug and a quick kiss.

Everyone in the room let out their breaths, as if a huge weight had just been lifted off their shoulders.

"Wow. I'm glad that little feud is over. I didn't want a fight to break out on stage in the middle of a song or something," Zacky said.

"Shut up! You're ruining the moment," Aileen said, punching Zacky on the arm.

"I was just lying about the whole girlfriends-not-being-able-to-go thing. They can go as long as there isn't any drama," Matt stated.

"Well, Aileen and I can go, cause we're bums, and don't have jobs," I said.

"Yes!" Zacky said.

"That doesn't mean we're gonna have sex, stupid."

"Damnit! I'm still glad that you're going. I was just kidding," Zacky said.

"What about you Acey?" Aileen said.

"I can't go. I have to keep my job to help support my mom. It's a long story. You'll eventually hear it," she said.

"Kaitlyn?"

"I can't go either. I want to stay at the bar and get really good at it. I want to be the world's best bartender!" she yelled.

"That's Jimmy's dream, too. He wants to work his ass off in this band, and then retire to be a bartender," Brian said with a laugh.

"So that means me, Johnny, Zacky, Aileen, Jimmy, Brian, Matt, and Sarah are all going?" I said.

"Yeah, I guess," Matt said.

FF A COUPLE HOURS

Kaitlyn and Brian left the house a little while ago. They wanted to spend a little more time together before the tour started. They wanted to get to know each other a little better, if you know what I mean.

Jimmy and Acey went upstairs about 5 minutes ago, and I don't think that they're gonna be coming down any time soon. Acey's giving Jimmy his going away present a little early.

The rest of us decided to watch movies and shit the rest of the night. Johnny and I took Jimmy and Acey 's normal spot on the loveseat, Zacky and Aileen took up most of the sectional, he was laying behind her with his arm over her stomach, and Matt and Sarah sat together.

We were watching Detroit Rock City, and I was getting a little tired. I had my head in Johnny's lap, Sarah and Matt had already fallen asleep with Sarah laying over him. Aileen suddenly whispered something to Zacky.

"Zacky, if you cheat on me during this tour, I will kill you," she said.

"Why would I cheat on the best girlfriend I've ever had?"

She slapped him over the head.

"Don't say corny shit like that!"

"Okay, seriously. I care too much about you to cheat on you."

"We'll see. I'll hold you to that promise," she said.

It was about 4:30 by the time we all fell asleep.