First You Fall

Toni’s P.O.V.

6:42 AM

I groaned as my eyes landed on the clock sitting on the nightstand. Shutting my eyes, I leaned closer into Zacky’s body hoping to fall back asleep. Unfortunately the very thing that had woken me up was keeping me from going back to sleep. Zacky had really worn me out earlier and my stomach grumbled lightly before I finally decided to give up on sleep and go in search of food. Moving very slowly so I wouldn’t wake Zacky, I finally made it out of the room and downstairs. I paused in front of the lounge when I spotted Brian, Jimmy and Johnny passed out in random corners of the room.

Do they ever go home?

I laughed a little to myself before walking to the nearest linen closet. I grabbed three blankets and walked back over to the lounge. I tossed a blanket over each of them before continuing on my way to the kitchen. I looked through the fridge and the cupboards for something that I could eat without having to cook. I finally settled for a bowl of dry cereal. I was tossing the cereal into my mouth when a voice spoke from the doorway, startling me and sending me flying out of my stool.

“Jesus fucking Christ Brian what the hell are you doing?” I asked, spinning around to face him.

“I was just about to ask you that.” He said walking over and sitting down across from me at the table.

“What are you doing up?” I asked ignoring his question.

“Light sleeper. Heard someone moving around and came to check it out.” Brian replied with a shrug before getting up and grabbing a beer from the fridge.

“A little early don’t you think?” I gestured to his beer before popping more cereal into my mouth.

“Not at all.” Brian said after taking a long swig and sitting back down. “You know I don’t give you enough credit.”

“For what? Not drinking until at least 8 AM?” I smirked.

“For what you did earlier. To be honest, I was never one of your biggest fans.”

“Wow thanks.” I said, rolling my eyes.

It was no big secret that I wasn’t as close to Brian as I was to everyone else. I mean we were nice to each other and I knew if he had to he would protect me just as much as the other guys but it would be out of obligation to Zacky rather than actually caring about me. He supported my relationship with Zacky but only because he knew I made Zacky happy. I never really minded all that much; I just figured he was a lot more closed off and reserved than the other guys. I knew if I was in his place I would be reluctant to trust anyone too. I doubt it’s easy being Zacky’s right hand man. All this being said I just accepted the somewhat guarded relationship I had with Brian.

“You’re bizarre. Most girls wouldn’t have the balls to deal with the things you’ve been dealing with, let alone the bimbos Zacky used to fuck around with. And you can kick ass too.”

“Yeah well I have Johnny to thank for that.” I responded with a small smile.

“Thanks for the blanket.” Was Brian’s only response as he got up and left the kitchen.

I shook my head and got up as well. After dropping my bowl in the sink I left the kitchen and went back to the bedroom. I lay down on the bed and moments later I was asleep again.

When I woke up again I was alone. I rolled over and looked at the clock.

12:17 AM

I climbed out of the bed and stretched. Thirty minutes later I was out of the shower and dressed. I went in search of Zacky and found him in the kitchen eating with Johnny and Jimmy. I walked over and hopped into Zacky’s lap while the conversation carried on as if I wasn’t even there.

“Good morning to you all too.” I said loudly after being ignored for a few minutes.

“Not a good morning for Johnny thanks to you.” Jimmy said laughing while Johnny just glared at him.

“What?” I asked confused.

“Bruises, bruises, bruises.” Jimmy said between gasps of laughter. “Between you and Zacky he got pretty fucked up.”

Suddenly I felt guilty. I had almost forgotten how much shit Johnny had to put up with the night before. Johnny must have noticed the thoughts running through my head because he immediately spoke up.

“Don’t worry, I’ve had much worse done to me.” He said with a slight shrug.

Before I could respond a door slammed and everyone looked up.

“What the fuck?” I heard Zacky say under his breath.

Seconds later, Val burst into the kitchen.

“Zacky, you need to come now!” She exclaimed while trying to catch her breath.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, moving me from his lap and jumping out of the chair.

“Matt got a call. They’re gonna move in on Michael, we need to get our shit out of there now! Matt’s already on his way there and he’s not gonna be able to do it by himself. Zacky please!” Val was practically in hysterics and I had no clue what was going on but whatever it was had to be pretty serious of Val was losing her cool.

Before I could get an explanation as to what was going on, chaos broke out. Jimmy, Johnny and Zacky all broke out into a run to the basement. By the time I got down there they were tossing guns and shit at each other.

“Where the fuck is Brian?” Zacky shouted to no one in particular.

“I’m trying to get a hold of him now.” Jimmy said, phone pressed to his ear.

“Val how long did Matt say we have?” Zacky asked a still hysterical Val.

“I don’t fucking know.” She said, starting to pace back and forth.

“Brian’s on his way there.” Jimmy said and moments later they were all heading for the stairs.

I raced up the stairs behind them and slid to a stop just as they made it out the door. I watched from the doorway as they all climbed into the car and sped off. As always, I was left alone and without a clue about what was happening. Even with my new “badass” skills, I couldn’t be one of them. I was still left behind.