I Remember The Day She Told Me It's Over

Zack wasn't going to like this.

I mean I hoped that he'd understand, but jealousy didn't come with instructions. No pamphlet would tell him to trust me first and then consider common sense before accusation. No, Zack would see revenge since I use to be so good at it. There isn't really any way to break it to your boyfriend that you don't really know what happened after about midnight, but you totally slept in your panties and a T-shirt on a guy's couch, who to top it off, also happens to be your ex.

"Fantastic," I muttered harshly as I pushed myself up into a sitting position.

Becca stirred on the black leather couch across from the love seat I was currently occupying. She'd had a ton of fun last night and instantly bonded with everyone, including Hef, who had asked her himself to do a test period at the mansion. I didn't think she'd ever even thought about it happening to her, but it had. What she did with that offer now was up to her.

"Hey, did you sleep well?"

He startled me and I jumped slightly before turning to look over my shoulder. Brody had emerged from the hallway in nothing but a few tattoos, cargo shorts and a smile.

"Yeah, thanks." I nodded and quickly averted my eyes for a moment. The 'Jenner' tattoo had not been there along his ribcage when we dated, but it deinitely looked hot.

"You know the bed would have been far more comfy than that love seat." He smiled and tugged open the door to his fridge. He pulled out a bottle of water and let the door slam shut.

"Yeah," I laughed softly. "I'm sure Avril would appreciated that, just like Zack."

"Oh they'd understand."

"Sure they'd understand, just like Jayde did when you hooked up with Audrina."

He smirked. "You are such a closet Hills fan."

I rolled my eyes and pulled my knees up to my chest beneath the blanket. "If I do watch it, it's because I've always had a thing for Sleazy T."

He nearly spit out his mouthful of water. "Sleazy T, huh? Sure it's not Justin you're thinkin about?"

"Justin Bobby? Oh god no," I shook my head vigorously. "He's far too much of a greasy cliche."

Brody nearly choked on his water again and chose to set it down on the counter top before he did so. "Well if it wasn't for Abby, I'd introduce you."

I shook my head and ran my fingers back through my hair before running my fingertip gently underneath each eye, testing just how much my make up had ran or smeared over night. "No, let him be a fantasy."

Brody rolled his eyes and stretched. Bentley, the dog Kristin had given him as a gift a couple years ago, suddenly came tearing out of his room looking for attention and I was reminded of Ich and Zacky. Hopefully Zack wasn't too busy this afternoon, and he wasn't going to flip off the handle at me when I told him about last night. I was craving some alone time with him.

Becca stirred again and her eyes slowly came open. "Dear god," she muttered. I hoped the comment was aimed at the sunlight streaming through the windows rather than at myself.

"Morning."

She grumbled something before rubbing her eyes lightly. "One of you has to own asprin."

This time Brody chuckled as well. "Oh believe me, I have everything that could possibly cure a hangover." He disappeared down the hall to the washroom and I took this moment of alone time with Becca seriously.

"Becca, we need to get going...so don't let him talk you into staying."

She slowly sat up and stretched her arms out in front of her. "Fair enough. Despite my throbbing head, I'm actually kinda hungry."

I nodded and reached for my dress which was laying on the floor, just like Becca's.

"I love how we were too hammered to be dumped in a cab and taken home, but not too hammered enough to know that sleeping in ten thousand dollars worth of clothing wasn't a good idea."

"Yes, Maggie would have killed us. Speaking of which, we have a meeting this morning, remember?"

"Here we go." Brody sauntered back into the room, aspirin bottle in hand. "You guys leavin' already? At least let me take you for breakfast?"

I shook my head. "Thanks, Brody, but we have to get going. By the time we get cleaned up at my place and maybe grab something quick to eat, it'll be time to meet up with Maggie."

"Morning meeting huh? Ouch." He tossed Becca the bottle of asprin then headed to the fridge to grab her a bottle of water. "Do you guys want a ride? I'm gonna head to the gym then."

I thought about it for a moment, debating on whether being seen with Brody in the early morning hours would be a possibility. Not that I was concerned about what others thought, I just wanted to tell Zacky we'd hung out before he read about it. Not that it should really matter anyway, a relationship of trust is what we were aiming for.

Becca swallowed a couple asprin and groaned, "a ride would be fantastic."

***

I stared at the choices of breakfast foods on the menu. My stomach rumbled, growling at me like a starving lion. This situation was always a bad one for me to be in. Sure, I'd enjoy the food now, but I'd be sick about it later.

"Come on, dude. Plenty of time to shed a few pounds before we go back on tour," Syn patted his own stomach triumphantly.

I rolled my eyes. While Avenged was in it's infancy, Brian and I were comfy just being ourselves. That and we didn't have a fucking dime to eat. Now that we'd sky rocketed to a ridiculous level, looking good was something we both had to aim for. Even Matt had shed a few pounds, and chosen to bulk up in muscle.

"Boys, with bodies like those, a few pounds is the last thing you need to worry about losing."

"Well Terri, we can't exactly lose our pants in public like you want."

Nice move, Brian.

"Please Syn, by all means, keep your pants on. I'm only hot for what's beneath Zacky's pants."

Brian busted out laughing. I would have to if she wasn't looking at me so seriously. That sparkle in her eye was my warning. We hadn't met up for some time now, and it seemed to be getting to her. Either that or she was just toying with me. That wouldn't surprise me either.

"You better start looking for someone else to hastle, Terri. Zack's got himself a steady."

Brian picked up his menu again and pointed to what he wanted, "I'd like this."

The way she looked at me now was almost vicious, and I was glad we were out in public. "A girlfriend huh? Where'd you meet her?"

"She's a playmate."

Brian was not helping my case, but he sure was getting a kick out of her reactions.

"I've known her forever." I interjected. Terri wasn't malicious by nature, but provoked I knew she could be. I wanted her as a friend, she'd been in my life long before we started sleeping together, and just because the sex was gone, didn't mean we couldn't remain friends.

"Oh, well in that case, congratulations." She was lying through her teeth, but I was okay with that.

Brian rubbed his eyes and sighed lightly. "We need some beer too, keep drunk, that's the key. Then you never have to deal with the hangover."

I couldn't agree with him more. "And I'll have the breakfast omlet."

Terri took our orders and left us a moment later with a promise to be back soon with our beer.

Brian leaned back in his chair and placed his right leg on top of the other while resting his head in his hand. "I had no idea she fuckin' worked here. Or I promise, I wouldn't have brought you."

I shrugged. "I'd have had to deal with her one day." I checked my phone and was happy to see a text from Bailey. I hadn't heard from her since yesterday, and it was kind of bugging me. However I sure as hell wasn't gonna be the one to bug her to call me. The text simply said, 'morning babe." But it made my morning none the less. When I looked up again Brian was waving Johnny over.

"Hey," he said breathily as he plopped down into the closest chair. "I decided to go for a run, let me tell you how fuckin dumb that was. It's so hot out."

Getting in shape was obviously gonna be the thing to do these next few months, and that was fine with me. I just hated the process. However, maybe it could create some bonding time for me and Bailey, since she had to be in the gym at some point every day.

It wasn't five minutes later when Matt and Jimmy joined us. Terri had to come back several times with pitchers of beer and eventually everyone's breakfast. I ate quietly and listened mostly. Everyone was stoked on the new album and I was thankful for an easy early morning conversation.

***

"Oh my god, who in their right mind has a meeting at six in the fucking morning, especially after an all night drinking binge?"

I walked steadily beside Becca, hitching my purse a little further up my shoulder. "That's Maggie for you. Mostly I think she does it as a way of venting frustration. You know, she does all the dirty work while we get to play, type of thing."

"She needs to loosen up, or not send us out the night after a party." After our morning meeting we were on our way in search of something to eat. We rounded the corner of a building and Becca came to a halt, nearly making me run into her. "God this day just couldn't get any worse."

I held back a laugh as we both stared at the massive line up heading down the street for Pinkberry.

"Careful, your day hasn't really even started yet." I warned her playfully.

"I thought this was more of a dessert place than anything else."

"Frozen yogurt pretty much works for any meal of the day. But I'll let you in on a secret. There's a place just futher down Melrose in a strip mall east of Vine called Gelato Day. They have more flavors and I just genuinely like it better. Plus for future reference, they also have parking."

We began down the sidewalk again, picking our way through the crowd that made up the line. Our heels clicked rhythmically against the pavement, and I made a mental note to grab some flats or flip flops from home before heading to Huntington Beach.

"I can't believe how busy this place is in the morning."

"It's West Hollywood. It's always scary busy." I reached up and slid my sunglasses up into my hair. "So where are you from?"

"Vegas. But not like downtown-close-to-the-action-casinos-and-hotels-all-night Vegas. I live....I guess you'd call it the outskirts." Becca stated with a smile. "I miss it, but I don't, you know? My brother is a pro motocross rider. That's why I was going to school, I love the sport and managing riders would be a job I'd love."

"What inspired you to take Maggie's offer?" I was curious, sports management would be a hard, yet rewarding job. And she was on the right track.

"Quick money. The glamour and publicity were a side note. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying it so far, I just can't see this being a life long thing."

"Don't let it be." I stated honestly. "Do it while you enjoy it, then get the hell out."

"So what about you? Actually you know what, start with last night. How the hell did you meet those boys? The Berry's right?"

"Oh, Matt and Jason. They're a pair of phenominal guys, and I've known them nearly all my life. They're best friends with the guys in the band Avenged Sevenfold, and I went to school with them."

"So you're good friends with that whole crew, huh?"

I shook my head. "No, I am actually not well liked by any in that group, other than Zack. And that has taken time."

She looked at me with a slight frown. "I have to ask why."

I told her about everything pertaining to Zacky, from middle school to highschool, about bumping into him and rekindling, about him sleeping with Terra, and about my crazy jealousy.

"So she's the one from last night. The one you punched out at that party? Nice work. She just looks like she needs it."

I couldn't help but laugh. One more point on the board for team Bailey.

"So how did you meet Brody?"

We waited for the lights to change and crossed the street quickly, moving across the hot parking lot towards the strip mall. I told her about meeting Spencer at a club and being invited to his condo for a party where I met his then best friend, Brody Jenner. "We dated just short of a year."

"Wow, so it was kind of serious?"

It would have been, if I had totally committed, but I was new to the celebrity thing. I wasn't really friends with any of the girls that were filming the show with him, and I refused to be in any of the episodes. The brutal truth was, even if I couldn't admit it to myself, Zacky was always the one in the back of my mind. The one whom all others were compared to. I'd fucked up by leaving him, but there was no way in hell I'd admit then.

"Kind of. I don't think we were really meant to be together you know. We were kind of...the party couple."

We neared the store and moved quickly across the small parking lot. Becca pulled open the door for me. "Yeah, those relationships are hard."

We ordered then picked a small table outside underneath some palm trees. "So what about you? Anyone at home waiting for you?"

Becca stirred her yogurt lightly then looked up at me. "Actually yes, I think. I dunno. I mean he was pissed that I was coming to LA, to model of all things, and we had this huge fight, and now he's traveling the racing circuit and I only get to talk to him once and a while. I'm hoping when we get a bit of a break here to go see him."

I offered her a weak smile. "Well if he's smart, he'll be running into your arms." She nodded and fell silent. I really didn't have anything encouraging to say to her at the moment. Zack and I were kind of in the same place. Life would be so much more simple if trust was easily attained.

After a moment of silence she spoke up again. "So I think I'm gonna call Hef."

"Yeah?" I smiled up at her. "Gonna be a bunny?"

"Test period first, Bailey."

"Oh please," I dipped my spoon into my strawberry frozen yogurt and smiled. "His only decision will be which month of the calender to put you on."

"Hopefully," she grinned. "So any plans for the rest of the day?"

"I wanna see Zack. I miss him."

"Totally understandable."

We ate in relative silence after that and afterwards she called a cab even though I'd offered to drive her home.

"You need to see that boy ASAP and not waste another hour driving me home," had been her response.

I tugged my t-shirt down and smoothed it over my stomach before standing up and slipping on my blazer. "Alright, I will see you early tomorrow morning for the Coffin Case shoot. Remember don't drink too much of anything after about ten. No breakfast. Get lots of sleep and no make-up or hair products in the morning."

She sighed then forced a grin. "Alright, I will meet you outside the studio tomorrow."
We hugged quickly and I watched her jump into her waiting cab. I dug my phone out and began walking down the street back towards where I'd parked my car. As I walked I dialed Zack's cell and listened to it ring.

***

"It's, Bailey."

"You gonna invite her to join us?"

I looked up from my phone. It surprised me that Jimmy would even ask, since it was Meg who truly didn't enjoy Bailey's company. I'd always hoped they'd warm up to her at some point but I hadn't expected it to be so soon. The timeline lead me to believe that this was more of a curteous invite rather than one of true friendship though.

I answerd it before she decided to hang up.

"Hey, Bail."

"Hey babe, what are you up to?"

"We're just eating breakfast, then we're heading to the studio. What are you up to? How was your night?"

"Umm," she paused and I hated to question it but she sounded like she wasn't sure what to say next. "The night was awesome. I have to thank Matt and Jason, they made it a ton of fun. And I met up with some old friends. Becca and I stayed at Brody's since it was close. We had a meeting this morning, and we just finished up with breakfast, now I'm on my way to the gym and then I have the rest of the day off."

I follwed her every word, but hearing about them staying at Brody's caught me a bit off gaurd.

"How'd you end up at Brody's?"

"Well it was really early this morning when they booted us out. Matt and Jason had left earlier and Brody lives not too far away so he offered us the couches."

"Yeah? How long have you guys been friends?"

"Years." She sighed. "Zack are you honestly pissed about this?"

"No." It was a small white lie. Truthfully I was more jealous than pissed. "I want to see you today."

"I was hoping you'd say that. Are you supposed to be in the studio at a certain time?"

"I really should be there all day. But I'm gonna break the rules for a few hours. I'll meet you at your place at eleven."