Shattered Secrets

In the car, Brian cranked the radio and began to strum his fingers against the steering wheel as if it was instinct. He drove us back to my place like he had been there a thousand times and it made me wonder how he found my house in the first place.

“Brian?” I questioned, catching his gaze as he reached to turn down the music.

“Yeah?” he asked, sending me a goofy smile across the center console.

I held back my smile as I answered, “How’d you know my address?” I turned to peek at Bronx and he sunk back into his seat with a guilty look on his face.

“You gave it to me the first time I met you," he told me, "Plus, Bronx told me when I said I had lost that piece of paper.” Brian said simply, smiling and shrugging off the fact that my five year old son had told a virtual stranger his address.

I stared at Bronx through the back side window, seeing as he was sitting behind me and then he smiled sheepishly and shrugged like Brian had done. I didn’t lighten my glare but yet looked away so he’d know that I was disappointed in him.

Within a few minutes we were back to my place. I helped Bronx out of the car and he raced up to the door, barely looking at me, as soon as his little feet hit the pavement. Brian walked around to my side of the car and placed my keys in my hand with a cocky smirk. I rolled my eyes at him playfully and began to walk to my front door so that I could unlock it and let us in so that I could make dinner.

Bronx moved out of my way as I reached to stick the key in the lock. But I was shocked as the key went in but wouldn't turn, seeing as the door was already unlocked. Brian noticed this and pushed Bronx and I back as he opened the door and took a step in. I pulled Bronx to me by his hand and followed after Brian. I sighed loudly when I noticed Greg sitting on the living room couch watching T.V. Brian, not knowing who Greg was sent me a look at my sigh of relief.

"Don't worry Bri, it's my ex." I told him before turning to Greg, who had noticed us and stood up, "What are you doing here?" I asked, sliding my arms over my chest.

Greg turned and stepped over to us. The glare on his features aimed right at Brian who took Bronx and ushered him up the stairs. "I wanted to come apologize for not trusting you. But I guess, I don't need to, do I?" Greg answered as soon as Brian was out of the room.

"Oh no," I defended, "You still owe me an apology. But you need to leave."

Greg scoffed. "Why? So that you can spend more time with your new boyfriend? It's only been a couple of days Nissa and you've already moved on..."

I growled. "What are you implying, Greg? There's nothing going on with Brian and I - he's my friend."

Greg stared at me, searching me for any sign of lying. Once his eyes traveled back up to my own he seemed to find what he was looking for because he let out a noise of disbelief. "I hope he's worth ending our relationship over, Nissa. I hope you realize what I see in your eyes. You're falling in love with the wrong guy, Niss." Greg said. His tone of voice was taunting. Like he was telling me things he knew I wouldn't understand. And I stayed quiet trying to figure out what he meant and he took it as a sign of agreement so he began talking again.

"That band, Avenged Sevenfold, you'd do anything for that band. Not even the people, the legacy mostly. You moved to Huntington to be closer to where they all came from. Brian might think that it's just a coincidence, but you need Avenged Sevenfold more than I'll ever understand. So this is me giving up. You love that band too much for me to ever live up to."

I stared at him with a look of disbelief before I replied, "Greg, you're talking crazy." I murmured quietly, just remembering that Brian was upstairs and could probably hear everything that Greg had said. And even though the part about me moving here to be close to the Avenged Sevenfold legacy was true, I still felt slightly embarrassed to have Brian or any of the guys know that. Even if they didn't know that Greg was only partially correct and that they, as people, meant more to me than anything else.

Greg chuckled and shook his head, "Just wait, Nissa," he murmured, "You'll see. One of these days you'll have to chose between the band and your son. You chose the band over me, lets see who you'll chose next time..."

I shook my head and bit my lip, trying to stop the tears from hitting my cheeks. It wasn't that what he said had upset me completely, but the fact that he had acted like this before, but promised me that he had changed. This wasn't the Greg that I had met years before, this was Greg filled with malice and heartlessness that I had only met a few times before.

I closed my eyes and bit down harder on my bottom lip. I was so lost in my own world that I didn't notice Brian coming down the stairs until his arms wrapped around my waist from the side and he placed a kiss on my forehead. I reached out and placed my hands on Brian's sides, grasping onto his shirt for dear life as I shuttered with sobs. Brian shuffled so that he was standing in front of me slightly, facing Greg and figuratively shielding me from Greg's harsh words.

"I think you should go," Brian stated, his demand ringing clear through the room.

"You'll stay here and comfort Nissa, right? Be the night in shinning armor that she wishes I was," Greg said darkly, chuckling, "Just you wait and see what she's like. You think you're some big shot, don't you?"

Brian glared. "I don't have my fucking defend myself from you!" Brian said darkly, taking a step towards Greg angrily. I reached out and grabbed the sides of Brian's shirt and pulled him back to me. I leaned up and rested my chin on his shoulder.

"Don't let him get to you," I whispered, feeling Brian relax. Brian shook his head as if he was shaking the anger off and then he nodded. I collected myself by then and I walked around Brian, holding back my smile as he wrapped his arms around my waist, his fingers on my hip bones.

"Get out, Greg." I demanded, "I'm sorry, but you need to go."

Greg smirked and walked past us. When I heard the front door slam close I let out a relieved gasp and turned around to bury my head in Brian's chest. He brought his arms up to wrap around my shoulders and my own went around his slim waist as he rested his chin on my head.