Seize the Day

We were at the door to the club when Matt realized he was still holding onto my hand. “Oops, sorry,” he mumbled as he let go, allowing my arm to swing back to my side.

“Don’t be, it’s ok,” I said with a smirk. No, really… It’s very ok, I added in my head.

Luckily, it was still fairly early, in the grand rock and roll scheme of things, and there wasn’t a terrible crowd gathered at the club just yet. We were able to get in the door and to a table in the back corner quickly and quietly. As quietly as anything involving an already drunk Johnny Christ can be done anyway. He whooped and yelled and catcalled all the way through the club.

“First round’s on me, fellas. What’ll it be?” I felt like I needed to make an attempt at making amends, apologizing still for the damage I’d obviously done in the car.

“Princess, don’t you remember who you’re with? You ain’t paying for shit!” Brian had to yell over the music that suddenly just jumped about 20 decibels in volume. The club was quickly filling up.

“I really wish you’d stop calling me ‘Princess,’ Mr. Gates,” I sneered, only half joking.

“Fine. No more ‘Princess.’ ‘Mmmvuhvenny’ it is then,” he said smugly, obviously pleased with himself.

Matt was standing so close to me I could feel him chuckle, even if I couldn’t hear it. I was oddly calmed and unnerved by his proximity at the same time. “Fine. Call me whatever you want. Just call me that while we’re walking to the bar and you’re buying me a drink,” I said, turning to walk away. I knew that Matt at least was following me, but I didn’t dare sneak a look behind me. When I got to the bar, he came up next to me. I did manage to look behind me then, only to see the other guys still hanging around the table. Only he had followed.

“Look, I’m really, really sorry I’m so fucking nosy,” I hissed, extremely upset with myself. “It’s none of my business to ask questions like that, and I really, sincerely apologize.”

He took the sunglasses off, and shook his head. “No, it’s really ok. I feel like the more I talk about it, the easier it gets. And it wasn’t nosy, it was a legitimate question. Everyone in the world knew I was married, of course you’d wonder where my wife was.”

I was staring into his ridiculous hazel eyes, willing myself not to look away, telling myself it would cheapen the apology if I couldn’t even look at his face. “I’ve been divorced too, almost three years now. I know how much it blows.”

“Well, then there’s something we have in common. I’ll drink to that,” he said with a mischievous smirk crossing his lips. He waved down the bartender, and ordered two shots of Jack, another thing we had in common, apparently. “To shitty relationships?” he recommended as a toast.

“Nah, how about to good relationships that turned shitty,” I corrected wistfully.

“Perfect.” We clinked the shot glasses together and drank the shots. “Hmm. Hey man,” he called to the bartender. “Can we just get a bottle of Jack Daniel’s? Make it easier on everyone.”

“Sure thing.” The tender went into the small room behind the bar and came back with an unopened bottle of Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7.

“Ah, the best stuff on earth,” I mused.

Matt grinned again, for real, in agreement. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

Three hours and four bottles of Jack later, we were all sufficiently schwasted. Johnny, being mostly drunk when we got to the club in the first place, was nearly passed out in the next booth, Zack was dancing with a girl from some local band, trying to make it big, and Brian was at another table talking to a couple of other bands. It was just me and Matt left at our table. We’d continued to sit closer together than we needed to, but now we could blame it on the Jack. Getting touchy-feely and lovey-dovey was something whiskey did to me. Some people get mean and fight, but it does the opposite to me. I was too inebriated to gauge his own response, but since he wasn’t flailing me away or yelling at me, I didn’t think he minded.

“Dude, it’s three in the morning,” Zack slurred when he finally came back to the table.

“Damn, no wonder I’m so hungry. I haven’t eaten since I got to the airport at 6am. That’s… That’s… That’s like,” I tried to say.

“A really long damn time ago?” Matt finished for me.

“Yes. A really, really long damn time. I’m hungry,” I whined.

“I guess it’s about time to round up the troops, then.” Zack looked around the club questioningly. The crowd was thinning out considerably. “Where’s Christ?”

Matt pointed to the booth behind us. Zack went over to try to pry him off the seat. Brian, seeing the movement at the table, said his goodbyes, and headed back to our corner. “So, I guess we’re on our way out?”

“As soon as someone calls Gerald,” Matt answered.

“I’m on it,” Zack said, with the phone already to his ear, still trying to keep Johnny steadied with his other hand.

“Aw, fuck,” I groaned.

“What?” the three coherent men asked at once.

“Where are we? I don’t even know my way around the city,” I said.

“We’re on the south side of LA, this club is pretty close to most of our houses, so we’re here a lot actually. We all live in Huntington Beach. Where is Sara’s place?” Matt asked.

“Um, not far from the restaurant we were in earlier, Beverly Hills,” I slurred.

“God, are you serious?” Brian said, his tone unbelieving. “Gerald is going to hate us.”

“Why? Oh. That’s not anywhere close to here, is it?” I asked, understanding his statement.

Zack hung up his phone. “Ha. No. Exact opposite side of LA, actually. Kind of the other side of the world. Car’s on its way.”

“Shit,” I muttered. “I can’t expect your driver to haul my ass all over California because I’m drunk. I’ll get a cab.”

“Fuck that! You’re not taking an hour long cab ride.” Zack was vehemently protesting this idea, shaking his head back and forth with such force I thought he might fall over, seeing as he was a teensy bit tipsy, and supporting most of Johnny’s weight. The other two joined his chorus of disagreement.

My head was starting to ache already, having to deal with logistics. Why didn‘t I just stay at the restaurant and wait on Sara? “Well, do any of you have a better idea? I’m sure as shit not staying here at the bar!”

“Uh, well, you can stay at my place, if you’d like.” Matt was trying to keep from looking both embarrassed and eager at the same time. “I have some stuff to take care of tomorrow, I can drive you to Beverly Hills.” Zack and Brian exchanged glances, but neither said anything.

“I can’t ask that of you. You’ve already bought me enough alcohol to float an elephant, took me to my first LA club party, and kept me from having to sit by myself all night. There’s no way I’m letting you drive me all over the world tomorrow, just because I’m an idiot.” I was getting very close to the pouty stage of my drunkenness, and that’s never pretty. I tried to perk up a bit.

“How are you the idiot? We’re the ones who dragged you out here, knowing that you were already close to where Sara lived. You did walk there, after all, and we knew that you were going to have to get back.” Brian was almost defending me. “We didn’t think it through very well, either. Shadows has a point though. His place is closest, and I know for a fact he’s got some stupid shopping trip planned for the Hills tomorrow, because he tried to get me to go.”

“Really. You should stay at my place. I’ve got like six extra bedrooms.” I could tell from the smile spread across his face two things: one, that he actually was trying to get me to stay at his house, and two, that he was not used to not getting his way. It’s nature, really. Those dimples are enough to turn any female and a lot of males into a puddle of mush. “It’s a stupidly big house that too big for just me. I know a great hangover cure breakfast joint, too for the morning.”

“Ok, fine. I’m too tired to argue anymore. Oh, and I’m still hungry!” Here it comes, the whining. “Let me call Sara and check in. I’m sure she’s asleep though.” I pulled out my phone only to see that I had nine missed calls. “Uh-oh. I’m in trouble,” I said to myself.

Half the calls were from Sara, wondering where the hell I was. She was convinced that the guys had tied me up, thrown me into the back of their white Chevy creeper van, had their way with me, and then sliced me into small pieces for easy disposal. Sara’s always been big with the drama, and even bigger with horror movies. The other half of the calls were Alex, wanting me to confirm, again, that the conversation she’d held with the boys of Avenged Sevenfold had actually happened. She also wanted to make sure I was alive, but wasn’t nearly as preoccupied with that as Sara had been. Mostly Alex wanted to know if Zacky smelled good. She’s an odd one, that kid.

I dialed Sara’s number, and as expected, she didn’t pick up. After the beep I left the details. “Hey Sara, just wanted to let you know that I’m alive and haven’t had any limbs severed. I went to a club with the guys, had way much to drink and now am on the other side of LA. I’m staying with Matt in Huntington Beach tonight, and he’ll drive me to Beverly Hills in the morning. Well, it is morning now. So, later today, sometime. I don’t know. I’ll call you. Loves!” By the time I’d finished the message, Gerald and the limo were there to pick us up.

Zack climbed into the limo, half pulling Johnny behind him. Brian followed them, half pushing Johnny, cramming him in next to Zack. He crawled over them both to get to the front of the riding area to sprawl out on the bench seat. Matt and I slid in last

“We got us a hungry one back here. Can we stop for some grub somewhere?” Matt called from the back of the stretched car. Even as rich and soft as his voice was, I couldn’t bear the volume. Isn’t a hangover supposed to be the next day? I instinctively covered my ears. He grimaced as he noticed the gesture. “Sorry,” he whispered.

“Sure thing, Mr. Shadows,” came Gerald’s reply, obviously too formal for the situation.

“Thanks, G,” he said, still too loud for me, but a tad more quiet.

“Ugh. My head hurts!” I laid my head on Matt’s shoulder, hoping for comfort. However, all that bulging muscle mass isn’t exactly soft and cushy. Then again, I’m sure that I could have laid my head on an actual cloud, and it still would have exerted too much pressure to be comfortable. He raised his arm, and twisted in his seat a bit, so that my head was resting on his chest rather than his arm. After a moment’s hesitation, he cradled the arm around me.

Ah. There. That’s better. And my god, does he smell good, I thought. Maybe Al had the right idea after all. I think it was right after that thought that I drifted out of consciousness.

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Matt’s POV

She only stayed in my arms for a couple of minutes. As soon as Brian-the-dickhead pulled out his flask of Jack, she roused up again, ready to party more. “Dude, if she pukes, I am not cleaning it up!” I shouted.

“Oh, shut up,” he hissed back. The two of them had gotten drunk enough for the rest of us. Zack and I were only barely buzzed, and Johnny – Well, Johnny was Johnny-drunk, as usual. Vivienne was swigging out of the flask one moment, and the next, Brian was helping her stand up through the sunroof. Just chill, I had to tell myself. Let her have her rock star party moment. Besides, she’s pretty damn sexy when she’s having fun like this.

She and Brian had begun wolf-howling at the people, buildings, and cars as we drove through the city. Zack and I couldn’t help but laugh. It was pretty fucking hilarious, seeing the two of them, screaming at people as they walked down the sidewalks. I had my window rolled down, so I could see the reactions on their faces as we drove past. At one stop light, there was a jacked-up hoopty stopped, blaring some form of Latino rap. Brian started mocking a mariachi singer, too loudly. I’m pretty sure Vivienne was afraid we were going to get shot just then, but even the guys in the other car were cracking up. Leave it to Syn to be able to stave off a gang turf war with laughter.

When they finally re-entered the car, she stayed closer to Brian. “I’m still hungry!” she wailed, flailing her arms. Zack had to duck out of the way to make sure he didn’t get punched in the face.

“Hey, G!” I called to the driver’s cabin. “There’s a Burger King up here, right? Can we stop?”

“Sure thing,” Gerald called back, already getting into the turn lane.

“So, whatcha havin’, Princess?” Brian asked her. She glared at him, reminding him how much she hated his nickname for her. He just sniggered and ignored the look.

When Gerald stopped at the drive-thru order screen, pulling up far enough that it was the back windows at the speaker, Brian and Vivienne stood up through the sunroof again. “I want three Big Macs,” she yelled at the speaker.

“Hey, V,” Zack called, “we’re at Burger King. They don’t have those here.”

“Fine. I don’t care what it is, just give me three of them!” she said, triumphantly, making the guy taking her order laugh along with us. With that, she sat back down in the car, and allowed Brian to finish his order. We got to the window, Brian paid and got the food, still standing up through the sunroof, of course, and chatted a second with the dude working. He was a fan, so we all signed a Burger King crown for him before we left. We got our food, made sure everyone was back fully inside the car, and headed home.

Vivienne decided she’d had enough of Brian being loud and drunk and attempted to crawl over him to get back to the end of the car that Zack and I were occupying. Of course, being way drunk herself, she managed to faceplant right in Zacky’s lap. “Sorry,” she muttered, not even bothering to try to get up right away. “I’m just gonna sit here for a second, ok?”

“Hm, ok, just,” Zack said through gritted teeth, as he adjusted her position. She’d barely missed nailing him right in the balls with her head when she’d fallen, and he was still trying to make sure she wasn’t smashing anything. He looked over at me, pleading. “Dude, a little help, here?” Brian and I were laughing so hard, we could barely hear him.

I leaned over, picked her up the best I could, and dragged her over to the seat next to me. I heard Zack let out a huge sigh – he’d been holding his breath through the entire dick-smashing event. I chuckled again, as he rested his hands on his thighs. “Fuck you, dude,” he hissed. “That fucking hurt.” Brian erupted into another fit of laughs. V, now that she was sitting next to me, had snuggled up against my side, head on my chest again.

“I think she’s asleep,” I laughed. “So much for being hungry.”

Zack’s house was our first stop. He slid out of the car, kissing Vivienne on the cheek as he did. “Nice to meet you, Vivienne,” he said.

“Bye, Zacky V,” she giggled, and went back to sleep.

Brian was taking Johnny home with him, so he didn’t have to wake Lacey at home. He’d already called Lace to tell her what was up, so when we got to his place, I had to help him drag Christ out of the limo. I set Vivienne onto the seat, where she curled up in the fetal position. Once I got Johnny out of the car, Brian poked her nose. “See you later, Princess,” he laughed. She didn’t say anything or even open her eyes. She just scrunched up her nose at him.

“I’ll be back in just a second,” I whispered to her. “I gotta help Syn get Johnny inside.” She nodded and curled up tighter.

I all but carried Johnny up the sidewalk, since Brian himself was a little too drunk to be of much help. However, he was certainly alert enough to talk. “So, Vivienne is pretty awesome, Matt.”

“Yeah, I know, dude,” was the only response I could come up with.

“Well, I hate to get all mushy-gushy on you, man,” he said, “but tonight was pretty much the first time I’ve seen you smiling in about eight months, let alone actually having fun.”

I got Johnny in the house and all but dropped him on the couch. He managed to get himself in a fairly comfortable position, and began snoring loudly.

“I know. There’s something about her,” I started but couldn’t finish the statement.

“I know,” he said back. “Just remember that. You can be happy again. I know what happened fucked you up, but it’s not the end of the world.” He almost fell over as he kicked off his shoes. “Shit. Anyway, get her home, get some sleep, and thank her for being awesome for me. And for you.”

“Sure thing, dipshit,” I said, as I turned to leave.

I got back into the car, where Vivienne hadn’t moved at all. I sat on the seat next to her, and she moved so that her curled up body was formed against mine. It was only a couple of blocks up and over to my house.

“Hey, we’re almost there,” I said to her, trying to wake her up. “You think you can walk?”

“Of course I can walk,” she hissed.

“Ok, well we’re here, so let’s go,” I herded her out of the car, but not before handing what was left in the Burger King bag to Gerald. “Consolation prize?” I offered as he took the food. “Thanks, G. Have a good night.”

“You too, Matt. You got her?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got it. Thanks.” Once we were on the ground, she tried to stand up, with little success. I ended up carrying her on my back into the house and up the stairs, while she giggled in my ear the whole trip. That giggle could certainly drive me crazy, if I let it… In a good way, I thought to myself.

I took her into the largest guest room, which happened to be the one closest to mine. She slid off my back and onto the bed and sighed. “I think I’m drunk,” she giggled.

“You think you’re drunk?” I sat on the bed next to her and laughed. “I’m pretty goddamned sure you’re drunk, V.”

She managed to sit up next to me. I’d noticed through the evening, as she’d gotten more and more inebriated that she also got more and more frisky too. None of which I’d minded, of course. I just wished she wouldn’t be blaming the fucking liquor in the morning. For now, I was trying to remind myself that she was drunk off her ass, and that anything that would happen tonight would not matter. That’s not how I wanted things to go down, anyway. Not how I wanted to start things off. Start things? I asked myself. She’s only in town for like another week, douche. Nothing to start.

She was trying with everything in her cute little being to try to get me out of my pants and into bed with her. Of course, most of it turned out to be sloppy and clumsy, but it was still cute watching her try. More than once already, I’d had to catch her from falling off the bed. The only person in the world who could manage to fall off the edge of a California King sized bed – a mattress bigger than most people’s living room floor. After the fourth time rearranging her into the middle of the mattress, away from the edges of the bed, I pulled a chair from the corner of the room over toward the bed. Maybe if I wasn’t sitting next to her, it’d be easier.

“Fine!” she wailed. “You don’t want me. I don’t want you either.” She threw her hands in the air like a kid who wasn’t getting their way. I’m sure as shit she’d have stomped her foot if she’d been standing up. “I’m going to sleep now,” she muttered. She started to roll herself up into the blankets, but stopped. “Fuuuuuck. I can’t sleep in these.” She started fumbling with the buttons of her jeans.

“Do you need some help?” I asked her, trying not to laugh at the trouble she was having with a simple button.

“No!” She pointed at me. “You didn’t want me undressed, you don’t get to do the undressing.” She fought with the button and zipper for another couple of minutes before she was finally able to get them undone. After about fifteen minutes, the jeans and the fishnet tights she’d been wearing underneath them, came off. She pitched them at the wall, and fell back onto the pillows. “Are you sure you don’t want to at least cuddle?” she asked one last time.

“Nah, I should stay over here,” I said, grinning at her. Man, she’s gonna be pissed later, I couldn’t help but think.

“Fine,” she huffed again. She pulled the comforter over her head and fell asleep.

When I was sure she was actually asleep, I went to my own room. Even though it was well past 4am, I wasn’t really tired. I felt weird. It was like I was all jazzed up on caffeine or something. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep, so I tried to find something else quiet to occupy my time. I started out playing some video games, but I didn’t have the attention span for that. Fuck, dude. That’s all I’ve done for months, and now I can’t even sit through a fifteen minute run? Suddenly, it hit me what this feeling was. It’s what I felt like when I wanted to write. The last eight months, I had been trying to force myself to write something, and couldn’t. Now it was literally trying to get out of me. I had to search high and low for a notebook, when I used to have them laying all over the fucking house. Before all the shit with Val & me went down, I was always thinking up lines, choruses, just phrases that might be able to be used somewhere, sometime, so I had notebooks and paper laying everywhere. Since I hadn’t been using them, they’d all managed to magically disappear.

I finally found a ledger pad in a drawer in the hallway, and went toward the studio. I peeked in on V one more time, just to make sure she was ok, and hadn’t puked all over herself in her sleep. She hadn’t and was still asleep, so I went into the room across the hall. I sat at the keyboard in the fully soundproofed room and I played. I played, sang, and wrote until I had to find a new notebook to write, doodle, scratch, and scribble in, then I wrote some more. I only stopped when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I was shocked when I touched the screen for it to tell me that it was 9:30am and Brian was calling me.

“Uh, hello?” I answered, voice cracking from overuse.

“Hey, you ok?” he asked.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, I’m good. Just haven’t been asleep yet,” I told him.

“What? Why?” he shot back, shocked. When my pause was too long, he kept going. “I know V wasn’t’ in any shape to…”

“I’ve been writing, asshole,” I cut him off.

“Wait, writing? Like music? Singing?” he said skeptically.

“Yes, fucker. Music. I’ve been singing since before 5am, that’s why my voice sounds like shit and why I haven’t been asleep.” I looked down at the notebooks I’d filled with music and lyrics, barely remembering some of it coming out.

“Oh,” was all he could manage for a second.

“Yeah, I know.” I did know. I knew exactly what he was thinking. Any normal writing and recording cycle we’ve gone through for any of our albums, it’s been me kicking the other guys in the ass to get them to work on new material. But all of them knew how much I hadn’t written. It’s like it was just non-existent in my head anymore.

“Got anything good?” he asked. His tone was genuine, honestly wanting to know what I’d come up with.

“Yeah, actually.” I re-read to myself some of the lyrics I’d written. Of course, the music that didn’t have lyrics yet was what I wanted to pay attention to, but that was something that wasn’t going to ever see the light of day, particularly with those fuckers. That’s the melody that so badly wanted out of my head at 4 o’clock in the morning, and it was mine. Well, mine and hers, but I was pretty sure she wasn’t ever going to know about it, either. There was no reason to.

“Dude, that’s awesome,” he said, pulling me out of my head trip. “That’s really awesome. Can we hear some of it, you think?”

“Yeah, that would be cool,” I agreed. “I need someone else to hear it and make sure I’m not just spouting a bunch of bullshit.”

“Fuck that. I know how you write, man,” Brian chided. “You and I both know that it’s not really in you to write bullshit.”

“Well, eight months ago, I would have told you it wasn’t in me to go without writing anything at all for eight months, either.” I hissed the words before I thought about them.

“Touche,” he said. “You’re right. But I’ll bring Zack over later and you can play some of it for us?”

“Sure,” I told him.

“So, is V up and alive yet?” he asked. He let the grin on his face weave into his tone, and I welcomed the change of subject.

“Actually, I have no idea,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck. “I’ve been in the studio since she went to sleep. I haven’t checked on her in awhile.” I’d been sitting at the keyboard for too long, and was stiff.

“Well, anyway, call me later, and we’ll hang out,” he said. “Bye, dickface.”

“Fuck off, jackass,” I said back into the handset before hanging up.

He’s right, I should at least check on V, I thought. I had no idea I’d been in here that long.

I went to the room across the hall, opened the door and looked in. She had barely even moved. She was completely rolled into the comforter, only her hair sticking out the top.

She’s still out. I should be able to get a little bit of a nap. I closed the door and went into my own room. I crawled into my own bed and fell asleep almost immediately. I was awoken two hours later by my phone. “What?” I growled as I answered, not even bothering to look who was calling.

“Good morning to you too, Sunshine.” Johnny was way too happy for as drunk as he’d been the night before.

“What do you want?” I grumbled.

“Two things -- making sure Vivienne made it through the night alive and to see if you were really writing again.” He finished his statements quickly, like he thought I was going to cut him off.

“She’s not awake yet. At least not that I know of. I was asleep until just now, dickbag,” I shot. I heard him laugh. “And yeah, I wrote a lot last night... This morning, what the fuck ever, actually.” I tried to keep the gloating to myself. “Brian and Zack are coming over later to check some of it out.”

“Well, that’s another reason I’m calling,” he said.

Right, he stayed at Brian’s, I reminded myself. Of course he’d heard all about it.

“Shit. You all are on your way, aren’t you?” I guess I should have known. “How long?”

“Be there in about twenty minutes,” he laughed.

“Fuck,” I sighed. “Fine. See you in a few.” I ended the call. I hadn’t been sleeping well anyway, I told myself. And I should check on V.

I opened the door to the room where she was sleeping. It took all I could muster not to laugh out loud. She literally hadn’t moved. The tuft of black hair was still sticking out the end of her fucking sleeping burrito or whatever she’d done.

“Hey, V,” I called softly, just to see if she’d answer. I chuckled at the silence.

“Oooooooooaughhh… It’s your FUCKIN’ nightmare… HA HA HA HA!”

I laughed again. That is too fucking bizarre -- Hearing my own voice screaming from her phone. I picked it up off the nightstand and answered it, still not getting so much as a whimper from her.

“Hey, Sara,” I said into the handset. “Vivienne’s still sleeping.”

“Oh, hey.” She sounded a little shocked. “Is this Matt?”

“Yeah, sorry,” I answered. “She got really, really drunk last night, and stayed at my place, rather than driving all the way across to Beverly Hills. She’s ok, just still sleeping,” I explained trying to calm her. “I’ll get her back to BH as soon as she wakes up, ok?”

“Sure, that’s fine,” she said. “I was just making sure she was alive.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “She’s fine, just gonna be really fucking hungover.”

“I figured she would be,” she laughed. “She was already drinking Jack before she left the restaurant. That usually doesn’t end well for her.” After just a second’s pause, she added, “Thanks for taking care of her.”

“No problem. I’ll have her call you when she does wake up.”

“Ok. Thanks, Matt!” She seemed satisfied with the conversation.

“Talk to you later!” I said, hanging up. V still hadn’t moved an inch. I crossed the hall into the studio to get ready for the guys. I had to decide what I should and shouldn’t play for them. I took the sheets that held V’s melody and put them in my room as I changed clothes. Just then, I heard knocking.

Good fucking timing, I thought as I ran down the stairs to open the door.

“Hey,” I said as my three bandmates stepped into the front hall.

“She’s still asleep?” Brian asked, eyes shining, thrusting an armload of clothes or something into my hands.

“Yeah,” I answered. “I’m almost wondering if I should start worrying. She hasn’t so much as moved since I talked to you earlier.” I saw his mind working. “Don’t even think about it!” I yelled, but too late. He was already bounding up the stairs. “Shit,” I muttered, running to catch up to him.

When I got to V’s room, Brian was full-on jumping up and down on the bed. “Um, dude,” he said, “you’re right. She’s fuckin’ out.”

“Come on, leave her alone,” I said, ushering him out of the room, closing the door.

“Those are some clothes I brought over for her,” Brian said, pointing at the pile in my hands. “She’s about the same size as Michelle, give or take, and she’ll probably want to change eventually.”

“Good call,” I said. I hadn’t even though about that. I set the stack of clothes in the bathroom, and rejoined the group.

“Right,” Zack said, as we walked across the hall. “Whatcha got?” I handed him the stack of pages of lyrics and music.

“Shit,” Johnny said, taking a few of the pages. “You did all this this morning?” His eyes were wide.

“Yeah,” I laughed. “It’s like there was so much bottled up for so long, it just all came out at once.”

“This is some good shit, dude,” Brian said scanning his handful of paper. I didn’t have any problems letting them read most of what I’d written. They’d been not only bandmates but brothers since like middle school. They’d seen just about every scribble and note I’d ever written down.

“It is good,” Zack started. He shot me an intense look. “But where’s hers?” he asked, bobbing his head toward the door.

Damnit. Zack’s always been the smart one, I thought.

“What?” I asked. “Whose?”

“Good try, Shads,” he said. “Really? You don’t think,” he continued, now addressing Brian and Johnny as well as me, “that it’s a little too coincidental that you were the happiest I’ve seen you in like two goddamn years last night after hanging out with V, and now suddenly you’re a fucking geyser of new material?” He looked at me directly, smiling just a little bit. “You may not have written it down, but it started with one for her. And you know what? That’s ok.”

“So what if it did?” I asked. I’m pretty sure I was blushing, but they were gracious enough, for once, to not bring it up. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“Fair enough,” Brian said. “It did work. And we’ll hear hers one day, if you want.”

“So play something!” Johnny said, saving me the trouble of having to change the subject myself.

I sat at the keyboard and walked them through a couple of the the choruses I’d come up with, taking input and editing the sheets of paper as I went. There were a couple of bits that all of them agreed could definitely turn into something Avenged Sevenfold. Mostly, they were happy that we were talking music again.

“Ok, we’re out,” Zack said when they decided to leave. “Be back here later this evening for usual Saturday zombie killing, cool?”

“Yeah, I’ll let you know if I’m still out,” I said. “Have to get V back to Sara in the Hills sometime today.”

“Right,” he said with a wink. “Hey man, I’m really glad you got over that block. If she’s what it takes, then fine.”

Brian nodded. “He’s right. I know she’s not from around here, but she’s definitely worth keeping around.” He looked up the stairs. “If she’s not dead already, that is.”

“In which case, better get a heater,” Johhny chimed in, with a huge grin.

“My god, Johnny Christ,” I managed to choke out between laughs, “you are disgusting!”

After I shut the door, I went back upstairs to my room and retrieved the other pages of music that I’d kept from the guys. I spent a little while in the studio playing it through, adding harmonies and trills here and there. Finally, I decided to try again to wake her up.

I went into her room and perched on the end of the huge bed. She’d at least managed to stay in the middle of it after I’d left her. Not too long after I sat down, just before I had talked myself into unrolling her blankets and making sure she was actually breathing, she stirred. I could tell she was taking a moment to try to register her surroundings. I doubt she remembers where the hell she is, I thought. I guess she noticed the motion of the bed where I’d just readjusted my legs, because she finally looked right at me.