Now Your Nightmare Comes To Life

Johnny was lying on his back, staring across the living room he shared with his boyfriend at the TV screen. The noise of the show he was watching faded behind the heavy song that played out of his vibrating phone. Rolling off of the sofa, Johnny landed sitting upright and grabbed the phone off of the table eagerly.

"Bri?" His voice was bright and chirpy for the late hour, but his boyfriend was on the phone on the way home from an interview. "Are you gonna be home soon - Matt?"

Johnny fell silent as the voice on the other end of the phone line spoke. The mobile slid out of his hands and fell to the floor, his body crumpling into a heap on the carpet. Giddy laughter shook him from head to toes and he thumped on to his side and giggled loudly at the phone. "Liar!" He screamed through his laughter, kicking at the sofa as he did. "Such a funny joke Mattie!" The unfamiliar ending on his friend's name felt foreign and new on his tongue so he screamed it some more down the phone, choking on his breath as he tried to laugh at the same time.

"Mattie! Mattie, Mattie, Mattie!" He slammed his fist down on the phone and it went black, cracked and lifeless as he lifted his now painful fist and cradled it to his chest. "Such a comedian, making jokes all the time. So funny!" Johnny clenched his sore fist and raised it over his head, bringing it down forcefully each time he spoke.

"So." A bruise along his cheekbone. "Fucking." A black eye to match. "Funny!" A bleeding nose to color his face.

There was a bottle of cheap crappy whiskey Zacky bought them for Christmas. They had never got round to drinking it after Jimmy passed away, but it had been stored, perfect for a time like this.

---

Matt shoved the key in the front door of the flat and cursed loudly when it refused to fit. He flicked through the other keys on his key ring until he found the right one, but by then his hands were shaking so badly he couldn't hold it still long enough to open the door. Eventually he gave in and jammed it in awkwardly, combing the key with the weight of his body leaning, straining against the door. It opened suddenly, giving way and almost depositing Matt on the floor.

He caught himself quickly, and stood still as he listened for any noise at all. A weak giggle erupted from the sofa, and he raced towards it. Johnny lay on the seat with a trickle of blood dripping out of his nose onto a photo album. The picture he was staring at held the whole band inside its frame. In it, Jimmy laughed at Brian as he wrapped his arms around Johnny's waist and rested his head on the small bassist. Matt had a bright glint to his eyes as he stood with his brothers, and Zacky stood proudly in the centre.

"Johnny?" Matt whispered softly; he didn't dare to touch the delicate man.

Expressive eyes met his own, and a delighted voice said, "When's Bri coming home Matt? He hasn't phoned yet."

---

The next few weeks had been murder. Explaining Brian's death caused Johnny to relapse into fits of hysterical laughter and long bouts of giggling, so eventually Matt just didn't mention Brian at all. He removed all the pictures of Brian from his house, and moved Johnny in. He donated a lot of money into adding a hallway with a bedroom at the end of it for Johnny, and did his best to hide all reminders of his lead guitarist. Every now and again he'd take Johnny to visit Jimmy's grave and tell him they'd already had the funeral, but Johnny could not move on past the day of Brian's death.

Matt tried to live as normal life with Johnny, but if left to his own devices Johnny only painted gruesome scenes of the car crash, or wrote horrible songs about Brian's death and his life after death which made Matt flinch when he read them. Even talking Johnny into having a bath had been almost impossible, and he required special circumstances before he'd comply.

It had taken only one weekend with Zacky to fuck that up. With their band whittled down to three official members, and only two still able to perform, Avenged Sevenfold had disbanded unofficially and disappeared off the face of planet.

Matt tried his best to avoid Zacky nowadays. The rhythm lived practically pernamantly at bars and strip joints new Gena had left him, and he spat poison from his lips whenever Johnny was around or mentioned.

Matt's family was well and truly broken now.