Paint Me an Image

I was woken up by the sounds of yelling in the morning. I sighed and slipped down from the bunk, screaching a little when I realized that it was higher up than I was used to.

My feet met the ground with a thud and I sighed before turning to my left and walking into the front of the moving bus. I came face to face with a screaming match between Zacky and Matt.

"Don't you fucking think how my brother is going to feel when he finds out about this?" Zacky yelled as Brian tried to pulled him away from Matt.

Matt scoffed, "I don't know, why doesn't big brother Zacky swoop in and save the day like always? Nothing can hurt your precious brother when you're there!"

Zacky growled and fought against Brian's restraint. "Why don't you go find some other girl, Sanders! Imogen has been my friend for years and I don't need you ruining the relationship that she has with my family!"

Matt rolled his eyes, "I didn't hear her calling you when she left either, Baker. Why don't you just mind your own fucking business and let us be happy together!"

"Because she fucking hates you and is only using you as a rebound from my brother!" Zacky yelled in Matt's face, causing the bigger man to try and punch him. But Johnny hopped up off of the couch and stepped between them, shoving Matt back with a little help from Arin.

I felt Andre walk up behind me and slip past me. He stood in the middle of the guys and then spoke. "Why don't we let Image speak for herself, for once."

I sighed and walked further into the room, going over to Matt and taking his hand in mine. I looked to Zacky who Brian had released and glared. "You're wrong, you know," I stated, "Matt is not just some rebound."

Zacky scoffed, "Like hell he isn't."

I shook my head, "He's not."

"Then what is he?" Zacky questioned, "How do you go from being with a guy like my brother to a guy like Matt?"

I shrugged, "I don't know Zacky, but it happened. Your brother knows I'm not with him anymore and soon enough he'll know that I'm with Matt and then it'll be over and done with and you two can stop trying to beat the hell out of each other."

Zacky shook his head, "This is going to devistate him."

Matt rolled his eyes. "He's a big boy, he can handle it."

I jabbed Matt in the ribs with my elbow and sent him a look that was begging him to be nice. He sighed and rolled his eyes again, shutting his mouth. Then I turned back to Zacky. "I'm sorry, Zack," I told him, "I care about your brother but he's just not the type of person I can be with. I'm not hardwired to be with nice guys."

I heard Andre chuckle next to me and I turned to glare at him, warning him not to say, "I told you so" like I knew he would soon enough.

"What the hell arre you talking about, Image?" Zacky questioned bluntly.

I shrugged, "I don't date nice guys, Zacky. I never have. And now, right now, I don't think your brother would be able to handle me and the baggage that comes along too."

Zacky just gave me a blank stare as Matt tightened his grip on my hand. "What I mean," I clarified, "Is that this guy I was dating is getting out of prison soon and I know that he'll be looking for me. He'd hurt Matty, and I couldn't let that happen."

"Oh, so you're just dating Matt so that the people you actually care about don't get hurt! Gotcha!" Zacky replied, causing Matt to glare and try to step towards him. I yanked Matt back by his hand.

"No," I told Zacky, "I actually care about Matt. It's just that he can handle himself."

Zacky sighed, "So do you or do you not care about my brother?"

I licked my lips as I thought it over. "I do, Zacky, It's just that I don't care about him as much as I thought I did. I still care about him like a brother, but that other kind of love just isn't in my heart anymore."

Zacky shook his head and turned to walk away. Before he disappeared down the hallway, he turned back to me and glared. "You know what Image, you've changed. You used to care about other people but now you're just afraid of your ex-boyfriend beating your ass and you don't even think about the people you can hurt when you're trying to safe yourself."