Where You Belong

I was hot. Damn, was I hot.

"Britt," Lacey giggled, placing a hand on my arm to keep me from pacing the room any further, "You're gonna wear a hole into the ground if you don't quit."

I rolled my eyes and Michelle grinned widely at me, "Seriously, girl. It's over."

I sighed, "I was calm the whole damn time in comparison to how I normally get with my anger," I pouted, "But it's like the second that tramp left, I got fucking livid!"

"Why's that?" Val asked, taking a seat on the couch in the dark dressing room we were sitting in, just behind the stage of the venue the guys were playing at tonight.

"Because," I explained with a sigh, "After all she fucking did to him, she thought she could just waltz in, batt her eyelashes, and snake her way back in to fuck him over again! Who the fuck does she think she is?!" I ranted angrily, feeling my chest heave as I panted with rage.

"Well, she's gone now, so don't stress," Leana mentioned, walking over and handing me a beloved glass of orange juice, "It's not good for the baby, as close as you are to your due date."

I nodded, taking a large drink of the juice, "You're right; I should calm down. But you know it's only a matter of time before she comes back."

"She's right, y'know," Val said with a soft sigh, shaking her head as she narrowed her eyes at the ground, "You know Gena; she'll be back. She was merely shocked that we'd been there, and thrown off guard when Britt jumped down her throat. She'll be back."

Michelle scoffed with a roll of her eyes, "Let her fucking come back then. And get the beatdown she deserved to get today."

"Amen to that," Lacey smirked as she pushed me to sit down on the couch.

I'd been angry for the past three or four hours over the whole thing with Zack's ex earlier today. I just couldn't get it out of my mind; the fucking nerve she had to show her face after what she'd done. My heart had been racing as I paced and paced and paced, hoping to find a way to calm myself as the baby kicked wildly, most likely sensing my emotions. The pain in my stomach had seemed to worsen over time, and I knew that if I'd just calm myself down, the baby would calm down, too.

"You feeling okay, sweetie?" Val noticed my discomfort, and with a sigh, I looked over at her and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I grumbled, finishing off the rest of my juice, "I just have to calm myself down so that he'll stop kicking so much."

Leana smiled, "He must be able to tell you're upset."

"That'd be my guess, because he's kicking like crazy right now, and it's already difficult enough to breathe."

"Aww," Lacey cooed, sitting with me on the couch, "Well just relax for a bit before the show, and if you're still not feeling up to it, you can stay back here or on the bus during the show."

I groaned lightly, "I don't wanna end up missing the show, though!"

Val chuckled, "Britt, there will be plenty more times where you can see one of the guys' shows. You know the guys will kick your ass if you try to sit up and watch them play when you're not feeling good."

I grumbled under my breath, "True. Fine."

Just as I'd settled into the back of the couch, the door flew open and Jimmy waltzed right in, scooping Leana up into his arms and covering her with kisses. She squealed and swatted at him to stop, but he paid her no mind, continuing his assault as the rest of the guys piled into the room and took whatever avaliable seats they could find.

I moved away from Lacey as Johnny came running toward her with a goofy smile on his face, while Matt and Val took a seat on the other side of me. I smiled as Zack shuffled inside with a small smile of his own and took a seat across the room, a can of beer in hand. Brian, followed by two tanned guys with dark hair, were the last to enter the room.

"Hey, girls," one smiled at each of the girls, his eyes landing on me and moving down to my stomach in curiosity as the girls greeted him back.

"And who's the little lady here?" the other man, who looked a lot similar to the first, nodded towards me with a grin.

Brian spoke up, "This is Brittany; we all grew up together," he introduced me, scrunching his nose up as he looked over at me. I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him in retaliation.

The two men smiled towards me, "Matt and Jason Berry at your service," one said, and I couldn't help but giggle at his goofiness. They both fit in so well with the guys, so it was easy to tell how they were all friends.

"You're mighty pregnant," the one who'd introduced himself as Matt, said while looking at me with the toothy grin.

"I am, indeed," I laughed lightly, placing a hand on my stomach for further emphasis as I leaned back into the couch with a long sigh, "And I'm ready as hell for him to come out."

"Don't say that," Leana warned, "You'll end up jinxing yourself and getting what you wished for at the most inconvenient of times."

I rolled my eyes at her comment, "Whatever. Let's wait until you're this far along in your own pregnancy and see if it's all rainbows and unicorns for you. Just you fucking wait." I groaned, feeling the pain of another kick hit my stomach.

"He sure is an active little fucker, isn't he?" I looked across the room to see Jimmy flashing me a shit-eating grin, to which I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, he sure is," I sighed, reaching over and stealing Val's bottle of water before taking a sip, "And at this rate, he's gonna end up breaking one of my ribs if he doesn't stop."

"You don't have too much longer, though from what I hear." Johnny smirked in my direction, and I nodded eagerly.

"How right you are, Mr. Christ," I sighed happily at the thought of giving birth already, "How right you are."

The next couple of hours were spent with Matt Berry, who I'd begun calling Mattie, as not to confuse him with Matt Sanders, terrifying random people who walked by the room along with Jimmy and Johnny. Michelle and Brian stayed lip locked for the majority of the time, to which Leana responded by throwing a pillow at them and telling them to continue elsewhere. Matt and Zack were in one corner talking quietly amongst themselves, while Val, Leana, Lacey, and I went over dinner plans for tonight after the show.

Time flew by and before we knew it, it was time for the guys to head to the stage for their two hour set. It was already decided that the girls and I would watch from the side of the stage, though as I began to follow the everyone out of the room, I felt the sudden urge to use the bathroom.

I pulled Mattie to the side, as he was the one closest to me, "You mind coming with me to the bathroom? Motherhood calls," I smiled innocently up at him, causing him to laugh at my insinuation.

He nodded, "Yeah, that's fine. Hey Jas!"

His brother, Jason, was talking to someone whom I presumed to be another roadie, and looked up at the sound of his name, "What's up?"

"I'm taking Britt to the bathroom real quick," Mattie told him, grabbing my elbow and gently pulling me towards him, "Let the others know so they don't freak out or anything, ok?"

Jason nodded and continued on his way as Mattie turned me around and led me in the direction of the buses, as I'd asked for the cleanest bathroom in the area that he could possibly think of. I was a bit of a germaphobe sometimes, and one thing that did not fly by me was a nasty bathroom.

I watched as Mattie keyed in the code to the guys' bus before opening the door and stepping aside, "Go ahead; theres a bathroom towards the back. I'm not sure how clean it is, but I can guarantee it's in better condition than the ones in there," he said, pointing towards the venue.

I nodded. He was probably right, "Okay. You coming in?" I asked, noting that he was still standing below the stairs.

He shook his head, "I'm gonna get a smoke in so I'll be out here."

I nodded in understanding and continued on, allowing the metal door to shut behind me. I took a look around the bus, as I hadn't been in here before. It was nice enough. There were small leather booth like things on both sides in the front of the bus, just beyond where the driver's seat was. I imagined that was the only real seating they had. There was also a little table attached to one wall, which kind of reminded me of a diner setting. A small, makeshift kitchen was also there, complete with a stove, sink, cabinets and some counter space.

Walking further back, I passed all of the bunks, the floor littered with clothes and beer cans. Typical men. I carefully made my way through, not wanting to trip over anything and fall, and finally came to a door. I opened it, and noticed that it led to a small back room with an actual couch and television. There inside the little room was another door, and I figured that it had to be the bathroom since I was in the very back of the bus.

I quickly opened that door, and indeed, it was the bathroom. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, walking over to the toilet so I could get ready to use it. Just as I was ready to hike up my dress, I felt a slight gush and looked down.

A clear, sticky kind of substance slid down my thighs and dripped on the floor. I fought the urge to gag at the slimy feeling before realizing that that hadn't been urine. I frowned as my eyes shot to the tiny puddle below me. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it couldn't have been my water that had broken. There wasn't enough of it down there for that, and I wasn't due for another month. There had to be some kind of explanation for what the fuck that was.

The urge to pee had now completely disappeared, and with a confused frown, I pulled my dress back down and fixed it, deciding to throw my soaked underwear out. I had just gushed something, and there was no way I'd be wearing those underwear for the rest of the day. But the thought of being pregnant and going commando didn't thrill me, either. I'd have to get one of the girls to get a pair of underwear for me.

In the mean time, I took a deep breath, washed my hands, and exited the bathroom, heading straight for the bunks. I searched through each one, trying to figure out which belonged to Johnny. When I saw one his favorite hats on one of the bunks, I knew I'd hit the jackpot. I hurriedly grabbed his bag and opened it up, searching for a pair of his briefs that I knew would fit me. I found a small pair and sniffed them, praying to God that they were clean before I pulled them on under my dress.

"Un-fucking-believable," I grumbled with a heavy sigh, as the baby began kicking wildly again, "Here I am, wearing fucking Johnny's underwear cause I somehow wet my own."

A thought then occured to me, and I screamed as a sharp pain shot through my stomach, sinking down to my knees on the floor.

"MATTIE!" I shrieked, clutching onto my stomach as I hunched over, screwing my eyes shut tightly as another pain went shooting through my stomach. I heard voices outside and the door to the bus slam open, Mattie running towards me the second he saw me on the floor and in tears. Jason was right behind him, looking at me worriedly.

"What's going on?" he asked, panic rising in his features.

I moved to speak but was cut off by another scream, the pain in my stomach agonizing this time. I couldn't see much through the tears welled in my eyes, but I could feel two pairs of hands on my arms, slowly pulling me up, despite the pain I felt. I groaned as another gush went down my legs, and Jason cursed loudly.

"Matt, man," Jason breathed deeply, "We gotta get her to the fucking hospital. Now." he said, and Mattie cursed next. I felt myself being shifted into someone's arms as I placed a hand on my stomach, bracing myself as another pang racked my body.

"What's wrong with her?" someone asked worriedly, though I didn't know who it was as my eyes were still screwed shut. I breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled before opening my eyes to see that I was in Jason's arms.

"I don't fucking know!" Mattie was saying, throwing his hands up in the air as we rushed over to the same rental SUV that the guys had used last night, "She's got this liquid stuff coming out of her, but she's not due yet! I don't know what the fuck it is!" he screamed at someone, jumping into the driver's seat of the car as Jason held me in his lap in the backseat.

Matt rolled down his window and screamed out of it, "Someone let Sevenfold know that they need to be at the fucking hospital the second they get off stage! Now move!"

"Fuck," I whispered, suppressing a yell as another pang went through my stomach, alarming Jason. I watched as his eyebrows flew up with worry, and his face hovered over mine as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"Britt, what the fuck is going on? I thought your water breaks when you go into labor?" he asked hurriedly as Mattie screamed in the background, honking the horn repeatedly and weaving in and out of traffic with the flashers on.

"It does," I groaned, exhaling slowly as the pain continued, feeling the baby's strong kicks quickly become even more painful.

"Well why the fuck is it doing it now? Shadows said you're not due for another month!" he yelled back in panic before telling Mattie to stop yelling and drive faster, my guess was in the direction of the nearest hospital. I swallowed as I thought about what the situation could possibly mean.

My water hadn't completely broken, but it was leaking. A tell-tale sign of premature labor.