Vengeance Is a Syn

“Have fun, you guys,” I hugged Zacky goodbye, after having done the same to Matt, Jimmy and Johnny. “And don’t get too drunk, in there. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Yes, mom!” Jimmy cried, making everyone chuckle a bit.

“You sure you really don’t want to come with us?” Zacky asked. “There’s enough space for you on our van…”

“And at least I’d have some female company, apart from Michelle!” Val said, making me laugh softly.

“I’m sure,” I told Zacky. “I’ll be waiting for you, in here,” I smiled at all of them.

In that moment, Brian approached us, with the same blonde that was on the bar, with his arm around her shoulders. I controlled the urge to roll my eyes at them and smiled politely in their direction.

“I bet you’ll have an amazing tour!” the girl smiled, and the guys smiled back at her.

“Thanks, Lisa,” Johnny said.

So… Lisa is her name…

“I think you haven’t met Lisa before, Hailey,” Brian said, looking at me with a small smile.

I couldn’t believe that Brian was saying this. Was he fucking stupid, or what? Did he just enjoy rubbing in my face that he was with another girl, already, even if I hadn’t seen them kissing in public?

I forced another smile and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Even if I was trying my best, I could tell that she felt she wasn’t welcomed around me. I couldn’t blame her, though. I agreed I was acting a bit bitchy with her.

“Lisa, this is Hailey,” he told the blonde. “Hailey, this is Lisa, my cousin,” he said with a sly smirk.

Cousin? Did I hear that right? She was his cousin?

“Y-your c-cousin?” I stuttered, even though I tried to maintain my voice even.

“Yeah,” he chuckled and she nodded, smiling. “She lives in New York, and she came here this weekend to spend some time with me, Brent and McKenna.”

I was feeling so bad for having called her a slut on the other night. I had no idea that she was his cousin. But I guess that seeing her hugging him and laughing with him made me jealous, and the jealousy made me say things that I shouldn’t have said, especially if I didn’t know whether they were true or not.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hailey,” she smiled, extending her hand, so that I could shake it. I smiled nervously and shook it. “Brian has told me a lot about you.”

“I hope he said nice things,” I joked, sparing a glance at him.

“They were really nice things, actually,” Lisa smiled.

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” Brian told Lisa, smiling at me.

For some reason, his words made my insides tingle and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Come on, guys,” Jason called for our attention. “It’s time to go!”

The guys said their last goodbyes and started heading to the van. I watched them, with Emma and Lacey by my side, and turned around when I felt someone tapping my shoulder.

I looked up and saw Brian smiling down at me. I made an effort to smile back and he rubbed the back of his head, nervously.
“Hum… I just really wanted to thank you for taking care of Pinkly while we’re not here…” he said.

I had agreed on taking care of his dog while they were on tour, since his parents had enough work to focus on and a daughter to take care of.

“It’s no problem,” I smiled reassuringly at him, and he mimicked my action.

“Do I get a goodbye hug, like the one you gave to the other guys?” he smirked slightly.

I chuckled softly and nodded, and he pushed me against his chest.

I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms tightly around his waist, savoring the moment. I missed being able to hold him this close to me.

“You’re crazy to think that I was with another girl, already,” he whispered softly in my ear.

I shivered slightly and smiled, not daring to look up, and then the guys called him, so that he’d join them.

He kissed the top of my head and pulled away from the hug.

“Have a good time,” I said and he smiled, running to the van.

“And what will we do now?” Emma said when they started driving.

“I don’t know,” I ran a hand through my hair, with the smile still on my lips. “We could go to the beach.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Lacey smiled. “You want to come with us, too, Lisa?”

“No, thank you! I already have plans with Suzy and McKenna, this afternoon, and my flight’s at six o’clock,” she said.

“Ah, bummer,” I pouted. “We could get to know each other there.”

“I’d really love to do that,” she nodded. “Maybe next time.”

“Of course,” I smiled. “Well, I hope I see you soon.”

“Yeah, me too,” she grinned, opening her arms for a hug.

I hugged her back and then she left to Brian’s place.



I left the house to walk to Brian’s place so that I could go get Pinkly.

When I got there, Papa Gates opened the door for me and greeted me with a hug.

“Hailey!” McKenna yelled from the living room, running towards me.

I chuckled and picked her up from the floor.

“Oh, you’re getting such a big girl,” I said and she smiled.

At that moment, Brent climbed down the stairs.

“Hey, there,” he smiled at me, walking towards the front door.

I greeted him back and put McKenna down on the floor again. She pouted and I just laughed at her, ruffling her hair.

“I came here to take Pinkly to my house, while Brian’s on tour,” I said. “I don’t know if he warned you that he asked me to do that…”

“Yeah, he told us you’d show up,” Brian Sr. nodded. “I’ll go get her for you.”

Suzy called McKenna and I followed Brian’s dad to the backyard.

“So… Are you and Brian still mad at each other?” he asked me.

“We’re not mad…” I shook my head. “We’re just… not together anymore,” I shrugged.

“You’re both too stubborn, that’s the problem,” he said.

“I don’t think that is the problem…” I bit my lip.

“What is it then?” he asked, with a sympathetic smile.

“I don’t know…” I sighed. “He won’t accept my apologies for something that wasn’t my fault…”

“He cares a lot about you,” he ran a hand through his hair. “That’s why he’s hurt. But he’s too stubborn to admit that he acted the wrong way towards you…”

“I hope he changes his opinion soon, then,” I smiled softly.

“He will, don’t worry about that. If I know one thing about him, is that you’re the person he cares the most,” he said. “Along with your other friends, too, of course. But you understood what I wanted to mean.”

I chuckled and nodded. “Yeah… Thanks!”

“You’re welcome! If you ever want to talk about that motherfucker you can come meet me,” he said, making me laugh.

“I will!”

I put the leash around Pinkly’s neck and scratched behind her ears.

She waggled her tail playfully and I picked her up from the grass.

I said goodbye to Brian, Suzy and McKenna and headed to my home again.

The weeks that passed until the day where the guys would be back passed by extremely slowly.

I talked to them every day, before they played their show, and I couldn’t be happier that they were having a good time and playing their songs. The public was also being extremely supportive and they didn’t get into any fight. But I couldn’t help but wish that the day when they’d return arrived, because I really missed them all.

That morning, I woke up early and went out for a walk with Bella and Pinkly. I chuckled as I saw them playing at the park near my house and then searched for my phone as I heard it beep.

I looked at the screen and smiled as I saw that I had received a text message from Matt.

‘We’ll get there by 2.’

My smile grew and I texted him that I couldn’t wait to see them again.

The clock ticked slowly and slowly, and I decided I would play a videogame to help me forget about the time. I started playing, and it actually helped me forget about the seconds that were taking ages to pass.

Without even noticing, I heard the front door opening.

My parents were out of the country, so it couldn’t be them arriving home. That only left one answer to who was arriving.

I quickly set the controller down and rushed downstairs, as fast as I could.

When I got there, Matt opened the door and I screamed his name, running to his embrace.

He chuckled and spun me around, kissing my forehead.

I got out of his bone crushing grip and walked back slightly, eying him from head to toes. He was thinner, but he still looked healthy. I could tell that he was tired as well, but I thought that was normal after not sleeping properly for more than two weeks.

“You’re thinner!” I said. “Did you eat? Don’t tell me that you didn’t feed yourself properly!”

“It’s impossible for that guy not to eat for a whole day,” someone chuckled, entering through the door.

I could recognize that chuckle in any place, and it belonged to no other than Brian.

I felt my stomach tying knots in itself and smiled widely when I realized that he’d come with Matt to our house. And I knew that Matt had come directly to this place, so that meant that Brian hadn’t gone to his house yet.

I grinned and rushed to his place, wrapping my arms around his neck. He chuckled softly and wrapped his own arms around my waist, lifting me up from the ground and making me snake my legs around his waist.

“You’re here,” I whispered, kissing his cheek.

I knew that we didn’t act like this ever since we broke up, but I couldn’t stop my movements. I missed him a lot during these weeks, and I didn’t care if it wasn’t normal for friends to be acting like this.

“I missed you,” he whispered back, tightening his hold on me and brushing his lips against my neck, sending shivers all over my body.

Matt cleared his throat and I snapped my eyes open, realizing that I shouldn’t be hugging Brian.

“Oh, you can continue with what you were doing,” Matt smirked. “Don’t stop because of me.”

I rolled my eyes and he hid his chuckle.

“Anyway, how was your tour?” I asked excitedly.

“It was so awesome!” Brian smiled.

“You should have been there to see, Hay!” Matt smiled, his eyes shining. “It was fucking beautiful!”

“I bet it was!” I smiled.

We walked to the living room and Matt and Brian told me everything that happened on the tour. They told me all the crazy shit they did on the road, how the police made them open their van and he couldn’t believe how bad it was inside, the people they met and how the public reacted to their music. I couldn’t be more proud of them!

“I’m so, so happy for you!” I smiled.

“Thanks,” Matt smiled.

“Well, I just came here to get Pinkly back,” Brian said. “Thanks again for taking care of her, Hay!”

“It’s okay,” I smiled. “She made me company in this empty house, while you weren’t back here.”

I returned the dog and then Brian left.

I was happy to see him, and I was definitely glad that he’d come here to get Pinkly. That way I could see him before the rest of the other guys, that I’d only see in two days, when we would drive towards Johnny’s uncles’ summer house.

I only hoped those holidays would improve my relationship with Brian, and I also hoped that we’d be okay by his birthday’s date.