Caught Like A Fly

I don't know why I was so nervous. Ronnie was like a big brother to me, looking after me in Vegas when I joined his band and showing me around. Now here I was, waiting in the kitchen for him to walk in here by chance so I could try and talk to him. In my defense, it wasn't any ordinary conversation that I wanted to start, and it kind of embarrassed me. I saw Ronnie coming out of his room, running a lint roller over his black clothes to get rid of Terror's dog hair and I steeled my nerves as he came into the kitchen.

"Can't decide what to eat?" he asked, pulling open the fridge and not looking at me.

"Hm? No, I'm not even hungry," I said, trying to act casual. He half-closed the door to look at me skeptically before disappearing behind it again. He and Mika had been working out a lot together and you could really tell now. You wouldn't want to pick a fight with either of them.

"What's been up with you lately?" Ronnie asked, closing the fridge with nothing in his hands. "It's like you're stalking me. It's creepy because you live with me."

"Well, um, I kind of had a question..." I said slowly, and a knowing grin spread across his face. I let out a resigned sigh and looked at the floor before I started talking. "How the fuck did you do it?"

"Do what?" His grin got even wider and I looked up to glare at him.

"Stop being a dick, you know exactly what I'm talking about!" I didn't look back down and watched the smile fade from his face.

"Honestly? I don't know," he said, shrugging. "It didn't go the way I planned it. I was going to ask her so many times, but she always had this look on her face like she would find the nearest knife and gut me with it."

"She would do it, too," I said, chuckling.

"Just ask," he said, opening the fridge up again. "The worst she can do is tell you no."

"Or run away, say she doesn't really care about me and then tell me no over a text message."

"Or that," he said through a mouthful of sandwich. "She's your woman. All I'm going to say is that it's going to be hard, no matter when you do it, how you do it and what ring you get her. Her answer is going to be the same regardless of what you do." With that, he plopped down onto the couch and became absorbed with eating his sandwich and going through his phone. I needed to walk. As I opened the front door, I saw Viv bent over with her ear cocked to listen through the door.

"You have no shame," I said, feeling blood go to my cheeks.

"Nope," she said, smiling cheekily. "None at all."

"You're going to keep quiet about this," I told her, putting my finger in her face. She held up her hands innocently and pushed past me to go inside. Irritated, I walked down the driveway and took a left, unaware of what was in that direction and stuffed my hands in my pockets.

I should know her well enough to know what she'd say, right? We're so honest with each other; I couldn't imagine that she'd be hiding something from me that would make her say no. Well, not entirely honest. I still hadn't told her about Connor, but what good would it do to tell her how bad that relationship actually was? I shook my head and the thoughts left with it. She would say yes when I finally asked. I was sure of it.

* * *

Jacky's face lit up with a big smile when he saw me come inside of the tuxedo store. He was back in his regular clothes, a long sleeved shirt, ripped up jeans with belts and handcuffs hanging off of them today. He cupped my face with his hands before giving me a kiss and pointing at Ronnie, who was still standing on a pedestal so the tailor could work on him.

"Dude, can you not fucking poke me with that shit, please?" he asked, his voice giving signs of growing irritation, and the small smile on the tailor's face saying that he didn't care. "I think it needs to be a little bit longer...wait, no, back where it was. Oh, my God I'm so sorry..."

"Ronnie's been having fun," he said, lacing his hand with mine and taking me over to where all three of his other band mates were texting or whatever with their phones. "They're addicted." We sat down between Mika and Derek and I took to looking out the front window. I didn't notice before, but there were about ten girls standing outside the storefront, glancing at each other and peering inside.

"Wow," I said, and discreetly pointed forward.

"Yeah, I know," he said, smiling still. "They've been out there for a while now. We've gotten so huge that not even I can walk on the street without being stopped."

"Does it bug you?" I asked, lifting his arm so it was around me and I could snuggle into his shoulder. "I used to hate fans."

"No, it doesn't," he said, shaking his head. "I like meeting them. If it wasn't for them, I would still be in London stocking shelves and playing alone in my room."

"Maybe that's why Connor dumped me," I said, feeling like I was figuring something out. I can't believe it still bugged me that he left like that to go with Ally. It's been ten months and I sometimes found myself missing that asshole. I saw that Jacky's smile was gone and was replaced with a stony expression that used to occupy his face before we were together. "I'm sorry. I was in a band with him for years. I just don't understand why he would suddenly hate me, even if I was the one doing all the cheating."

"I think he only dated you to keep you around," Jacky said fiercely, almost like I had touched a nerve I didn't know about. Of course he would have hard feelings towards Connor, but that was so long ago I thought he would have been over it by now. On second thought, I wasn't over it, so why should I expect him to be? "He didn't do anything to suggest that he loved you, just that he didn't want anyone else to love you." He didn't look happy at all anymore, and when I tried to change the subject he would answer me with short, clipped responses. I made a mental note to never talk about Connor again; no matter how much his actions had been irritating me lately.

* * *

The wedding was coming up very soon. We were supposed to be in the hotel tonight so that we could help decorate. Ronnie and Viv couldn't be in a hundred places at once and I still had a bachelorette party to plan. Rachel and I had some good thoughts, but we figured we would let Viv's strange ability to attract unique fun and let it run rampant that day. However, it was always good to have a back-up plan in place.

"I hate packing," Rachel muttered after she ordered Mika to sit on her suitcase so she could zip it. "I can never settle on anything."

"The hotel is maybe fifteen minutes away," I said, feeling very proud of myself that Jacky and I packed the night before. "It's not like it'll be the end of the world if you forgot something."

"But a delay is a delay, no matter what face you put on it, you should know Viv by now," she said, panting and planting her hands on her hips in triumph. Mika stayed seated, probably thinking that if he stood up that thing would spring open. "Speaking of which, we need to leave. Viv is already there."

"Sounds good, I'll text Jacky and tell him we're on our way," I said, taking the keys from the counter and heading outside. It was a crisp October afternoon and a beautiful time of year to get married. In the middle of my text message and imagining what my own wedding would be like, my phone began to ring. I eyed the unfamiliar number suspiciously before answering.

"Hello?" my voice must have betrayed my suspicion.

"It's just me, Ally," said the voice on the other end. It sounded worried.

"Oh. Hey," I said, stopping halfway to the car. "What do you need?"

"Connor won't wake up."

"Shake him a couple times," I said, but I could tell from her tone that she wouldn't call me for something so stupid.

"No, you don't understand," she said, her voice cracking now. "I didn't know who else to call, and he's been drinking so much lately--"

"TAKE HIM TO THE FUCKING HOSPITAL NOW!" I shrieked into the phone. "I'll be there in a couple hours. Text me the hospital you end up at." I hung up immediately and rounded on Rachel and Mika.

"Did somebody die?" Mika asked with a concerned face.

"No, but I have to go to L.A., right now," I said quickly. "Don't tell Jacky?"

"Alright, but he's going to ask where you are," he said, his voice saying that he wasn't going to lie for me and full of disapproval.

"I'm visiting my mom," I said firmly and Mika rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'll keep you updated."

"You should just tell him," he said, looking me straight in the eyes. "I'm kind of tired of people fucking him over, and I don't want to hate you."

"Tell him," I hesitated, "I'll call him when I get to L.A. and I'll tell him everything."

"Whatever, Andy." I ignored Mika's last comment and wheeled my motorcycle out of the garage and sped in the direction of the freeway.