I Left My Heart In Huntington Beach

Nicole’s Pov:

I awoke to the noise of someone snoring in my ear. I groaned and tried pushing the noise away, but it kept coming back, getting louder each time. Frustrated, I sighed and sat up in bed. I turned to see Brian sprawled out beside me, a few pieces of hair covering his eyes. I smiled. He was pretty cute. I lightly brushed the hair out of his face and kissed his forehead before getting out of bed to go check on Bella.

I still can’t comprehend how good Brian is with Bella, considering that he doesn’t seem like the guy who wants kids. And I don’t see how Bella is so receptive to him. Maybe Bella is just under his spell, like how I am. Or maybe she feels safe with him, and he makes her happy, like how he does with me. Oh god, I need to get back to the library. Or stop reading those cheesy romance novels, I’m starting to sound like one.

I peeked into the living room to see Bella still fast asleep in her bed. Brian had moved the couch back a little and to the right last night, so the bed would fit in the living room. I walked over to her, gently setting her blankets back on top of her and placing her bunny back into her arms. She began to stir in her sleep a little. I kissed her forehead and quickly tiptoed back into my room hoping I hadn’t just woken her.

I saw that Brian was now awake when I entered the room. He was sitting up in bed with his hands behind his head, and a goofy smile plastered on his lips.

“Good morning.” I said slowly and began walking towards the bed.

“Morning.”

“I think Bella really likes her bed.”

“Good, I hope so. I’m really glad she picked the Batman one.” He chuckled a little.

“Me too.” I said, chuckling a little as well.

I sat back down on the bed and rested my head on Brian’s shoulder. I felt him lightly kiss my head.

“Do you want some breakfast?” Brian asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah, that’s sounds really good actually.”

“Alright. I’ll go pick something up at the store.” He kissed my head one more time before getting up from the bed.

“You don’t have to go to the store.” I suddenly began missing his embrace. That’s it, no more romance novels.

“I don’t mind. Besides, I haven’t rode my Harley in almost 2 days. I think she misses me.”

“How do you know she’s a she?” I asked, raising one of my eyebrows.

“I just do.” He smirked at me over his shoulder as he pulled on a pair of pants.

I rolled my eyes and tossed him his shirt. He pulled it over his head, slipped on a pair of shoes in record time and planted a soft kiss on my lips.

“I’ll be back.”

“Be safe!” I yelled after him.

I heard him whisper a quick goodbye to Bella before making his way out the door.

The door clicked shut. I walked out into the living room to see Bella was awake.

“Well good morning Bells.” I smiled taking a seat at the end of her bed.

She smiled. “Where Bri go?”

“He just went to the store. He’ll be back soon. You want to watch some cartoons while we wait for him?”

Her smiled grew wider and she nodded her head. I smiled and carried her over to the couch. I set Bella on the ground and turned on TV. When I turned back around, she was already sitting on the couch, her legs crossed Indian style and an excited look on her face. I had never seen a kid get so excited over cartoons. I plopped myself down next to Bella as we sang along to the Spongebob Squarepants theme song.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brian’s Pov:

Wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve stepped foot in a grocery store. I sound like a president or a king, but it’s true. I haven’t had to shop for my own groceries in years. I slip my gloves in my back pocket and set my helmet under my left arm. Maybe I should have left this on my bike.

I grabbed a basket and began poking my head in each aisle. After I had looked down every aisle I realized that there were big signs above each aisle that told you what were in the aisle. I closed my eyes and smacked my forehead. I walked down aisle 4, thankful that it had everything I needed. I carefully set the eggs in my basket along with milk, orange juice and bacon. I figured Nicole had some of this stuff, but I wanted to get out of the house. And I don’t think she will mind if she has more than 1 carton of milk.

I pick up a pack of gum and a lollipop for Bella before stepping into line. It’s pretty quiet for a Sunday morning, there are only 3 people ahead of me. Last night was crazy. I’m glad I was able to reel Nicole in. I feel bad, I really do. I feel like crap for lying, but I just can’t let her know what I do for a living. I need to get back in the studio. I need to lay down some tracks and get together with the guys, I haven’t talked to them in a while. There just seems to be no time for anything lately.

I take a step forward as the next guy in line is called to a cash register. I let my eyes wander the store as I wait in line. As I turn my head back, my eyes land on a magazine. Something looked scary familiar on this magazine. I squinted my eyes to get a closer look.

Oh. My. God.

It was a picture of me and Nicole sitting at the café. That damn guy must have been paparazzi! Shit! I yanked the magazine off the rack, scanning the front page. The guy had gotten a perfect shot of us both looking directly at the camera. The headline read:

“ROCKER’S NEW HONEY! WHO IS THIS MYSTERY GIRL?”

I had to get rid of these magazines. All of them. They had to be all around town. Nicole would see one of them for sure. I nervously tapped my foot trying to come up with an idea. I sighed and stared down at the price of the magazine. There was only one thing I could do. I could hear my bank account screaming at me not to, but I had no choice. I had to buy every single magazine that had the picture of Nicole and I on the cover. And not just these ones in the grocery store, I had to buy every single copy in town.

I ran through the entire store, tossing every magazine I saw with my picture on it in the basket. The basket was overflowing. I grabbed another basket, still balancing my helmet under my arm and began filling it up with the rest of the magazines. When I was sure there were none of the magazines left, I walked up to one of the cashier registers, dropping the baskets on the counter.

The guy stared at me like I had four heads when he saw how many magazines I wanted to buy, but I didn’t care. As long Nicole never ever saw them. I paid the guy and half walked half ran out of the store. I sat on my bike for a minute after securing the grocery bags. I dialed Zack’s number, tapping my index finger on my bike.

“Zack? Hey, yeah it’s me. Hey, listen, I have a huge favor to ask you….”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nicole’s Pov:

I opened my eyes when I heard a loud knock on the door. After 3 episodes of Spongebob Squarepants I was out again. I wonder why I’m so tired. Maybe it’s just Spongebob. I turn to see if Bella heard the knock at the door. She hadn’t moved. Her eyes were still glued to the television. Was I crazy? Did anyone really knock?

My thoughts were answered when there was another loud knock. I opened the door to reveal Brian struggling to hold the grocery bags and his helmet.

“Hey, what took you so long?” I asked, grabbing for his helmet.

“There was a long line.”

He walked inside, shutting the door with his foot. I grabbed a bag from him and set it on the kitchen counter. I emptied it’s contents to find orange juice, milk, and eggs.

“Aww are you gonna make eggs for us?” I smiled as I felt Brian set his hand on the small of my back.

“I’m going to try.” He chuckled, grabbing a bowel from the cupboard above my head and a whisk from the utensil bowl.

“Well, I guess I’ll let you get to work.” I smiled and turned around to face him. I was going to kiss his cheek, but he was already at the stove, setting everything up. I shrugged and decided I could bare Spongebob for a few more minutes with Bella.

I sighed walked over to the couch, taking a seat next to Bella. Her little blue eyes still glued to the television. I chuckled a little before turning my eyes to the TV as well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brian’s Pov:

I cracked one last egg into the bowel before I began mixing it with the whisk. I was about the pour the bowel into the pan when I felt my phone vibrate. I quickly poured the eggs into the pan, set the bowel in the sink and fished my phone out of my pocket.

It was a text from Zack. It read:

Hey dude, every mag in town is now gone! Drop the ones you bought off @ my house and we’ll go burn them somewhere.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Now I just had to cook the girls breakfast, drop the magazines off at Zack’s house and then I had nothing to worry about. Nothing at all….right?

Nicole’s Pov:

“Mmm, these eggs are really good Brian.” I smiled up at him as he set our drinks down. Milk for me, orange juice for Bella.

“Thank you. What do you think Bells?”

“Yummy!” She giggled, clapping her hands together.

“Good.” He chuckled and kissed her head as she picked her fork back up and began shoveling more into her mouth.

“Aren’t you going to make some eggs for yourself?” I asked pointing my fork at Brian.

He began rubbing the back of his neck. “Oh, yeah. I, uh, I just have to go by Zack’s house real quick.”

“What for?”

“What? Uh..well,” he sighed, now running his fingers through his hair. “I just miss him. I really miss him. I haven’t seen him in forever and I just wanted to go see him before we went to the uh, to the zoo today.” He smiled and began nodding his head.

“Zoo?!” Bella’s fork dropped to the ground. She gasped and smiled wider, if that was even possible.

“Yeah, we are going to go to the zoo today.”

“We are?” I asked, wondering how he came up with the idea for us to go to the zoo.

“Yes, Nicole, we are. So I’m just gonna go drop in on Zack, you girls get ready and I’ll be back soon okay?” He smiled without showing his teeth, and kissed our heads before rushing out the door.

I stared at the door for a few minutes. What was going on with him? Bella jumped down from the table and slowly walked over to the couch while carrying her glass of orange juice. I silently prayed that she didn’t spill it on my couch while I picked her fork up from the ground and set it on her plate.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brian’s Pov:

“Thanks so much man, you have no idea.” I patted Zack’s back before taking a seat on his couch.

“Yeah your welcome. You owe me though. And you better get your ass in the studio, Matt has been losing his shit.”

“I know, I know I’ve been meaning to. I’ll see if I can come in at least one day this week.”

“So why are we burning all these magazines anyway?”

“I don’t want Nicole to see them.”

“Why, did they write something bad about you?” Zack chuckled a little, but stopped when he realized I wasn’t laughing with him.

“Brian, what the hell is going on?”

I sighed, for the hundredth time that day. I was getting tired of having to explain things to everyone. And having to think of lies to tell everyone when I couldn’t explain what was going on to them.

“Brian, why are you trying to hide this from Nicole?”

I stared down at my hands, and begun twiddling my thumbs. Zack waited. It was silent for a few minutes, and I knew I would have to fess up.

“Nicole doesn’t know I’m in the band.”

“What do you mean?”

“She has no idea that I’m in Avenged Sevenfold.”

“You never told her?”

“No, I was going to though! But then one day I found her fighting with her shitty ex James who went out and tried to become this rockstar or whatever, and I overheard her yelling that she hates rockstars and that they’re all the same. If she ever found out that I was in a band, she’d kill me. And break up with me.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.

"And I've lied to her for so long that she'd probably just break up with me now because I lied to her."

“So you’re going through all this trouble just so a girl wont break up with you?”

“Pretty much.” I almost expected Zack to laugh, but he didn’t.

“How did a picture of you guys even end up on a magazine?”

“We were out eating at this restaurant and a guy spotted me and took some pictures of us. I didn’t think they would end up on the cover of a fucking magazine though.” I threw one of the magazines on the ground. There had to be more than 200 magazines on the coffee table. It was weird seeing myself staring back at me. And every time I looked at the cover I was reminded that I was a lying asshole. Stupid radio, stupid James, and stupid photographer! Why was everything trying to ruin my relationship with Nicole?

I ran my hands down my face. “Let’s go burn these things, I have to get back soon. I’m taking the girls to the zoo.”

“You can go home if you want, I’ll just call Johnny or something and we’ll go do it.”

“Thanks bro, I really do owe you.”

He smiled and waved his hand like it was nothing before pulling me into a quick hug. I patted his back and pulled away. Grabbing my helmet off the coffee table, I was about to make my way to the door when Zack’s voice stopped me.

“Brian?”

“Yeah?” I turned around.

“Look, I know it will be hard, but please tell Nicole. Soon. This isn't fair to her.”

I nodded, setting my helmet on my head. “I will. And please, if you let Heather listen to any of our stuff, don’t let her show it to Nicole.”

“I’ll try, but it’s Heather man.” He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

I tried my best to force a smile. It was hard.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nicole’s Pov:

Spongebob Squarepants was finally over, which I was grateful for. You can only stand that little dude for so long. I changed the channel to Tom and Jerry while Bella ran to answer the door. I already knew it was Brian. It wasn’t going to be anyone else. Then again, I thought that same thing yesterday and Shauna and Bella showed up on my door step.

I jumped quickly from the couch and walked after Bella. I breathed out a sigh of relief when I saw that it was only Brian at the door.

“Hello ladies.” He smiled down at Bella as she grabbed onto Brian’s leg.

“Hey, how was Zack?”

“He was great.” He said, smiling at me.

I smiled back and began trying to pull Bella off Brian’s leg.

“So are you guy’s ready?”

“Don’t you want to eat before we head out though?” I raised my brow.

“No, no I’m good.”

“Okay.” I mumbled, not convinced at all. I was going to ask what was going on with Brian, but I didn’t want to ruin the day.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I haven’t been to the zoo since I was about 10 years old. And it wasn’t even this zoo. I had no reason to go to the zoo though. Animals didn’t like me very much.

“Brian, can I ask why you decided to take us to the zoo?” I leaned over and looped my arm through his. We were taking the bus tour of the zoo, so we could decide what we wanted to go see. And we didn’t bring a stroller and Bella was tired of walking. Brian and I would probably end up taking turns carrying her. I wondered why they didn’t have those convenient strollers here, like they do at Disneyland. One of those would come in handy right now.

“Well, it’s a beautiful day and I thought Bella would enjoy it.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded my head.

The bus driver’s voice came over the speakers. She pointed out the pandas that were to the left of us. Bella’s face lit up as her eye’s landed on the cuddly creatures. I wondered why she was so excited to see them. Sure they were cute, but they were only pandas. Then I remembered that Bella was only 3, and this had to be her first trip to the zoo. I doubt Shauna ever did something like this for her, or was allowed to. I decided that I would try my hardest to make this day the best I could for Bella.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Did you have fun Bella?” I asked, looking back at her through the rear view mirror.
She nodded her ecstatically, while holding the stuffed panda bear that Brian had bought her at the zoo. I told her I had “forgot” her bunny at home, so she had this huge temper tantrum in front of the flamingo’s.

Not even Brian could contain her this time, so he did the one thing that always shuts a woman up. He bought her something.

“Good. Did you tell Brian thank you?”

She shook her head.

“Well why don’t you tell him thank you silly?”

“Thank you!” She yelled, giggling. Shauna really needed to teach this child what an indoor voice was. I wonder if Bella would be a singer someday, she has an amazing set of lungs.

“Your welcome Bells.” Brian said, turning to smile at her as we stopped at a red light.

It was odd to see Brian driving my car. I was so used to seeing him on his Harley. I had to admit, the Harley was a bit sexier, but him taking control of anything made him look even hotter than he already was. Somehow feeling my gaze burning into him, he turned to look at me.

“Like what you see Minnie Mouse?” That famous smirk took it’s place.

“Don’t flatter yourself Biker Boy.” I rolled my eyes and looked out the window. A little smile tugged a the corners of my lips, much to my disapproval. I didn’t like Brian knowing when he got to me, even though it seemed to always be written all over my face.

“I thought maybe you were comparing me to the lions.”

“Why would I compare you to the lions? Because of your hair?” I laughed a little at my own joke.

“No, dork. Not my hair, my pen--”

“Brian!!” I yelled, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence. Bella giggled in the back seat.

“What?” He chuckled and shrugged. I smacked his arm.

The rest of the ride was silent, and I was grateful for that. My head was killing me. I was so worried about taking care of a kid, and I was beginning to find out that Brian was more of a kid then Bella was. But even though at times they made me want to rip my hair out, I couldn’t picture not having them in my life. Even if though both of them haven't been in my life for that long.

The rest of the night was pretty quiet as well. We had made it home just in time for more Spongebob.

I wasn’t looking forward to going to the work tomorrow, which was a problem that I never used to have. There are a lot of things I used to not have, but that all changed when Brian came into the picture.

Was I happy with this change? I mean, I felt happy. Were these healthy changes for me? And when did I become so indecisive? I was losing myself. I was losing the stable foundation of life that I’ve always had.

“Auntie.”

I looked down to see Bella tugging at my pants. Her eyes were droopy and her grip on her panda bear, who she very creatively named “Panda”, was loosening.

“What is it sweetie?” I ran my fingers through her hair. It was silky like satin, and the color was as dark as chocolate. She was a spitting image of Shauna.

“I’m sweepy.”

“Your sweepy?” I giggled, wondering if I had heard correctly.

“No, Sleepy!” A pout appeared on her lips.

“Aww well why don’t we turn off Spongebob and go lay down in bed. I’ll read you a story.”

Her eyes widened and she nodded her head. I gently picked her up and walked over to the bag that contained her clothes. I pulled out a fresh pair of pajamas with one hand as she rested her head on my shoulder. I smiled down at her as she began to suck on her thumb. It was gonna be hard giving her back to Shauna on Friday. Saturday I had wanted nothing to do with the kid, and now I felt like she was my own.

I set her down carefully in her bed and let her undress and dress herself, only intervening when she needed me to pull her shirt over her head. I pulled back her covers as she lay down and set them lightly on top of her. I let her get comfy while I retreated back to the bag to find a book to read to her.

I picked out the Rainbow Fish. I sat on the floor next to the bed and began reading. I darted my eyes back and forth from the book to her while I was reading. Her eyes had become smaller and smaller, until they were just little slits. I read the last line and looked back over again to see that she was out like a light. I smiled a little and set the book on the couch. I kissed her forehead and whispered goodnight before shutting off the lights and heading to my room.

I grabbed a laundry basket from the hallway closet and began tossing in dirty clothes. I haven’t done laundry in a few weeks and now with Bella around, I figured it would be a good time to do it. I neatly folded her pajamas and set them on top of a few of my blouses. I heard the water come to a stop, signaling that Brian was done in the shower. After a few seconds there was a knock at the door frame. I smirked and turned to see Brian standing in the door way with the towel hanging loosely off his hips.

I bit my lip and let my eyes run up and down his body. It was perfect. He looked like an ancient Greek god, the ones who oozed power and strength. I felt my cheeks begin to turn red. I turned my attention back to the laundry, hoping he hadn’t noticed me staring.

“Still comparing me to the lions?” He whispered in my ear, now standing dangerously close behind me.

I sighed and allowed him to pull me into him. His body radiated heat and I could feel some of the water drops from his chest sinking into my shirt. He smelled like lavender. Wait…

“Brian, did you use my body wash?”

“Yeah.”

I chuckled a little and shook my head.

“What is so funny?” He asked and planted a kiss on my cheek.

I shook my head. “Nothing. You smell good.”

“Thank you.”

“So are you and Bella gonna be okay tomorrow?” I asked after a few moments of silence.

“What do you mean?”

“Well you’re going to watch after Bella tomorrow right?”

“Nicole I can’t.”

I pulled away from his arms, thinking he was joking. He wasn’t joking.

“Well I can’t either, I have to go to work. Anne’s been riding my ass lately. She want’s me to at least be there 3 days a week.”

“Can’t you get Heather to look after her?”

“Brian I wouldn’t let Heather look after my goldfish, I’m not just going to ask her to watch a child!”

He sighed and looked down at the ground. It fell silent again. I turned my attention back to the laundry. He suddenly didn’t seem so sexy anymore. Now I kinda just wanted to smack him.

“Alright, I guess I’ll watch Bella tomorrow.” He mumbled.

“Where do you have to go anyway that you can’t take Bella with you?”

“No where. It’s not a problem.”

His arms found their way back around my waist and his lips perfectly located my cheek. I allowed myself to fall back into his embrace. He pecked my cheek one more time before pulling away, much to my disapproval, and pulling his boxers and shirt on in record time.

“Brian, why don’t you and Bella go to your house tomorrow and get some more clothes, you’ve been wearing those since yesterday.” I wrinkled up my nose a little.

“Sounds like a plan. I’m gonna go tell Bella goodnight.” He said and quietly made his way out the room. I grabbed Brian’s towel off the floor, folded it and set it in with the rest of the laundry.

It was later that night while lying in bed, that I remembered Brian never answered my question. Where he was going tomorrow? Do I ask and seem clingy, or do I just keep my mouth shut and seem naïve. I sat up, about to ask him. But he was already asleep. I sighed and decided I would ask tomorrow. I lay back down and cuddled up to Brian, letting sleep overtake me.