Forgive Me

Brian’s POV

The guitarist decided to come back to the restaurant with his friends. He realized that he hadn’t been nice with them, lately. He had just neglected them because he felt bad, but he had no right to do this. They always had been here for him, and he had just been an asshole in return. He had to change that.

“Admit you missed me!”, he said, smiling and joining the table.

“What the fuck, Gates ? We thought you were in the bus ?”, Matt asked obviously surprised.

“It was my plan. But…I understood…that it won’t help me to stay in the bus all day, crying and all that shit…”, he confessed.

All the guys were silent and looked at the brown-eyed man in disbelief.

“So, you wanna hang out with us, just like we used to do before…?”, Johnny asked almost shyly.

Brian chuckled.

“Yeah, dude. I’ll try, at least..”, he responded.

They all got up and engulfed him in a “band hug”. They all said they were happy that he was back, that he decided not to let himself going down anymore.

“Do you know what would be great? I mean…really great? “, Zacky asked, a huge smile on his lips.

They all looked at him expectantly.

“I mean, tonight is the last night we’re here, because we leave tomorrow afternoon, so…We have to go in a club tonight!”, he proposed.

They all sounded alright with this idea, excepted…..Brian, of course.

“Huh…You sure?”, he asked hesitantly.

“GATES!”, they all said in unison, which caused to Brian and Maddy to laugh lightly.

“Okay, okay, I’ll give a try…”, he finally said.

They all exited the restaurant. Zacky said he’ll walk Maddy to her hotel, and Matt called a cab for Alyssa. Johnny, Brian and Arin walked together to the bus.

Maddy’s POV

The brown-haired girl and Zacky arrived to the hotel door, and Zacky said he’ll walk her to her room.

“You wanna come in ?”, the girl asked, hoping he would say yes.

“Why not.”, he replied smiling.

Ollie was behind her desk, working again.

“Hey sis!’”, Maddy greeted her.

“Hey!”, she answered, taking note that Zacky was here too.

“Hope I don’t disturb you in your…work…”, Zacky said.

“Not really, I’m almost done.”, she assured.

Zacky looked at Maddy, and they started a silent conversation, glancing a few times at Ollie.

“Hmmm”, Maddy finally said.

Ollie turned to face her and raised her eyebrow.

“Do you have plans for tonight?”, Maddy asked, trying to put a neutral expression on her face.

“Huh…yeah, I have to read again that part from Freud’s book, you know…”

The guitarist and Maddy rolled their eyes at the same time.

“What?”, Ollie asked confused.

“Enough working for today, Miss Nerd. Tonight, you come with us”, her sister stated.

“With you ? Where are you going ?”, Ollie asked, starting to feel stressed.

“A club.”, Zacky responded.

“No way!”, the raven-haired girl exclaimed, getting up from her chair. “I never …went to one of those dirty places and I won’t…”

“You’ll come”, Maddy cut her off.

“But…”

“There’s no but, Ollie. Look at you, you seem terrified because we mentioned a club, and that’s just because you afraid to see people. In fact, sometimes I ask myself if the explanation is just that you’re simply afraid to have fun. Come on, you’re 25 and you act like a nerd teenager. People won’t kill you, rape you, or something. You…you have to grow up, Ollie. You have to realize that the world is not here to oppress you. And you have to leave those damn fucking books for a while. I already told you all this, but you seem to never understand… It’s your decision, after all, so we won’t force you. We’ll watch a movie in the leaving room. Just…think about it, sis.”
And with that, Maddy and Zack left the room.

Ollie’s POV

Ollie was upset against her sister. She didn’t really know why, though. Or maybe she knew perfectly why. Her half-sister was absolutely right, and her words have hit her like a gunshot. It made her realize that …yeah she was acting like a nerd. But a few years ago, those books were the only escape Ollie had. In those books, nobody was here to blame her, to make her feel bad, etc… Unlike her stepfather.

Ollie was still in her room, thinking about what Maddy said. It was holidays. She could do whatever she wanted. She had to have fun for once, and she had to evacuate all the pressure. She tried to convince herself that hanging out tonight wasn’t such a bad idea.
But still, they talked about a club. She was quite prejudiced against those places. She didn’t want tonight to end up like an orgy… But apparently everybody, even her sister, was going to this club. So she would be alone if she decided not to go. She didn’t want to be alone anymore. She understood that she needed people to help her feel better. Plus, those guys from Avenged Sevenfold seemed quite cool, except Brian, or Synyster, or whatever was his name.

She went to the living room and smiled. Zacky was on the sofa, with Maddy in his lap. Her sister had her head on the guitarist’s shoulder, and a grin on her face.

“Huh….”, Ollie started, causing both Zacky and Maddy to jump.

“Oh… Ollie. Well, what’s up?”, Maddy asked.

“I-I will come. I mean…tonight.”, she said, looking at her feet.

Maddy smiled. She was happy that her sister made this decision. She got up from Zacky’s lap and engulfed her sister in a sweet hug.

They decided to eat pizza together for dinner, and then to get ready for tonight.

The man arrived with their orders and they started to eat. Ollie felt more relaxed. It’s like she got rid of those chains that prevented her from being just herself. She was smiling and joking, which surprised both Zacky and Maddy.

After dinner, the girls came in Ollie’s room to decide on an outfit for the night. Maddy advised Ollie to wear a red tank top and her dark denim skirt, and she decided on an electric blue cute dress. Once all dressed up, Maddy went to the bathroom and put some makeup. She decided on just the basis: black eyeliner and mascara, and Ollie did the same.

They exited the room, and joined Zacky in the living-room. The guitarist was sat in the sofa, texting someone on his phone.

Maddy went in front of him and cleared her throat. The green-eyed man raised his head, and looked at her wide-eyed which caused Maddy to blush a little.

“Wow, you look…gorgeous…”, he said still shocked. She got up and placed his arm around Maddy’s waist.

“Thanks, but you’re not too bad yourself, Baker”, the girl responded.

It was Ollie’s turn to clear her throat, not really wanting to see her sister making out with some guy.

“Okay, okay, we can go now”, Maddy laughed.

Brian’s POV

Brian was in the bus, looking for clothes in his purse. He would never admit it to the guys but he thought going to a club tonight was a really good idea. It was the best way to have a little fun, and not to think about Elise.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to think about her anymore, it was just too hard.
Even when he remembered the good moments, he cried because he knew that anything like this won’t happen again to him. He would never meet someone like her.
So, maybe hanging out with his friend could help him, it was for sur.

The guitarist finally managed to find decent clothes: a black V-neck t-shirt and tight grey jeans. He looked at himself in the mirror. He had to admit that he looked good. He chuckled at this last thought.

“Ready to go, Gates?”, Johnny asked.

“Fuck yeah, man”, Brain replied, smiling.

“It’s good to see you like this, man.”, Johnny said, looking serious.

“Thanks Shortshit! ”, Brian laughed a little.

*********Later that night*************

Everybody was in the club. Matt and Alyssa finally arrived.
Alyssa was wearing a silver tank top and black short. She looked really gorgeous, and Matt wouldn’t complain about it.

Maddy and Zacky were dancing together. Johnny was talking with a pretty blonde, Matt and Alyssa were at the bar, talking to each other with sparkling eyes. Arin and Brian were at the bar too, but a good meter away from the couple. Ollie was backed against the counter, a few feet away from Arin and Brian. She looked not at ease, but it wasn’t really surprising. Once again, she didn’t know what to do, or who talking to. She wasn’t unhappy to be here, it was just something new for her.

Yet, she found it was a very noisy place. People were laughing loud, others were yelling. She needed some fresh air.
She exited the club, and sat on a kind of rock bunch. She closed her eyes. She felt better.

Her silent moment was interrupted with someone exiting, but she didn’t open her eyes. She felt someone sitting by her side.

“Hey”, the person said. It was a guy.

Ollie slowly opened her eyes, and turned to face the man. Her eyes went wide opened when she realized it was Brian.

“Hey…”, she replied, with an almost trembling voice.

“Don’t worry, I don’t bite.”, he said, playfully.

“Good thing to know”, she responded, still on guard.

“Come on, relax! I’m just here to smoke.”, he finally explained. He took a cigarette, and looked at Ollie. “You smoke?”, he asked.

Ollie looked at him in disgust, and Brian had his answer?

“Why not?”, he asked again.

“Because it’s dangerous!”, she said, a bit upset.

Brian laughed. “I planned on asking you if you sometimes drink alcohol, but I guess the answer is the same”.

Ollie looked a bit hurt. “It’s not your problem”, she replied, looking away from him and hoping that he would go away.
Brian rolled his eyes.

“Why don’t you just try it? You know a one-time thing. It won’t kill you.”, he proposed, handing her his cigarette.

“No, you won’t corrupt me, sir!”, she refused.

Brian started to laugh hard. “Wow, you’re something else, you know?”

“I don’t care what you think.”

“Hey! Just stop being bitchy. Come on, just five minutes. Try to be nice for five minutes.”

Ollie rolled her eyes.

“So, remember me your name?”, Brian asked.

“Ollie.”, she responded calmly.

“That’s sweet”, he said, smiling lightly.

“Thanks.”

“Hmmm, what are you doing, I mean for a living?”

“I don’t work, I’m still studying…Philosophy.”, she explained.

“Okay. And…how old are you?”

“25”, she responded, starting to feel annoyed.

“That’s a bit old. I mean…for College.”, he said, surprised. “Plus you look a bit younger”.

“That’s a long story, but thanks.”, she turned to face him.

She had to admit that the man was hot. He had gorgeous brown eyes and high cheekbones.

“I like long stories.”, he replied, smirking.

“I don’t know you! I won’t tell you this! Please leave me alone. You’re bothering me with all your questions.”, she almost yelled, getting up from the bunch.

Brian looked at his watch.

“Six minutes and thirty seconds. You won”, he stated. “If I may give you an advice, just quit College. I think Philosophy makes you become an annoying person.”

Tears started to form in Ollie’s eyes. She wanted to yell at this moron, but she couldn’t. The words didn’t come.

“Fuck you!”, she just said, before starting to run away from the club.

Brian looked surprised. He didn’t mean to hurt the girl at this point. He was asking himself if he should run after her or not.
He felt bad. He didn’t know his girl, and yet she was crying because of him. He had to do something.
He started to walk in order to find the girl. He didn’t have to walk too much time, because he saw her, sat on the beach, her head on her knees. He approached her, and sat next to her.

“I’m sorry”, he said honestly.

“Just leave me alone…”, she begged, sobbing.

“I can’t, I don’t want you to be mad at me, okay? I’m sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean it…”

“Yes you did. Everybody does. Now just leave me alone.”

Brian sighed. “I just said this because you don’t seem like someone who just…you know, enjoys life. You’re just…a little more serious that most of people, that’s all.”

Ollie laughed. “Just because I don’t smoke and drink I’m serious?”

“Huh…that’s one of the reasons, yeah”, Brian admitted.

“Oh…You’re probably right. That’s it, I’m serious. Now you can come back to the club.”

“I’ll do if you come with me.”, he said.

“And if I don’t?”, she challenged.

“Well, I’ll stay here until you decide to stop crying and to enjoy yourself”, he replied.

“How do you want me to enjoy myself?”, she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well”, he smiled, “the water doesn’t seem too cold. And it’s good to swim in the evening, it relax your muscles”.

Ollie looked at him like he was an idiot.

“I don’t have a bikini or anything…How do you..”

She shut up in disbelief when she saw Brian got up and took off his shirt, then his jeans.

“ Me either”, he just said, before running into the water.

Ollie laughed. This man was crazy.

“Come on! You won’t regret it”, she heard Brian yell.

She bite her lip…

A few minutes later, she was in the water, but at a good distance from Brian.

“Happy?”, she asked to Brian.

“Not yet”, Brian smiled mischievously.

He approached her, and threw some water at Ollie’s face.

“What the…”, she yelled. She opened her eyes, seeing Brian laughing hard.

“You will regret what you’ve just done”, she said, trying not to laugh.

They started a playful fight in the water, laughing and yelling at each other.
They finally returned to the sand, and put their clothes on.

“You see”, Brian started, “This is it, to enjoy yourself. Don’t deny that you liked it…”

“It was fun, I have to admit”

“Just…fun?”, Brian asked, looking disappointed.

“Okay, I had a great time. You happy now?”, she rectified, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah”, he said smiling. “It’s a bit late. You want me to walk you to your hotel?”

Ollie hesitated.

“Huh…no thanks…”

“I knew you would say that. So , I’ll walk you. You’ve got no choice.”

Ollie sighed. “Whatever.”

They started to walk and to talk about random things. He asked if she had heard of his band and she explained to him that she never listened to their music.

They arrived to the hotel door.

“Thanks you for the walk, and…for everything.”, she smiled.

“You’re welcome. Huh…I don’t think you know, but we leave tomorrow, we come back to California to make a concert in L.A, so…maybe I’ll see you tomorrow but if I don’t, well goodbye and…and maybe I’ll see you at one of our concert”, he joked.

“Maybe”, she simply responded.

He hugged her lightly, which surprised her. She hugged him back, but even more lightly than he did.

“You’re a cool girl. Just…leave that mask of the serious girl that you put on your face. Enjoy yourself. Goodnight.”

And with that, he walked away.

Ollie climbed the stairs until she arrived at her room. She took a rapid shower and went to bed.
She smiled. Finally tonight was a good night.
….And Brian was a cute guy…