Right Here Waiting

Finally, the guys were back on tour.

To say Brian felt relief from being away and not having to worry about anything but playing and drinking was an understatement. Finally, he didn’t have to think about Eliza, how he pissed her off, how he was mad at her for not telling him any of the things she should’ve told him, and how he’d made her cry again. Finally, he could worry about just playing for his fans and getting shit-faced drunk every night. Never in his life did he think that a month would last forever, but it did to Brian.

They were in Washington, D.C., a city Brian had always thought was amazing-looking, to play at The Patriot Center. The bus was sitting near the venue, and all the guys were hanging out. Brian was lying out on the couch, Jimmy across from him.

“You think I’m being a fool?” Brian asked.

Jimmy didn’t say anything.

“Jimmy.”

“What?” Jimmy said, looking up from his phone, like Brian had just spoken to him.

“I’ve been talking to you for a fucking minute, dude.”

“My bad, bro, I’m a little bit distracted. What’s up?”

“Do you think I’m being a fool?”

Matt hollered Jimmy’s name, and as if Matt hadn’t spoken, Jimmy got up and walked away.

“Wow, that was fucking rude,” Brian said out loud.

Jimmy’s phone vibrated and Brian realized he’d left it there. Curious, he got up and picked the phone up. Eliza’s name was on the screen, and he clicked “view”.

“Good. Are you sure he has no idea?”

Even more curious now, Brian clicked back and went to Jimmy’s messages. The one before read that she was with Joel, and going back through what Jimmy had said, Jimmy asked how things were going with the two of them.

Go figure that she was engaged to an asshole, and now she was cheating on him with one of Brian’s friends days before her wedding. If she thought that Brian wanted to get back with her now, she was sorely wrong. She was turning out to be no better than Amber.



They made it through the show easy enough. Brian didn’t speak much, and didn’t interact with the guys much either. The Maine concert went the same. When they were in New York, Brian swore he saw Eliza, but he knew it couldn’t have been her.

Finally, the day he’d been dreading.

March 22nd.

Today was the day Eliza was supposed to be getting married. Brian had been drinking since they left New York the night before. He was completely drunk by one in the morning before he passed out. He woke up at noon and started drinking again.

Val walked onto the bus to take a shower before the merchandise tent opened. She found Brian sitting at the table, a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels in front of him.

“What’s wrong, Syn?” she asked, sitting down.

“Today fucking sucks,” he mumbled.

Val realized he was completely wasted and was worried. Sure, he drank all the time with the guys, but he was hardly ever drunk during the day unless there was a special occasion. She’d seen him wasted while they were in Europe, taking shots of absinthe, and she’d seen him ride an elevator on his head, but she hadn’t seen him like this in a while. His eyes were sunken in and he seemed to be losing weight.

“What sucks about today?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know, Valary.”

“Honestly, Brian, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Eliza has been fucking Joel, and she’s supposed to marry Douche McDoucherson today.”

“No, Brian, that’s not—” Val began, but Brian cut her off.

“You know, I fucking loved that girl. How often do I say I love something and really mean it? I mean, I loved her more than my guitars, which by the fucking way, is hard to do. I wanted to be with her for like fucking ever, and then she’s engaged to that douchebag. Now, I find out she’s been sleeping with Joel. Who the fuck does that, Val? I know I said some fucked up things, but she never even gave me a chance to apologize for that shit. Like, I tell her I wanted to push her down stairs and she brings me a guitar. Who the fuck does that? I thought things were going to be different, but apparently I was way fucking wrong! God damn my life.”

Val stared open-mouthed as Brian spilled everything. Once he was finished, he stood up and made his way back to his bunk.

“Wake me up an hour before show time,” he hollered.

“You don’t know how wrong you are, Synyster Gates,” Val whispered to herself before standing up to shower off.

He would find out himself in a couple of hours.