Right Here Waiting

“I can’t do this.”

“Shut up.”

“No, seriously, I can’t do this.”

“Superglue your balls back on. You can’t bitch out now.”

“Katie, you need to stop dating Zacky. It’s having a horrible effect on you.”

“Eliza, you need to listen to Katie. Grow your balls back.”

“Val, you can shut up, too.”

The three girls were currently in one of the bathrooms in the back of the venue. Katie and Val were working on Eliza’s makeup and hair while Eliza sat, fidgeting with her shirt.

“Why are you even bothering with my hair? I’m putting a damn hat on.”

“Just shut up, will you? Focus on your damn music,” Katie snapped back.

The guys had walked onto the stage five minutes before. Eliza could hear the faint music coming from the stage, and even from the distance, she could hear “Critical Acclaim” being played. She was supposed to go on during “Dear God” which came on after “The Wicked End”. Matt “at the last minute” shoved “Dear God” in there, claiming they hadn’t played it in a while. Honestly, it was just for Brian to remain clueless.

“How was he before the show?” Eliza asked.

“Fine,” Val and Katie said at the same time. They said it too quickly and then shared a look.

Eliza caught it and groaned, putting her head in her hands.

“Oh, my God. He’s going to kill me in front of fifty thousand people.”

“There’s not fifty thousand people out there, fool,” Val said.

“Oh my God, he’s going to kill me in front of two thousand people.”

“He’s not going to kill you, now shut up.”

“OH MY GOD HE’S GOING TO REJECT ME IN FRONT OF TWO THOUSAND PEOPLE,” Eliza screamed out.

“I swear to God if you bust my ear drum I’m going to kick your ass,” Katie said, sticking her pinky finger in her ear.

“Guys, I really can’t do this.”

“Eliza, everything is going to work out. Zacky knows his part, and you’ve got the rest of the guys out there to back you up.”

Someone knocked on the door. Matt Berry stuck his head inside.

“It’s almost time.”

Eliza breathed heavily and stood up.

“I guess it’s now or never.”



Brian’s fingers flew over the strings. Honestly, he just wanted to get the concert and this day over with. His thoughts kept going back to Eliza, wondering what her dressed looked like, if she was saying her vows, and if she was happy.

He looked up and saw Zacky motioning to him. They moved closer and closer to each other on the stage until Zacky leaned in to say something to him.

“Eliza isn’t getting married!”

“What?!” Brian hollered.

“Eliza isn’t getting married today! She loves you, Brian! She wants to be with you. She and David broke up a month before Val and Matt’s engagement party. She doesn’t want Joel and she isn’t with David. She left him for you. She was only with him because she owes him like twenty thousand dollars for paying her dad’s shit. She’s in love with you, Brian.”

Thankfully, Brian’s fingers methodically kept moving, because he froze. Eliza hadn’t been with David in months. She hadn’t been with Joel. Slowly, he moved back to his side of the stage just in time for the last notes of the song. He reached out for his drink and finished it one swallow. He heard Matt’s voice over the microphone but didn’t hear a word he was saying. He took his guitar off and handed it to Matt Berry waiting. He grabbed the acoustic guitar and threw the strap over his shoulder.

She loves you, Brian.

“Fuck that,” he said to himself.

He saw the text messages from Eliza to Jimmy saying she was with Joel. Zacky was full of shit.

“This next one goes out to those you who have someone real fucking special at home. When you look at that person and just think to your-fucking-self… Dear God…”

Brian heard Matt’s voice, and he looked down at his guitar. It was the black acoustic guitar that Eliza had bought him.

Not being able to do anything about it now, he strummed his fingers along the strings, chords flowing out from them. He moved up to the microphone in the chorus to sing backup and the words just flew out of his mouth. He hated Matt for putting this song in the line-up, especially today, but again, he couldn’t do anything about it.

“I left her when I found her… and now I wished I’d stayed… because I’m lonely, and I’m tired… I’m missing you again, oh once again.”

A voice rang out that wasn’t Matt’s. Brian’s head whipped around and he saw Eliza coming from the other side of the stage, a microphone to her lips as she sang with the song. His fingers almost stopped working.

Her hair was hidden under her beanie, and her eyes were behind her aviator-style sunglasses. A red shirt clung to her upper body and black shorts adorned the bottom. Her long legs were tan, shiny, and toned, and suddenly Brian was overcome by the memory of those legs wrapped around him. He shook his head and looked back at her. Three inch black heels with a bow were on her feet and all of her bracelets were back on her left wrist. Her right wrist was bare except the bracelet Brian knew to be the one he gave her.

The crowd cheered as her voice rang out loud and clear.

“There's nothing here for me on this barren road. There's no one here while the city sleeps and all the shops are closed. Can't help but think of the times I've had with you; pictures and some memories will have to help me through, oh yeah”

“Dear God, the only thing I ask of you is to hold him when I’m not around…When I’m much too far away. We all need that person who can be true to you but I left him when I found him and now I wished I’d stayed”

Matt joined in on the last leg of the chorus, their voices harmonizing as if they’d been practicing for months. Suddenly, it hit Brian. When they were in Huntington, all the guys had disappeared during the day because they were with Eliza planning all of this.

They dove into the deeper part of the song, but Brian couldn’t take his eyes off of Eliza, even as he switched his guitars back. She was standing beside Matt in the center of the stage, singing her heart out but not once had she looked his way. He listened as she vocalized in the background behind Matt, and he thought of the day they made her record that part for the CD. They’d taken her to get her tattoo that day and she hadn’t let go of her hand.

The song ended and the fans went wild. Eliza and Matt hugged and Brian saw the smile of pure joy on her face. The smile even stayed as she looked his way.

Purposely, Eliza hadn’t looked at Brian since she walked on stage, afraid to see his reaction. Now that the song was over, she looked at him. He was staring at her and even though she was smiling, inside she was scared to death. She heard Matt introduce her and heard the crowd scream again, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Brian.

Brian heard Matt say something about a ‘special treat’, but he didn’t understand. That is, until Eliza walked to the side of the stage and was handed her guitar. He remembered vaguely her telling him about the guitar one day. He had found it in her room and she told him that she was a huge Korn fan and because of them, she’d gotten an Ibanez.

The strap went around her neck and Brian laughed.

“She doesn’t play guitar,” he said into the microphone.

“That’s what you think,” Zacky said back.

“You guys want to hear her play?” Matt asked and the crowd responded with a cheer.

“Yeah, I’m with them. I want to fucking hear this,” Brian said, sarcastically.

“He doesn’t think I can play,” Eliza said, fixing the microphone on a stand while staring at Johnny. Johnny laughed. “Zacky, I need your help.”

Matt moved to stand beside Brian as they watched Zacky start to play a song. Brian instantly recognized it and laughed. The first chords of “One” were being strummed from his guitar. Brian knew Eliza was trying to prove him wrong, and with this song, he knew she was going to. Zacky kept playing the same melody, while Eliza picked up her guitar and started in on her part. She hit the high and low notes perfectly and he heard Jimmy start up on the drums, followed by Johnny on bass. The whole band was in on this.

Eliza was flying through the notes as if she’d never stopped playing. Her heart was beating faster than it ever had, and she hoped she got the words right. She looked out over the crowd and heard them sing along as she and Zacky played the same harmony. She thought back to her audition with Unlimited Industries and smiled. She’d nailed it then, and she was going to nail it now. She glanced over at Zacky who was looking back at her, singing into the microphone with her.

She flew off on her own solo, closing her eyes as she reached the high notes, her fingers flying. Her adrenaline was kicking in as the major solo was coming up. She backed away from the microphone and listened to the three guitars and drums play. She’d always loved this song, but there was something about playing it live in front of a crowd with a band that was amazing. Even if she and Brian didn’t get back together, she’d always remember today.

She and Zacky flew into the harder part of the song with almost twin tenacity. She listened as Jimmy killed the drums, and stepped back up to the microphone to sing the last part before the big solo. Hands of audience in front of her were waving, cheering her on. She belted out the notes that James Hetfield sang. Listening to the crowd, she smiled, knowing she was nailing it.

Finally, it was her time. She took a deep breath and moved her hands closer together, ready for the hardest part of the song. For some reason, she felt the inner bitch in herself come out, and she turned so she was completely facing Brian and Matt as she played. She kept her eyes on the two standing there watching her and then looked back down at her fingers. They were almost a blur to her as she nailed the solo. She looked at Brian after her solo was done, and knew that her eyebrow was raised above her sunglasses and he could see it. He knew she was challenging him.

Without looking, she heard Zacky get in time with her as they played the last leg of the song. She knew her second big part was coming up and that Brian knew she was looking at him.
She and Zacky finished the song at the same time, but she was still looking at Brian. His mouth was slightly open and she could see the shock on his face. She watched as he moved to grab the microphone from Matt’s hands and lifted it up to his mouth.

“That doesn’t prove shit.”

“Sounds like a challenge to me,” Johnny said.

“Fine,” Eliza replied, her bitch coming back out. “Are you saying if I play something like this, I can play guitar?”

She moved away from the microphone and lifted her guitar back up. She started playing Brian’s solo from “Bat Country”. Zacky picked up his rhythm part to keep it true to form. When she was finished the crowd cheered.

“How about this?” she asked, and she ripped through his solo from “Beast and the Harlot”.

“That doesn’t prove anything except you can play my solos,” Brian said.

“Fine,” she said again, and started playing his solo from “Afterlife”.

Her fingers flew across the strings, and Brian watched them intently. She hit all the notes and even played the solo faster than he did, her fingers working double time to hit them. She made his solo seem like beginners work. Now he was impressed.

She still wasn’t done, though. Moving back to the microphone, the words were a blur as they came out of her mouth, and she and Zacky were starting up the song that she and Katie had written.

The response to that song was the same as the crowd cheered for her again. She debated on whether or not to sing the next song, but one look at Brian, who wasn’t even looking at her anymore, changed her mind. He’d challenged her the whole concert, mocked her, and she was through with it. She didn’t want to try anymore.

She took a deep breath and moved back to the microphone.

“This one is for those of you… who try everything you can for someone and still get burned. This is for those of you who love someone even though you shouldn’t. This is for those of you who fuck up, and when you try to make it right, you get iced out.”

Placing her sunglasses on top of her head, she inhaled. Eliza lifted her guitar and dropping it down into place, she and the guys started the song. Brian didn’t know it, and he listened intently. Eliza stepped to the microphone and the words came effortlessly.

“Search for the answers I knew all along, I lost myself, we all fall down. Never the wiser of what I've become. Alone I stand, a broken man… All I have is one last chance; I won't turn my back on you. Take my hand, drag me down, if you fall then I will too, and I can't save what's left of you…”

Brian listened as Eliza sang her heart out. He knew this song was directed to him. He watched as she belted out the words and her hands flew up and down on the neck of the guitar. Something stirred inside of him and he wasn’t sure if he liked it. It felt like his heart was breaking.

“Sing something new, I have nothing left. I can’t face the dark without you. There’s nothing left to lose, the fight never ends; I can’t face the dark without you.”

Brian closed his eyes and let the words wash over him. Her voice sounded strong, but she herself sounded broken. The song was hitting home with everything. He thought about all the times they’d sung together. She’d always said she wouldn’t play guitar until her father woke up. Here she was, in front of two thousand of his fans, playing guitar for him. She’d been insulted, hurt, and broken by him and yet she was still here for him.

“You know this is her apologizing, right?” Matt whispered as he leaned in to Brian.

Brian didn’t say anything, just watched her play.

“Swallow me under and pull me apart. I understand, there's nothing left; Pain so familiar and close to the heart. No more, no less, I won't forget… Come back down, save yourself. I can't find my way to you; and I can't bear to face the truth…

Sing something new, I have nothing left. I can’t face the dark without you. There’s nothing left to lose, the fight never ends, and I can’t face the dark without you.

I wanted to forgive. I'm trying to forget. Don't leave me here again. I am with you forever, the end…Sing something new, I have nothing left. I can’t face the dark without you. There’s nothing left to lose, the fight never ends, and I can’t face the dark without you.”

Eliza had had enough. She’d been on stage almost half an hour and Brian had been nothing but sarcastic to her. Finally she realized how perfect this song was. If he was enjoying it now, he’d love the end. She was done trying; it was his turn to fight, now.

“Holding the hand that holds me down… I forgive you, forget you, the end. Holding the hand that holds me down…”

She paused before the last line, taking her time to look at Brian. A frown was on his face. She moved to her right a bit so she could look to her left and still sing into the microphone. As she delivered the last line of the song, she stared him in the eyes.

“I forgive you…Forget you…The end.”

She finished the song and without looking at Brian or the other guys, she walked off stage. She pulled the strap over her head, and holding her guitar by her neck. She looked up at Val and Katie who were waiting patiently.

“We tried.”

“Eliza, give it a minute. You literally just walked off stage.”

“Did you not hear him the whole time? He questioned my guitar playing, he was sarcastic, and he didn’t smile once.”

“Yeah, but Eliza, you’ve got to—”

Katie was interrupted by Eliza shushing her. Katie stared at Eliza who held her finger halfway to her mouth and was staring into space.

“What?”

“Do you hear that?” Eliza asked, whirling around.

“Hear what?” Val asked.

Then they both heard it. The crowd was chanting Eliza’s name.

"Now's the time. Come on," Val said.

Eliza looked out and saw Brian standing there, looking in the direction she had come from. The rest of the guys moved back into position. Eliza wanted to continue to watch, but Katie and Val pulled her back into a room.

“Put this on,” Val instructed.

Eliza quickly changed, and pulling her hair from underneath the hat, she slipped her Chuck Taylors onto her feet.

They all left the back room a minute later and stood to the side of the stage as the guys continued with their concert. Brian looked even more resigned from playing now.

“Is she still here?” he asked Matt Berry in between songs.

“Yeah, she’s still here.”

“Go find a microphone and give it to her.”