All or Nothing

She shook Brian awake earlier than he wanted. He rolled over and looked at the clock which clearly, and in bright red numbers, said 5:08. He groaned, realizing he’d only had two hours of sleep, and shoved a pillow over his head.

“Come on, baby, we’ve got the shoot today,” Eliza said as she moved away from the bed.

Brian looked up to see her hair in a ponytail and her face was scrubbed clean. She was wearing one of his t-shirts and a pair of jogging shorts. He groaned, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to squeeze a quickie in and crawled out of bed. He showered as quickly as he could and threw on some clothes. Shoving things into a bag, he glanced over to see that Eliza already had her bag packed and her guitar case in her hand.

Zipping his bag, he grabbed the tickets from their dresser, making sure he had everything and he followed Eliza out of their bedroom, picking up his guitar case as he went. Walking down the stairs, he said good morning to Alex and Dominic. They all looked around making sure everything was in place before heading out of the door. Brian held the door for Eliza before climbing into the driver’s seat and heading toward the airport in Los Angeles.

Brian had been to different photo shoots before in his life, mostly with his band, which is why this one was so different. Usually they showed up wearing whatever, and had their hair and makeup done, and they just posed.

This time, he was shown what to wear and had someone help fit it to him. He was sat down in a chair where someone did his makeup and hair. He glanced to his far right where he could barely see Eliza sitting there, calmly. Someone was applying fake lashes to her eyes, and he could see a lot of skin visible from where he was sitting.

Once he was done with hair and makeup, he was shown to the set. Black Victorian looking wallpaper hung up on the walls with a white floor. Their guitars were set up on stands and there was a silver chaise lounge with black fabric covering the seat. He looked around to see that Eliza was still in wardrobe. The photographer called him over to the set and he walked over to him.

“We’re gonna go ahead and get a couple shots of you here, then a few of just Eliza, and a couple of you two together, and then we’re gonna move to a different location.”

“Sounds good, what did you have in mind?” Brian asked and placed his hands on his hips.

The photographer pulled out a couple of sketches and showed them to Brian before calling everyone to the set. He pulled at the white shirt that he was wearing underneath the black vest and made sure the sleeves were rolled up. A woman came and adjusted his black trousers. Honestly, he felt like a member of the mob wearing the suit, and he smiled. The woman handed him a pair of sunglasses and he put them on his face before sitting down on the lounge. He placed his elbows on his knees and his hands together. He leaned forward and started looking around, wondering when everything was going to start happening.
Before he knew it, lights started flashing and he looked forward to see the photographer taking pictures.

“I should’ve told you we were starting, but that was great right there, what you were doing.”

“Oh, okay,” Brian said, nodding.

It was another ten minutes of pictures being taken and Brian being given direction before Eliza made her way out of the wardrobe room. She was wearing a tight-fitting black dress. The bodice hugged her waist and flourished at her chest, pushing her breasts upwards. She was wearing a fishnet top that hung off of her shoulders underneath the dress, giving her Victorian look an updated feel. Her hair was straight down her back and when she looked up he caught sight of her face. He was reminded of the first night he’d seen her out with Johnny. Her eyes were lined in black with black eye shadow on the lids. All of her piercings were still in place and he smiled. Her lips were painted a faint black and she literally looked like a dark angel. Her nails were painted a pale pink and he watched her listen to the woman talking to her beside her as she lifted her hand to remove a piece of hair from her face.

Brian was stood up by the stylist and his sleeves were rolled back down and he was handed a jacket. He put it on and pulled at the sleeves, making sure everything was in place. He listened as the photographer explained how he wanted it to seem like they were proper and then as they got closer, they would lose different pieces of clothing and become more open. Eliza smiled and understood what he was talking about.

They moved around for almost two hours taking different pictures and losing different articles of clothing. At one point, Eliza was down to just her fishnet top, a black tubetop, a pair of boyshorts, and her fishnet stockings and heels. Brian had his jacket draped over the back of the lounge and his vest and shirt were open to reveal his chest. Eliza had the earpiece of his sunglasses in between her teeth as she straddled his hips. He was looking up at her while she was half turned to look at the camera.

Once the shot was taken, the photographer called a halt to the shoot and announced that they were done in this location. They’d just walked off the set when they were approached by a male and a female both holding clipboards.

“I’m Amy Gallagher,” the female said, holding her hand out to shake Eliza’s.

“Eliza, and this is Brian,” she said, smiling.

“This is Eric Blanchard, my assistant. I’m from Revolver and I was hoping I could catch a couple of minutes of your time for some questions for the article.”

“That’d be fine,” Eliza said, smiling. “Do you mind doing it while we’re getting ready for the next location? I really want to get this shit off of me.”

Amy looked down to see her motioning toward her fishnet stockings and laughed. They moved to the big room with all the clothes and Eliza moved behind the curtain to change her clothes. Brian showed up a minute later and she laughed at him coming behind with her. She rolled the fishnets down her legs and she felt a pinch on her butt and turned around slapping at Brian’s hand.

“How did you two meet?” she heard from the other side of the curtain.

“Stop it, Brian!” she said, laughing as he tried to pinch her again. “We actually went to high school together.”

She pulled on her shorts and threw her t-shirt over her head before emerging from the curtain. Amy and Eric were sitting in chairs looking towards them with smiles on their faces.

“Sorry, he’s such a little kid sometimes,” Eliza said, making an excuse for Brian.

“You two are so freaking adorable,” Amy said with a smile. “How long have you two been together?”

“Like..six months now? We were friends before, though. I was just engaged to the wrong person and so was he,” Eliza said, rolling her eyes to look at Brian as he came out from behind the curtain.

“I was definitely with the wrong person. Eliza and I met in high school. She kicked a dude’s ass for me and totally saved my life.”

“I didn’t save your life, Brian; I just saved your pretty face.”

“Wait, you got into a fight for him?” Eric asked, confused.

“There was this guy who was pushing him around, trying to start a fight, and he ended up pushing Brian into me. I was sitting outside in the quad and he fell into me, ripping my book. I got pissed off at him, but then when I saw it wasn’t him, I got in the dude’s face.”

“So the girl saves the guy. Interesting,” Eric said with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah. So, she saves my ass and we go on our separate ways. Well, a couple years ago, Johnny Christ comes to this party we’re having for the release of our album, and he walks in with Eliza. Well, immediately we all start to get close again seeing as how she lived like twelve houses down from us. She helped us produce our album actually.”

“I remember you saying that in your interview,” Amy said, nodding.

“I went to Berklee for music production after I got declined from Julliard. I helped them produce the album and just got closer to them, really. Brian was dating another girl at the time and she saw the sparks flying between he and I before anyone else did, I think. She used to get so jealous that we would hang out all the time. He would come over every night and we’d sing and he’d play guitar and we’d stay up all night out on the beach just talking.”

“Eliza went through a real rough time, then,” Brian said, looking at her. They’d sat down in chairs opposite of Amy and Eric, and he reached out to take her hand. “Her dad was in the hospital in a coma, and she was having a lot of trouble dealing.”

“My mom passed away when I was in high school, so I’d been through one parent dying. I was actually auditioning for Unlimited Industries, and my dad was supposed to be there. He was in a car accident on his way to the airport and he had so much brain damage they had to induce a coma. I felt like it was my fault, and I stopped playing guitar. I hadn’t played in like two months when I saw Brian again.”

“I’m so sorry,” Amy said, with her hand to her throat.

“It’s okay,” Eliza said with a smile. “Well, my dad passed, and a bunch of things happened. Brian and I ended up not speaking to each other, and he said a bunch of shit that really hurt me, but I understood where he was coming from.”

“I was an asshole,” Brian said, looking back at the reporters. “She took it upon herself to make things better, and so she and the rest of the guys staged this whole huge thing where she came on stage with us during one of our concerts. She started singing along with our songs and even played a couple of her own. I remember, she sang this one line, ‘I forgive you, forget you, the end,’ and I just kinda froze. She’d been singing to the audience the whole song, and the last line, she looks at me as she says those words. When the song was over, she just walked off stage. I felt like she was really leaving, and it took those words for me to realize what an ass I’d been to her. I found one of the Berry twins, told him to find her and give her a microphone, and I started playing.

“We’d always had this one song that was kinda like ‘our’ song. “Right Here” by Staind. She sang that one day, a capella, and I heard her and I swear that was the day I fell in love with her. So, when I’m on stage, trying to figure out how the hell to get her back, I realize I should play that song. We kinda made it our own, and I knew she knew when I started playing it. She came back out and sang with me, and we’ve pretty much been inseparable every since.”

“Which brings me to my next question,” Amy said. “What’s it like keeping a relationship when both of you have bands?”

“It’s difficult,” Eliza said. “I’m here now, while Brian is still in California. I usually fly home when he’s home and we have our house and everything, but it’s a bit easier since he’s on tour. Of course, if I didn’t have my band, I’d be with him on tour, but it’s a bit easier knowing he’s not at home, doing nothing, while I’m across the country.”

“It really takes a toll on you,” Brian said, looking at Eliza. “We really struggle sometimes, at least I know I do, because I miss her so much, but I’m not going to stand in her way of having her dream come true. I know the guys in her band are excited, too, and I don’t want to squash that, so I just let her go on about her business.”

“What’s it like to date a rock star?” Eric asked Eliza.

She smiled before answering. “I don’t know…I don’t consider Brian a ‘rock star’, really. I mean, I do, but at the same time, he’s the guy who ripped my Pride and Prejudice book in high school. He’s the guy who’s been there for me through a lot of things, so I don’t see him as famous or whatever. I see him as my fiancée.”

“When’s the big date?”

“We haven’t decided on one yet, but we’re working on it. I think right now, we just want to see where things go with both of our bands. Avenged is about to come off tour soon, and I don’t even know where Shades of Grey is going because we’re so young right now. Really, I think our engagement is a symbol of we love each other, and we will get married, but not right now.”

“That’s a good way to look at it,” Amy said, nodding.

“I just couldn’t imagine myself with anyone else,” Eliza said, looking to Brian and smiling.



Later that night, once the interview and photo shoots were all over, they hailed a cap to take them to Eliza’s apartment. They walked together down the hallway, and Eliza set her guitar case down while she unlocked the door.

The lights were on, which confused the hell out of her. She set her bag and guitar case down on the floor and placed her keys on the counter, looking around.

“Did you leave the lights on?” Brian asked.

“Hell, no. I wouldn’t leave them on for a week,” Eliza said.

“Eliza, baby, are you home!?” they heard from upstairs.

“What the fuck?!” Eliza and Brian both said at the same time.

Eliza moved toward the stairs when someone came running down the stairs.

Hunter stood in only sweatpants at the bottom of the stairs with a huge smile on his face. He ran to her and hugged her before kissing her on her mouth. She shoved away, slapping him across the face.

“Eliza, what the hell?”

“Oh, no, what the fuck are you doing in my apartment?”

“What the fuck are you doing kissing my fiancée?” Brian asked from the kitchen.

“Oh, you brought him with you? Eliza, honey, I thought you were going to tell him about us while you were in California. You didn’t bring any of your bags with you?” Hunter asked, looking around.

“Eliza, what the fuck is going on?” Brian asked.

She whirled around, looking at Brian. “This is not what it looks like, I swear. I don’t know what the hell he’s doing here.”

“It sure looks like he’s made himself comfortable. How did he get in, Eliza? You didn’t make any spares to your apartment, but it sure as fuck looks like he has one and was waiting on you.”

“Brian, really –”

“Eliza, this is some fucked up shit. I knew you coming to New York was going to be a bad idea! I had no way of knowing, and if I hadn’t come tonight, I wouldn’t know a fucking thing about this, would I? God, you just sat there and gave a huge interview about how much you loved me a shit. Was all of that a fucking lie?”

“No! Brian, I swear, I didn’t know anything—”

“Oh, you didn’t know, huh? You didn’t know I was going to find out about your twisted little fucking fling, did you? Well, I hope you have a great life with him. You can keep that goddamn ring on your finger; it doesn’t mean shit to me now. You're nothing but bad news.”

Eliza watched as Brian picked up his things and slammed the door behind him. Tears fell from her face as she chased after him, but the elevator doors were already closed. By the time she got back to her apartment, Hunter was already dressed and grabbing his keys.

“Thanks for the entertainment, doll,” he said before disappearing out of the door.

She looked around and saw a lone key on her counter. Picking it up and examining it, she realized it was the copy he’d made somehow of her apartment key. She picked up her phone and tried to dial Brian’s number, but he’d cut his phone off.

There was nothing she could do but sit there and cry.