All or Nothing

Brian woke up but wasn’t sure why he was awake. He rolled over to cuddle with Eliza and found she wasn’t there. Immediately, he sat up and looked around the room. Eliza’s apartment was quiet; the sky outside was still dark and he knew it was early, but where could she be?

Suddenly, he heard humming and he turned to his left to see her bathroom door open with the light on. He threw the covers back and stood up to stretch. Walking into the bathroom, he saw Eliza sitting on the counter, he legs over the sink. She was leaning into the mirror, humming, and applying her eyeliner. Her toes tapped along with her humming, and when she noticed him behind her, she smiled into the mirror.

“Morning, baby,” she said and turned to face him.

He noted that she wasn’t wearing pants, just his t-shirt, and he instantly became aroused. He moved to stand between her legs as she swung them to let them hang down from the counter.

“Morning, princess,” he said and bent down to kiss her.

“I was going to wake you up later. We don’t have to leave for another hour and a half,” she said to him.

“Good, that means I’ve got another hour and a half to take you back to that bed,” Brian said as he leaned back down to nip at her neck.

“Mmm, that sounds like a plan,” Eliza said and allowed him to lift her off of the counter and back to her bedroom.



Two and a half hours later, Eliza made her way from the airport where she’d just said goodbye to Brian, Jimmy, and Johnny to the studio where she was meeting with the boys to practice some.

Dressed in a plaid shirt over a white tank top, shorts, flowered see-through tights, and her Chuck Taylors, she stood in the elevator as it ascended to the fourth floor. She made her way through the offices and to the studio doors where she saw Dominic sitting on one of the couches.

“Hey guy,” she said as she set her bag and guitar case down.

“Good morning,” he said and handed her a cup of coffee. “ I didn’t know what you’d like, so I just got it black, but I’ve got plenty of cream and sugar.”

“Oh, good. I love my cream and sugar,” Eliza said and took the packets from him.
She stood at one of the tables and fixed her coffee while Dominic got his bass out of its case. She came to sit back down beside him as he tuned it. They waited another thirty minutes, before Eliza got her own guitar out and tuned it.

“I guess they’re not going to show up, so why don’t I go ahead and let you hear some of the things I’ve written, and you can tell me what you think?”

“That sounds great,” Dominic said, smiling at her.

Normally, Eliza felt embarrassed singing in front of new people, but for some reason she felt comfortable around Dominic already. She attributed it to the fact that since the first time he walked through the door, Dominic had felt like an older brother.

She smiled as she struck the chords for the first song. She played through three of the songs before Dominic finally stopped her. He asked for the sheet music to the songs and she dug through her bag to find the music. She pulled it out and laid it on the table in front of them, handing him a pencil in the process. He looked through it for a few minutes and pointed out a couple of things that she could change. Eliza instantly nodded in complete agreement with him.

“I have something to confess to you,” Dominic said, but the smile on his made Eliza realize it was nothing bad.

“Alright, shoot.”

“I was awake all night, and I actually wrote a song. I know we didn’t spend a lot of time together yesterday, but I wrote this song as my first impression of something you’d sing. It sounds a bit country, and I know that, but I still really like it. Can I use your guitar?”

“Sure,” Eliza said and handed it over to him.

He handed her the sheet music he had with the words written on it. She listened as he plucked the first chords to the song. He counted off for her, and she started singing.

“Well I've been saved by the grace of southern charm. I got a mouth like a sailor and yours is more like a hallmark card. If you wanna pick a fight well I'm gonna have to say good night; I don't have to be hateful, I can just say bless your heart. And even though I don't belong with your high life friends, doesn't mean we don't get together and try to make amends. It's easier can you see lets agree to just disagree; we don't have to like each other but its sure fun to pretend. So let’s shake hands and reach across those party lines. You got your friends just like I got mine. We might think a little differently, but we got a lot in common you will see; we're just like you, only prettier.”

Eliza couldn’t help but laugh as Dominic stopped playing.

“Yeah, that definitely sounds like me,” she said and they both laughed.

Their laughter was cut short by the door bursting open. Alex walked in, a hat on his head, sunglasses on his face, and jeans with a regular t-shirt. He had a cup of coffee in his hands and he flopped down in a couch to the left of them.

“Where the hell have you been?” Dominic asked.

“Hunter and I stayed out real late drinking. My bad.”

“We were supposed to be here two hours ago,” Dominic said, and Eliza saw his eyes darken.

“I said my bad, dude. I didn’t mean to oversleep.”

“Yeah, well you just got accepted to this band yesterday. Great first impression, fuckwad.”

“Look, you’re not my dad, asshole. Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do.”

“I’m not telling you anything, except that you should try harder if you really want to be a part of this band.”

“Well, I’m here now, aren’t I?”

“Where’s your kit?” Eliza asked.

“In the car downstairs. I was hoping that you guys could help me bring it up,” Alex said.

“Even though you acted like an assbag, I guess I could help you,” Dominic said and handed Eliza’s guitar back to her before standing up.

Eliza put her guitar back in its case and stood up to follow the guys out the doors toward the elevator. As they got to the elevator, the doors opened to reveal a smiling Hunter.

“Morning, all,” he said cheerily.

“You’re late,” Eliza said, crossing her arms.

“Aw, come on, love. You know I like to make an entrance,” Hunter said, his smile getting bigger as his eyes roamed over her. “You look delicious.”

“You look disgusting,” Eliza said and went into the elevator.

“Where are we going?” Hunter asked.

“We’re going to help Alex bring his kit upstairs,” Dominic said.

“Well what the hell am I supposed to do with my guitar?”

“Hold it,” Eliza said and turned away from him to face the doors again.

All of a sudden, she felt a hand on her ass, and before she could think, she whirled around, her fist flying. It landed in Hunter’s shoulder, knocking him back into the wall.

“I told you not to ever fucking touch me, asshole!” Eliza burst out.

“I thought you said to touch you,” Hunter said with a smirk on his face.

“If I wanted to be touched by a female, I’d ask your sister for a hug, asshole,” she sneered in return.

The smile fell from Hunter’s face as Eliza’s words sunk in. He wore a frown the rest of the elevator ride.

Once Alex’s equipment was brought upstairs and set up, they were actually able to start practice. Dominic and Eliza explained the songs they’d gone over before the other two had gotten there. She listened as Alex and Hunter played along with them, and she had to admit they sounded great for their first practice. Alex had this amazing concept grasping ability, and he was able to put beats along with almost all the songs immediately. Hunter remained quiet for the rest of the practice, but even Eliza had to admit he was good on the guitar. Of course, he wasn’t as good as Brian, but he was still good.

They spent the rest of the day there. Hours later, Eliza was surprised to find that they were all getting along and actually laughing and making jokes. They ordered Chinese and had it delivered for dinner. They even sent Alex down to a store and got beer for them to drink. During that time, Eliza had called Brian to make sure her boys had gotten back to Los Angeles alright. He said they had, and asked about her day. They spent another few minutes on the phone before he had to go. Eliza felt her heart tug a bit as she said goodbye, but she hung up anyway.

“You miss him, don’t you?” Dominic asked as she came back into the room.

“A lot,” Eliza said with a smile.

“Your relationship is a strong one,” he said and nodded to emphasize his statement. “You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

“How can you tell?” Eliza asked, tilting her head to the side.

“The way you two interacted with each other said it all. You’re touchy-feely, and act like you can’t get enough of each other, which usually indicates something happened and you two got stronger because of it, or else you’re in the beginning stages of a relationship. I know that’s not the case because of the ring on your left hand.”

Eliza had to blush a bit. “We went to high school together, and then after high school I went to Boston for college. I dated a guy there for a bit, but when he became too controlling, I left him. I had an audition with our company, and during that audition, I found out my dad was in an accident and in the hospital. They had to induce him into a coma, and I left Boston. I moved back to Huntington Beach, and ran into them again. Brian was dating this horrible girl named Amber, but we seemed to have this growing attraction for each other. She fucked up really bad, and Brian and I got closer. I helped the band produce their album—”

“You produced their self-titled album?”

“Yes, I sure did,” Eliza said, smiling. She thought back to the days where she’d sit with Jimmy or Johnny on the couch and listen to Brian play or Matt sing in the booth.

“That’s incredible,” Dominic said and motioned for her to continue.

“Well, my dad passed away and Amber set it up to seem like Brian had only been with me to get me into bed, so I got back together with David. I found out Brian asked Amber to marry him, so I said yes to David. A bunch of other shit happened, and Brian had found out what Amber had done, so he called off the wedding. He came to see me and I really acted like a jackass. My best friend Katie and I went to go see them in New York for my birthday. That day, I found out I was pregnant by David. Brian made me so mad that night that I blurted it out. He walked away from me, immediately. After that, things only got worse for David and me.

He beat me; he mentally and verbally abused me. His mother did, too. He even pushed me down a flight of stairs one night. I lost the baby. One day when I was writing out the wedding invitations, he pissed me off to no end. I ended it with him and left Boston. I moved back to Huntington. For months I stayed at Val’s house, making sure that Brian didn’t know I was there. Finally, I went to one of their concerts. I went out during the middle of “Dear God” and sang with them. After that, we just found a way to get back together.”

“And you’ve been inseparable ever since, haven’t you?” Dominic asked.

“Absolutely,” Eliza said with a smile.

“I know that feeling,” Dominic said with a matching smile.

“What do you mean?” Eliza asked, turning to face him.

“Annisa and I had kind of the same thing. We’d known each other since we were kids. She was engaged to this asshole that beat her, too. She came back home, I saw her in the store one day, saw the bruises and flipped out. She tried to shield me from them, but I eventually saw them out. It was at a bar and he pulled her out back to beat her. I followed and stopped the first blow. I nearly killed him.”

“Wow, Dominic—”

“Call me Dom, please."

“Dom, that’s incredible.”

“She hasn’t left my side then, and I haven’t let her go.”

“Dom, that’s so fucking romantic,” Eliza said as tears shone in her eyes.

“Alright, fucksticks, we got lots of booze! Let’s kick this shit,” Alex hollered as he walked in, arms full of bags.

Hunter walked in behind him, holding a huge case of Bud Light. Eliza couldn’t hold back the yell that escaped her lips and they dug into the alcohol.

When she looked at the clock again, it was well after four in the morning. She couldn’t believe that they’d been there almost twenty-four hours and they hadn’t really fought except for the time Hunter had touched her ass. Since then, they’d laughed and generally had a good time. They clicked even more as a band, and by the time they all left they actually sounded like a band.