Heaven Nor Hell

A loud ringing woke me from my deep sleep. I grumbled as I reached for my phone, silently cursing whoever was calling. I answered, prepared to give them a piece of my mind, until I was met by a smooth and silky voice on the other end of the line.

"Good morning sleepy head," Brian laughed. "I called your house earlier to see if you wanted to go to lunch, but Elizabeth said you were still asleep. Judging by your unusually snarky tone, I'm guessing you still were." I sighed as I raked my free hand through my hair in a sad attempt in detangling it.

"What time is it now?" I asked, still half asleep.

"It's nearly one Lily. I know you said you sleep in late if you stay up, but I didn't think you meant this late. I would have made sure we were home earlier." I smiled as I thought of last night. After the concert, Brian and I began to talk frequently, and saw each other nearly every day. Yesterday, we had returned to Brian's special spot on the beach, guitars in hand, and ended up staying to watch the sunrise, before returning home. But as expected, I had a little trouble recooperating.

"I'm sorry, I usually don't sleep in quite this late." Brian simply laughed again.

"It's alright. I was calling again because I'm having a barbeque at my house, and I was hoping you'd come."

"I don't know Brian..."

"Please Lily? It will just be my close family and friends, nothing big. I won't leave your side the whole night, if that would make you more comfortable..." I cut off his rambling with a heavy sigh.

"Pretty please?" I couldn't help but giggle at his quiet plea, knowing he was sporting a pout to match his plea.

"Since you begged," I replied playfully. "What time do you want me there?"

"It starts at five, but I thought I could pick you up around four, that way you could meet everyone individually, instead of in a big group."

"That sounds great Bri." We quickly said our goodbyes after another promise to pick me up at four.

After laying in bed for ten more minutes, I dragged myself into the kitchen for something to snack on before I got ready. As I pulled an apple out of the fridge, Elizabeth burst through the front door, a panting Wishbone following in behind her. She laughs as she notices me in the room.

"Well good morning darling! So glad you finally woke from the dead," she tousled my bed-head hair, before filling up Wishbone's water bowl. I simply rolled my eyes.

"Might I remind you, you've had plenty of late mornings since I moved in. I think I was deserving of one."

"You were! But it was out of character for you. Have you talked to Brian today?"

"Yeah, it was his phone call that woke me up," I grumbled. "He's picking me up at four for a barbeque."

"Aww are you sure you don't want to date him? He's pretty fricken adorable with you."

"For the millionth time Eliza, we're just friends. He has other friends coming. It's casual."

"Mhm, you keep telling yourself that. Now go get ready!" she spoke, pushing me towards my room. "And if you need any help choosing an outfit, Mrs. Haner, I would be delighted to assist you." She laughed as I slapped her arm, before making my way to the bathroom. My hair was a mess, so I decided to take a quick shower. After washing and blow drying my hair, I plugged in my curling iron, and set off to my room. I walked to my closet and pulled out on of my favorite shirts, a golden color with a black heart drawn in the center, and a pair of dark wash jeans. I quickly changed before returning to the bathroom. I applied a light amount of makeup, before running the curling iron through my hair, creating light, beachy waves.

Satisfied with my appearance, I walked back to my room, realizing it was already almost four. I slipped into a pair of grey Toms, before throwing my wallet and phone into my purse. As I was entering the living room, there was a quiet knock on the door. As I swung the door open, I laughed as Brian immediately brought me into a hug.

"You look beautiful, as always. Are you ready to go?" I nodded my head, before I yelled to Elizabeth I was leaving, thankful she kept her opinions of Brian and my relationship to herself.

Brian led us out of the building and over to his car, opening the door for me to slide in. We made small talk for the first few minutes, before we fell into a comfortable silence. It was one of the things I loved most about Brian: our silences were never awkward or uncomfortable. It was a peaceful silence.

As we got further away from my apartment, I began to notice the size and quality of the house increase. This was a side of Huntington I'd never seen.

After a few more minutes, we pulled into the driveway of a large beach house that took my breath away. The house was styled with natural colors, blending it nicely into the sea-side background.

I was pulled from my thoughts as I heard Brian's door slam shut. He ran to my side and quickly opened the door, offering his hand to lift me out of the car. He led us to his door, and letting us in.

The inside was in stark contrast to that of what we entered through. While outside had been warm and inviting, the interior was sharp and mininmalistic, the white walls enhanced by black furniture positioned throughout the room. The kitchen was massive, nearly four times the size of our dinky apartment's, and held the same edgy feel. The doors in the kitchen led outside to a large patio overlooking the ocean. It was a view I had only dreamed of seeing every time I looked outside.

After a few minutes, I tore my gaze from the view, and turned around to meet Brian's eyes.

"Your house is beautiful Bri. It's breath taking."

"I'm glad you like it," he spoke softly, before turning around and setting a few six-packs on the counter between us.

"So Lily..."

"You only brought me over here early so I could help you set up, didn't you?"

"I'm offended! What if I really just enjoy your company? Hmm..." I laughed at his silly antics.

"I don't mind helping Bri. What do you want me to do?"

"If you would bring these out to the cooler on the deck and load them, you would be my favorite person in the world." He gave me the cheeky smile he knew I'd never have the heart to resist.

For the next hour, Brian and I ran around the lower level of his house, preparing for company. I was in the backyard pouring salt into the cooler, a trick my dad had taught me to prevent the ice from thawing too quickly, when Brian called my name from inside the house.

As I walked in, I heard three other voices talking to Brian, and my heart immediately started to pound in my chest. As I reached Brian, he placed his hand on my back and rubbed soothing circles.

"Lily, this my family. My father Brian Sr., my step-mother Suzy, and my sister McKenna. Guys, this is Lily." I smiled and gave a slight wave. Brian's father shook my hand, while both Suzy and McKenna pulled me into a hug.

Soon after meeting Brian's family, many of Brian's other friends arrived, and the party was thrown into motion. As promised, Brian never left my side as we talked with his guests.

Nearly an hour into the party, I was standing next to Brian as he grilled, and was talking to Suzy, when I heard a familiar voice.

"Poulsen, is that you?" I turned at the sound of my last name, and nearly screamed.

"Mikey! What are you doing here?!" My voice an octave higher from surprise. Mikey just laughed as he pulled me into a hug.

"Brian invited us. You hadn't been calling enough, so Gerard said we had to come down and set you straight."

"I'm so glad you're here." I hugged him tight for a second before releasing him, and wrapping my arms around Brian's waist. "And thank you for inviting them! Why didn't you tell me you knew them?" He shrugged as he tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

"I wanted it to be a surprise!"

"You're the best Bri!" I pecked him on the cheek before turning my attention to Mikey.

"So where is Gerard?"

"He's on the phone in the living room. Do you want me to take you to him?"

"Yes!" I yelled, kissing Brian's cheek again in appreciation, before excusing myself and running in the house, Mikey by my side.

*Brian's POV*

I knew Lily would be thrilled to see Mikey and Gerard again. I was surprised she never questioned how I knew them, but it worked in my favor. I knew I needed to tell her soon about the band, especially since I have her all our music. But I wanted more time to build a normal relationship with her. I wanted her to want to know Brian Haner Jr, not Synyster Gates.

Around midnight, everyone had finally gone home, besides Mikey and Gerard. I walked into the kitchen to shut the doors and give the three of them some privacy, but couldn't help but overhear part of their conversation.

"I really think you should give Brian a chance," Gerard's voice floated through the warm night air.

"Gee, I'm really not ready for that. I ran to California to get away from the hurt, not dive right back into it," Lily spoke quietly. A quick glance outside showed her sitting on the edge of the sand, her head hung low, facing towards the ocean. Mikey and Gerard both had a hand resting on her back.

"Lily, you know Brian isn't going to hurt you. We've known him a long time, we trust him. We wouldn't be here vouching for him if we didn't. He's not like Kyle. He could keep you safe Lils. But you have to let him in. You can't block him off forever. You have to move on."

My eyes widened at Gerard's words. From what Lily had told me, she had only had one serious boyfriend her whole life: her fiance she had left before she moved. But from what Gerard had said, there seemed to be much more of the story than Lily had led on.

The thought of anyone hurting Lily was enough to make me sick, let alone me being responsible for her pain.

And I was determined to prove that to her.