Seize The Day.

Meanwhile, the guys were out on stage joking around as they helped the roadies take everything down. Brian walked up to Arin, “So, what was going on with you and Jenny tonight?” Arin laughed, “Nothing man. Jeeze, you guys need to learn to let stuff go.” Syn laughed, “You wanna know how I know you’re lying?” Arin laughed, “Sure.” Brian gave him a smug smile, “If nothing really happened you’d just tell us what went down.” Arin laughed, “Whatever you wanna think man.”
When they walked back into the room, Matt was still hugging Jenny so they just silently slid back out onto the stage. Zacky turned to Johnny and whispered, “What do you think that was all about?” Johnny shrugged, “I don’t know. But they were both really emotional while we were performing tonight. Like, more than usual.” Zacky nodded, “Yea I know. I wonder what it’s all about.” Johnny looked at the ground, “I think it’s finally starting to get to him. Doing all this without Jimmy I mean.” Zack cocked his head to the side in confusion, “What do you mean? I mean, I get what you mean about this being hard. We all know that. But I feel like this is kind of a delayed reaction.” Johnny shrugged, “I don’t know man. I’m just guessing. I have no idea what’s actually wrong. It could be anything.”
He was about to say something else when Jenny came out on stage and started putting amps on the cart to bring back to the bus. Zacky snagged her arm before she walked away, “Are you okay?” She nodded, “More or less. It’s Matt I’m worried about though.” Zacky looked at her, expecting her to say more. She just shook her head, “I’m not gonna talk about it man. It’s his business and his feelings. If you ask, I’m sure he’ll tell you. But I don’t feel okay telling you. Nothing personal, but it’s just not my life, you know?” He nodded understandingly, “Yea, I get it.” Just as she was about to talk away he gently put his hand on his shoulder, “Thanks for being there for him though.” She smiled at him, “I’m always here for all you guys.”
They put all the stuff in the back of the bus. When they all got in and sat down, Johnny looked around and said, “Well, do we wanna head out tonight or tomorrow morning? ‘Cause I’ll drive tonight if you guys wanna get going. I feel like I drank like, five cups of coffee.” Brian shrugged and nodded, “Yea, let’s do that. I’ll take over for you when you get too tired to keep driving haha.”
Johnny went up to the driver’s cab and Arin and Syn went to their rooms. It was just Jenny and Zacky and Matt left in the main part of the bus. Jenny knew Zacky wanted to talk to Matt about what was going on. So she stood up, “I’m gonna go keep Johnny company for a while.” She gave Matt a reassuring pat on the shoulder as she walked up.
Matt looked up from his hands and saw Zacky staring at him. Zacky asked, “You okay man? You seemed different tonight.” Matt shrugged, “It’s just everything with Jimmy is starting to creep up on me again, you know? I thought I was getting better with it, but apparently not.” Zacky leaned back in his chair, “Look man, no one’s expecting you to be invincible about this. You have every right to be hurt. Especially since you have to sing that song every night. You shouldn’t feel like you have to try and hide it though bro.” Matt put his face in his hands, “Yea but I don’t want you guys seeing me like this. I mean, you guys are dealing with all of it too.” Zacky gave a small laugh, “Yea, and that’s even more reason for you to be honest with us. You see all of us break every now and then. You have just as much of a right to do that as we do.” Matt looked up and gave a weak smile, “I know man but it’s just one of those things, you know? I’m supposed to be this guy with balls of steel or some shit. It wears on ya.” Zacky couldn’t help but to smile at the way he said it, “Look man, I know it’s hard for you to do all this. It’s hard for me too. But just remember, we’ve all got your back alright?” Matt nodded, “Yea, thanks man.” Zacky gave him a loving clap on the shoulder before heading off to his room in the back with Syn. Matt sighed before standing up and going to his own section of the bus.
When Jenny heard Matt walk to his “room”, she got up from the passenger seat, gave Johnny a hug, and walked into Matt’s room. He was just sitting there with his face in his hands on the edge of his bed. Jenny didn’t know if she should go sit next to him, but she figured the worst that could happen is that he’d tell her to leave. So she walked over and put her arm around his shoulders, “It’ll be okay,” she kissed the top of his head, “It’s all gonna be okay.” He looked up at her, “How can you be so sure?” She shrugged, “I’ve gotten through the past five years or so, and it’s not easy. But it does get easier. Please, you’ve gotta believe me.” He sighed and swung his legs up onto the bed and sat so his back was against the wall where his pillow was. He patted the spot next to him and Jenny crawled over and sat beside him. He looked at her, “How’d you do it?” She looked down at her hands and then back up to him, “Get through it without my friends you mean?” He nodded. She sighed, “Well, you’ve gotten through the hardest part. The first year or so is always the hardest. And you’ve already dealt with that better than I have. But, from then on, what I’ve done is just focus on all the crazy memories that I had with my friends. I tried to remember their lives rather than their deaths, you know? It’s hard to do, not gonna lie. And it takes a little practice, but what you guys do at your concerts is amazing. Telling stories like you guys do is the best thing. Just remembering all the good times. And I know performing So Far Away every night doesn’t help with the whole “remembering his life” thing, but it’s just something you gotta do I guess. I mean, that’s his song in a way. Just think of it that way. It’s not a song about his death; it’s a song for him. But really, it just takes time, patience, tears, and good memories and friends to get through this. And, well, I feel like you have all of that.” Matt looked at her and smiled, “You know, you’re probably the most mature eighteen year old I’ve ever met.” She laughed, “Let’s not get carried away.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, “Nah man, I mean it.” She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear, “Thanks.”
He looked at her, “Tell me a story about one of your friends.” She gave a weak smile, “Alright. Hmm, what story to tell,” she paused for a minute, trying to think up a really good one, “Oh! I got one. Okay, so my first friend who died, his name was Joe. And, well, Joe and I were mad tight. We went through most of elementary school together and always hung out outside of school. It was epic. But anyway, he had this pet rabbit. It was the cutest thing too. All fuzzy with floppy ears. And, we brought it down to his little swing set that he had in his back yard. And, he had this spiral slide. And, well, he brought the bunny to the top and shouted down to me since I was waiting at the bottom of the slide. He called down, “You ready?” so I said yes. So, next thing I know there is a little brown and white puffball spazzing out as it went down the slide. I tried my best to catch it, but it had claws and it scratched my hand as I tried to pick it up. So it got away and I called up to Joe and told him to help me get it back. He stumbled down the stairs and we took off across his back yard after that damn rabbit. We finally caught it. It had gotten itself nestled under a thorn bush that his mom had in her garden. God only knows why she was growing a thorn bush haha. Yea, that was a great time.” Matt was laughing, “How old were you two when you guys did that?” She smiled, “It was only a few months before he died. So we were like, thirteen or some shit haha.” Matt laughed and shook his head, “I thought you were gonna say that you guys were only like five or six or something.” She laughed, “We were immature teens okay?” He smiled at her, “Some things never change.” She laughed, “Yea, sorry ‘bout that haha.”
They just sat there next to each other for a while. They swapped stories about times they had with each of the people that they had lost. They laughed and cried, it was like one of those major heart-to-heart sessions. Matt looked over at the clock next to his bed, “Shit, it’s like 3:30.” Jenny laughed, “Wow, time flies when you’re reminiscing huh?” He smiled and nodded, “Seems that way,” he looked down at her, “you better get some shuteye kiddo. We’ve got another show tomorrow.” She yawned and looked up at him, “Yea, I know. You gonna be okay?” He nodded and kissed her on the top of her head, “Yea, I’ll be fine. Thanks to you,” he smiled, “now get going, Loverboy is probably so lost without you.” She laughed as she stood up, “Yea, people tend to be that way when I leave.” Matt just smiled and shook his head as she walked out the door. He put his pajama pants on and pulled the covers up over him. He looked up at the ceiling. “I wonder if I’ll ever be like that one day. That okay with things…”
Jenny peeked her head into Arin’s room and saw him passed out with the covers half over him, half not. She smiled as she walked in and pulled the covers over him and kissed him on the cheek, “Goodnight.” She started to walk away when he drowsily reached up and took her hand. She looked back at him, she loved seeing that tired dorky smile of his. He slowly sat up, “Stay with me?” She gave a small smile as she climbed up onto his bed next to him and slid under the covers. He looked at her, “You okay?” She nodded, “Yea, I’ll be okay.” He kissed her forehead, “I’m always here.” She couldn’t help but to smile, “I know.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. Jenny felt her eyes suddenly grow heavy and she fell asleep. Arin smiled, “Goodnight Sleeping Beauty. Sweet dreams.”
Jenny woke up the next morning and felt Arin’s warm arms wrapped around her. She smiled and put her hands on top of his. He whispered, “Morning Beautiful.” She could feel herself blush. She turned back to face him, “Good morning.” He smiled sleepily at her, “You sleep okay?” She nodded, “Yea,” she said with a tired laugh, “the few hours of sleep that I ended up getting.” Arin laughed, “Why were you up so late anyway?” She yawned and stretched, “Me and Matt were up talking about stuff.” He nodded, “Oh, okay. Everything good?” She nodded, “Oh yea, everything’s fine.” She sat up and wrapped the blanket around herself, “How about you? You sleep okay?” He smiled, “A lot better once you were here.” She laughed, “Well, I hope you were sleeping at least somewhat okay before I came here. I came in here at like 3:30 haha.” He laughed as he grabbed a t-shirt to put on.
Jenny got up and walked out of the room with the blanket still wrapped around her. Arin just shook his head and laughed as he watched her walk away. She walked out into the main kitchen/living room area where all the guys were. They all gave her suspicious looks. She looked back and forth between the four of them, “What?” Syn laughed, “You and Arin. All sleeping together and shit.” She rolled her eyes as she sat down on the couch, “Alright man, I got in there at like 3:30 in the morning. Do you really think that anything happened?” He laughed, “Fine, ruin the fun and the imagination for me. Cool kid.” She laughed as she turned to Johnny, “Toss me a water bottle?” He grabbed one off the counter and threw it to her, “What,” he said with a small laugh, “beer not keeping your throat clear anymore?” Jenny laughed and stuck her tongue out at him, “Oh, you’re so funny Seward.” He smiled as he reached down to check his phone for the time, “It’s already 11:00 guys.” Jenny’s eyes grew wide, “Eleven?! Holy shit. Why’d you guys let me sleep in like that?!” Matt laughed, “I told the guys to leave you alone since you didn’t leave my room till like 3:30 and God only knows what you and Arin did when you got in there.” Jenny gave an exasperated sigh but a small smile went along with it, “Well, don’t do that anymore okay? I’ll be fine if you guys wake me up at a normal hour.” Arin walked in, “She’s mad about not being woken up isn’t she?” Zacky laughed, “Yea man, how’d you know?” Arin shrugged, “I just figured. What else is there for her to be pissed about?” Zacky smiled, “Good point.”
Jenny turned to Arin, “How long were you awake for before I woke up?” He shrugged, “I dunno. Not too long.” She sighed and covered her face with her hands, “You’re a horrible liar man. I love you, but you suck at lying.” He laughed, “Oh well, I tried.”
Arin turned to the guys as he sat down next to Jenny, “So what are we doing today?” All the guys looked at Matt. He looked a little surprised, “Why do I have to make all these decisions?” Syn laughed, “Because you’re the only one we trust.” Matt smiled and shook his head, “Well, I figured we could hang here and walk around town for a while, set up for the show, and then go to an after party after the concert. If you guys are up for it that is.” He glanced at Jenny when he said that and she smiled. She waited to hear what the other guys were going to say. And when they all agreed, she did to. The way she saw it, she’d just go along with what the guys wanted.
When Johnny walked to the back of the bus to get dressed, Jenny turned to the rest of the guys, “Alright, so, Johnny’s birthday is coming up soon and stuff. So I’ve been working on this drawing for him. And, I wanna know what you guys think.” She got her bag out from under the table and pulled the sketchpad out of it. It was a drawing that she hadn’t shown to anyone. It was of the deathbat carrying a bass and it had Johnny’s Mohawk. She slid it onto the table, “It’s not done yet,” she said as she looked at it, “There’s still a lot of detail work to do and I still have to write something on it.” Zacky looked up from the drawing and looked at her, “What are you gonna write on it?” She shrugged, “I don’t know really. It’s not gonna be “Happy Birthday Johnny!” I know that much haha. But I’m still trying to figure it all out. I was thinking maybe a quote that he’s said at some point over the years, but I don’t know. I just might do a really cool design in the background to make it look all windy and stuff.” Zacky nodded, “That’d look good man. I think you should do that.” She nodded, “Alright, I will then.” When they heard Johnny walking back into the room they slipped the sketchbook back into her bag.
Johnny looked at the five of them, “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting bus fever. So I’m gonna wander aimlessly around town. You guys can come or whatever. I just gotta get outta here for a while.” Matt and Brian stood up, “Yea,” said Brian, “I’ll come with ya.” Matt nodded, “Me too.” Zacky looked at the three of them, “You guys go on, I wanna talk to Jenny for a minute. I’ll catch up later.” The guys nodded as they headed out the door. Jenny helped Arin stand up, “You go with the guys,” she said with a smile, “I’ll catch up later okay?” He nodded and gave her a kiss, “Alright. See you later.” And with that, he went out the door.
Zacky patted the seat of the chair next to him, “Pop-a-squat kid.” Jenny smiled and sat down, “What’s up?” He pulled her sketchpad back out of her bag, “Why didn’t you say that you could draw like this?” She shrugged, “I’m not that good.” He laughed and pointed at her Johnny deathbat, “You call that not good?” She laughed, “Alright, that one’s not so bad. But I’ve been working on it for forever. With the rest of my stuff, it’s a whole other story.” He started flipping through the pages and saw all of her drawings. Most of them were based off of photos that she’d seen. Some of them were straight from her own mind though. He looked back up at her, “You’re a kickass artist.” She smiled, “Thanks. That means a lot coming from you, not gonna lie.” He smiled as he kept turning the pages. He came across one that Jenny had done back in her sophomore year of high school. It was actually of Zacky. She could feel her face get hot and she knew that she was blushing. He turned to her, “Not bad. I like that photo of me that you drew this from though.” She laughed, “Yea, I liked it too.” He spun his chair so it was facing her, “You’ve got some serious talent kid. Don’t waste it alright?” She smiled, “I’ll try not to.”