Wanted

After Eliza had lunch with Thomas, they’d gone “shopping”, except she knew exactly what she wanted to buy. She’d seen it in the window of a shop as she’d been walking to the studio one day, and she’d had Thomas go with her to make sure it looked right, and he’d immediately agreed. She didn’t even need to see it longer than for him to approve, before she was asking the lady who worked there to wrap it up.

When she got home, she placed it in the back of her closet, just staring at it for a few minutes. When her doorbell rang, she turned away and closed the closet with one last look at it. Opening her door, she found Wiki and Thomas, waving.

She smiled, turned to grab her bags, and pulled the door closed behind her, locking it. She’d been packed since the night before and she was ready to leave. The guys had been in D.C. the night before, and their group was meeting them there. Jimmy had found a haunted house he wanted to go to extremely bad, so they’d all agreed to meet in D.C.

They were all talking excitedly as they rode in the huge taxi van to the airport. It was one of the most interesting flights Eliza had ever been on, and before she knew it, she was in D.C.

As they exited the gate to the main terminal, she was struck with the thought that she’d been here when she’d broken everything off with Brian; the last time she’d seen him in person, and here she was, coming to see him again here. She shook her head and smiled at her friends around her.

A shout brought her head up quickly and she was able to see Jimmy running towards her at full speed. She barely had time to get a laugh out before he was jumping into her arms. She wrapped her arms around him and bent her knees to keep from falling over, but it happened anyway.

“I FUCKING MISSED YOU, CHEESE!” he hollered at the top of his lungs.

A couple of people turned and laughed, but Eliza was in hysterics. The large group just laughed, and some of them moved to say hello to each other. Jimmy still wouldn’t get off of Eliza.

“Holy mother of God.”

They all stopped and turned to Johnny. He was staring at Wiki. His mouth was dropped open and he looked like a lovesick puppy.

“Short shit, this is Wiki, our personal encyclopedia. Wiki, this is Avenged Sevenfold’s annoying bassist,” Eliza said as Jimmy helped her get up.

“Hey,” Wiki said, nodding her head, her hands in her front pockets.

“Hi,” Johnny said with a goofy grin on his face.

“Well, now that I feel awkward,” Matt said, rocking back on his heels.

Eliza finally got around to saying hello to the rest of the guys. Val hugged her extra tight and Katie nearly knocked her on her butt, again, in her hello. She hadn’t seen them in almost two months, but Lord it felt like a lot longer. Finally, she was standing in front of Brian. Unfortunately for her, he looked absolutely gorgeous. His hair was hidden underneath his black beanie, and his sunglasses were tucked into the neck of his pristine white t-shirt. His nose ring was shiny and in place next to his flawlessly browned skin.

“Hey,” Eliza breathed out as she moved forward to hug him.

“Hey,” he replied, smiling.

They made sure the hug wasn’t too long and Eliza turned around to introduce everyone who didn’t know each other. Every once in a while, she would glance at Brian to find he was staring at her.
Blushing, she turned back to the conversation between her, Jimmy, and Katie.

“So this place…is like a good two, maybe three hours from here, but I promise it’s going to be the greatest place ever.”

“I can’t believe I flew to D.C. so you could drag me to a haunted house,” Eliza said, shaking her head.

“Cheese, what better way to spend a holiday of evil fuckery, than with a band that revels in it? And, it just so happens that you love us and missed us.”

“That’s so very true,” Eliza said, linking her arm into Jimmy’s as they all headed out to the cars.

“So there’s one small thing we’ve got to do before we go to the haunted house tonight,” Jimmy says as he adjusts the mirror on one of the SUVs.

“Should you be driving?” Eliza asks, nervously.

Normally, Jimmy never drives because he’s too fucked up off of something.

“Fuck you, Cheese. I’m perfectly capable of operating a motor vehicle,” he enunciates every word.

She smiled and shook her head, putting on her seatbelt. She glanced around the SUV and noticed everyone had their seatbelt on. They all smiled at her, too. She turned back to face front and she sighed. She knew she could be difficult sometimes, especially after her father died from a car crash, but she was glad her friends understood.

“What’s on the agenda?” she asks Jimmy.

“We’ve got an interview to do today, in like an hour and a half. I figured I’d ask, in case you wanted to go get some sleep or some shit.”

“I want to go!” Wiki and Thomas said at the same time. They turned to each other, smiling. “Jinx!”
Everyone laughs at the two.

“I think we want to lie down,” Hunter says, signaling to himself and Kelly.

“I’ll ask Dominic,” Eliza says, pulling out her phone.

Dominic and Annisa are riding with Val and Matt, and Brian, Zacky, and Katie are in Zacky’s car. Eliza was always surprised that they went places together. She figured they’d be tired of seeing each other, especially after tour, but she’d learned they each did their own thing, unless it was important. Internally, she beamed, realizing she was something important. She knew she was important to the band, but it still felt good.

“Dominic and Nisa want to go to sleep, too,” she said, reading Dom’s reply.

“Okay, well we’ll just drop the party poopers off at the hotel, and then we’ll fuck shit up. We’re going to the haunted house later on tonight, so you bitches better get some sleep now. Don’t forget to use the bathroom, too!”

Eliza giggled, and felt her smile reach her eyes. She reached over and laced her fingers with Jimmy.

“I missed you, queerbait.”

“Missed you, too, moldy.”

“So what’s up with the grizzly bear on your face?” Eliza asked, breaking their hold on each other’s hands to feel the beard he was growing out. “It looks like you glued hair on your chin.”

“Fuck you, Eliza,” Jimmy said, grinning. He looked sideways at her and then his eyes claim the road again. “I felt like hibernating for a while.”

Eliza let out a trill of laughter and Jimmy cracked a grin. “No, really. Why is there a bear on your face?”

“I just felt like doing something different,” he said, shrugging. His hand left the steering wheel and held hers again.

Behind them, everyone was talking excitedly, and the radio was down low, allowing him the perfect setting to drop the bomb question.

“How are you holding up?”

“Very well for a starving artist,” she said, grinning.

“You are not starving, Eliza. You know we’d help you in an instant. Really, how are you?”

She didn’t pretend anymore to not know what he was talking about. She thought about her answer while Jimmy tapped his thumb on her hand.

“I’m okay. It’s difficult some days, but others are better. Songs and things still remind me of him, and I find myself picking up my phone to call him and I have to stop myself,” she started to explain, but when Jimmy started tapping directly on her new tattoo on her index finger, she paused. There’s no way he could know. “It sucks sometimes.”

“I know the feeling,” he said and smiled. “There’s a lot of ways you can keep your mind off of things, though.”

When he was done, he tapped her finger one last time and put his hand back on the wheel to light a cigarette with his left hand. Eliza stared at him and then down at her hand. He fucking knew.



The time at the hotel took longer than Eliza figured. Everyone had jumped out of the cars, including the ones who weren’t staying. Confused, Eliza followed everyone. She and Wiki found their room key and went up to their room, Jimmy and Johnny carrying their bags. Val and Katie came with them. Everyone left Wiki and Eliza’s room a few minutes later, claiming they needed to get “ready”. Wiki was confused, until Eliza explained they had to get ready for their interview.

“I’m still confused,” Wiki said, her lips poking out.

She flicked her nose ring for a few seconds before she shrugged and turned back to her things. Eliza smiled at her back and unzipped one of her bags. It was something she’d learned to deal with the boys and their antics a long time ago. From her bag, she pulled out the white Vengeance University shirt that Zacky had made all the girls exclusively. They’d all decided to cut them up, and when they Skyped, they showed each other what they’d done.

She slipped her shirt over her head and put a black sports bra over her regular bra. She pulled the white shirt over her head and went for a pair of dark-washed jeans. A pair of pink ballet flats completed the outfit, and she fluffed out her curled hair. Wiki was wearing the same thing she had been; she hadn’t changed. From her pocket, she produced a sucker and popped it in her mouth. Smiling around it, she headed to the door and Eliza followed.

When they got down to the lobby, Eliza had to stop and turn around, because she’d been talking to Wiki when the girl stopped. Looking at her, Eliza saw her staring at something. Turning back around, Eliza saw the Avenged boys, dressed in their finest, all wearing Aviator sunglasses, laughing and smiling. Her eyes lingered on Brian in his olive-green V-neck shirt and his dark washed jeans. His hair was spiked in every direction and his smile reached his ears. A glint of something meant he had his nose ring in, and Eliza felt a tingle between her legs.

“Did you know they’re now my favorite band in the world?” Wiki whispered from beside her.

“Did you know they’re mine, too?”

“Hey, what about our band?” Wiki asked, coming out of her reverie.

“I could ask you the same question,” Eliza said, winking. Wiki rolled her eyes.

Eliza laughed and linked her arm in Wiki’s and pulled her forward. Johnny noticed them first, and his smile went from happy to love-sick in two seconds flat. Eliza rolled her eyes at him and turned to see Val and Matt talking to Thomas. She immediately moved to their little group.

“You look good in color, there, depressing,” Val said, winking.

Eliza rolled her eyes again, thinking back to when they first became friends and how Val tried to get her to wear more color in her wardrobe. She turned to Thomas instead. “Having fun, dear?”

Someone bumped into her back, and she glanced over her shoulder. Brian had his back to her and was acting like he hadn’t even touched her. She turned back to Thomas. Maybe he’d accidentally done it.

“Oh, yes,” he said, his eyes glittering, looking around the group. “I just can’t wait to get to California.”

“California can’t wait for you,” she said, touching his forearm.

Brian bumped into her again. This time, she didn’t even bother to look over her shoulder at him. Then, she felt something on her hand. Not moving, she felt around with her fingers and realized he was holding her pinky. Thankfully, Thomas said something amusing at the same time, so she was able to smile and get away with it.

Brian squeezed her pinky finger, and she opened her hand. She felt him run a finger over her palm and shivers flew up and down her spine. She shifted, suddenly turned on. She tried to concentrate on the conversation between Matt and Thomas, but she couldn’t keep up. Then, out of nowhere, Brian’s hand was gone, and she turned her head to see the boys’ manager coming at them.

“Time to go,” he said, and everyone turned to the doors.

As Eliza opened the front door of Jimmy’s SUV, she looked through the driver’s side door to see Brian staring at her. His sunglasses were on top of his head and his chocolate brown eyes were boring holes into her. She coyly smiled and got into the front seat, pulling her sunglasses onto her face. She casually glanced over to see Brian laughing, pulling his own sunglasses down onto his nose.

He slid into the backseat and Zacky slid into the other side beside him. Matt slid into the front seat and pulled the door closed.

“How’re you holding up?” he asked, looking in the rearview mirror at Brian.

“This sucks,” he said, dropping his head back to the headrest behind him.

“I know your pain, dude,” Matt replied.

“No you don’t,” Brian said, but he smiled to soften it. “You’re married to Val. This to me would be like staring at Katie or Val from behind a glass wall. I see her, but I can’t touch her.”

“Ew,” Matt said and started up the car. "Fuck that; I'd break the damn glass."

Unfortunately, “All or Nothing” was playing on the radio and Brian groaned inwardly.

This was going to be fucking hell.

He glanced over at the other vehicle to see Eliza reaching in the backseat. From the open door, he could see Thomas, the new guy, laughing while evading Eliza’s fist. Trying to reign in his jealously, he frowned.

“Anyone know anything about the new guy?” he asked, jerking his chin towards the other car.

“He’s her personal stylist,” Val said as she and Katie got into the car.

“Oh,” Brian said, but he kept his eyes on the other car until they all left.



Eliza stared at the boys, sitting on chairs and couches. Jimmy, Zacky, and Johnny were on bar stools behind the couch that Matt and Brian were sitting on. All five of them were wearing sunglasses and Eliza was entertained. They’d been making the interviewer laugh the entire time. Eliza, Wiki, and Thomas had to struggle not to laugh out loud and ruin the interview, but at times it was really hard.

She decided to take the time and sit down with Thomas on a couch that was opposite of the boys and cameras. He’d pulled out his phone, wanting to show her a couple of websites for possible clothing lines Eliza and Wiki could work for. He and her manager, Chris, were in constant communication, as Thomas helped figure out which brand would be best.

They sat, practically on top of each other, as Eliza looked over the clothing Thomas was presenting. The company was just forming, but their clothes looked killer, and Eliza found herself wanting more and more of the things he was showing her.

The best thing about Brian wearing sunglasses was that he could stare at Eliza and no one could tell. Of course, that meant he wasn’t really paying attention to the questions and he didn’t answer much, but every time he did reply, apparently it was funny. What wasn’t funny was the fact that Eliza was all but on top of the “stylist”. He knew he didn’t have a right to be pissed off, but he couldn’t help it; it was in his nature to disapprove of Eliza and other guys. He closed his eyes and leaned back.

It was time to figure out a way to get her back.