True Love

Zack stirred the honey into the steaming tea before very carefully walking it to the back of the bus. Zack soon found Mia, laid out on the couch, covered up to her neck. Her eyes were sunken and her face was flush.

"I made you some tea..." he mumbled softly, sitting down just beside her. Mia freed her arms, taking the cup from him, "one teaspoon of honey and a quarter of a lemon?" Zack asked.

"Perfect..." Mia mumbled, a bit of relief washing down her sore throat.

Mia had come down with some sort of bug which she had likely picked up in the emergency room. Unfortunately, this meant Mia was left hauled up in the tour bus, Zack, however, had taken it upon himself to volunteer to be her caretaker-- even against her strongest resistance, but he wouldn't give in.

But she didn't want him to get sick-

"What?" Mia managed, her hoarse voice croaking out making Zack smile.

"I don't know how you're drinking that. It tasted like garbage, or what I would imagine licking the bottom of a lawn mower would taste like." Mia let out a snort, her congestion stopping her just short as she began to cough, struggling to catch her breath.

"Well, we're even then, because I don't know how you drink Natty Light. Now that tastes like shit..."

"Beer is beer baby," Mia's pupils dilated the second the word 'baby' rolled off his nervous tongue. He almost stopped breathing as he began to mentally kick himself.

Zack had raged an internal debate, going back and forth as to Mia and what exactly their relationship was at this point. She was the mother of his children, she came back to Huntington after all these-- years even though she didn't have to, she had kicked her boyfriend (fiancé?) out-- and he was assuming that was for good (okay, he hoped it was for good).

But he felt Mia's warm hand land on his.

His gaze fell back to Mia, who was smiling. The tip of her nose practically glowing it was so red from all the times she had blown it. "Can I tell you something?" her voice was almost a hushed whisper as her hand tightened over his.

"anything..." he thought he was ready, though he wasn't actually sure what to expect.

"I never stopped loving you..."

He was wrong.
He wasn't ready for that, at all.

He felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest.

He lifted his free hand, gently stroking at Mia's cheek, "Mia Francesca Winters, I have been crazy about you since I was seventeen years old, and I still am." she smiled.

Zack leaned in pressing his lips to Mia's.

Sure they had kissed, and they had sex, but that had all been so rushed and so spur of the moment that he hadn't really had a chance to kiss her, not like she deserved to be kissed.

It was everything you wanted your first real kiss in fourteen years to be.
It was soft and warm.
It was slow.
It was passionate.
It was perfect.

"Whoa! Dude sorry!" Arin groaned, throwing his arms up, shielding his eyes.

Mia pulled away, stifling a laugh. Zack just hung in his head in disappointment.

"What Arin?" he groaned, rubbing at his temples.

"I don't want to be a snitch," Arin started, rubbing nervously at the back of his neck, "I mean I want to be 'cool uncle Arin', and I'm pretty sure what I'm about to tell you will demote me to that lame guy in their dad's band but-" that very statement made Zack's blood run cold, he pulled his nervous body from the couch.

"Spit it out!" Zack huffed, Mia quickly pulled her aching body from the couch, knowing at this point, the girls were undoubtedly involved (and likely about to get themselves into some deep trouble).

"Mia and Emma were invited onto the Black Veil Brides tour bus--"

Zack and Mia both went wide eyed. "They didn't go, did they?"

Arin's eyes went wide, he began to nervously tap his foot.

"Erm-- that's kind of why I'm here." he groaned, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his ridiculously skinny jeans. But before anyone could react Zack shoved Arin out of the way and took off running.

"He's going to kill someone, isn't he?!" Arin asked Mia, his voice squeaking it was so high. Mia just nodded, and without another word she grabbed Arin's hand, yanking him behind her.

They didn't have to run far before they saw Andy Biersack topple backward out the door of the red tour bus, and Zack lunged out the door landing right on top of the already shaking Andy. He had a handful of black cotton balled in each fist as he picked Andy up, slamming him into the ground more times than either Mia or Arin cared to count as he screamed a bout of profanities at the tattooed kid.

Thankfully, Matt and Brian had been on their way back from meal-- Matt dropped his hot dog, letting it fall to the ground, Brian dropping his presumably still full beer.

Before they knew it the one-sided fight became a tangle of limbs.

It took both Brian and Matt to pry a heaving Zack off of a shaking Andy.

"I have Zack," Matt instructed, grabbing at the back of Zack's t-shirt, yanking him towards the tour bus, "you get the girls!" Matt huffed, dragging a struggling Zack back towards their tour bus.

Mia watched as Brian pushed past the crowd of young tattooed boys onto the tour bus, it wasn't long before Brian walked down the steps.

It was at this point that Mia noticed a slew of photographers (each with different magazines on their t-shirts) and a man with a video camera taking pictures and filming.

It took everything in Mia's tired body not to piss herself laughing.

Because Brian had one girl slung over each shoulder-- both girls screaming at Brian, they were completely mortified. Brian walked past Mia, his smile wide, "Smile and wave girls! Smile and wave!" Brian screamed, his smile wide as he moseyed back to the tour bus.



Mia and Arin struggled to compose themselves before they dared to walk onto the tour bus, because this was undoubtedly a serious situation but the way the boys had chosen to handle it, made it hilarious. "Are we okay?" Arin asked at Mia, he was obviously fighting a raging smile.

Mia looked to Arin, "we have to be adults--" she grumbled seriously. Arin finally dared to crack a smile.

"We can laugh over it later though, over a drink right?" he asked one eyebrow arched high.

"Oh yeah!"

Arin was quickly becoming one of her favorite people. It felt like he had been in her life as long as the others had.

Mia and Arin walked onto the bus and again found themselves fighting laughter.

Emma and Kenzie were sitting on the couch, arms crossed, their lips pursed in a pout and they practically glared a hole right through Zack, Brian, Matt, and Johnny.

Zack was scolding them. Actually, it was cute to see Zack getting to be a real parent.

"Rock-stars are nothing but trouble!" Zack huffed, his fists clenched tight.

"you're a rock-star!" Emma snarled back at Zack. He ran his fingers through his black hair, letting out a groan.

"Yeah, I know!" he huffed, "I got your mother pregnant at sixteen! So you wanna re-think that comeback because that isn't hardly a valid argument."

"You really embarrassed us!" Kenzie defended.

"Do you two have any idea how old those guys are?" Zack finally huffed, making the girls go silent, they both shrugged.

"Dad-" Emma huffed, Zack held up a finger, shaking it.

Mia (again) had to stifle a laugh, mostly because that was exactly what his mother had done when they were teenagers so long ago. "Don't dad me! They are all in their twenties, a few of them are verging on thirty."

Mia had done a great job staying quiet until she heard that...

"Excuse me?" Mia stomped over, pushing past Zack, "You two have no business with men that old. For God sakes your thirteen and have no business with boys at all, but thirty?!" Mia huffed.

"his brother is fifteen mom." Mackenzie finally huffed the moment she caught a bit of silence.

And suddenly, everyone went silent.

"Come again?" Mia groaned, completely flabbergasted.

"We tried to tell you but you wouldn't stop yelling." Emma scoffed at Zack.

"Andy has a half-brother. Jackson, I met him last night at dinner, or chow as these heathens call it. He seemed nice, I ran into Andy...and he asked if we wanted to hang out with Jackson..."

Mia thought for a second, she could see both sides so she decided to make the move the wished her mother had so many times before.

"Girls we're sorry--" Mia spoke, motioning between her and Zack, "you are our babies. Seeing you guys grown up is hard...especially knowing what these guys are capable of."

"I'm not sorry-." Zack mumbled under his voice, earning an elbow to the ribs from Mia.

"Yes he is." Mia grumbled, glaring at Zack.

"Does this mean I can go out on the date with Jackson?" Zack's eyes went wide.

"No!" Zack huffed, earning another elbow from Mia.

"Where?" Mia asked.

"Movies. There's an AMC not far from here-"

"I'll make you a deal..." in this moment Mia was lucky that looks couldn't kill. Mostly because if they could, Zack would have already disposed of her body, "if your dad agrees to chaperone, you can go."

"Mia N-" but Mia stood up, leaning into his ear, whispering something.

"Can you still do that?" Zack asked, his smile wide and his eyebrows perched high with excitement.

"Ew!" Emma screeched.

"You guys are gross!"Mackenzie screamed, cringing in disgust.

"Kenzie, go tell Jackson you have a date."