Inside These Arms Of Yours

Chapter 19

"Val!!! You're here to save me! You've gotta be here to save. You are here to save me right???" I asked frantically as she walked through the door into the studio.

"Save you from what?" She had a quizzical look on her face as she saw the way I was looking at her, almost pleading for help.

"Save me from them!" I said dramatically as I pointed to where the guys were sitting on the couch looking innocent.

"Oh no. What the hell have they been doing to you?" She placed her hands on her hips and she stared at the guys.

"Oh gosh you have no idea. They made me sing, and then they kept fussing about the music, couldn’t make up their minds on anything, Brian here decided to drink my coffee earlier, and Jimmy somehow managed to put a hole in one of his snares." I breathed out.

"Oh wow. Well then lucky for you I am here to save you. I thought we could go have lunch and discuss plans for the barbeque this weekend. And if you don't mind Leana is going to join us. She's been asking for help to come up with food and I figured this would be a good time for you to meet her."

"Yeah sure! That would be great. Especially since these guys have been driving me nuts…." I glared over at the five of them and they just smiled innocently. Oh I could practically see the halos.

Val walked over to Matt and gave him a quick kiss. I headed over to where my purse sat on the floor and picked it up before turning back to face the guys. Zacky sat there with a small pout on his face. I walked over and gave him a short kiss.

"Now that's more like it babe." He laughed as I rolled me eyes. Val told the guys she'd have me back soon and we were off.

"So let me get this straight. You drove all this way from HB to take me to lunch?" It seemed kind of far to come just to go eat. Especially with the sky high gas prices that were all over California.

"Well, Leana actually wanted to go to a few stores out here to pick up some party things. Don't ask because I have no idea what she wanted. But she asked if I wanted to come and get you for lunch. She's done nothing but complain about how she hasn't met you yet. We're going to meet her at Panera if that’s alright."

"Oh man I haven't been there in ages! Last time I went there was when I was visiting my friend Will in Hawaii. Oh my gosh! Will!!! I was supposed to call him this week. Oh man he is going to kill me." I laughed. I can't believe I forgot to call him. I just hope he hasn't started thinking Zacky is some psycho yet.

"Who's Will?" Val asked as we were on the road.

"He's a good friend of mine from high school. He's pretty much been there for me through some rough times and we've stayed close over the years. I talked to him before I moved and he wanted me to call him to make sure I was all settled and to make sure Zacky was an okay guy."

"Oh alright. What do you think he will say when you tell him you're dating Zack?" Come to think of it, telling Will I was dating Zack would probably turn out to be a funny conversation.

"Well, he'll probably ask when he can fly out to meet him. He's always been protective over me when it comes to guys. Especially guys he doesn’t know."

"Matt was like that when we were younger. Before we were dating he didn’t like me hanging out with any guys he didn’t approve of. Gotta love them though. They keep life interesting."

"That they do." I agreed

Zacky's POV

"So what do you guys think of Katie's recording techniques so far?" Matt asked as he took a drink of his coke. We were sitting around having lunch in the studio. The morning had been quite eventful so far.

"She's good. It's weird to see a chick who knows as much about recording as she does." Jimmy took another bite of his foot-long sandwich as he nodded his head.

"Yeah she is. She's got some good ideas in that head of hers too." Syn agreed.

"And man can she sing. She's so shy about it though. But yeah. That girl has got a set of chords in her." Johnny piped up.

"Hey Zack you okay? You're pretty quiet over there." Matt raised an eyebrow at me from his spot across from where I sat. Listening to the guys' comments, I couldn't help but think about how incredible she was. And it was almost as if she fell right into my lap. And damn was I glad she did come along.

"Yeah just thinking. That’s all." I mused before letting a smile cross my lips.

"Dude you look like a love struck puppy. Did cupid stick an arrow in your ass or something?" I just glared at Syn after that comment.

"You're head over heels for her aren't you? I've never seen you get that look over a chick before." Matt smirked as I sighed.

"Yeah man I am. I just can't believe she came along when she did. And damn she's so, so, aw man I've never even been at a loss for words before over a chick. I've got it bad." I shook my head as I stared at my drink in my hands.

"Hey man we've all been through that. Especially me and Val. Dude I remember when I felt exactly like you did. I was so scared I was gonna fuck something up with her." The other guys agreed by nodding.

"That's kinda what I'm afraid of. You guys know me. I'm gonna screw up eventually."
"Naw man you won't. I've seen the way she looks at you. And to be honest, Val let a few things slip to me after she and Katie went out that day." Matt smirked.

"Well now you've gotta spill Shads." Johnny laughed seeing my pleading look.

"She pretty much interrogated Katie. Found out that she likes you just the way you are, even your little fuck ups. She was scared that she was going to screw something else up as well. But Val kept her straight. So you've got nothing to worry about. Just be yourself." Matt's assurances calmed my thoughts.

"Aw shit dude. I'm so in love with this girl. I gotta figure out a good way to tell her though."

The rest of lunch pretty much consisted of us coming up with ideas. Some were good and others just sucked. I hope Katie was having as good a time with Val and Leana.

Back To Katie's POV

Val and I arrived at Panera in no time flat and we were greeted by a very enthusiastic Leana.

"Ahhh! Katie! I'm so excited to finally meet you!" Leana gave me a big hug before letting go.

"Well I'm glad to meet you as well! Jimmy talks about you lot." I laughed as we walked inside and stood in line to order.

"Oh please. All I've heard about is you! I swear Jimmy can't keep his mouth shut about you and Zack."

We grabbed a table in the corner after we ordered and shortly after our food came.

"So I've heard so much about you, from Jimmy, Val and the guys. How do you like it in Huntington so far?" She propped her elbows up on the table and rested her chin on her hands. Val just looked over at her and smiled. I could tell she was getting a kick out of this.

"It's great. Taken some time to adjust to but it's really nice. I like it."

"I bet it's been a big adjustment living with Zacky eh? That man sometimes, I swear." She laughed as I nodded my head vigorously.

"Oh you have no idea. I go from living by myself in a rundown apartment to living in a very nice house with a perverted guy. Doesn't get any better than that." I laughed.

"Oh but you looooove him Katie. Admit it!" Val pressed on. She knew how I felt about Zack.

"I, um well," This earned me a glare from both Val and Leana.

"Alright alright. I do love him. I just haven't told him yet. To be perfectly honest I've never told a guy that before so I'd rather not be the first one to say it." I rushed out before taking a small bite of my soup.

"Awww how cute! Now I see why the guys like you so much." One thing's for sure, Leana was not a shy one.

"Alrighty girls so what's the plans for this shindig we've got going this weekend?" I voiced several minutes later.

"Well, I've got most of the food planned out. We’re going to have burgers, beer, salad, fruit, chips, just typical barbecue food I guess. I was going to ask you guys what you wanted to bring before I gave the other girls a chance." I could tell Leana was excited about this. She had the biggest grin on her face.

"Well Matt and I normally bring the salad so I guess we'll just stick with that if it's ok."

"Duh girl. I kinda already had you down for that anyway."

"Well what does Zacky normally bring to these things?" I questioned. I didn't want to mess up the chain or so to say.

"He normally sticks with the beer. Go figure." Val laughed and shook her head as she took a bite of her salad.

"Oh alright. Well I guess we'll just go with that. I bet he'll be happy he gets to pick it out."

"Oh he will. Last time we had six different types I think. He likes to go overboard. Just make sure he gets some fruit coolers or something like that for us chicks when we get tired of beer." Leana winked.

"Trust me I will."

"So Katie, Zack will finally get to see that sexy swimsuit you got right?" A smirk was plastered onto Val's face as she glanced at me.

"Oooooo he's gonna loooove that." Leana's eyes lit up. This girl was just a ball of energy but I loved it. She was so fun to be around.

"That he is. And yes this weekend he will. I'm so excited to meet everyone else though." I had been anxious to meet the other girls. After hearing so much about them for so long it would be so cool to get to know them.

"And trust me they are on pins and needles about meeting you too! Michelle has done nothing but pester me about you. And she's been bugging Syn as well. He's tried to keep her sane but it hasn't worked so well." Laughter once again filled the air as Val spoke about her sister.

This was quite the group and I was so glad I was already fitting in so well.

~xXx~

"Alright missy I'll let you get back to those five. Don’t let them torture you to much. I'll see you on Saturday!" Val and I hugged before I hopped out of the car and made my way back into the studio.

I slowly opened the door and poked my head in to see that it appeared to be empty. I slowly entered the room and made my way over to the couch. I was safe for the moment.

That feeling quickly left me however as I felt arms wrap around my waist. To be honest, it scared the shit out of me. I heard Zack chuckle from behind me as he gave me a kiss on my cheek and I turned around so I was facing him.

"Have a good lunch?" He questioned.

"Yeah. It was great. Leana sure is a hoot."

"She's something else I'll tell ya. Well the guys are down the hall hunting down Jimmy's spare snare that's sitting somewhere."

"Well should we go join them then?" I raised my eyebrow when I noticed he wasn't about to let go of my waist.

"Only if I can get a kiss." He smirked. Of course there was always a catch with this one.

"I think I can do that Mr. Vengeance."
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thanks to those that are giving me comments! i absolutely love reading them :-)

hope you all are enjoying this story. i'm having fun re-reading it so far as i take out all my html codes from quizilla..... meh.... lol.