A Far Cry From Innocence.

We drove in silence other than his occasional swearing about what Zacky had said to him. I debated asking again what had happened, but decided changing the subject would be a better idea. "Do you know if Val and Leana are going to be there?"

"Do I look like I can see the future? How the fuck am I supposed to know?" he grumbled in annoyance, pointing at the liquor store on the corner. "You know the guys well enough to answer that question for yourself."

I sighed and rolled my eyes as I pulled into the parking lot. I turned the radio up a little so it could fill the awkward silence and hopefully drown out his grumbling until we got to Matt's house.

I really wish I knew what was bothering Brian so bad since he had never been mad at Zacky before; at least, not this mad. They were best friends, like brothers, and suddenly Brian made it seem like the complete opposite. It had to be something big for things to go down the way the had, as fast as they had. I tried to rack my brain to figure it out, but could think of nothing.

After a while, Brian climbed back into the car. I gave a small smile at the fact he had remember to get me something, but it disappeared as he started to grumble and swear again. "Who the fuck does he think he is?"

I rolled my eyes and pulled out of the lot, hoping to finish the drive a little faster than normal as I sped. The sooner I could get out of the car and not have to listen to my brother, that better it would be.

When we finally got to Matt's, I parked the car at the curb and pulled the key from the ignition. Brian held his hand out for me to give him the keys and I looked at him like he was crazy. He shrugged silently and got out, caring his case of beer. I grabbed my bag from the backseat and the case of beer he'd gotten me before I got out and head up the pathway.

"Hey, it's the Avi-Monster!" Jimmy ran over and half hugged me. "Wanna jam some Pinkly tonight?" He grinned when I nodded enthusiastically. I looked in the house and leaned toward me. "Brian looks pissed... Who came in his clam chowder?" He snickered.

I stifled a laugh and shrugged. "I really don't know what his problem is, but Zacky came over before we left..." His eyes burned curiously. "I didn't hear anything that was said, I was in the car, but there was definitely an arguement... And it's really gotten under Brian's skin."

"He's this mad at Zacky!?" I nodded and he the look on his face was pure curiosity and shock, like this was the craziest thing he'd ever heard. Suddenly, he grinned and grabbed my arm, "Let's go see if they're fighting to the death!" He pulled me into the house. "Zacky and Johnny were in the studio when I came out, let's see if Syn joined them."

"Hey, Jimmy, no kidnapping underage girls while your girlfriend's here!" Matt looked back at us over the back of the couch and smirked.

Leana shrugged, pulling her eyes from what was on the television, "It's alright. It's Hazzard, I'd like apiece of her when he's done." She giggled and winked at me. "I'm just kidding, baby girl, you know that." I laughed.

"Well, if you girlfriend approves and you really have to, then stay out of my room." He laughed and looked at me, "Hey Hazz." He got up and gave me a hug, "I thought you had better taste than The Rev, though." He shook his head in disapproval.

Johnny ran over and almost tackled me to the ground in a hug. "Hey Hazzard!" He ruffled my hair and let go of me. "Where's The Rev trying to drag you off to?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but Matt cut me off. "Zacky and Syn in the studio?" He looked over as Johnny nodded. "Cool, maybe they'll write something good." He took a sip from his bottle of Coke, which I'm sure had a fair amount of some sort of alcohol in it.

"Well, Zacky and Brian are alone then, that's just great," I said, throwing my arms in the air and sighing. "Come on, we need to hurry!"

"Hey, we don't need to know about that!" Val laughed, coming down the stairs. "I never took you for that kind of girl, Avigaiel," she said in mock disapproval as she shook her head. She gave me a hug.

I snickered. "Ew, no, I never want to see it... Those fangirls that write stories about 'Snacky' give me unwanted mental images of my brothers." I shuddered and laughed. "I just meant that they got into a fight."

Matt sat up, looking concerned and stern. "Who with?" It wasn't rare for haters to start shit with one of the guys, and they always stood up for one another like a family.

I sighed, knowing he wouldn't believe me if he hadn't seen what I had when Brian was yelling at Zacky. "Uhm... You're never going to believe it, but they got into a fight with each other." I was ready for laughter, ready for disbelief.

Everybody laughed, just as I expected. "A fight with each other? Yeah right," Matt sputtered, shaking his head. "You must be talking about a different Zacky and Brian."

I opened my mouth the say something, to try to convince them that what I was saying was true, but a door slammed down in the lower level where the studio was. I looked at everyone as they stared toward where the sound came from.

"Well, why are we all just standing around? They could be tearing each other to pieces! Let's go see who's winning" Jimmy said, grabbing my arm again and pulling me to the studio.

"My money's on Gates, Matt yelled, jumping over the back of the couch and running along behind us, a stupid grin on his face as he snickered.

"Hey, you're on Shads!" Johnny was on our heels in seconds, reaching over and shaking Matt's hand, "I've got twenty bucks on Zacky!"

I laughed. "I'm with Matt, Syn's never lost a fight before." Maybe I should've taken it more seriously since I knew how violent my brother got when he was angry, but I also knew that all that anger was currently focused on his best friend; a man that had always been like a brother. I didn't think he'd ever hurt Zacky, that were too close, so I took it just all the others who knew them just as well as I did.

As we neared the studio, there was a huge thud by the door. We all froze, half expecting them to come walking out. When nothing happened for a couple second, Jimmy looked at me and snickered. "Finish him," he said quietly, imitating a fight video game announcer.

I stifled a laugh and we walked into the control room, leaving the light off so Zacky and Brian wouldn't know we were in there. We all crouched behind the control panel and looked through the window like we were watching a new drama on tv. I jumped as Brian's voice suddenly boomed into the room; Matt had turned the mics on.

"I don't give a shit, Zachery Baker! I really don't think you ever understand how much of a disgusting little pervert you are," Brian barked angrily as he advanced toward Zacky.

Zacky backed away, his hands up in front of him. "Bri, dude, come on. Just let me explain!" He stepped around the instruments and tools in the studio, trying to keep the distance between himself and my brother.

"Oh, no, you don't need to explain a goddamn thing, I fucking get it! You're a sicko, preying on some girl that's not even eighteen! Do you even know how much trouble you'd be in?" Brian threw his arms in the air.

He had a point, Zacky could get in a lot of trouble for being with a girl that was underage. Potential jail time, and that could do bad things for the band. I could kind of see why he was so angry now, but now it just seemed like he was overreacting.

"Yeah, she's not yet, but she -"

"No, no if's, and's, or but's, Zack! I oughtta -"

The mic cut out and Jimmy swore, looked at the console for a minute before looking to Matt for help. He pushed a small button below the level and we could hear again.

"If you know what's good for you, Zachery Baker, you'll leave her alone! Stay the fuck away from my house, and Avigaiel." He shoved Zacky back before storming out of the studio, slamming the door behind him.

I still didn't know everything there was to know about the fight, but I knew more than before. And, whatever it was, it was bad enough that Brian didn't want Zacky to hang around me or at the house anymore. Curiosity burned inside me and I had to fight the urge to just march into the studio and demand Zacky and done to make my brother so mad.

We all quietly crept from the the control room and back up to the living, leaving Zacky in the studio where he looked like being left alone was probably what he wanted. The guys were all silent as they thought over what had just happened, probably doing the same thing as me: trying to figure out what the fuck was going on.

I walked out the front door, spotting Brian right where I thought he'd be and doing exactly what I knew he'd be. I looked at the cigarette between his index and middle finger before sitting next to him on the step. "Can I bum a smoke?"

He looked over at me for a second behind he nodded and handed me the little carton of cigarettes. I pulled on out along with the lighter and lit it, watching him. We both sat quietly, just smoking, before he finally said something. "I don't want you hanging around Zack anymore." He took another drag, staring out ahead of us.

I blew smoke out my nose and looked at him. I tried not to lead on to knowing anything other than he was mad at him. "Why not?" I asked casually, really hoping I'd get to the bottom of this whole thing.

He was quiet for a second, slowly blowing smoke out. "Because he's a pervert and I don't want him corrupting you or anything." So, just ignore him. Don't talk to him, don't acknowledge his existence, nothing. Got it?" He looked over at me, looking calmer than he had since Zacky had come to the house.

"What about Twitch & Gizmo?"

He shrugged, thoughtfully. He knew my main band, Hellrazor, was my baby and main concern but he also knew that I really enjoy the music I made in Twitch & Gizmo. "Carry on with me, or Johnny. I'm sure it'll sound cooler with bass anyway."

I sighed and took another drag. "Brian, you're all perverts. Are you going to ban me from everyone?" I rolled my eyes and looked at him. It was true, they were all perverts; just because Zacky liked some girl that was underage didn't make him any worse. You couldn't help who you liked, right?

He sighed and scratched the back of his shoulder. "No, just him. He's worse than the others." He pursed his lips in thought for a second. "Just... Just trust me." He looked at me, "Stay away from Zack."

I shook my head and dropped the cigarette butt on the ground, grinding it out. "This is bullshit, Brian. What'd he do to make him so much worse than the rest of you?" I stood up and looked down at him.

"Avigaiel, just do as I say." The annoyance and frustration was coming back into his tone and body language. If I carried on, he'd get mad again.

I crossed my arms."No, not without a reason. You can't just tell me to not hang out with my friends for no reason. I'm almost eighteen, almost an adult, I think I can make these decisions for myself."

Brian looked up at me in annoyance, dropping his cigarette butt and grinding it out. He stood up, taking a step at me, "Just fucking do what I tell you. You're not an adult yet and you still live under my roof."

"Jesus, stop being such a prick!" I yelped and gasped as he smacked me. My hand flew up to the side of my stinging face and I looked at him in shock. He had never hit me before.
His eyes held instant regret and he looked like he was just as shocked as I was. "Avi, I'm sorry, are you okay?" He went to reach for me.

I glared hard and leapt at him, tackling him to the ground. "You asshole, you don't fucking hit a girl!" I punched him in the face, hissing when he kicked me off of him. Suddenly, I was being held back. I looked back at Matt then glared back at my brother, "Let me go! He fucking hit me!"

Matt pulled me away, giving me another cigarette. "And you hit him back, you're square. Now just calm down."