Pieces

Zack tossed himself onto the desk, his head roughly coming in contact with the thick oak wood. He was exhausted. He was exhausted, confused, and in pain. The orders from Vengeance University were piling up, kids were sending angry emails, and he had yet to restock nearly half of the store. It had gotten to the point where the fans were starting to question if something was wrong with the guitarist. He had never let his company slip so low before, even before Violet.

"Dude," Brian shook his head as he leaned against the door, "You're going to have to learn to pick things up on your own."

"I-I can't," Zack breathed in. He hadn't slept much, but the scent of Violet's pillow still remained on his arm. He could smell the flowered shampoo she always used. He forced himself to blink back tears as he thought of sleeping in his bed, the space next to him empty.

"She's gone, Man. You moved on from Amber... you can move on from this," Brian assured him and Zack sat up, looking at his friend.

"I moved on from Amber because of Violet. Violet is the reason why my life finally got straightened out," He snapped and Brian looked down at the ground.

The band rarely talked about Zack before Violet. Zack had only mentioned it to her when he wasn't completely sober. He didn't want to reveal too much about his alcoholic past to her, fearing he would scare her off. Even the band strongly disliked talking about it. It was a reminder of dark times that they all wanted to forget.

"What ever you do, Zack, you cannot turn back to that. Drinking yourself into oblivion isn't the answer," Brian stated firmly. He vividly remembered the handful of times he had to pick up Zack from a local bar. He distinctly remembered staying with Zack for three days straight, in fear of him drinking himself into a hospital.

"What am I supposed to do?" Zack asked, "I am completely lost without her. I fucking hate her guts, Brian, but I am so desperately in love with her," He confessed weakly. Brian narrowed his eyes. That was bad. Very, very bad. It would be even harder for Zack to get over Violet, and even easier for her to weave her way back into his life, "Do you think there's a chance she... was telling the truth?"

Brian tensed, his eyes darkening. He hadn't even questioned the thought. The article Matt had pulled up was from a solid source. But he knows how easily people can twist the words of others. He had experienced it himself first-hand. He knew deep down there was a chance that Violet was forcibly made to be the bad guy. He couldn't ignore the feeling in his gut whenever he heard the name Craig. The guy gave off a bad vibe.

Not to mention how upset his wife was when he got home from Zack's. Michelle was fuming when she found out what was going on, and she was even upset with her sister. Even Val was starting to believe that the guys hadn't made the right decision in storming over to Zack's. They should have given her a chance.

But if Violet is who they say she is, then she's the master of manipulation.

"Yes," Brian answered honestly, "But don't count on it, Zack. If she were telling the truth she would be able to prove it, right? Besides, she chose to run off to New York, remember?"

It hurt Brian to say those words. He wanted to help Zack and Violet. But he also knew that he was practically walking on eggshells. If he kept putting false hope in Zack's head, he'd be a mess forever.

"I know," Zack nodded, feeling defeated.

-

"Zack?" Violet's voice had pulled him out of his thoughts. The guitarist looked up at her, furiously blushing as he realized what compromising position he was in.

He was pathetically sprawled across the couch, the television remaining on a late-night informercial, and his eyes were puffy and red from crying.

"You okay?" She asked and he sat up.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I was watching a sad movie," He sniffled, grabbing yet another tissue from the table. The girl knowingly placed her hands on her hips and looked over to the television screen.

"Yeah, you know those Sham-Wow commercials really get to you. Have you gotten to the end where they ring it out dry of life right before your eyes? I always need extra tissues at that part," She asked mockingly and he sighed, looking away from her.

Not only did he look a mess, but he looked a mess in front of her. He couldn't deny that had it been anyone else, he wouldn't have felt as bad about it. But the beautiful girl in front of him had seen a whole new side of him. The impressive business-like and egotistical rockstar facade was now gone. He would never be able to get her to think so highly of him ever again.

"You know," She walked forward and sat down next to him on the couch, "You can talk to me if you want. I'm sure the guys don't want to hear about your womanly troubles," She smiled and he looked over to her, raising an eyebrow.

"How did you know it was that?" He asked, his voice hoarse from screaming at his ex-girlfiend earlier.

She shrugged, "Woman's intuition. Now, you know what cures a broken heart?" She asked and he shook his head. She smiled widely at him, "Ice cream and horror movies."

"Horror movies? Don't you guys always watch those sappy romantic movies?" He questioned and she scoffed.

"Why would I watch a movie to remind me that I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life?" She joked, "When I can watch a slasher movie where I can imagine me cutting up my ex into a thousand little pieces?" She smirked.

He blinked at her widely. The playful smirk making him feel a stir of feelings he hadn't expected. It was a wave of a whole new emotion he hadn't experienced yet. The excitement he felt when he thought of spending a night sitting close to the beautiful girl made his head spin.

He grinned widely, "I have all the Saw movies with the Director's Cut," He stated.

"I'll get the ice cream."

-

Day one in New York was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I took Jimmy's advice and held off on finding a job right away. I needed some time to relax, anyways. I had too many demons following me to start another job. I did, however, glance at the few apartments he had found for me.

"It has a beautiful scenic view, full security, and your own temperature control," The woman listed off. Her name was Marie and she was a friend of Jimmy's mother, and a realtor.

"I like it," I smiled, even though I had tuned her out for most of the day.

"You know, Jimmy mentioned to me that you're an artist. Is that true?" She questioned.

"Yeah," I nodded, "I do a lot of sketching and computer graphics," I explained and she grinned widely.

"I saved this one for last because of that. This is the last apartment on the East side that comes with this since they're in such high demand, but Jimmy asked me to save it for you," She lead me down the hall to another room we had missed on the way in.

The double doors were thick wood and painted black. The contrast against the white walls made it look sleek and modern. She pushed both of them opened and I followed her inside.

I gasped, looking around the room completely surrounded by windows. The room was the corner of the building, allowing all of the walls to be replaced by windows that stretched from floor to ceiling. In the corner there was a painting station, complete with a sink with beautiful victorian handles. The back wall closest to the door had a built in bookshelf.

"It's a studio. The windows can be covered with a shade by pressing this button," She pointed to a small button on the wall next to the light-switch.

"Wow," I breathed.

"So you'll take it?" She asked hopefully.

"Uh... yeah," I laughed at her eagerness.

She sighed with relief, "Thank God. Jimmy already put a deposit down. He told me you'd put up a fight," She laughed and my eyes widened.

"He what!?" I exclaimed.

"Don't say I told you," She shook her head, "But he knew you'd like this one the best. But he was afraid you'd want to find something else and you'd miss your opportunity. So he put the deposit down so you'd be forced to get it."

I almost laughed. It was so like Jimmy to do something like this. It also would be something Zack would do, if he loved me still. I clearly remembered the day he went with me to search for a new apartment. He claimed that the little one-bedroom studio I was living in wouldn't do. I needed something classy and edgy, apparently. Amber wasn't too happy when he gave me an extra bonus so I could pay for the entire deposit on the apartment I wanted, which happened to be out of budget.

"C'mon, Vi, this place is perfect!" Zack exclaimed.

"I don't have the money, Zack. You know not everyone is a rockstar like you," I eyed him and he gave me a disappointed look.

"Vi, the last place we went to didn't have a view. The one before that could have been a senior center. This place has everything you need and more!" He motioned to the beautiful ocean view from the balcony.

"But I'd have to take out a loan, Zack," I grumbled, "I'm not prepared to do that, okay?"

"Vi, you have to get this place," He stated firmly.

"No I don't. C'mon, we still have a few more places we haven't looked," I stated and started to walk out of the door. He caught my arm and pulled me back. He placed both hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes with a determined look in his eyes.

"Come in to work an hour earlier for three weeks and work Sundays. I'll pay you a bonus and it'll pay for your entire down-payment," He stated and my eyes widened.

"Zack! I'm not doing that!" I protested.

I worked too damn hard to get Craig out of my life. I didn't need another man paying for things for me. I wanted to work things out on my own. It wasn't fair for Zack to waste his money on my like this. I've only been working for him for three weeks.

"C'mon, it's not like you're taking my money. You're working for it," He tried to convince me.

"No, it's taking your money. That's basically me asking you to pay for my down-payment on this place. I'm not doing that, Zack. Never in a million years," I snapped.

His only reply was a wide and infamous Vengeance smirk I had grown to love.

-

"I'll take it," I smiled softly at her and she nodded, heading off to find the paperwork for me to sign.

As she took a phone call with another client, I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed Jimmy's number. I waited impatiently for him to answer.

"Please, don't kill me," He answered sheepishly.

"This is the most irresponsible thing you've ever done, Jim," I stated and he sighed.

"I didn't want you to pass up a great place. It's in your budget and it's completely you. If you're going to be away from me, you might was well be miserable in a place you like," He stated and I could hear the smirk growing on his face, "Besides, I know you'll just pay me back.

He was right. I had full intentions of placing the thousand dollar deposit in his bank account when I got back to the hotel. Wether he liked it or not, I was going to transfer the money to his account before he could protest.

"Does Leana know you did this? Does anyone? Do you know what they're going to think of me?" I questioned.

"Woah, slow down, Kid. It was Leana's idea and Dan is the only one who knows. We're keeping it that way. And Violet, we know who you really are. You're not that person from Vegas," He said softly and I sighed.

"Thank, Jimmy. I really appreciate it," I smiled.

"Anything for you, Kid."

"How is he?" I questioned.

"Um... I haven't seen him. Brian and Matt have his house on lockdown basically. Dan and I aren't allowed in to see him."

"Why?" I questioned.

"Because Matt doesn't want us trying to convince him of anything else. They think it's unhealthy of him. They figure the sooner he gets over you, the better," He explained.

"And they're right," I stated.

"Don't say that, Vi. You've done a lot more for Zack than you think you have. He needs you."

"He needs real relationship with a real girl. Not me. Goodbye, Jimmy."

I hung up quickly, automatically feeling guilty. No one ever hung up on Jimmy, but I couldn't just call him back. Instead, I pocketed my phone and looked out into the city below me. It wasn't home. Huntington was my home and my heart would always remain there.

I had to keep reminding myself that this was for the best.