Glass

"You look like hell," A voice muttered as Zack felt a sharp kick into his side. He groaned, his head spinning as he was suddenly submerged into sunlight.

"What the fuck..." He huffed, sitting up and slowly opening his eyes. He looked around the room before glancing up to see Brian standing over him, his arms crossed over his chest, "Jesus Christ, Brian, it's like eight in the morning. Couldn't you have called first?"

"Called?" Brian scoffed, "I did. Sixteen times, actually. Seeing as it's two in the fucking afternoon. Not to mention the fact that we had an interview scheduled at nine this morning."

"Fuck," Zack hissed, "Sorry, Dude, I forgot," He apologized, suddenly remembering that he had to be in Los Angeles by nine o'clock to prep for the band's interview with a radio station.

"How?" Brian demanded, "Where's Jen?" He looked around, realizing that the brunette twenty-four year old was no where in sight. Usually he saw the girl bustling around the house trying to meet Zack's demands.

"Fired," Zack answered, "She annoyed the shit out of me."

"She also managed to keep your house clean," Brian noted and Zack rolled his eyes.

"Fuck my house. I needed her to get me caught up on my orders, not polish my floors," He retorted.

"She was actually a nice girl," Brian noted, "Smart, nice, pretty," He shrugged.

Zack glared deeply at the other guitarist, feeling anger rise in his chest. He fumed, breathing heavily as he stood, "I know where this is going," He muttered darkly.

"She had the hots for you man. All you had to do was take her to dinner," Brian shrugged but was roughly pushed into a wall. His eyes widened at the amount of strength Zack actually had. Brian always had the upper hand against his friend.

"Don't," Zack warned and Brian sighed.

"I'm sorry," Brian noted, "I really am. I just... I thought maybe-"

Zack cut him off, "Well you thought wrong," Zack hissed and released his grip, stumbling backwards before falling back into his couch again. He ran a hand over his face as he felt a familiar pain in his chest, "So, what's the latest?" He questioned.

Brian sighed and sat down next to his friend, pushing the bottles of Jack aside with his foot, "Jimmy said her mom still hasn't had any contact with her," He admitted and Zack sighed deeply.

"Has she been seen anywhere?" He asked and Brian shook his head.

"Paparazzi for a Vegas gossip magazine saw her two weeks ago at a club opening for a few minutes. They caught her walking in the club, then back out. She stayed in a private lounge the entire time. She's been keeping a low profile," Brian explained.

"That's it?" Zack scoffed, "That's all you guys can get?"

"We're trying, Zack," Brian tried to reason, "But it's pretty obvious that Violet doesn't want to be found or seen."

Brian sighed and picked up the empty bottles and stood. He knew that the situation with Zack was extremely delicate. He no longer knew what would send his friend into a series of fits. He was unstable and it was getting out of hand.

"Zack, I didn't come here to bug you about the interview," He confessed, "I came here to tell you that we have two club promotions in Vegas next week."

Zack's eyes shot up to his friend, his mouth open in shock. The band's manager had purposely avoided Vegas for the sole reason of Zack being nearly mentally unstable. The entire band wanted to find Violet, but taking Zack to Vegas was the last thing they needed.

"I'm not supposed to tell you, okay?" Brian sighed, "So don't fly off the handle. Larry thinks we shouldn't tell you until we actually land there, but we both know that's a stupid idea."

Zack shrugged and nodded, "Where are we staying?" He questioned.

"Not Caesar's Palace, so don't get any ideas," Brian warned, "We'll be at the Palms. We have two promotions to do at The Pearl and Red."

"Those are both owned by Craig," Zack noted darkly.

"Which means you need to take extra care to not be a fucking idiot, Zack," Brian snapped and Zack rolled his eyes, "I'm serious, Man. Regardless of what happened, Craig still practically owns all of Vegas. You know if we fuck up, then we will never perform there again. We can't take that risk."

"And what?" Zack scoffed, "Just ignore everything that happened!?" He raised his voice, beginning to feel more upset with each second that passed. How could Brian suggest such a thing?

"It's been a year," Brian reminded him, "A year since she left. In case you haven't forgotten, Zack, she voluntarily left. Don't you think things might be different after a year?" Brian asked, his voice soft. It hurt Brian to mutter those words to his friend, but he couldn't help it. The entire family had a rough year after Violet left, searching up and down for her without any success. They wanted to find Violet more than anything, but there came a point when they realized it was nearly impossible.

"What are you trying to say?" Zack demanded.

"I'm saying that just because you haven't moved on, doesn't mean she hasn't either," Brian stated.

Zack shook his head, lowering his eyes to the ground. He wouldn't be surprised if Violet wanted nothing to do with him. He remembered clearly the way he kicked her out of his home, how she fled to another state and he didn't follow, how he told her he hated her with every ounce of his being. He remembered how she took the hit for him, and she sacrificed everything so he could have anything. It wasn't fair.

"I know," Zack confessed, "But if there was anything Violet taught me, it was hope."