Don't Give up on Me

"Andi!" my older brother calls from the guest bedroom. I poke my head out of the doorway and look down the hall. "I need your opinion on something!"

I sigh and walk to his room. "What, Ryan, I need to get ready too."

"Dream Theater or Slayer?" he asks, holding up both bands' t-shirts.

"Neither, Ryan, we have to dress nice for this stupid dinner, okay?" I roll my eyes, walking over to his suitcase. "Plaid, plaid, plaid... wow, did you bring back Grunge, Ry?"

He laughs. "Back from the dead, duh."

"Here, wear this," I sigh, handing him a dark blue button up I managed to find at the bottom of his suitcase. "And put in your flesh colored plugs, please, Dad's restaurant isn't as lax as the last one."

"Seriously? How do you know?"

"Dad bitched at me for this earlier this morning," I point at my nose ring. "So would you please dress nice, alright? He said this was important."

"Fine," he sighs before I leave the room and return to my own. I stand in front of my closet and scowl, dreading this dinner already. My dad had wanted my brother and I to meet his boss, though by the way he talked about her lately, she seemed to be regarded as more than that. I couldn't tell for sure, though, because he seemed to spend 95% of his time angry at me.

I pick out a pair of black jeans and a denim button down shirt, grabbing a scarf and my signature combat boots before setting them on my bed and start on my hair and makeup. My mind wanders as I curl my hair, travelling to everything but this dinner.

My brother had arrived here in California on Saturday, the day after Zacky had come over and kept me from self-harming without knowing it. I'd pretty much confessed everything that had been in my head to my brother that night over a pint of Ben & Jerry's and a lot of tears. My brother knew everything- my feelings towards the divorce, about Zacky, the full story about what happened at the party - everything that happened during the past few months.

"Jesus, Andi," he'd said after I was done. "You've dug yourself deep. Are you sure you can resurface?"

"I'm trying," I'd whimpered pathetically into his shoulder.

I sigh again, putting the finishing touch on my makeup before dressing and meeting my brother downstairs, my black biker jacket with a cloth hood attached to it over my arm.

"Why do you do that?" he asks, rolling his eyes at my appearance.

"What? Do I look bad?" I look down at my outfit and feel severely self concious suddenly.

"No, you put on so much makeup when you don't even need it, Andi," he sighs, looking down at me. "All of that eye shit and powder and stuff..."

"Because I like it? And you know I have to wear it for dance," I shrug, looking away. "Can we go now? I'm sure Dad is wondering why we're late..."

We walk out to his Mustang and drive to the restaurant, listening to his newfound love for Pantera as we sped through the streets.

"You nervous?" he asks at a stoplight, my leg bouncing endlessly on the floor.

"I just have a really bad feeling about this. Like something bad is going to happen," I say honestly, my stomach doing flips. To make matters worse, it was starting to rain, and I always seemed to have terrible news delivered to me on rainy days.

"It'll be fine, I promise," he says, squeezing my knee and sends a reassuring smile. "Once you see how happy Dad is, your nervousness will fade."

I half-smile in response as we pull up to the restaurant, the rain coming down harder than ever as we park. I dart inside, miraculously getting only a few drops on me before I lead the way to the back, saying a few hello's as I spotted a few workers here and there.

"Hey!" my dad says with a bold grin, his chef's jacket and apron clouded with flour. "I'm glad you guys got here a bit early, I need to talk to you both."

"If its about table ediquette, Dad, you know we've got that perfected," Ryan grins.

"Not that," he rolls his eyes. "Andi, I thought I told you to take that out!"

I sigh, remembering that I forgot to take out my piercing. "Sorry, I took it out when I did my makeup but put it back in out of habit..."

"Go to the bathroom and take it out, we'll be at the table by the back windows, alright?" my dad orders, leading my brother back while I angrily take out my nose ring. Arriving at the table, I see a tall, slender blonde talking animatedly to my father, her eyes never leaving his.

This must be the owner, I think as I walk closer. "There you are," my dad smiles, pulling me in for a side hug. "Laura, this is my daughter, Andria."

"I go by Andi," I say as I shake her hand. She smiles warmly.

"Well, most of my friends call me Laurie instead of Laura, so feel free to do it also!" she says, reaching out for one of my curls. "Your father wasn't exaggerating when he said you were beautiful. Your hair is gorgeous!"

"Thank you," I say, feeling foolish for being nervous only moments before. I join my brother at the table while my Dad leaves to get changed out of his uniform, leaving the three of us at the rather large table.

"My two daughters are going to be joining us soon," Laurie says to fill the silence. "They're both of your ages, and actually, my youngest is a dancer like you, Andi."

"Oh yeah?" I say, sipping my water. "Is she on a studio team, or what?"

"She dances on her school's team. She's pretty remarkable, though I don't know where she gets it from, I'm a terrible dancer!" she laughs.

"My dad says the same thing," I smile. "Mainly about my art, because no one in our family can draw or anything.."

My dad returns then, his hair free of his chef's hat, a crisp black shirt with the sleeves rolled up on and a pair of dark slacks were switched with his other clothing from before. They start to talk to my brother about how school is going, and I can tell he's faking his smile as he talks about psychology. He'd only taken the course because his girlfriend, Alicia, wanted him to and they'd broken up barely two weeks ago- though my Dad had no clue. I knew my brother was hating life just as much as I was, if not more, because of his broken heart. But he had better control over himself than I did, apparantly, because he's just lied to them about how well his relationship is with her.

I sigh and sip my water some more, bored out of my mind. I go to reach for my phone in my hidden pocket of my jacket, though my father's quick green eyes snap over as soon as my fingers grasp it, disapproval in them. I sigh internally and wait for the conversation to change.

"I feel so bad, my girls are late and its not like them at all. Why don't you all order while I call them?" Laurie says, excusing herself. "Order for me, would you, dear? You know what I like from Emilio."

We flag over Jason, a cute blond with a Hollywood smile, over and place the order, which he takes with precision and leaves as quickly as he came. Laurie joins us soon after, looking relieved.

"They'll be here in a minute," she smiles. "Anyways, Andi, you mentioned something about art, right?"

"I did," I reply quietly. "I've been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember, and its one of the things I truly love aside from dance."

"She's freaking fantastic, Laurie, you've gotta see her work sometime," my dad says fondly, winking at me. "She does portraits extremely well, almost exact."

"Almost? Dad, I have magic fingers, I make portraits perfectly," I say proudly, making them laugh.

"Oh look, there they are!" Laurie says a few minutes later. Two blondes that look strikingly similar to her walk over confidently. I could tell which was younger and which was older; the height difference told me that much. But the younger one seemed familiar, like I knew her or something...

"Oh dear God," I mutter under my breath, my heart racing. The upside-down cross at the girls throat was too coincidental for it to not be who I thought it was.

"Andi?!" Serena scowls. I jump from the table and shake my head. Of course my Dad would be after her Mom! It made sense; Karma fucking hated me enough.

"Dad, I can't stay. I have to go. I'm sorry. Laurie, you seem like a nice woman and I would love to get to know you more sometime but-"

"Andi, sit down now! Why are you leaving?" my dad asks, pure confusion on his face. Serena looks just as horrified as I do, her older sister Paige fixated on my brother.

"This is who ruined my car, Dad! She's the chick I almost fought, she's the one that's making my life hell, Dad!" I say as I walk, his footsteps close behind. "I can't stay here with her, I can't."

His eyes widen. "Andi, I-"

"I'm sorry, Dad, but I just... I'll see you at home. I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to you another time," I say before darting out into the rain, thunder rumbling above me. I pull my hood over my hair and walk half a block to the nearest conveinience store, trying to grasp everything that just happened.

I couldn't believe it. Serena's mother was not only my Dad's boss, but he was now dating her. I also couldn't believe Laurie could spawn such a hateful brat, when she herself was nice and lovely and not awful in the slightest. I sigh and take out my phone, dialing the only number I knew would pick up.

"Hey, are you busy by any chance?" I ask tentatively while I lean against the wall of the warm conveinience store. "Its kind of an emergency..."

"No, what's wrong?"

"I'll explain later, but can you come pick me up from-" I look at the sign outside "the Rico's down the street from Laura's Bistro?"

"That's all the way across town!"

"Zacky, please?" I ask, whining slightly. "Its raining and I'm really sketched out..." I shrink back from the stares I was getting from a couple of shady guys by the coffee maker.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Hang tight."

************

"You are so damn lucky that I actually like you," Zacky sighs when I get into the car. "Otherwise I wouldn't of used half of my gas trying to get over here."

"I'm flattered," I say with a small smile. "Thank you, by the way."

"So what was so urgent, anyways?" He asks, squinting to see through the rain.

"Well...." I trail off, trying to think of a word to describe the situation. "Okay, so, my dad has a new girlfriend. Fine, whatever, right? I was gonna try and stick it out for his sake. you know? And then, uh, her daughter's walked in and all hell broke loose."

"What do you mean, 'all hell broke loose' ?"he asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Serena is apparantly Laura's daughter," I sigh. "So I left before anything bad could happen between us."

"Shit," he says simply, shaking his head. "That's bad luck right there."

"Tell me about it," I sigh again. "But its whatever. I need to take my mind off of it."

"I was on my way to Markie's before you called, let's go there," he suggests, referring to a record/instrument store near the boardwalk by our houses. I grin and relax back into the seat, loving the idea. The drive to the large warehouse only took ten minutes, and soon we were going through the crates of cd's and records like kids in candy stores. I loved wandering around in music stores like this. Endless hours have gone to buying music and finding new music. It was the best feeling, like a sense of freedom.

"Jesus, why do I have to be so broke right now?" I moan, holding Green Day's Kerplunk album in my hands. I hear Zacky chuckle a few feet away, looking through guitar tab books, his black hair falling into his eyes. "Don't laugh at me! This is a serious matter!"

"Hide it under the Styx vinyls," he suggests. "No one is gonna buy any of those anytime soon."

"Styx isn't that bad.."

He laughs. "You're joking, right?"

"No," I reply, but then I smile, giving myself away. "Fine. I'll hide it there. But we're coming back soon for it, okay?"

He laughs, then picks up the book he wanted. "I need to go upstairs, I broke a guitar string and I need some more pics."

"What kind do you use?"

"Super Slinky customs," he replies instantly. "Pink pack-"

"I know what they look like," I roll my eyes, tossing him a pack. "My brother plays the same. He's taught me a lot about guitars, actually. My Dad, too."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"I can't really play a whole lot, mainly because my brother doesn't live with us anymore so I can't practice on his acoustic... But I can change a string, and I can tune it too."

"You're like a tech... you any good with amps?" he asks, picking up a black Epiphone and examining it.

I shrug. "They're not easy to figure out, but after you play around for a bit, its pretty simple."

He grins. "How come you've never told me this?"

"Its never really come up."

"Prove it to me."

"Prove what?"

"That you're not just trying to make yourself sound cool."

"You take me as a liar, Baker?"

"Nope. I just wanna see you in action, Dawson."

We were almost nose to nose with each other. "Fine. I'll switch the string and tune your Gibson just to prove it. And I'll bet its better than when you do it."

"You're talking shit, babe, can you back it up?" he smirks down at me.

"Go on. Go pay for your stuff. I'll show you when we get to your house."

"Let's go," he says, turning and heading downstairs to the cashier. He taps his fingers impatiently on the counter as the guy rings him up, making me laugh under my breath. After his things are bagged, we both hurry towards his car, the sheeting rain drenching us as he fumbled with his keys.

"Not so smooth now, are you?" I tease as he finally unlocks his car.

"Oh ha ha, fuck you."

"Yeesh. Such language in the presence of a woman."

He laughs as we both get in the car. We arrive at his house moments later, the both of us running down to the basement without stopping. His cherry red SG sat on the table, the broken string still attached. "I need tools..." I tell him after he stares at me for a few seconds.

"Right..." he says, finding the box and handing it to me. "Alright. Show me."

Changing a guitar string is a long process. You have to be careful, or else you can damage the pickups, or the bridge, and then you're screwed. Getting cut by the string was also something to avoid, because, well, that hurts. After about 45 minutes of getting it just how I was taught, I straighten out and prepare to tune it.

"Its loose, Andi..." He says dubiously, obviously doubting my craft.

"I didn't say I was done," I tell him, shaking my head. I grab a new pic, sit down on the couch, and start to tune it by ear. He stood across from me, arms crossed, as I quickly got it in tune with the rest of the strings.

He hesitates when he plugs it into the amp, then sighs when he starts to play it. "I hate you."

"You don't mean that," I tell him, putting my hands in my jacket's pockets. My phone vibrates, and I pull it out to see 12 missed calls from my Dad.

Shit.

I unplug his guitar and put the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Thank God you answered, Andi, I was worried. Where are you?" he says in relief, no trace of anger or disappointment in his voice.

"I'm fine. I'm actually at Zacky's house," I say, hearing him let out a breath.

"I never thought I'd be happy to know that," he says jokingly, and I knew my father wasn't at all mad that I had left. He still wasn't the fondest of Zacky since the incident, but I knew he'd rather have me with him that out alone in weather like this.

"You're awful," I tell my dad, shaking my head.

"Hey, I'm gonna be heading home with Ry in about an hour. We need to talk this all out, alright," he sighs. "See you then."

"Bye," I tell him, but he'd already hung up. I run a hand through me hair and face Zacky, who reconnected his guitar to the amp and played a few notes, checking to see if I had correctly tuned it; to his dismay, I had.

"I hate you," he repeats, but with a smirk this time.

"Its not that I'm the best, I'm just better than you," I grin.

"How'd that call go?" he changes the subject after he rolls his eyes at me.

"I have to have another talk with him," I shrug. "Could be worse."

"How long do you have until then?"

"An hour."

"Okay, cool, because I need to you to fix my other guitar string."

I laugh to myself as he retrieves his acoustic guitar from his bedroom, the strings for it in hand. Shaking my head, I get to work, not at all worried about what would happen after I was finished.