Stay

I hardly remembered the past six hours. I didn't remember the packing, or the bickering on the phone as Grace argued about where I would stay, not even driving to the airport. It was all a blur until I saw Grace standing by the baggage claim of John Wayne Airport, but she wasn't alone.

"What are they doing here?" I asked, ignoring the two other people standing beside her. I refused to acknowledge Brian or Michelle, both of whom were standing beside Grace like some sort of protectors.

"Michelle offered to drive to the airport with me, and Brian wanted to come along too," She shrugged and I glared.

"That's no way to treat the person who got you out of here in the first place," Brian stated calmly. I looked over at him. There was no sign of him being angry or upset. Instead, he was as calm as an open sea. He eyed me up and down, his dark eyes landing on my brown boots, traveling up my jeans to my fine tailored coat, "You've changed," He noted and I shrugged.

"Yeah, people tend to do that," I nodded and he frowned, showing the first sign of being uncomfortable.

"Yeah, well I've decided to change into a nicer person. Let me get that for you," He smiled, a sarcastic smile on his lips as he grabbed my suitcase from my hand.

"Thanks," I sighed and turned to my sister. Michelle had a friendly arm wrapped around her shoulder, comforting her maybe. Even through the dark glass of her designer sunglasses, I could see a kind and sympathetic glance in her eyes.

"It's nice to see you again, Eden. I know we never properly met," She shrugged.

"It's okay. We'll count you running up my driveway to inform me I was the other woman as our proper introduction," I stated quickly, earning a quick glare from Brian in the process. I watched as Michelle shifted uncomfortably under my gaze, "Someone's got to be the messenger," I shrugged.

I quickly shifted my weight around, spinning on my heels to walk towards the exit of John Wayne Airport, the first sign of southern sun gleaming in the distance.

They quickly followed, and soon Brian wrapped a hand around my upper arm to guide me to the parking lot across the street. We crossed, Brian still guiding me while Michelle continued to comfort my sister for who knows what reason. We stopped at a sleek black car. It was newer than the Mercedes I recognized from before. It must have come with all the success of the new album, I'm sure.

"We'll take you two home. Once you unpack you should come to Johnny's. You look like you could use a drink," Brian smiled.

"Actually," I turned to him once he popped the trunk, "I was thinking of staying at a hotel. Grace doesn't need my extra baggage lying around everywhere," I noted.

"I moved into Mom's," She announced suddenly and I turned to her. The sad look hadn't left her face yet, "I figured it would be easier to plan everything while being there. As soon as the funeral is over the house will sell and I'm going to move back into my apartment," She explained.

"In other words," Brian continued, "There's room for your extra baggage."

I sighed and slid into the back seat while Michelle walked past me to get to the front. Grace got in beside me and Brian got into the driver's side, silently taking off towards the freeway to get us back to Huntington.

It wasn't that I didn't want to stay with my sister. Sure, she would need me during this time. But she was friends with the wrong people, obviously. I knew Grace had known about the whereabouts of the Avenged Sevenfold family, but I had no idea she was so close to them.

"So, does anyone care to explain how you all are such great friends?" I asked, breaking the silence. I crossed my arms over my chest, bringing my sunglasses over my eyes to look out the window to see the familiar scenery I had almost forgotten.

"I work at Johnny's," Grace noted.

"Yeah, I knew that much," I replied.

"The guys are there all the time. After a while they grow on you," She smiled.

"We tip her well and keep the obnoxious guys' hands off her," He smiled through the rearview mirror.

"I started working at Johnny's with a fake I.D. It was the fastest way to make money for college," She explained and I turned to her with a glare, "Without asking you for money."

"I would have given it to you," I argued. Grace had never asked me for money for her classes. I had sent birthday cards with a healthy sum of cash. I figured her and Mom were okay if they weren't asking. I didn't account for the fact that she was just plain stubborn.

"Regardless, about six months in the guys came home from tour on a break and recognized me. I told them I just wanted to pay for college and they convinced Johnny to not fire me for working under twenty-one. Of course once I turned twenty-one it didn't matter anymore, but they kept me in a job until then."

I nodded, "Well, thanks for keeping her out of trouble," I smiled.

He laughed, "Last I remembered, you were the notorious trouble maker. Not her," He reminded me and I actually laughed.

"Grace told us you work for a fashion magazine," Michelle cut in and I nodded.

"I work for Vogue," I replied, "The San Francisco branch. I don't get paid as much as the people in London or New York, but it's an alright job."

My job was honestly a pain in the ass. I loved it, really I did, but half of the time I felt like burying myself in the ground instead of attending another photoshoot. I had to oversee all the articles and shoots, alongside choosing which fashion got thrown out or kept for the next spread. If I messed up, I was done for. So far, I had been lucky enough to keep up with the times and not make any mistakes.

It was a lot of work for minimal pay. I may have seemed like the highlight of the family now, wearing my fancy coat and shimmering jewelry. Too bad it was all perks of working in the fashion industry. Free outfits for me, all while I still live in a single one-bedroom flat above the cold city of San Francisco.

"I've read some of your articles," She smiled over at me.

"They're not really mine," I shrugged, "I don't write them. I kind of just tell people what to do and make them fear me."

Brian let himself smile as he exited the freeway, turning towards the beach before heading back inland towards the more suburban side of town. He pulled up to a modest one-story home that was perfectly maintained. Beautiful green grass, colorful flower beds, and a pathway that led to a perfectly painted red door. I smiled.

They didn't have to tell me this was Mom's home. I just knew. It was her. The colors, the lawn, the small characteristics that screamed my mother's sense of style. Contemporary, I always called it.

"We'll help you take your stuff in," Michelle said, taking off her seatbelt before getting out of the car. Grace pulled out a key and headed to the front door as I helped Brian grab the rest of my bags.

The house was well decorated. Mom must have flipped through hundreds of magazines to get it to look this perfect. I imagine she picked out ever item individually, thinking exactly where it would have a place in her home. It was so much like her. Despite being a free woman again, she did always like everything to be perfect.

Before Grace could point me in the direction of my room, the ringing of a phone started. We all looked to the phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen, not really moving, "I'll get it. It's probably the planners calling me back. Brian will show you around."

Michelle stayed by my sister's side as she answered the phone, leaving Brian to lead me down the hall, "You three make quite the little group, don't you?" I asked as we entered what looked like a guest bedroom.

"Your sister was in a rough place when we saw her at Johnny's. She wasn't exactly the same Grace that Matt had explained to us," He stated, "But watching your parents go through a bitter divorce as your parents did can do that to someone," He scoffed.

I rolled my eyes, "I don't understand why she had to be so sensitive about it. That divorce was the best thing to happen to our mother. If she doesn't think that then she's still the heartless child I remembered four years ago," I snapped quickly.

"Yeah, it's different when you're the favorite child," He replied, lugging one of my suitcases to the bed so it would be easier for me to unpack, "She didn't suffer the trauma you did. And after your father weaseled his way out of abuse charges, I'm sure she changed her tune."

Grace didn't take our parents divorce well, that was for sure. She still yearned for Daddy to swoop in and make things right, just as he did before. The news that I heard was that Mom had pissed him off for the last time, and she had struck her harder than before. A certain large tattooed man was the one to bring my Dad into custody. Of course, the court appeals to their own and released my father with bail and didn't press charges.

"You know, he's taken good care of both of them. He helped out getting this house, keeping Grace in school. Matt's been really goo-"

"Don't," I turned to him, "I did a lot to get him out of my life, Brian. Don't you dare bring him back in."

"Get used to it, Dollface. He's around a lot more than you think. He's in hiding right now, knowing you're back in town, but you'll see him at the funeral."

I spun around, eyes locking with the dark brown orbs Brian stared at me with. I took a step forward, a glad in my eye as I got closer, "What do you mean?"

He shrugged, "Exactly what I said. He'll be at the funeral. Before you protest, he has every right to be. Let's not forget everything he's done for you. You know at one point he was your savior," He explained.

I glared, ignoring his late sentence, "I never said he couldn't attend," I defended, "But other than that, I don't want him near me."

"Your wish is my command," He scoffed and I rolled my eyes, "Now be ready by eight. We're going out tonight because you look like you need a drink, and Johnny's been asking about you. Zack will be here to pick you up."

"Why him?" I groaned and he smirked.

"Oh, believe me, he missed you too," He chuckled before strolling out the door. It wasn't long before he called Michelle and they both had exited the house completely, the sound of his car speeding down the street in the distance.

I waited there for a few moments, lost in my thoughts before there was a knock on the door. I looked up to see Grace standing there, her eyes wide and glossy like the small child she surely was, "I really missed you," She whispered.

I smiled softly, "I missed you too," I replied and she stepped inside the room, sitting down at the edge of the bed.

"Why didn't you come home?" She asked, "No vacations, no holidays... You didn't even come back when they divorced," She stated, her voice cracking.

I turned to her, "The only reason I would come back for that would be to throw a party," I stated and she casted her eyes downward, "That divorce was the best thing to ever happen to her, Grace, and you know it. You think she liked cleaning up after all of us? Especially after him?" I asked.

She shook her head, "I just wanted them to be together," She confessed.

"And watch her suffer?" I asked, standing up from the bed, "And you call me selfish," I scoffed.

"Despite what we went through, what she want through, she still loved him. She still wanted to serve him," Grace defended.

"That's bullshit and you know it," I spat, "She was raised like that, just like you were. Remember that, Grace? You focused all your time worrying about finding a husband than worrying about yourself," I threw in her face and she turned away. I caught the pain in her eyes before I sighed deeply, "I'm sorry... Mom wouldn't want us to be fighting right now."

Grace nodded, fighting back tears as she sniffled, "You're right."

"I didn't come back because of him," I confessed in a whisper.

"I know," She turned to be, "But you never gave him a chance to-"

I put a hand up to cut her off, "I don't need to give him a chance, Grace. What happened, happened. I'm moving past that."

"Moving past?" She asked, "It's been four years and you're a mess."

"I'm not a mess," I growled, "If you call getting an education and a stable career is being a mess, then your standards must be planetary," I snapped and she glared.

"You may not be a mess on the outside, but I can see right through you," She noted.

"And what about you? Hanging out in bars with rockstars at night, studying for your degree by day? All while still crying over mommy and daddy not working out? At least I have some stability."

She leaned against the doorframe, sighing deeply as she crossed her arms over her chest, "You're cold, Eden," She stated sadly, "Your warmth is gone, along with any last piece of hope I had for you," She breathed out, "I remember you, Eden. I hope someday you'll remember yourself too," She stated quickly before turning around, exiting down the hall before I could protest.

Cold. I was cold. I was freezing from the amount of ice Matt had stuck inside of my soul after he had ripped apart every piece of happiness I once had. So she was right. But I wasn't about to change just because she wanted me to. I had a funeral to plan, then a plane to catch. I had no time for Matt between those two things. I just wanted to get out of here before I could succumb to his hazel eyes again.

I wasn't going to break myself again.