A New Beginning

Slamming the bus door behind me I found myself crouched on the ground near the back bumper breathing deeply. I was through with being coddled. They guys needed to let me live my own life and that was going to be with Jimmy whether my brother approved of it or not. A terrible headache reared its way into my forehead and I grasped my head in pain. See what those guys were doing to me? The wall of emotions seemed at bursting point and then it was like a landslide inside of me. When that first tear ran down my cheek I knew that there was no way I could hold anything in anymore. I let out a sob and brought my knees to my chest and hugged them closer to my body. Gravel crunched near me and someone’s chest pressed against my side as they lifted my frame from the ground.

“We need to leave now. It’s ok; we’ll go to the back and just relax Layla.” Jimmy whispered into my ear.

My grip on him tightened as he carried me away. Immediately all whispering stopped when Jimmy walked up the stairs. I hated being seen weak like this, but I’m sure that this wasn’t a normal situation. Waiting for the comfort of the couch in the back, I looked up from his chest to see why I wasn’t there yet. My heart skipped a beat as I saw my brother barring us entry. His eyes softened when he saw the last of the tears roll down my face.

Breathing out a sigh of relief he said, “Jimmy, she is now yours to protect. My sister is now your wife and I can do now is wish you all the happiness in the world. Treat her well.”

I felt Jimmy’s neck move in a nodding motion as I smiled at Johnny. Finally he spoke the words that I’ve wanted to hear for a while now. It felt like I now had closure. He stepped aside and let Jimmy continue to the back of the bus. My feet landed softly on the ground as I slid down from his arms. I heard the sliding door close behind me while I was nearing the couch. Stopping to let Jimmy lay down before me I instantly found the niche that was made for me as I sidled up to his body. Our hands found each other and soon became entwined together.

“I love you Jimmy.” I whispered as a bought of sleep washed over me.

“I love you so much Layla.”

His words lingered in the air as I slowly drifted off to sleep. Sometime later I awoke to the sounds of Critical Acclaim floating through the air. It took a moment for me to realize that the source of music was my phone. Without looking at the caller ID I flipped open the phone and started talking to whoever was on the other end.

“Hello?” I asked in a groggy whisper. Jimmy was still sleeping so I didn’t want to wake him. But that was hopeless as soon as my caller began yelling at me.

“Please tell me that Brian was being stupid when he told me that you’re married!” Lexi bellowed.

Jimmy groaned telling me that he was now awake. I mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ before answering my friend’s question.

“Brian was not kidding. Long story short I am now Layla Sullivan. So what’s new with you?”

She scoffed loudly at this. “Layla Town-Sullivan, don’t even think about changing the subject. I mean, I wasn’t even there at your wedding.”

“Lexi, Brian was the only person at our wedding. It’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal? Layla, we’ve been talking about being each other’s maids of honor since we were in junior high.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to this. She was right after all. Both of us would even pick out which celebrity husband we would have at our wedding. I never stopped to think about how she would take this whole thing.

“I’m sorry Lexi, but it already happened and it’s going to stay that way.” I answered quietly.

“Whatever Layla.” She sighed. “I just hope that you two are happy. Well, I’ll talk to you later Layla.”

Before I could say bye she had hung up on me. Pulling the phone away from my ear I just stared at the screen which said CALL ENDED. Without saying anything to Jimmy I got up and hopped in the bunk we shared. I closed the curtain behind me and went back to the unpleasant mood I was in earlier.

Jimmy’s POV

I watched as she abruptly left my side and closed herself off in our bunk. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion to her new attitude. Quietly, I got up and stood on the other side of the curtain. Hearing the slight sniffling sounds broke my heart. I had to make this up to her.

“Brian, why did Lexi call Layla?” I asked as I walked to the front of the bus.

“Oh, right, I guess she was hurt that she wasn’t a part of the wedding like they had always planned.”

“I don’t blame her.” Johnny murmured.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked my new brother-in-law.

“Come on Jimmy. The most important people in her life weren’t there to celebrate with you. I’m sure Layla grew up imagining this spectacular dream wedding and being drunk in Las Vegas wasn’t that.”

I sat down on the couch next to Matt and sighed heavily.

“Matt, when is the next break we have on the tour?” I questioned weakly.

“Ah, I believe we have three days in Chicago. That’s about it for the next year.”

I got off the couch and returned to the area where I just held Layla in my arms. Pulling out Zacky’s laptop I set off to work. Only a month remained until we would hit the windy city for our show and I needed to act fast.