Tattoos and Trust Issues

"Beth! Issy! We brought food!" Brian's voice could be heard from the front room, laughter following his words.

Beth put her laptop aside, pulled on a hoodie, and walked downstairs. "Iss isn't home," she said, following the boys into the kitchen. They had brought chicken from KFC and were already rummaging through the food.

Jimmy held a plastic container in his hands with a frown on his face. "Where is she? I even brought her a salad," he said, his voice sad sounding.

Jimmy had always been extremely close to Issy, maybe as close as Beth was. And he had always been extremely protective of her, he even used to follow her around at all of the parties in high school to make sure that she didn't get into any trouble. Beth always felt comfortable when Jimmy was with Issy, that way she knew that there was no way that she would get hurt.

"Aw, Jimbo. She'll be home in a little bit, and she's going to love that you thought about her," Beth reassured, laughing.

Brian leaned against the counter, a plate full of chicken in his hands. "Where is she then? Work?"

"She took the week off while I'm home. She's at her boyfriends house," Beth answered simply.

Jimmy nearly choked on his drink. "Boyfriend?! Why didn't she say anything about him?"

"Yeah, that could have been valuable information. We have to go meet this guy, make sure h—"

"No, you don't have to. And you won't. His name is Tyler, and he's a good guy. She'll be home at eight, less than an hour. Don't ruin it for her," Beth scolded, her voice stern.

Matt raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, fine fine. But I do want to meet him soon. Should we invite him to a barbeque or something?"

"There you go, that's more humane," Beth laughed. "I can text her and invite him for tomorrow night," she said, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

Zacky piped up then. "Why wait? Tell her to bring him home," he suggested.

Beth eyed him suspiciously. The grin on his face told her that he was up to something. But there was no getting out of it, all of the guys had already collectively agreed to have him come over. Beth glared at Zacky, but texted Issy anyways.

To: Iss

From: Beth

Txt: the guys showed up. they want you to bring Tyler home to meet him. Z's idea. It's ok to say no.

Beth made herself a plate while she waited for Issy's reply. "The girls didn't come?"

"ARE WE NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU?!" Jimmy asked, grabbing Beth's shoulders and staring at her with a counterfeit look of of betrayal on his face.

Beth laughed at him. "Of course you're enough, but I assume that none of you have any midol. But hey, what do I know?" She teased, laughing at Jimmy's reaction of surprise and continuing to put food on her plate. Not even ten seconds later, her phone vibrated on the counter and Jimmy grabbed it before she could.

From: Iss

To: Beth

Re: ugh. We'll be there in 15.

"Fifteen minutes and we'll meet this mystery guy," Jimmy said, a grin on his face.

Everyone laughed and made jokes and assumptions about Kory's boyfriend while they waited for him to arrive. Fifteen minutes came and passed a lot quicker than anyone thought it did.

Issa opened the door slowly, and was tackled by Jimmy not thirty seconds later.

"Issy! I got you a salad!" He exclaimed, probably more excited than he should have been. He was just really proud of himself for remembering her vegetarian needs, and hoped that it would make her happy.

"Wait, really? Aw, Jim, that's so sweet of you," she commented, not really able to process much. She was more nervous about Tyler meeting the guys than he was. "Jimmy, this is Tyler. Tyler, this is Jimmy. Don't be surprised if he tackles you at any point or goes out of his way to make you feel uncomfortable, he'll probably do that," she warned, memories flooding back to the first time she had met Jimmy in Matt's garage.

Tyler chuckled, his laugh deep and raspy. "That's alright, I think I can handle it. Nice to meet you, Jimmy," he said, removing his hand from Issa's in order to shake Jimmy's hand.

"C'mon, let's meet the rest of the circus," Issa laughed at her own joke, and grabbed Tyler's wrist, pulling him into the kitchen where everyone else was.

Johnny was the first one to say anything. "We prefer the term special talent artists, actually. Circus is a little harsh, Issy," he crossed the small room in order to shake Tyler's hand, "I'm Johnny, which makes you Tyler."

Laughing, Tyler nodded. "You've guessed right, I'm Tyler. Nice shirt, by the way," he complimented Johnny's Eighteen Visions shirt.

Matt and Brian both made a sound of approval.

"He likes good music. So far, he’s an alright kid in my book," Matt said. He, Brian, and Tyler all got into a conversation about Eighteen Visions then. Johnny piped up occasionally, too.

Issa and Jimmy both walked over to the fridge together, grabbing her salad and setting it on the counter.

"Is it okay? I got three dressings on the side, because I didn't know which you liked better. There's Caesar, Italian, and Balsamic Vinaigrette," he said, watching as she picked out the large broccoli pieces from the container.

"Hmm, I like all three. But I have to go with Caesar. And, future reference for next time – I don't like broccoli," she laughed. "Thank you though, JimJam. It makes me feel really special and it makes me really happy. I've missed you so much. Things were hard without you, Jim," she muttered, leaning into him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders protectively.

"I'm here now Claire Bear, and I'm not leavin' ya, I promise," he reassured, placing a warm kiss on her forehead. "Zack's pissed, probably because Tyler's buff and godly good looking," he said, laughing.

Issa groaned. "Yeah, he's kinda irritating me actually. I love the kid and everything but he seems extra pissed off about the fact that I'm not into him anymore. But how could I be? You know how messed up I was, and he seems to be pissed because I don't want that for myself again," she said, a sigh escaping her lips. "Fucking guys, I swear."

"Hey, I'm alright!" Jimmy laughed, "I don't think he fully understands the effect he had. I'll talk to him, explain it. Maybe he'll stop then, alright? Eat your vegetables you vegetarian and I'll go talk to him. Alright?" He teased, a small, reassuring smile on his face.

Jimmy left Issa to her own devices, and heard her butt in the conversation that was originally about Eighteen Visions, but had progressed into how touring life was. He went out onto the patio, where Zacky was smoking a cigarette. "He's something, isn't he?" Jimmy began.

Zacky scoffed. "Yeah, definitely. He sounds like the fucking Terminator, and he's small as fuck. He can work out as long as he wants but he's still a scrawny little shit. And how old is he, anyways? He looks like he's fucking eighteen or something," he ranted, shaking his head and taking a long drag from his cigarette.

Jimmy couldn’t help but to laugh at the obvious jealousy in Zacky’s voice. Back in high school, he disliked a lot of people for a lot of reasons. But he had become more patient as the years passed, so him being so hostile towards a guy he had never even said two words to was enough to prove to Jimmy that Zacky was incredibly jealous. “He seems nice, though. I think he makes her pretty happy.”

Zacky gaped at his giant best friend in wonder. “You’re kidding, right?”

“What do you mean?” Jimmy shrugged. “I’m not kidding at all. He seems like a nice kid. And, he’s not eighteen. He’s only twenty five, he’s Issy’s age. Not four years older than her,” Jimmy scolded.

In an alternate universe, his age wouldn’t matter to Zacky at all. His deep voice wouldn’t matter, his hair wouldn’t matter. But in this universe, it did. And it mattered because Issy was the only girl that Zacky had ever loved. Sure, he had been with Gena for a long time and even married her, but Zack almost always had flings with other girls on tour. He had never taken girls seriously, and that was his problem. Issy was the only girl to ever get away.

Zacky calmed the rage that was creeping up inside of him. “I just mean that he doesn’t seem like her type at all.”

“And what is her type, Zee? Guys who tear her apart because they’re embarrassed of her? Guys that make her life hell just because they’re not man enough to admit that they actually love her? Guys th-?”

“You’ve made your point,” Zacky cut in. Jimmy was really irritating him. Which was pretty rare, because it was usually pretty difficult to become irritated with someone who was - almost - always right. “She’s still holding a grudge against me from high school. It’s been almost ten years, why’s she still pissed off?”

Jimmy wasted no time jumping to Issy’s defense. “Probably because she spent months on end not being able to get out of bed? You were a complete asshole to her, Zack. And don’t get me wrong, I love you both the same but it’s not a matter to be taken lightly at all. She was a fragile kid when you met her, you knew that. You knew and you still broke her heart, you lead her on and then denied her existence in public. If I was her, I wouldn’t even allow you in my house.”

Zacky stared at him for a second. He knew that Jimmy was probably right. But it still hurt, and it still pissed him off. He took a long drag, blowing out the smoke into the cool California air. “That’s a little harsh.”

“Seriously, Zee. Cut the kid some slack, she’s doing the best she can.”

Somehow, Zacky knew that Jimmy was right. And he desperately wished that he wasn’t.