Fallen Star

Should’ve never gone to Hollywood ~ System Of A Down

He fell backwards against the wall. His big terrified eyes spoke of pure pain and panic, as the club owner came closer and closer to him.

“You’re such a lazy ass, Brian. I don’t think you’re worth anything for me anymore. You’re so ugly and pathetic, I’m getting sick of you.

And because of that, I’m gonna make it a little more difficult to stay here in La-La Land.” A ugly cackling laughter erupted the space. Brian,
whom were sitting against the wall swallowed sharply, the pain in his head making him all dizzy.

“You know, life ain’t gonna be very easy for a ugly man!”

The last thing you could hear was a high pitched scream, and a knife that cuts skin.

~~

At least he have his hoodie. Brian clenches his bruised fists in a tight grip around his hood.
The tears and blood that fleets down his face makes his long hair a complete mess.
He hiccups quietly as he cries, still walking restlessly around the street. It’s pretty late.
The clock is around 11 pm. No one’s gonna help him now. He got nothing left.
He’s broke to the bone, and his pride.. it’s eating him alive.
It all had started out so well.

Everything had floated easy for the pretty dark haired man, with wide beautiful brown eyes,
a slight button up nose and high elegant cheekbones. He was quite muscular too,
but he wasn’t into modelling our such things.
He was a musician by heart.
Since he grew up in Huntington Beach, he had to try his luck in good ol’ Hollywood.
All this brought him to an old famous pub scene called the Burbon Room.
He’d heard that’s where all the famous musicians made their first album.

The success was a fact. He got well known, and the money came in. Not that it mattered..

They were so happy to have him at first. Promising him everything and every contract he’d ever imagined.
Then, one night, his manager had stepped into his room, tearing the contract apart and told him that he owed 100 thousand dollars.
“You’re not good enough anymore, Haner. We’ve found a new star to take your place.
And oh, you owe me money for all the work I’ve done for you. You can pack your stuff and get out of here now. Bye, Bye.”

So there he stood, trapped, betrayed and humiliated with a debt to pay.
Restlessly, he’d asked for jobs to pay the rent for his lousy apartment, but it didn’t pay off.

One day, when he had received another rejection on a job offer, he stood smoking outside a strip club.

“You’re way to handsome a man to have such dark rings under your eyes.” A smart, slick voice had called.
The man was sharp, dressed in a tight suit with needle stripes. A sly grin played on his lips.

“You don’t have a job do you?”

“No.” Brian croaked, not looking back at him.

“Hmm.. Can you dance?”

“I got rhythm. I’m a musician.”

“Great. You start tonight.”

From there it went to hell..

There he stood, with a bruised face, that would never be the same again. No one was gonna look at him twice now!
The strip club owner had made sure of that one..

xoxo

Zacky Baker dumped his keys into the broken ashtray he had on his kitchen counter.
He was so sick and tired of all those skinny girls that came into his tattoo studio, asking for a idiotic tramp stamp.
He really hated those lower back tattoos greatly, most importantly because he really didn’t feel like he completed
his passion about creating something that was artistic.

All though, two seconds after he’d dump his keys, two wild Thunderbirds, err, dogs,
came chasing out of his bedroom, greeting him with exited barking. His beautiful Great Dane, Majesty,
jumped up with both her gigantic legs on his shoulders giving him a wet kiss. “Aww, girl, I appreciate it.” He chuckled.
“You’re probably the only woman that’s gonna get a kiss from me, except from my mom.” He smiled then kissed her soft nose.
She made a cute little whimper, before leaning her big head up against his forehead. He pet her back a few times, then made her climb down,
so he could give his little Affenpinscher, Icky a cozy hello too.

He opened the fridge with a huff, to see if there was something to eat, but to his unpleasant surprise it was empty.

“Oh fuck! Now I have to go shopping too.. God damn it!” He grumbled, thinking that he had to order in for the evening.

Another surprise came the moment after, when he realized his cellphone was out of power. Then he couldn’t find the charger.

“God! Fine then! I’ll go and buy some food then. Jesus Christ!!”

He once again grabbed his keys, then stumbled out the door, almost tripping over a flowerpot.

He didn’t get too far. The apartment building was dark, barely a lamp light up the narrow stairs.
Suddenly he saw a figure sitting on the floor, in the middle of the stairs, lent up against the wall.

The person was hooded, it appeared to be a man he could tell that much. He’s whole frame was shaking pretty violent.

Zacky stood still. Forgetting all about his stomach, he decided that he would try to talk to the man.
He might be dangerous, but he had to know if the poor guy was drunk or high, and unable to look after himself.

“H-Hello? Are you alright, sir?”

The man didn’t make a sound, he just curled up in a sort of fetal position, not looking up.

“I’m not gonna harm you, I promise, I just want to know if you’re doing ok.. I may be able to help you if needed…” Zacky continued,
voice shaking some places. He was a little intimidated by this whole situation. Well, he was gonna try to get an answer at least.

He dared to go a little closer, and that’s where he heard them.
The small sobs, tiny, like he didn’t want to be heard, but still audible in a short distance.

“Oh shit…Hey,” He crouched down, then he gently removed the hoodie.
“Don’t cry, please, it makes me so sad to see someone so helplessly in pain like this.”

The man was a brunette, his hair must once have been very beautiful, but now it was long and dirty.
“Hey, please, look at me for a moment?” Zacky gently moved a warm hand over the almost hidden forehead,
which made the man carefully move his head forward to look back up at him, and with Zacky’s finger under his cheek,
he finally did. Never had Zacky seen such hurting eyes! They were so incredibly beautiful, a warm chocolate color
(that was mostly dull from all the crying) and the whole shape was smooth, welcoming, and oh so heartbreaking!

“Wow.” Zacky breathed, now getting to look at his whole face. He was stunning. High cheekbones, golden skin.
Smooth features. It was bruised though, but Zacky didn’t care. “What’s your name?” Zacky asked softly,
tilting his head adorably to the left, looking down at the man.

“Brian.” The man whispered, looking up at Zacky with awe. “Nice to meet you Brian. Won’t you come in for a while?
It seems like you could need some comfort and rest. Maybe some food too?” Zacky asked, reaching out a hand for Brian to take.
Brian smiled tiredly, his stomach filled with butterflies, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“Are you sure you really want to help me?” He asked, still careful, but this time a little stronger.

He had at one point stopped crying, which surprised him,
but when he looked up into these warm emerald eyes of Zacky.. he understood why.

About ten minutes later, they had ordered take away, and Zacky had taken a good look at Brian,
then decleaered that he needed to loan the shower. Brian didn’t complain, he was way to grateful to pass.

xoxo

Zacky set up the simple meals on his coffee table, turning the television on so he could keep himself entertained while Brian showered.
He had almost fallen asleep on the coach when Brian came out of the bathroom..
The brown feathery hair of him now clean and beautifully falling around his shoulders.
He didn’t wear a shirt at the moment, but carried it in his hand, on his way to get dressed. All though, what Zacky saw,
made him all light headed and blushing. A lean beautiful upper body, with a strong chest. Tanned skin, and tattooed arms.

But then, Zacky frowned, because you could see the wounds, and the scars that was all over Brian’s body.
He was blue and he was yellow several places.

“Oh my god! What happened to you!?” Zacky cried worryingly, jumped out of his coach,
and was by Brian’s side in a second, already looking closer at the damages.

Brian blushed.

“Uhm.. I-It’s a long story…” He sighed, the uncertainty still lingering in his voice.

Zacky couldn’t help but pick up on that.

“Hey, Brian. I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I know this: I want to make those who hurt you rotten in fucking prison for all entirntiy!
You’re safe here. I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.

“I haven’t heard someone speak nice to me in a very long time.” Brian breathed, his voice still shy.
Zacky’s turn to blush, but he played it cool, smiling softly back at him.

xoxoxo

Shivering, he tossed and turned in his bed, the sheets clinching to him like a second skin because of all the sweat.
“No… please don’t…” He breathed raggedly, the nightmare taking its toll on him, swallowing him like a hungry shadow.

“PLEASE!”

His own scream woke him up, making his brown eyes look around, desperately to see if there was someone that meant any harm within short distance.
Thankfully, the only thing he saw was the comforting blue walls of Zacky’s spare bedroom, which he had been loaning for barely a week.

It was barely 7 am in the morning, but he didn’t care. He couldn't sleep anymore after that nightmare.
He took a few deep breaths before he grabbed his clothes and went for the bathroom.

“Oh. You’re awake.” Zacky was surprised, he was going to work, and had of course woken up early to make it in time.
He had never thought that Brian was gonna be awake too.

“Yeah, I couldn't sleep..” Brian trialed off, hiding his face behind his feathery looks.

“Oh.” Zacky could see the sweaty skin, and the way Brian hide his features for him.. it was not a good sign.

Brian was about to turn around and close the door, when Zacky decided to say something more.

“Uh, Brian, if there’s anything I can do, please let me know okay?”

Brian sighed slowly. “Yeah.. Uh. Sure. T-thanks..”

I wonder what will come of this… Zacky thought to himself.. This was man of mystery.

xoxox

The night came with a terrible weather. The rain that was barely something they ever saw, was coming in big buckets.
The thunder made crashing sounds in the sky and everything just went pitch black.

Everything, including Brian’s mind. It was like the thunder made the awful experiences the poor man had been through come to life again.

When Zacky entered his home, soaking wet after running in the rain, he found the apartment filled with darkness.

“Brian? Where are you?” Zacky began in a worried tone. He called the name again as he moved further into the room.

He found Brian sitting on the floor, behind the sofa, with his hands wrapped around his legs, and tears streaming down his face.

“Brian.” Zacky sighed. Then he sat down beside him, and carefully took Brian’s hand in his.

“Please, Brian, If I’m gonna try to help you, or at least try to be a friend, I need to know what happened to you.” He whispered.

Brian shivered slightly, truly scared of something, and Zacky felt his heart break when he finally lifted his head to look up at him.
“I-I don’t k-know if I’ll b-be able to s-say it.” Brian stammered.

“Try me.”

So Brian told him. Everything, all the fears all the things that had gone wrong. And Zacky listened.

After all, luck seemed to come his way finally. Zacky was cute, fluttery, warm and welcoming. Brian felt safe.
All though he was afraid that one day someone would come after him and claim more money..

He was also afraid to get judged when he told Zacky about the stripping, but the emerald man with the blue hair and soft features,
immediately hugged him and told him he never had to do that again.

xoxo

They grew extremely close over the next 3 months. Brian living with Zacky in his beautiful apartment.
He wanted to work for it, and pay some of the living costs, but Zacky understood that Brian’s mental health wasn’t quite there yet.
He could see that this plagued Brian. All though, he never spoke negatively about the other man,
he still sensed that Brian couldn’t help but beat himself up for not being able to help out with the costs.

Brian found Zacky to be a very creative and sensitive soul. He owned the best tattoo shop in town, and had customers from all over America.
Pure Vengeance Tattoo & Piercings had a well developed rumor, and you could see that Zacky was proud of it.
Brian could sit for hours just to look through Zacky’s portfolio, never getting tired of looking at his art.
He had begun to spend some time with Zacky while he was at work too.

Zacky didn’t mind, Brian didn’t make any trouble at all. He just didn’t want to be alone so much, he said.
And Zacky understood. So he let him watch when he tattooed, let him meet the customers, chat with them.

After a while, Zacky began to give Brian simple tasks, so that he could help out and feel a little more valuable.
The tasks grew, and so did Brian. He became more confident, his skin had developed a glow, and his eyes were genuinely happy.
He also had a growing interest for tattoos, and really wanted some himself, but Zacky had hesitated to tattoo Brian because of the obvious pain.
He was too afraid that Brian would panic, and go back to old ways, and he really didn’t wish that.
He’d grown to care for the man.. a little more than care actually, Zacky had fallen hopelessly in love with him.
But he had no idea if Brian felt the same yet. Was to afraid of rejection to go any further.

One day, when Brian was working, (he had easily filled the duty of a receptionist in the shop),
a broad shouldered man, with a long nasty face and an evil glint in his eyes entered the shop.

Brian didn’t notice at first, he was behind the computer re-booking some appointments.
Suddenly,a huge fist landed on the desk, right in front of him.

“So there you are, you wrecked whore.” The man spat, hoovering over Brian.

“You..” He could barely breath. The fear and the trauma came crashing down at him as the ugly man reached a muscular hand towards him,
grabbing him by the shirt, and almost dragging him over the desk. Brian might not be a little wimp,
but he had nothing to say when it came to strength compared to this man.

“You! Put your ugly hands off my friend!” Zacky growled. Lucky for him, one of his customers had heard the conversation,
and had ran to tell the artist about what was happening.

“Let. Him. Go. Or I’ll send the police after you.” He threatened, looking back and forth between the man’s ugly face, and Brian’s frighted one.

“He owe me a hell of a lot of money! I’m not gonna let him go before he pay his debt!” The man screamed,
only tightening his hold around Brian’s shirt.

“You don’t want him to get hurt, do you?” The man spat.

“I don’t think you want to get hurt either, or do you?” A masculine voice called from behind.

“Who are you to-”

“I am the one to give you a fist to your face if you don’t leave my friends alone!” Matt Sanders growled,
the green tinted eyes of his shining with pure mischief as he threatened the man.

“I won’t be the only one!” Zacky said darkly. He may not be just as big and muscular as Matt was, but he sure as hell could punch,
and he was not gonna just stand and watch.

“It’s two against one, let him go!”

The man didn’t seem to do anything.

“So be it, then.” Matt sighed, then served a well placed punch to the mans left cheekbone, which set him off.
While the man ran away to save his ass, Zacky hurried over to Brian.

“Brian, Brian, please, say something.” Zacky whispered, the perplex man hadn’t moved an inch since the intruder had released his hold.

“I-I’think I’m okay.” He finally stammered out.

“I promise you, I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you!” Zacky almost cried now.
“I don’t want to loose you Brian. I care too much about you.”

“Really?” Brian blushed, the fear finally gone from his eyes.

“Yes, really.” Zacky smiled, “I promise that I will look after you no matter what happens, okay?”

“Even if he comes back..” Brian sighed, but he found the answer in Zacky’s eyes.

That’s when Brian leant forward, and their lips touched. They shared a sweet kiss, filled with protection, safety, warmth and love.

“I think I love you, Brian.”

“I love you too, Zacky.”

“Awww, you two are such love birds.” Matt grinned, making both men blush, cause they had totally forgotten he was there.

“Thanks a lot for helping out, man.” Zacky said, still red from blushing.

“Ah, no problem. And if he ever comes back, I’ll have your backs ok?”

xoxoxo

In his mind, they came closer, surrounding him even. There was no light today, everything was pitch black of worry.
Brian had hid under the covers, trembling of fear. Salty tears ran down his face, and he just couldn’t think of anything other than
the gruesome people that he owed so much money.

“I can’t live with myself if they turn up here..” He whispered, biting his lip in pure agony,
“What if they took Zacky from me?” Drowning himself in even more misery, he didn’t hear Zacky’s footsteps coming closer to the bedroom.
He had just got home from work and was probably on his way to their bedroom for a change of clothes, and then a quick wash up, before dinner.

don’t come in… don’t come in... come in!

“Brian? What are you doing? Baby, are you okay?” Zacky understood immediately, and hurried over to the trembling body.

“Hey, Bri, please, look at me?”

The body finally moved over so that the eyes could be revealed from the covers.
“Hey, baby, everything is gonna be alright. Don’t fret, you’re safe here, with me.” Zacky murmured,
carefully enchanting Brian to free himself from the cocoon of covers.

“I love you Brian, I’m not gonna let anything happen to you. I promise.”

xoxox

After a little while, Brian had finally come down from his panic attack, and they were laying in the bed,
tightly wrapped together under the covers.

Slender fingers gently stroke up and down the curves of Zacky’s spine. It seemed that caressing his love was something that calmed Brian down.
“That tickles a little.” Zacky giggled, which made Brian’s heart flutter in happiness. “Oh really? What about this then?”

Brian smirked, then began a full tickle attack on his beloved boyfriend.
“Haha stop it, you tickle monster, I’m gonna die if you continue!” Zacky breathed, laughter filling his lungs cheerfully,
looking up at Brian with humor. Brian had other thoughts though. He couldn’t help how beautiful and sexy Zacky looked in his hands right now.

He began to move his hands a little firmer, slower, as he started to feel up and down every part of Zacky’s body.
“God, I love you.” He wispered huskily. “You’re so sexy where you lay, I can’t contain myself with you.”

“Really?” Zacky arched his eyebrow seductivly, now that Brian had stopped the tickling attack he couldn’t help but notice the heavy passion that was about to fill the mood. “Please, baby, make love to me, show me what you got.”

Soon they both were panting heavily, memers sliding against each other as the moaning became evidently to them. “Ugh, please, just.. just do something…” Zacky panted, sweat had formed everywhere as they moved in a bumping manner. Softly Brian began to prep Zacky’s firm backside, smirking whenever his love gave away smal,l whiney, needy noises.

“Come on!”

“Hold on, a sec..”

“Ah, fucking about time!” Zacky squeaked, moving his hips instantly, making Brian totally off guard. “Holy fuck, you feel so good damn it.”

“You better hold it, Haner, cause I know you can do this better.. Oh damn!”
Brian couldn’t help but give a short laugh when he made Zacky stop bitching. “Watch it, you might be close enough yourself.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, fuck… I really am close, babe!”

“Then let it go!”

“Ahhhh, god damn it!”

“You are the best..” Brian murmured as they finally came down from their orgasms, which had totally made his best half exhausted, cause he was already far into dreamland.

“I love you.” Brian smiled, kissing Zacky’s forehead. “Thanks for saving me.”