Tonight the World Dies

A few months passed without incident. I was very surprised that no one had seen or heard from Jake since Matt fought with him. A part of me was still undeniably annoyed with the fact that Matt got to him before I could. I wished Beks didn't stop Matt when it happened, because I know if we hadn't interrupted them, Jake would be dead. But Beks was right, as much as I hate to admit it. Matt did have way too much to lose and Val needed him, especially now that she was pregnant.

Myself on the other hand - I would kill him given the chance, there's no doubt about it. I would be willing to lose everyone and everything if I could just rid the world of him. Beks deserved that. She deserved to be able to live her life without constantly fearing that he'll just pop up any day.

But I never brought up his name if I could help it. I didn't want to speak him into existence, so to say.

I kissed Beks on the lips. Brian and I had an interview for Schecter Guitars today and as much as I loved staying in bed with Beks, I also loved my custom guitars from Schecter.

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" She asked me.

Beks still hadn't moved in with me because Valary was only now starting to feel better when it came to her morning sickness but she might as well have. She was constantly staying with me and cooking or cleaning. I told her that she didn't have to, but she insisted. Beks was always good at taking care of me even before we started dating.

"Well, if I get to decide then I want that dip you used to make in high school." I said.

"That spinach dip? That's not a meal, Zachary. You can't have that for dinner." she laughed.

I smirked at her. "I'm a motherfucking rock star; I can have whatever the fuck I want."

She rolled her eyes, "Fine."

I kissed her again. I could seriously kiss her all day. "I have to go. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Okay, I love you."

"I love you too," I smiled before leaving the house.

I wasn't sure if I'd ever get used to her saying those words to me. We've only been telling each other we loved each other for a little over a month or so and I still get butterflies when it was said.

I pulled up to Brian's house. I turned off the car and walked towards the house, and then inside it without knocking.

"Gates, let's go! You always make us late!" I called.

Michelle walked out of the kitchen, "Hey, Zack."

"Hey, Michelle," I greeted. "Is he about ready to go?"

She shrugged. "You know him, it takes him longer to get ready than most females." We both laughed because we both knew it was true. "I would go check but I'm running late for a thing with Gena."

"How is she? I haven't spoken to her since..."

"Since you left her for one of our friends?" Michelle suggested. The venom in her voice told me whose side she picked in the break up. I wasn't even aware there were sides. "I have to go, I'll talk to you later." she said before making her way out of the room and house.

I stood there for a brief moment trying to figure out what just happened when Brian finally walked in.

"About time!" I exclaimed.

He rolled his eyes. "Shut up, we have plenty of time."

We walked out of the house and he locked the door behind him. "My car or yours?" I asked.

He answered me by unlocking the doors on his SUV. He climbed in the driver’s side and I got in on the passenger’s side.

We went all the way to Los Angeles to find out the interview was cancelled.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen." The woman at the front desk said. Her name tag told me her name was Abby. "Someone was supposed to call you to reschedule the interview.”

It was times like these when we felt like being complete dicks, but we always tried to hold our composure. Everyone that disliked us for whatever reason always said that they didn't like us because we were assholes, but for the most part that was untrue and so we tried our best to be nice to everyone.

"Reschedule to when?" I asked her. I'd be damned if I was going to go all the way back to Huntington Beach just to turn around and come back in a few hours or tomorrow.

"We're not quite sure yet." Abby said, "Our interviewer had her baby a couple of days ago."

"Okay," Brian and I said in unison.

"Thank you, Abby." I said before walking off.

When we got back to Brian's SUV he said, "Well, there's time I’ll never get back."

"Yeah, but that's alright," I said with a shrug. "It's not Abby's fault, you know."

Brian nodded, "Whoever's fault it was should get fired."

I raised my brows at him. He had seemed like he was in a mood on the way here and his last comment confirmed it. "Want to tell me what's got you in a mood?"

He pulled out onto the highway before answering me. "Michelle wants to start a family."

"Well, that's great, man!" I said. Brian shot me a look. "Or not."

Brian sighed. "I don't know. It's complicated."

I didn't say anything because Brian wasn't the type that liked being pestered about a serious subject. I knew he would continue if and when he wanted to, and he did.

"I would love to have a family with Michelle," Brian told me. "Someday. But not right now and I don't want to tell her that and her take it the wrong way."

I shrugged, "Well, it's better to have that conversation than to have a kid you're not ready to have."

"What if it was you and Bekah?" He asked me.

I laughed. "Not the same thing, dude. We've been together for months, you and Michelle for years."

He sighed. "But what if she came to you and told you she was ready for a kid and you weren't ready."

"Then I'd tell her how I felt and that's something we'd have to figure out together."

He decided to change the subject. "How are you and Bekah doing anyways? Still in that lovey dovey beginning of relationship stage?"

I laughed. "Things are great. She's making her spinach dip tonight. I'm excited, I haven't had it since high school."

"Oh, I remember that dip! It's so good! Tell her I'm coming over!" Brian laughed.

"Oh I'm sure she wouldn't mind!" I told him.

My phone dinged and I looked at it. It was Beks replying to my text I sent her about the interview being cancelled.

"Ran into a fan of yours today. She recognized me and asked for a photo and autograph." It said. I read it off to Brian and he laughed.

"At least it was a nice fan and not one of those crazy stalker fans," he said.

"No shit!" I laughed, texting her back, "Uh oh! Expect death threats from crazed fans soon."

She replied almost immediately. "She was really nice!"

Brian and I laughed for a moment. "Tell her those are the ones she has to look out for!"

I did, but she didn't reply. Soon after that we arrived to Brian's house.

"Alright, dude. I'll talk to you later." I called as he walked to his house. I got in the car and drove home.

Brian, Matt, Johnny, and I all live within a mile from each other so it took me less than five minutes to get home.

I saw Bek's car in the driveway and smiled, happy that I got to spend the rest of the day with her. However, once I got out of my car and heard a crash from inside, my heart dropped.

I ran to do the door, it was locked. With a hurried hand, I unlocked it and rushed in.

Jake was straddling Beks on the living room floor. His hands were around her neck and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get him off her.

I charged at him, tackling him off her. We rolled and I crawled on top of him. My presence surprised him, but I didn't care. My right hand had his shirt in my fist, and my left was hitting him repeatedly.

He didn't have a chance to fight back before I bloodied his face with ease. I meant it when I said I'd kill him if I had the chance.

I was attempting to punch a hole through his head when I felt my arm being grabbed. I turned and saw Beks; I looked away from her immediately - I didn't want her to see me like this.

"Beks, go upstairs." My voice was quiet but strong.

"No." Her voice was weak.

"Rebekah, please just do as I say. Just this once. I let this asshole get away with hurting you before; it's not going to happen again. So, please go upstairs." I groaned. Jake was still beneath me. Blood poured from his nose as he drifted in and out of unconsciousness.
Beks bent down and forced my face towards her. "I'm not going to let you do anything stupid, Zachary."

As my eyes met hers, I suddenly understood why Matt gave in so easily when she asked him to stop fighting Jake months ago. Beks pleading eyes were enough to make the most violent man turn soft.

"I should have been here," I told her.

She disagreed and told me it wasn't my fault. It felt like it was though. How come I was never in the right place at the right time? How come I could never stop him from hurting her?

I reluctantly stood up and then immediately embraced her. I didn't know what I was going to do if I ever lost her. She began to apologize for not telling me about the pain he caused her earlier. She said she should have filed police reports.

She was right, she should have but now wasn't the time to tell her that. Even so, who knows if it would have changed anything?

She decided this time she was going to call the police and so we went outside and waited for them after she got off the phone with the dispatcher.

The cops arrived soon enough and we pointed them inside. I pulled Beks back into me and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, love, it's almost over."

One of the officers walked out of the house, "Sir, is this some sort of joke?" He asked.
Why the hell would we joke about something like this? We weren't stupid kids searching for attention. "What? No!" My voice came out more defensive than I would have liked.
"Then can you explain to me why there is no one inside that house?"

Beks pushed passed the officers and ran into the house. I tried to grab her wrist but missed. I didn't want her to go in there. When she didn't come out I knew the officers were telling the truth.

We had let him get away.



Over the next few weeks Beks insisted on moving in with me though Matt and I told her we should wait since Jake knew where she would be staying. I wasn't sure if she was in denial or if she just refused to live in fear anymore, but she moved in regardless of what we had to say.

More weeks passed and Jake never showed his face. Again, I didn't bring his name up in case I jinxed it. A part of me hoped that the beating he received from me scared him off, but another part of me knew someone like Jake wasn't easily scared off.

Beks and I eventually started living our life like normal again, and I was glad to see her happy once again. Recently, I employed her at my clothing line Vengeance University. She wanted to get a job and I felt better knowing she was employed in a place I could trust to not let psychos like Jake within their doors. Beks didn't know but I sent a mass text out to all of my employees and supervisors with Jake's profile picture from Facebook and told them to let me know if they saw him around the warehouse or anywhere near Beks.

In January, Beks got sick and had to take some time off work. She felt awful, but I told her those were the perks she got since she was sleeping with the boss.

She laughed. "If you don't stop saying that..."

"Oh, what are you going to say? Be careful, now. I am your boss." I smirked.

She laughed again and hit me on the side "Stop!"

I kissed her and she pulled away. "You stop," I growled.

"I don't want to get you sick," she moaned.

"I don't care," I whispered before kissing her again.

She kissed me back but pulled away before it could get too serious. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm going to stay home and take care of you today."

She laid her head on my lap and I stroked her hair. "Aw, aren't I just so lucky."

I smiled down at her and agreed, but deep down I knew I was truly the lucky one.