All Good Things

Matt did, in fact, find her purse; on the table beside the couch. She set it on the counter and went off to watch the game. After she sat, Matt handed her drink back to her, placing an assortment of beers and ales on the end table. She glanced at them and caught Zacky’s eye once again.

“Convinced you to stay?” he asked.

“Can’t pass up an opportunity to see Johnny fail at something,” she shrugged.

And so it started: every time Johnny died, one of them would start booing him, and then everyone would take a drink. If he managed to kill someone, they would call out “tyrant,” and someone would try to pour his drink into his mouth while he played. Cora picked up on it really quick and found herself enjoying it. When her drink was done, she placed it on the table and saw Zacky opening up an ale for her.

“Oh, I’m done.”

“Oh, no, you’re not.”

She gave in. Partially because of the fun she was having and partially because of the look he was giving her.

When the game glitched, the guys started yelling again and Cora couldn’t stop laughing.

“Damn it, Christ, you broke the internet.”

Johnny shrugged, finishing off his fourth drink of the night. “Me? You broke the internet when you took your pants off for the Seize the Day video.” Cora choked, covering her mouth as she swallowed her drink and started laughing. “See, clearly Cora’s seen it too. You broke her,” Johnny commented, coming over to pat her on the back.

The laughter in the room quieted down, Cora’s cheeks still red from her coughing fit. “I need air,” she decided and stood to go out the back door.

Johnny followed, grabbing his pack of cigarettes from the counter. “ZV? Smoke?”

And once again Zacky did what he shouldn’t have: he followed them out and took a cigarette from Johnny. He put it between his lips, leaning forward to let Johnny light it, and pausing before inhaling deeply. His eyes closed in ecstasy for a moment, a soft moan leaving him.

“Oh, fuck…” It’d been two months since he’d quit. Abby hated it.

The look on Cora’s face intrigued him. Her lips were slightly parted, eyes widened just a bit, cheeks still pink. If Zacky didn’t know any better…

“You alright, Cor?” Johnny interrupted.

Cora nodded, looking away instantly. The alcohol and the welcoming feeling she was getting from this group and the pure happiness she felt from the night…it was all overwhelming to her. Things felt right for once. She was enjoying herself for once. And the noise Zacky made low in his throat made her stomach flip.

“When are you leaving?” she asked Johnny suddenly.

Johnny exhaled. “Dunno. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we all just crash here.”

She glanced up at Zacky, looking shocked and offended. Oops. So he hadn’t told her that little piece of information. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure if they were going to play that little drinking game of theirs with Christ. Whenever they did, they all camped out – Matt’s house was big enough, that was for sure.

Cora bit at her lower lip. “I’m gonna need water then.”

Zacky continued smoking, enjoying it while counting up how many drinks he’d seen Cora have. “You really wanna drive all the way home after you sober up?”

“No…” Cora answered before she even thought, and then kicked herself for speaking the truth. “I mean, I’ll be alright.”

“Just stay,” Johnny decided for her. “Have fun for once.”

“Yeah,” Zacky piped up. “You owe him for not having fun at his wedding.”

“Yeah!” Johnny’s eyes lit up. “See? You’re staying.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to stay – more like she didn’t feel comfortable staying. But she was awfully tired and tipsy. She went back inside while they finished up their cigarettes. Water was a good idea, just so she didn’t have a hangover in the morning. She also forced herself to try and eat another piece of pizza.

“God, I missed this shit,” Zacky spoke to Johnny as the two of them stood alone now. He was almost at the end of the cigarette but he was savoring every second.

“Abby gonna get mad?”

“I’m staying here tonight. Shower, brush my teeth – she’ll never know.”

Johnny nodded silently. “Glad Cora’s staying. She’s too tipsy to drive. You can see it in her eyes.” Zacky hadn’t been looking at her eyes, if he were being honest. “She’s a good woman.”

“Mhm.” Zacky waited until the cigarette burned his fingertips to put it out.

“Surprised she’s not married yet,” Johnny continued. There was another pause. “Abby know you were hitting on her at the wedding?”

“What!?” Zacky’s eyes widened.

Johnny nodded. “You don’t remember that? You were drunk as shit, but you wanted me to give her number to you. Kept asking if that ‘bridesmaid’ rule applied to my wedding planner as well.”

“Oh my God…” he held his head, frustrated that the night of Johnny’s wedding was such a blur.

“Kinda funny, actually, that you asked her to be your planner now.”

“Do you think she remembers that?” He was honestly concerned.

Johnny shrugged. “I don’t know how much you said to her, but you kept telling me how hot she was. Thought something happened with you two in the kitchen tonight,” he nudged Zacky with his elbow. Zacky’s eyes widened once again. “Hey, stranger things have happened, bro. Not the worst decision of your life.”

Zacky shook his head, taking a step toward the door but stopped himself. “And what is the worst decision of my life, Johnny?” The bassist put out his cigarette, tossing it in the tray Matt left outside. He remained silent. “Johnny!”

Now he met eyes with him. “You really wanna know?” Zacky nodded. “Maybe…maybe marrying Abby?”

Neither of them moved nor spoke. It was a tense moment that Zacky knew was right. Johnny had a right to voice his opinion and he assumed the bassist was kicking himself for speaking so openly now, but that wasn’t why he was mad. He was mad because that thought had crossed his mind too many times over the past four months. That thought hung above his head when he went to sleep at night and when he woke up to shower the next morning. It was there when he had sex with her, when he drank about her, when his head hit the pillow the next night.

He couldn’t run from this. His brother had always said he was afraid of commitment and that was one of those comments that sticks with you all your life. So maybe this was his way of proving him wrong – that maybe if he was silently miserable, it wouldn’t make that statement true. After his first divorce his brother was always giving him that ‘I-told-you-so’ look and it made his stomach churn.

“You coming back in or what?” Brian opened the door to ask.

“Look, dude, I’m sorry,” Johnny’s voice sobered.

“No, Christ. You’re right.” He paused. “I’m hoping things get better with this stress off her. That’s all.”

Brian ducked back inside, noticing that he’d interrupted something.

“And if it doesn’t get better…?”

Zacky shrugged. “I dunno, dude…”

Johnny nodded stiffly. “Well, we’re here to talk. It’s not all on you.”

“I know, man.”

“Now let’s go back in there and see if I can pull off a better kill-death ratio, huh?”

So they did, but Zacky wasn’t really into it as much. His mind was racing. He’d known that the guys didn’t really like Abby. He’d known that their wives tried to invite her to hang out but something was always amiss so they stopped trying. Hell, even Cora could see it. But there was love there once and Zacky was trying to find it again. He’d proposed to her because he felt like she was a good choice once. He’d bought the ring months before proposing and it stayed in his drawer the whole time because he was on-again-off-again. They had their rough patches, but this was the worst it’d been in months.

He drank some more, deciding to make it worth his while if he was going to stay at Matt’s. When he saw Cora grab her keys, he followed her out front.

“Wait, hold up, you can’t drive,” he slammed the door behind him, stumbling toward her car.

“I’m not. I’m grabbing a change of clothes,” she opened the trunk.

Zacky raised a brow. “You leave a change of clothes in your car?”

Cora slammed the trunk after pulling out a bag. “Yes. With me driving all over for meetings I never know when I’ll have to book a hotel or something.”

“Ohh.”

“Why, what were you thinking?” she came closer to him and he didn’t back up like he should have. “Think I like to hook up?”

Zack shrugged. “Mm, crossed my mind.”

Truth be told, the clothes she currently had with her were her workout gear – yoga shorts, a sports bra, and an off-the-shoulder shirt. She was sure she’d be embarrassed about the clothes and the comment in the morning, but at the moment the alcohol was making her feel free and brave.

Cora shook her head. “Mr. Baker, I think you’ve got the wrong impression of me.”

He smirked, nodding once, and then following her back inside.



Sunlight flitted through the blind slats of the window in the spare room Matt let her have for the night. Cora’s head wasn’t pounding as hard as she’d expected and her stomach was actually feeling okay. She just needed some food and she’d be alright.

As she changed into her outfit, she was reminded of the night before and how freely she was speaking with Zack. There was no way to undo the damage that may have been done to their professional relationship, but the way she felt she fit in last night was refreshing to her. It almost made up for the guilt. What would Abby think if she knew Cora had been partying with her fiancé?

One glance in the mirror before she shouldered her bag out the bedroom door, and she felt uncomfortable. The shorts didn’t cover enough skin and the neck of the shirt was too wide for it to not fall off her shoulder. It wasn’t a walk of shame after a hookup, but it sure still felt embarrassing – especially when she found that three of four guys were already awake, eating breakfast in the kitchen when she came downstairs.

“Good morning,” Johnny greeted. “Feel like shit like the rest of us?”

“Just a bit of a headache,” she acknowledged, smiling as Matt pushed the box of donuts her way. Zacky’s head was on his arms on the table but he glanced up to wave a simple hello and then sat back in his chair slowly. He was still drinking by the time she decided to go to sleep, so she wasn’t surprised that he was feeling like crap.

“ZV enjoyed himself a little too much last night,” Matt pat him on the back. “Isn’t that right, Zacky?” He said nothing. “There’s coffee,” he told Cora and she practically ran over to the coffeepot, grabbing a mug, then pouring.

“God, you’re the best,” she nearly moaned to which Zacky raised an eyebrow. When she caught his look she laughed. “Hi, my name is Cora Keaton and I’m a coffee addict.”

“Guilty,” Johnny raised his hand in agreement.

The way Cora looked leaned up against the counter, shirt falling slightly to expose a tanned shoulder, hair wavy, bare feet – Zacky couldn’t help but notice her. She stood out and he had to kick himself for seeing it now, after he’d been wracking his brain trying to remember if he’d made any inappropriate comments at Johnny’s wedding.

She was so professional overall, before the get-together last night and before their drinking and his almost-flirting. Cora hadn’t even wanted to stay, yet they suggested she did. Zacky felt guilty. He wondered if she felt uncomfortable still because he was starting to – starting to see how lines could be blurred between friend and client and how awkward that could get. Judging by the way she was laughing with Matt, sitting at the table finally, and the look of joy on her face, he assumed she wasn’t feeling discomfort any longer.

“Zack,” she spoke, interrupting his thoughts. She was typing away on her phone “I’m sending you the link to that bridal show now.” As soon as she said that, his phone vibrated in his pocket and he got a jolt out of that. Fuck, was he a mess. “Let me know if you guys find any vendors you’d like to book.”

Johnny gave Zacky a look which made him feel transparent.

“I’ll let you know.”