Too Scared to Love Again

After almost two hours, the show was done. The formation had gone back to normal, and thirsty customers were drooling around the bar.

Having her hands full at this time of the evening wasn't anything new. Lynn was used to customers wanting one last drink before they closed up, and she had therefore also learned how to work effectively to kill the last hours.

The brunette could soon feel a gaze resting on her, and as she lifted her eyes she noticed that it was the same guy from earlier.

"Fucking Sinister Games." she cursed under her breath.

Lynn kept speeding up. She took a small tour around the bar in order to collect empty glasses and to make sure it wasn't anything nasty to clean up yet. She managed to return to her station several minutes later, still trying to make herself busy so that she could avoid the annoying guy.

"L, take 'em!" Cynthia all but whimpered to her friend, as she practically took the dirty dish from Lynn's hands and pushed her forward to attend the next customer.

Lynn shot her friend a nasty glare, before turning towards the next person just to notice that it was one of the men from earlier.

"Hey, can I get two beers?" the short guy from earlier asked, his card already on top of the table.

"Sure." Lynn nodded, filling two glasses and dialing his payment on the screen in front of her.

"Thanks." the man said, avoiding eye contact as he seemed a little embarrassed over the earlier incident. Lynn didn't get to move her gaze before he had vanished from her station.

Just as Lynn was about to insist on changing places with Cynthia, someone else had walked up to the counter.

The brunette turned around, and she couldn't help but frown as she saw the dark-haired guy from earlier standing in front of her.

"When is your shift over?" he asked, his dark leather wallet resting on top of the counter as he sat down on one of the bar stools.

"Way passed your bed time." Lynn responded, about to move on as he opened his mouth again.

"Can I get a glass of whiskey?" he asked.

Lynn didn't say anything as she turned around and grabbed a bottle. Brian watched as she scooped up some ice cubes and dumped them into the glass. She made his drink without offering him as much as a look, before shoving it into his direction.

"How much?"

"Read the letters on the screen." she stated, sounding like a teacher who was tired of explaining the same thing to the same student.

Brian chuckled as he shoved his card into the terminal. Her lack of interest somehow turned him on even more.

"Do you know who I am, sweetheart?"

Lynn almost choked at his question, before placing her hands on her hips. "I'd say a regular customer, but you're honestly way more annoying."

"I can easily change that opinion." Brian assured her, a shit-eating grin taking place on his lips.

"I doubt that." Lynn responded coldly.

"Oh, honey, come on. This is your big shot." he all but promised, resting his elbows on top of the counter and leaning over it.

Take a deep breath, Evans. Pull it together, she thought to herself.

“Bri, we’re leaving now,” the almost bolded guy put a hand on top of Brian's shoulder, causing his friend to jolt back from his earlier position. "I think Zack's screwing the chick from the show, but I wanna grab something to eat."

"Give me a minute, dude," Brian nodded, before returning his attention to the bartender. "Now's your big chance." he cocked his eyebrows.

"I think I'll pass." Lynn responded, rubbing her fingertips against her temple as though she was trying to handle a headache.

"You're missing out." Brian told her, shaking his head as he got to his feet.

Lynn grimaced, completely disgusted by the way he had talked to her. She watched him as he shuffled after his friends.

"Matt!" a voice called after the dimpled man, which made him stop in his tracks.

The singer threw a glance over his shoulder, noticing a rather petite blonde woman who chased after him.

"You forgot your wallet! I'm sorry if I freaked you out!" Cynthia announced, her cheeks already heating up as she passed the wallet to the man.

"Have we met?" Matt asked, scratching the back of his head. "Also thanks a lot!"

"Uhm... no, not really." she stuttered, trying to think of an explanation that wouldn't make her even more awkward.

"I'm just a big fan of your music. That's all." Cynthia admitted.

"Seriously? That's so awesome!" his face beamed with happiness as his dimples became visible once again. "We rarely get that comment here in Huntington!" he admitted.

"Really?" she let out. "Most of my friends are huge fans!" Cynthia told him.

"The chick you work with as well?" Brian asked, joining their conversation as he pulled his arm around Matt's shoulders.

"Oh, Lynn's not a fan. She's a more of a old school kinda gal, really!" she explained. "As a matter of fact, none of my friends who I live with are Sevenfold-fans, but everyone else are!"

"Has she listened to our music?" Brian asked, sounding almost offended by the fact that Lynn didn't like what he did for a living.

"Dude, give her a break!" Johnny slapped the back of his head. "It's not her fault that her friend doesn't wanna bang you."

"What are you talking about?" Brian barged at him.

"Guys..." Matt shook his head. "I'm sorry, darling. Do you wanna take a picture or something?" he asked Cynthia, who couldn't believe her favourite band were discussing whether her best friend wanted to jump into bed with their guitarist or not.

"Oh, no! You guys are off duty and obviously just having a fun night out!"

"What? Are you kidding with me?" Johnny let out. "I wanna take a picture with you!" the petite bass player announced, already wrapping his arms around her before she could react.

"Jimmy! It's picture time!" Matt called for his drummer, knowing that Zack was way too busy and ought to not be disturbed right now.

The dark-haired drummer came galloping towards them, and soon Cynthia would witness him and Johnny having a ridiculous competition on who could make the ugliest face on the pictures.

After several pictures featuring a variety of grimaces were taken, Matt and Cynthia kept engaging in their conversation about music and Cali. Matt told her the guys had been working on their next record, while he had become engaged with his long-time girlfriend Valary DiBenedetto.

"By the way, please apologize to your friend about Brian. He can be a piece of work." Matt said to Cynthia, looking genuinely sorry.

"No worries!" Cynthia reassured him with a gentle smile. "He's not the first to push her buttons."

"I see," Matt nodded his head. "It's still kinda awful to watch." he admitted.

"So is Lynn smashing their confidence." the blonde added.

"That I can understand," Matt shrugged. "Anyway, we have to go now. I'm literally starving, and the fact that Jimmy and Johnny are nowhere to be seen is probably a sign that we should leave as well." he chuckled.

"I totally get that! Have a safe trip home and thanks for the chat!"

"You too, sweetheart! Come here, give me a hug!" the blonde was soon pulled in for a bear-hug by the broad vocalist. She could feel her entire body melt into his embrace, meanwhile she was trying to make sure that she would actually be able to stand on her own feet when he eventually let go.

Cynthia watched as the band made their way out of the bar, Zack still staying behind, before she noticed that Lynn had managed to sneak out from the basement during Matt and Cynthia's chatting. The blonde wasn't surprised when she made her way up the stone stairs and found her friend with a cigarette hanging from her lips.

"I thought you quit." Cynthia commented, watching as Lynn pulled it out from her mouth and tapped the end of it.

"It's an emergency." Lynn promised, leaning her back against the metal railing.

"An emergency called 'A guy spoke to me'?" Cynthia grimaced.

"Shut up or else I'll fucking stump this in your face." she threatened.

"I love it when you talk dirty!" the blonde groaned to her friend.

"And so does Blair apparently, because she's been gone for way too long now." Lynn shook her head.

"Yeah..." Cynthia giggled. "Come on, let's get home."

♠ ♠ ♠

Lynn snuggled into her sheets, curling her legs and bringing them all the way up to her chest, as she dozed off again. She would so often wake up early in the morning, only to realize that it was still three hours until her alarm would go off. Ever since she stopped taking her prescribed sleeping pills, she had had trouble falling asleep and waking up at a proper time. Working at a bar that was open most of the night didn’t exactly help, but with her college scholarship not being enough to have a roof over her head, the brunette didn’t really have any other option.

After a couple of hours, she got out of bed. She snatched for a t-shirt that had been abandoned on her bedroom floor. She then grabbed a black shorts and some fluffy socks, before opening her door with a silent crack.

The living room looked lonely as the brunette made her way into the kitchen, following the smell of pancakes and jam, as Blair was manning the pan on the stove, a pleasant smile on her lips.

“Morning, love.” Blair quipped, while flipping a pancake.

“Good morning,” Lynn half-yawned. “Do we have coffee?” she grumbled.

“Absolutely!" Blair half-sang. "Dark and reeking. Just the way you like it."

"Have I ever told you that I love you?" Lynn asked, pouring herself a mug of coffee and cradling the warm beverage in her hands.

"Only a couple of times," Blair sniggered. "Grab a plate! Breakfast is soon to be served!"

"This is exactly what I need today." Lynn shook her head, already collapsing into the closest chair with a plate right in front of her.

"Same, sis!" a deep, unfamiliar voice spoke as a guy entered the kitchen.

His hair was dark and currently standing in every possible direction. He had milk-white skin, emerald green eyes and pierced lips that Lynn had never seen before. His bare arms were heavily tattooed, and Lynn suddenly remembered where she'd seen him.

"You." Lynn let out.

"And you!" Zack announced. "We haven't met. I'm Zack." he said, while offering her his hand.

"Lynn." she responded, holding his hand for several seconds and then letting go.

"Zack spent the night, so I thought I should let him stay for breakfast." Blair said and put a plate of pancakes on the table.

"That happens," Lynn shrugged, suddenly realizing that she was not really in the mood to chit chat with a guy she didn't know and probably wouldn't know either. Blair had a habit of inviting guys that caught her attention from work home, and a lot of times she'd have them stay for breakfast.

The brunette grabbed a couple of pancakes, and then loaded her plate with jam. She grabbed her mug with her other hand, ready to leave the chair, before Zack's gaze caught her attention.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked, this one obviously more polite than his friend.

"No, I just have a hot date of my own." Lynn told him, obviously being ironic, before sashaying out of the tiny kitchen.

Zack and Blair were both left in an awkward silence, as Blair decided to ignore her roomie. She kept loading her plate with pancakes and soon threw some peanut butter on top of her jam.

"She's..." Zack started something, trailing off. "Something." he cleared his throat.

"She's not always like this!" Blair told him. "She's probably just fed up with work and school."

"She's a student?"

"Yup. She's supposed to work on her thesis statement for her bachelor." Blair told him.

"Bachelor in what?" Zack asked, somewhat surprised.

"Modern American history!"

She's an intellectual kinda girl. Obviously above your level, Bri, Zack thought.

"Thanks for last night, by the way. I had a good time." the red-headed woman put her hand on top of his palm, her long manicured nails running over his skin and sending chills through his body.

"Me too. Really." Zack smirked back.

"I'm totally with you on doing this again." Blair admitted, as she pulled some of her hair behind her earlobe.

"Oh, really?" he's eyebrows moved up on his forehead, before he ran his hand through his dark raven hair.

"Definitely." Blair smirked and then picked up her coffee.

"How often do you do this?" Zack asked, leaning back in his chair and taking in the sight of her.

"What? That I open my home for men I wanna fuck? All the time, but I never ask them to swing by again." she stated honestly.

“Let’s trade numbers then. Maybe we can eat breakfast some other time?” Zack offered, smirking a little, as he saw how satisfied she looked.