Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

The only visual break on the entire left side of the grey cement hallway was a pale yellow door that had clearly been repainted multiple times, with a piece of paper taped to it. A black and grey skull with a set of bat-like wings was centred on the page, with “A7x” above it and “Dressing Room” below it.

“Clever,” Ellie mused, pointing to the acronym for the band’s name. She presumed the skull was the band’s logo. It wasn’t the first time she had seen that image that evening - many of the kids in the crowd had it on their clothes, bandanas, and some even tattooed on their skin. It actually blew Ellie away at how fast the band had clearly developed a very strong following.

“Zack came up with that one,” Matt stated, sending Ellie a knowing look, which she ignored. Matt reached out and grasped the door knob, pausing to make eye contact with Ellie before he opened the door. His eyes softened, silently asking his oldest friend if she was ready for him to open the door. She brought her gaze down to the shiny cement floor as she nodded. Her actions betrayed all the thoughts in her head that told her this was a mistake.

“Matt found himself a pretty lady!” Ellie tried not to laugh as her tall friend jumped to the conclusion she was a groupie. Matt merely grinned as the lanky figure hopped up from the worn out black leather couch and skipped to Ellie, where he shook her hand furiously and introduced himself as "The Rev.”

“Hiya Jimmy!” Ellie exclaimed. Once her right hand was free, she waved her two fingers from her right temple to point up towards the tall man who stood in front of her. Almost like a salute. The gesture made Jimmy’s eyes widen: it was their simple little greeting that had developed from a drunken night when Ellie had been somehow able to follow Jimmy’s incoherent ramblings. From then on, the gesture stuck as an endearing symbol of solidarity between the pair.

“Shut the front door!” Jimmy yelled, wasting no time wrapping Ellie up in a hug and lifting her off her feet. From her position, squished in Jimmy’s arms, a foot off the ground, Ellie watched Matt walk across the room, shaking his head, and heading towards the showers.

“It’s so good to see you Ellie, I’ve missed you so much! How did you like the show? Did you see me hit Johnny with a drumstick?”

“What about Johnny?” the man himself interjected as he walked into the room holding on to a white towel that hung low around his waist. His dark eyes flickered from Ellie to Jimmy a few times before he asked his bandmate for an introduction.

“Holy shit, do I actually look that different or have you fuckers just forgotten about me?” Ellie was honestly surprised that Johnny didn’t recognize her. Out of all the guys, she had spent a lot of time with Johnny, particularly before he joined the band. The two of them spent a lot of time in Matt’s parents’ garage watching the band practice.

“I’m sorry, we meet a lot of fans,” Johnny said, awkwardly running his hands through his dark, damp hair. Doing so made an even bigger mess of his flattened mohawk.

“Hi, my name is Ellie. Once upon a time I used to change your puke covered clothes because I was your awesome best friend and you were a useless drunk,” She couldn’t help but start laughing as she watched his demeanour shift. He cocked his head to the side and smiled, which was a cue that she ran to so that she could hug him tightly.

“Damn, it’s good to see you girl,” he spoke softly into her ear as he replicated her action by wrapping both of his arms around her small body tightly.

“It’s good to see you too Johnny, I’ve missed you all,” she said as they pulled away from each other. Though since their two bodies had been pressed against each other’s and Johnny’s hands had been wrapped around Ellie, the towel he wore had fallen as soon as she finished her sentence.

“For fuck’s sake Christ, I haven’t missed you that much,” She laughed and rolled her eyes as her friend actually blushed slightly over the fact he was fully exposed and retrieved his towel. Seeing him naked, or any of the guys for that matter, wasn’t anything new or surprising for Ellie. She had helped them all in or out of clothes and showers when they had been too inebriated to function. Their high school years were a drunken mess, but they had had the best of times.

“Little Johnny Seward, nakey like a baby,” Jimmy teased as he walked past his band mate in search of a beer. Once Jimmy was satisfied with the beverage he pulled from the mini fridge in the room, he leapt onto the worn out couch, before settling in with one arm on the armrest, his feet on the coffee table on front of him, and his free hand patting the cushion next to him as an invitation for Ellie to sit.

“Hey Jimmy, there’s a shower free,” Ellie jumped at the sound of Brian’s voice. Jimmy had been asking her so many questions about her life in Miami while simultaneously interjecting with details of the band’s successes and hilarious failures that Ellie hasn’t even heard Brian approach them. Brian grinned at her and winked, making it obvious he knew who she was, but he didn’t say a word nor did he make a move towards her. She was confused by his behaviour, but she tried not to let it show.

Jimmy got up from the couch, his beer in hand, and headed to the steaming room that Brian had recently emerged from. He sidestepped when he reached the door to let someone through and that made Ellie automatically aware of why Brian had played it cool about her presence. Zack had been only a minute behind him and Brian wanted to let his bandmate discover his long lost friend on his own.

Ellie watched as Zack tousled his black hair with a towel before draping it across his bare shoulders. She felt embarrassed that her eyes were so obviously fixated on the man in front of her, but that embarrassment wasn’t enough for her to pull her attention away. It took Zack less than 5 seconds to take a look around the room before his eyes met Ellie’s. She watched as his brows furrowed around his ever perfect green eyes, before his expression changed entirely from a look of questioning to one of adoration.

“Sup Baker?” Ellie asked as she felt the tears well up. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed him until that very moment. Seeing Zack standing a few feet away from her broke her heart and simultaneously made her the happiest girl in the world. There was nothing more that she wanted to do at that very moment other than jump up and kiss him, but she knew she’d be crazy to do so. The guys had known that Ellie and Zack had been sleeping together. Matt had been quite vocally against their friends with benefits status. Though no one knew that the pair had developed feelings for one another. Ellie and Zack hadn’t even discussed them with each other until Ellie had announced that she was leaving the state for school.

Zack couldn’t believe his eyes.

Underneath a dark dye job was the first girl Zack had fallen in love with. The hair colour was a drastic change, but she was otherwise the same girl that would stay out all night him, just so that they didn’t have to say goodbye. He found himself frozen, at a loss for words, as he kept his eyes focused on her baby blues, which were starting to show signs of tears.

Fuck, Ellie mentally cursed herself for being such a mess. She tried even harder to fight the tears that were threatening to spill. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid. She shouldn’t have ordered that last drink at the bar. She should have made a run for it before Matt emerged side stage to wait for her. Zack looked tense, and was taking his sweet time before talking to her. She needed to pull herself together.

“What happened to my Californian bleach blonde beach babe?” Zack asked, which made Ellie’s heart soar. She noticed his body relaxed as he spoke, which did wonders for the thoughts of regret in Ellie’s mind. She just hoped the fact she felt her body temperature rise wasn’t visible to her friends.

“Well for starters, she moved away from California,” she retorted as Zack finally made his way across the room towards her. He held out his hands to her, which she took, and pulled her up from the couch. She relaxed as he wrapped his arms around her waist, and fell back into the comfortable routine of stepping up onto her toes so she could wrap her arms around his neck.

“I’ve really fucking missed you,” Zack whispered into her ear before taking advantage of the way they were turned by kissing her head quickly, an act that went unseen by the others in the room. Not that Brian or Johnny were paying that close of attention regardless. He then pulled away from her. Zack knew that holding onto her any longer would cause some sort of snarky remark from someone. He didn’t want that at all., but he also didn't want to let her go. All Zack wanted was to spend some time with the girl he let slip away. If it meant he had to play things cool to avoid the comments about their past, he would try his best to do so. After all, he had no idea how she still felt about him. He didn’t want to unearth something she’d rather keep in the past.

Ellie decided the best way to draw attention away from the blush that she was sure was forming on her face was to make her way over to Brian and properly greet him with a hug.

“He brings you up every time we come to Florida,” Brian’s lips brushed across the hair by Ellie’s ears, causing her to shiver. He tousled her hair slightly before heading across the room to retrieve a beer, leaving her speechless. She knew Brian and Zack had become close, almost as close as Zack and Matt were prior to the news of her hooking up with Zack came out within their group. Ellie suddenly felt self-conscious over what Brian might possibly know about how her failed “fuck buddy” relationship with Zack ended. Again, she was hit with the feeling of regret. She fixed the hairs Brian had moved out of place before settling into a chair and attempting to keep herself in the conversation that Brian, Zack, and Johnny were having.

Once Matt and Jimmy had rejoined the group, the conversation finally turned from chord arrangements and bass lines to what their plans were for the evening. Past places had been suggested from their memories of their previous stops in Miami. Most were struck down due to the fact that Johnny’s fake ID didn’t hold up very well. It was almost as if the boys had forgotten that they had someone in the room who was well versed with Miami night life that they could ask for guidance.

“I’m on a permanent VIP list at the new nightclub downtown. I tended bar for them on their opening weekend and I pick up a couple of shifts there every now and again. The guy who owns the place is my former bar manager,” Ellie said simply. “It’s going to be packed, and I know that it’s not necessarily the typical scene you guys like to frequent, but I can guarantee Johnny won’t be hassled about his ID.”

Ellie let out a scream when Jimmy launched himself towards her. He effortlessly picked Ellie up and threw her over his shoulder, chanting her name as a means of celebrating her connections. She rolled her eyes as the rest of the boys picked up the chant, raising their red solo cups or beer bottles in her direction, as if to honour her suggestion.

“This girl deserves a drink!” Brian laughed, before motioning Jimmy to put Ellie back on her feet. Brian twisted off the cap of a new bottle and handed Ellie a beer, for which she thanked him before bringing the cool glass to her lips. She couldn’t help but smile as she thought about the trouble they’d find throughout the evening ahead.