Almost Easy

Liz's POV

I grabbed Danny's attention and pulled him from the room with Colt, eyeing behind the door carefully as he shut it, "What's wrong? You're pale as a ghost." Danny rubbed his arms on mine.

I took a breath and nodded, "It's time."

"Now?" He asked, "He just woke up a little while ago, I mean I'm totally fine if you two are." He gestured downstairs and I squinted at him, "Yea I knew he was coming over, your brother communicates fast and Matt apparently moves even faster."

"He can when he wants to." I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling a small bit of annoyance rise up inside of me. He always picked up the slack when it was too late. "Uhm, I guess I can go talk to him and plan a better time, like... a more appropriate time instead of randomly. We can practice a lead in." I shook the thoughts from my head as Danny nodded to my plan, "Ok."

I walked back downstairs and in to the kitchen, Matt was exactly where I left him. He looked up at me with an anticipating look, then beside me, "Oh... did he not want to come down?"

"So," I paused and sat back in front of him, "He's really comfortable upstairs right now and in to his movie-"

"Different time?" Matt smirked at me, I nodded, "I get it. You're his mother, you know what will work. I guess I'm just jealous that I'm not that... in tune with him." Matt shrugged, "But while we're waiting on perfect timing, can we... can we talk?"

"Depends on what?" I asked, repositioning my coffee in my hands.

"Michelle said that you were worried last night about how things were going to spiral out of control while you're here... I promise to try my hardest-"

"Listen, let me stop you right there, Matt. There is no promising to try, there is only doing. You can't promise to try to be on your best behavior, there is only being on your best behavior." I watched him nod, "I can't have you acting five years ago right now, alright? We all need to move on from the past, move the fuck on from it ok? I have, I really need you to. What we had and what we were was... it was childish, we fell in to a role that only felt natural because of how close we were, then we only kept it up for the fact we saw each other so much."

"I know." He nodded, "So.. you don't think any of those feelings were legitimate?"

"I feel like I did love you, but not the same as I love Danny... I think I lusted after you, a lot. Because the idea of being with you seemed so grand from a distance and then, when I closed that gap each time, I realized it wasn't what I wanted. It was what I needed at the moment."

"Alright." Matt took a sip of his coffee, "So anyways. We should have a re-do barbecue tomorrow."

"What is with this friend group and barbecues?" I groaned, "Can we just get sitters and go out like adults?"

"I mean if you're willing to do that it's a plan. Michelle will be excited." He muttered under his breath and took his phone out, "It was her idea then I slapped in the barbecue."

"Men." I shook my head, "I'm sure Danny would enjoy hanging out with all of us in a non-child-proof setting."

"It'll be nice to just adult socialize right?" Matt looked up at me and smiled, his dimples that Colt inherited prominent under his sccruffy skin, "Maybe tonight would work better... that's what Michelle just responded. Her sitter already confirmed she can watch one more..?" Matt directed his eyes up at me from his phone.

"Fine." I nodded, "Fine, why not ruin my liver two nights in a row."

"And don't worry, we can figure out the driving situation before the night begins so we don't have any more marathons." He gesuted to my feet and winked, "This should get fun."

---___---___---

Zack's POV

"Who let him go alone?!" I shouted as Brian showed up at the house after I frantically called him when Matt told me he was on his way to the beach house to give Liz a new phone.

"I didn't even know he was going." Brian shrugged and looked at his phone, "He and Mich were talking about-"

"Going to a club tonight," I finished for him, "I know, she told me. He thinks.." I cradled my head in my hands and groaned, "He thinks he's going to show Liz he's changed." I watched as Brian tilted his head back and groaned loudly, almost louder than the rant Jacky was still on in the kitchen that I had tuned out of when Brian walked in.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Brian splayed his hands out, "Anyone giving Liz a heads up?" He asked, "So she doesn't fall... for... it." He staggered his words as he read a text, "Oh cool, we're meeting at my hosue at seven." He smiled sarcastically, "And going to a club."

"I'm not sure bringing Jacky out is a wise idea." I whispered as she yelled from the kitchen, something about Liz being a grudge holding bitch, "I don't even know where to start right now, man. That would be... that would be exactly what Liz is afraid of."

"You think I don't know that? This night is going to be the kick off of what Liz doesn't want happening. You and I both know Liz well enough, she's going to feed in to this without even knowing. I told Michelle a hundred times before leaving to come here, that it was the worst idea ever. She thinks Matt's just doing it to show Liz he's going to be a great dad..."

"No, he's doing it to show her he's going to be a good dad... And man." I winced, "Fuck fuck fuck. I can't stay home."

Brian looked over my shoulder as Jacky erupted from the kitchen with a stomp, "What the fuck is he doing here?" She glared at Brian, "Fucking shit, Zack, have you not been listening to one thing I've said?!" She shrieked.

"Liz is an ungrateful bitch, she's holding a grudge from like ten years ago, you hate having to put up with her, generally things I should hate you for." I shrugged and looked at Brian's surprised expression, "Multitasking, neccesary."

"You are not bringing her no fucking way." Brian shook his head.

"Where?" Jacky crossed her arms, moving in to the conversation and looked between us, "Does this have anything to do with the text Michelle just sent me that we're going out tonight?"

"My wife, gotta love her." Brian picked up his phone, "There's not enough water in California to put out this fucking wildfire right now." He paced with his phone to his ear, "Have you lost your goddamn mind?!" He shouted and walked in to the back yard.

"So what the fuck are you two hiding? What am I not going to?" She put her hands on her hips and looked at me, "Are you going to go apologize for my actions to your bitch ass sister?"

"Shut the fuck up, Jacky." I shook my head, "I let you bash her all night, while I was trying to console her husband that she wasn't dead on the side of the road or being kidnapped and sent to Mexico. Enough is enough. She may make shit decisions but she's my sister."

"Shit decisions," Jacky scoffed, "Imagine if I kept Lid from you just because I didn't like you."

"It's not that she doesn't like Matt, he's a shit head and if you can't see that bull shit then you're equally as dumb. She loved him, but she was an idiotic child when she let her heart decide that he was what she wanted." I shook my head and picked up my phone, "Michelle wants us all to go out, without the kids, and go to a club together. Matt wants to show Liz he's changed."

"Well why not? Maybe she'll fuck him." Jacky shrugged slightly, arms still crossed, "Give the kid more of a complex by breaking up two families in her wake. Don't any of you see? Bringing her back was the worst decision ever. We had all finally healed and smoothed the fucking cracks she left. She causes earthquakes, Zack, she causes fucking catastrophes. She seeks out carnage and destruction like a wolf seeks blood."

"Well fucking guess what, Jacky." I stepped up to her face, "She's a Baker. We're apparently chaos seeking piece of shit." I hissed and looked her up and down, "And maybe I should follow in her footsteps for once and let my mistakes fall to the wayside."

Jacky's jaw dropped, "Zack-"

"Fuck off, take the kids and go to my parents. I don't want them here when I come home because it's going to be a fucking tsunami." I felt heat radiating off my skin as Jacky backed up, "You want to call my sister a catastrophe, just watch what happens to your life bitch. Just watch."

Jacky quickly crossed her hand over my face, then ran up the stairs behind me. I stood up straight and breathed heavily, what the fuck was that, Zack?

"That's called being a brother." Brian spoke from beside me.

"No." I shook my head, "I don't know what that was."

"Maybe it's the fact Liz brings us all back to Earth." Brian walked up beside me and looked at his phone, "Maybe it's the fact she reminds us of what we were before the band blew up and we got this lush cushy life, she brings back that chaos we used to thrive on."

"I don't know if that's good or bad." I groaned and put my shoes on, "We need to get over to Matt's house."

"We?" Brian looked at me, "Oh, so you don't kill him? I like that idea, bring back the old Zack, please! Let there be bloodshed!" He laughed as we exited the house and aimed for his car. What the fuck were we walking our old asses in to?