Welcome to the Family

(Lennon aka Bradley's POV)

Later that night Vinny had come through my bedroom window to stay the night with me just like he had promised but Nova had also tagged along as well. Clearly, she had a lot of questions that needed immediate answers. "So, you're telling me that you're adopted? By my favorite band? That your dad is Zack Baker, the fucking rhythm guitarist for my favorite band? And how did all this come into fucking play, anyways? Where's the proof?" I sigh a bit annoyed, but dig out the adoption order that I had found hidden away in my mom's dresser after they had left. She snatches it pretty quickly from my hands before skimming over it briefly. The look on her face after she reads it is priceless, obviously she believed me now. "So am I supposed to call you Bradley then?" I shake my head. I wasn't even sure what to call myself anymore. I wasn't even sure of who I was anymore "Well what are we gonna do about it then? Vin said we're going to California over spring break. Are we really?" I shake my head again. I was determined to find my birth parents even if it killed me. Anything to get away from Danny and his disgusting actions was my main priority. "Lennon! Who the fuck is in there with you? It better not be that little queer Vinny!" Speak of the waste of life, it was Danny who was banging on my door now which I was glad I kept locked.

"No, it's only me you idiot." Nova spoke up thankfully, which ceased his loud knocking all at once. "Oh, it's the freaky blue haired girl. Well don't do anything unless I can film it!" We all look at each other with clear horrified and disgusted looks on our faces before continuing on with our plan. "Well, how are we gonna get there first of all? I mean, the bus takes us there but it'll be a four hour ride plus all three of us so let's say, a hundred bucks for everything minus food and whatever else. The plane, will take forty five minutes and about three hundred all together." Neither of us had that kind of money for the plane, but in reality, I had saved up a total of five hundred bucks throughout my lifetime when my parents started a 'college fund' for me. So long story short, the bus would work out just fine and I'd still have extra money for food and whatever else we would need. What a better time to go then now? My parent's weren't home, Vinny's parents were gone for the week to visit his grandma in Idaho, and Nova wasn't even wanted. Not to mention most importantly, I wanted answers that just couldn't be waited on. "Let's just leave, right now. I have the money, we'll take the greyhound to L.A then figure it out from there. The band isn't on tour, are they Nova?" She does a quick scan through her phone before sighing longingly. "Ah no, they're home on a break." Perfect.

So in the heat of the moment, one by one, the three of us packed a bag of my things before hightailing it out of my bedroom window as to not disturb the asshole who was more than likely being perverted with my pictures in the living room downstairs. Gross. Anyway, so it's Vinny, Nova, and myself all sliding down the terrace and onto solid ground before we rush down the street, cutting through as many shortcuts as we could until we reach Vinny's place. You honestly would never know that there wasn't anyone there at all seeing as almost every if not all lights were on inside and out of that house. That was Vinny for you though, he was terrified of the dark and being alone so when his parent's went away on trips and didn't take him along you can bet your ass that he was always either at mine or Nova's house. "Jesus Christ Vincent, do your parent's ever ask about why their electric bill is so damn high?" Nova gripes as we casually walk through the front door and make our way upstairs to his room. He simply shrugs his shoulders before rummaging through his tightly packed closet to gather whatever outfits he thought were necessary for the ever unpredictable California weather. "Nope, they know I hate the dark although I'm a creature of the night. It makes absolutely no sense, I know." Neither of us says another word until he is finished.

Next, it's onto Nova's place. Her parent's were both drug addicts and never really cared about Nova except when they were off of a binge and sobering up. But that was almost never. "Nova! Why are your stupid friend's here? It's nine at night at I'm trying to sleep!" Ah, Nova's dad Tim. He was the literal idea of a horrible father. He beat Nova so bad one night that she had to be hospitalized for a good week. You would think that child services or something would have gotten involved but no, no one ever did. We don't say anything and simply walk past him down the hall towards whatever is left of Nova's room that her parent's hadn't sold. A few minutes later, ok, more like an entire half an hour later, the three of us were now headed through downtown Vegas with our little bit of belongings in hand, heading for the greyhound bus station. "Shit, it's fucking cold for a change." I muttered more to myself than the others as we try our hardest not to get separated through the thick crowds of tourists. Thankfully the walk is short lived and we reach our just as crowded destination. I instruct the other two to wait on a lone bench while I go to the counter to get the tickets. "3, to Los Angeles please." The guy behind the window is eyeing me suspiciously, but doesn't say a single thing besides the total price. 150 for all three one way tickets, a little more than what I had planned but still wasn't enough to steer me away from my plans. I snatch them eagerly before returning to Vinny and Nova who were huddled close together, trying to keep each other warm.

I had always said that they should end up together but Nova always insisted that they would be better off as friends. "Now departing, Los Angeles, California!!" Well, that was fucking fast. "Hurry up, I don't wanna get a shitty seat in the front!" I say hurriedly as we grab our stuff and practically run towards the waiting bus at the far end of the station. I hand the driver our tickets, thanking him softly as then I wander with the two of them tailing behind to the far back of the bus, taking the one long bench seat that's usually meant for mother's with children. I shut my phone off once the bus starts to depart, instructing that the two of them do them same until we arrive in the next state. Not that it really mattered, but this was one trip that no one needed to know about. "What's the worse that could happen? I mean, my parent's don't give a shit and Vinny's parent's don't give a shit because they're gone anyways. But what about you, Len? If your parent's find out you went off to find your real parents, they could call the cops and report you as missing and all that shit. That's the worse that could happen." I shrug my shoulders with a sigh, pressing my lips together tightly. At this point, I really didn't care what happened to me in the long run as long as I made it to Huntington Beach and found my real mom and dad to get the much needed answers to my many questions.

"You're going to get to meet your favorite band in the entire fucking world. You do realize that, don't you? And you also realize that'll make Synyster Gates basically my uncle, do you not? So just be happy we're going and don't worry about anything else." I say as I lean my head against the glass window, staring at all the bright lights and flashing signs that passed us by as we continued on down the highway. 269 miles to California, that's all I needed and wanted to know before I then tell Nova to pretty much shut up and only to wake me up once we get to L.A.

(Zephyr's POV)

I kept pacing back and forth in my room as I could feel my hands begin to tremble and shake violently. It had been so long since I had thought about her, but I had never given up hope that I still might get to see her one day again. I had only hoped that the people who ended up taking her hadn't made her completely forget about us. Not that she would remember anyways seeing as she was barely a month old but I still hoped that they didn't completely erase us from her memory. The onsie Matt and Val had bought her, the bracelet we had given her. It all was still so fresh in my mind that I had never stopped thinking about it. I tried many times to find her through any means of social media but nothing would ever come to. Eventually it got so bad that Zack had to pretty much cut me off completely from all internet access until I could promise him that I wasn't going to keep digging into any sort of files about Bradley. But tonight, was different. Tonight was different than any other night when I had gotten a frantic phone call from a lady I almost didn't recognize. It had been a total of 16 years, since I had any mention of her name. "Zephyr? This is the mother of Bradley. I'm afraid to tell you that she's missing, along with two of her friends. I think she may be headed to find you and Zack."

After hearing that, I passed out cold onto the hardwood floor, only to be awoken a few hours later by a very worried Zack and Val. "Oh babe, I had the worse dream ever in my life. I had gotten a call from the family that had adopted Bradley, they told me that she was missing but that they believed that she was coming here to find us. Oh my God, Zack. It felt so goddamn real." I sigh sadly as he then helps me to my feet with an extremely unpleasant look on his face. I quickly put my hand to his cheek, before looking him deep in the eyes. "Please tell me that I was dreaming. I was, right babe? This isn't really happening, is it?" He sits beside me on the bed now, taking my still shaking hand in his. "I wish it was a dream Zeph but no, it isn't. The parents of Bradley did call you, they did lose her, she is missing. They said she found the adoption order earlier today when she was going through family photos. They lied to her about it, they lied to her about everything. They even changed her name, Zeph. They named her Lennon May, completely erasing every trace of us. They even told us that they took the bracelet off of her right after she was given to them. So now they think that she's finally coming back to us and said that they had already notified the police except that it takes 24 hours to file a missing persons report. So we have one day to find our baby, Zephyr. Before the police do, before we never get a chance to ever see her again."