Welcome to the Family (On Hold Until Further Notice)

*This chapter is taking place as everything is happening to Brian.*

Ashlynn's PoV

My eyes opened slowly. I moved my long blonde hair out of my face and groaned, clutching my head. I was sitting up, my back against a palm tree. I looked up and saw Matt, Johnny, and Zacky all with their backs facing me. Zacky looked back at me and gasped.

“Thank God you’re awake.” Zacky said, rushing over to me and wrapping his arms around me. “I was so worried.”

“Zacky? What happened?” I mumbled. He pulled away from the hug and smiled sadly.

“You hit a palm tree when we were racing.” Zacky explained, placing his palm on my forehead. I winced and moved away so his hand fell off. “Is that where it hurts?” I nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’ll be okay.” I said, smiling.

“Are you sure? You hit that palm tree pretty hard.” Zacky said.

“Yeah. I’ve had worse.” I replied, thinking of my broken nose.

“Well, look at you being all positive.” Zacky smiled, touching my nose lightly. I smiled back and shrugged. “It’s cute.”

“You think everything I do is cute.” I countered.

“That’s true.” Zacky said with a goofy grin. I rolled my eyes playfully.

“You seem to be feeling better already.” Johnny said.

“I guess so. Here, help me up.” I said. All three of them held out their hand for me to grab. I laughed and chose Zacky’s and Matt’s hands.

“Oh, I see how it is.” Johnny said, harrumphing.

“You’re just jealous.” Zacky said.

“No, I’m not.” Johnny retorted quickly. Zacky raised an eyebrow at me. I snickered quietly, but stopped when I saw that Johnny actually looked hurt for a second.

“Are you okay, Johnny?” I asked. Johnny looked up at me and opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Zacky.

“Yeah, he’s fine. Come on, let’s go to the beach.” He said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the sand. I looked back at Johnny for a second before catching up to Zacky and Matt, who were already in the water.

“Are you gonna get in the water with us?” Matt asked, splashing some water at me. I smiled and nodded.

“Come on, Johnny.” I called behind me. When there was no reply, I turned around and saw Johnny a few yards away staring off into the distance with a blank look in his eye. “Johnny.” I repeated.

“What?” Johnny said without looking at me.

“What are you looking at?” I asked.

“N-nothing. It’s nothing.” Johnny said, finally tearing his eyes away from whatever was out there and looking at me.

“He does that a lot. It really is nothing.” Matt called over the loud waves.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “‘Cause it sure seems like something.”

“No, I’m sure.” Johnny replied, walking over to me and planting a kiss on my forehead. “Don’t worry about it.” He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it among the other two shirts on the beach.

“Now it’s your turn, Ashlynn!” Zacky said.

“You wish.” I retorted, crossing my arms.

“Like a wet shirt is any different.” Matt muttered.

“Well then I won’t go in the water at all; what do you think of that?” I said.

“I think it’s a bad idea.” Zacky replied, scooping some water into his cupped hands and tossing it at me.

“Ha! You missed!” I taunted, sticking out my tongue. Zacky smirked evilly and walked out of the water, making a beeline for me. “What are you doing?” I asked, starting to back up. Zacky sped up and scooped me up in his arms. I screeched and latched onto his neck, holding on for dear life.

“She doesn’t like being picked up.” Matt said.

“I know. That’s why I did it.” Zacky replied, looking at me.

“I hate you so much right now.” I said, narrowing my eyes menacingly at him. Zacky threw his head back and laughed. He slowly started walking towards the ocean. “Stop!” I yelled in his ear.

“Either you go in there willingly, or I’ll drop you in.” Zacky said, getting closer and closer every second. He stopped right about knee length. “What’s your decision?” I hesitated for a moment. “Too late!” He yelled, letting go of me. I screamed and plunged into the ocean. The salty waves collided with my face as I surfaced to the sound of three men laughing.

“It’s not f-funny.” I said, shivering from the icy water.

“Then why are we laughing like hell?” Johnny said between laughs.

Instead of making a sarcastic remark, I grabbed Zacky’s head and dunked it under the waves. “Payback, motherfucker!” I yelled, laughing maniacally.

“Oww, I think you got salt water in my eyes.” Zacky said, rubbing his eye.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” I said. “Can I see?”

Zacky took his hand off his eye and threw water up in my face. “Gotcha!”

“Get back here!” I yelled, laughing and chasing the guys around in the water.

*Two hour later*

“Wow! Look at that sunset!” Matt exclaimed.

“I know, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I said, sitting down in the sand.

“Definitely.” Zacky said, looking at me.

“I was talking about the sunset, Zee.” I said.

“I wasn’t.” Zacky smirked.

“Cut it out, you two.” Johnny said, rolling his eyes. “And don’t say I’m jealous, for God’s sakes.”

“Damn, I was just about to say that.” Zacky laughed.

“Yeah, that’s why I said it, Einstein.” Johnny retorted.

“Shut up, both of you and watch the sunset.” I commanded.

“Yes, ma’am!” Johnny said and saluted.

“I’ve always wanted to watch a sunset with a girl. Very romantic.” Zacky said with a smile.

“You’ve never done that?” Matt asked in surprise. “What about Gena?”

“She wasn’t really the romantic type.” Zacky replied, scrunching up his face.

“That’s surprising.” I said.

“You never knew her.” Johnny interjected with a snort. “Even the fans didn’t really know her.”

“Yeah. Let’s not talk about it.” Zacky said, looking away. No one talked anymore; we just all sat in the sand watching the sun dip below the waves, causing the water to turn a pretty amber.

Finally, Matt broke the silence. “Maybe we should go back. It’s been about three hours.”

Zacky looked at his phone. “Has it? Damn.”

“What about Brian?” I asked, feeling sad about what happened. “It’s his son after all.”

“Maybe I should call him.” Zacky said, dialing Brian’s number and putting the phone to his ear. We all waited in silence for him to answer. After about the fifth ring, I started getting worried. Suddenly, I heard his voice. Hey. This is Brian. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. My shoulders sank. Zacky’s lips went taut.

“I’m worried about him.” I said.

“So am I.” Zacky said. “Well, we know where he is, so maybe we can walk there. It’s not that far.”

“Or we can take a taxi. Those still exist, you know.” Johnny added.

“Yeah, that’s probably a better idea.” Matt said. “And then after we pick him up, we can go to the hospital to get Sammy.”

“Well, then let’s go.” Zacky said, taking hold of my hand.

“You guys hold hands way too much; I think I should have a turn!” Johnny whined.

“You’re right.” I said, letting go of Zacky’s hand, to which Zacky returned a look of shock. I smiled and winked at him, signalling that I had a plan. “I’ve been hogging Zacky this whole time, Johnny. I’m sorry.”

“Wha-?” Johnny asked.

I grabbed Zacky’s hand, then Johnny’s hand and merged them together. Johnny’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Gaaaahh! Let go of me!!” He screeched, trying desperately to rip his hand out of Zacky’s grip. We all burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“Aww, come on, Johnny. Don’t you love me?” Zacky purred. “You said it yourself, remember?”

“I was drunk; that doesn’t count!” Johnny yelled. He finally managed to release himself from Zacky. By this time, I was on the ground shaking with laughter. Johnny looked down at me with his arms crossed. “It’s not funny.”

“It’s fucking hilarious.” Zacky said between laughs.

“You guys are so mean to me.” Johnny said with a frown.

Suppressing my laughter, I stood back up and dusted myself off.

“No, we’re not. You just don’t know how to take a joke.” Zacky said.

Johnny stuck his tongue out and walked off. Zacky rolled his eyes. Matt pointed to Johnny, and then his butt, making the obvious inference that Johnny was an ass. I responded with a snicker.

“Talk shit about me; I don’t care.” Johnny called behind him.

I groaned. “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Go for it.” Matt said. “We’ll wait here.”

“We need to start walking to Johnny’s Bar, though.” I said. “Just walk a little behind us.”

Zacky nodded, and I jogged ahead next to Johnny.

“What do you want?” Johnny snapped, looking at the ground.

“I just wanted to talk, Johnny.” I said calmly.

He looked up, and his face immediately softened. “Oh, it’s you, Ashlynn. I thought it was one of the guys.”

“I know you might be mad at them, but they were just teasing. They didn’t really mean it.” I said.

“Sure they don’t.” Johnny mumbled, kicking at a rock.

“Johnny, you’re their best friend. I know they don’t mean it.”

Johnny took a deep breath. “You’re right. It just doesn’t feel like it sometimes, you know?”

I nodded. “I do know. But trust me, they love you.”

“What do you mean, you know?” Johnny asked, stopping abruptly.

I hesitated for a moment. “I- Let’s just say that I haven’t had a lot of good boyfriends.”

“I’m sorry. I know how that is. I’m not too good with relationships either.”

“Oh, why is that?” I asked.

“Because of my ADHD.”

My eyes enlarged. “You... you have ADHD?” That would explain the staring off in the distance earlier.

“Yeah, ever since I was ten. I- I haven’t told anyone. I didn’t even tell Jimmy...” Johnny trailed off.

I looked down. “Then why are you telling me? I’m no one special.”

Johnny lifted my head with his hand. “Hey, don’t say that. You are very special.”

“Thank you, Jojo.”

Johnny laughed loudly. “That’s a new one.”

“Really? I’ve heard fans call you that a lot.”

“I’ve never heard it.” Johnny shrugged. “But I like it.”

“Awesome.” I grinned. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, no thanks to you.” Johnny smiled. I looked behind me and nodded to the guys. They hurried up to catch up with us.

Zacky opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, his phone rang. He grabbed the phone and looked at the caller ID. “It’s Brian.” He gasped.

I grabbed the phone out of his hand and slid my finger across the screen to answer it. “Brian? Are you okay? What happened?” I said, practically screaming into the phone.

“I’m... at Johnny’s Bar. I’ll explain everything when you get here. Just... please hurry.” He said in short breaths.

“Okay, we’ll be right over there, baby. Just hold tight. I love you.” I said.

“I love you too. Ash, I- I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I did that to you. I just... wasn’t thinking.” Brian said, his voice faltering as if he was crying.

A small tear slipped down my face. “Oh, Bri. I forgive you. We’ll talk when we get to Johnny’s, okay?”

“Okay. See you soon. I love you.”

“Love you too.” I pressed “End” and handed the phone back to Zacky. “He’s at Johnny’s Bar. He said to hurry.”

“There’s no time to waste, then! Let’s get a cab!” Matt yelled, grabbing my hand and taking off down the street, Zacky and Johnny right behind him.

Please, God. Let him be okay. I thought, tears falling down my face as we rushed back into the city and signalled for the first cab we saw.

Notes

God, it took me almost a month to write this darn chapter. But I put a lot of time and effort into this one to make sure that it was gonna be good. Hope you like it :)