Abbey's Road

"Hey, wake up," a loud voice said, and something poked Zacky in the side. He groaned in his sleep and slapped at the hand that had poked him. It happened to belong to his friend Matt Sanders, and it made the burly singer irritated to be slapped. "Zack, wake up! We're in fucking Las Vegas."

"We're here?!" Zacky exclaimed, jolting awake. This was much more important than sleep. Abbey was here. She was in Las Vegas. They were in Las Vegas, and now they were going to find her.

"I can't believe we had to take a fucking train," Jimmy groaned, stretching out. His fingertips grazed the ceiling of the train carriage. "I think driving would've been so much easier."

"We had to take a train because Abbey took a train," Johnny grumbled, obviously irritated. The five men had been crammed together in one carriage and they hadn't gotten much sleep, so they were irritable.

Zacky got to his feet and and left the carriage with a huff. His friends didn't have to come along. This was their choice. Zacky definitely could've made this trip alone, but he thought bringing them along would make it more fun. He was wrong. All they'd done was so far was bitch and whine and make this trip unbearable.

"Yo Vengeance, get your ass back here!" Brian hollered at Zacky's back. Zacky ignored him and continued making his way off of the train. There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and and Johnny groaned out in pain. "Fuck you, Short Shit," Zacky heard Brian say to the youngest man. "Now you've pissed him off."

Zacky's friends eventually caught up to him and badgered him into letting them stay. Abbey was their friend too, and they wanted to find her as badly as Zacky did. They checked into a hotel near the Isle of Capri casino, which Zacky knew was the one Abbey would be at. She always said she wanted to go there because she thought the name was pretty and exotic.

"So you wanna head to the casino now?" Matt asked Zacky as he threw his bags onto the bed.

"Nah, we've got awhile," Zacky replied. "I say we head down to the pool, maybe hit up the bar."

The guys agreed, and the group of men headed down to the pool. Zacky thought they would attract a lot of attention being that they were all tattooed and pierced, but hardly anyone looked at them. Probably 'cause we're in Vegas, Zacky mused. There was a lot of weird shit in Vegas.

As he sat in one of the lawnchairs along the side of the pool, Zacky couldn't help but think about Abbey. She was all he could ever think about since she disappeared. Being a southern girl, Abbey loved to swim, and she was reckless when she swam. Zacky couldn't count the number of times he'd almost drowned at her hand. His snakebites stretched to the far sides of his lips when he remembered the time he and Abbey had sex in Jimmy's backyard pool. Needless to say, the drummer was extremely unhappy to catch them.

"Don't you fucking dare, Jimmy!" Johnny shouted. This was closely followed by the older man's cackle and the sound of a splash. Zacky yelled in outrage as he was soaked from head to toe. The green-eyed man looked up and immediately gathered that Jimmy had tossed a fully-clothed Johnny into the pool, against Johnny's will of course.

"What are you thinking so hard about, Zacky?" Matt asked, drawing the green-eyed man's attention from the quarreling men in the pool.

"The same thing I've been thinking about for the past eleven days," Zacky responded flatly. "Abbey."

♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪

"Straight," Abbey said, smiling as she laid down her hand with a flourish. The boys of Avenged Sevenfold groaned in unison. They didn't even have to turn over their cards to know they'd lost. Again.

"Abbey, have you ever played in Vegas?" Jimmy asked as the brunette collected her chips. "I bet you'd smoke those idiots."

Abbey shook her head. "No, I haven't," Abbey said. She cocked her head, imagining herself sitting at a real poker table in Las Vegas. The closest she'd ever gotten to that was games like these with the boys on their tour bus as they drove through Nevada. "But I've always wanted to."

"You should go," Zacky encouraged. "In fact, we should make a weekend out of it. Just you and me."

Abbey's smile faltered just a little, but she tried not to let it show. She loved that Zacky was such a supportive boyfriend, but unbeknownst to him, Abbey would be making this trip to Las Vegas alone.

"You sure she's gonna be here, Zacky?" Brian asked, sounding agitated. He was so tired of this chase already, but more than anything he was tired of just sitting. If Abbey was here like that damn list said, they should've seen her by now.

"It's the first place on the list," Zacky answered, which didn't really answer his friend's question. "She has to be here."

"Vengeance! Gates!" Jimmy called out across the casino. "Come check out this poker table! It's got our fucking faces on it!"

"That idiot needs to stop fucking screaming before he gets us kicked out of this place," Brian grumbled as the two men made their way to where their drummer stood, still screaming.

"See, look! Look!" Jimmy said, pointing animatedly at the poker table. "It's us."

Jimmy was right. A group shot from one of their many photo shoots had been screenprinted across the poker table. A small pile of chips covered Johnny's face. "Holy shit, this is pretty cool," Zacky mused, running his hand over the table. "I wanna play at this table."

At the sound of a new voice, the dealer looked up. Her eyes widened when she saw the green-eyed man standing in front of the table. She reached under the table for the folded piece of paper and tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Sir," she started. "By any chance, is your name Zacky Baker?"

"As a matter of fact, it is," Zacky replied smugly. It was nice that even in a different state, he was getting attention from fans. And this is what Zacky assumed this woman was: a fan. "Why do you ask?"

"Well a woman named Abbey Ketterling was here at this table a few days ago and she asked me to give you this," the woman said, looking down as she handed Zacky the folded piece of paper.

Zacky was paralyzed. Abbey was here days ago? She said Zacky could find her using this list, not by going on some Goddamn wild goose chase. He was supposed to find her here!Through clenched teeth, Zacky thanked the dealer and then stormed away, leaving his confused friends behind in the casino.

♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪

"Zacky, open the door!" Brian shouted, banging on his friend's hotel door.

"Go the fuck away," came the reply from inside. Zacky wasn't in the mood for company right now. He was pissed, and he just wanted to be alone and get wasted. He tossed back one of the mini-bottles of alcohol and let out a ragged sigh. "How could you just leave me like that, Abbey?" he asked the empty room. "How. Could. You?" With each word, Zacky's drunken words grew louder and he threw the alcohol bottle against the wall, where it shattered. "How could you just leave and not tell me where you were going? All you left me was that Goddamn list and this stupid fucking note that you left with a poker dealer." He picked up the paper from the nightstand. "What's in this stupid fucking note anyway?" Zacky plopped down on the bed with the paper and started to read.

Zacky,

By now I'm sure you know I'm not in Las Vegas anymore. But I couldn't let you find me just yet. Where's the fun in that? Just follow the list. You'll find me eventually. I can't promise it'll be soon, or that it'll be easy, but I know you, Zacky. You won't give up. You won't stop until you find me.

I love you, Zacky. I wish things didn't have to be this way, but they do.

Love,
Abbey

♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪

The next bullet point on the list was Beaumont, Texas. Zacky remembered Abbey saying something about learning to windsurf and ride a bull. But Zacky thought Abbey was too fragile for that. She always seemed so vulnerable and breakable when she was laying underneath him, whimpering his name. But Zacky also knew that Abbey was a strong woman, with stubborn southern qualities. If she set her mind to something, she was gonna do it.

"I like this place much better," Jimmy replied as a pair of scantily-clad women in bikinis walked by. "Much more to see."

"Leana's gonna kill you," was all Zacky said. He didn't have to say anything else. He knew Jimmy loved his wife very much and would never stray. But that didn't mean his eyes wouldn't wander.

"No she won't," Jimmy said smoothly. "Leana knows I love her. I've got her name tattooed around my finger, don't I?"

"Yea Jim, you do," Zacky said, his voice nearly emotionless.

Jimmy frowned at his friend. Abbey's absense had changed him. A lot. He just wasn't Zacky anymore. Of course, if Leana up and left, he'd probably get depressed, too. Jimmy talked to Abbey right before they left for Vegas and he'd tried to get an answer from her as to why she left, but she refused to tell him.

"I'm going back to my room, Jim," Zacky said. Before Jimmy could respond, Zacky got to his feet and brushed the sand from his jeans before walking away.

The warm water of the shower was a relief to Zacky's aching, exhausted muscles. Sleep didn't come easy to the green-eyed man, and his body paid the price. Zacky slumped against the shower wall as his hand trailed downward, his rough fingers wrapping around the base of his dick. He stroked himself with long, languid strokes as he conjured up Abbey's face. He hadn't done this in a long time - with Abbey around it hadn't been necessary - but he needed a fucking release, Goddammit.

"Abbey," he groaned as he came.

Zacky pushed away from the shower wall and rinsed his hand off under the water. He hated that this was how he had to get his release. He liked it better with Abbey. Zacky was proud to say Abbey was the only girl he'd ever slept with, and with her it was more than just sex. And it was definitely better than jacking himself off in a hotel in Texas.

"Holy shit," Zacky cursed, jumping at the sudden banging on his door.

"Zacky, you in here?" Brian's voice called out.

Zacky scowled. Of course it was Brian. Probably coming to check on him. The guys - especially Brian - had been very watchful of him since Abbey's disappearance, but when he practically destroyed his hotel room in Las Vegas, his brown-eyed friend had become an ever-present babysitter.

"I'm in the shower," Zacky hollered back.

"Well you need to hurry the fuck up if we're gonna go out looking for Abbey," Brian said, and then Zacky heard his footsteps retreating.

With another sigh, Zacky shut off the water. He barely gave his reflection a passing glance as he walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. As he dug through his suitcase for something to wear, Zacky came across a bandana. It was white with one of his Vengeance University logos drawn on. At the bottom was Abbey's sloppy signature. Zacky remembered how Abbey loved to draw, and she was amazingly talented.

Zacky smiled when he walked into the room and saw Abbey sitting at her desk in the corner, her shoulders pinched together the way they were when she was concentrating hard on something. He knocked on the doorframe and Abbey turned around. "What are you doing in here, baby?" he asked, making his way over to his girlfriend.

"You can't see," Abbey replied, shielding her work. She smiled at Zacky before adding, "It's a surprise."

"For me?" Zacky asked with false surprise. Abbey giggled. Her boyfriend was so goofy. But he always had been, for as long as she'd known him. "But what have I done to deserve such an amazing surprise?"

"Well you are incredibly sweet," Abbey mused as she continued to draw. "And let's not forget drop dead gorgeous and an animal in the bedroom."

Seven minutes later, Abbey put down her pen and turned to Zacky with a smile. She knew he was gonna love this, and even if he didn't, he'd act like he did. To Zacky, everything Abbey Ketterling did was perfect, and he loved it. "Close your eyes," she instructed, and Zacky did just that. "Now hold out your hands." A pair of rough hands opened in front of Abbey, the result of loving obedience. Abbey placed the finished bandana into Zacky's waiting hands with a smile. "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

Zacky did and when he saw the bandana, he smiled. "Abbey, this is amazing," he commented as he looked over the artwork. "I might have to start selling this."

"As long as you keep my name on it, you can do whatever you want," Abbey said, kissing his lips.

Zacky crushed the bandana in his hand. He actually had started selling the design Abbey drew, but he kept the original for himself. He couldn't understand why she'd do all these wonderful things for him and then just leave him. Zacky sighed. Maybe Abbey didn't love him as much as she always said she did.
‹ Chapter 2

Notes

Okay so I know it's been a hella long time since I updated this story, and I know a lot of people have probably already read it on Mibba, but I kinda wanna get back onto this little site, and I think updating this (finished) story is a good way to do it. I just wanna know if it's worth my time to post this here, or if everyone's already read it or something. So let me know what you think!