Abbey's Road

"God, I wish they'd shut that fucking music up," Zacky spat, casting a dark glare over his shoulder. Right now he and his friends were sitting in the food court of a mall somewhere in Lousiana. Zacky didn't want to be here, but the others insisted, saying they needed to do a bit of last minute Christmas shopping. He knew this would be their last stop before Christmas; after this, they'd be heading back to California for the holidays. The boys wanted to see their wives and families, and Zacky knew that his parents were growing agitated of his extended absence.

"Zacky, Christmas is in three days, they're not gonna stop playing the Christmas music," Matt told him, sipping from his mug of black coffee.

"Well, I don't wanna fucking hear it," Zacky grumbled. It doesn't feel like Christmas without Abbey.

"Oh, would you get over yourself?" Matt snapped, his voice rising. Several people at the surrounding tables looked over, and Zacky felt himself beginning to sweat. Look away, he thought. "Yeah, I get it. We all get it. You miss Abbey. And we understand that. But it doesn't mean you can make the rest of us miserable at Christmas. Fucking Christ Zack, think of somebody besides yourself for a change."

Zacky glared at his hazel-eyed friend. Sure, Zacky knew he was pushing the limits with his melodramatic behavior, but yelling at him and chastising him in front of a crowd of strangers was no way to change it. "Fuck you, Matt," Zacky croaked, getting to his feet. He shoved his chair back towards the table and turned his back on his friends, quickly making his way to the second level of the mall. "Who the fuck does he think he is?" Zacky mumbled to himself as he walked. "He would be acting the exact same way if Brittany disappeared and he knows it."

Somehow, Zacky found himself entering a jewelry store. Not the kind his niece liked to shop in, the kind with the ridiculous clip-on earrings and preteen journals, but the kind with rings that would cost an entire months salary, the kind with necklaces fit for a queen.

Or a Georgia princess.

Against his best wishes, Zacky found himself browsing the rings. Of course, he'd thought about proposing to Abbey; he'd even had his eye on a ring back in California. It was small and simple because he knew Abbey wouldn't want something big and gaudy. But it was by no means plain. The diamond in the ring was just the perfect size, and in the right light, it sparkled like Abbey's eyes in the moonlight.

"Excuse me, sir, can I help you with something?" a smooth, feminine voice asked. Zacky quickly looked up and found himself staring at an employee of the jewelry store, one who was obviously female, and whose nametag said Sadie. Without knowing why Zacky nodded in response to her question, and she smiled. "Is there anything particular you were looking for?"

"Uh yeah, something that's not too big," he managed to spit out. He noticed the saleswoman's hand drifting towards the plain bands and he added, "But not too small, either. One or two karats should be fine."

"Let me guess," the saleswoman said, smiling knowingly at Zacky. "She told you which ring she wanted, but you forgot. So you're looking for something that fits the description and hoping you get it right."

"Yeah, that's it," Zacky lied.

Sadie crouched down behind the counter and when she re-emerged, she had a box in her hands. She opened it and handed it to Zacky. "See what you think of this one, sir," she said.

The ring was perfect. Zacky knew that much as soon as he looked at it. He knew it would fit Abbey perfectly, and if the circumstances were different, he also knew that it would look stunning on her skinny ring finger. But things had changed. Abbey wasn't here, and after what she'd done to him, he wasn't sure if he wanted to put something so meaningful on her finger.

Feeling suddenly ashamed, Zacky closed the box and handed it back to the saleswoman. He was lying to himself. He would give anything to Abbey to be here so that he could put a beautiful ring on her finger, so they could start a new chapter in their lives together. "Listen, I'm sorry I wasted your time," Zacky apologized.

"Wait, so you're not going to buy a ring?" Sadie asked. "Are you going to buy anything?" Zacky shook his head. The woman huffed, irritated. "Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, sir. I need to attend to actual paying customers."

"Yeah, what the fuck ever," Zacky grumbled. He left the jewelry store, and barely made it five feet out the door before he felt a hand close around his upper arm. His green eyes traveled up the length of the heavily tattooed arm and he found himself looking at Brian. "Before you even ask, I wasn't drinking anything," he hissed, yanking his arm free from his friend's grasp.

"Well I wouldn't think so, unless high-end jewelry stores suddenly started selling alcohol," Brian joked. Zacky rolled his eyes. "What were you doing in there, anyway?" Zacky shrugged his shoulders. Brian already knew the answer to that question, there was no need for Zacky to verbally supply one. Besides, it would hurt him too much to say it. Brian sighed. "Come on, then. We've gotta get our shit from the hotel and catch our plane in two hours."

Without a word, Zacky followed Brian out of the mall and to their rental car, where the others were already waiting. Once they were inside, Jimmy offered Zacky a cigarette, which he accepted. Nicotine couldn't sooth his hurt as well as alcohol, but it certainly helped. And as they traveled down the interstate towards the airport, it started to rain, and Zacky couldn't help but think that the weather was reflecting his mood: sullen and soggy.

♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪


At his parents' house, Zacky stood outside the door. Inside he could hear the sounds of the holidays: he could hear his niece and nephew, chasing each other through the house, he could hear his mother bustling around in the kitchen, working hard on the dinner for tomorrow. If this were last year, he and Abbey both would be inside with them, laughing and getting drunk from his father's eggnog.

Before he could hesitate any longer, he rang the doorbell. Barely five seconds passed before the door swung open, revealing Zacky's older sister, Zina. She stretched out her arms and hugged him, and Zacky found a rare moment of comfort in his sister's arms. "Oh Zack, it's so good to see you," she said, her voice muffled by his shoulder. "I know everyone else will be happy to see you, too. Gavin! Brianna!" she called out, looking over her shoulder. "Guess who's here!"

"Mom, can you just tell us?" Gavin, Zacky's twelve-year-old nephew, shouted back. Zacky couldn't help but smile. "I'm about to beat the level boss!"

"Young man, get over here and give your Uncle Zacky a hug," Zina ordered teasingly. It wasn't long before the sound of small footsteps could be heard heading in his direction, and then suddenly two small bodies flung themselves at him.

"It's great to see you too, kiddos," Zacky chuckled, hugging his niece and nephew.

"Where's Aunt Abbey?" his seven-year-old niece Brianna asked, glancing around as though Zacky's frame hid his petite girlfriend. Zacky's mood plummeted. It obviously showed in his green eyes, because Brianna looked to her mother, surprised at her uncle's sudden sullen behavior.

"Kids, why don't you go back in the living room and finished playing your video game?" Zina suggested gently. "I need to talk to Uncle Zacky." Once Gavin and Brianna were out of earshot, Zina turned back to her brother, the look in her eyes apologetic. "I'm sorry about that, Zacky," she said. "I didn't tell the kids about Abbey leaving. I didn't think they'd understand."

"It's okay," Zacky replied softly. It was as if every bit of happiness he'd been feeling only moments ago had been ripped from his body, leaving him empty and scant of breath. "I think I'm gonna go say hi to everybody and then go to bed. I'm kinda tired from the flight.

Zina nodded, obviously understanding. She could tell her brother was hurting, and she knew that for the rest of his stay, Abbey's absence would be the elephant in the room.

♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪•♫•♪


Hey pretty girl, won't you look my way?
Love's in the air tonight
You can bet you'd make this old boy's day
Hey pretty girl--

It took Zacky a few minutes to find his phone when it started ringing. Normally, it would be sitting on his nightstand, but since he was staying at his parents' house, he'd taken to leaving it in his pants pocket, and so he'd had to stumble around in the dark, hurrying to shut his phone off before it woke up everyone else in the house.

"What the fuck do you want?" Zacky hissed, not even caring who was on the other line. "Do you even know what time it is? It's--" Zacky paused and glanced at the bedside clock "--almost four o'clock in the morning!"

"Zacky, shut the fuck up," Brian's voice barked from the other line. "Do you really think I'd be awake calling you at four o'clock in the morning if it wasn't fucking important?" As the anger of being woken up drained away, Zacky noticed something strange in his friend's voice. It sounded weak, like it was seconds away from breaking. After pondering it for a short second, Zacky finally thought to ask Brian what was wrong, and what Brian said next ripped Zacky's heart from his chest.

"Zacky, it's Jimmy. He's...he's dead."

Notes