“Are you sure you can travel today, babe? You’re still pale.” Jess asked with one of her hands caressing Zack’s cheek softly and he smiled. They were all gathered in a big table to have breakfast on the hotel but Jimmy and Emily.

“Yeah, J, actually I’m feeling great. I’m renewed after last night nightmare, you don’t need to worry.” he pecked her lips and got up. “Hey, you’ve seen Emily? I gotta thank her for backing me up on the concert. She saved my ass.”

“She’s awesome. You can even let her play on your place and stay with me in the backstage instead, what you think?” she smirked up at him and he replied.

“Don’t make those kinds of offers, hun, I might accept it.” he winked seductively. “I’m gonna go get something for us to eat, be right back.”

As soon as Zack turned his back, Jess caught a glimpse of Emily and Jimmy coming through the restaurant door, wrapped on each other’s arms as if they were the newest couple in town. Jess felt happy at that sight, she haven’t seen her friend’s eyes shining like that since… since ever.

“Hey, where were you, love birds? You vanished after the concert last night.” Jess analyzed their eyes as they sat on the chairs next to her. Must’ve been a hell of a night, she thought.

“I’m gonna bring us something, Em. We’re starving.” Jimmy ignored Jess’ question and smirked at her, practically answering what she wanted to know. He rose from his seat and went to the buffet, not before messing around with Emily’s hair and making her laugh in a silly way.

“Starving, huh? A lot of energies burnt last night, I can see… You guys didn’t stay at the hotel?”

“Nope. We wanted to debut the bus room for a change.” Emily drew a malicious grin as she winked at somewhere behind Jess’ back. Jimmy was there making funny signs at her.

“Damn, I was planning to debut it with Zack but guess you were faster…” she made a fake disappointment face and Emily bragged herself with raised eyebrows.

“I’m really sorry for him but… what happened to me at that stage, god, it was pure adrenaline to play with those guys, Jess. Jimmy has an incredible machine working for him when he’s drumming, he leads the songs, his playing is so fluid and natural. Any guitarist can feel comfortable with him.”

“I heard you talking about Brian like that, but never about Jimmy. I can see you made your choice after all.” Jess raised her eyebrows.

“Well, I have musical chemistry with both of them. But Brian was acting weird with me. After the concert, that jerk found us and started lecturing me about playing on his band without his permission and stuff in front of Jimmy. What is he thinking? That I would steal Zacky’s place permanently?”Jess watched Emily glance quickly at Brian’s direction. He was watching their talk with a serious face but sitting too far to hear anything.

“He looks pissed. You guys stopped the madness already? You look like you’ve been on seventh heaven with Jimmy all night long.”

“Yeah, we’re in love, Jess. Everything is perfect now.”

“And what about the angry man there.” Jess motioned discreetly at Brian.

“What about him?” Emily tried to divert her gaze to the window but Jess could read her really well. She was hiding something.

“You don’t fool me. Please, tell me you didn’t get together again after that night, Emily.” Jess watched Emily roll her eyes and sigh. She had to shake her head. “Oh my god, you are still seeing him even after you confessed you love Jimmy? I can’t believe...” Jess tried to keep her voice down but she was outraged.

“Jess, he sneaked in my room when I was showering. What was I supposed to do?” Emily mumbled.

“Damn it, Emily. Jimmy doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment, you know that. You’re so happy now, don’t ruin it like you always do. Promise me you’ll put an end on this. Promise me!” Jess forced Emily to bring her gaze back to hers.

“I wish I could, Jess. It’s not that easy anymore. They both complete me in a way I never thought I’d be. I thought I’d always feel empty inside, no matter what. And then I… I found both parts of me that were missing. You’ve never been in love for two persons at the same time before?"

“No! Stop being selfish! All of you’ll end up hurt, I’m warning you.” Emily heard those words and knew her friend was right. But the high of having them both was bigger than anything for her.

Emily made a sign with her head, telling Jess that Jimmy was coming and the subject was over for now.

“Hey, what did I miss, my girls?” Jimmy and Zacky seated each at their respective girl’s side with their plates and they tried to disguise the tension between them.

“I was… just telling Jess we are playing in a festival on LA tomorrow, right babe?” Emily ate a few fruits from their plate and Jimmy agreed.

“Yeah, but we’re not headlining this time. Linkin Park is...” Jimmy rolled his eyes.

Just by hearing that band’s name, Zack felt his stomach trying to churn on him again. He didn’t understand why they had to accept that, to open for that kind of mainstream band that thinks they are doing aggressive rock music. They are a bunch of pussies, that’s what they are, Zack thought.

“Really?” Jess gazed at Emily with widened eyes.

Linkin Park was her favorite band for years before she met Avenged. Mike Shinoda was like her God and Emily knew that well. She smiled at her still amused friend.

“Maybe you can meet them, Jess. You used to love them.” Emily said it innocently and received a kick on her leg down the table from Jess. She didn’t want Zacky to know that, since his previous history with their drummer. But it was too late now, wasn’t it?

Zack frowned at his girl. “Hey, you never told me you… liked them.” he said with disdain, looking at his own food.

“Oh, Emily is exaggerating here. I just… knew a song or two.”

“A song or two? You were like singing their entire first album every day for, I dunno, 5 years straight. You even learned how to rap to show it to Mike someday.” Jess made all the possible signs to stop her friend from talking but she wasn’t getting it. She kicked her again, harder this time.

“OUUCH, what was that?”

“Emily, can I talk to you for a sec? Alone.”

They both got out of the table and Jess grabbed Emily’s arm roughly.

“What the fuck, Emily! Zack’s ex-girlfriend abandoned him to be with Rob Bourdon, Linkin Park’s drummer. He hates them. He wasn’t supposed to know I like them.”

“Oh, but, c’mon, it’s not like you’re trading him for Shinoda. As I heard, they are all happily married, except for their drummer. We can see why now…” Emily chuckled.

“Don’t laugh! This is serious! And you gotta find me a press card, so I can interview them or I don’t know, just get near them. Please, Emily, I’ll do anything, I’ll wash your clothes for two months, I...”

“Heeeey, hey, hold your panties! I don’t have that kind of shit. You gotta talk to Matt or… maybe Jason can help you, he’s always multitasking anyway.”

“Emily, you know them better than me. Please, you gotta do this, you know how many question I have for Mike, about music and composition. I’m begging you.”

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do. But you gotta do something for me.”

“Spit it and I’ll do it.”

“Hmm… remember you told me we should buy new clothes for me? I’m not really in the mood of going out shopping so you gotta do this for me. You know my style, you know my size. Here’s my credit card.”

“Damn… okay, is for a good cause. You need everything?”

“Yeah. Black, red and purple, the colors I wear on stage. And I need… hmm… you know, new sexy lingerie. Jimmy already saw all of them, I’m getting out of options.”

“Fuck, Emily, how am I supposed to…”

“We wear the same size, my bra is a little bigger. I trust your taste, J! Please?” Emily set her hands together and Jess gave in.

“Alright, alright. Black, red and purple, sexy stuff. I’m gonna have a long walking day, apparently.” Jess sighed heavily.

“What would I do without you here?” Emily set an arm around Jess’ shoulders and they walked back to the table.

“You would only survive, baby.” Jess finally grinned at her friend and they sat back at the table.

---

Los Angeles, next day – Sound check

Jimmy’s drums were echoing all around as he was still finishing a few adjustment on his drumkit. He was the only one still on stage. Emily walked through the almost empty backstage and looked around to see if it was all clear; which means, no signs of Brian and his bad mood at her. But he was still there for her misfortune.

Emily was almost turning her back to him to run away when he noticed a figure with red hair.
“Hey new Vengeance.” he called out and she stopped her steps, breathing deeply and turning to face him.

“Brian, cut it out, okay? If you can’t see I was just trying to help you guys finish the songs cause Zack was sick, you really aren’t the person I thought I knew.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, looking even angrier and got near her slowly.

“I don’t have a problem with you playing with us. I have a problem with the fact that we didn’t know anything from there and I was listening to someone playing with me and I couldn’t see the person until I went behind the amps and found you. I panicked a little, okay?”

“Oh, you, the master of confidence on stage, panicking?” Emily chuckled. He was getting nearer and nearer and she tried to back out a little, but there was a wall behind her.

“I know it doesn’t look like, but I’m only human.” he smirked really close to Emily now. He leaned his arms on the wall and locked her in between, his nose brushing on hers slightly.

“Brian, we gotta stop this. Someone can walk on us here.” he closed his eyes for a moment and backed off from her, which took a lot of power of will from him. “Besides, let’s make things clear here once and for all. I’m really happy with Jimmy right now, we’re living our best time together, I don’t wanna ruin it. So... we can be friends and that’s all I can offer.”

Brian drew an ironic smile and shook his head. He couldn’t bear the fact she was choosing his friend over him always.

“Don’t you think I know how I make you feel? Huh?” he approached her again, rougher this time.
She tried to escape but he held her arms, so the only thing that she had was to not look at his eyes. If she made eye contact, she knew she would surrender again.

His gaze travelled her body and stopped at her breasts. She felt his breathing on her face and she had shivers everywhere. Her nipples hardened and she knew he could see them.

“You say you want him, but your body says otherwise. I make you feel crazy for me down there. Does he do it like I do?” he whispered inside her ear and she thought her knees would fail on her again.

“I’m just a piece of meat for you, aren’t I? Jimmy doesn’t think like that, he respects me and knows me better than anybody. I’m not a fling for him, you know. So stop messing around with our lives.” she was determined to disentangle from him.

“Oh so you’re planning to marry him or something?” he waited for her answer but it didn’t come. “That’s what I thought. Look, Emily, we’ve done this before, okay? I hooked up with his girl once, he hooked up with mine, it’s what we do, we don’t get hurt easily. Unless he’s really serious about you and…”

“He IS serious about me, Brian. How many times I have to repeat that. We’re not fooling around!” she raised her tone.

“C’mon, you need to get high to be with him, I saw it last night. He’s clearly not enough for you.” Emily had to look away.

“Getting high is just part of our fun. We like it that way and you’d never understand our reasons.”

“Did he ever make you cry in bed like I did? Huh?” his nose grazed on her cheek and she held her breath not to move to his mouth.

If for a moment Emily thought she had decided, Brian’s arguments were getting better and stronger. She felt like changing the subject was the best option for now.

“You arrogance is not really as attractive as you think, you know that?” she tried to move her head to face him but he held her chin.

“You owe me!” he mumbled inside her ear again. She could push him away anytime but she wasn’t trying anymore. Just being around him made her static.

“What are you talking about?” her voice failed.

“For how you made me feel last night. Angry as hell and jealous as fuck.”

“I don’t owe you anything for last night, Haner! Get off.” she finally had the strength to move her face off of his hand, angry glare filling her eyes.

“Yes, you do, and I’ll definitely claim my payment later.” Brian used threat mixed with seduction on his voice and stepped away from her. She was wrong, he was even more sexy when demanding.

---

“Hey, there you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Did you get the pass?” Jess came running to find Emily walking out from the concert venue a little too blushed for the weather.

“Yeah, I got it, it’s here, you’re gonna get in as photographer. Did you get my new clothes?”

“Lying on the bed of your room.” Emily handled the press card to Jess and her eyes glowed with that paper in hands. Her heart began to race on her throat when she read her name in there. “God, Emily, you have no idea how much I love you for this!” she hugged her friend roughly.

“Don’t thank me, Jason helped me out with this. I said I owed him a blowjob, I hope he didn’t get it serious though.” they both shared some laughs. “I heard Linkin Park is getting here anytime by now, so… get your mind and soul ready. I’m gonna go take a shower and rest for tonight’s concert. I’ll be waiting anxiously for the ‘photos’.” Emily rolled her eyes and showed her tongue in a pervert way as she walked away.

Jess breathed in and out and took a few steps to see from where that car noise was coming from. Her heart pound ever harder when she saw Chester Bennington wearing a white tank top and aviators coming out of the bus that had just parked a few meters of her.

Oh God…

---

Jess waited outside along with a few other people and when they opened the gates for the press, she was trembling from head to toe from anxiety. She just had to go there and take pictures, not really a hard task when you’re a professional photographer. She wasn’t. But at least a word she would trade with them, she was certain of that.

Her card gave her access to the entire stage so she went straight there, where they were already making the sound check and playing a bit of a few songs. She recognized a few songs from their new album like Given Up and In Pieces. Oh my god, Brad is finally shredding on this song, I can never lose this concert!! Not even if I have to lock Zack somewhere.

Jess approached the stage a bit shyly. She had no idea where to start. She just watched them initially.

“Hey guys, let’s go to the beginning of What I’ve Done, I don’t seem to find the right voice on my keyboard.” Mike stated on his mic and the other guys agreed. Jess remembered why she had a crush on that guy when she was 15. He was a natural leader.

She took a few pictures from down the stage, focusing on every one of them. Brad and Phoenix always talking and making a few jokes while adjusting their instruments. Chaz was the first one to get there and the first one to get out cause he only had to see if his mics were working. His voice had to be preserved for later on.

Rob tested a few more songs along with Mike and Joe and she took the time to take a lot of pictures of him with her not-so-pro cam.



That man was gorgeous with long hair and his mysterious ways but she would never trade Zack for him, not in a million years. The girl who did that is probably an unreliable and stupid groupie. Jess felt good with herself, cause she knew he had found better with her.

Joe and Rob left the stage and Chaz appeared again for Jess surprise. She thought she would have a chance to talk to Mike now but they started another song, only voice and piano. Her heart melted when she heard the notes.

She had seen them live before but not that close. Chaz voice could make the hairs of her neck to stand up but she had all her eye attention to the guy on the piano.



Sometimes closing his eyes, singing along just to himself but she could hear him clearly. She wished he could sing more like this cause his voice was as beautiful as Chester’s. Yeah, another thing she gotta say to him.

When the ecstasy of the song ended and brought Jess back to reality, someone stood behind her.

“Hey, mrs., you gotta leave now.” she turned her back and saw a tall guy looking like a security man. He held her arm and she looked back to the stage, Mike was leaving.

Oh fuck, no!

“Wait, just… I have a few question for the band and…” she wanted to go after Mike but the guy held her arm.

“I’m sorry but they are not open for question today. All the press is gone already.” He started pushing her down the stairs and before she could walk away, she glanced at the stage one last time. Chaz and Mike were gone through the other side.

Fuck! I’m so dumb! I let them go!

“Okay, stop pushing me! I’m going…” she held her arms up with the biggest disappointment feeling she ever had and walked down the stairs straight to the outside door.

She kicked a few rocks in the floor and shook her head several times looking down. She was always like that, fearful of life challenges. If she was brave enough, she would’ve run away from the guy and called out for Mike, he would surely talk to her, he was always nice with the fans. But she wasn’t like that, was she? She was the uptight girl afraid of living her own life. But this is changing now, she could feel that being with the guys on tour can take her out of her boring and safe life for good.

She waited a few minutes on the parking lot just to see the guys surrounded by security get back in their bus. There it goes her only chance of talking to them.

“Stupid!! How could you let him go, Jess!!” she almost punched her own head before she noticed someone stopping just at her side.

She was afraid of looking cause she could smell his cologne. She closed her eyes and began to think about a good explanation. When her eyes opened again, he was walking away, shooking his head.

“Zacky. C’mon, get back here! ZACK!!” she yelled and it echoed through the parking lot together with Linkin Park’s bus engine going away. “ZACK!!!”

He didn’t even look back.

Notes

hmm problems in vengeance's heaven... :p
this is just the beginning baby! muhahaha (ok, I know I'm a bad person :D)

have you seen the butterfly landing on Mike's fingers on that video?? Awwnnn *--* divine!! <3