Hadley POV

"VENGEANCE!"

"Whoa!" I yelped as I fell off the couch, heart and head pounding from the loud interruption of my sleep.

"Yes, dear Brian?" Zacky asked innocently. Oh yeah. The marker.

"I'm going to fucking kill you man," Brian said with gritted teeth, gesturing to the unibrow, mustache, and goatee combo he was now sporting.

"Sorry, bro, but you know the rules. You were the first to pass out," Zacky shrugged.

Brian turned to me. "You could have slept with me last night, you know. What happened to my cuddle buddy?"

I laughed. "You didn't leave any room for me on the love seat, Bri! You were all over the place."

"Ugh, what time is it?" Matt growled sleepily. It was adorable. And that morning voice...

"Time to wake your ass up," Brian replied, throwing a pillow at Matt's head with a little more force than necessary.

"What in the actual fuck, Gates?" Matt demanded as the pillow hit him.

"That was a little hard, Bri," I sighed. It became awkwardly quiet, so I figured I'd head elsewhere. "I'm going to go check on Nikki and Jimmy." I got up and went to check on the two. Opening the door, they were both sitting up and rubbing their eyes.

"I hate daylight," Nikki groaned, falling back on the bed.

"What happened last night? I don't remember much," Jimmy winced, holding his head. I just laughed.

"Nothing much, just a lot of sleeping," I grinned before deciding to leave the two to figure it out before heading back down the stairs; however, I stopped when I heard yelling.

Brian POV

"Matt, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked as Matt gave me a funny look.

"Uh, yeah. What's up?"

I dragged him into the next room. "What were you doing with Hadley last night?"

"Whoa, nothing. Why? What'd you think happened?" Matt asked, looking confused.

"You know how I feel about her dude and you're just going to fucking swoop in on her? Is that your plan?" I demanded, giving him a nasty look.

"Maybe you're not the only one who likes her, Brian," Matt growled, shoving me back away from him.

"I liked her first. She was my best friend first! There's no room for you in this!" I yelled, shoving him back.

"Stop being a jealous dick!" Matt seethed before shoving me out of his way.

"Don't walk away from me!" I yelled back before turning Matt around and shoving him backwards.

"Don't touch me, Gates!" Matt raised his voice, knocking me down. I got back up and was ready to jump on Matt when something small got in my way and shoved me back.

"Stop!" Hadley yelled, pushing us apart. "Both of you! What's the matter with you two? I leave for five minutes and you're ready to kill each other! What happened?"

"Nothing," I muttered, walking away.

"Yeah, nothing," Matt echoed, moving into the other room.

Hadley POV

"Don't walk away from me!" Brian's voice yelled through the bottom floor of the house.

"Don't touch me, Gates!" Matt said even louder, and I heard something hit the ground. I hurried down the stairs to see Brian on the ground looking royally pissed off. I saw him lunge for Matt, so I hurried up and shoved them apart before this turned into a huge fist fight.

"Stop!" I yelled as I pushed them apart. "Both of you! What's the matter with you two? I leave for five minutes and you're ready to kill each other! What happened?" I looked at them expectantly for an answer before Brian finally mumbled, "Nothing."

I knew that was a lie, so I looked to Matt. But all I got from him was the same answer Brian gave me. Matt walked into the dining room and Brian headed for the front door.

"Brian! Where are you going?" I asked, walking up behind him.

"Home."

"Let me walk you," I said, getting my shoes on.

"No," Brian replied, pushing the door open.

"Brian, please tell me what's wrong," I begged. "I want to help. Just tell me what you guys were fighting about and--"

"Hadley. Leave it," Brian said, barely turning his head. His voice had an edge to it. I felt my eyes start to water--I can't remember the last time Brian got mad at me. Just once when we were little, but he was over it when I gave him a hug. That's it! I ran over to Brian and gave him the biggest, warmest hug I could muster. I waited to feel his familiar embrace, but it never came. I looked up at him to see why he wouldn't hug back.

"Are you done?" He asked.

I felt my tears return. "Fine! Leave then! I don't want to see you anyway! Just go home!" I yelled before running back to the house.

"Hadley, wait!" Brian called, but I was already slamming the front door behind me.

"Matthew Charles Sanders!" I yelled between my tears, looking for the man whose name now echoed against the walls. No one answered, so I headed to the dining room where I last saw him. He was leaning against the back door, looking at the gloomy sky ahead.

"Matt what is going on with you two? What just happened?"

No answer.

"Matthew Sanders so help me I will have nothing to do with either of you when you're acting like this!" I cried, storming out of the room. Matt didn't even turn around. I ran upstairs to find Nikki, but ran into Johnny instead.

"Whoa, Hadley, slow down. Are you okay?" He asked.

"No, I just want to grab Nikki and go home," I said, wiping my eyes as Johnny gave me a hug.

"I'll drive you," he offered.

"Thanks," I smiled before heading off to Zacky's bedroom. "Nikki, we gotta go."

"Ads? What's wrong? What happened?" Nikki asked, no longer giggling like she was a minute ago.

"I just need to get back home," I said, sighing. "Johnny said he'd drive us back."

"Oh, okay. Uh, Jimmy, text me," she said as she grabbed my hand and we left. That night, I couldn't sleep. What had Matt and Brian fought about? When were they going to get over it? Why wouldn't they talk to me about it? Why were they ignoring me? Had I done something wrong? The question kept me up until the wee hours of the morning when my exhausted eyes finally closed. We had a show to do the day after tomorrow. I doubted the guys would come out. Well, maybe everyone except Matt and Brian would. But they were two of my best friends. What was I supposed to do without them?

Notes

A little jealous there, Brian? My goodness. Well, will they come to a compromise, or is Hadley going to be growing apart from her two best friends? Nikki and Jimmy seem to be getting closer. And how about the next SCP concert? Who will show up? A special guest character will make an appearance at the concert: one of Hadley's vocal idols. Stay tuned, and as always, thank you for the comments and votes! Love you!