Brian
Coming home always has been my favourite part of touring, especially when we’ve been touring with a new album.

While I love coming home and being able to spend every waking moment with my wife, the love of my life, Michelle, that isn’t the main reason I like to come home. Our wives all come out to visit us regularly while we tour, but the other woman in my life, the woman I’ve always looked out for, who has looked out for me since she was still in diapers, my little sister Hannah Haner, is the real reason I love to come home.

Hannah was born when I was ten years old, six years before Mac, to Brian Haner Senior and Suzy Haner. The second Dad placed her into my arms I fell in love with her, and I knew that I would do anything it took to keep her safe. Our family and friends are always telling us that we’re like two peas in a pod. We’re almost never away from one another and we look out for each other.

“Sit still,” Matt laughed “I know you’re excited to see her but she’s working, you won’t see her until tonight,”

Matt. He’s my best friend and he’s been going through a rough time lately. His wife, well… ex-wife, Valary left him and for the time being she took their son with her. He was always close with Hannah, and she loved him to bits. They were best friends growing up and she spends almost as much time with him as she does with me.

“Nope,” I smirked at him “I’m going right to the store the second I get off this bus, she’s my baby sister and I am dying to see her,”

“I don’t really know you’re sister all that well,” Arin, the new addition to our band, chimed in as he dropped himself onto the sofa across from me.

“Trust me, you don’t want to,” Johnny chuckled, taking a swig from his beer “She’s a pain in the ass,”

“He’s kidding,” Zack cooed at Arin when he had a cringing look on his face “She’s adorable, and she keeps us all in line when we’re at home,”

“You mean to tell me,” Arin started, sitting up straight and clearing his throat “Your own women can’t keep you all in line when you’re at home, so a chick ten years younger than three of you has to do it for them?”

There were a few moments of silence where we all looked around at one another before we all nodded and made noises of agreement.

My phone started to ring in my pocket and when I pulled it out, a huge smile broke out on my face when I saw my wife’s name and picture flashing on my screen.

“Hello gorgeous,” I greeted as I answered the phone and pressed it to my ear.

“Hey handsome,” She giggled into the phone “So, how far away are you?”

“We’re about thirty minutes away from home, where are you?” I asked.

“I’ve just had some lunch with Val and Jack, but, I know how excited you are to get to the store and see Hannah so I was going to head over there and wait for you outside and we could go in and see her together?”

“That would be great,” I smiled “Are you coming to dinner with us tonight?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I could hear the smile in her voice, and her tone was filled with what everyone around us called admiration.

Michelle was amazing, she always had been. Sure, we’ve had our problems in the past when the band first started to get big and we toured the world, she was insecure and scared that I was going to screw every girl who threw themselves at me, and I made some mistakes, I broke her heart more than once, but no matter what happened we always found our way back to each other again. Eventually, I realised how much my life would suck without her, and I popped the question without a second thought and it was the best decision I ever made. We’ve been married for three years now and we’ve been trying to start a family for two years, but we’ve had no luck so far.

She’s a trooper though, and every month that passes by without a positive pregnancy test only makes her stronger.

“Did you make the appointment with Doctor Ferguson?” I asked her.

“Ten thirty in two days,” She chuckled.

“Are you worried?” I asked.

“Why should I be worried?” She asked “I’m sure there isn’t anything really wrong,”

“You’re probably right,” I sighed lightly, running my free hand down my face “I’m sure we just have to keep trying,”
~~~~
Hannah
The store was quiet today, which was nice, and probably a good thing. I couldn’t concentrate on running the store today, not when I knew that I was seeing my brother tonight after months of nothing.

I know that Michelle, Lacey, Kimberley and Meghan all fly out to wherever the guys are and spend some time with them. But, I’m not a wife or a girlfriend or a fiancé, and I have a business to run out here, and someone has to water the plants while everyone is gone. Plus, none of the other siblings fly out to spend a few weeks on the bus with the band.

I was sitting on a stool behind the desk, using the computer to make some more purchases for the store, order in some people’s orders all while checking the site and the store email. This was really all there was to it when there weren’t that many customers, it was surprisingly easy to own and run my own store.

As I started to type out an email to a customer inquiry, my phone vibrated beside the keyboard. I glanced at it and saw my best friend and roommates name on the screen with a text message alert. I picked up the phone and slid my thumb across the screen to open the message.

Busy? – E

I quickly typed my reply.

Farthest thing from it – H

It wasn’t long before she was texting me back.

Alright, so what are we having for dinner tonight? I’m at the store, gotta know what to
pick up. – E

I swear, the girl would forget her head if it wasn’t screwed on right.

E… you do remember what today is, don’t you? – H

It took a couple of minutes to get a reply, and I could almost see her standing in the middle of the aisle at the store just staring at her phone, trying to remember.

I don’t know… Mexican Monday? – E

Yes and no. The guys are coming home today, remember? – H

I put my phone down when a kid, about thirteen, came rushing up to the desk with a stack of CD’s in his hands.

“Whoa,” I chuckled “Where’s the fire?”

“I have been looking for these absolutely everywhere,” He beamed at me as he dropped them in front of me on the desk “Everywhere else either doesn’t have them, and the ones they do have are all freaking second hand,”

“Second hand?!” I exclaimed in mock disgust before laughing a little “Trust me kid, you won’t find any of that here,”

“Hey…” He trailed off “You look familiar, do I know you from somewhere?”

“I don’t think so,” I laughed as I rung up his order.

While I scanned his items I could feel his eyes burning into my face as he studied me, obviously trying to work out where it was that he knew me from.

“That’ll be twenty-five dollars,” I smiled at him.

When he handed his money over to me, I could almost see the light bulb come on in his head.

“I’ve got it!” He exclaimed “You’re-“ He cut himself off and leaned in close to speak with a lowered volume “You’re Synyster Gates’ sister, right?”

I chuckled and packed his items into a brown paper bag.

“I’m not Synyster Gates’ anything,” I informed him “I’m the younger sister of Brian Haner Junior, though.”
~~~~
Why don’t you just tell him that you like him? – H
Erin hadn’t been able to believe that she forgot today was the day that the guys were coming home, and we were now deep in conversation about Zack Baker.

No way in Hell am I telling him anything! – E

Bitch, please! You missed your chance when you refused to talk to him about it after his split with Gena and then he got with Meghan and the longer you leave it, the more serious they get with one another! – H

I met Erin in high school and we became so close so fast that people who didn’t know us could easily assume that we were sisters, and sometimes we liked to mess with people and pretend that we were… girlfriends. But, she’s always had a thing for Zack, who is only eight years older than she is. She never listened to me, she never did anything about it and then the next thing we knew, he was married. After his divorce, should have been the perfect time for her to admit how she felt, even if it was just to let him know there was something there, but she never did it. Now, he’s dating a lovely girl, Meghan, she’s a year older than Erin and I, but they haven’t been together all that long.

He has a girlfriend, and I know that never really managed to put you off a guy before,
but if they want to be together, I’m not going to come between that. – E

Alright… but you’re spending the night with the rest of the guys so try to control yourself if she’s there. – H

About an hour after the weird kid who surprisingly knew who I was, the whole store was completely empty and I was thinking about closing up and meeting Erin. But before I could slide back off my stool, the bell above the door rang and my head snapped up, a small smile on my face, ready to greet the customer but it wasn’t just any customer, it was my brother and my sister-in-law.

“BRIAN!” I screamed, jumping off the stool.

I rounded the desk and ran down the shop to the door where Brian was beaming at me, bracing himself for the impending impact of my flying body. I jumped off the ground at him and he caught me, almost losing his balance but regaining it before he could fall down. My legs wrapped around his waist, my arms around his neck and I buried my face in his shoulder and cried some tears of happiness while he clutched me to him and buried his face in my hair.

“Miss me?” He asked smoothly.

“I always miss you,” I mumbled into his shoulder “Promise me you won’t go away again for a long time,”

“Don’t worry,” He chuckled “I don’t plan on leaving for a long time,”
~~~~
Erin
When Hannah reminded me what today was, I was still in the grocery store, and I remembered that I had plans with the guys to hang out at Zack’s place tonight. I replaced some things in my cart with chips and beer and headed to the checkout.

My text conversation with Hannah was still running through my head. She was – hopefully – the only person who knew about my feelings for Zack. I’d had the biggest crush on him forever, but I’d never said anything to him about it. First, I thought that he wouldn’t like me because I’m so much younger than him, I was worried he’d think I was just some silly little kid with a school-girl crush on some guy who was in a band. Then, he met Gena and I knew he was completely smitten with her and she loved him a lot, too. They got married and it broke my heart to see it, but what kept me going was the fact that he was happy with her… for a while anyway. After she left him and he divorced her, he was heartbroken and I was his main shoulder to cry on, I made sure he didn’t drink himself out of the game and into an early grave, but I still didn’t say anything to him about the way I felt about him, but by now I knew that I was completely, madly in love with him. It wasn’t long before he was burying himself in his own business, Vengeance University. I did some modelling for him here and there – he needed the modelling done and I needed the money – but then, one of his employees brought in a new model, Meghan. She was so kind to everyone, especially me, and when she started to get close to me, I honestly felt so guilty when I started to feel the slightest bit bitter towards her. Now though, they’re a happy couple, I mean, really happy… I haven’t seen him this happy since Gena and there was no way I was going to ruin that for him, I love him too much.

After I bought everything at the store that I needed to buy, I drove back to the apartment I shared with Hannah to take a shower and get ready. I’d been working all morning and I didn’t want to be smelling of ink all night.
~~~~
I pulled up outside Zack’s house and walked up to the front door with the crates of beer I’d bought earlier tucked under my arm. Once I was outside the door, I could hear commotion from just inside the house and I could only assume that the guys were having another one of their debates over something. They were either deciding whether to watch movies, TV, listen to music or none of the above.

“THE PARTY IS HERE!” I yelled as I burst through the front door and into Zack’s open plan ground floor.

Zack, Matt, Johnny and Arin all jumped up in surprise, like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar at first, but then they realised that it was me and they all yelled in greeting before charging at me and capturing me in a group hug between all of them.

“Looks like I was missed,” I laughed breathlessly when they finally put me back on the ground.

“Movies or music?” Zack asked, wrapping me up in a solo hug.

His arms felt like home.

“Music,”

Matt cheered and Zack pulled away from me to cheer with him, leaving me feeling empty for a brief moment, while Johnny and Arin groaned loudly.

“What?” I asked with a laugh “If we watch movies, then we’re just going to be focused on them all night, but music adds for background noise while you all fill me in on what crazy shit you all got up to on tour this time,”

“Erin, you should have been there, it was amazing!”

And so it begins…

Notes

Hi guys!

This is a re-re-write of the original 'Nobody Said It Was Easy' that I want to do.
I realised that I hadn't done what I had originally planned when I stared re-writing this before. I found the notes that I had written and it's going to be even better this time around!

Thank you guys for putting up with all of this! The first few chapters are going to remain the same as before, but then the re-writing shall begin!

Subscriptions and comments are much appreciated as always!

~ LMV <3