Two Vibrant Hearts
Chapter Sixty-Six
*Brian POV*
I plucked the strings of my guitar with my finger gently, having trouble on what I wanted to play. I already practiced almost every song I knew, I already practiced some of the new riffs to the very few songs we had started working on for our next album, and I even tried making up riffs for future songs, even though we won’t be back in the studio until around May. I was so bored, but I was too lazy to walk over to my phone six feet away from me to try to contact anyone. I ended up having to anyway, because when I began playing Through the Glass another time my phone began ringing. I groaned and turned off my amp before trudging to pick up my phone.
“What do you want?” I whined as I threw myself over my couch.
“Either you’re being lazy or you’re focusing too hard on something.” Johnny’s voice said through the phone. I sighed and kicked my legs as they hung over the back of my couch.
“Both.” I replied in a tired voice.
“Trying to find something to play on guitar?” Johnny guessed.
“Save me.” I begged. Johnny laughed and I stared at the ceiling as I awaited his answer.
“That’s what I was calling you for.” Johnny informed me. I shot up and pushed myself over the back of the couch so that I was standing up. “Zach, Jimmy, and I are all at Jimmy’s for a get-drunk-and-watch-movies night tonight and you didn’t answer Jimmy’s texts so he told me to call.”
“What about Matt?” I asked. Matt had been acting quite weird lately, and it was really starting to intrigue me. I knew one of the guys—most likely Jimmy since he’s the one that knows everyone’s business—knew what was going on, so I was excited to hear what was going on with him.
“He said he was busy with something.” Johnny sighed, sounding slightly annoyed. “Probably stuck with Gayle or some shit.”
“That pisses me off.” I muttered to myself, even though I knew that Johnny could hear me as well.
“It pisses all of us off. Anyway, you in?” Johnny asked.
“Sure thing. I’ll be there in a little bit. You guys need me to pick anything up?” I asked as I ran up the stairs. I threw my jacket on and fixed my hair a little bit before grabbing my keys and heading towards the door.
“Just pick up some snacks to munch on. Ooh, and beers. Lots of beer.” Johnny listed. I laughed and jumped into my car, putting my phone on speaker before starting it up.
“What, Jimmy doesn’t have enough beer?” I teased. I pulled out and began driving the direction away from Jimmy’s house and towards the highway so I could go to Wal-Mart.
“Of course he has enough, but what part of get drunk don’t you understand?” Johnny emphasized. I rolled my eyes; so much sass in such a small body.
“Okay shortshit, don’t blow a casket, I’m on my way to get your precious beer.” I snapped sarcastically before laughing and hanging up. I pulled into Wal-Mart and jogged to the entrance. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the guys without one girl attached to their bodies, myself being guilty, and even though Matt wasn’t going to be there I was really looking forward to it. I went straight to the beer and picked out four six-packs. Johnny owed me so much in beer money. I grabbed multiple bags of chips and some grapes for throwing at each other before checking out. As I began walking out someone rammed into me and I nearly hit the woman walking next to me on the other side. “What the fu-”
“Watch where you’re going, Gates.” Emma growled playfully. I rolled my eyes and punched her lightly before looking around for Kid. Emma smirked and gave me a look.
“What?” I asked nervously as I scratched at the back of my head.
“She’s not here, Bri. Quit looking for her.” Emma addressed. I coughed and rubbed my chin a little.
“I was not looking for Kid.” I scoffed as I crossed my arms over my chest. Emma mimicked me and gave me another look.
“Oh really? Then what were you looking for?” Emma asked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and shoved her a little.
“You’re annoying, shut up.” I chuckled, completely dodging her question; she knew she was right. She gave me a victorious look and I smirked. “So what are you here for?”
“Oh, um,” Emma stuttered, her face going red. I raised my eyebrows as my smirk widened. “I was just here for some… stuff.”
“Oh, stuff?” I repeated. She nodded a little and I gave her a look.
“Fine. I’m here to buy condoms.” Emma confessed. I laughed and winked before looking back at the door.
“Have fun with that. I have to go now, I’ve got some things I need to say to Johnny,” I snickered as I walked away. Emma laughed before walking towards the health area, disappearing behind a corner. I quickly walked back to my car and threw the stuff into the passenger seat before driving over to Jimmy’s. I didn’t even realize until I was almost there that I was in Wal-Mart getting food and making fun of Emma for almost an hour, and the guys were gonna be pissed. My assumptions were correct, fore when I walked in, all three of their gazes turned to me in a glare.
“Where the fuck have you been, Gates?” Zach snapped, even though I could tell he wasn’t really pissed.
“Yeah dude. We send you on a run and it takes you almost a friggin hour. Were you picking up tampons as well?” Johnny questioned cynically. I raised my eyebrows and gave him a flat look.
“Oh, I just ran into Emma at Wal-Mart and she asked me to help pick out some condoms for you guys,” I shot back, my voice mocking. Jimmy and Zach’s face fell as Johnny’s face went red. “I tried to hand her some that I like to use, but she said they were a little too big for you.”
“…Seriously?” Johnny asked in a scared tone. Jimmy and Zach cracked up as I whipped my eyebrows in triumph. I sauntered to the kitchen and set the beer in the already packed fridge before grabbing the Doritos and walking back into the living room.
“I’m just joking, Johnny.” I admitted. He let out a breath of relief, but sucked it back in when I smirked at him. “Emma was there, though. She was buying condoms.”
“At least we know he’s actually getting some,” Zach offered through his giggles. I shrugged in agreement before sitting down. Once they all composed ourselves Jimmy motioned for me to give him the bag, and we ended up passing it around in a circle.
“The gang’s all here.” I commented as I passed the bag to Zach, even though there was a tint of sarcasm in my voice. Everyone rolled their eyes and smirked.
“This is like high school all over again.” Zach huffed.
“Tell me about it.” I agreed sullenly. “Why couldn’t he come anyway?”
“Didn’t say. Twenty bucks says Gayle, though.” Jimmy added. We all nodded and I could tell from each of their faces that they were pissed.
“Why is he still with her anyway?” I complained, feeling more aggravated than ever now that I was able to talk about this with my brothers. “I mean, didn’t Kid say that he broke?”
“Yeah, she did. But she never further explained how she knew or if things are being arranged.” Zach explained. “But since Gayle is still in the picture I’m thinking it was just a false alarm.”
“God that pisses me off.” I grumbled to myself. My hatred for Gayle hadn’t lowered in the slightest, and I was getting angry with Matt. Everyone could tell that he did not want to be with Gayle, yet he did nothing to try to get rid of her. I just wanted to fucking punch him in the face for being with Gayle when he wants Kid and Kid wants him. I just couldn’t believe a close friend of mine was leading on such a freaking amazing girl like Kid when he likes her more than he’s ever liked anyone else.
“Eh-hem?” Jimmy cleared his throat. I looked up and noticed all of them staring at me with an unreadable look on their face. Maybe I was grumbling my thoughts to myself out loud and they heard what I said. I shrunk down a little and stared at them.
“What?” I questioned. Smirks suddenly rolled across their faces and they all leaned back on their hands at the same time, which was honestly really creepy. I shot upand raised an eyebrow, directing my attention to Jimmy.
“How do you feel about Kid?” Jimmy asked, making his voice sound like he was a therapist. I scrunched my eyebrows together and stared at him with an incredulous look.
“She’s a good friend…?” I answered, unsure of what they were expecting. Once again, they all in sync threw each other a look that pretty much said I was a crazy sac in denial.
“No, I mean, do you want to get with her?” Jimmy articulated, his voice smooth. My eyebrows shot up and my mouth dropped.
“Wha-no! No fucking way!” I denied, shaking my head furiously. Jimmy gave me a ‘really, dude?’ look and I glared at him. “I see Kid as a friend. She’s my fuck-buddy for fucks-sake! C’mon guys, what the hell!”
“I don’t care if she’s your fuck buddy, do you or do you not want to be with her?” Jimmy persisted, talking to me as though I were in an interview. I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“No. I do not want to be with Kid.” I repeated, letting out an annoyed sigh. They continued to give me the look and I decided to justify myself. “Okay, listen, you fuck-faces. I think Kid is hot. I think she’s hilarious and adorable and she is the best fucking cuddler in the whole damn world. But would I get with her in a dating sense? No, because I don’t see her like that. I see her as my chick friend who knows how to cuddle well and knows how to make a guy happy and has really nice boobs even though that is completely irrelevant to the point I’m trying to get across.” Now they were just downright giving me the look of disbelief. I let out another exasperated sigh before rolling my eyes. “I-I like her company, okay? It gets lonely when we’re not on tour and she’s fun to be around. But we both know we’re nothing more than friends and she’s Matt’s anyways, even if he chooses not to step up and take his prize.”
“So if Matt didn’t imprint on her would you date her?” Jimmy quizzed. I sighed and threw my head back.
“If the situation were different and Matt hadn’t imprinted on Kid even though he’s being a total fuckwad, yes I would probably date her.” I exclaimed. They all got a cocky smirk on their faces but I glared at them. “What is this, some kind of interview? Why are you asking me all these questions?”
“No reason.” Jimmy answered simply. Man I hated when he did that.
“Whatever, it’s not like you guys wouldn’t date her if you had the chance,” I mumbled to myself. They all gave me confused looks and I shook my head. “How about we stop this game of 21 questions and get back to what we came here for: drinking and movies.”
“Hell yeah!” Johnny yelled excitedly before jumping up and practically sprinting towards the kitchen.
“We need to get the little man off the alcohol.” Zach snickered.
“You’re telling me.” I replied as I stood up and headed for the kitchen myself, wanting to think of anything but that conversation.
I plucked the strings of my guitar with my finger gently, having trouble on what I wanted to play. I already practiced almost every song I knew, I already practiced some of the new riffs to the very few songs we had started working on for our next album, and I even tried making up riffs for future songs, even though we won’t be back in the studio until around May. I was so bored, but I was too lazy to walk over to my phone six feet away from me to try to contact anyone. I ended up having to anyway, because when I began playing Through the Glass another time my phone began ringing. I groaned and turned off my amp before trudging to pick up my phone.
“What do you want?” I whined as I threw myself over my couch.
“Either you’re being lazy or you’re focusing too hard on something.” Johnny’s voice said through the phone. I sighed and kicked my legs as they hung over the back of my couch.
“Both.” I replied in a tired voice.
“Trying to find something to play on guitar?” Johnny guessed.
“Save me.” I begged. Johnny laughed and I stared at the ceiling as I awaited his answer.
“That’s what I was calling you for.” Johnny informed me. I shot up and pushed myself over the back of the couch so that I was standing up. “Zach, Jimmy, and I are all at Jimmy’s for a get-drunk-and-watch-movies night tonight and you didn’t answer Jimmy’s texts so he told me to call.”
“What about Matt?” I asked. Matt had been acting quite weird lately, and it was really starting to intrigue me. I knew one of the guys—most likely Jimmy since he’s the one that knows everyone’s business—knew what was going on, so I was excited to hear what was going on with him.
“He said he was busy with something.” Johnny sighed, sounding slightly annoyed. “Probably stuck with Gayle or some shit.”
“That pisses me off.” I muttered to myself, even though I knew that Johnny could hear me as well.
“It pisses all of us off. Anyway, you in?” Johnny asked.
“Sure thing. I’ll be there in a little bit. You guys need me to pick anything up?” I asked as I ran up the stairs. I threw my jacket on and fixed my hair a little bit before grabbing my keys and heading towards the door.
“Just pick up some snacks to munch on. Ooh, and beers. Lots of beer.” Johnny listed. I laughed and jumped into my car, putting my phone on speaker before starting it up.
“What, Jimmy doesn’t have enough beer?” I teased. I pulled out and began driving the direction away from Jimmy’s house and towards the highway so I could go to Wal-Mart.
“Of course he has enough, but what part of get drunk don’t you understand?” Johnny emphasized. I rolled my eyes; so much sass in such a small body.
“Okay shortshit, don’t blow a casket, I’m on my way to get your precious beer.” I snapped sarcastically before laughing and hanging up. I pulled into Wal-Mart and jogged to the entrance. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the guys without one girl attached to their bodies, myself being guilty, and even though Matt wasn’t going to be there I was really looking forward to it. I went straight to the beer and picked out four six-packs. Johnny owed me so much in beer money. I grabbed multiple bags of chips and some grapes for throwing at each other before checking out. As I began walking out someone rammed into me and I nearly hit the woman walking next to me on the other side. “What the fu-”
“Watch where you’re going, Gates.” Emma growled playfully. I rolled my eyes and punched her lightly before looking around for Kid. Emma smirked and gave me a look.
“What?” I asked nervously as I scratched at the back of my head.
“She’s not here, Bri. Quit looking for her.” Emma addressed. I coughed and rubbed my chin a little.
“I was not looking for Kid.” I scoffed as I crossed my arms over my chest. Emma mimicked me and gave me another look.
“Oh really? Then what were you looking for?” Emma asked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and shoved her a little.
“You’re annoying, shut up.” I chuckled, completely dodging her question; she knew she was right. She gave me a victorious look and I smirked. “So what are you here for?”
“Oh, um,” Emma stuttered, her face going red. I raised my eyebrows as my smirk widened. “I was just here for some… stuff.”
“Oh, stuff?” I repeated. She nodded a little and I gave her a look.
“Fine. I’m here to buy condoms.” Emma confessed. I laughed and winked before looking back at the door.
“Have fun with that. I have to go now, I’ve got some things I need to say to Johnny,” I snickered as I walked away. Emma laughed before walking towards the health area, disappearing behind a corner. I quickly walked back to my car and threw the stuff into the passenger seat before driving over to Jimmy’s. I didn’t even realize until I was almost there that I was in Wal-Mart getting food and making fun of Emma for almost an hour, and the guys were gonna be pissed. My assumptions were correct, fore when I walked in, all three of their gazes turned to me in a glare.
“Where the fuck have you been, Gates?” Zach snapped, even though I could tell he wasn’t really pissed.
“Yeah dude. We send you on a run and it takes you almost a friggin hour. Were you picking up tampons as well?” Johnny questioned cynically. I raised my eyebrows and gave him a flat look.
“Oh, I just ran into Emma at Wal-Mart and she asked me to help pick out some condoms for you guys,” I shot back, my voice mocking. Jimmy and Zach’s face fell as Johnny’s face went red. “I tried to hand her some that I like to use, but she said they were a little too big for you.”
“…Seriously?” Johnny asked in a scared tone. Jimmy and Zach cracked up as I whipped my eyebrows in triumph. I sauntered to the kitchen and set the beer in the already packed fridge before grabbing the Doritos and walking back into the living room.
“I’m just joking, Johnny.” I admitted. He let out a breath of relief, but sucked it back in when I smirked at him. “Emma was there, though. She was buying condoms.”
“At least we know he’s actually getting some,” Zach offered through his giggles. I shrugged in agreement before sitting down. Once they all composed ourselves Jimmy motioned for me to give him the bag, and we ended up passing it around in a circle.
“The gang’s all here.” I commented as I passed the bag to Zach, even though there was a tint of sarcasm in my voice. Everyone rolled their eyes and smirked.
“This is like high school all over again.” Zach huffed.
“Tell me about it.” I agreed sullenly. “Why couldn’t he come anyway?”
“Didn’t say. Twenty bucks says Gayle, though.” Jimmy added. We all nodded and I could tell from each of their faces that they were pissed.
“Why is he still with her anyway?” I complained, feeling more aggravated than ever now that I was able to talk about this with my brothers. “I mean, didn’t Kid say that he broke?”
“Yeah, she did. But she never further explained how she knew or if things are being arranged.” Zach explained. “But since Gayle is still in the picture I’m thinking it was just a false alarm.”
“God that pisses me off.” I grumbled to myself. My hatred for Gayle hadn’t lowered in the slightest, and I was getting angry with Matt. Everyone could tell that he did not want to be with Gayle, yet he did nothing to try to get rid of her. I just wanted to fucking punch him in the face for being with Gayle when he wants Kid and Kid wants him. I just couldn’t believe a close friend of mine was leading on such a freaking amazing girl like Kid when he likes her more than he’s ever liked anyone else.
“Eh-hem?” Jimmy cleared his throat. I looked up and noticed all of them staring at me with an unreadable look on their face. Maybe I was grumbling my thoughts to myself out loud and they heard what I said. I shrunk down a little and stared at them.
“What?” I questioned. Smirks suddenly rolled across their faces and they all leaned back on their hands at the same time, which was honestly really creepy. I shot upand raised an eyebrow, directing my attention to Jimmy.
“How do you feel about Kid?” Jimmy asked, making his voice sound like he was a therapist. I scrunched my eyebrows together and stared at him with an incredulous look.
“She’s a good friend…?” I answered, unsure of what they were expecting. Once again, they all in sync threw each other a look that pretty much said I was a crazy sac in denial.
“No, I mean, do you want to get with her?” Jimmy articulated, his voice smooth. My eyebrows shot up and my mouth dropped.
“Wha-no! No fucking way!” I denied, shaking my head furiously. Jimmy gave me a ‘really, dude?’ look and I glared at him. “I see Kid as a friend. She’s my fuck-buddy for fucks-sake! C’mon guys, what the hell!”
“I don’t care if she’s your fuck buddy, do you or do you not want to be with her?” Jimmy persisted, talking to me as though I were in an interview. I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“No. I do not want to be with Kid.” I repeated, letting out an annoyed sigh. They continued to give me the look and I decided to justify myself. “Okay, listen, you fuck-faces. I think Kid is hot. I think she’s hilarious and adorable and she is the best fucking cuddler in the whole damn world. But would I get with her in a dating sense? No, because I don’t see her like that. I see her as my chick friend who knows how to cuddle well and knows how to make a guy happy and has really nice boobs even though that is completely irrelevant to the point I’m trying to get across.” Now they were just downright giving me the look of disbelief. I let out another exasperated sigh before rolling my eyes. “I-I like her company, okay? It gets lonely when we’re not on tour and she’s fun to be around. But we both know we’re nothing more than friends and she’s Matt’s anyways, even if he chooses not to step up and take his prize.”
“So if Matt didn’t imprint on her would you date her?” Jimmy quizzed. I sighed and threw my head back.
“If the situation were different and Matt hadn’t imprinted on Kid even though he’s being a total fuckwad, yes I would probably date her.” I exclaimed. They all got a cocky smirk on their faces but I glared at them. “What is this, some kind of interview? Why are you asking me all these questions?”
“No reason.” Jimmy answered simply. Man I hated when he did that.
“Whatever, it’s not like you guys wouldn’t date her if you had the chance,” I mumbled to myself. They all gave me confused looks and I shook my head. “How about we stop this game of 21 questions and get back to what we came here for: drinking and movies.”
“Hell yeah!” Johnny yelled excitedly before jumping up and practically sprinting towards the kitchen.
“We need to get the little man off the alcohol.” Zach snickered.
“You’re telling me.” I replied as I stood up and headed for the kitchen myself, wanting to think of anything but that conversation.
Ohhhh, I love this!!!
12/13/16