The blinding California sunlight beaming in through my window woke me the following morning. After growing used to my pitch black room at the Hard Rock, I had forgotten that my room at Brian's was the first to be assaulted by the sun in the mornings. Groaning and shielding my eyes, I made a mental note to get some blockout curtains on the ASAP.

I rolled out of bed, fixing the couple of buttons in my onesie that had come undone as I slept, and crept out of my room. Turning the knob on Brian's door, I opened it, only to find his bed unmade and empty. I walked down the hallway and checked the bathroom, which was also empty.

Maybe he's having his morning smoke?

I made my way downstairs, walking over to the door to that led to the backyard.

"He's not here." McKenna's voice sounded from behind me, and I turned to see her sitting on the couch in her Superman pajamas, a bowl of Lucky Charms perched in her lap.
"Where is he?" I asked, walking over and sitting down beside her.
"He left about an hour before you woke up, said he was off to meet Jimmy."
"Why, is everything okay?"
"Yeah." she nodded, putting another spoonful of cereal into her mouth, chewing and swallowing it. "He didn't say why, but he did seem a little off, not like something was seriously wrong, but just... weird." she shrugged. "I dunno, probably some weird Brian Haner thing."
"Probably." I agreed with her, drawing my knees up to my chest. Or, more-likely, it's about what happened last night.
"So, tell me about Vegas." she grinned.

I filled her in on everything - bar what had happened with Me and Brian. I told her about our hotel suite with its amazing bowling alley, about singing at the open mic night, and getting a new tattoo, which I showed her. She covered her face and lost it laughing as I told her about Johnny, Zacky and I going skinny dipping, and Jimmy's brief adventure with the white tiger.

"Oh my fucking god." McKenna wheezed, trying to catch her breath. "Why am I not an adult yet? I miss out on everything!"
"Just a few more years." I giggled, ruffling her hair. "Then you can party with the rest of us."
"But I wanna party now!" she whined.
"I'll make you a deal; If Brian ever leaves us alone in this house for longer than 24 hours, I will personally buy you alcohol and let you and your friends have a party."
"Really?"
"IF-" I held up a finger. "You promise not to trash the place beyond repair, and help me clean up the mess."
"I promise."
"Pinky promise me." I requested, holding my pinky out to her.
She hooked her own through mine. "I swear on my life, I will not leave you to clean up on your own.
"Then I swear to let you party to your heart's content." I nodded.
"You are the coolest big sister I never had." she smirked; reminding me so much of her older brother...

***



"So why'd you wanna meet me so early?" Jimmy asked, sitting crossed-legged in the sand beneath the Pier, scooping up a handful and letting it cascade down between his fingers.
"I think I seriously fucked up." I sighed, throwing beach pebbles into the water.
"What'd you do?" Jimmy questioned.
"You know what I did." I swallowed, closing my eyes.
"Ruby?"
"Yeah..."
"Tell me you didn't just fuck her and leave her hanging." Jimmy groaned.
"I might've-"
"Brian-"
"Unintentionally."
"Oh, so you just slipped and fell into her vagina?!"
"Look!" I snapped, ditching another pebble into the water in frustration. "It was supposed to just be a little bit of fun! I didn't mean for it to get as intimate as it did."
"Brian, you knew she was vulnerable." Jimmy scolded me. "It's only been what? Six months now, since she and Jack split?"
"Yeah." I confirmed, reaching into my pocket and drawing out a packet of Marlboro's.
"So you took advantage of her." Jimmy sighed, rubbing the inner corners of his eyes. "Brian, for fucks sake."
"I didn't take advantage of her." I defended, cupping the flame of my lighter to shield it from the wind as I lit my smoke. "She practically threw herself at me."
"Don't fucking play that card!" Jimmy scoffed. "I know you, you seduced her."
"What makes you think that?"
"It's what you do, Brian." he frowned up at me from the ground.
After a few moments of silence, I spoke again; "I rejected her last night--"
"Dude--"
"Gently." I stated, taking another drag from my cigarette. "I told her it had to stop, us sleeping together, sharing beds, whatever."
"How'd she take it?"
"She seemed fine." I shrugged, blowing out smoke. "I hugged her goodnight, and she went to bed, in her own room."
Jimmy stayed quiet for a moment, looking out at the ocean, before turning back to me. "I know you're still hurting over Jenna-"
"This has nothing to do with that."
"No?" he raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me you're not lonely?"
I clenched my jaw, unable to answer him.
"I remember how you were when you found out what she did." Jimmy recalled. "And how the only person you wanted to speak to, was Ruby."
"Nobody remembers that more clearly than I, believe me..." I took another drag from my smoke.
"And if you keep going the way you are, you're gonna lose her again." he stated. "You want my advice?"
I shrugged.
"Keep your distance, don't pull your Synyster Gates charm on her anymore."
Blowing out another puff of smoke, I answered him; "I hadn't planned on it."
"Good." he said bluntly. "You break her heart, I'll kick your fucking ass."
"Dude, Ruby's important to me." I sighed, wrapping an arm around one of the posts that supported the pier as I took another drag. "I refuse to lose her, ever again."
Jimmy stood, coming to stand by my side. "Then keep it in your pants." he said, squeezing my shoulder.
"I'll try." I chuckled.
He tugged the brim of my fedora down over my eyes. "You won't try, you'll do." He sniggered, smacking me on the back...

Notes

This is filler, but necessary.

You guys all seemed to like the idea of a Soundtrack for this story, so here you go!!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ_Dax4eSNqZGO26IekoQkKk973qg_1Zq

The only song it's lacking is Devil In Disguise, which I can no longer find a link for, which stinks
But the other songs are all there!! So enjoy!!!

Also like, guys, when I went looking for the photo of Huntington Pier for this chapter, I also saw photos of the actual diner there
Guess what it's called? Fucking Ruby's
I was like;


So yeah, fun lil fact for ya'll ;)
Until next time xx