Strength Of The World

Car shopping with Peyton made Zack laugh. She didn’t care anything about a new vehicle, she just wanted to shop for the baby. “Come onnnnnn babe, we can look another day. I want to pick out nursery furniture!” She whined, linking her arm with his. “Peyton, you need a car.” Zack chuckled. “We have plenty of time to look at furniture. Besides, you’re gonna get sick of asking for a ride to and from work.” She was about to tell him that she was perfectly fine with asking for rides until she saw a matte black Toyota 4Runner with tinted windows and she instantly fell in love with it. “Okay. Let’s get this one!” She said excitedly, walking up to look inside the windows. “Let’s check it out first and make sure it’s what you want.” Her fiancée said, laughing at her eagerness. “Zachary have you SEEN this thing? It’s perfect!” She said, opening the passenger door. “Look at all that room back there! You might get lucky in he backseat of my vehicle again.” She said, wiggling her eyes at him and referring to the time they hooked up in the back of her Jeep one very drunken night in LA. That had been their little secret. Peyton was pretty sure Jason would have killed her if he had ever found out. “And now we won’t have to worry about anyone else finding out.” Zack chuckled to himself. Just then the salesman walked up, “How are you doing? You guys interested in this beauty? We just drove her off the truck this morning.” “Yes! We’d lien to test drive it please.” Peyton said with a smile. “Yes mam, I’ll be right back with the keys.”

After a test drive and about and hour of Zack negotiating with the salesman, Peyton was driving off the lot in her brand new car with a huge smile on her face. They went home to drop Zack’s car off before meeting with Matt and Val for lunch. Peyton grinned and hopped out of the vehicle as Matt let out a low whistle, “That’s a badass car Pey. I’m gonna need to ride in that.” “Thanks!” She said as she was hugging Val, “Next time we all go somewhere together I’ll drive!” She and Val walked ahead of the men, catching up on the past few days. “She looks the happiest I’ve seen her in a while.” Matt said to his friend. “She is. Last night she was telling me she doesn’t think working is the best idea right now, she about had an anxiety attack and was looking over her shoulder all day.” The guitarist said, watching his fiancée walk toward the door. “So she called them this morning and said she wasn’t coming back.” “Damn. What’s she going to do with all her free time now?” Matt asked, holding the door open. “Probably get ready for the baby, help out with VU, hang in the studio. She was telling me earlier about how excited she is to be back in the studio. She loves that shit.” “I know she does,” Matt chuckled, thinking of how much time Peyton spent with them in the studio while they recorded their previous albums. “I bet she’s getting excited about the show isn’t she?” “Hell yes I am!” Peyton spoke up as the men finally found their seats. “I’ve been begging Zack to let me stand in the crowd with Dan and Tal so I can get a good view. I don’t want to watch your asses perform, I want to see the front.” “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Val asked, looking up from her menu. “I’ll be fine. Dan will protect me.” The brunette argued. “Peyton,” Zack sighed, “Don’t day anything yet.” She pleaded, “Just think about it, okay? Talk to Dan first.” “Okay, fine.” The green eyed man said, looking over at Matt. “We’ll talk to the guys about it.”

After they had lunch Peyton’s knee started hurting a little, “I think we’re gonna have to skip baby shopping today.” She said sadly, limping to the car. “It’s okay, we can go another day. You guys want to come hang out at the house?” Matt offered, helping Peyton into the passenger side of her car. “Sure,” Zack shrugged, looking at Peyton to make sure she was fine with it. “Awesome. I’ll call the rest of the guys. We can have a barbecue.” “Matty, it’s the middle of December.” Peyton laughed. “It’s never too cold for a barbecue, Pey. Plus it’s California.” Matt said with a laugh. Soon everyone was at the Sanders residence, most of them drinking except Peyton, Val, and Michelle. Everyone was sitting around, listening to music, the guys coming in and out to keep an eye on the grill. Johnny and Peyton were in charge of the music which meant they were listening to a wide variety of things. Everyone had walked out of the room for whatever reason, other than Jimmy, Johnny, and Peyton. And when everyone walked back in the room they couldn’t contain their laughter. The three of them were dancing around the living room and rapping along to “California Love”. Jimmy and Johnny were grabbing their crotches and Peyton was bobbing around to the beat, never missing a word of the song. “I didn’t know a pregnant chick could move like that.” Matt said with a laugh. “That’s what I’m saying.” Zack said, never taking his eyes off his fiancée. Eventually the rest of the women joined in on dancing, and the guys went back to grilling. The next song that came on was Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Gimmie Three Steps”. “You can tell this is Peyton’s playlist.” Brian laughed. “Hey now, I’m half southern. I have to embrace that shit!” Peyton grinned. “Don’t make me turn on the Christmas music!” She threatened. “Speaking of Christmas music,” Zack said, turning down the music, “I talked to Dan, and he’s down with standing with you at the barrier. But the first time someone pushes you I’m coming down there and dragging you backstage.” “Ooh, are you gonna have your way with me too?” Peyton teased, wiggling her eyebrows. “Nope. That’s for after the show, just like the old days.” He chuckled. “Ew. Shut up you nasty fucks.” Brian said, plugging his ears with his fingers. “Brian, you’re going to have to get used to this. Clearly we aren’t virgins.” Peyton joked, pointing to her belly. “After all I am growing your nephew.” Brian rolled his eyes and quickly changed the subject. “You excited about being in the front row?” “Um. YES. You know I love it out there! I promise I won’t push anyone around like I usually do.” She said innocently. “I’ll be on my best behavior so I can stand out there through the entire show.” The group of friends ate their dinner and sat around talking, laughing, and goofing off until the wee hours of the morning, when everyone decided to go home and go to bed.

Notes