Matt's POV
It was a strange evening to say the least. Brian was visibly upset when he got into the car. "What the fuck Damien?" He said turning his head to look at him.
"You didn't tell me to pick you up!"
"I thought I did. Did you have to be a fucking asshole, why didn't you just drop it!"
"Calm down Buddy, I don't think Damien tried to cause problems." Jimmy said.
"I know. I'm sorry, I really thought I told you to pick me up." He said to Damien.
"You were pretty wound up and in a hurry."
Brian didn't speak except to say bye when each guy got out of the car. Jimmy said "I'll call you tomorrow, okay buddy?"
"Okay" is all Brian said.
Once it was the two of us in the car, he finally spoke. "I fucked up."
"It sounds like it. I must be missing something, did she say you saved her?"
"I probably shouldn't talk about it, she didn't want anyone to know. I don't need to add anything else to the list of shit she hates me for. I need you to talk to her on your way to LA tomorrow."
"Talk to her about what?"
"Convince her to forgive me, give me another chance." Brian was putting me in an awkward position.
"I don't know if I can do that, I don't even know all that happened. BUT until she does forgive you, you will lay low, right? You will only talk to her if we're all together and stick to just band business. You will be nice to her also, right?"
"Yes, I will keep my distance. You know that I am not lying about thinking that I told Damien to pick me up, don't you?" he pleaded. "If you can convince her of that, it will help."
"Yeah, I can tell that you thought you did. I'll talk to her, but I can't make any promises. You want to come in and have a beer?"
"Hell yes." He grabbed his jacket to take inside and must have felt something in the pocket, he pulled out a small gold box.. "Oh shit, I forgot about this."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Go ahead, take a look."
"Holy shit! It's one of Dimebag Darrell's picks. Did Paisley give this to you?"
He nodded, "She caught it at a Pantera concert. She was going to give it to me as a peace offering, but instead it ended up being a Thank You gift."
"That was cool, she really wanted to patch things up with you."
"I guess she did, now she hates me and thinks I was trying to just..."
"Trying to what?" I had a bad feeling, it was probably better that I didn't know.
"Never mind. Can I ask you another favor?" I nodded. "Will you give this back to her?"
"Are you sure?"
"I don't deserve it." He said sadly.
"I'll talk to her and see what I can do. It's going to be rough if she won't forgive you."
The next day-

Paisley's POV
I didn't sleep much that night, I couldn't keep my mind from racing with the roller coaster of the last two days. So much changed so quickly. I called the mechanic and the van would not be done until around 4:00 so I called the front desk and arranged a late checkout. I dreaded the ride with Matt because I knew he was going to talk about Brian. I called Matt and let him know when we were leaving.
Right as I hung up the phone, there was a knock on the door. Shit! I hope it's not Brian, I mumbled to myself. I stood still hoping they would go away thinking I wasn't there.
"Paisley, it's Jimmy. I know you're in there, I saw your car."
Shit, I can't refuse Jimmy. I decided to try to be funny. I didn't want him to think I was upset about Brian. My approach was going to be blissful apathy.
"How do you know Paisley didn't walk somewhere?" I said in a high-pitched voice, right before I opened the door. "Jimmy!" I gave him a big hug. "Come on in, what's up?" I was hoping he would fall for my bad acting and not talk about Brian. Jimmy had a grin on his face, like a little kid telling a secret.
"Well for one, you are a crappy actress. You know you don't have to pretend or hide anything from me, right?"
"I just don't want Brian to think the wrong thing. I'm sure he probably asked you to come here, to try to convince me I should forgive him."
" I haven't talked to him since last night. That was only bye, he didn't speak after we left here."
"Still, I don't want him to know that I am upset."
"He's my best friend and really like a brother, but I promise you that what we talk about stays between us. I do think he thought he told Damien to pick him up. I think you need a friend right now."
"Thank you, I know I can trust you. Do you want to go out and grab something to eat? I need to get out of this suite."
"Sounds good." He held out his arm to me. "Mi Lady"
I took his arm and we left the room, laughing and joking around the whole way.
We went to a small diner downtown, Jimmy didn't pressure me to talk about Brian. We talked about Avenged Sevenfold and what my role would be. I told him what happened in the parking lot at Johnny's. Before he could respond, two girls walked up to our table.
"Hey Jimmy" The blonde said, tapping on Jimmy's shoulder.
Jimmy jumped up and drew both into a hug with each of his long arms. "My girls!" After releasing them, he gestured to me. "Have you had the chance to meet Paisley, our new PR Manager?"
"No, Matt hasn't introduced me yet." The blonde said. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Val, Matt's girlfriend and this is my sister Michelle.
"I'm pleased to meet you Val, Matt has told me a lot about you, I feel like I know you already. It's a pleasure to meet you too, Michelle."
"It's nice to meet you. I wondered who you were when I saw you yesterday." Michelle said.
"You saw me?"
"I saw you on the beach with Brian."
"Oh," I didn't really want to think about that. "Yes, that was me, he was taking me on a tour of Huntington Beach."
"I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like you were holding hands" Michelle said with a grin.
I could feel Jimmy and Val's gaze upon me waiting for my response.
"Holding hands? That must've been when I almost fell, I'm not used to walking in sand."
"Right, that must have been it." She said, obviously not convinced by my excuse.
Val must've sensed the tension building and intervened. "Well, we've got to go. We're going boating with some friends. It was great to meet you Paisley."
Once they left, Jimmy sat there with a sly, satisfied grin.
"Brian and Paisley sitting in a tree..."
"Stop it" I threw a french fry at him. "It was nothing, just like I told Michelle."
"You are so full of shit. You can't bullshit a bullshitter."
"Okay we were holding hands on the beach for a couple of minutes, big deal"
"Oh my God, you slept together!" He exclaimed loudly.
"Jeez Jimmy, why don't you yell that for everyone to hear!" I said quietly. "Since when, does holding hands indicate a sexual relationship?"
"Since I saw your face last night and right now when Michelle said that."
"I'm that obvious?"
"It wasn't just you, I could tell by how Brian acted too. He isn't shaken that easily, and he was clearly upset. The shower story, now makes sense"
"Do you think everyone has figured it out?"
"I don't think so. I think they just think you had a good day together and had started to trust each other and Damien threw a wrench into it without realizing it. Who would imagine you two would go from hating each other to humping each other in one day?" He laughed loudly, pleased with himself.
"Oh my God Jimmy, stop it!" I was trying to keep a straight face, but I wanted to laugh too. Jimmy had a knack for adding humor to bad situations.

Brian's POV
Matt and I had a few beers and talked about anything but Paisley. I was trying as hard as I could to get her out of my mind. I ended up just crashing there. I had just got up and decided to eat and drink more beer, when Val and Michelle came in.
"Hi Brian" They both said in unison and in a way more chipper tone than I could take until I had a few more beers.
"Hey" I said, chugging the last of my beer. I realized they were just standing there with stupid grins on their faces. "What the hell is wrong with you two?"
"We met your new girlfriend!" Michelle said, clearly ready to bust out laughing.
"I don't have a girlfriend, what the fuck are you talking about?" I wasn't in the mood for gossip bullshit.
"We met Paisley downtown, she was having lunch with Jimmy."
"Really? When did you see them?"
"So She is your girlfriend?" Michelle asked.
"She's not my girlfriend, she hates my guts. Now, when did you fucking see them?"
"About 5 minutes ago." Val said.
I ran out of the apartment, grabbing the box with the pick in it on my way out.
I was downtown when I realized I hadn't asked where they were eating, but I lucked out and spotted the PAISLEY license plate on her car. I knew she didn't want to talk to me, but she couldn't hide in a bedroom this time.
I could see through the window before I walked in that she and Jimmy were laughing. I thought that was a good sign. As soon as I walked in the door I knew I was wrong, her face changed immediately. Clearly she had not forgiven me. I tried to pretend I didn't notice. I walked up to the table all smiles.
"I can't believe you two are here! Good to see you!"
"I can't believe you're here and it's not good to see you." She practically growled at me. There was a moment of awkward silence before Jimmy asked, "Hey Brian, what's up?"
Instead of telling the truth, I made up something quick.
"I'm meeting my brother here for lunch." As soon as I said it, the look on Jimmy's face told me that was not a good answer.
"Do you usually go out to lunch looking like you just got out of bed?" Paisley snapped at me.
"What?" I said before I realized how I probably looked. "Paisley, I wanted to try to talk to you before you left and Val told me she saw you here."
"You wanted to talk to me so you could lie to me again!" She hissed as she stood up and headed quickly out the door. I caught her by the arm outside, I was now pissed.
"I came here to give you back your pick!" I shoved the box into her hand. She just glared at me, her reaction made me even angrier. "You know what? I should have trusted my first instinct about you!"
"Your first instinct was to grab my ass! That told me everything I needed to know about you! I shouldn't have let you sucker me in with your knight in shining armor act!" When she called what I did an act, I spoke out of hurt and anger without thought.
"Well, I should've reminded myself before I came to your defense that you were a bitch and getting what you deserved!" As mad as I was, as soon as I said it, I knew I had gone too far.
"Damn Brian!" I heard Jimmy behind me. Paisley just stood there her face was red with anger and tears had started flowing down her cheeks.
"Paisley, I didn't mean that." I reached out to touch her arm, she jerked away and spoke to Jimmy.
"I'm sorry Jimmy, I tried but I can't work with him. I'll talk to Paul and have him get someone else." She turned, got into her car and left.
I knew Jimmy was pissed at me, but he put his arm around my shoulders. "Damn Buddy, that was brutal."
"I know, I went too far. But she just drives me so crazy!"
"Yes she does." He said laughing.
"What is funny about that?"
"You like her, you can't-fool me into thinking she was just a piece of ass."
"She told you?"
"I figured it out and she confirmed it."
"It doesn't matter, she hates me and now you guys can hate me too."
"We're not going to hate you, but we do need to figure out how to patch all of this up. We need Paisley, not someone else."
"It's impossible, she will never speak to me again let alone work with me."
"Let's go talk to Matt, he's going to LA to pick up the van with her. Maybe he can talk her into staying with us."
"I don't see how he can."
When we walked into Matt's apartment, he was just hanging up the phone. I didn't expect him to walk over to me a push me backward, looking like he was going to punch me.
"What the FUCK did you do, Haner!"
"Calm down man" Jimmy said.
"I'm not going to calm down until HE tells me what the hell he did to run Paisley off! She just called me, she was trying to hide it but she was crying. She said that she couldn't work with us anymore because of YOU! She said that you or Jimmy could tell me why. So, I want the whole story right now."
I just stood there, I didn't know what to say. Jimmy took charge.
"Why don't we all sit down and I will tell you what I know and Brian can fill in the gaps."
Jimmy started with what Paisley told him about the incident in the parking lot. When he got to the part about the hotel, he said. "Brian, I really think you should tell him what happened there." Before I could even say a word Matt yelled as he stood up.
"YOU FUCKED HER DIDN'T YOU? Damn it, why can't you keep it in your pants for once?"
"Watch your mouth Sanders! It wasn't like that."
"Then what the hell was it like?"
"I don't know, it was just different. The next morning I didn't want to run away from her like I have with other girls."
Matt calmed down a bit. "Okay, so what happened today?"
I told him about being a jackass at the restaurant. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
"I thought we agreed that you were going to give her space?"
"I know it was stupid, I wasn't thinking."
"I don't know what we're going to do. Larry is going to kill us, you know that?"
"We were hoping you would still try to talk to her on the way to L.A." Jimmy said.
"I can't do that, she's already left, she said she was going to the office to talk to her boss. She offered to rent a car for me to drive there and drop it off at the garage when I picked up the van. I told her not to worry about it, I would get you to drive me."
"We're screwed and it's all my fault."
"Let's go get the van and we can try to figure out a way to fix all of this." Matt said.
"We need to go to Paisley's office." Jimmy said.
"We had better get going. We have to pick up the van first or they will be closed." Matt said.
"We'll be lucky if she's still at her office by the time we get there." I knew it was a long shot.
"If she's not, maybe someone else will be and tell us where she lives." Jimmy suggested.

Gretchen's POV
I hadn't heard from Paisley for two days, other than a quick voicemail that she was going to stay in Huntington Beach until a van was repaired? Whose van? Why did it need to be repaired and why did she have to wait for it to be fixed? On Thursday, when I got back to my desk after lunch, I had two voicemails from Paisley wanting me to call her at her hotel.
"Hey Lady, what's up? Did you decide to stay in Huntington Beach forever?"
"I'll probably never come back here again." She said sadly. "I need to talk to Paul and tell him I can't do this."
"Paul is out of town. Are you having problems with the band?"
"Not the whole band." She said with obvious sadness.
"Let me guess, Synyster?"
"How did you know that?"
"Just a feeling I had. So tell me what happened."
She told me what happened from Disney to this morning. (I now knew what the van message meant). She told me about the parking lot incident and how Brian came to her rescue.
"Oh my God Paisley! Who knows what could have happened!"
"Yes, it was scary. Brian took me to the hotel, he said he told Damien to pick him up."
Paisley told me about the night, along with the next day. She didn't realize it, but I could tell by her voice how much she enjoyed the time they spent together.
"This all sounds great to me! I know you two had a bad start, but that shouldn't matter now."
"The problem is that it was all a lie." I could hear the hurt in her voice.
"I don't understand, what was a lie?"
"He wasn't looking for me, he was just going to leave. He heard me and that's when he came over to help."
"Yeah, so big deal. If he was some jerk who could really care less, he would have left anyway. He also could have just let you drive to the hotel."
"He also didn't really tell Damien to come to get him, another lie."
"So he hated you so much that he wasn't looking for you like he told his friend he would. But when he saved you from a creep, he came up with a diabolical plan within minutes to get you into bed by taking you to the hotel and not having anyone come to pick him up. Is that what you're saying?"
"When you say it that way, it sounds ridiculous."
"Who encouraged him to wait up in the suite? Who ordered the two bottles of wine? Who spent the whole day with him and then took him up to her suite for a little pickle tickle..."
"Okay, Okay, I get it!" She thought for a moment. "I overreacted, didn't I?"
"You know the answer to that already."
"What the hell should I do now? He hates me, I made him hate me again." I could tell she was starting to cry.
"Go see him, explain to him you're a crazy woman because you think every man is going to lie to you like your ex-husband did."
"I can apologize to him, but that's it. I can't work with him, I don't know that I can keep it professional."
"Then don't keep it professional."
"Well, what would that look like? What would the rest of the band say? I doubt that any of them even want me around anymore as it is, most of all Brian."
"I bet you're wrong about that."
"No, it's over before it even began." Her fear of getting hurt evident.
"Why don't you think about it over the weekend?"
"I really don't think they will forgive me, it's hard to believe that I'm going to miss him so much."
"You mean them, not him."
"I said them."
"Right" I chuckled. "So when are you coming home?"
"I think I'm going to stay here tonight, I told Matt that I was leaving earlier but I just want some time alone, I have a lot to think about and maybe I'll take a walk on the beach. I have to figure out how to tell Brian that I'm sorry and see if the guys will take me back."
"I'm sure the guys will be happy that you aren't going to quit."
"As long as Brian forgives me. We seemed to have a connection and I crushed it."
"I'm sure he will forgive you. You need decide where you want to go with that connection."
"I know, it depends what he wants too. Thank you Gretch, I can always count on you to be the voice of reason."

Jimmy's POV
We picked up the van and Matt left to drive it back to HB. Brian drove as fast as he could through LA rush hour traffic to the office building where Paisley worked. It was 5:30 and we could only hope that she was at the office working late since she had been out for several days. The door to the agency was locked.
"I can't even catch a fucking break." Brian mumbled.
"She could still be here, the door is probably locked because it's after hours." I looked through the small window next to the door, I could see a light on in an office down the hall. There was a name plate next to the door, but I couldn't read it. "I see a light on in that office, can you read the names?"
"Gretchen Davis and Paisley Callahan!" Brian started pounding harder on the door, no answer. A woman finally walked out from the office, I could see the disappointment on Brian's face."
"She could still be here." I said, just as the woman opened the door.
"Can I help you?"
"Is Paisley here?" Brian asked anxiously.
"No, she hasn't been here since Monday." She motioned for us to walk in. "You must be Synyster, I mean Brian."
"She told you about me?" Brian asked
"Yes, she called me." Gretchen said with a smile. "The two of you have had a busy week!"
"You're not kidding! Jimmy chuckled.
"Do you know where she lives? It's very important we talk to her." I asked.
"I know where she lives but she's not there. She's probably going to be pissed at me for telling you. But I talked to her earlier today and it was obvious she likes you, I know it. I've tried for six months to get her to at least go out with a guy more than once. But She's in tears over you."
"Really? Do you know where she is?" Brian asked anxiously.
"She's right where you left her, Huntington Beach."
"But she told Matt she was leaving."
"She was going to come here and tell our boss to find someone else. I told her our boss was out of town. She said she decided to stay there to be alone and possibly head to the beach."
"Thank you, Gretchen, we have to go."
"Good luck, don't give up on her. She was burned by her ex-husband, so she's wound up a little tight." Gretchen called out as we went running out.
"I have to find her first." Brian mumbled as we entered the elevator.
Brian was driving insanely fast. "Dude, she's not going anywhere you don't have to get us killed trying to get there."
"You never know, she changes her mind a lot. She could decide to go home after all or maybe go somewhere else. I have to talk to her and it has to be as soon as possible."

Notes