~Zack's POV~
It had been two weeks since Rian and I started school in Baltimore. That meant two weeks since we met Alex Gaskarth. I'm not completely sure why, but I was determined to get this kid to open up to me. I could tell he was holed up in his mind, seconds away from caving in. I was going to help this guy even if it meant the death of me.
~Alex's POV~
Two weeks ago, I didn't have any friends-well, besides the obvious exception of Jack. Now, I actually considered my self friends with Zack and Rian. Zack just had this bubbly, happy attitude towards life and it raised my spirits, I couldn't deny it. This might just be a new beginning.
--
Zack tugged on a strand of my light brown hair causing me to wince in pain.
"Fuck off," I grumbled. He was the kind of person who woke up and watched the sun rise for fun, I, on the other hand, was no where close to that. Sometimes I wanted to rip his damn throat out in the mornings.
"Wake up, dude," Zack said.
"No," I said and closed my eyes once more.
"C'mon, I'm bored," he pled with me knowing he was only going to piss me off.
"Talk to Rian and leave me the fuck alone." I said, beginning to get annoyed.
"Rian's boring." Zack whined.
"Hey!" Rian said sourly at his younger brother.
Well, that worked. Now, they're going to get into an argument and leave me alone. With how they fight, just get them into an argument and it works like a charm. They leave you alone.
Obviously, they never meant any of the words they said to each other. They loved each other dearly and would die for each other. They just constantly got into meaningless, pointless arguments over trivial things.
My throat burned at the thought of brothers. Dammit, Tom.
Why did that stupid son of a bitch have to kill himself? Why?
I blinked back tears and let the song I was listening to consume me. Ironically, Wake me Up When September Ends was playing which is about Billie Joe Armstrong's father passing away when he was only ten years old. It's sad how may people lose family members before they should.
--
The day had gone by quickly. Ever since befriending Zack and Rian, the days had begun to go by faster. I hated school a little bit less, I even hated myself a minute bit less.
--
I knocked on the door of the Merrick/Dawson house. Of course, it was really only the Dawson household considering Zack was the only Merrick there.
Zack flung the door open and dragged me inside. I followed Zack up the stairs into the room he and Rian shared.
"Woah, you're up here already. Thought Carla would've stopped you and tried to feed your skinny ass." I rolled my eyes at Rian's remark.
"Yeah, but with the way you two eat I'm sure she's used to feeding lions with how you devour whatever's put in front of you," I snapped back at Rian. He pretended to look hurt then preceded to hand me an Xbox controller and turned the console on.
"Let's play Forza!" Zack said in a way that made him sound like a little kid. He was a kid.
"That's fucking stupid. No! Let's play Black Ops Zombies." Rian said to the other.
"No, we always play what you pick out," Zack whined.
"Both of you shut the fuck up," I cut them off before Rian could snap back at Zack.
"Fine, you pick something," Zack crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows at me.
"Let's just play zombies," I said nodding in Rian's direction.
"But Alex," Zack dragged out my name.
"But Zack," I mocked dragging out his name, "You said I could pick out the game so I did." He simply sighed in defeat.
"Sorry, buddy." A fake sympathetic smile lingering on my face.
"You're not sorry, you shit face." Zack narrowed his eyes at me.
"Shut up and start the game." Rian was becoming impatient. I pressed play and began the game, per Rian's request.
--
"I have an idea," Rian spoke up after three silent rounds of the game (obviously with the exception of us muttering explicit words to each other during the game).
"Shoot." I looked at him.
"Okay, whoever looses the next round has to do a dare, like a bad one." Rian's eyes glinted with playfulness and he smiled smugly.
"Oh, you're so on, dick face," Zack cockily said.
Not ten minutes later Zack was cursing his elder brother out and telling him he let the zombies kill him.
"No, you just suck at this game," Rian's saccharine voice was sweet as honey.
"Fuck you, you let them kill me, you fucking twat!" Zack yelled at Rian.
"Time for your dare," Rian proclaimed, ignoring Zack's accusation.
"Fine." Zack was spitting fire.
"I dare you to ask Carla if you can get your nose pierced." Rian smiled triumphantly.
"You know she'll flip shit if I even ask that! She'd get pissed for me even asking!" Zack shook his head.
"That's sorta the point." It was almost out of character for Rian to act like this.
"Come on, back me up on this, Alex." Zack's eyes looked desperate.
"A dare's a dare," I shrugged.
"I hate you both so fucking much." Zack's eyes narrowed as he shot us both daggers.
"Mom!" Rian shouted to get her attention.
"Yes?" Zack's mom appeared at the door.
"Zack has something to ask you," Zack's mother turned her attention to her biological son. Rian looked Zack dead in the eyes all while Zack shot back daggers.
"So, Mom, I was thinking about getting my nose pierced. Can I?" Zack's eyes never stopped shooting Rian daggers yet his voice never faltered. His gaze could melt an ice cube.
"Sure, if you really want to. It's your face." Zack's jaw dropped in disbelief as his mother walked out of the room.
"Wait, seriously?" Rian's voice had lost all playfulness and was replaced with disbelief.
"Sure." Mrs. Carla's voice came from the hallway.
Rian's voice suddenly turned from disbelief to smug delight. Zack saw his brother's expression and horror spread across his own.
"Not just no, fuck no," Zack said before his brother could even say the words.
"Oh, but yes, Zack." Rian smiled.
"You know I don't do piercings." Zack looked like a deer in the headlights.
"You're going to do piercings now." Rian wasn't giving up.
"No!" Zack desperately tried to conceal the terror in his voice.
"Don't be a pussy."
"Don't make him do something he doesn't want to do," I finally chimed in.
"No, now I have to do it. He called me a pussy and thinks I won't. Looks like I'm getting my nose pierced then." Zack's eyes held a dead expression.
A smiled played on Rian's face as he declared victory.
"Hahahaha, cute," Zack said sarcastically.
"Let's go. There's a piercing shop right down the road." Rian got up and turned the Xbox off.
