I Know It's Hurting You, But It's Killing Me (A7X Fan Fiction)

Chapter Three: Cannonball!

Two things: 1. sorry that this chapter has taken me so long to write. and sorry its shorter.

2. for those of you who are actually reading this story (thanks!!) I am going to be packing and moving for probably the week, if not two, so it might take me longer to upload.

           Lyric was surprised, to say the least, that the boys and Val had pulled off such an amazing party at the last minute. After the group hug, Syn and Matt gave her a tour of Syn’s house. All of the rooms downstairs except for the living room were decorated.

            Lyric couldn’t have been happier with everything! All of them spent most of their time outside on the deck (where they had little heaters to keep everyone from freezing) goofing off, catching up, jamming to music, and laughing their asses off. The night was going fantastic, and it seemed that everyone loved Lyric like she was their little sister. They had no problem accepting her with arms wide open.

            It was getting dark, but the party was still going strong. Somehow even after hours of sharing stories and asking Lyric about her life, no one ran out of questions to ask or topics to bring up.

            Everyone was starting to wonder where Jimmy when though. Almost ten minutes ago, he had gone inside, and they all assumed he was going in for another beer.

            “Where’s The Rev?” Shadows asked, downing the rest of his beer and standing up, ready to go into the house to make sure he was okay.

            “CANNONBALL‼” The Rev shouted, emerging from the house, running and jumping into Syn’s heated pool. Everyone started laughing.

            “Hey Lyric!” The Rev yelled over everyone’s laughter. “Wanna help me outta here?” He asked, treading water in the deep end.

            Lyric got up from the table and went over to where Jimmy was in the pool. Lyric put her hand out and Jimmy grabbed it.

            Perfect, she doesn’t suspect a thing! The Rev thought, yanking hard on Lyric’s hand. Her feet left the ground and she went flying into the pool, clothes and all. Thankfully earlier she had put her cellphone on the table outside.

            “Jimmy!” Lyric screamed when she came up, spitting water and trying to get the water out of her nose. “I’m going to kill you!”

            Everyone but Val and Zacky were laughing. Zacky rushed up to her and helped her out of the pool while Val ran in the house to get a towel.

            “Towels are in the hall closet,” Synyster yelled towards Val before she went inside.

            “Holy shit! I’m freezing!” Lyric said, her teeth chattering and her body shivering. Almost instantly, Zacky began to take off his jacket. “No, you keep it on! I don’t want it!” she tried to protest.

            “No! You’re wet and it’s November! You are taking my jacket!” Zacky said forcefully, trying to wrap it around his sister’s shoulders as she loudly refused.

            “Calm down guys! I’m back with a towel!” Val said, coming out of the house and handing Lyric the big purple towel.

            “Thanks, Val,” Lyric said, eagerly wrapping the warm towel around her.

            That’s when Synyster stood up and walked over to where Zack and Lyric were standing near the pool hugging, trying to keep warm.

            “Zacky, why don’t I take Lyric inside, get her dried off, and get some clothes for her to wear temporarily,” Syn suggested, and Zack nodded his head in agreement.

Synyster took Lyric’s hand and led her inside. Syn tried to hid the sparks he felt as their skin touched. Holding hands was such a simple act, but he couldn’t help feeling the attraction he felt between the two of them.  Jesus, I sound like a damn girl.

            “I can let you wear some of my clothes for the rest of the night,” Syn said, leading Lyric up to his bedroom. “They’ll be a kinda big on you, but it’ll hafta do for now if you want dry clothes.”

            “Thanks so much, Brian!” She exclaimed. “You really don’t have to do all of this for me.”

            “It’s really no big deal. Zacky’s family is my family,” Brian said, rummaging through his dresser drawers, looking for something that would at least remotely fit her.

            “Here,” he said, handing her a plain black t-shirt. “I don’t think you want to wear my jeans since they’d be too big on you, so you’ll have to settle for one of the only pair of pajama bottoms that I own.”

            Lyric took the shirt and the plaid pants, not really knowing what to do next. So for the next few moments, they both just stood there, looking down at the floor.

            “You can uh… change in here, I won’t look,” Brian promised her. “Or if you don’t feel comfortable doing that, the bathroom is right there,” he said pointing to the closed door on her right.

            I suppose changing in here won’t hurt anything, Lyric thought as she slowly turned around. She oddly enough trusted that Brian would close his eyes while she got changed, so she peeled her wet clothes off and put on his clothes that were incredibly big on her. Hey, at least they’re warm and dry.

            “Do you have a mirror?” Lyric asked. God, how dumb does that sound. Of course he has a mirror. Lyric, you’re such an idiot! She thought to herself, wanting to smack herself for asking such a thing.

            “You look beautiful,” Brian told her quietly and then instantly regretted what he said. Syn, why the fuck would you tell her that?! You can’t just go around telling women that they’re beautiful!

            “Come again?” She replied, spinning around slowly to face him.

            Brian could see that her cheeks were flushed and she was having a hard time looking at him in the eyes. “I said you look beautiful,” he repeated, standing up and taking a hold of Lyric’s hands.

            Lyric could feel her heart beating faster and her knees were weak. All she could bring herself to do was stare at their interlocked hands.

            Brian let go of one of her hands, using it to lift her chin up so they were now looking in each other’s eyes. Then, he leaned in closer and Lyric could feel his warm breath on her face. It smelled like a mixture of alcohol and cigarette smoke, but she didn’t mind.

            It wasn’t long before she felt Brian’s lips on hers in a gentle kiss. She was shocked at first, but soon after she was kissing him back.

            Here she was, kissing someone she had just met hours before. Not to mention he’s my brother’s best friend!

            “Brian,” she said, pulling away, not only to catch her breath, but also to tell him to stop. “I can’t do this, Bri,” she whispered.

            Brian looked puzzled. “Why?” He asked, reaching up with his calloused thumb to stroke her cheek.

            Lyric backed up, out of his reach, with pain in her eyes. “Because. I just… I just met you. And Zack. How would he feel if he knew his best friend was making moves on his ‘baby sister?’”

            “We might have just met, but I feel like I already know you. And Zacky can get over it. I’m sure he’d rather have someone he knows better than the back of his hand making out with his sister rather than some douche she met at a bar or something,” Brian said, trying to get Lyric to see the bright side of things.

And Brian must have said just the right things, because him and Lyric were on his bed making out when someone came rushing up the stairs and stormed into his room

            “What the fuck, Gates!”