Dear God (Avenged Sevenfold)

While I recall all the words you spoke to me

Because they arrived in California so late in the night they all had slept in, waking shortly after 1:00 p.m. Bryleigh whined tiredly for a drink, climbing on top of Natalie as she struggled to wake up from the depths of the luscious bed she shared with her daughter. Ava had spoiled them with a beautiful suite at the Hyatt Regency of Huntington Beach, complete with a breath taking view of the Pacific Ocean. Even though Natalie was born and raised in Florida and grew up on the beaches she felt more at home here on the west coast than she did on the east coast. Her mind started to wander off about thoughts of possibly moving here simply for a change of scenery but was quickly brought back to present time when Bryleigh whined again "Juice mommy!" Natalie gave her daughter a smile, ruffled her dark hair and climbed from the depths of the bed, yawning as she walked out to the kitchenette.

Once she had a sippy cup ready and a breakfast of a banana and yogurt, she picked Bryleigh up and took her out onto the private patio to watch the surfers ride the waves while her daughter filled her belly on breakfast. Natalie sat in her own silence, thinking about how she was going to find Brian amongst all these thousands of people...finding him was the least of her worries. She had no clue yet how she was going to break it to him that he was a father and that she needed his bone marrow in hopes it was a match for their daughter. When she had found out she was pregnant it was the scariest moment in her life, she  had just started a new job as a receptionist and mended things with Sam who swore he was a changed man...he wanted to make things work between them. While some small part of Natalie thought that he just might have been Bryleigh's father, deep down she knew better...she had had sex with Sam only once in between the time she came home from dancing for Avenged and finding out she was pregnant. Still, she kept her nagging thoughts to herself until her daughter was born with a head full of dark hair, a cute little button nose and a sweet little mouth. She immediately saw Brian's face in her daughter and cried sadly that first night, not knowing how she was going to break it to Sam that he probably wasn't the father.

Sam must have had his own misgivings about things because from the moment he walked into her hospital room the next day he acted funny around both Natalie and Bryleigh. It took him a good six months before asking for a paternity test and when the results came back that he was NOT the father he flipped out, cursing and calling Natalie all sorts of nasty names before storming out of her apartment. Natalie never had any intention of telling Brian that he was a father either, she followed Avenged Sevenfold through media mainstream and the occasional metal magazine and saw that he was still very much a wild party animal, girls, drugs and alcohol were mentioned frequently. Even after the passing of The Rev which Natalie thought was so sad, she had really liked the drummer's personality and thought he was a fantastically good joker she saw that Brian was still a wild man so she knew right then and there that she would raise her daughter herself. She had plans of telling Bryleigh eventually that she had had a passionate love affair with her father and lost contact with him, trying to make it sound like a fairy tale of sorts rather than the truth...mommy was a horny dancer who had the hots for the man whore of a metal band. She wasn't going to tell her that until she was much older and able to understand things but this damn Aplastic Anemia gave her no choice, she needed to find Brian and it had to be soon.

"There you two are" Ava stated with a smile, her hair still askew from a deep sleep as she settled into the chair next to Natalie, coffee mug in hand. "Good morning pretty girl" she stated softly to Bryleigh, smiling more when she got a smile back from around the sippy cup nipple. "So what's on the agenda today? Do we go play on the beach or do we go on a man hunt?" Natalie chewed on her lip for a little bit, torn between wanting to have a little bit of fun but feeling a sense of urgency in finding Brian. "I think we should try and find Brian although I don't even know where to begin." Natalie sighed heavily, tipping her head back and shutting her eyes against the bright sunshine, hoping the warmth of the sun would calm her. "Well...let's just start walking around while we figure things out, maybe with some luck we'll just run into him somewhere" Ava stated optimistically. Natalie loved her friend's ever lasting positive outlook on life but she couldn't help but feel pessimistic, there were so many people walking around it was like a 'Where's Waldo?' book.

Three hours later she was about ready to cry right there in the middle of Huntington Beach. They had walked all over hells creation trying to find him but to no such luck. Ava even tried checking a phone book for a listing under HANER but of course being a celebrity of sorts he wasn't listed, nor was there any listings for the other guys. Natalie thought to ask a couple of local business owners but one had no clue who she was talking about and the other one seemed highly irritated that she was asking where she could find him as if she was going to be a crazy stalker of some sorts. "I give up Ava!" Natalie wailed in frustration "I don't know where to find that asshole!" Ava sat down next to Natalie as she pushed the stroller back and forth, trying to keep Bryleigh asleep as she soothed her friend. "Come on Nat...it's only the first day. We'll find him after a bit." Natalie was about to interject some sort of negativity when she felt her stomach lurch. "Ava look" she gasped softly, pointing her finger down the sidewalk "Isn't that Zacky Vengeance?!"

Ava squinted her eyes against the sun as she followed the direction in which Natalie pointed, gasping a short while later. "It sure as fuck is!" she hissed quietly, trying to not draw attention to the fact that they were ogling the guitarist. "Come on, let's go talk to him before he disappears" she stated, pulling Natalie to her feet and down the sidewalk towards him as he stood ordering a sandwich from a food wagon. Out of respect, they waited until he had paid for his food but the second he stepped away from the man, Natalie reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. "Zacky?" goddammit she didn't want her voice to shake now! Thankfully Zacky smiled, obviously being use to fans finding him amongst the regular people now and then. "Hello ladies" he stated, giving them both a look as if he recognized him, that look was all Ava needed. "I'm Ava and this is my best friend Natalie...we were dancers for you guys a couple of years back during the song 'Scream'." Recognition dawned on his face as his smile grew wider and he pulled them both in for a quick hug. "I thought I recognized you from somewhere" he laughed, trying to not stare at the child in the stroller in front of Natalie, there was something about that cute little girl that just bothered him but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"So where are the other guys? Don't you guys run in a pack?" Ava teased, batting her eyes at Zacky, well played Ava, well played Natalie thought with a smile. Zacky chuckled and shook his head. "Yea usually but occasionally we get sick of each other and stay away...this is one of those cases" he teased lightly. Natalie finally jumped in to the conversation, giving him what she hoped was a convincing smile as she played up her flirting game. "Damn, I was kinda hoping to catch up with Brian...see how he was doing and whatnot." He gave her another smile and shifted his weight before talking, he remembered how hot and heavy her and Brian had been and he knew that Brian would kick his ass if he didn't tell him that his booty call from 2008 was back in town. "Well I will certainly let him know that I ran into you ladies. Him and Matt are currently out of town but maybe you guys can hook up before you leave town." "That would be great" Ava stated with a smirk "I would love to see Matt again myself." Natalie nodded her head in agreement "We're staying at the Hyatt Regency for quite a bit, they can look us up there when they sail back into town. It was great seeing you Zacky Vengeance" she purred, giving him a wink before pulling Ava down the sidewalk with her.

Zacky scratched his head as he watched the two girls walk away, their heads close together as if they were talking in secret. He didn't know who the baby was or which one had been the mother but he had a sneaking feeling he would find out before long. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Matt, watching the girls walk further and further away until the crowd swallowed them up. "Dude you're never going to guess who I just ran into..."