Social Norms (Synacky)

Chapter Eleven

The next morning Brian awoke hungover and cranky. He grumbled to himself, sitting up and trying to recognize his surroundings. His gaze fell onto practice drumming pads and Slayer posters, and he realized he was at Jimmy’s house.

“Jim?” he asked, surprised at how hoarse his voice was. He coughed, causing his head to pulse, before calling again.

“Hey, Bri.” Jimmy’s head poked around the corner. He entered the room, bearing a glass of water and a few painkillers. “Brought you some goodies.”

“Joy.” Brian muttered, taking them from Jimmy and tossing the pills into his mouth.

“So, um, you still think you’re gay?”

Brian choked on his water, coughing and nearly spitting it back up. “W-What?” he asked after he’d gotten himself back together. “What do you mean?”

“You told me you thought you were gay last night. Came up with some plan to hook up with a chick and prove that you weren’t. Said you had a wet dream about Zacky…”

Brian could feel his cheeks heating up as blush crept across them, and he tried to cover it up by taking a sip of water. “Um, I-I never did that. It must’ve been drunk talk.”

Jimmy smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Well, some people open up to the truth when they're drunk…”

“But you’ve seen me drunk before, Jimmy, and you know I hardly ever do that.” Brian responded quickly. “Besides, you know me and I’d never say and mean anything like that in my right mind. Zacky’s a faggot. And he always cries like a baby whenever the slightest name gets tossed his way.” He felt a slight pang when he said those words, but he pushed it aside. He didn’t feel that way about Zacky anymore. He didn’t hate him like he used to.

~*~

Brian had hoped that his thoughts about kissing Zacky would have diminished after the time they had spent apart. Boy, was he wrong.

When Zacky showed up for practice that afternoon, Brian couldn’t keep his eyes off his lips. There was something about them, something about the way his snakebites flashed and moved when he spoke, something about the way his tongue would flick over them when he was nervous. His lips looked inviting, enticing, and Brian wanted so badly to just have one taste…

“Um, Brian?” Zacky asked, and Brian blinked out of his stupor, staring up blankly at the boy.

“Yeah?” he replied.

“I uh, I was wondering what you thought of that riff…”

Riff?

“Oh, um, could you play it again for me?” Brian watched as Zacky sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth.

“Sure.” His fingers rested on the fret board and he began to play, and why hadn’t Brian looked at his fingers before? He was mesmerized by them as they danced along the frets, pausing to form chords before switching quickly to accommodate the riff. They were beautiful, pale and graceful, and Brian wondered if they felt as smooth as they looked…

“Well?”

“What?” Brian blinked stupidly again, then shook his head, “Oh, yeah. That’s a great riff, Zacky, what track is it going on?”

“Forgotten Faces. Jimmy already came up with most of it and I’m just filling in the blanks.”

“Well, I think it’ll fit perfectly.” Brian looked into Zacky’s eyes, noticing for the first time the little flecks of gold around his iris, and the way they sparkled in the light. Had they always done that?  And were they always that brilliant shade of jasper, or was his mind playing tricks on him?

He was brought down to the real world again as Zacky turned around to go show the riff to Jimmy and see what he thought. But that didn’t stop his mind from wandering off again. To kiss Zacky… they wouldn’t even have to make out. He just wanted to touch those lips, to cup those pale cheeks in his hands. Their lips barely had to touch and it would be all that he needed. He just wanted to try it.

“You okay, Brian?” Brian looked up to see Zacky staring down at him. “You seem sorta distracted…”

Now, Brian, be a man! Stand the fuck up and kiss him!

“Uh…” was Brian’s well-thought-out response. He got to his feet and looked down at the boy. Brian’s eyes flicked to Zacky’s lips and he felt a burn in the pit of his stomach. Just a taste…

“Yo, lovebirds, you have a minute?” Matt called out, and Brian swore inwardly all the words he could think of.

“Yeah.” Zacky replied, looking at Brian quizzically before weaving his way around the amps and Jimmy’s kit to the guys that were standing in the driveway with another guy Brian didn’t know.

“This is Justin, he’s offered to join up with us.” Jimmy introduced, slapping the man on the back. He looked to be a couple years older than them, and he had a bass slung across his back.

“Show me what you’ve got so far. I can learn your old bassist’s parts and write my own, whatever you need.”

Zacky went to get his guitar, and Brian retreated to his place by the amps, watching them all collaborate together. He sighed softly, wishing more than anything he had taken his opportunity. His eyes followed Zacky as his head nodded in time to the song, tongue poking out as he focused on playing a lick Brian had helped him write.

Making out with him didn’t actually sound so bad…

Brian frowned, looking down at his hands, at the number one he had tattooed on his thumb. What would happen if he did kiss him? What if Zacky didn’t even want to be kissed? What if when Brian tried to make a move, Zacky freaked out?

He sighed harshly, clearing his mind and unplugging his guitar. He played his scales and some arpeggios, fingers flying up and down the fret board, up and down, again and again. He added some smears and tried to incorporate as many hammer-on’s and pull-off’s as he could. Eventually his fingers stilled and his eyes wandered back over to Zacky.

Justin was talking animatedly, hands moving, acting like he owned the place, and the guys were hanging on his every last word. Brian huffed and stood up. “I’m gone.” He called out to them, and they all just nodded, Jimmy waving a hand in parting.

Brian went to throw his guitar angrily into the passenger’s seat, but bailed out and placed it down gently, then slammed the door and climbed into the car. He was swearing at himself and at Justin for showing up as he pulled out of the driveway.

He was going to kiss Zacky. Brian kept that thought in his head. He would kiss Zacky, and it would be good, he just knew it. All that he needed was the right moment.