Higher / a7x

We'll Meet Again

*Zacky's POV*

I groaned as I brought a hand to my face, thinking that if I rubbed it, the headache would go away. I sighed as I sat up in my bed and slowly opened my eyes. I raised an eyebrow when I saw that Meaghan was nowhere to be seen and Johnny was the one laying the bed next to me. Matt was cuddled up on the loveseat and Brooks was next to him.

My eyes went wide when I noticed that they looked different. Johnny's mohawk was much shorter than usual and he was lanky.

Matt was shaved and his hair was a dark shade, and looked kinda like a buzz cut. His piercing was on his lips and his Jimmy tattoo was gone.

Brooks looked hilarious, he had long hair that was under his shoulders and literally a baby face. He looked nothing like he did just yesterday.

Matt's elbow moved, which caused him to roll off the love seat and take Brooks with him. Both guys screamed as they fell on the ground in a pile of limbs. There was a moment of silence before Matt spoke up, "Excuse me, milady, but do I know you?"

"Matt, I'm about to fuck you up."

Matt screamed and quickly got off the ground, pushing Brooks away, "Brooks, what happened to you, man?"

He raised his eyebrows when he heard his voice, "Why is my voice so deep?"

Matt saw me and Johnny and he screamed again, "Guys, what the fuck?!"

I shrugged as Johnny started to wake up, "I've no idea, man, but I think I know what's about to happen."

Just as I said that, there was a knock on the door. Matt walked over to the door and he looked through the peephole. He turned to look at me and whispered, "It's Dime."

I rolled my eyes as I got off the bed and walked over to the door. Not waiting for Darrell to say a word, I spoke up, "Where's Haner?"

Dime raised an eyebrow as he put his hands in his pockets, "Which one?"

Matt frowned as he stood next to me, "What do you mean?"

Dimebag shrugged as he replied, "Junior is on a fly with James, Sir is in Lemmy's pub, currently barfing."

There was an awkward moment of silence before he continued, "So, do you want me to take you to the pub or?"

I shook my head as I put my hand on the door, "Nah, thanks, man. We're gonna get there in a second, we know the way."

Dime nodded and left. I closed the door, then I walked back towards the center of the room, "I don't know about you, but I'm tired of crying. I'm tired of feeling like life sucks. I'm not about to let Brian go so easily."

Johnny frowned as he finally got off the bed and fixed his tank top, "What do you mean?"

I shrugged as I walked into the bathroom, leaving the door open. I looked in the mirror and I fixed my black fringe, "I'm gonna beat the living fuck out of him once I see him."

Matt chuckled from inside the room, "And you're saying that while you're fixing your hair?"

I stopped and I turned around to glare at him. He shrugged as he gave me a dimpled smile, but then he got serious, "I don't think you should be so... Harsh on Brian. You know him. I do. We all do. He didn't mean to hurt us. What he did, he did it with best intentions."

I rolled my eyes as I readjusted my septum, then walked back into the room, "Best intentions, my ass. We are a family, Matt. He was supposed to tell us. Why didn't he?"

Brooks shrugged as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Well, I guess he didn't do it, because he didn't want to hurt you guys, more than you were already hurt. I was there, I was a friend of Jimmy, I know that the amount of pain you felt when Jimmy was gone was awful and I can't even imagine how much it actually hurt, but maybe just because you were on your way to heal, Brian didn't want to re-open some old wounds by telling you that there's a chance he could die of a similar thing that killed Jimmy, y'know?"

I sighed as I tugged on my snakebites with my teeth. I was lost. I was feeling so many emotions. I was angry, incredibly hurt, sad, depressed, it was all just so awful.

Matt walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder, "Instead of overthinking, let's just go to the pub and meet the guys. Hmm? They wanted us here for a reason."

I nodded and he nodded back and satisfaction. With that, we left the room and started making our way to the pub.

On the way there, almost every single person we met greeted us with excitement, which felt good. It was great to know that what we did for the citizens of Bat Country a few months ago was still highly appreciated and not forgotten.

We finally got to the pub, Matt was the first one to walk inside. The guys followed and I sighed as I followed behind, being the last one to walk inside.

My blood ran cold when I saw the guys, greeting Brian. Matt was hugging Brian, the brothers-in-law were holding each other tight, no words were spoken, but I knew that they weren't needed.

They pulled back and Johnny was the next one to attack Brian with a hug, "I missed ya, you old pussy."

Brian laughed as he buried his face in Johnny's hair, giving him a kiss on top of his head.

They pulled back and finally, we locked eyes. The second our eyes met, mine glossed over with tears that were ready to spill any time. I forgot whatever anger I felt, immediately. My brother was standing in front of me.

He let out a shaky breath as he said my name just above a whisper, "Z-Zack."