The Road Gets Tough (Synyster Gates Series: Book 2)

Don't Speak

"What are you gonna do?" 

"That's where you come in." I took a drag. "I need to know what to do." 

He hummed, "How about you.. No that won't work... Damn. This is hard. I can't think of a way to catch her. Then again, you did the same thing so... You can't call the kettle black." I giggled and turned away, looking towards the bus. "Hey, off subject really quick. Well not the Jackie subject but anyways, isn't her ex-fiancee there?" 

"Where?" I narrowed my eyebrows. Dan always has an odd way of leaving out a hug piece of relevant information. 

"New York." 

I honestly felt so lost. I wish I was drunk and lost. "What the fuck are you talking about?" 

"I don't even know man. I'm a little drunk. I think I'm gonna sleep." He stood up and shook my hand. "See you in the morning." 

I laughed, "Night Dan."

You can always count on Dan to be super drunk during super important events.

The next morning, I woke up and got ready to leave. I felt forced to speak to Jackie and act like everything was okay. She knew nothing was going good at the moment, she just didn't know why. 

She stopped complaining about her phone after a while and I was happy she did. But I had a feeling she knew I had it. 

"Jacks!" Zacky shouted, walking down the hallway of the bus with a suspicious look on his face. "Do you know where Jackie is?" He asked me. I pointed straight towards the back of the bus. She secluded herself from me after we got on. "Thanks... Hey uh, you okay?" 

I nodded, "I'm fine." 

"Hm... Doesn't seem like it. We're gonna tal-" 

"No we're not." I cut him off. The last thing I needed was to hear Zacky's speech about how "perfect" his relationship with Gena is and how I should take it into consideration. We all know it's going downhill. "We're not." 

He looked away and shoved his phone into his pocket, "You've turned against me ever since we got on tour. Why are you still mad? Jackie is here now. She loves you." My eyes shifted up to him. I stared him down with anger. "She knows you don't cheat while you're on tour okay? Get over this shit, man." 

"See, I did cheat, Zacky," I stated. I began to breathe heavily, my hands formed fists. I felt Valary pinch my arm, telling me to quit the little hissy fit I was about to pull. "Didn't you need to speak to your cousin?" I asked through my teeth. 

"Yeah..." Zacky turned on his heel and made his way to the back. I was curious to why he needed to speak to her. I started to think the worse... 

Jackie's POV 

I sat in the back of the bus, staring at the SYN1999 tattoo... I can't believe that after so many years, I still got it for him. I can't believe after so many years of loving him, I fuck up on him. 

I couldn't remove my eyes from the letters and numbers. Once he finds out what I did, I know he'll probably want to finish me off right then and there. I can't even begin to think about it. 

"Jackie." Zacky knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" He peeked his head through the crack. I smiled and welcomed him in. 

"Whatcha doing?" He asked taking a seat beside me on the couch. 

"Nothing. Just thinking about somethings. What's up?" 

He smiled, "We gotta talk." 

"Shoot me." I sarcastically said. Whenever Zacky wants to talk, we know it's pretty bad. 

That earned me a soft punch to my arm. "Stop. Let me tell you what it is. Jesse texted me and invited me out to lunch when we get to New York, which is in about half an hour. He asked me to bring you with me." As I was about to reject it, he raised his hand to my face. "Bah- Don't talk. I'm speaking." I was shut. "I told him you said okay. You need to clear the air with him. I'm going to be there." 

"But what about Brian?" 

He rolled his eyes, "Fuck Brian. This isn't about him. It's about you and Jesse clearing the air and having a nice lunch with me, your cousin. Like the old times." 

I never wanted to cross paths with Jesse again. Seeing him wouldn't bring feelings back, but it would most definitely show him that I had too much pride the past couple months to even face him. I wasn't proud of leaving Jesse at the alter. But I can't deny I didn't feel a tad bit relieved. 

I guess having lunch with Zacky and Jesse wouldn't be too bad... Right?