Wings

Chapter Two: Reminiscence

Zack didn't know whether to roll his eyes or to feel touched at his band mates' concern for him. Really, he didn't screw up /that/ much today. They were exaggerating as they wont to do every time he felt like drowning into one of his 'Emo-Moments', as Stephen fondly called them. He couldn't blame them for being overly-concerned, though. For all that everyone knew how much of an anti-social bastard Zack truly was, he knew that he'd been way beyond unbearable these past few weeks.

The four of them have been together since they were in junior high school. Zack didn't have a lot of fond memories, but most of them include the two men and one woman whom he has spent most of his adolescent and adult years with. They'd gone a long way from throwing spaghetti at each other over lunch, to being respected officers of the student council, flatmates and partners in crime during college, and currently, the most popular rock band in all of Asia, probably the entire world.

How could he have felt as if something was missing? How could he have missed the big, gaping hole that suddenly ate at his heart when he wasn't looking?

"Zack? Are you alright, man?" Stephen asked, his smirk turning into a frown.

"Hey, you know you can talk to us about anything, right?" Max sat down next to him and patted his shoulder. Zack did not miss the feel of something sticky coming in direct contact with his nape, but he chose to ignore it anyway. "But please don't tell us that you've mysteriously gotten somebody pregnant, because Ezekiel is /so/ going to kill you."

"Maybe he needs to get laid?" Travis suggested. Stephen nodded vigorously from where he stood.

Zack laughed and peeled the 'Dora the Explorer' sticker off his nape, making Max frown upon seeing that her prank was immediately busted. "No, I did /not/ get somebody pregnant, and no, I did /not/ need to get laid. I told you already, I keep having this strange dream, but every time I wake up, I couldn't remember anything at all."

"You're sure you don't remember? Max asked. "If it could bother you this much, then it must be something important. You rarely let anything get to you, Zack. Maybe this is serious."

Zack noted the frowns that were slowly creasing his friends' faces. He shook his head in a futile attempt to shake himself off whatever funk he had fallen into and gave his friends a small smile. "Don't worry yourselves over me. I'll be fine in no time. Maybe I just need a breather."

"Meaning you're going out."

"Yes, Daddy Travis. I'm going out."

"Zack, you damn well know that you can't go out," Stephen said. "The fans will eat you alive once they recognize who you are."

"Well then I'll just have to take a low profile now, won't I?" Zack grinned and produced a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses from somewhere behind him.

"And you think that /that's/ going to miraculously change your entire persona into this new, unrecognizable twat from nowhere?" Stephen retorted, His eyebrow rose as if to say, 'Go ahead, moron. See if that will work.'

Zack merely grunted and donned his lame disguise. He gave his bemused friends a small wave of good-bye before he left the large music room. He never spared anybody a glance as he walked along the marbled hallways of Wing Music Industry's building. Given any other day, Zack would usually stop by to appreciate the endless supply of paintings and sculptures that adorned the halls of the highest, most sophisticated building in The Fort, but today, even the newest addition of paintings in the West wing were unnoticed as he stalked past them. He walked briskly past the grand lobby, and out into the crowded streets of the bustling city.

Zack growled as he trudged along the streets of the latest city his band was based in. He really didn't have any reason to feel cranky. He had good friends, people loved his band, Zero's latest album 'Hands' was a phenomenal success, and he was free of the chains of whatever bullshit past he desperately tried to run away from. His life was looking up, and everything that was happening to him at the moment was way more than he ever hoped for.