I Found You, Something Told Me To Stay - (Jason Berry/Zacky Vengeance)

Chapter Fifty-Seven.

His words trailed off as I quickly looked away, not wanting to hear the end of his sentence. I was angry at Zacky as well. Amongst the pain I was feeling, a lot of me was furious. But I loved him too much to act on any of that.

“Sorry...” Ronnie sighed as he caught on. “It just makes me mad, you know? I care a lot about you...I hate seeing you like this.”

I stared down. “I hate being like this.”

He reached out and took my hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. At that, I managed a smile. I honestly did appreciate how great he’d been to me over this.

“Let’s go to this party, huh?” He grinned, lightening the situation. “Have some fun.”

As I nodded, he pulled his hand back and reached out to turn the radio on. I rested my head back, blocking out the music and all of my surroundings as I let him get on with the drive in silence. I wasn’t exactly sure where this party was or how long it would take to get there, but I didn’t care, as long as I was as far from Zacky as possible.

**

It seemed like ages before Ronnie was pulling up outside a house.

I’d lost track of everything, so I couldn’t really work out how long we’d been driving for or where we were. I was just looking forward to being drunk.

It was a house I didn’t recognise. Bigger than the ones we usually went to and perhaps a little more well looked after, but it still had a dodgy feel to it.

Ronnie protectively took my hand and began to guide me through. I didn’t protest like I usually would. It didn’t have the same feel as Zacky’s hand did when it held mine, but it was the first comfort I’d felt in a whole week.

Ronnie opened a door right at the back of the house that didn’t seem to fit. Almost like it’d been there since the house had been built and it was the only part that hadn’t been upgraded to a more modern style. He guided me down a concrete staircase, and as we finally got the bottom, I was hit by the smell of alcohol and drugs. There was a low murmur of music thumping nearby, and as he opened another door, the music became louder, the smell became stronger, and flashing lights began to hurt my eyes.

I couldn’t see properly over the glare of the lights, but I felt myself being pulled into the room and suddenly felt suffocated by the heavy atmosphere. I raised my free hand to unzip the top of my jacket ever so slightly, but I was abruptly jerked forward into a darker corner where I could just about make out a person sat there.

“Blake!” Ronnie shouted over the music, and the person looked up.

Immediately, as my eyes adjusted more to the darkened corner, I recognised him as the guy with the dreadlocks that I’d met on the night when I first went to a party with Ronnie. He looked up, not noticing me and nodded to Ronnie, not saying a word.

“I need you to look after Midge while I go get her a drink, okay?” Ronnie continued to shout. “You can do that, right?”

Blake nodded, his gaze finally landing on me, and Ronnie gave my hand a comforting squeeze before he disappeared in a different direction. I shifted uncomfortably, and Blake stood up, placing the joint he was smoking in his mouth and holding his hand out.

I stared down at his hand like it was some sort of dangerous weapon, and he raised his eyebrows. I wasn’t sure if he’d remember me, but it didn’t seem likely with all the drugs he seemed to take on a daily basis.

“Well if it isn’t the tiny British girl Ronnie’s obsessed with.” He said, surprising me. “Long time no see, huh? What’s your name again?”