Solitary Man

A/N: OH MAN THIS CHAPTER IS LONG! 3120 words including these. But you will see why it has to be so long. Gah, sorry for the ending as well…it is kind of something I felt had to stop there. Again…when you read you may or may not understand my reasoning.
Warnings: SAME
Disclaimer: I own not School Of Rock, HIM or their songs or the Ramones.

Solitary Man

It was half an hour before Freddy and Dewey returned to the villa carrying bags filled to the brim with various kinds of alcohol, Zack had barricaded himself in his room and refused to come down until everyone else was ready…most likely because he didn’t want to stand out too much.

When there was a knock the raven made his way cautiously to the door and peeked through the gap between the doorframe and the door.

“Who is it?”

“Dude, stop being such a girl and let me in damnit!’

Zack let out a breath and opened to the door to Freddy, the blonde immediately stopped in his tacks and blinked at the guitarist, “nice Zack Attack.”

“Thanks dude,” Zack gave Freddy the once over, the drummer was wearing a rather tight black T-shirt and his best black cargos. Best meaning the ones with the least holes, rips, tears and burns. He looked liked he’d raided Hot Topic when it came to accessories, various chains, bangles, bracelets and the like covering most of the exposed skin, “not too bad yourself…though I think the devil horn deely-boppers are a bit much.”

“Yeah, I thought so too,” Freddy shrugged and removed the offending object, “so, you ready to go down?”

“Um….” Zack fidgeted a bit and Freddy rolled his eyes, “ok ok! Fine…let me just get my sho-”

“Stop stalling git! Like you need shoes.” The drummer grabbed Zack’s wrist and bodily hauled him out of the bedroom door, making sure to close it behind him, Zack yelling ‘I need my phone!’, struggling to get back upstairs and generally panicking all the way to the living room.

***

Tomika, Dewey, Summer, Marta, Alicia, Lawrence and Katie were playing a new game of cards in the living room when they heard the flailing guitarist.

“Let me go Jones!”

Crash.

“Stop flailing around you idiot- OW! That was my eye you jackass!”

Crack, followed by a less than manly scream.

The seven in the front room collectively turned to look at each other before turning back to the corridor where Freddy had appeared with a rather pained looking Zack. The guitarist was leaning on the blonde heavily and giving him evils in between winces.

“Zack!” Dewey jumped up and threw the raven’s free arm around his shoulders, with help from the two Zack made it to the couch with minimal pain. Dewey sat down beside the raven, taking in his dress, he quickly checked to make sure he wasn’t drooling.

“I….didn’t mean to hurt him that much…” Freddy scratched the back of his hand nervously, “but he was gonna stay upstairs all night. Sorry Zay…”

The blonde got his reply in the form of a one finger salute.

“I’m sure you didn’t mean it Freddy!”

This made Zack look up, no one ever called Freddy by his actual name except Summer and…his gaze fell on Katie, the girl was fawning over the blonde. Nothing new there, what did make him double take though was the fact Freddy seemed exceedingly pissed off by her actions.

“Ummm…did something happen betwe-” he cut off as Freddy sent him an evil glower, “never mind then…” the raven shot Dewey a confused look, only to find the vocalist giving him the exact same look. The two sighed in exasperation as one.

“Anyways, drink!” Freddy was already emptying the contents of a bottle of vodka into his glass, Zack eyed the amount left in the bottle and shot Freddy a look, “…sorry.” The blonde shot him a grin and giggled rather oddly before tossing the bottle Zack’s way, the guitarist caught it with a little difficulty considering Freddy’s bad aim…he more than likely would have missed if he hadn’t had the extra motivation of it almost smacking him in the head.

“You noob.”

Dewey observed the two with a grin; the two were good friends even if they had tiffs. The thought caused a frown, the person Zack liked…‘No, that isn’t the kind of relationship he has with Freddy…they are more like…brothers.’ The vocalist did a sweep of the band.

He would work this out.

***

It wasn’t two hours later that the group were well and truly gone, even Summer…but that was because Freddy had spiked her Pepsi, something Zack couldn’t help but disapprove of approving of.

“Then, get this, she told me she was married!”

“No way!”

Alicia and Tomika were having girly gossip with the rest of the band, Zack was lying sprawled over his half of the couch trying to not think about the fact the room should not be blurring and trying to focus on keeping his mouth firmly shut.

“So like, Zack how goes it for you on the love front?”

Zack immediately spat out the mouthful of vodka he’d just taken and stared wide eyed at Freddy, the blonde had an odd expression on his face…like he was holding back hysterical laughter…badly.

“Er…not good?” Zack regretted that straight away as all the girls ‘awwwwed’ sympathetically at him, then edged closer to hear details, Zack shot Freddy a look that clearly spoke ‘I will murder you later’, “what I meant was…”

‘Was what? That you aren’t interested in anyone? Bullshit. You don’t want to say that in front of Dewey anyway…’

“Was what?” Katie giggled as she leant forward a little more, she didn’t look very steady in her seat and Zack half feared she’d fall if she leant any further.

“That…I don’t want to talk about it,” he punctuated the comment with a glare, Katie didn’t waver for a second.

“Aww come on Zack-y! Is it a nice boy? Oooo a pretty girl?!”

“DOES EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT THAT!?” Zack leapt up and threw his hands up in the air, spilling a little of the vodka, no one even flinched. He growled and flopped back down into his seat, “gits….the whole lot of you,” beside him Dewey whined loudly, “except Dewey.” Zack groaned and covered his eyes in frustration.

“Zack needs more drink!” Freddy yelled suddenly, he tossed a glass to Lawrence and one to Zack, the guitarist peered down at the glass.

“A shot glass? Oh please…watch it!” Zack caught the bottle as it almost hit Dewey, “Damn it you suck Jones.”

“Oh shut up and just pour a shot both of you.”

Lawrence did as he was told, Zack sighed and followed the lead reluctantly…Aftershock was not good for drunk people trying to keep secrets…he carefully placed the bottle on the table. To his surprise he looked up to see Lawrence shooting him a devious smirk…

“…Larry…Freddy…what are we playing?”

“The rules are simple, you both drink at the same time, and last person to finish the shot has to do a forfeit.” Freddy shrugged and folded his arms, the expression of ‘I win, you lose’ never leaving his face.

“Forfeit…like what exactly? No clothes removing Spazzy.”

“Oh no,” the blonde shot Dewey a look quickly but Zack noticed, “you’d like that wouldn’t you Zack Attack?”

Zack was pretty sure his body invented new shades of red just for that one comment; he gripped the glass tightly and growled.

“So. What. Is. The. Forfeit?”

“Truth or Dare, you have to pick one and answer or do it.”

“I refuse.”

Zack put the glass down on the table and crossed his arms, he looked back over at Lawrence before glaring at the rest…they were all either smirking at his fear or giving him odd looks. Except Freddy who looked like his birthday, Christmas and New Year had come all at once and Dewey who looked slightly upset, “what is going on!?”

He got no reply; glancing at Dewey once more he sighed…if Dewey wanted him to play…he snatched the glass back off the table and snarled angrily, “fine!”

Freddy got up quickly and hit the play button on the CD player that Zack’s ‘Ramones’ album still resided in, he then skipped back and held up his right arm with his watch. Zack met Lawrence’s gaze once more before Freddy yelled ‘GO!’

Zack practically threw his glass back on the table when he was done, he grinned as Lawrence placed his down a few beats after him. “That wasn’t so hard, no offence Larry.” Lawrence shrugged and turned to Freddy who was pouting slightly having expected Zack to suck at this game.

“Ok…truth or dare Larry?”

“Truth?” Lawrence suddenly looked every bit his usual nervous self again, Freddy looked deep in thought for a few seconds then he turned to Katie and shot her a look that Zack couldn’t quite place.

“Do you like Katie?”

Lawrence didn’t answer right away, he was looking at Katie who had paled a few shades…Zack suddenly had a very good idea of what had happened between the three band members, Lawrence turned back to Freddy and grimaced.

“Yes…”

Freddy didn’t even blink but Zack, as his best friend, noticed the subtle signs of fury. The blonde’s hand tightened on the bottle, his eyes darkened with the repressed rage and his next words were all too nice.

“I thought so!”

Katie and Lawrence both blinked in surprise, neither being used to Freddy’s rather amazing self-control, before smiling at each other. Zack decided to save them both before Freddy’s self-control did run out.

“Ok ok, who’s next?”

Freddy cheered up almost instantly and he grinned at the guitarist.

“Winner plays the next person!”

“WHAT!?”

Zack groaned out loud as he found himself holding another shot and facing Marta over the table, “why me…why me?” His thoughts were similar, ‘why me…if I win I’ll just be at risk all night, if I lose I’ll have to spill my secrets about God knows what or do something Freddy tells me to do…’

“Go!”

Marta was fast, Zack was actually quite surprised how quickly the rather small girl drained her glass, but he was faster simply because he’d already taken a shot of the strong alcohol and was already used to the nasty taste. Freddy pulled a face as the raven folded his arms with a cocky smirk, inside however Zack was nervous…if this carried on…he’d get way too drunk and he could say…things.

“Ok Marta…you know the drill.”

“Dare,” the girl replied quickly but started to regret it at Freddy’s smirk, “…I think.”

“Great,” Freddy gestured to the glass sliding patio doors, “I dare you to go jump in the pool, clothes on, and yell ‘wet T-shirt part’ as you do so.”

“FREDDY! Our neighbours are sitting outside! They’ll hear me!” Marta was peering out of the window anxiously, Freddy shrugged. Sighing the blonde girl got up and jogged to the patio doors where she kicked off her socks and removed her jewellery before leaving the villa.

“…good job it’s always warm here.” Zack mused as he watched the doors despite not being able to see Marta any more. A few seconds later they heard Marta yell about wet T-shirt parties and scream followed by a huge splash. Freddy was howling with laughter.

“She actually did it! Respect to her!”

Zack couldn’t help himself, he started laughing along with the drummer…it was kind of amusing that they were really doing these dares when the only thing holding them to it was a rather drunk Freddy. Once he started laughing he couldn’t stop though, he curled into a ball on the couch and bit his lip trying to stifle the giggles. Freddy was trying not to laugh at Zack now, “dude, what’s wrong with you?”

“I…I dunno!” Zack bit out in between his giggles, he turned around on the couch and adjusted himself so he didn’t fall off…almost falling off in the process. Dewey threw an arm around him in time though, Zack stopped giggling but he still had a look that said he wasn’t far off starting again, Dewey quickly hand combed the guitarist’s hair into order again.

“Dude you are pissed.”

Zack blinked at the vocalist and laughed a bit more, he got back into his sitting position and shook his head slightly, he wasn’t even trying to hide the blush.

“Not. I’m just a little…”

Dewey raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms prompting Zack to go on, the guitarist looked thoughtful and then shrugged cheerfully.

“Happy!”

During the rather…intelligent conversation Marta had returned from her dare, Freddy had been nice enough to get her a towel and some fresh clothes so they waited until she got changed and dried her hair before carrying on with their game. This time…Zack was almost too willing to play, cheering loudly when he won and protesting that he was ‘king of the possums’ every now and then.

“Awright!” Freddy yelled suddenly, Zack looked up to see the drummer taking a shot for himself, shaking slightly the blonde stood up and plonked himself opposite Zack.

“You?” Zack took the shot Tomika poured him, less than capable of doing it himself now, “oook, but dun whine at me when you lose Spazzy.”

Tomika held up her own watch and counted it down with her fingers, as soon as she yelled go the two downed the shots and finished at the same time…but Freddy’s glass hit the table first.

“YES! Now who’s the loser Zack Attack!? Looooooser!”

“No way!” Zack stared at the blonde and pouted, “I demand a re-match, no way I could lose to Spazzy…he cheated!”

Freddy raised an eyebrow and shook his head, a smirk crossing his face at the thought of the various things he could now do to or get out of Zack.

“Don’t be a sore loser…rockers go down with dignity! Don’t shame us!”

Zack glared a bit longer before giving up and lowering his eyes, he seemed to be thinking about something but he could have just fallen asleep with the amount of drink he’d had. After a minute he looked up again and grinned at Freddy, the rather drunk part of his brain taking over.

“Dare me!”

Freddy’s eyebrows winged up into his hairline.

“Are you sure Zack? Isn’t that a little…risky?”

Zack stared at him a bit more, Freddy realised that the guitarist didn’t even know what he was implying anymore…and therefore would more than likely be happy to do any dare given to him.

“Hurry up Spazzy!”

“Ok ok! I dare you to…make out with the person you like.”

“The people I like? I’m not making out with everyone dude, that would be weird…”

Freddy almost slapped himself in the forehead; he grabbed Zack’s shoulders and held him inches away from his face, unaware of Dewey who was now watching with painful interest.

“No, the person you really like…as in, oh I don’t know, love kind of like.” The drummer studied the raven’s face for any sign that he had understood, he got a bit startled when Zack pulled free from his grip.

“Oooooh! I get you, why didn’t you just say that?” Zack chirped happily, oblivious to the tension in the room and the eyes of every band member staring at him in suspense. He then scrambled back into his seat, turned to face Dewey, pinned him to the couch and straddled him.

“Z-Zack? Dude?”

Zack grinned happily with a rather adorable school-girl blush before capturing the vocalist’s mouth with his own. Far from the shy 16 year old two years ago Zack’s drunken self took total control over the situation, pushing the singer as far as he dared before backing off a little to let him have a little control. Dewey took those moments eagerly, priding himself on all the cute noises Zack made in appreciation.

When the two finally parted silence filled the room, Freddy was looking pleased with himself, Katie was sitting stock still with her eyes almost comically wide, Lawrence had his mouth open a little bit and Tomika, Marta and Alicia looked ready to either ‘awww’ or run. Summer had fainted on the spot.

Zack was about to get up and check on Summer, some of his higher senses returning for a second, when he felt arms around him and instead opted to snuggle into Dewey. He still had the decency to check on her…kind of.

“…she ok?”

Freddy peered over the table to check Summer was still actually breathing, as soon as he saw her chest rise and fall he turned away and picked up his shot glass.

“She’ll be fine, doesn’t look like she hit her head or anything…more’s the pity.”

“FREDDY!”

“Sorry D…” Freddy pouted a little bit, he’d always held a little grudge towards Summer if only because she teased him about his playing when the band first got together. That and he couldn’t stand her bossy, know-it-all attitude.

“So…” Katie was staring at Zack who tried to look at her from his position lying down, “…how long have you liked Dewey?” Zack blinked at her question and then frowned.

“I dunno…”

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” Katie was giving him an exasperated look. “It’s not exactly something you forget!”

“Lemme finish!” Zack glowered at her, “I dunno…cause it went in differen’ stages of ‘like’,” he muttered, “but I suppose…about two years.”

Dewey, who had been quiet for a while thinking about the recent turn of events, suddenly sat up making sure Zack didn’t fall.

“WHAT!?”

Zack peered up at Dewey warily trying to judge if the singer was angry or just surprised with his answer, he cautiously repeated himself.

“I said…about two years?”

Dewey stared at the guitarist in amazement, he’d thought Zack was completely over his little ‘crush’…that the raven liked someone else…but all the time that someone else had been…

“Why didn’t you say anything!?”

Zack looked at the floor and shrugged.

“I thought you were over me…well you never did like me like that I don’t think…not back then, and I couldn’t stand you saying no to me again so I just…never said anything.”

“Over you? Zack I’m never going to be over you. I know I said…that you might want someone your own age but secretly, well I secretly hoped you would hold to your vow…that you’d still like me.”

The two stared at each other for a few minutes, then Zack started giggling again, Dewey raised an eyebrow at him in his trademark fashion. After a while Zack gave him his answer in between giggles.

“Damn dude…we were so stupid.”

***

A/N: Oh WOW. I did it... >=D maybe. We shall see...is that them all happy? Hmm...

It's getting SO hard to pick titles for these chapters >.0

I am SO dedicated to you guys I typed this chapter while my finger was oozing BLOOD. I'm not kidding, it hurts like a mo-fo. But it's done and it's LONG to make up for the wait.