B.C. Ch. 1 - Not Running Away

Brian groaned and covered his eyes as the sun blazed through the window and right into his eyes. He flung the blanket up over his head, squeezing his eyes shut tight until the white dots faded from his vision. He opened one eye slowly and looked at the watch on his wrist. Three thirty. Great.
He rolled over and groped for his cell phone on the nightstand next to his bed. Sheilding his eyes he tapped the screen to  see twenty five missed calls and three voicemails. He swore and dialed his voicemail, tapping his fingers impatiently. He froze when he heard Zacky's voice on the other end.
"Hey Brian, where the fuck are you dude? Answer your damned phone, we were supposed to hang out today at the pier. Get the fuck out of bed and call me back."
The next two messages were similar. He saved them all then hung up and looked at the call log. Every sinlge call was from Zacky. His heart raced. He promised they would go downtown and just chill, get away from everything and spend some friend time together. He was supposed to be there at noon.
"Fuck fuck fuck!" he swore as he pushed himself out of bed and dragged himself to his closet. A huge mirror met him when he swung open the door, and he cringed. He looked like shit. Grabbing a few random things off hangars and a clean towel from the shelf, he made his way to the door. He passed the side table where the remnants of last nights escapades sat. He looked away, not wanting to remember.
As he was about to turn the knob, he heard a voice downstairs.
"Brian?"
It was Zacky.
Brian scrambled to the table, flinging open the drawer and sweeping everything on top of it inside in one swipe. He opened the door and straigtened up, walking down the hall to the stairs.
"Zack?" he called. A face appeared at the bottom of the stairs, a look of relief on his face.
"Jesus Christ, Brian, I was really worried. I've been calling you all fucking - whoa, are you alright?" Brian watched him as he trotted up the stairs, a look of concern on his flawless face.
Brian nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, just feeling a little under the weather."
Zacky stood all too close on the landing with him, inspecting his face. "You seriously don't look good at all." he draped an arm around his shoulders and walked him back to the bedroom, sitting him down on the bed. Brian could feel his heart hammering in his chest, Zacky's touch making his whole body tingle.
"Dude I'm fine. I just need to shower and we can head out. I'm sorry I didn't show up on time, I'm just beat for some reason."
"We don't have to go if you don't want to, man. If you wanna just relax I can grab a six pack and a movie and we can chill. You dont look up to going anywhere." he laid his hand on Brian's forehead, and his breath caught in his throat. "Your really warm. Look, go get in the shower, I'm gonna go to the store and me and you can just hang out here. Need anything while I'm out, like meds or something?"
Brian shook his head and looked into Zacky's eyes. The green swallowed him whole and he felt himself falling backwards. Strong arms caught him and held him upright. Brian shook his head, looking away from Zacky's worried gaze.
"Hey, hey man, just lie down. I'll be back soon, I swear." he lowered Brian back onto his pillow slowly. The soft pillow enveloped him once again and he closed his eyes.
"I'm really sorry, man. I just feel like crap."
"It's fine, I'll grab some stuff to cheer you up don't worry." He opened his eyes in time to see Zacky give him a concerend smile as he stood up. He patted Brian's chest then walked out.
He wasn't sure how long he laid there, could have been an hour, could have been three. But soon enough his stomach began to boil, and he raced dazedly to the bathroom, bending over the sink just in time. He heaved a few times before collapsing to the floor. He dragged himsel to the shower and turned the heat all the way up. Had seeing Zacky really made him feel like this? The nausia had gotten worse over the past week, but he hadn't actually vomited yet.
Then it clicked. He was such a fool. How could he go and do such stupid things to himself? Because of his internal turmoil he was getting sick, and had missed an opportunity to spend a day alone with Zacky. He climbed inside the shower, letting the steam  seep through his skin and into his veins. He couldn't even feel the heat. How stupid could one person be?
He didn't understand the feelings he was getting inside him. It was a recent developement, thoug he had always felt this strange attraction to Zacky. Ever since they were kids, he liked to hang out with him, and when they formed Avenged Sevenfold, things just fell into place. But for the past few months, every time he laid eyes on Zacky, something inside him yearned, but he hadn't figured it out until last week. He was in love with one of his best friends.