Title: Lips of an Angel
Author: inkk
Pairing: Brian Haner/Zack Baker
Rating: G
Summary: Tonight, he won't have to miss anything.
Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction and does not reflect the personal or professional lives of any real person portrayed herein.

Brian misses Avenged Sevenfold. He mostly misses Zacky. The way Zacky sings. The way Zacky plays guitar. Everything about Zacky. It's days like these that make him want to lay in bed and cry until he can't feel anymore. He just misses being twenty-five without worries. He knows it's his fault that Avenged Sevenfold isn't together anymore. He's the one that got involved. He's the one that decided they should tell. He's the one that got the living hell beaten out of him for being who he was. He's the one that suggested taking a "break".

That break has lasted five years and doesn't seem like it's going to end.

His girlfriend is in bed as he looks over old photographs of him with his arm over his bandmates' shoulders. She's asleep after yet another fight about money, work, and his drinking. He hasn't moved on. In his mind, he will forever be the lead guitarist of Avenged Sevenfold and nothing else. He misses his friends. He misses his life.

He feels tears well up in his eyes as he finds one of the pictures from when they were young; just starting out. Zacky's arm is around his shoulders and he's leaning down as Zacky presses his face against his chest. Some fan had taken the picture, awwing and squealing about how they were 'so cute'. The truth is that they were just drunk and uncaring of who saw. Brian bites his lip and puts the photograph down, closing his eyes to will away the liquid threatening to run down his face. He misses them.

The phone rings and it startles him, the crashing guitar and drums of Burn it Down playing through the house. He picks it up and presses the send button, not knowing the number on the screen. At first no one answers and he thinks that it's a telemarketer. Finally, a soft voice says hello and he feels his heart stop. The voice is quiet, and slightly lisped. He knows this voice. It was the voice that met him every morning for almost ten years. It's Zacky's voice.

The tears are in his eyes again and he hears Zacky say hello. He bites down hard on his lip and says hello in return, looking up at the ceiling and then down to the box of pictures on his desk. They sit in silence, merely breathing. Just the knowledge that Zacky is on the other line of the phone is making his heart break all over again. He then hears the quiet sniffle that alerts him that the rhythm is crying. And he's still the rhythm. In Brian's mind, he will forever be the rhythm. Brian misses his rhythm.

"Baby, are you crying?"

His own voice is stonger than he thought it would be. It's stupid that he called him baby. Zacky was taken, happy with his boyfriend. He hears Zacky quietly ask if his girlfriend is awake; if she knows that he's talking to him. Even though he knows Zack can't see him, he shakes his head, then whispers that she's asleep and doesn't know who he's talking to.

"Brian, I..."

His name sounds better than it ever has when Zacky says it. Resting his elbow on the desk, he puts his forehead in his hand and then rubs his wet eyelids slowly, telling the rhythm that he missed his voice. He hears Zacky's breath hitch in his throat and he asks quietly if his boyfriend is there. If talking to Brian will make them fight. Zacky tells him that no, he's not there. That they've had a fight and he's in some hotel at the edge of Huntington. The rhythm asks him in a quivering voice how he's been. Brian doesn't know what to say. He wants to hold Zacky, tell him everything will be okay.

"I wish she was you."

He almost regrets the words as he speaks them, but he knows that he's speaking the truth. The quiet sniffling on the other end of the phone turns into soft weeping, muffled by what Brian assumes is a pillow. He whispers that he doesn't want Zacky to cry. Zacky whispers back that they never moved on; that it's too hard to live without his band - his friends. He adds that he dreamt of Brian the previous night. About the time Brian sung his name on stage. They whisper at the same time that miss each other and Brian loses it.

"I never want to say goodbye to you."

Tears are spilling over his cheeks now. He's sobbing quietly into his hand and he hears Zacky gasp on the other end of the phone. Voice low, he whispers hoarsely that he can't go on anymore. He cries and he cries as Zacky agrees and weeps along with him. Running his hand over his face, he mumbles his longing for Avenged Sevenfold. To simply see his four friends and stand with them. Zacky agrees with this as well and sobs that he misses the lead. Brian stands and asks what hotel the rhythm is in. When Zacky responds with the name, he nods to himself. They sniffle their goodbyes and press the end buttons on their phones. As he slides on his shoes and pulls his old leather coat over his T-shirt, he smiles.

Tonight, he won't have to miss anything.