A/N: So, my thought for this was to make a series of one-shots into a story...sort of. Like, all of the chapters will be a separate story, but they'll still be individual chapters of one whole story.

...I hope that made sense. XD

Something that I was working on in this was to be fairly descriptive. I'd like some feedback on that. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Avenged Sevenfold. They are the complete proud owners of themselves, and their music.

Nightmare

Matt whistled cheerfully as he stepped out into the bright morning. The clear blue sky promised a positively gorgeous day, and he believed it when he was immediately blasted with a wall of warm air. But the weather did nothing to deter Matt's mood. If anything, it brought it higher. He had a good feeling about today. He wasn't sure why, but he just felt like everything was going right. This high would surely come crashing down later, but Matt was going to hang on until it did.

After checking his phone for any new messages, Matt hopped into his car. He was meeting up with his best friends: Brian, Jimmy, Johnny, and Zacky, at Jimmy's house. The plan revolved mostly around getting drunk, so it wasn't anything particularly special. Luckily, Jimmy only lived a few blocks from him, so within minutes, he had pulled into the driveway and was walking to the front door. The door was never locked, so Matt didn't have to worry about knocking. Instead, he barged in, only to be greeted by a terrifying sight.

Jimmy was home alright. But it looked like he hadn't moved since the night before. His skin was paler than normal; he strongly resembled a sheet of paper. Jimmy's body was resting in an awkward position. His neck was bent over the back of the chair he was sitting in, causing his spine to arch into a backward 'c'. With wide eyes, Matt stumbled forward. His breathing became shakier as he moved closer. His scrutiny became more detailed, and suddenly, he could see the blank look that dominated his eyes. Their usual electric blue was dulled into a hazy gray. Matt could see Jimmy's normally unruly ebony hair lying flat and lifeless against his forehead. His mouth was open slightly and from the silence, Matt knew he wasn't breathing; he probably hadn't in several hours.

Matt heard car doors slam outside, and the loud chatter of the others. He braced himself for the worst as he turned around and waited for them to come inside.

"Johnny, just admit it. You're jealous of the fact that I can already be semi-late, go pick up Zack, and still get here before you," Matt wondered how Brian would react when he saw Jimmy. The two had known each other since they were small children.

"By five seconds!" Johnny always had this deep connection with Jimmy. They always seemed to know what the other was thinking.

"But you admit that we beat you!" Then there was Zacky; the one who always had time for Jimmy. He never had anything to do, so he spent most of his time at either Jimmy or Brian's house.

Suddenly, the three men walked into the house, tearing Matt from his reverie. Their playful expressions dropped as their eyes flitted from Matt to Jimmy. Then they were all rushing toward the two.

"What happened?"

Matt flinched at their simultaneous screams. He opened his mouth, ready to explain his theories, but realized he couldn't speak. He watched as Zacky grasped at Jimmy's corpse, tears running down his cheeks. Brian was still questioning Matt fervently, even though every word he spoke cracked worse than the last. Johnny was just sitting on the couch next to Jimmy's chair, staring off into space. Anyone who wasn't looking properly would figure he didn't care about the whole ordeal, but Matt could see how tense he was; could see the way premature sobs wracked his tiny frame.

The four of them stayed there for what seemed like hours, until finally, Johnny called the hospital. The police and paramedics arrived shortly, making small work of the scene. The biggest problem they encountered was attempting to pull Zacky away from Jimmy's body.

This whole thing seemed unreal. They had been with Jimmy the night before. How could so much have happened in nine hours? The police escorted the four to the hospital, where the paramedics immediately began an autopsy.

While they waited, the four held each other, whispering comforting words every time a sob managed to escape someone. It didn't take long before an officer stepped up to them.

"I'm really sorry about your loss, boys. I can tell you were very close with James. The doctors say that he had an enlarged heart due to overexposure to alcohol. They think he had the equivalent of a heart attack. Luckily, he was asleep, so he felt no pain."

"Luckily?" Brian roared, "Our best friend is dead! How is that lucky?" he then crumpled into a broken heap on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

xxx

Matt jerked awake, his breathing heavy and tears streaming down his face. What was that? It all seemed so real. He prayed to God that it wasn't, though. Matt shakily grabbed for his phone. He typed in the familiar numbers and pleaded silently to himself as he listened to the monotone ringing.

"Matt?" a sleepy voice answered.

Matt couldn't answer. His tears had increased in number. He held the phone away from his face as he gasped quietly, "Thank God."

It was only a nightmare.

EDIT: All I did was change some spelling/grammatical errors. :P