A/N: Hi! Remember me?

This is such crap. I'm so sorry. I made you all wait for 10 months (good grief has it been that long already?) for this. -facepalm-
Seriously, though, I apologize for the long wait - I didn't mean to take this long to update. And the lie that was my last journal? Ehe...I kind of wrote that expecting there wouldn't be a ton of homework...there was. I sowwy.

Anyway, I hope any update at all makes up for something. Sorry again, and I hope this isn't as crap as it seems to be.

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

Dead Punk - Thank you so much. Seriously, I was proud of the last chapter, but it's still really nice to hear that it isn't absolute crap. I'm really sorry I took so long to update. I don't blame you if you hate me!

Rev's Little Synner - I'm sorry Nightmare scared you! Glad you're enjoying the one-shots, though! Thank you so much!

Fiction

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. Its lands were rich with vegetation and its forests were filled with all manner of beasts – all plump and good for eating. The worn, winding cobblestone paths displayed centuries of use; the rough, flat stones – broken in some places – led up to the royal city of Sidewinder. The king resided there – in the grandiose, supreme domain. He was fair, dealing with his subjects justly, ruling with placid authority, interacting with his people and the land outside of the city walls. The citizens of Sidewinder adored their king, so when trouble entered the kingdom, they turned to their sovereign with helpless, trusting pleas.

To understand this danger better, the king sent out his best men – Sir Matthew, Sir Brian, Sir Zachary, and Sir Jonathan – and received grim news.

A basilisk had appeared in the countryside.

After a short few days of planning, the king himself and his most trustworthy men bravely rode away on noble white steeds to find the dreaded beast. For several weeks, they scoured the countryside – in every town, every forest, every miniscule crevice of the kingdom. Finally, when they had almost lost hope, they came to a small swamp hidden near Sidewinder's border. Delving into the marshy area, the king quickly came upon a clearing. Sitting in the center, gnawing at the corpse of a boar, was the biggest creature any of the men had seen before. It was clearly a sanguineness basilisk – the stinger at the tip of the beast's tail told them that much – so the men would be able to look at their opponent while they slayed it.

The basilisk quickly noticed the king and his men, and stood with a mighty roar. The king shifted toward his men slightly, "Come, brave knights! We shall slay this beast together!" His men shouted their agreement and followed after the king as he drove his horse to the basilisk.

The king and his men fought valiantly – weaving around the basilisk's attacks and in turn, striking it with gleaming swords. Soon the beast was bleeding heavily – weak and barely alive. The king swung off of his steed and walked cautiously next to the basilisk. The creature hissed faintly as the king gently set his sword on its neck. He quickly pushed downward; the beast was dead – and out of its misery.

Victorious cheers rang throughout the clearing, and the king smiled softly as he climbed back onto his horse. "Congratulations, my knights! We have saved Sidewinder!"

The group traveled back to the city, where all of the townspeople were waiting. When they arrived, the citizens erupted into applause, praising their king for saving them once again. Banners were strung everywhere reading 'Thank you, King James'. The king grinned at his people and later celebrated the victory with them, and they lived happily ever after.

"Wow. What a great story. Better give that one a name, a fancy cover, and throw it in a children's library. Nothing ever ends happily ever after in reality. You want something realistic? Read my story."

A heavy, pounding guitar track vibrated the walls as I cleaned up the mess that was my living room. I bobbed my head to the beat, looking around and approving of what I saw. Good enough.

After turning down the music almost all the way, I headed into the kitchen and pulled out a beer. I opened it and took a small sip, sighing in content. Suddenly my front door flew open and four men casually strolled in, laughing and punching each other. I grinned at their appearance, while they whirled around and plopped down onto my couches.

"Aw, did you clean up for us, Bri-Bri?" the tall, lanky one asked in a high-pitched voice.

I chuckled, "Don't flatter yourself, Jimmy."

"Yeah, Jimbo, he obviously cleaned up for us three," the other tall one commented with a dimpled smirk.

Jimmy pouted as the whole group laughed. "You wound me, Matt. Why would you let him do that, Johnny?"

The shortest man in the group shrugged, "Sorry, man. I didn't do it."

I walked over and stood in front of the coffee table, staring at my friends. "Well, shall we?" I asked.

The others cheered at the proposal, and raced to the fridge to grab some booze. The party was really started now. The quieted music was changed to metal and turned up again. Soon, we were completely wasted – stumbling around the house drunkenly and engaging in random, pointless conversation. I was sitting on the couch, doing the latter with Jimmy and the last man in our group, Zack.

"Zee-man, I really like your hair today," I slurred.

Zack giggled and fluffed up his blond-dyed fringe – it had been windblown by a fan earlier in the evening, and he was only making it worse. "Thanks," he replied.

Jimmy was sitting back on the couch, snoring lightly, when Matt ran by, carrying Johnny on his broad shoulders, laughing wickedly. He then shot up and sped over to the kitchen counter. He pulled out a pill bottle and popped a couple of pills into his mouth, swallowing them down with a generous swig of alcohol.

"Dude, isn't it bad to take meds with booze?" Zack asked. His head was lolling onto my shoulder and his eyes were drooping shut.

"Nah," Jimmy answered with a shrug. "It'll wear off soon and I'll be fine."

Zack didn't answer, for he had fallen asleep, but I felt a creeping sense that Jimmy should have waited. I had no chance to act on that, however, because the moment Jimmy sat down again, he flopped onto his side and began snoring. The thought quickly dropped out of my mind, and before I knew it, I was joining my friends in sleep.

The next morning, only Zack and I were in the room. I was spread out along the couch, and Zack was half on the floor, half on the couch, cuddling with my legs. I sleepily shoved him off and stood up. After stretching and grabbing a quick drink of water, I set off to find the others. In my room, Matt was laying upside down on my bed. The blankets had been stripped off, but the sheets were still on, albeit very rumpled and messy. Moving to the guest bedroom, I found Johnny lying on the floor, curled into a tight ball and murmuring in his sleep. I shook my head fondly and went to the bathroom. There, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Jimmy was lying in a pool of blood that was spread out across most of the floor. He was pale and sweaty, and I couldn't see his chest moving. I ignored the blood completely in my haste to reach my friend, rushing to his side and pushing his damp hair back; he was extremely warm. I felt for a pulse, and found a faint beat. Slightly reassured, I yelled for someone.

Matt ran to the door and his eyes widened when he saw the mess. "Call 911!" I shouted desperately. My heart was racing and adrenalin was pulsing through me, but there wasn't much I could do except wet a washcloth and set it on Jimmy's forehead. Matt nodded with a disturbed look and dashed back to the kitchen. I could hear him as he practically yelled into the receiver. The other two were awake now, too, frantically asking Matt questions.

I felt sick to my stomach. Was Jimmy going to survive? I felt for a pulse again, and my blood ran cold – I couldn't find it.

"See? This is reality. Things like this happen every damn day."

"Maybe you should tell them the rest of the story, Brian."

"…Fine."

The emergency crew arrived swiftly and immediately attended to Jimmy. I was ushered away and the police asked for a detailed explanation. I told them about the night before and the discovery of this morning. The officers tried to reassure me, but I saw the paramedics taking Jimmy away in a stretcher, and my heart stuttered in its rhythm.

"Please tell me he's gonna be okay," I whispered melancholy. Johnny patted my shoulder softly, and I grasped onto it, desperate for any comfort. Zack was crying silently next to me.

"We can't be sure until the hospital gets a chance to properly analyze the problem, Mister Haner. However, I assure you that they will do everything in their power to insure that he lives."

Feeling hopeless, I nodded but didn't say anything. That wasn't the answer I was looking for at all.

The police left soon after that, leaving the four of us in my living room. For several hours, we sat in silence, when finally I announced that I was sorry.

Sniffling, Matt asked, "Why?"

"I could have stopped him last night," I said. "This is all my fault."

Zack shook his head furiously, "No, it isn't; I was there! There's nothing you can do to prevent Jimmy from doing something when he's determined, you know that."

Still, my stomach wouldn't stop churning. My whole being felt empty, hollow. I felt like I had somehow let Jimmy – and the others – down. I could have prevented this somehow, I just knew it.

Another long silence filled the room until Matt cleared his throat heavily, "Maybe we should head down to the emergency room; see how he's doing."

Reluctantly, we all agreed. The emergency room was only a few miles away, so several minutes later we were climbing out of Matt's pickup and walking numbly into the lobby.

"Hello, sirs," a cheery young lady greeted at the front desk. "What can I do for you?"

With a gruff voice, Matt said quietly, "We're here to see the synopsis of Jimmy Sullivan."

The woman typed something into her computer, before confirming, "James?" Matt nodded and she looked back up at him. "It appears he is just down the hall to your right in room 17. He is accepting visitors."

We thanked her and rushed off to said room. Cautiously opening the door, we stepped in and examined our friend. He wasn't as pale, and I could see he was breathing. A wave of relief shot through me, and I practically sagged against the door. Zack helped me over to Jimmy's side. Close up, he seemed even healthier, though he was sweating a little bit.

The door opened again, and a doctor walked in with a clipboard. "Ah," he exclaimed, "you must be Mister Sullivan's friends. I'm Doctor Kennedy." He walked closer to Jimmy, so I moved. "He is very lucky you called the police when you did. If you had waited half an hour more, he wouldn't be here with us." We all let out a breath of relief at that. "Evidently, when his body was trying to purge the excess drugs from itself, a few blood vessels ruptured in his throat and caused internal bleeding. The bleeding was slow and non-severe, so we quickly patched it up. We pumped his stomach and he's getting a blood transfusion as we speak."

Johnny, who was standing on Jimmy's left side, spoke softly, "Thank you, Doctor. We would have been devastated beyond belief if-"

"No need to thank me," Doctor Kennedy interrupted. Johnny sent him a thankful smile, and even I was grateful. I would never have been able to get the words "Jimmy" and "died" out. "We did our job, saved a life, and brought him back to his family – that is the biggest reward we could have gotten." With that, Kennedy took his leave.

The door shut quietly as we all stared down at Jimmy's sleeping form. "I'm so glad he's alive," Zack murmured. I agreed internally, but couldn't say anything aloud. My throat was closed up and tears were welling in my eyes; it was all I could do to keep from sobbing, in happiness and sadness. Pressure in my gut kept me from feeling truly happy, though. This was still my fault.

For several hours, we stayed by Jimmy's bedside and spoke to him. Whether he could hear us or not, we didn't care. Around midnight – when visiting hours were technically over (Doctor Kennedy gave us an exception) – Matt and Zack went home. Johnny and I stayed, though. Johnny fell asleep, but I kept talking to Jimmy.

"I am so sorry, Jimmy," I whispered to his still form. I was crying again – as I had been off and on for several hours. "You were so drunk…all that alcohol must have heightened the effects of your meds. I could have stopped you, prevented this from happening. I'm so sorry." I dropped my head onto the white cotton sheets on the bed.

After a moment, a faint voice answered me, "I forgive you." I looked up to see Jimmy's bright blue eyes open and staring at me tiredly. "You really didn't do anything wrong, though, Brian," he continued. "None of us were in our right minds. It's not your fault I did something stupid. Besides, the doctors fixed me up and I'm fine now."

"What's to stop it from happening again?" I asked tentatively.

"Nothing, I guess," he answered with a weak shrug. "I just need to plan ahead of time when we plan to get wasted."

I nodded, and the pressure in my gut began to dissipate. Jimmy smiled at me affectionately and opened his arms a little for a hug. Without hesitating, I swooped down and hugged him tight. The pressure was gone now – I was forgiven.

"Okay, fine. There are happy endings, I admit it. But you weren't so sure for a while, were you? Many stories in life have sad endings, like this one could have had, and I still can't say we lived happily ever after. But…we were close."

Okay, I promise to get Save Me out soon! No slacking!