“Hello!” A woman said cheerfully. She was wearing a Vengeance University tee and black tripp pants covered with chains, studs and spikes.

Zacky smiled at her. “Nice shirt.”

She looked down, then back up at Zacky. “Thanks, man. I- Wait, are you...”

“The one and only.” Zacky laughed.

“Holy shit! Zacky V is in my store!” She yelled in excitement. Her eyes widened when she saw everyone else. “And the rest of Avenged Sevenfold! Oh my God!”

Brian laughed and stuck out his hand. “So you know us, huh?”

She shook his hand and calmed herself. “Well, of course I do!” She stopped and looked at me. “I don’t know you, though.”

“I’m Ashlynn. I used to go here a lot.” I said shyly.

“Oh! I remember you! Yeah, you always came in when there was a new shipment and bought all the A7X stuff.” The woman said, shaking my hand.

I laughed nervously. “Yeah, that was me.”

“And now here you are, hanging out with Avenged Sevenfold! You lucky chick.” She smiled, punching my arm playfully. “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Skye.”

“Ah. Hence the name.” Matt said, tapping the side of his head.

“You catch the drift.” She replied, pointing at him and laughing. “Well, we just got some awesome new shit just yesterday, so help yourselves, guys! Call me if you need any help.”

I nodded and thanked her, walking straight over to the shirt section.

“How about this one, Brian?” I asked, picking up a purple tank top with studs on the shoulder straps.

“Purple is my favorite color, so of course I would love it!” He said happily. “You should go try it on.”

I smiled and nodded, grabbing a few more shirts that appealed to me and ran over to the dressing room.

“Whadaya think?” I said, stepping out in the purple tank top and making a grand gesture.

Brian whistled. “It looks amazing, Ash.”

“Ooh, sexy!” Johnny said, looking over at me from where he was browsing the guys’ section.

I giggled. “Thanks, guys.”

Two minutes later, I came out of the dressing room with my- or should I say- Brian’s original clothes on. I began searching for pants to go along with the purple tank top.

“Aww. You’re not gonna try on the other shirts?” Brian asked, walking over to me.

I laughed. “I tried them on. I just didn’t come out in them.”

“You should have.” He said and winked.

“You will see them later, okay? Right now, I need pants.” I replied.

“How about these?” Brian said, holding up a pair of black skinny jeans with studs embedded all around the thigh and rear area. “They would go well with the tank top, right?”

I smiled. “Yeah, those would look good. Look at you, helping me shop. Most guys would be anxious to get out as soon as possible.”

“Well, I’m not most guys.” Brian said, leaning in and kissing me on the lips.

“Obviously.” I replied, stealing another kiss before I resumed shopping. I chose another pair of pants and returned to the dressing room, trying on different outfits. The black skinnies looked really good with the purple tank top. I smiled at Brian’s insight.

After I had finished, I put my regular clothes back on and placed my purchase selection on the counter.

“This gonna be all?” Skye asked, smiling up at me. I nodded and motioned to Brian to come over.

Skye told Brian the total and he placed a 100 dollar bill on the counter. The cash register rang and she placed the change in his hand. I grabbed the bag and moved away from the counter.

“I wanna buy this.” Matt said, walking up to the counter with something in his hand. He placed a necklace with a large, black stone surrounded by small diamonds on the counter.

“Good choice. You read the instructions, right?” Skye asked, picking up the necklace. She punched a few numbers in her cash register and the total lit up on a little screen.

“Yes, ma’am.” Matt said politely, pulling out his wallet.

“Good. Would you like a copy of them so you don’t forget?” She took the money from Matt and gave him change in return.

“Sure.” Matt took the necklace and the instructions and slipped them in his pocket. I looked at him curiously, wondering what the instructions were.

“My turn!” Johnny said loudly. He placed a shirt on the counter and pulled out his wallet.

I turned my head and, to my surprise, I saw Zacky standing next to me. “Hey. You don’t want to buy anything?” I asked.

Zacky didn’t say anything for a minute. Finally, he glanced up at me and said, “I don’t know. I guess not....” He trailed off and looked back down at the ground.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”

He looked back up at me and smiled. “Yeah.”

“Well, I’m here if you need someone to talk to.” I replied, returning the smile.

Zacky scratched the back of his neck and laughed nervously. “About that... I do need to talk to you about something.”

Before I could say anything more, Johnny ran up to me. “Look, Ashy! Look what I got!” He said like a little five-year-old who had just gotten a new toy. He unfolded the t-shirt he had just purchased. It was black and had “Black Sabbath” written in large, white letters on the top near the neck and “13” in flaming numbers on the bottom half.

I smiled. “That’s awesome, Johnny.”

He looked down at his shirt. “Isn’t it?!”

“Are we all set? You’re not gonna buy anything, bro?” Matt asked. Zacky shook his head.

“Okay. Well, let’s go then.” Brian said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Wait... before you go... Could- could I get a picture with you guys?” Skye asked shyly.

“Of course!” Matt beamed.

“Alex! Could you come here for a sec?” Skye yelled. A young boy, around eight or so, emerged from the back room and walked over to Skye.

“Yes, Mommy?” Alex asked eagerly.

“You remember how to take pictures, right?” She asked, bending down to look at him in the eyes. Alex bobbed his head up and down. Skye handed her phone to him and stood next to Brian and Matt, with Zacky and Johnny on either side of them.

“Come on, A. Get in the picture!” Zacky said, motioning to me.

“Are you sure?” I asked, directing the question towards Skye.

“Sure! Why not?” She smiled. I squeezed in next to Brian and Zacky. I felt a hand on the small of my back and looked briefly at Zacky. He smiled and glanced at me with his peripheral vision. After the picture had been taken, Skye asked all the guys for autographs, who were happy to oblige.

“Cute kid.” Matt commented after all the signatures had been given.

Skye smiled. “Thanks.”

“We’ll see ya around, Skye!” Johnny called over his shoulder as we started to walk for the door.

“Bye! Thanks for everything!” She said, waving.

“What time is it?” I asked Brian when we were all outside.

“11:08.” Brian answered, checking his phone.

“Could we go to another store real quick?” I asked quietly.

Brian smiled. “Sure. Where to?”

“Just to a convenience store. I was gonna buy makeup.” I said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

“Oi vey.” Johnny groaned.

“Shut it.” I laughed, poking him in the side.

Suddenly, Brian’s phone went off.

“Hello?” He said into the phone. A look of shock and horror surfaced on his face. “Yes. I’ll be there as soon as possible.” He hung up the phone and looked at me very seriously. "We need to go. Now.”

“What happened?” I asked, grabbing his arm.

“Sammy’s been hurt. We need to get to the hospital now!” He said, jumping into the Mustang, with all of us close behind him. Brian whipped the car around and took off towards Huntington Beach Medical Center as fast as he legally could. I held his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

“Sammy is gonna be okay, Brian. I promise.” I whispered. Brian’s lips tightened and a tear slipped down his cheek.

“God, I hope so.”

Notes

Ugh, I feel sooo bad for not updating. By now, I'm sure some of you guys have lost interest...

if there's anything I can do to make my ratings better, please please please let me know. I really want you guys to like this story :)

I plan to update the next chapter a lot quicker than the past few times, and it will hopefully be better and longer than this filler chapter...