Three am and not a single car was on I-95, which was a good thing since most of the bands on Warped Tour decided to travel as a caravan to their next stop in Pennsylvania. The van that Avenged Sevenfold had looked like a pedo-van with ten men and one woman crammed into it. The stench was terrible and it was the only thing that was keeping Brian awake at the moment as he drove down the road, leading the caravan. Well that and the sound of Johnny’s whimpers next to him in the passenger’s seat. The bassist was more than likely having another nightmare, which he seemed to have every night though they had only had him for a week. Brian hated that he couldn’t do anything to stop it, but the young man had already told them that it was his cross to bare and that was the end of the discussion. His nightmares must have been something terrible if he wouldn’t talk about them and cry over them because every time he woke up from them he would flail, cry, and then press himself up against the nearest solid surface. No one could touch him for a good twenty minutes after he woke up so now most of the band just has ear plugs to keep from waking up when he did.
The guitarist had never seen his friend like this before since this was his first time driving since they moved Johnny to the front seat so he wouldn’t hit anyone when he woke up and it broke his heart knowing that he couldn’t do anything to ease his night terrors. He figured he knew where they had come from or at least he thought he had some grip on what was bothering the younger man. Two years ago when Johnny was still in school there was a party at Brian’s house, well the youngest at the party was trashed and had stumbled home. When he did show back up to the party he climbed clumsily into his friend’s window with his shirt was soaked in blood, his face was tear stained, and there were lacerations all over his tiny body. Brian held the boy as he cried even though Johnny had no recollection of that night at all. The lead had no idea who had caused the other so much pain, but he knew that was probably what drove him into a fitful sleep. His eyes darted back and forth from the road to the other male before he put a hand on his knee and shook it gently.
The young bassist woke with a start, his eyes narrowing at whoever had woken him; though he silently was thanking them for waking him up before the nightmare got too…heavy. With a sigh he settled into the passenger’s seat of the van and stared ahead at the endless road. Honestly, Johnny was not too keen on being woken up and decided to keep his mouth shut instead of snapping at the guitarist like he normally would. He decided since the guy was nice enough to wake him from his nightmare he would at least not be as big of an ass as usual. The two men stayed quiet as Brian tried to focus on the road, but soon the silence began to coax the bassist into sleep and he would have none of that.
“Hey Gates, how…” The teen stopped abruptly and began to chew on his lower lip, stopping any word vomit that might flow from his mouth. He did not know anything about his band mates; so why in the world was he about to ask Synyster fuckin’ Gates if it was alright to want to find your one night stand and make it something more? ‘It must just be because it’s fuckin’ early in the morning,’ he reasoned with himself as he once again fell silent, not noticing the chocolate brown eyes giving him a questioning look. It was true that Johnny was the baby of the band and he got shit from the band, but they were a family so if he need something Brian would listen.
“Kid, you know you can ask me, right?” The lead asked as he once again stared at the black pavement in front of the van. He did not get a response from the other, not a nod or sigh. He was not sure if the bassist had fallen asleep or if he just chose to ignore him, but whatever the case the rest of the drive was much too quiet.

`~`
Avenged Sevenfold was one of the first bands to perform that afternoon, and thankfully Pittsburgh wasn’t full of dust like the Southern shows. They had received a good number of new kids who came to watch them, which boosted everyone’s egos. Since, not only the show, but the merch and signings were over Johnny split apart from the band to go check out the other artists. Nothing really caught his attention, the old acts were exactly that old, and the new acts were terrible in his opinion. After going from stage to stage hoping that he would find a decent band, he finally gave up and headed toward the food tent. It was not so much the food that the boy was after, but the beer that he knew he could snag without being carded or questioned.
The tent was a living hell, any and everybody who was in or with a band was crammed into a tent no bigger than the average person’s living room. Of course, veterans to Warped Tour got food first, not because they were vets, but because they knew how to shove through the newbies to get to the grub. Johnny crossed his tanned arms over his chest as he stared at all the people with food and beer, knowing he would not be getting fed today with this many people already fighting for scraps. “Fuck this,” he grumbled to himself when he spotted an unopened beer by a picnic table. He looked around and darted for the bottle, twisting the cap off and downing the amber liquid in record time. He smacked his lips at the taste, since he was never too big into Coors, and sat on the table as he hoped for another beer or something.
“Hey, ya little shit, you drank my beer!” A vaguely familiar voice shouted at him, the voice was so familiar, but he couldn’t place it because of the angry tone. “I-I…” He stammered out as he hopped off the wooden table to face whoever, he thought, was about to slug him for drinking his brew. His eyes widened when he saw who was yelling at him, though really who could not place anything but the man’s eyes and he did not know his name, but those eyes. The other seemed to recognize him as well, a smirk gracing his slightly chubby features. Before Johnny knew it he was getting pulled into a bear hug by the man, feeling like the life was being squeezed out of him.
“Shit kid, if you wanted another go round ya coulda just told me instead of takin’ my beer,” the blue eyed man said after he pulled away from the hug, the smirk still on his face. Johnny stared at him, too lost in those blue green orbs to really say much, just nod and look like an idiot. The two men stood awkwardly, mostly the younger man though, for a few minutes before the elder smacked his forehead and chuckled. “Ya know, I never got your name. I’m Jacoby Shaddix, but you can call me Coby,” Jacoby said as he pulled the small man into another hug before letting him go just as quickly. “You should come to the party with me. It’ll be fun and if you liked last time I promise it’ll be a complete repeat.” The older man’s smooth voice was heavenly in Johnny’s ears and he flashed the man a nervous smile as he held his hand out. “I’m Johnny and I’d love a repeat of last time.”