Brian’s POV

“COME IN” I hear Belle scream from inside her apartment. I walk inside to see wrapping paper everywhere & just a big mess. Which is weird since Belle is a clean freak. “Hey, B. Come here” She says where she is drawing something. More like coloring something. “What do you think?” She says handing me a piece of paper that has a lot of stuff on it… her drawings. There’s a bunch of stuff drawn on it. She always does that. She says it helps her incorporate everything. I just think she’s cheap & doesn’t want to waste paper.

“This one’s cool” I say, signaling to some weird abstracts hearts.

“You think so? I like those too” She says, getting up & staring at them with me.

“Why are you drawing so much all of the sudden?” I ask, watching all the paper full with doodles & drawing, some in color, some black & white.

“Oh, Gerard called me a few days back. He wants me to help them come up with cool scenery for their tour. So he asked me if I could draw some cool stuff & here I am” She says, gathering some of the paper thrown on the floor. “He doesn’t want this dark images, so we’re trying to come up with something different but still very MCR, you know. We don’t want a bunch of kids mad at us” She says, smiling while still picking up the litter from her floor. “We’ll see how it goes” She says, closing the garbage bag & placing it on a corner. I nod. “I’m sure when I get to New York on Sunday, it’ll be easier” She says, walking into the kitchen.

“You’re going to New York?” I ask her, still looking at some of her drawings.

“Yeah. I leave Sunday, but don’t worry, I’ll be back New Years Eve. They really need this cuz they’re doing an ‘express’ tour that starts the 2nd of January” She says & look at her. Its almost 7 PM & she’s still on her PJ’s.

“Aren’t you supposed to be ready by now? We have to get going” I say to her & she shrugs.

“Give me 30” She says walking to her bedroom to get ready… I think. I keep looking at her drawings & notice a small pile with all types of guitars & skulls drawn over it. It was great.

“Hey, Belle” I call walking into her bedroom, hearing she’s in the shower.

“WHAT?” She calls &I sit on her bed.

“What are these skulls & guitars for?” I ask.

“WHAT?” She asks again. I sigh & walk into the bathroom, leaning on the sink boudoir.

“This drawing of a skull with a crown & 2 guitars is amazing” I say, admiring the ‘King of Pain’ script she placed on the top. Wow… she’s really talented.

“Oh. Zacky asked me a couple of months ago to design some things for VU. I have to show it to him” She says & I see the silhouette behind the steamed glasses move around.

“Fuck Zacky. I want this for House of Syn” I say, flipping through the drawings.

“Brian…” She says in a you-know-that’s-not-happening tone.

“Draw him something else. Besides, this…” I say holding a piece of paper of a skull fading with an amp & a guitar like she could see it. “It’s more House of Syn than VU & you know it” I say placing the piece of paper back with the other ones.

“Hand me a towel, please” She says, popping her head out of the shower. I look behind me to see her towels folded perfectly & hand them a medium sized one. She takes it & starts drying herself up, leaving me again with just the silhouette of her doing it. & this time… I couldn’t look away. It was almost too sensual to turn away. I couldn’t see her clearly but that just made my mind reel a thousand miles a minute. & for a split of a second, I really wanted to be the one drying her off. Touching her & caressing every inch of her body that she allowed me to. Just worship her for being… well, her. “Michelle has been slacking on her job since the wedding plans started, right?” She says, stepping out of the shower. I see her hair pulled up in a messy bun & little moist on her shoulders & collarbone. “Brian?” She asks. Oh shit… I was staring.

“Yeah” I say to her seeing her walk to me & grab her toothbrush.

“You can have that one. But that’s it” She says, pointing to the one I previously ‘showed’ her before starting to brush her teeth.

“No way. Zacky can have one & I’ll have the rest” I say staring at her through the mirror. She shakes her no & I nod mine yes while walking away.

“Ok, you can have 2, but that’s it. Choose wisely, Haner” She says, walking to her vanity & grabbing her body lotion, applying it to her arms after she secured her towel around her chest. I turn around cuz I’m staring at her again. I concentrate on the drawings before me & start spreading them over the bed. This is hard. I pick the one I previously have chosen & grab another one that has a guitar going through a skull. “Good choices” She says from behind me, filling my air with her scent, before walking to her closet. I close my eyes as I inhale slowly. She’s killing me. Seriously. “Oh, I just remembered something” She says, running out of closet & the bedroom. I just stare at my picks & start doubting. I start browsing through them again. “I know we said we were gonna wait to exchange gifts til we got to Zacky’s but… I can’t wait. Here” She says handing me a big wrapped gift. “Merry Christmas, Brian. I hope you like it” She says smiling.

“Thanks” I say. “Should I open it now?” I ask & she nods rapidly. “Ok” I start unwrapping it & my mouth drops open. I turn to look at her, expectantly. She’s biting the corner of her bottom lip, waiting for any reply.

“Do you like it?” She asks. “I know you always wanted me to make you one since I made Matt one for his birthday” She says & walks to me. “Do you think I manage to capture all the cockiness that embodies Synyster Gates?” She says, looking up at me. I look down at her & I could fucking kiss her right now.

“I fucking love it” I say lowly to her & I see her grin turn into a smile. “This is… great” I say to her & she lets out a small laugh.

“Thank you. I think it’s one of my finest works, if I do say so” She says, grabbing one side of the frame that holds my alter ego… in Belle’s POV. Since the ‘A little Piece of Heaven’ video, she has been obsessed with us as great skeleton band. And when Matt turned 27, she gave him a painting of him singing, well… his bones anyway. But it was so perfectly done, that I nagged her for over 2 years for her to make me one. And here I am, holding my own piece of art. “I even signed it Belle, since you’re the only one that calls me that. But, don’t worry, if I ever get famous, my real signature is in the back” She says winking at me.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” I say to her as she walks to her closet again to change.

“& you just noticed that?” She says in her matter-of-fact tone. I turn to look at my paint again.

“No” I whisper to myself. “I’ve just never realized how amazing you really are to me” I mutter & I turn to look at her, with her hand on her hip, thinking about what to wear. & I think that at this exact moment, something inside me changed. My feelings for Belle changed.