Ghouls

I felt kinda sick; this chick was clearly more than just a friend, judging by the way she pulled over a chair for herself, ordered herself a drink, and then started touching him up; completely ignoring me. I didn’t say anything, just glared at him. He could tell I was pissed when he glanced at me; his face went red and looked at me as if he was sorry. Bullshit; this blonde bitch’s hand was so close to his crotch, she may as well been giving him a hand job, for fuck sake. He smiled and nodded at her, making my stomach clench. I was ready to walk out; sick of watching her all over him. She leant in to whisper into his ear and my ass was just leaving the seat when someone called to her.

“Hey, Babe,” some guy called from a few tables away trying to get the bimbo’s attention before smiling lightly at me, I guessed as some form of an apology.

“Just coming, Hun... “ she turned to her partner, standing up, pulling her dress down so we didn’t all see her not-so-private region; even after pulling it up, that dress did not leave much to the imagination... She went to turn away, placing her hand on Brian’s bicep and squeezing it, “nice to see you again, Syn,” she purred, biting her lip and smiling at him. She then turned to me for the first time, looking me up and down, snorting, then saying, “have fun,” sarcasm brimming. I swear, I almost got up and gave her what she deserved; looking at me like I’m some piece of crap, as if he deserved better. In honesty, he really did deserve better but shit.

“I am so so sorry, Lauren,” he grabbed my attention, looking at me pleadingly.

“Forget it,” I huffed; I was in no mood to talk about it; I was on the edge of bursting by now.

“I swear, I haven’t seen that girl in 3, maybe 4 years, easy,” he persisted.

“You slept with her, though,” I said, looking at him directly in the eye.

He was a bit taken aback, gulping before answering me. “Yeah, 4 years ago,” he emphasised the time period.

I sighed deeply, sick of the bloody paranoia that came with my past. Bri wasn’t going to sleep with her, for God’s sake; she just made my blood boil.
“Lau, I’m serious.. I slept with her 4 years ago.. she probably just recognised me and thought she’d try and get in again,” he tried to look at my face that was dropped.
“I know... I know.. It’s jst... I don’t even know.. I just don’t like it,” I shuffled in my seat, looking into his caring face.

“I know.. it’s hard not to be jealous when all the women want me,” that damn famous smirk, showing off his impeccable features.

I sniggered, “right..” I smiled, sparking his. “I wasn’t jealous, she was just pissing me off,” I told him, blushing lightly before sipping my beer.

“Shut. Up. You wanted it to be you over here touching me up,” he leant back, smug as fuck.

Now, it was my turn to gulp, blushing heavily. “Fuck off, Haner.” I told him simply, making him chuckle, knowing he got me, as much as I hated it.

“Hey, can I take your orders?” the nice waitress woman was back.

“Yeah, two steaks please,” Brian told her, “oh, and two more beers, please,” he smiled, catching her before she walked away.

The conversation continued to flow freely, Brian often making me laugh so hard my beer came out of my nose causing all the posh pricks, including the bimbo and her man to look at us both as if we were apes. I didn’t care though; this was the most I’d laughed in months and to top it off, I was with him. God, I’d missed him. Sure, he’d been a knob but he wasn’t a bad guy. He knew he’d done wrong and he felt shit about it; he cared. Despite it all, he was still the best guy I’d ever spent time with and therefore, he was off the hook; I needed to laugh like this again. I needed him again.

“So, are you actually gonna come see the show tonight?” he asked, finishing his meal and taking a sip of his beer, leaning back against the chair.

“Meh, I don’t know,” I shifted; I’d barely seen one show on this tour. It sucked; I’d always been such a fan of the guys and I’d never had the pleasure of seeing them live and then I was on fucking tour with them and yet I stayed away..

“Come on, Lau.. Cam said you were quite the fan, why not come see a show?” he smirked lightly. I thought for a minute, staring aimlessly at my empty plate. “Lau..” he spoke softly, causing me to look up into his slightly worried face, “please come.”

I sighed heavily, his flawless face, alongside the excitement of allowing myself to see an actual Avenged Sevenfold show, winning me over. “Alright,” I huffed making him release possibly the most inhumane sound ever produced from one man’s mouth. “What the fuck was that?” I giggled as I watched his head hit the table in laughter.

“I have no idea,” he chuckled, his face red from laughing, “I’m just really fucking happy you’re gonna come,” he smiled like some kid in a candy shop.

“Well, I’m excited to go,” I grinned, causing his lips to part to form that true, Californian smile.

“Would you guys like the bill?” a soft voice said from beside the table, tearing us both from the staring we found ourselves in as we studied each other’s faces.

“Yeah, sure,” Bri told the girl as he shuffled in his seat, pulling out his wallet and then a card, playing with it as we waited.

“You don’t have to pay for all this; it was way too expensive and you know it... I don’t mind putting in,” I told him as I took money out of my own back pocket.

“Don’t be a silly bitch, I’m paying. That’s it,” he stated, paying no attention to the money I was placing in front of him.

“Don’t be a silly bastard,” I retorted making him look at me, raising his eyebrow in the classic Syn Gates fashion.

“You don’t want to go there, do you, Lauren?” he cocked his head, smirking.

“Is that a challenge?” I said almost patronisingly, oblivious to the waitress that had come back with the bill and was letting Brian pay with his card.

“No, it was a warning because whatever you’re planning on starting, you’re not going to win,” he stated, scrunching his nose up and his eyes closed in a ‘smile,’ making me practically cackle.

“You guys are cute. Anyone ever told you that?” the waitress grabbed our attentions, tearing the receipt from her card reader and handing it to Brain as he slipped his leather shirt on over his white v-neck.

“Yeah, once or twice,” he told the girl, winking and smiling at me, causing me to blush.

“Aaaw, well, have a nice day,” she grinned, clearing our table as Brain wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head, holding me close.

“Thank you,” he called, and then waved, as he held the door open for me and exited the restaurant.

“Did you give that money to the waitress?” I asked him as we made our way back to the venue, practically hugging.

“Nope,” he smirked, taking the notes and handing them to me, making me huff and shove them back into my pocket. “Come on, I told you a gazillion times, I owe you!” he shook me.

“You owed me but not that much,” I got my footing as I continued to walk, watching our feet.

“I owe you everything, Lauren,” he said quietly, sincerely. I hugged into him tighter as we walked in silence.

Eventually, we arrived at the car park to find most of the band and crew stood in the centre, talking among themselves. As we unhooked our arms and made our way forwards, they all turned around at once; cheering and hooting, calling a few ‘finally’’s.

Jade made her way towards me, arms wide, “aaw, I knew you two would make up,” she embraced me, squeezing lightly.

“Yeah, well, he knows he’s a plank and he paid for lunch, so,” I shrugged loud enough for everyone to hear, causing everyone to chuckle.

“Well, as lovely as it is to see you guys happy again, we’ve got a show to prep for,” Sanders announced, patting Brian on the back before lightly directing him towards the arena.

“Alright.. alright,” Bri stopped him, pulling me closer. His huge, strong arm snaked around my back, resting on my hips as he slowly leant down and quickly kissed me, his face lingering close to mine as he smirked, listening to the immediate wolf-whistles and my ragged breathing. “Catch ya later, Baby.”

Notes