Jimmy’s POV

There was a disturbance in our controlled chaotic force, which really put me on edge. Something wasn’t right, not right at all. I could sense it and the feeling of uneasiness washed over me as I surveyed the room, looking for that long mop of dark hair. Something was really bothering my Knife Girl and I had to help. I was the fucking knife master for crying out loud, and even though she was also double as the part of Shadow Babe, I had to protect her! It was my sworn duty in our little secret society and I couldn’t let her succumb to the real dark side. I’d dappled with the devil there a few times and it was no place for a girl like Maya. I would turn that frown upside down and cut anyone in my path. No one made Knife Girl upset and got away with it!

I narrowed my eyes, surveying the large crowd and formulating a master plan. Now where had she run off to now? Was she with the little one? Fuck, there was little gnome-et sitting on Zacky’s lap, but Knife Girl was nowhere to be seen. Hell, she looked just as sad as Knife Girl and that killed me. Two beautiful girls shouldn’t look like that—it was just wrong. Even I knew that and I spaced out most of the time! The knife master needed to get to the bottom of this and fix it! We couldn’t lose them again!

I stealthily made my way across the room, jumping and dodging around and over anyone who tried to stop me. I was on a secret mission—operation joviality chaos. Yes that title should do nicely. When I found out what was wrong and I could restore our chaotic force to its original state and all would be good again.

As I approached Little One or Vengeance, I dive rolled behind the couch, preventing them from seeing me. I would need to maintain my artfulness in order for my plan to work. Maybe I could install some mini microphones to listen to their conversations? That’s it, the Berry’s had to have some of their secret spy equipment that they would let me use for this mission. I peeked around the edge of the couch, kneeling on all fours, as I looked for those spies. Fuck, they were nowhere to be seen. I guess I would just have to do this the old fashioned way.

I carefully crept back to the side of the couch and listened quietly. Maybe little gnome could give me a clue as to what was wrong with Knife Girl. They were both definitely hiding something—something to do with Matt and Brian I assumed. Those knuckled heads should really listen to my advice about women.

“Don’t you get tired of people touching you?” I heard the little one ask, her tone sad. “I mean, you all looked like you were having the time of your lives, so why would Maya or I matter when you guys could have any girl you wanted…”

“Don’t even say that, Ave. What happens at a signing is just part of the job, it doesn’t mean anything,” Zack started and I narrowed my eyes. So they were upset about seeing us with fans? That didn’t make any sense. We were fucking rock stars for crying out loud. They knew what they were getting into. “We have to appear to be those people they see on stage, whether we are feeling it or not. You just have to remember that it’s an act and none of us really enjoy being swarmed by fans all the time—no matter how hot they are. It’s about the fans and has nothing to do with what we want or think. We just have to go through the motions, even if we don’t want to.”

“But Brian really looked like he was enjoying himself. The way he was touching and kissing other girls. Why would he—“

So Little One was upset about seeing Brian with other girls? Was Maya upset about seeing Matt with…oh shit! That chick that kissed him! Knife Girl must have seen that! Fuck, no wonder why she was upset. We didn’t explain what happens during a signing. We reached a danger line…Here was the crack in the force, but was that all? I kept listening as Zack cut Avery off.

“Brian Haner and Synyster Gates are two completely different people, Ave,” Zack chuckled and I couldn’t help but nod in agreement. It was true, Syn Gates was a womanizing guitar god while Brian Haner was my hilarious best friend. “Who you saw today was Syn Gates, not the person you’ve been…” Fucking like a rabbit? Yeah, like we didn’t know. Though I had to admit, I had never seen Brian look this happy before. Well, except for maybe the day he got Pinkly, but still. It was a good look for him. Maybe he also needed a push in the right direction…

“He doesn’t care about the fans like he does you, so cut him and the rest of us some slack, okay? It’s our job to make the fans feel special or else we wouldn’t have any, even if it means accepting a kiss from some crazy ass chick,” Zack shrugged. “We’ve all had to do it.”

Avery scoffed and I could see her shaking her head. “What is it, Ave? Is there something else?”

She sighed as I peeked over the top of the couch, seeing a frown on her face accompanied by a small blush. “I just don’t know…Did I make the right choice? Does he actually care or am I just the newest, I don’t know, plaything for the week? What am I?”

“I don’t know, love,” Zacky sighed and I furred my brow. “You’d have to ask Gates.”

“Yeah, like I’d actually be able to do that…I just really like him and don’t want to get hurt.” So Little One was falling for my Gatesy-poo? Perfect. Just how I imagined all this to go, now I just had to make sure he didn’t screw this up. I would be fucking El Revero, the matchmaker! This plan couldn’t fail because if Avery and Gates didn’t work out, she would leave and Knife Girl would undoubtedly go with her. I couldn’t let that happen. Brian liked the little gnome and I would see to it that he took a step in the right direction.

“Talk to him,” Zack continued just as I saw Maya come out of a room followed by Brian. What the hell was that? I had to know. “This thing with you is just new for him and—“

“Knife Girl!” I screamed, jumping to my feet, climbing over the couch, and heading towards her. I didn’t care that I just blew my cover with Avery and Zack or that people were looking at—they would get over it or fuck off. I had a job to do and I wasn’t going to let her escape my grasp without talking to me.

My long legs quickly carried me across the room and I pulled her into my arms. As I nervously looked her up and down, I saw the same frown and look of sadness in her eyes. This wasn’t fucking right! Who dared hurt my friend? “There you are! I thought the spies captured you…what did Brian have to say?”

“Nothing important. He’s just going to—ugh. I could strangle him!” Knife Girl raged and shook her head at me as I pulled her towards the door. As soon as we were outside I placed her on my lap and forced her to look at me.

“Spill it before we are interrupted. Shads had his bull in the china shop look on so we only have a few minutes,” I explained, holding her face in between my palms. Maya blinked a few times and I could see some tears forming there, making my heartbreak.

She took in a long shaky breath. “It’s just…I’ve never done this before Jimmy…I-I never thought I would feel this way. Hell, I’ve never let myself feel anything with a guy before.” I leaned my head to the side, looking at her and trying to understand what she was saying. Maya sighed again and rested her head on my shoulder. “I mean, he wanted this to be exclusive, he wanted to call me his girlfriend and there he was letting some random chick kiss him, stared as some blonde’s tits, and smiled about all of it. Like what the actual fuck? And then he pretends like none of it ever happened?! That’s not fucking right, Jimmy.”

I nodded my head and slowly ran my hand over her shoulder. “I know but you also have to understand that we’re famous, Knife Girl. We have to do things that we aren’t always proud of in order to keep our fans happy. We have to go to these signings, we have to be our stage persona—well not me, I’m the fucking Rev all the time,” I said and Maya laughed. Well that was a good sound, moving in the right direction. “And we have to appear like we enjoy every minute of it, even if we have the worst fucking hangover known to man. It’s just part of the job,” I tried to explain but feeling like I was repeating what Zacky said.

“Well how am I supposed to feel when I see other women throwing themselves at him? Because honestly I feel like I want to knock somebody out! I’ve never felt…well jealous of anyone in my life,” she admitted and I smiled down at her. I knew she and Matt were good for each other.

“Matt really cares about you, Knife Girl,” I started, running my fingers over her silky smooth hair. Something about touching her calmed me down and made me relax. “And because your upset tells me that you really care about him too.”

“Ugh, I know I care about him but how do I fucking deal with this? I cant just sit by and watch him touch other girls and then pretend nothing happened. That fucking sucks,” Maya raged, using her hands as she spoke. She was amusing when she was worked up.

“You’re the one he comes home to,” I shrugged like it was the simplest answer in the world. “If he didn’t care, he would keep them around longer than a minute. What you saw today was M. Shadows doing his job, not the Matt Sanders your boyfriend,” I teased, tickling her side. “Besides how did he act when you saw him after the signing?”

“Normal…” Maya groaned.

“See, maybe he was thinking about you the whole time. If it was more than his job he wouldn’t have tried to grab you at the first opportunity.” God I sounded like Dr. Phill…maybe I needed my own TV show too? I could be El Revero, the love expert. Fuck yeah, that had a nice ring to it. “So is that all that was bothering you?”

“Yeah…now I feel stupid,” she sighed and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Thanks, Jimbo.” Maya hugged me close as I rocked her back and forth on my lap, enjoying her embrace.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now, Maya?”

Matt’s POV

Well this day was quickly turning into complete shit. First the whole paparazzi bullshit and now Maya was pissed off at me. Hell, I was pissed at her! What the hell did Maya mean by, if my lips land on another guy, you shouldn’t make a big deal out of it either? Where did that even come from? I would fucking kill any guy that tried to kiss her and I wasn’t opening making out with someone…unless she meant that crazy fan. Was she upset about that? That would be stupid, I was just doing my job. It meant nothing and she had to know that. I wanted her and only her and I had to make her see that. I had to get to the bottom of this.

However, as soon as I saw her come out of the back room with Brian, he pulled me inside to help handle the Larry situation. Great, so now on top of all this other nonsense, we were going to have surprise Larry visit. Just what I fucking needed! I hoped he wasn’t going to question us about the article in the tabloid, though would it be that awful if Maya and I came clean about our relationship? He wouldn’t actually be upset about that, would he?

I left Brian in the back room and quickly raced out the door to find Maya. I couldn’t let this go and I would be damned if she was throwing what we had away. There was not way in hell I was letting her get away. And guess where I found her? Where she always fucking was—in Jimmy’s arms. I don’t know why that bothered me so much, but it did. He was my best friend but I couldn’t get over the fact that they had been together before me. Maybe that’s why I didn’t feel comfortable with their friendship.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now, Maya?” I raged, slamming the door behind me. My fists balled and I was fuming. Is this the other guy’s lips she was going to b kissing? My best fucking friend? And didn’t they look cozy? “Why every time that I turn around are you fucking with Jimmy?”

“Relax, Matt we were just—“ Jimmy started but I threw a dangerous look at him.

“What the hell is going on? What was that shit earlier?” I continued as Jimmy and Maya got to their feet.

“Nothing is going on!” Maya snapped back, still holding onto Jimmy’s hand. “I was just fucking talking to Jimmy and I didn’t think that I needed your permission to do so, specially when you seemed to busy to remember who I was earlier.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I said exasperatedly as I took a step towards her. I was so confused and angry that I didn’t know what was going on. What the hell was her deal today? Everything was fine this morning before the signing…no she couldn’t be upset about that, could she? “And what the fuck did you mean not to complain if another guy kisses you?”

“I’m gonna go…” Jimmy muttered before backing up and sneaking back inside, leaving an awkward silence between Maya and I.

“Maya?” I asked her, my voice a little more gentle. “What is going on? What did I do? Is it about the signing?”

“You tell me.” Maya crossed her arms, avoiding my eyes.

“If I knew, I wouldn’t fucking be asking!” I sighed, running my hands over my face. “Look, if it’s about he signing…those girls…they meant nothing. They mean nothing, I was just doing my job. The only person I was thinking about the entire time was you and seeing you’re smiling face at TRL.” It was true. I couldn’t wait to be out of that fucking mess and back with her.

I took a step forward and cupped her face in my hands, forcing those beautiful eyes to look up at me. “None of those girls could compete with you, Maya… You’re the only one for me, okay? I’d scream it to the god damn world if you’d let me.”

My thumbs gently caressed Maya’s cheeks, begging her to believe me. “You really mean that?” she finally said, melting into my touch again.

“Of course I mean it, Maya. I meant what I said when I asked you to be my girlfriend. I want you. All of you and only you,” I said before leaned down and softly kissed her lips.

A smile pulled over Maya’s face but then she looked uncertain again. “What? Come on, you have to talk to me if we are going to make this work.”

“I just don’t like seeing other girls throwing themselves at you,” she admitted and I couldn’t help but smile. She was jealous. Now that was a nice little change, especially since I was the one who was usually trying to hide the green monster. Though I had a feeling that she wasn’t telling me everything. What else was bothering her?

“I’m not at all interested in someone else,” I assured her, pulling her into me. I was thankful when I felt her melt under my touch. As she wrapped her arms around me, I could feel my heart start to race and my blood start to rush down south. She really had some effect on me. “I didn’t even look at a girl twice today because I knew that I would have you later,” I basically growled in her ear, letting her feel my growing need. “And if you let me talk to Larry then we could announce it and you could sit on my lap during signings —“

“No way,” Maya frantically started shaking her head as soon as I mentioned Larry. “He’d pull Ave and I out of here so fast that—“

“But what if he doesn’t?” I smiled down at her, letting my lips place small kisses along her jawbone. “What if we’ve been hiding for no reason? Larry likes me and if we make each other happy, who gives a fuck? He’s coming out tomorrow, I could talk to him then.”

“I wish it were that easy, big guy,” Maya chuckled though she looked slightly off. Did she not want other people to know that we were dating? Or was she thrown off by Larry coming to town tomorrow? “There is no way he would go for it, specially not Ave and Brian. And even if he did, he’d watch over us like a hawk and we’d never get any alone time. I’m pretty sure Ave and her last boyfriend broke up because her dad was always there or ‘checking up’ on them. I don’t even want to go there. But I would like to go here…”

I swallowed thickly as her hand touched the bulge in my pants. Thankfully we were on a small balcony and no paparazzi would be trying to get a shot of us. “You’re a very naughty girl, Maya,” I breathed in her ear as I forcibly pressed her body against mine. “I would like to show you just what I was thinking about during the signing—“

“We leave in five to head out for lunch,” Matt Berry called, popping his head out the door. I cursed and took a step away from Maya, knowing that we would have to continue this some other time. “Then it’s straight to the TRL studios for you show at four.”

“Thanks, Matt,” Maya said before kissing my lips and leading me back inside. “Now lets go get some lunch and head to TRL!”

Avery’s POV

By the time we arrived in the heart of Manhattan for lunch, my head was spinning. There were people everywhere we went screaming for the guy’s attention and the never-ending chaos and noise was driving me crazy. I couldn’t think straight, let alone formulate a thought because my attention was being pulled in fifteen million ways at once. I mean, one moment fans are stopping the guys for a pictures, then signing autographs, and then moving again, all the while the Avenged guys were living it up and laughing like they did this everyday. No wonder someone got our pictures last night, this city and its people were insane. It was enough to make anyone nauseous.

Once we escaped the mob of fans inside the restaurant, I quietly walked in between Zacky and Jason, watching Maya laugh with Matt and Jimmy. Though as soon as we were out of sight and in the private area, I felt a pair of hands land on my hips and I swallowed thickly. I was to try and keep some distance from Brian until I knew exactly what was going on between us. It would be better that way, then maybe I wouldn’t get hurt.

“Why are you avoiding me?” Brian whispered in him ear, his warm breath sending shivers down my spine. I fought the urge to relax back into him.

“I’m not, just being cautious in public,” I fibbed, though it was partly true. If more pictures surfaced, my dad would certainly be suspicious, if he wasn’t already.

Before Brian could say another word to make me change my mind, I quickly pulling away and following Zacky around the table. I took a seat between him and Johnny, receiving a questioning and confused look from Brian. I bit down on my bottom lip and looked over at Maya who gave me a sad smile. Oh shit, that was I don’t want to tell you something face. Did that mean that she had information about Brian and it wasn’t what I wanted to here?

I spent the remainder to lunch avoiding eye contact with almost everyone, but trying to distract myself with conversation. Thank goodness Zack, Jimmy, and Johnny always had amazing stories to tell. By the time we were finishing up lunch, I was laughing so hard that I almost forgot what was bothering me.

“And they were like, ‘Sir have you been drinking today?’” Johnny laughed as he told the story about being kicked off a flight in the first part of their tour for being too drunk. He put his head back on the chair, reenacting the whole thing. “I told them, fuck yeah I’ve been drinking.”

“We’re going to have to offload you, Sir,” Jimmy roared, sloshing his beer all over the place as we all laughed. “It was fucking hilarious, you would have loved it little gnome.”

“And that wont be the only time, I can assure you,” Zack put his arm around me and smiled. “Do you girls have any crazy fan stories from working the booth?”

I glanced over at Maya and we both burst out laughed. There were multiple moments a day that we laughed at the fans antics. “Well, back in Florida there was a girl who was convinced that Ave and I were your sisters and insisted on taking photographs with us,” Maya chuckled and I nodded. “That was a rather odd one.”

“Oh, and don’t forget the drunk ass guy who asked you to marry him and then get him back stage passes as repayment,” I laughed, making the mistake of looking across the table into those brown eyes. Brian was smiling at me and carefully watching my every move and that confused me a little bit. I hated not knowing where I stood when I knew I liked a guy and he liked me. It was torture. Couldn’t he just man up and talk to me?

“What did you say?” Johnny asked, leaning forward on the table with his elbows.

Maya leaned forward and battered her eyelashes. “I said, ‘Sir, as amazing as that offer sounds, I’m going to have to decline. You see, my real love is this little lady over here.’” She pointed at me across the table and hid my head, not really wanting her to tell the rest of this story. “And then I walked over and pulled Ave into a hot kiss and we’ve never sold more t-shirts,” she said triumphantly, though I was blushing and mortified. Damn it, now the guys would want to see us kiss…again and that wasn’t happening. I loved Maya but she was my sister, not my lover.

“Well, no one can top that, so we better get headed over to TRL. I just received a text from Larry saying that they have a limo waiting out back for you guys,” Matt Berry said as he stood up from the table.

“Fuck yeah! I’ve been waiting for this all god damn day!” Jimmy yelled, springing to his feet and running around the small room. His arms were flying around like he was drumming in the air and I knew he was getting himself pumped up to play.

“Relax a little bit, Rev. We don’t play for three more hours,” Matt chuckled, pulling Maya to her feet and giving her a quick kiss. I couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous of what they had. This whole relationship thing seemed so easy for them.

“Hey, love are you ready to go?”

I looked away from Maya and Matt, my smile falling slightly when I saw Brian standing behind of me with a frown on his face. I nodded and he helped me out of the chair and took my hand in his. I just hoped that no one would see us on the way to the limo. I squeezed Brian’s hand tightly at the thought. I had never ridden in a limo before, especially not with a group of rock stars.

Thankfully the restaurant had a private back entrance for celebrates and no one was waiting or lurking on the way out. As soon as we were in the limo, Brian pulled me onto his lap and I had to work extremely hard to keep my wits about me. He smelled so good and his lips looked so damn appetizing.

“Are you okay?” he asked in my ear as the others filed in, his hands resting on my upper thigh.

“Yeah…erm…I’m fine,” I tried to sound as normal as possible, but the frown on his face told me he wasn’t buying it. “Just not used to all of this.”

“You know this is all about the fans right? It has nothing to do with me or the guys, or you…” Brain said, forcing me to look at him.

I bit down on my bottom lip and nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s what Zacky said…” I sighed. What happened at the signing was only a small piece of the puzzle while the rest had to do with how we fit together. I had fun with Brian, a lot of fun, but I wanted more than just a good time. I wanted what Maya and Matt had.

“So we’re okay?” He was asking about us? What were we? My head exploded with thoughts.

“Sure,” I muttered, feeling his arms wrap around my waist as he pulled me into his body. No, Avery, don’t give in, we don’t know what this is. If you give in you’ll get hurt.

“Good because you still owe me three questions, and I plan on taking full advantage of them later.” Brian leaned forward and gently kissed my lips before the guys broke out the champagne.

Two hours later, Maya and I were standing in the VIP section of TRL watching the guys in their interview. I couldn’t help but marvel at how natural they looked answer questions and just laughing up there. If it would have been me, I would have already run off stage. I had the worst stage fright known to man and it was better them than me up there.

“You alright, little gnome?” Maya asked, putting her arm around me waist. She and Matt had barely broken eye contact since the guys walked on stage. Luckily we were in a place were it looked like he was just talking to Ryan Seacrest.

“I just can’t believe we are standing like fifteen feet from Ryan Seacrest,” I squealed excitedly just as the guys started to move around during a commercial break. They were going to play next and I couldn’t deny that I was excited about it.

“I know, but I am more anxious to hear them play. I can’t believe we are actually here. Remember how many times we talked about flying out for a show?” Maya was practically jumping up and down with excitement as the guitars sounded in the background. The fans screamed and I knew it was almost time for their mini concert.

“Who would have ever thought we’d be here with a famous band?” Maya started jumping up and down as the lights went dim. My heart was starting to race and I knew that my self-control would fly out the window after this. They just so amazing when they played.

“And here is Avenged Sevenfold, playing Rapture and Bat Country!” Ryan Seacrest announced and the concert started.

As soon as Brian walked out on stage playing his guitar, my stomach exploded with butterflies. His eyes locked directly with mine and I felt my heart rate increase again. I smiled as I moved along to the beat and watch Brian’s fingers, feeling an emotion rising in me that I hadn’t ever felt before. There was that feeling of being alive accompanied by something else, something that I couldn’t put a name to.

Brian made me feel like I was the only person in the world that he was playing for. I forgot about all the screaming fans, my best friends dancing around next to me, and all my fear. Brian’s gaze was hypnotizing and sending small goosebumps all over my body. Damn, he had some magical effects on me and that thought alone made me giddy about seeing him later. It was then that I realized how deep I already was Brian—hell, I think I was already starting to fall for him.

“They are so fucking hot!” Maya practically moaned in my ear as she watched Matt sing. I could tell she was getting all worked up but my mind had gone in a completely different direction.

I couldn’t be falling for Brian, not when I don’t know what’s going on between us! I just couldn’t because it wasn’t going to end well, even though I knew there was no turning around. That’s when my panic started to sink in. I was falling for a man that could be using me for a good time…

I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breath and I needed to get out of there. I needed to get away from the walking sex on stage that was making me feel so alive. I quickly turned to head through the crowd to the back room. Maybe some time alone to think could help me, though I knew there was no changing how I felt. I was stuck, spiraling deeper and deeper into Synyster Gates web with no way out.

“Ave, where are you going?” Maya called after me but I just shook my head and kept moving. I was really freaked out about all this.

Notes

Comments please!