Avery’s POV

I let out a long sigh as I sunk into the bathtub, the warm water soothing every inch of my aching body. I wasn’t sure if my muscles were sore from the intense night that Brian and I shared last night or because of the mass that was supposedly growing inside of me. Either way, it felt amazing and only one thing could make this moment even better.

“Will you join me, babe?” I asked Brian, opening my eyes to see him pulling his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. Of course I should have known that he would need his bi-hourly nicotine dose, especially after all the specially treatment he just gave me. I would have to make sure to return the favor when I was done with my bath.

“Maybe,” he grinned when I licked my lips. “I’m gonna go take a smoke first. I’ll be right back, love,” and with that he disappeared.

I leaned back in the tub again with a deep breath, letting my mind relax and wander naturally instead of obsessing about things like it normally did. It seemed like it had been months since I felt this good and I think Brian had something to do with it. I was finally happy again, and while I was still afraid of what the future might hold, I knew that he would be with me every step of the way. That was one promise that we agreed on last night—we would not break up again.

After a few minutes, I heard muffled talking in the other room. Now what was that about? Was someone here with news or instructions for tomorrow? And speaking of tomorrow, should I go back to my old job to earn my keep? I know Brian told me countless times before that I didn’t need too, but I just felt guilty not helping out. I had to do something and damn it, I was going to.

Begrudgingly got out of the bathtub and dried off before I pulled a robe on. I quietly walked to the bathroom door and listened, wanting to make sure I didn’t make a fool out of myself before I barged out in only a robe.

“Like I said, no can do. I won’t wake my girl, when she is asleep now,” I heard Brian say and I could see the smirk on his face. His girl? Was he talking about me? I wasn’t sleeping.

As I peeked further around the door, I could see he had a phone pressed to his ear. Who was he talking to? Wait a minute was that my phone?

“She has nothing to talk to you about, man. I’m sorry to spell it out for you, but Ave and I are back together, and you have no business in calling her anymore. I don’t want that, and you don’t need to bother her with anything, got that?” Brian snapped and suddenly I understood. He was talking to James, but why? I told him I was going to take care of it tomorrow. Oh, god James was going to be so pissed at me for all this and he didn’t deserve that…shit.

The room was silent for a moment and then Brian let out a light chuckle. “If you want I can send you a freaking picture of Ave sleeping here beside me in my arms if you want.” My jaw dropped at his words. This wasn’t how I wanted James to find out about Brian and I. Actually it was the last way I wanted things to happen.

“Okay, so that information finally sank in, congratulations. Now, please stop the calling, you don’t have any chance with Ave. She is happily back with me and that will never change. Have a nice life,” Brian said before he hung up the phone with a triumphant smile. But I was doing anything but smiling, in fact I was a little pissed off and hurt that he just told James all that when I told him I would handle that.

“Ave, what are you doing out of the tub?” Brian asked, setting my phone down on the nightstand table and coming toward me. “Is the water cold already?”

“Why are answering my phone?” I shot right back, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

Brian sighed and hung his head and put his hands on my shoulders. “It wouldn’t stop ringing and you said you’d told the guy multiple times that you just want to be friends. Obviously when you have three miss calls from the same guy in an hour, he hasn’t gotten the hint!”

“But I told you I would handle it!” I groaned, moving away from him. “Now he’s going to be pissed and he doesn’t deserve that.”

“Who cares if he’s pissed,” Brain said, following after me as I sat down on the bed. “At least he got the message loud and clear this time. He wont harass you anymore.”

I whined and looked up at the ceiling. “You just don’t get it, Bri,” I sighed. “He was the only person that could pull me together back-back when…and I feel like I owe him. He was there for me in a time when I couldn’t stand on my two feet without crumbling down…”

Brian’s jaw got tight before let out and exaggerated breath. I knew what I just said wasn’t easy for him to hear but maybe it would help him understand where I was coming from with James. Yes, he was crossing the line with the number of calls he was making, but if I wasn’t being honest he did deserve some answers.

“But you don’t owe him anything, love,” Brian told me, leaning forward and pulling me into his arms. “I understand that he helped you when I was he worlds biggest douchebag but that doesn’t mean you should have to put up with his stalking behavior, Ave.” Brian was starting to sound frustrated and so was I.

“He was only doing that because I didn’t tell him the truth…about any of this,” I said, gesturing around the room and then finally to he and I. I felt really guilty and I didn’t even know how to start explaining.

“What do you mean?” Brian asked, with a raised brow. He didn’t look like he believed me. “I mean come on, Ave, let’s be honest. You’re the worst liar I have ever met,” he laughed and I opened my mouth to retort but he just laughed again and continued. “Don’t get me wrong it’s adorable and I love you for it, but you couldn’t lie to save your life,” he laughed and I couldn’t help but join in. Okay, I’d give him that.

“Okay…well maybe that’s true but he does deserve some answers…” I sighed. Brian groaned and flopped down on the bed next to me, pulling me into him. His arms snaked around me protectively and I knew that he was done talking about this.

“Well, I doubt he’ll answer if you call him back now,” he nearly chuckled and I rolled my eyes. He definitely enjoyed that. And while part of me felt really guilty about it, the other was relieved that everything was out in the open now. The question was, would James believe it? “Besides, I couldn’t let him keep calling and harassing my girl…”

I smiled at the sound of that and looked up to meet his mesmerizing dark brown eyes. He was looking down at me as his fingers gently ran through my long blonde locks, creating what looked like a golden waterfall. “Your girl, huh?” I asked with a smile.

Brian moved and braced himself so that he was hovering over top of me. His body was millimeters away, making me crave that electric shock that always happened when we touched. “For now and forever, Ave…I’m not letting you go. Not to Cassells not to anyone and he needed to know that. You’re mine. So I hope your prepared for what that means…” Brian looked down at me with a wicked smirk on his face and I couldn’t help but bite down on my lips.

“Oh, yeah, and what’s that?” I asked with a flirty smirk, my hand gentle caressing his cheek.

Brian leaned down closer and his lips went directly to my neck, making a small trail of bites and kisses until he reached my ear. I let out a light moan with each sting and tingle he left on my sensitive flesh. “Long sleepless nights….” He stared, his breath making me shiver. “Filled with passionate kisses…sensual touching….and screams of pleasure when I unmask your every desire…” he finished and I couldn’t take it anymore, he was driving me crazy. I quickly leaned up and crashed my lips into his, leading us into a night of pure bliss.

The next morning I woke up cuddled on top of Brian’s chest. His arms were wrapped firmly around my waist and with any little movement I made, his grip tightened. It was almost like he was afraid I was going to disappear again, even in his sleep. But he didn’t have to worry because I wasn’t going anywhere.

I carefully reached up and caressed Brian’s cheek, watching as a smile came over his face. He stirred lightly but didn’t wake up so I slowly pressed my lips to his. After a moment he finally registered what was going on and hungrily kissed me back, on hand moving to cup my face. “Good morning,” I said after I pulled away.

“I’ll say,” Brian chuckled and I could feel his reason stabbing me in leg. His soldier was up and ready to go, like we hadn’t spent most of the night making our own battle cries.

His hands moved up to cup my face as I smiled down at him. He just stared into my eyes for what seemed liked hours until he let out a groaned. “You’re so fucking beautiful that it drives me insane, love,” he said and I had to laugh. I’m sure I looked stunning with bedhead and smeared makeup. Maybe even a little dried drool on my cheek? Yeah, real attractive. “I’m serious!” He said as I sat up.

“Oh I bet you are,” I teased and just as I got up to head into the bathroom, he reached out to grab me around the waist. As soon as his hands locked on my slim hips and he began to pull me toward him, I felt a huge wave of nausea erupt in my stomach and I took in a sharp intake of breath. Oh, now I felt like I was going to be sick.

“Ave?” Brian called after me as I dashed toward the bathroom and kneeled down in front of the toilet. I willed myself not to throw up because it was the one thing that I hated the most. Come on, deep breaths in and think of something else. I put my hands around my stomach and slowly rocked back and forth. Did this mean that there was actually something in there? Was I actually pregnant?

As if on cue, I felt Brian kneel down next o me and start rubbing my back. “Are you okay, love?” he asked quietly and I knew if I looked back at him that his face would be pale. God this was a lot to handle for two people who weren’t ready for this at all.

“Yeah…just thought I was going to be sick for a minute…but I’m okay now,” I muttered, feeling more than embarrassed. I slowly looked back at Brian and he was watching the way I was rubbing my stomach. The worst part is that I didn’t even realize I was doing it.

Without a word, Brian pulled me onto his lap and gently moved his hand over my flat abs. “Do you really think there’s something in there?” I nearly whispered as I watched how delicately his hand moved.

“I don’t know,” Brian swallowed thickly and closed my eyes. “But we really should find out…we should call and make an appointment today for when we get back. We’ve only got a week left and I want to make sure they can get us in,” He said and I nodded my head in agreement. “Do you know any places?”

“Just my regular doctor…but she’s also really good friends with my dad,” I sighed. So that doctor was off the table. We couldn’t risk him finding out before we knew for sure. Hell, I didn’t want to tell him at all. He was going to be so upset and I didn’t even want to go there. Not to mention that he would probably kill Brian…

“I could call Suzy, she knows a bunch of places,” Brian said and my eyes grew wide. Yes, Brian, that’s a great idea to ask your step mom for an OBGYN for your girlfriend that that they haven’t even met because she might be pregnant.

“And tell her what?” I gasped. Oh, god was he going to tell his dad about this? I hadn’t even had a chance to officially meet them yet and I didn’t want this to be their first impression of me.

Brian frowned before his face lit up with an idea. “I could tell her one of the crew members got a girl pregnant and they are looking for a specialist in the Huntington Beach or Long Beach,” he said and I gave him a pointed look.

“Your family knows all of your crew members, Brian,” I said with a smirk, shaking my head. “That wouldn’t go over well and I doubt she would buy that story,” I almost laughed.

“Fuck…well how about we get dressed, go down to breakfast, and see if we can find someone to call later on your phone,” he suggested and I nodded. Now that sounded like a decent plan.

An hour later we were down at breakfast looking at a specialist directory on my phone. We read the information about each doctor until we both found one that would work well for us.

“Look, she’s won all these awards and it seems she is a big celebrity doctor so we’ll have the privacy we need,” Brian said and I nodded my head in agreement as I ate my breakfast. God I was starving this morning. I bet it had something to do with the long night of physical activities.

“I think this is the one…” I sighed, still terrified to find out the truth and it seemed to be getting closer day by day. I stirred my coffee and let out a light sigh as Brian pulled me into his side. Just his touch relaxed me and made me feel like everything was going to be okay.

“Don’t worry, babe, we’ll get this all taken care of. I’ll call and set up an appointment after sound check.” Brian said and kissed the top of my head just as Matt took a seat at our table.

“Morning Matt,” I said but he just shrugged with a halfhearted smile. Matt looked exhausted and from the big circles under his eyes and the wrinkles in his ripped off flannel shirt, I don’t thing he slept last night. What was up with that? If there was one thing I knew about Matt, it was that he was always diligent about getting sleep while he was on tour. He always claimed that it was necessary for him to be able to sing well. So what was going on with him? Was something bothering him?

“Sup, Shads? Have a good night?” Brian asked against my hair. I smiled and cuddled into his side, feeling like that’s exactly where I belonged.

Matt scoffed and shook his head before he picked up his cup of coffee. “It was something,” was all he said and I looked at him with a small frown. This wasn’t like him.

“What happened?” I asked but he just ignored me and changed the subject.

“So MB said that we have sound check at eleven, an impromptu meet and greet at one, performing at eight, and then the after party,” Matt said with his mouthful. “Sounds like a pretty decent day if you ask me.”

“Not bad,” Brian agreed. “And we’ve only got four shows to go. Italy is our last stop until we are back home in the sweet sunny California…fuck I can’t wait.” Brian leaned back in his chair a little bit and I smiled too. It had been forever since I had been home, let alone slept in my own bed. That is if Brian didn’t ask me to move in with him…

Matt smiled and nodded, his eyes almost looking distant. “Yeah, it will be nice to be home,” he said absentmindedly.

“I’m thinking we should introduce the girls to an Avenged style luau party,” Brian said with a smirk and Matt just shrugged. “You cant tell me that Maya wouldn’t love it.” And as soon as my best friend’s name left Brian’s mouth a frown came over his face.

“I don’t know what she loves anymore so I’m not going to pretend to try,” Matt snapped and bit down on my bottom lip. Okay, so something definitely happened between those two last night and I completely missed it. Oh and speak of the little devil herself! I quickly waved Maya over to the table and as soon as Matt saw her, he got up and left.

“What was that about?” I asked Brian, leaning into his side more.

“The hell if I know.” Brian replied just as Maya turned and walked away too.

“Maya…where are you going?” I called after her but she was already halfway out of the room. “I forgot something. I’ll be back down later,” she said and gave me the fakest smile I had ever seen. Okay, so something was up and I needed to get to the bottom of it.


Matt’s POV

I was exhausted. I spent most of my night tossing and turning in bed and no matter what I did, I couldn’t get Maya’s face out of my head. She was always fucking there, haunting my thoughts and any segment of a dream that I thought I had. And after seeing her talk to Ben and having spent time with her the past week, I knew that I was still madly in love with her. I couldn’t deny that anymore. There was no way that I could pretend to be her friend with all these feelings swarming around inside of me. That would just be freaking suicide on my part! Maybe we would both be better off if I kept my distance from her for now. She was the one who needed to figure out what she wanted, not me. Maya was all that I ever wanted.

So that’s what I did. I avoided Maya at every possible meeting, starting with breakfast.

“So I take it things didn’t go as planned last night?” Gates asked over top of Avery’s head. Fuck, I wished I never told him about Maya coming over to my room to use my computer. Now he would be asking questions all day and I really didn’t want to go there.

“I don’t want to fucking talk about it, okay? ” I sighed and picked up my coffee. Just as I brought the cup to my lips, I saw Maya heading in our direction. My heart started to race like mad in my chest and I mental cursed at it. Didn’t it know that she was the one hurting it? We were supposed to take the high ground and that wasn’t it!

What was I going to do? I knew when Maya sat down at the table that I couldn’t act normal around her. I couldn’t pretend to be her friend anymore, not when I knew I wanted the whole thing. Not to mention that I was still pissed off at her for using me like she did to talk to Bruce. That was low and we both knew it. Plus, it fucking hurt to see her talk to him like that way. Because in my opinion, I was the only guy she should ever talk to in that manner. Period.

And of course Maya smiled when she saw me—that’s just perfect. She must think that everything is fine and back to normal. Well she was about to have a rude awaking.

I slowly sat my coffee cup down and looked away from her. I couldn’t act out this charade right now, even though my heart was screaming for me to stay. I took in a few deep breaths before I stood up and left the dinning area without saying a word.

As I passed Maya, I couldn’t help but miss the frown that came over her face. The guilt immediately set in and I thought about turning back around but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to say something to her that I would regret later, or worse, something that would cause her to leave.

I quickly took the elevator up to my room and by the time I reached my door, I was starting to feel better about my decision. Maybe if I avoided her for a while she would get the hint and try to make things right between us. But I couldn’t stand there and pretend to be something that I wasn’t, something that I didn’t want. I wanted her and I back together, 100 percent, and hell, up until last night, I thought it was something she wanted, but I wasn’t so sure anymore. I wasn’t even sure she was the same person anymore.

Just as I opened my door, I heard the stairway door open at the end of the hall. I looked up and my eyes instantly met with Maya’s. For a moment I was stuck in their gaze, remembering everything that we had shared together. Our love, laughs, time together, and memories—all the things we had together before she threw them away to be with Bruce. What made this even more pathetic was that even though I knew she moved on, I so desperately wanted her back because I knew we belonged together. I wouldn’t give up on her but I also wasn’t going to pretend anymore. If I couldn’t have her, I would just keep my distance so I didn’t get hurt.

“Matt, wait a second,” Maya called down the hall and I just shook my head.

“Sorry, I have a meeting about the sound check with Jason and the other sound guys, maybe later,” I lied and quickly shut the door. I felt awful for lying to her and pushing her away, especially when I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms. But the problem was that she didn’t want that. She wanted a friend.

By the time sound check rolled around, I was feeling a little bit better about everything. I had managed to successfully avoid Maya the rest of the morning by taking the back staircases and I even busied myself with some work. It was only in those moments of down time that my mind slowly wandered back to Maya and I had to distract it with something.

“Can you turn up Gates’ mic in my head piece, I cant hear it very well,” I asked Nigel, our head sound guy. “And Jimmy is a little loud,” I added, seeing the Rev’s middle finger stick up over the top of the drum set.

“You want loud!?” Jimmy cried in a deep voice. “I’ll give you loud!” and with that my ear piece exploded with sound and everyone wearing one quickly pulled it out.

“Okay, okay! You’re good!” I laughed holding my arms up in the air at him. I couldn’t help but chuckle at him as he played because he looked like a giant octopus. It was really a sight to see. “So is that a wrap? Everyone good?” I asked as I turned around, my eyes instantly landing on Maya.

She was standing on the side of the stage with Avery who was frowning in my direction. What was that about? Did Maya tell her something? Well if that was the case, then it better be a frown at Maya because I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just keeping my distance to make things easier for both of us.

I quickly turned away and headed toward the other side of the stage to get a bottle of water. Today was proving to be a warm on but I knew that the show and the fans would be amazing. They always were in Italy—hell everywhere. That would be a welcome distraction.

“Matt, can I talk to you for a minute?” Maya’s voice suddenly sounded to my left and I hung my head. Wasn’t she just talking to Avery?

Without even looking at her I shook my head. “I’ve got to go get ready for a meet and greet. Sorry, Maya,” I said, using her full name for the first time in a long time. I was just so used to calling her ‘babe’ or ‘M’ that it almost felt foreign on my lips.

“But that’s not for another hour,” Maya argued, her voice full of sadness. I licked my lips and looked down at the ground. It was so hard to push her away when all I wanted to do was hold her but I knew I couldn’t do that. This was the option that was best for both of us.

“I’ve also got to make a few phone calls,” I added and then quickly moved away, leaving Maya staring after me with a frown. So she didn’t like being in the friend zone either, did she?

As I made my way down around the back of the stage, Gates caught up with me and grabbed my arm. I quickly shook him off and kept walking toward the tent they had set up for us in the back. “What do you want, Gates?” I sighed, hearing his footsteps following behind me.

“Just wondering what the hell is going on with you,” he replied and I rolled my eyes. Of course he would pick now of all times to come and talk to me about this. Did everyone understand that I just wanted to be left alone with all topics concerning Maya?

“Nothing’s going on with me, I’m fine,” I snapped. Well I guess that was proving his point wasn’t it?

Gates scoffed and shook his head as he grabbed a beer. “Right…that’s why you just left Maya standing in the middle of the stage after she came up to you.” Why did he sound so smug about that? “Isn’t that what you’ve been waiting for? For her to make a move? Well it looks to me like that’s what she’s doing and you just pushed her away.”

“Because she fucking used my laptop to have fucking skype sex talk with Bruce!” I finally snapped, pulling at the roots of my hair with frustration.

“That’s rough, man,” Gates said looking down at his beer. He looked like he felt sorry for bringing it up and damn right he should. “But why would she come up to like that?”

“I don’t fucking know,” I sighed, dropping down into a chair. “To apologize for not telling me why she wanted to use my computer? It’s certainly not to get back together! Hell, she wants to be fucking friends and I can’t do that anymore! So I’m staying away so I don’t scare her away,” I explained, feeling blood course through my veins with anger. I stood up again and headed toward the exit. I just needed some time for myself right now.

“When she ever gets it through her thick head that she wants to be with me, where she belongs, she knows were to find me,” I said before leaving Gates standing alone in the tent. I was done with the topic and I was going back to my avoidance techniques regarding anything and everything Maya Brandon.

Notes

So Ave is still avoiding telling James the truth and Matt is avoiding Maya to keep from getting hurt. How is Maya going to respond to that? Will it draw her back into him? Tell us your thoughts and thank you so much for your awesome comments!

<3 KWally2