57) Back over the pond

Avery’s POV

“I can’t believe he threw me in the pool,” I laughed, running my fingers through my dripping wet hair in Zacky’s master bathroom. I was attempting to tame the beast, but was failing miserably. That only left me with two choices, blow dry it or let it curl, and since I didn’t know where Zack kept all of his hair care products, curls appeared to be the only option.

“Yeah, he’s just lucky our sketches didn’t blow away into the pool,” Maya said, standing at the sink next to me in the gold trimmed double vanity.

Zacky’s house was immaculate and everything was beautifully decorated to match is unique individual style. The guys seemed to like to come over here for band meetings and I think it was just because he had a full bar and a gorgeous barbeque area. But then again, they also frequently met at Brian’s house, which I guess would be considered mine now too? I smiled at the thought and tried to put the finishing touches on my hair.

“Oh, I would have been so mad if they had. I love that one little mini dress I just designed. I can’t wait to make that and wear it,” I grinned, looking at Maya in the mirror. “Brian will love it.”

“Especially if you make it a little see-through,” Maya wagged her eyebrows at me and I in turn rolled my eyes. Brian didn’t need any more encouragement. On a normal day it was hard enough for us to leave the house without ending up back in bed. Not that I was complaining at all, hell I loved ever second of it. We were just living up to his reputation of always being late.

“What? You know he would, and if you wont wear it, I will and Matt will be eating out of the palm of my hand,” Maya chuckled.

I playfully rolled my eyes again as Maya got this dreamy look in her eyes. Ever since she got back together with Matt, she had been the happiest I had ever seen her. I was really happy for. “Anyway, back to our conversation about going to get our stuff,” I said as Maya shook her head and continued working on fixing her makeup. “I think it would be best if we had Brian go with you to Ben’s and Matt come with me to James’. That way we should have any more fights but it would also make the guys happy,” I explained and Maya nodded.

“But they’re still not going to be happy about going at all,” Maya sighed, looking down at the sink. “They’re not going to want us to go at all, but that’s not an option. We need those sketchbooks and I need my laptop that you put half of your designs on.”

“Yeah, that laptop has all the patterns on it,” I agreed. Our business was sitting in the UK while were over here trying to put it together and it wasn’t working. We couldn’t put off the trip any longer. “When could we go?”

Maya pulled her phone out of her purse and within seconds had the airline website pulled up. “We could leave as early as five am. There are three flights that go out tomorrow.”

“That’s it then,” I said, putting the finishing touches on my makeup now. “We’re leaving tomorrow and there is no other way around it. We can’t put it off anymore.”

“So we talk to the guys tonight,” Maya nodded, looking over at me. “Tonight” I agreed, though I was terrified of how Brian was going to react. He had made it perfectly clear after James and Ben’s surprise visit that he didn’t like either of them. So I knew he wasn’t going to take this decision lightly, and I didn’t even want to think about Maya with Matt. That was a whole other ballgame.

All through dinner, I nervously chewed on my bottom lip and pushed my food around my plate. I was hungry but I couldn’t bring myself to eat, not when I felt like the weight of the world was sitting on our shoulders. And it wasn’t just Maya and I that were feeling it too; both Brian and Matt were acting odd. They kept exchanging sideways glances and then looing at us, almost like they had some big news they wanted to share. So I was thankful when Maya spoke up first.

To my surprise, the conversation went pretty well and the guys seemed to be okay with our switching partner’s idea. Of course they had some stipulations, but we could work with those, just as long as we got our books and Maya’s laptop back. That’s what was most important right now.

“Fine…” Matt finally agreed and I squeezed Maya’s hand under the table. We were going! We were actually going, which meant we could finally start our business the way we intended to all along! “But then I must have a serious talk with you before we go,” Matt said, motioning towards Brian. Of course, they had to set their rules up. I just hoped the bro code didn’t result in Brian getting a black eye.

“So will you tell us now, why you really invited us to dinner, we know something is going on, so… spill it,” I burst, looking at Brian with a raised brow. I couldn’t take the guys odd behavior anymore, especially now that our issue was water under the bridge. Not to mention that Brian’s nervously bouncing leg next to mine was driving me crazy.

“Can’t keep anything from you, can I?” Brian smirked as I took a bite of my dinner. “Nope, now spill it!”

Matt and Brian looked at each other before they both sighed. What was going on? So far I didn’t like where this conversation was headed. “Well…we decided that it was time to start getting back into the swing of writing again and start planning out our next album,” Brian said and my eyebrow raised higher. They were already writing, well at least Brian was.

I had woke up in the middle of the night on multiple occasions to an empty bed, only to find Brian down in the studio playing his guitar. He would sit there for hours doodling around in his little leather bound notebook and he refused to let me see anything that he had written. Was it a secret until he played it for the guys?

“But aren’t you already doing that?” Maya said, voicing my thoughts.

“Yes,” Matt sighed, looking between Maya and I before he continued. “But the guys think that we need to focus just on our music for a week, and I’d have to agree” Matt said slowly as Brian nodded. Okay, so that made sense. What was the big deal then? “But we want to focus on just music…nothing else,” Brian said but I still wasn’t complete with what they were trying to tell us yet.

I furred my brow and looked at Brian as his hand landed on my thigh, lightly moving up and down. “Okay so what does that mean? That you can’t talk to us?” I joked but their faces stayed serious.

“Kind of,” Brian said giving me an apologetic look. “Next Tuesday, we will be leaving for Matt’s cabin at Big Bear Lake.”

“That sounds like fun! So you guys work on music and M and I get a vacation?” I said, a smile coming over my face. “I’ve never been out there but I’ve heard it’s beautiful.”

“No, little gnome,” Maya said, a deep frown on her face. “We’re not invited…right?” she said looking directly at Matt. My face instantly fell and I met Brian’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, love, but it’s a guys only trip. We need to focus on our music…but it’s only for a week—“ Brian said and I shook my head.

“A week?” Maya and I said together, looking at them incredulously. It wasn’t that I was trying to be a clingy girlfriend, it was just that I always felt a little lost when we were apart for too long. And a week was a little long for my taste.

“Yes, a week…and it will go by quickly,” Matt assured us. “You’ll be working on your shop and making your clothing so you won’t even notice we’re gone. Plus you two will be so busy that wont have time for us anyway,” he joked but that wasn’t funny either. Maya elbowed him in the ribs as he laughed—this wasn’t funny!

“Will you be able to talk to us at all?” I asked softly, not liking the idea of them going away but knowing that it was necessary—it was part of their job.

“Well,” Matt said, looking at Brian. “The cellphone service out there kind of sucks and is hit or miss...”

“But I’m sure we could sneak out on smoke or alcohol run to call you,” Brian added, putting his hand on my cheek. “Don’t worry, love. You’ll be the only thing in my thoughts,” he told me and I smiled lightly. “Just don’t tell the guys…”

“Okay…” I sighed, knowing that we couldn’t exactly ask them to stay. We’d just have to busy ourselves in our work. “But you better at least text me,” I said and wrinkled my nose at Brian who burst out laughing.

“Don’t worry, I will and we’ve still got a week and a half together before that, so just relax, okay?” Brian leaned in and slowly gave me a kiss, making all my anxiety drift away. “Besides,” he whispered in my ear, his tone darkening in a sexy way. “You’re mine…and I’m gonna make you scream my name all night long so you don’t forget it.” I could feel the deep blush falling over my cheeks as I pulled away from him, only to see Matt and Maya making out across the table. I guess he must have had some words to say to her as well.

“What do you say we get out of here?” Brian’s lips were suddenly at my neck again and all I could do was nod. He pulled me out of the booth in one swift motion, dropped a stack of bills on the table, and pulled me toward the car.

The whole car ride back home, Brian’s hand was trailing my inner thigh, each stroke moving higher and higher. He was teasing me and closed my eyes and put my head back against the headrest, suppressing the moan that wanted to escape when he touched my delicate area. “Mmm…I hope you’re ready for me, baby girl. Tonight you are mine…”

As soon as the car stopped, Brian ran over to my door, helped me out, threw me over his shoulder, and raced toward the front door. Once we were safely inside the dark entryway, Brian pinned me to the wall and captured my lips in a hungry kiss.

Every nerve ending in my body exploded and I couldn’t help but moan against his lips, my fingers tangling in his long hair. “Oh…Brian…”

“That’s a good girl…” he murmured, his fingers moving to tease the lace fabric of my panties underneath the short VU dress I was wearing. His magic fingers moved against my clit as I moaned his name again.

As if that was the cue to move, Brian kissed me hungrily one more time before he threw me over his shoulder again and raced up the stairs. "Oh I want to fuck you so bad," he growled in my ear after he set me down on my own two feet.

“Is that so, Mr. Gates?” I teased, keeping a step ahead of him as we played chase into the bedroom.

“Oh, I think you know, love,” he purred, pinning me to the wall again. His hard member stabbed me in the thigh as his fingers instantly moved to cup my face and take my lips captive once again. Our tongues danced in a battle for dominance while Brian’s hands moved to the back of my dress, pulling it down in one swift motion. I moaned into the kiss as his hands roamed my body, making my skin feel like it was on fire. My hands quickly moved down to free the throbbing erection stabbing me in stomach.

The next thing I knew, we were both naked on the bed and I was kissing down his bare chest. "Oh fuck..." Brian moaned, as I got closer to his throbbing member. Brian buried his hands in my long curly locks and I took his length into my mouth. Damn he tasted good and I couldn’t help but tease him a little bit. I moved agonizingly slow up and down, Brian leaning back with a moan in pure ecstasy.

“Fuck…enough of this…I’m supposed to be making you scream. I need you now!” Brian growled, his tone full of lust and hunger.

Suddenly I was thrown back on the bed, bouncing slightly as my head landed on the stack of pillows. Brian looked down at me with a smirk on his face, his eyes trailing down over my naked form. Slowly he moved down and kissed over every inch of my skin, making me squirm under his touch as he played with my clit.

“Oh god Bri…” I breathed, feeling my body reaching that euphoric state. I arched my back, wordlessly begging him for more as he took turns suck on my nipples. I threw my head back with a moan, causing him to suck harder and spread my legs. Oh god I wanted him.

"You're so fucking beautiful..." he breathed, positioning himself above me. Brian teasingly ran his fingers up and down my dripping wet folds, causing me to moan, arch my back, and buck wildly at his teasing fingers. "You're so tight and wet..."

"Oh god please don't tease me anymore, Bri," I cried before he gave me a wicked smirk.

“Who do you belong with?” Brian positioned himself at my entrance, making me almost whimper to feel that throbbing mass there. I closed my eyes and tried to push myself onto him but he just chuckled, keeping out of reach. “SAY IT!”

“You…” I murmured but he just shook his head with a mischievous smirk. “Say it louder”

“I belong with you!” I said and was rewarded with a hard and deep penetrating thrust. I screamed out his name only for him to pull out again. “Who do you belong with?”

“You…” I cried but this time he shook his head. What kind of game was this? It was like pure torture. He quickly slammed in and out of me five times before stopping again. “Say my name…”

“I belong with Brian,” I gasped, feeling him pound into me quickly. I threw my head back, about ready to cry from the pleasure that he was giving me. “Oh god Brian…” I cried as he mercilessly pumped in and out as hard as he could. It felt like my inner walls were shatter as I screamed, unable to do anything else.

“Who do you love?”

“I-I…” I panted, not able to form a coherent thought.

“God fucking damn your tight…who do you love? Tell me!” he demanded, his thrusts driving me crazy. I was so close to the edge that I was ready to jump off.

“I-I…” I stammered, only for him to pound harder, if that was even possible. “SAY IT!” he yelled. “Tell me who you love, Ave!”

“I-I love you Brian Haner…” I gasped, my body suddenly over taken by a mind-blowing orgasm. I screamed his name as I floated in the darkness, only to come down when he was panting on top of me. By the looks of it, his release was just as powerful as mine.

“I love you, Ave,” Brian whispered in my ear as he pulled me into his side.

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of the alarm clock screaming next to the bed. I moaned and tried to move my aching body to turn it off, only to realized that I was tangled in Brian’ strong embrace. He had been true to his word of making me scream all night long and I felt like I had just drifted off when the alarm went off. But we couldn’t hit snooze today because we had a flight to catch.

“Bri…” I tiredly grumbled, shaking him gently. “Bri…we’ve got to get up…we’ve got a flight to catch. He groaned and rolled over, hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock. “No babe, we’ve got to get up. We need to catch our flight,” I insisted, moving to straddle him. As soon as I was on top of him, I saw his eyes open with a smirk.

“You ready for more?” Brian’s groggy voice sounded and I just laughed, feeling his growing member mover underneath me.

“No but I am ready for you to get out of bed,” I said, leaning down and pecking his lips. “We’ve got to leave in a half an hour for the airport. We cant be late or we’ll miss our flight. Up and at ‘em soldier,” I teased, patting his chest as I moved to get up. Only Brian had other plans. He quickly rolled us both over so that he was pinning me to the bed.

“How about we have one more round and then we go,” he suggested, his need ready to press into me.

I took in a shaky breath knowing that he was trying to distract me because he didn’t want me to see James. Though he had nothing to worry about. As far as I was concerned, James and I were just friends. Speaking of which, I still needed to call him to let him know we were coming.

“As nice as that sounds, babe. We have to go,” I said gently, patting his chest. “Matt and Maya will be waiting for us.” And with that, I gently pushed him off of me and headed toward the bathroom, but not before hearing his loud groan as I shut the door.

An hour later, we were waiting to board our plane. Both Matt and Maya looked just as exhausted as Brian and I and I’m sure Matt wasn’t happy about the trip either. He was holding Maya so close to his side that I couldn’t sneak her away for a moment to talk even if I wanted to. I guess I would just have to call James by myself and hope Brian didn’t get too pissed off with me.

“Hey, babe, I’m going to go to the restroom and make a phone call real quick,” I said to Brian. I quickly pecked his lips and hurried away before he could stop me.

Once I was away from Brian, Matt, and Maya, I pulled out my phone and took a deep breath. I shouldn’t be this hard to talk to James again. We were friends… well at least that’s what I thought we were. I still felt extremely guilty about my actions towards him in regards to the whole Brian thing. I just hoped that we could move past that because he really was a great friend to me.

With one more deep breath, I dialed James’ number and he picked up in three rings. “Hello?”

Matt’s POV

I really didn’t like the idea of flying all the way to the UK just to get a couple of the girls possessions from those Asking Alexandria douchebags. I mean, why couldn’t those dicks just mail them their belongings like the rest of the stuff in their apartment? It didn’t make sense to me.

“I don’t like this,” I grumbled to Gates on the plane. Maya was passed out in the seat next to me and I smiled at her sleeping form. I really didn’t give her a chance to sleep last night because I wanted her to remember how I made her feel when she encountered Bruce. It wasn’t that I thought she would go back to him. No, she wouldn’t do that. I just wanted her to crave my touch the entire time she was getting her things from Bruce’s place, and so far, my plan had been working well. Maya hadn’t taken more than two steps away from me the whole morning.

“Join the club, Shads,” Brian grumbled, his fingers absentmindedly playing with Avery’s hair as she slept on his shoulder. She looked just as exhausted as Maya, so I assumed Brian showed her the same treatment that I showed Maya last night. “I don’t even like the thought of fucking Cassells looking at her.”

“I know what you mean,” I sighed, running my hands over my face. “I really didn’t like those guys to begin with, and now they are really on my shit list. I swear if Bruce makes one move towards her, I want to grab Maya and get her out of there. Don’t even let him touch her,” I instructed and Gates nodded.

“Same goes for Cassells,” Gates clenched his fists. “He’s good at playing the fucking friend card to Ave, but I know he is trying to back door his way back in with her. But it’s not gonna happen. Don’t leave them alone and don’t let him get to close, do you hear me, Shads?” Gates instructed and I nodded.

“When you go with Maya to Bruce’s house, tell her she’s got five minutes and whatever she doesn’t have in that time is staying, and I mean it. She doesn’t need to be making small talk and laughing it up with that douchebag. Be her fucking shadow in there too, I don’t want him within three feet of her, got it?”

“What are you talking about?” Maya’s groggy voice sounded next to me. She looked up at me with sleep brown eyes and I couldn’t help but smile. She was just so damn beautiful.

“Nothing that you need to worry about, babe,” I assured her, seeing Gates nod and put his arm back around Ave. “Just get some sleep before we get there.”

“What about you, Big Guy? Are you going to sleep?” her soft hand was suddenly on my cheek and I closed my eyes, enjoying her touch. “You were up just as much as I was…” That was true. After I made sweet love to her, I watched her sleep. I was still afraid deep down that she would be gone in the morning, even though I knew better.

“I’m okay, babe, don’t worry about me,” I promised and she just smiled and shook her head.

“If I don’t worry about you, then who will? God knows you don’t worry about yourself, Big Guy,” she chuckled and I leaned down and kissed her forehead. She really was something else.

“Love you, M,” I put my arm around her and pulled her into my side.

By the time we landed at the airport, I could already feel my stress level starting to rise. I just want to get this don’t with so that we would never have to encounter the Asking Alexandria boys again. Okay, so maybe never seeing them again was a stretch, considering we played in the same circles but at least we could put it off for a while.

“You okay?” Maya asked, looking up at me with a slight frown. That didn’t belong on her beautiful face and I would do anything in my power to keep it off.

“Yeah, just still not very keen on the idea of you seeing Bruce,” I admitted, pulling her into my side as Gates got two cabs. Our flight back to California left in three hours so we didn’t have a lot of time. Which in my opinion, was perfect for this little arrangement

“Don’t worry, Big Guy, he didn’t even answer the phone when I called or texted him that I was coming to get my stuff,” Maya said and I let out a small sigh of relieve. But how was she going to get her stuff if Bruce wasn’t home? Just as I opened my mouth to ask, Maya answered my question. “I know where his spare key is if need be.”

Was it bad that I secretly hoped that Bruce and the other blockheads weren’t home? That would make this whole thing so easy and less stressful for all of us. Though by the look on Gates’ face and how Avery was twisting her hands in front of her as she spoke, something told me that Cassells was home. Though he was the least of my worries. I was more worried about Bruce trying to make a move on my girl, but I knew Gates would hold true to his word to keep her safe.

“Well, call me as soon as you get there and when you leave, okay?” I insisted, seeing the cabs pull up. I didn’t want to let her go, but I knew I would see her again soon. We would meet back at the airport bar in an hour, cause we all knew that we would need a drink after this fiasco.

“Don’t worry so much, Big Guy, I promise everything will be fine,” Maya promised, placing her hand on my cheek. I had no idea how I was going to let her go for an entire week when this hour was already painful. “Just keep your head and stay cool, though James wont give you any trouble. He only has Ave’s best interest at heart.”

“I’m more worried about Bruce,” I mumbled, pulling her into my and looking down into her eyes.

“Gates will make sure he follows all your rules,” Maya chuckled, and I narrowed my eyes at her. So she had heard me on the plane then? “Stay three feet away…don’t leave me alone with him…” she teased and rolled my eyes. She couldn’t blame me for wanting to protect what we had together. I wasn’t going to lose her again. “Be my shadow…”

“Oh, so now you’re a spy, huh?” I asked playfully. “You know what I do to spies?”

“What’s that?” Maya purred in my ear, her warm breath sending shivers down my spine. Without another word, I grabbed her and crashed my lips into hers, giving her a deep kiss full of my love. I wanted to show her everything that I had and felt towards her. She had to remember exactly what we had before she went anywhere near Bruce.

“You’ll just have to hurry back here to find out,” I said when I finally pulled away, leaving both of us breathless. I quickly pecked her lips one more time before I let her go, quickly spanking her perfect ass. “I love you, M,” I gave her hand one last squeeze before I turned to see Brian and Avery pulling apart from their kiss.

“You ready, little gnome?” I asked, giving Gates a curt nod as he passed and headed to get in the cab with Maya. We both understood each other and I was going to make sure that Ave was taken care of, just as Gates would do with Maya.

“Yeah,” she said breathlessly, her eyes still following after Gates.

“ Good. Let’s get this over with.”

Notes

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