Matt’s POV

“Sanders! Sanders!”

I groaned and rolled over in bed, feeling my head already pounding from a lack of sleep. I had been up all night on my computer trying to figure out how much damage the leaked interview had caused. Unfortunately that one interview opened the floodgates for a total shit storm of pictures, articles, and videos. How the press got out so many articles in twenty-four hours was beyond me but the damage they would cause would be unimaginable. Fucking hell, how did we get in the mess?

“Avenged girls party it up?” I read as I scrolled through the list of media hits for Avenged Sevenfold. There were about thirty different articles posted in the last twenty minutes and each one was worse than the next. “Asking Vs. Avenged: Who will she choose? Avenged Fiancés on the Prowl? Shadow’s Girls Adds Another Ben to her Love Affair? What the fuck?” I continued to read, disgusted by each headline.

I clicked on the last article and my heart plummeted into my stomach as a picture of Maya leaning into Ben Burley flashed across the screen. The way she appeared to be laughing and dancing with him looked extremely intimate and I couldn’t stand it. Just seeing the love of my life in another man’s arms ignited a harsh wave of jealousy in my chest, making me want to beat the shit out a good friend.

Deep down I knew there was nothing between the two, but just the way the media present the situation made me sick to my stomach. She was my fucking girlfriend and I was the only one who should have been dancing with her like that. God I fucking missed her and wanted to be with her. I just wished I was the one there with her and not 3000 miles away in New York. Talking to her sporadically on the phone was not enough, especially since she always seemed to be busy or having her fucking brother answer the phone for her.

What was with Trevor anyway? Why was he always there when I talked to Maya? I found it hard to believe that the guy was actually that into making amends with a sister that he screwed over ten years ago. Something about the guy still didn’t sit well with me, especially with some of the things he said. Like what the hell was his comment about having ‘relationship arrangements’? Where did he even get that information? I just hoped Maya wasn’t telling him things that she hadn’t shared with me about our relationship because I wasn’t about to lose her again.

I frowned and looked down at my phone to see a good night message that Maya had sent a few hours ago. It was a picture of her and Ave safely nestled into our bed and I couldn’t help but feel jealous again. I wanted nothing more than be cuddled up with her in bed, running my fingers through her soft silky hair until she fell asleep...

Fuck I really hated not being with her, especially when the press was storming the house. I just hoped that this whole interview leak wasn’t going to create an even bigger riff in our communication. I mean, over the past week I had only talked to Maya a handful of times, which was totally against our initial plan. Did something change? Was she pulling away from me again? I didn’t want to believe that she was talking to Bruce again, but maybe it was just about the interview leak. He was the one that originally gave us the heads up on the situation after all. Fuck! I hated not knowing what was going on with my girl.

With a sigh I ran my hands over my face, feeling my heart racing in my chest as I clicked on another article. Only this article was about Maya’s relationship with Bruce. I instantly clenched my fists and locked my jaw when I saw a picture of them embracing each other on a street corner. Oh, just seeing that fucker touch her made my blood boil. It didn’t even matter that it was an old picture because he was touching the one thing that I loved and cherished more than anything else in the world. And to make matters worse, the article that accompanied the picture played right into the odd things Trevor was saying on the phone earlier.

Sources say that Brandon was spotted talking to her secondary lover at the backstage party after the Breaking Benjamin and Disturbed concert last night in Sacramento, CA last night. It is rumored that they she was laughing and talking about a secret rendezvous in Paris in two weeks when Brandon and Jacobson’s clothing line, A&M, launches internationally during fashion week. Is she leaving M. Shadows for the British Bad Boy?

“What the hell? A secret meeting?” I hissed, feeling my temper rising.

I let out a loud growl and hit my hand on the hotel room desk, trying to calm my rising temper. “Come on, Sanders. This is just the press playing their stupid fucking mind games to sell papers,” I told myself, though deep down something didn’t feel right. “She loves you…”

I didn’t want to believe all the things I was reading about Maya and Ben in the news but also I didn’t know what to believe considering her recent behavior. Was she really pulling away from me or was she just busy with the shop? I didn’t know but I wished there was some way to find out. I refused to lose her again and I certainly wasn’t going to let her go crawling back to Bruce—over my dead fucking body. We loved each other and like Gates said earlier, being apart wasn’t an option. I was going to marry that girl come hell or high water!

“Sanders! Open this fucking door or I’m calling security!” the voice continued to shout, making me pinch my eyes shut. I wasn’t ready to deal with all the press drama yet.

“Fuck off! I’m sleeping in,” I yelled from my bed, hiding my head in the pillow. I just wanted to forget everything and go back to sleep where things were right again. Maybe when I woke up everything would be back to normal and yesterday would have been some kind of twisted nightmare. The only problem was that the press would be all over us as soon as we left the hotel, documenting our ever move and making up bullshit stories.

I groaned and rolled over in bed, feeling my head already pounding from thinking about the chaos that would ensue later in the day. “Fuck this!” I hiss, hiding my head in the pillow. I just wanted things to go back to normal and for the press drama to stop making my head spin.

“We’ve got a meeting in a half an hour in the conference room, so get your ass down here,” the voice called and I didn’t even care who it was right now. I just wanted to forget everything and go back to sleep where things were right again.

Every time I closed my eyes I could see Maya’s beautiful face, those stunning brown eyes and smile taking my breath away. I imagined exactly how she felt in my arms and how her lips tasted. Hell, I would never forget her, never in a million years. We were meant to be together and I wasn’t going to let some bullshit with the press and the British asshole come between us.

In that instant thoughts moved back to Maya and Ave back home in California where they would undoubtedly be dealing with the media frenzy. The only difference was that the girls didn’t have experience dealing with the paparazzi. Shit, we had to come up with a game plan to make sure they stayed safe and protected.

Just as I jolted up into a sitting position in bed, I felt a hard hit to the back of the head with a pillow. “Get your ass out of bed!”

“What the?” I looked around bewildered to see both Jimmy and Zack standing in front of me with their arms crossed. “How did you even get in here?” I asked, rubbing the back of my head and feeling like I had whiplash.

“Did you forget who you’re dealing with?” Jimmy chuckled, holding up a spare keycard. “The Knife Master has them for all of our rooms…you know, for security purposes.”

“Or to steal our shit,” Zack added, tossing me a fresh change of clothes. “But we really need to go. Gates is beside himself pacing the fucking lobby and Larry is due here in ten minutes to discuss the press leak.”

“Has he heard from the girls?” I asked before pulling a t-shirt and ripped flannel shirt on. “Are they okay?”

“Well, if by okay you mean trapped in the house? Then yes, they are fine,” Jimmy said, rocking back and forth on his heels. He talked to the girls? How the hell was that fair when I hadn’t even got a text message from Maya yet this morning?

“So now Maya is calling you instead of me? Fucking great!” I staggered out of bed and made my way into the bathroom, pulling on a pair of jeans. “Our line of communication just keeps getting better and better. Soon we will be talking through Jimmy and Trevor!” I snapped, feeling irritated that Maya hadn’t even bothered to contact me. What was going on with her? Was she really pulling away from me?

“Don’t get your panties in wad. He only talked to Jess,” Zacky scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“What did she say?” I asked, quickly brushing my teeth. “Any other news?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jimmy boxing with the early morning shadows on the walls and I rolled my eyes. Couldn’t he focus for two minutes? “Just that they called her and said they weren’t coming into work today because the press has your house surrounded. I guess the shop is flooded with press too.”

“My house is what?” I raged, slamming the bathroom door shut behind me. “I swear if anyone damages anything or lays a hand on either of the girls they will fucking pay!” I could picture the media banging on the windows or trying to climb into the backyard over the stonewall and shrubberies. Damn we really needed to get them some kind of protection or bodyguard. I just hoped she and Avery weren’t cuddled upstairs hiding from the invasive press.

“I need to call Maya,” I said reaching for my phone, but Zack was faster. “Vengeance, I swear if you don’t want to end up on the floor, you will give me my fucking phone!”

“You can call her after the meeting with Larry. He is stopping by on his way back to California. He only has a few minutes before he has to leave to get on another flight,” Zack said and I let out a defeated sigh. He was right; Larry would know what to do in this situation.

By the time we reached the conference room both Larry and Gates were both pacing the room. “It’s about time you showed up,” Larry grumbled as I entered the conference room with Zack and Jimmy. “I’ve only got twenty minutes before I head back to California,” he sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. “Look, I know this isn’t going to be easy and I’m sure you’ve already heard that the Asking Alexandria interview leaked but unfortunately this is only the beginning of the storm.”

“Just the beginning?” I raged, crossing my arms over my chest. “Do you have any idea what the media is saying about the girls? Or the pictures that are fucking out right now?”

Larry sighed and put his hands on the table, leaning forward. “Yes, I’ve seen the articles and pictures of my daughters,” he said, his eyes narrowing between Gates and I. “And frankly I’m disgusted with the stories the media is making up about them but we just need to lie low. Just know that I am working on it.” How he could remain so professional through all of this I would never know.

“Just lie low?” Brian scoffed, saying something for the first time since I entered the room. “The press is parading this shit around like it’s some kind of public service announcement! They are making the girls out to be home wreckers and I refuse to standby and watch. Maya and Avery don’t deserve this shit!” He finished and we all nodded in agreement. “I swear if I get my hands on whoever leaked that shit I will—”

“I know,” Larry said, holding his hand up to stop Brian. “Like I said I am working on it but for now I need you guys to be careful. Everything you say and do will be twisted and turned into something its not. Just keep a professional distance from everything, especially when you go for your meet and greet today.”

What a minute? We were still going to do a meet and greet in the middle of all this bullshit? “Come on Larry, you cant be serious!” I complained. “That would be like career suicide to go out there and get slaughtered with all those fan questions.”

“You and I both know it would be even more damning not to go now. If you start canceling events, people are going to start believing something is wrong. We act as if nothing happened and make no statements unscripted statements, do you hear me? I will fix this. You just have to give me some time.”

“So you just want us to sit idly by while they make up stories?” I wasn’t about to sit back and take this. “What do you think they are going to do when a fan hugs us today? The headline will read M. Shadows moving one with blonde fan…yeah Maya will love that!”

“So talk to her and make sure you explain everything and anything,” Larry suggested and all I could do was scoff. Yeah that would work if I could ever get her on the phone again. “. Like I said, I will clean up this mess Just watch your backs and don’t cause any more issues.”


Ben’s POV

“Mr. Bruce! Mr. Bruce! Is it true that you and M. Shadows are in an open relationship with Maya Brandon?” someone shouted at me as I walked out of our rehearsal space, cameras flashing all around me. Fucking hell, you would think I was the bloody queen with this kind of attention!

“Piss off,” I hissed, moving toward the waiting car with James and Danny hot on my heels. It was complete bullshit with all this persistent press! What the hell did we have to do to have some peace around here?

It had been two days since the interview leaked and I hadn’t had a moment of relief from the press. They had been relentlessly trailing us everywhere we went, which was good publicity for our new album but bad for any secrets we were trying to hide from the public. Reporters asked question after question and only Worsnop was thick headed enough to stop and chat. I swear if he stopped to talk to anyone today, I would personally murder him. It was his fault the press even had an interview to leak. If he could have kept his bloody mouth shut then none of this would have ever happened!

“How about you Mr. Cassells? Is it true that you had a relationship with Synyster Gates’ fiancé? Can you give us any details?” Wait a fucking minute, now they knew about Cassells and Avery? Where the hell did they get that information?

“What part of piss off don’t you asshats understand?” I snapped before pushing a stunned looking Cassells into the car. “Fucking tosh pots. I’m about sick of this shit,” I continued as the driver pulled away from the crowded street. “How the hell did they find where we were today?”

“I have no idea,” James sighed, running his hands through his hair. “But the better question is how did they find out about Avery and I? Aves probably beside herself…”

How did the press come up with half of the information they had? Where did they get all these pictures that kept popping up in the media? If I got my hands on that guy he would die a slow and painful death, that was for sure. Not only was this whole situation make our lives a living hell, but it was also affect two girls who didn’t deserve to be slandered by the media.

“I don’t know but screw those guys,” I grumbled, pulling my laptop out of my bag to check my email. In my inbox was a message from Danny titled: Go get you’re girl back motherfucker. “What the hell is this email, Worsnop?” I asked, only earning a chuckle from in on the other side of the car. “I swear to god if you sent me a link to that Asian porn site again, I will kill you. How many times do I have to tell you it’s not fucking funny anymore?”

“Just shut up and open the bloody email,” he chuckled, scrolling through his phone.

As soon as I opened the email, a long trail of pictures of pictures of Maya and myself. “What the hell?” I hissed, scrolling down the page as James looked over my shoulder. Each and every picture of Maya and Avery was linked to an article talking about our relationship, James and Avery’s ‘relationship’, and how M. Shadows and Gates were seen with other women.

“What the fuck is this?” James raged, looking extremely pissed off as he took a seat next to me on the couch. He just kept gapping at the screen and running his hands over his face. Why the hell was he so upset about this? “Where the fuck did you get these?”

“The media,” Danny said simply. “This shit is all over the news!”

“None of this is true and the girls are still being bombarded by the press for no reason,” James said, taking my laptop and looking at the pictures again.

“Well the part about us having a steamy relationship is,” I shrugged, earning an elbow in the side. “What? You can’t blame me for saying that if you knew how good the woman was in bed!” I would literally give anything to have her back with me, though deep down I knew that she never would. I still wasn’t over her but I had learned to let go.

“Shut up and look at this! Some asshole took this outside their house. They are fucking trapped in their house and it’s all our fault,” James said, now looking down at his phone.

“More like Worsnop’s fault,” I grumbled, feeling a wave a guilt wash over me. James was right, it wasn’t right for the girls to be locked inside because of the press.

“I’ll text Ave again and see how they are hold up. We need to do something. We just cant leave them there like that while the Avenged guys are on tour,” James continued and I sighed. Okay so maybe James had a point but what could we do from the UK?

“Why don’t you guys fly over there then?” Danny said, looking up from his phone. “You know check in on them and makes sure they are okay? Maybe take them to a hotel away from the press until it dies down a little bit?” Now that wasn’t such a bad idea.

“We can’t fly over there, we go on tour in a few days,” James said, and I raised my brow. We left for tour in the US in a week. Our trip would be much shorter if we were in the US. Besides, I think our first show was in California.

“So you’re willing to just sit here and watch Avery get eaten alive by the press and crumble from the stress?” Danny continued and James sighed, looking frustrated. I was impressed with Worsnop’s idea.

“N-no…but its not really—”

“Well guess what happens when we show up?” I said, leaning forward and putting a hand on his shoulder. I liked where Danny had taken this idea. “We get to be the knights in shining armor and put the girls back together. They will come back with us like nothing ever happened.” I wasn’t sure if I believed my own words but I would do anything to get another chance to get Maya.

James let out a loud groan and ran his hands over his face. “Fuck…” he hissed. “You’re right, we can’t let them sit there alone. We need to do something…”

“Then it’s settled, you blokes are headed to sunny California a week early!” Danny said patting us both on the back as we climbed out of the car at Sam’s house. “Better start packing!”

Avery’s POV

“Ugh….please just go away!” I mumbled, pacing the sitting room and twisting my hands in front of me. I occasionally peaked out the curtains, hoping the paparazzi had disappeared. Unfortunately we weren’t that lucky.

The media had been camped out on the street in front of Matt and Maya’s house for the past two days now, trapping Maya, Trevor, and myself in the house. We couldn’t go out the front door without being swarmed, which meant that we couldn’t go to the shop or anywhere for that matter. We were trapped under house arrest by the media and I was starting to get cabin fever. Hell, the backyard wasn’t even safe!

With a sigh I collapsed down on the couch, pulled my knees to my chest, and rocked back and forth, willing everything to go back to normal; to go back to the time when Maya and I could actually leave the house without being followed by the press; to be able to go to my shop without being mobbed by Avenged fans who wanted take my picture or meet the guys; or to be able to go into my own back yard without camera flashes! This new media obsession was even worse than the first time and everything and every thing about our lives was now out in the open. I just hoped Brian didn’t believe anything he read.

My biggest fear was that we would end up in another misunderstanding that would pull apart our relationship. I knew that I couldn’t live without Brian in my life and I would do whatever it took to stay together, and I was pretty sure he felt the same way. Though I still didn’t understand why he was so hard to get ahold of. Ever since he left, we had only spoke a handful of times. Was Brian really that busy or was Trevor right about an open relationship on the road? I didn’t think we had that kind of relationship but could I have missed something?

“Ave? Ave?”

I looked up from my knees to see Maya standing in the doorway to the living room with her laptop and phone in hand. “Yeah?”

“Could you look at this design and make sure the specks are right?” She asked, frowning down at her phone. She was having just as hard a time with our confinement as I was. We weren’t the type of girls that could just sit idly by and watch the world pass us by. We were miserable cooped up at home.

“Yeah sure,” I said, taking the computer and setting it on the coffee table. “How are they holding up without us?”

“Really well actually,” Maya chuckled. “All I have to do is send out the shipment order and Jess and Becca are taking care of all the management stuff at the shop. They don’t really need us there anymore,” she shrugged and I raised my brows in surprise.

They didn’t need us in shop to be successful? Wow, that was unexpected. It was kind of sad and exciting at the same time. I guess we had really hired the right people through the last round of interviews. “So now we can working on designs, wedding, and proposal stuff?”

“Yeah, that’s all we have to do. Weird right?” Maya mused, taking a seat next to me. “I guess that means we could work from home everyday if we wanted to.”

“Yeah…” I said thoughtfully before pressing send on the latest design. “Except I’m going crazy trapped in the house,” I added, looking out the window to see a man walking through the side yard with a camera. When was this mess going to end?

“I know what you mean,” Maya sighed. “And the guys are even harder to get ahold of then before. At least we have Trevor here to keep us company.”

Maya wasn’t kidding. Ever since the press leak, Brian had been harder to get on the phone because the guys were spending more and more time dodging paparazzi between shows. The only time I could really talk to him were early in the morning or really late at night. Hopefully all of it would even out soon because not talking to him or any of the other guys was making my life miserable. The only person besides Maya and Trevor I could really reach out to was James. He had been checking in on us every few hours just like Brian had promised he would—only I didn’t hear from my fiancé.

“Yeah, I’m glad that we decided to give him another chance,” I said with a small smile. “He’s a good guy.”

“I told you so,” Maya had a smug smile on her face as she elbowed me playfully in the side. “I just wished I could get Matt on board. He still is suspicious of him I think. He wont come right out and say it but just the way he asks about him makes me think he doesn’t like him,” Maya admitted and I frowned. “He just has to give him a chance and get to know him.”

“Exactly,” I agreed just as my phone started to ring. I looked down at my phone to see Brian’s face and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Ohhh you better answer that and I’ll leave you two love birds alone,” Maya said with a gag. “You’re too sickly sweet for me to listen too.”

I rolled my eyes at her and quickly answered the phone. “Babe? Hey, how are you?”

“I’ve been better,” Brian said sounding slightly irritated. “We just got chased through the venue by the press. Someone let it leak that you and James had some sort of fling,” he grumbled through gritted teeth.

Someone what? How could anyone find out about that? We weren’t ever really together! “What do you mean the press know that I was with James?” I asked, nervously twisting my hands together as my anxiety level began to rise. “We never—”

“Come on, Ave either you’re not telling me something or someone photo shopped you two kissing,” Brian snapped and I felt like I had been slapped in the face. There was a picture of us kissing? From where? When?

“I-I-I—”

“So you did have a relationship with him? Fuck Ave!” Brian cursed and I heard something crash on the other end of the line. No, this isn’t how I wanted our limited time talk to be.

“I didn’t have a relationship with him, Bri,” I said, my heart racing in my chest as my heart started beating faster. “I told you everything and that picture must be from one of the first parties that Maya and I went to in the UK. Yes we kissed a couple of times, but that was it. I promise,” I assured him, praying for once he would listen to me and not let his jealousy and pride take over.

“Are you sure?”

“What am I wearing in the picture?” I asked only to hear a scoff on the other end.

“What does that matter? Like you’d remember?” He snapped and I rolled my eyes. Did he forget that fashion was my job and I never wore the same outfit twice? “Fine a red dress with cut outs in the sides.”

“That was my first party in the UK when I got so wasted I don’t remember the whole night,” I said. “It was a harmless kiss and it meant nothing, babe. I promise you that I don’t have any kind of relationship with James except for a friendship. You are the only guy for me and I cannot wait to be Mrs. Haner Jr. in four short months.”

I heard a sigh on the other end of the line and I could just imagine Brian running his fingers through his hair. “Sorry love…I love you too. This press bullshit has me all wound up and I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. Can you forgive me?”

I pursed my lips with a small smile. “Of course I can forgive you,” I sighed. “Just remember that we go together and no one can change that, okay?”

“I love you, Ave,”

“I love you too. So what else is going on? How are the guys?” I continued, twisting my hair. I felt like a high schooler talking to her crush on the phone for the first time. I just couldn’t believe how he could still make me feel like this after all this time.

“Oh you know,” Brian chuckled. “Jimmy is running around screaming about everything, Zacky is bitching, Johnny is drunk off his ass, and Matt is worried about Maya, nothing new. What about you? How are you girls holding up with the press?”

“Well, we’re holding down the house,” I sighed. “We’ve been trapped for two days. Luckily your dad went and picked up Pinkly from the house. I’m just so sick of this…I just want things to go back to normal.”

“I know babe, just remember we’ll be home in three more weeks for a break,” Brian said but to me three weeks was not soon enough. I didn’t even know how I was going to make it through the day cooped up in the house, let alone the next few weeks. I miserable when I was trapped somewhere, even as a child.

“It can’t come soon enough,” I said just as Trevor poked his head into the room.

“Hey Ave, I made some lunch if you want some. It’s for favorite,” he said before turning and going out the door. “Thanks Trev be there soon.”

“He made your favorite? Seems you guys are getting pretty cozy,” Brian grumbled and I rolled my eyes. “I thought you didn’t really trust him?”

Now it was my turn to sigh. “Well, I didn’t at first but then he saved me from some creep at the concert a few days ago. I think he really does have our best interests at heart…”

“What do you mean he saved you?” Brian asked and just by his tone I could tell he was getting worked up.

“Well, some guy was getting a little too friendly and wouldn’t take no for an answer while I was out for a smoke—” I started, hearing Brian curse under his breath. “And Trevor came out just at the right time and save me from him…it was kind of a scary situation,” I admitted.

“Wait so some creep was trying to take advantage of you? What’s his name? I will give him a boot up the—”

“Bri relax it was two days ago and Trevor took care of it. Like I said, I think he has out best interests at heart. He really has changed and we can trust him.” I said with a smile as I watched him pour three cups of tea in the kitchen. We really were lucky to have him back in our lives.

Notes

Happy 4th of July for all the Americans out there!

Here is another chapter for your reading pleasure! And it looks like Trevor has won over Ave's trust...but will they survive the media blasts?