Avery’s POV

I barely slept all night. I just kept tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable but nothing felt right. Every time I closed my eyes I could see the camera flashing and it set me on edge. I felt like Brian and I didn’t have any privacy and that someone could be lurking just outside the window, waiting for us to pull the blinds to get the perfect photo. Hell, for I all knew someone could have been in closet! I didn’t feel safe anywhere anymore and worst of all I felt complete violated. I mean, what kind of person could have such blatant disrespect for someone else’s privacy? It just wasn’t right!

Brian and Maya both tried to assure me that reporter didn’t capture me half naked in the picture, but I didn’t know what to believe. The media was getting good at taking pictures and video of us at the most inopportune time. I guess now all I could do was tried to hide and see what kind of awful headlines the media would fabricate with the picture.

I just kept picturing myself fully exposed on the news or on the cover of some tabloid with the word SLUT written across my face. I was mortified! Would they say that I was only using Brian for sex or that I was some kind of desperate whore? Oh, god I couldn’t even bear to think about it let alone how I was going to deal with it by myself in California in a few short hours. I don’t think I could do it alone…

Oh god and what about my dad? He would be furious and disappointed when he saw it…I could just hear the lecture now. Dad would start off by telling Brian and I how careless and stupid we were doing something like that in public. But really it wasn’t! We were in a private back room and no one should have found us!

I took in a shaky breath and pinched my eyes shut, trying to fight the risking anxiety in my chest. No, Maya was right. I needed to stop worrying about all this and enjoy my remaining time with Brian and the guys before Maya and I returned to California tonight. A swim in the pool with the Avenged family would do us some good, not to mention that there was no way a reporter was going to break in with Andre, the guy’s body guard, blocking the door.

With a sigh, I zipped up my suitcase and made my way into the bathroom to change into my black and gold strapless bikini. I couldn’t help but smile as I looked at my slim and tan reflection in the mirror, remembering the last time I wore this bikini with Brian on the beach. We had such a great day back then…and everything just seemed so much simpler. Would it ever go back to our normal life or would we always be in the media frenzy now that our relationships had been made public? I didn’t know and I wasn’t ready to think about it right now.

I quickly ran my fingers through my long blonde curls and pulled my black lace swimsuit cover, knowing Maya would be back to get me any minute. I would never hear the end of it if I wasn’t ready to go when she arrived. I always gave her flack about being late and I know she was just waiting for her chance to use my own speech against me. I just hoped I had a few minutes to throw on some waterproof eyeliner and mascara before she arrived.

Just as I finished one eye, I heard a voice outside the door and I mental cursed. Damn it, now I was going to be late because I couldn’t go outside with only one eye finished in makeup.

“Look, I don’t care who you have to talk to or what you have to do. I want it down now,” I heard Brian’s voice growl through the door. What did he want down and why did he sound so pissed off? Or more importantly who was he talking to?

I crept a little closer to the bathroom door as I continued working on my makeup, straining to listen to what was going on. “No, you don’t understand. They didn’t have permission to fucking take the picture or to sell it! It’s a breech of privacy and I don’t care what kind of stings you have to pull. It will be off the air in the next hour or I will find someone else who will do it!” he raged right before I heard a bang on the exterior door.

“I don’t fucking care! Get. It. Down. NOW! It doesn’t matter what it cost or if you have to trade the picture for an exclusive interview with Matt and I. Just fucking take care of it!”

By the time Brian entered the room, my heart was thundering in my chest. So the picture that the guy took of us must have been worse than we thought. I mean, why else would Brian be so upset? Oh god, I hoped whomever he was talking to could take care of the issue before my dad saw it or else we were dead. Not to mention publically crucified for our indecent exposure.

“No…no…no…” I cried, shaking my head in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening to us!

I sank down on the side of the bathtub with my head in my hands. This trip to see Brian was turning out to be much worse than I could have ever anticipated. Maybe Maya and I should have never come out here… but then again, how much worse would it have been if we stayed apart? What the hell was the media doing to us?

“Ave? Ave?” Brian’s panicked voice called through the hotel suite before he finally stuck his head in the bathroom. “There you are,” he sighed in relief, his brown eyes meeting mine. Within an instant all my panic and doubt washed away and I just wanted to hold onto him and never let go. “When I didn’t see you I thought you—”

I threw myself into Brian’s arms and buried my face in his chest, my pounding heart echoing his. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” I sighed, pressing my face against his black V-neck shirt. “That picture they got?” I took a deep breath of Brian’s intoxicating aroma, my small frame shaking in his arms.

“I’m taking care of it, okay love?” Brian said softly, his hands stroking my hair in comforting manner. “Don’t worry about any of that. I will fucking press charges if I have to.” The sound of warning in his voice sent a wave of relief over my body. I knew Brian and the guys would protect me, which made it so hard to go home in the middle of all this.

“How bad is it?” I asked, tears forming in my eyes. “Oh god what is my dad going to say!?” I was starting to freak out again, thinking I was going to have to deal with all of this by myself when I got back to California.

“Ave relax, I will—”

“What if this affects the shop? But how can I go home and deal with all this when I cant even go out there without being afraid of somebody taking a photo of me out context!” I was in full out panic now, pacing back and forth with tears running down my face. “What am I going to do?!”

“Ave!” Brian said, stopping me and forcing me to look at him. The instant I met those chocolate brown eyes, I could see that I wasn’t alone in all this. “You’re not going anywhere,” he said firmly and it took me a moment to process what he said. “We are going to get through this together. I’m not letting you go, not like this.”

“But what about the shop? What about the wedding? And Pinkly? The house? Trevor?” I asked, looking up at him, knowing that it was too good to be true. It was like he was playing some kind of cruel joke on me by telling me I could stay. “I cant leave all that behind…” I cried, tears moving freely down my face.

“Forget about all that stuff, it will be fine. You’ve hired enough people at the store and you’ve been working at home for the last week. So what difference does it make if its at home or on the road with us?” Brian said, his hands moving up and down my arms in the most soothing manner. “And we can plan the wedding together, dad can watch Pink and fuck Trevor. He’s not your responsibility, Ave,” Brian finished, leaving me looking at him with my mouth agape.

He really had all this figured out didn’t he? “But what about—”

“We’ve covered it all, love.” Brian took a step towards me and pulled me into his muscular chest. “You’re staying with me and that’s final. I lost you once and I’m not going to risk it with all this bullshit going on. We are in this together, love and I will make sure nothing happens to you,” he vowed, holding me close. I could tell just by how tense his muscles were that he was just as stressed out about all this as I was.

Brian gently took my hand his fingers running over the stunning engagement ring that still felt a little foreign on my finger. “It’s you and me, babe. Together, forever…” he said just before his lips captured mine.

“You make it sound so easy,” I sighed as Brian pressed his forehead to mine, looking into my eyes.

“Why can’t it be?” he chuckled. “I promise I will make sure no jackass reporters get another picture like that of us again. Though I have to admit, you looked fucking hot. I just wished the whole world hadn’t seen it too…”

“Oh god…” I buried my head in Brian’s chest as he carefully backed us out of the bathroom and onto the bed. “I’m so embarrassed.”

“I don’t think you should be,” Brian teased, pulling me down onto his lap. “Every girl wants to be you and every guy will want to have you. You’ll have your own Avenged fan base but what they don’t realize is that you are mine and mine alone,” he growled in my ear, nipping at my earlobe. “And I’m not sharing…”

The light growl he let out sent shivers down my spine, igniting a feeling inside of me that I couldn’t control. I bit down on my bottom lip with a moan as his lips started to travel down my neck, feeling like little explosions on my skin. What kind of effect did this man have on me? I didn’t know but I hoped it would never stop. Brian knew just what to do to distract me and I was grateful for that.

Within a few minutes Brian and I were in a full out make out session on the bed and my swimsuit cover lost somewhere in the room. Our hands were roaming all over each other’s bodies in desperate passion. We couldn’t get enough of each other, lost in the heat of the moment. By the time Brian finally pulled away, we were both out of breath.

“Why are you in your bikini?” Brian asked, his hand trailing down my sides and making me shiver.

“Maya thought we could spend some time together as a group down at the pool before we left,” I breathed, still trying to catch my breath. “Though I guess there is no rush if I’m forced to stay with you,” I teased.

“Forced to stay with me? Ouch, that hurts,” Brian said, pretending like I shot him in the heart. I quickly moved over and placed a small kiss on his chest, which he took as an opportunity to pull me on top of him. “I bet I could give you a reason to want to stay with me without even using my hands.”

I raised my brow and looked down at him, a playful smirk on my face. “Is that so?”

“You up for the bet?” Brian wiggled his eyebrows at me and I couldn’t help but throw my head back with a laugh. Why was he so damn charming?

“What bet? You know I couldn’t go home right now if I wanted to,” I smiled, my hands now on his bare muscular chest. He had definitely continued working out with Matt while on the road and I appreciated his hard work. “You know I want to be right here with you.”

Brian rolled his eyes and tossed me off of him before climbing on top of me, holding is weight on his elbows. “You’re no fun with my games, you know that?” he teased, looking me dead in the eye.

“Has that changed since you met me?” I giggled, remembering how many times I cut him off when he thought his little tricks were working on me. I didn’t fall for his Synyster Gates charm; I fell for his Brian Haner charm. God, I loved this man. “I’ve always given you a run for your money, Mr. Haner.”

“Is that what you think?” he chuckled, pressing his body to mine in the most sexually charged way possible. “What if I just liked that you played hard to get?”

“That’s funny because all I remember saying to Synyster Gates was…no…no….no…aaaand, no!” I giggled right before his fingers started to mercilessly tickle me. “Oh please stop! Haha!” I laughed trying to get away from him but he had me pinned down.

“Admit it, you just liked playing hard to get,” he said, tickling me in my weak spot behind the knee.

“I—haha---I don’t---haha…”

“Just say it and then this can all be over with, Ave. You’re doing this to yourself,” Brian chuckled as I roared with laughter from his unforgiving fingers.

“Fine! I admit it!” I laughed before Brian’s face was suddenly mere centimeters away from mine.

“So you liked playing games with me?” he asked with his signature cocky Synyster Gates smile.

I quickly turned my head to the side and pressed my lips together, not allowing him to kiss me. “I like playing games with Brian but Synyster Gates needs to reserve himself for the stage,” I teased only to feel Brian’s fingers start again. As he tickled me he slowly moved his hands lower and lower until the tickling suddenly turned into rubbing against my clit.

“What was that again?” he asked as I moaned out loud. He was a sneaky bastard today, now wasn’t he?

“I—”

“Yo Gates! Let’s go! We’ve got that stupid interview across town at the radio station before we head out,” Zack’s voice called from the door. Wait, what interview?

“Fucking hell! I’ll be there in a minute,” Brian hissed, his head falling right on my chest. “I’m so sorry babe…I forgot all about this stupid interview. Your dad added it to the schedule last week.”

“It-It’s okay…” I sighed, running my fingers through his spiked hair. “I’ll just hang out here in the room until you get back since Maya will be glued to Matt…”

“Matt’s going with us,” Brian said, standing up and pulling me along with him. “And I’m not going to leave you by yourself either,” he continued, handing me my swimsuit cover. “I’m going to make sure you are taken care of and have a great day with Maya.”

“But Brian, I don’t think it’s such a good idea if we leave the hotel,” I frowned, only for Brian to pull me into him for a quick kiss.

“Who said anything about leaving the hotel? You’ve got your swimsuit on and I’m sure Maya does too, so why not go for a dip in the pool. I know just the guy to go with you,” he said and took my hand, pulling me out the door.

“Did someone say Jimmy?!” he screamed, running down and dragging a laughing Maya behind him.

Brian chuckled and rolled his eyes. “No but I was just talking about you.”

“Never fear Jimmy is here!” Jimmy sang and I couldn’t help but laugh as he took my hand and spun me around in a circle. “We are going to have the best time today with a nice swim, some lunch…and a secret mission!” he whispered way too loudly in my ear.

“Whoa, there are no secret missions, Rev,” Brian warned, take a step toward him. “Your job is have fun with the girls and keep them away from the press and fans. If you can’t handle that then I will give the job to short shit!”

“You’re doubting my skills as the Knife Master?” Jimmy put his hand on his chest looking thoroughly offended as Maya pulled me next to her, holding onto my arm. “You hired the best so you shall get the best, good day Sir!” and with that he grabbed Maya and I and dragged us down the hallway without letting us say goodbye.

“I mean it Rev!” Brian yelled after us as we reached the staircase. “Keep them safe away from the press!”

Matt’s POV

“This is fucking ridiculous,” I grumbled, climbing into the car that was waiting for us at the backdoor of the hotel. All I wanted to do was spend time with Maya and keep her safe from the fucking press, but here I was getting dragged to yet another interview. The interviewer was sure to stray off topic, especially since the video leaked this morning on the news. Everyone was going to want the inside scoop when in reality there wasn’t anything. Maya and I had long made up and I hated my profession for putting us both in the limelight. She never wanted any of this attention and nor should she have to endure it. People should just respect our fucking privacy!

“Just relax and have a drink,” Zack said, his voice causing me to pop my head up. I was glad he was coming to distract the attention from Gates and I during the interview. “It’s all going to blow over in the next week like it always does. The people will get bored and move on.”

“That’s easy for you to say, your love life isn’t being doubted by the whole fucking world,” I hissed, running my hands over my face as I took the bottle of Jack from Zack. I threw back the bottle, enjoying the burn of the liquor down my throat.

“Why do you even care? All the people who are important know the truth. Just ignore the bullshit,” Zack said and I rolled my eyes, looking out the door for Haner. “Where the hell is Gates? We are going to be late if he doesn’t get his ass moving.”

“He’s on the phone,” I replied, seeing him pace back and forth through the glass windows of the hotel. His arms were flying as he spoke, which could only mean he was pissed and yelling at whoever was on the other end.

“That doesn’t look good,” Zack said, letting out a low whistle. “Poor Ave in that whole situation.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. The video of Maya and I was one thing but catching Gates and Ave in the act is on a whole other level of douchbaggery,” I growled, feeling my blood pressure rise from just thinking about it.

“Yeah, we’ll just have to be more careful out in public. Maybe hire some more body guards?” Zack suggest, taking another swig from the bottle I passed back to him. “Keep one on the girls at all time and call ahead at hotels and venues for security to clear the back entrances?”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I mused, pulling out my phone and looking down at the picture of Maya. I was glad she agreed to stay without hesitation. It was better for all of us to be together right now to deal with the media.

“Fucking hell,” Gates raged, climbing in the car and slamming the door behind him. “How hard is it to take down a fucking picture?”

“I take it, it’s not going well?” Zack asked only for Haner to turn and rip the bottle of Jack away from him.

“No it’s not fucking going well! I told Ave I would take care of it but the lawyer says that now that it’s out it’s impossible to get back,” he hissed, downing a quarter of the bottle in just a few sips.

“Slow down Gates, we don’t need you going into this interview drunk and making things worse,” I scolded, taking the bottle away from him.

“How is Ave this morning?” Zack continued and I braced myself for the backlash. Not very tactful Vengeance.

“She’s mortified,” Brian threw his hands up in the air before running them over his face. His jaw was locked and I could see the vein pulsing in his neck. Gates was barely holding himself together and if we weren’t careful he was going to snap. “What else do you expect when some asshole barges into a private room in a club and takes a picture of you half naked? No one else should have fucking seen her like that! That is for my eyes only!”

Brian reached over and grabbed the bottle of Jack, taking another long swig. “I feel you bro,” Zack sighed and I nodded in agreement. If they had caught Maya and I in that situation, I would have found the photographer’s name and address to pay him a special visit. No one messed with the Avenged family and got away with it, and that was for damn sure.

“We should do something fun for them tonight on the bus. You know, just a traditional Avenged drinking game night. Just something to get their minds off all the bullshit,” Zack continued, interrupting my train of thought.

“You know, that’s not a bad idea. It would boost morale with the crew too,” I said, impressed by Zack’s intuition today. He was two for two with the good ideas today. “We’ve only got four more shows until our Vegas show weekend,” I said, exchanging a glance with Zack. Brian didn’t know it yet but Jimmy, Zack, and I had been planning his bachelor party for that weekend. I didn’t know how it would work with the girls on the road with us, but we would figure something out. Not to mention I had to pick up Maya’s engagement ring that weekend too. Things were going to start moving quickly and I just hoped when the time came that she would say yes…

“So a party on the bus? I’m in…just remember who has the backroom, Sanders,” Gates said with a small smirk playing on his lips and the bottle of booze in his hand.

By the time we reached the radio station, the empty bottle of Jack was rolling around the back of the car. This interview was the last thing I wanted to do today, and I was doing everything in my power to keep myself in check. One wrong move and the media would be chasing us around even more than before.

“Let’s get this shit over with,” Gates grumbled, leading us into the studio.

“M. Shadows, Mr. Gates, and Mr. Vengeance, it’s so nice to finally meet you in person,” the receptionist greeted. “Go right through the door on the left and Barney will hook you up with headphones. You go on in five minutes. Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Got anything stiff?” Gates asked before I elbowed him in the side.

“Gates is kidding,” I said to the woman with a dimpled grin. I couldn’t deny the fact that we were rocking a hard buzz but I wasn’t about to keep it going during the interview. “Three black coffee’s would be great.”

“No problem and have a nice interview,” she said before disappearing.

Within minutes the radio station employee’s ushered into the recording studio and hooked us up with headphones and microphones. “And we are on in three…two…one… Hello metal heads, you are listing to 94 Rock. Today we have some very special guests with us to answer your questions! Welcome M. Shadows, Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance. So how is tour life treating you guys?” the woman asked, looking between us from the other side of the table.

“It’s been great so far. The fans have been awesome and we can’t wait to hit up the rest of venues for our teaser summer tour,” Zack replied with one of his panty dropping smiles. The pair continued to banter back and forth for a few minutes about our new album before she changed the subject back to our promo tour.

“So no hitches in the show or tour?” Something wasn’t right and I could feel my heart start to pound in my chest, not liking the look on interviewer’s face. “No trouble in paradise?”

I hadn’t noticed that I was squeezing the underside of the table in irritation until Zack kicked my foot. I instantly released the metal bar and leaned back, thankful that I was wearing my sunglasses to mask my emotions. “No, everything has been running smoothly,” I answered without missing a beat. “We have the best crew of guys you could ever ask for and they make sure we go out each night without a hitch.”

“You say group of guys, but is it true that you have a couple of special guest on tour with you as well?” she continued to press. I glanced to my left to see Brain trying to hide his frustration but the corner of his lip was twitching from a locked jaw. That was a signature irritated Gates look if I ever saw one.

“Yes, our girlfriends our on tour with us,” I said confidently, though really wishing we weren’t talking about the girls. But maybe if we talked about them in a positive way, the press would stop asking about them. “We couldn’t have made this last album without them by our sides either.”

“Yeah, they’ve inspired a lot of the songs on the album,” Zack agreed, nodding at me. “Gates even wrote one of them to propose to his fiancé with.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Dear God was inspired by my fiancé,” Gates said, speaking for the first time. He had a small smile on his face when he talked about Ave in the song. “Its just a song about love, being away on the road away from the ones you love, and just wanting to be with them.”

“It truly is a beautiful song and what a lucky lady to be marrying Synyster Gates,” the interviewer continued. “So any word on the wedding date yet? From recent news it seems like things are going very well for you.”

I leaned back and swallowed thickly. Shit, was this woman hinting at the picture on the news this morning? I looked at Gates out of the corner of my eye and could see his jaw tight and his leg twitching. Come on Haner, don’t lose your shit now.

“Why you want to be my date?” Zack asked without missing a beat and earning a laugh and a blush from the dark haired women. I was thankful that he was here to take the lead on this because Gates and I certainly didn’t have out heads on for this yet.

“Okay so are you boys ready for some fan questions?” she continued after she finished flirting back and forth with Zack.

“Sure thing, we love hearing from our fans,” I said leaning forward on the table. I just hoped that they wouldn’t be asking anything more private.

“Alright, caller number one, what’s your name? You’re on the air with Avenged Sevenfold.”

“This is Michael from Philly,” said a voice that sound way too familiar. “So M. Shadows said something about their girlfriends inspiring songs. Does that mean they inspired other songs on the album too besides Dear God?”

“Yes, that’s true,” I said cautiously, not sure where this guy was going with this. I still couldn’t shake the idea that the voice sounded familiar.

“So is it true that Almost Easy is written about M. Shadows girl friend and her affair with Ben Bruce?” Was Almost Easy what? I opened and closed my mouth a few times, trying to gather my thoughts. Yes, I wrote almost easy when Maya was with Bruce but how could this guy know that? The only one who know that was Gates.

“Hello? M. Shadows? Did I lose you?”

I shook my head and looked between Gates and Zack, trying to figure out how to get out of the grave this fucker just dug for me. “First of all, there is now affair,” I said through gritted teeth, my anger getting the better of me. “Second of all, yes the song was written about my girlfriend when she was away, but there was never and affair with Bruce.”

“So she didn’t date him while she attended Oxford?” Where the hell was this guy getting this information? Now I was really starting to get pissed.

“Listen here,” I started. “I don’t know where you are getting this information from but you can—”

“Thank you so much for your call, next caller please,” Zack said, moving the microphone away from me before I could curse the guy out.

All I could see right now was red. How were these people getting all this information about Maya? They shouldn’t know anything about her, let alone her name or where she fucking went to school. That wasn’t anyone’s business!

“Hi, my question is for Synyster Gates,” a woman voice sounded through the headphones as I tried to compose myself. At least I was of the hook for this question.

“Gates here, go for it,” he said lazily leaning on the table. I could see his jaw locked as his fingers strummed on the desk. He was over this interview before it even started and I wasn’t far behind him.

“So I’ve been hearing and seeing all these rumors about your fiancé. One minute she is in pictures with a whole bunch of guys and the next you two are caught in the act at a nightclub. Are you sure she isn’t just out for the fame? She seems to like to get her picture taken.”

I clenched my fists, my anger rising again. How could someone think something like that about Avery Jacobson? She was shy and had a heart of gold and usually tried to avoid her picture being taken. Who the fuck did these people think they were?

I looked over to my left to see Gates seething, his thigh jumping underneath the table as he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. “Neither I or my fiancé need to explain our actions to anyone. We are happy and getting married and that’s all our fans need to know. At this point we will not be answering any more questions about our personal lives so stop fucking asking. It’s none of your business,” Gates snapped and with that he pushed the mic stand over, threw down is headphones, and stormed out the door.

“Fucking hell,” I hissed, following after him and leaving Zack to deal with the aftermath with the radio station and the fans. We wouldn’t hear the end of it from Larry later but someone had to say it. Someone had to stop people from barging into our business.

“Gates?” I called, stepping out the back door. I quickly looked around to find him across the parking lot, smoking a cigarette. “You okay?” I asked when I reached him.

He looked up at me over the rim of his glasses before blowing a cloud of smoke in my face. “Okay, stupid question. That was bullshit and they should have been screening the questions.”

“Damn right they should have,” he grumbled, sinking down to the base of the tree. “I’m just so fucking sick of this bullshit. Why can’t they just leave the girls alone?”

I laughed humorously as I sank down next to him, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach. “Because we introduced them to the world…”

Notes

So I've been a little obsessed with Of Mice and Men lately, so you will see some of that in my titles! hehe. Hope you like the chapter and let us know your thoughts!

Comments please!