The Way Your Heart Sounds

Tonight was the night of the Avenged Sevenfold concert that Jimmy had been talking about for weeks. Lauren drove with Jimmy, Matt, and Val. The rest of the guys drove in another car. Since it was only one show, the guys didn't bother taking their usual bus. In the car, Jimmy handed Lauren a backstage pass so she could hang around with them.

“I promise I won't let her get lost,” Val said.

“We don't need my beautiful angel here getting snatched up by any weirdos,” Jimmy said. He puckered his lips at Lauren, who giggled.

Once they arrived at the venue, the four of them walked in together and met up with the other guys. They were hanging out in one of the rooms backstage, each of the guys occasionally stepping out to get their instruments in order.

“Time for sound check,” one of the roadies announced. Jimmy bounced off the couch and grabbed Lauren’s hand, telling her she could come watch.

Lauren waited on the side of the stage with Val while Jimmy got himself settled on the drumkit. The crew worked on getting his kit mic’d up, while he tested the different parts to ensure it sounded to his liking.

“How’s Jimmy?” Val asked her routine question that she did every time she saw Lauren.

“He's doing well. Hard at work writing,” Lauren said. The sound check guy asked Jimmy to check his vocal microphone, so he screamed at the top of his lungs into the mic, scaring half the crew and making the other half laugh.

“Matt’s been busy writing too,” Val nodded.

“So, Jimmy asked me to move in with him,” Lauren said suddenly. She wanted to get some other opinions on the situation and wondered how Val would weigh in. Her hazel eyes went wide as she whipped her head towards Lauren.

“No way, really? Damn, he’s getting real serious real fast,” she said.

“Is that unusual for him?”

“Kind of. I wouldn't describe Jimmy as afraid of commitment or anything, but I've never seen him as serious about anyone as I've seen him about you… I'm really happy for you guys. He deserves someone like you,” Val smiled. Lauren returned the smile.

“Sometimes it scares me how fast all of this is going,” Lauren started. She looked over at Jimmy who grinned at her and twirled his drumsticks. “But I'm so madly in love with him. I can't imagine it any other way.”

Once Jimmy had finished sound check, he made a beeline towards Lauren and scooped her up bridal style without any warning.

“Are you prepared to get your socks rocked off tonight?” He asked.

“She's wearing sandals,” Johnny interrupted from behind Jimmy. Jimmy placed Lauren down and turned around to lift Johnny up with no effort whatsoever.

“Time for you to go to timeout,” Jimmy declared, carrying a kicking and screaming Johnny away. Matt had been watching and shook his head, laughing.

Later on, Lauren waited on a couch backstage for the guys to get dressed. Jimmy was the first to come out in a simple outfit: jeans, sneakers, no shirt, and his favorite necklace. Lauren was holding on to his leather jacket in case he complained about being cold.

He plopped down next to her and rested his head on her shoulder.

“Meet me back here after the show?” He asked. She nodded. The rest of the guys slowly trickled out of the dressing room. The crew let them know when it was time to get ready and head out. Jimmy kissed Lauren before he left with the guys.

Val took Lauren off to the same spot they had been watching sound check before. The stage was completely black, but she could just barely make out the figures of the guys stepping out on stage. Matt took a seat behind what appear to be an organ, and started to play. The crowd erupted. Lauren couldn’t help but smile as she watched Jimmy bang away at the drums, throwing his whole body into the motions. His passion for the music was undeniable. She was also amazed at his ability to sing at certain parts while still playing the drums. The other guys were excellent on stage as well.They got the crowd riled up and gave them an excellent show.

By now, Lauren had listened to most of Avenged Sevenfold’s songs, so she recognized everything they were playing. They had a break in the middle of the show for Matt to recoup his voice while Brian played a guitar solo, and then played the rest of their set.

Once the show was over, Lauren walked backstage with Val to meet up with the guys again. She panicked when someone picked her up without warning, but then realized it was just Jimmy.

“How did you like the show?” he asked.

“It was amazing. You guys are seriously very talented,” she responded. Jimmy thanked her with a kiss. Matt, who had stopped to greet Val, also smiled at Lauren’s compliment.

“What can I say, we love what we do,” Matt said as he threw an arm over his fiance’s shoulder.

Brian, Zacky, and Johnny eventually made their way backstage and immediately went for the alcohol. Matt was abstaining from drinking, because he complained that his throat was sore. Jimmy smiled and clapped him on the back sympathetically, telling him they could be boring together.

The group loitered around for a while before Jimmy asked to go home so he could get some sleep. The guys whined a bit, complaining about how all Jimmy has been sleeping an unusual amount lately. Lauren and Jimmy said their goodbyes to everyone before exiting through the back of the venue. Since it was night time now, Jimmy had his coat on, though it was unzipped and his chest was still visible.

It was quite a while after the show, but there was a small group of fans waiting outside. One of them screamed “Rev!”

Jimmy smiled and apologized to Lauren before he stopped to sign autographs and take pictures with the fans for a few minutes.

“Where are the rest of the guys?” One of the fans asked Jimmy.

“Oh, they’re still getting plastered. I promise you’ll see them soon,” he responded with a smile.

Once the fans were taken care of, Jimmy and Lauren made their way back to the car. Jimmy was so tired that he was nodding off in the car.

“You’re normally wide awake at this hour, you must really be exhausted,” Lauren said as they pulled up in Jimmy’s driveway.

“Yeah, I’ve been pretty tired lately. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning too,” he groaned before opening the car door and swinging his legs out.

“I have to work tomorrow, so I feel your pain,” Lauren laughed. She unlocked the front door and let them inside.

Jimmy flung his coat off, and immediately dropped his pants so he was just standing there in his boxers.

“Is it that hot in here?” Lauren asked sarcastically, hanging her bag up by the doorway.

“Yeah, it is. I really need to take a shower,” he said, starting to walk down the hallway. As Lauren was taking her coat off, he stopped and turned around.

“Wanna join?” he asked with a wink. She laughed.

“I’ll be right there.”

Notes