Kady's POV

"Enough, Caleb!" I yelled, pulling him down by the back of his shirt. I was sick of his impulsive, cocky, and aggressive personality that he had been flaunting around since we got signed. "Chill the fuck out before you get us fired!

With one swift yank from Marley and I, he was back on the couch. "Knock off your shit! I'm serious! We are not quitting or getting fired from this tour! Sit down, cool off, and pull yourself back together. Jesus Christ!"

"He started it! When did you turn into mom?"

I took a step back, feeling like I had been slapped in the face. Are you fucking kidding me? You're going to make that low of a blow over this?

I hated to be compared to our overbearing worthless mother. I hated her. She had tried to control my life for so long and forbid me from being who I actually was. A debutant was not something I ever wanted but that was all my mother thought I could do. There was no denying that Caleb and I had a messed up childhood, but it definitely inspired our music.

"Ax that was low, dude," I heard Marley say as I flipped him off and walked towards the door.

"You can go to hell," I muttered. "Fucking ass.... keep it up and we'll replace you." I added under my breath. I was fed up.

As I walked out the backstage door, I shielded my eyes from the sun. My hangover from the night before was still powering on. I needed something to calm me down. It was then that I smelled cigarette smoke...perfect.

"Fuck..."

I looked down to see the handsome, brown-eyed guitar player from Avenged Sevenfold sitting on the ground enjoying his drag. His hair was spiked up and his closed eyes were lightly lined with black eyeliner. Fuck...I can't forget about the bet. One smoke wasn't going to break me. Hell I was Violet fucking Rouge: bad ass rock star! Synyster Gates would not be my Achilles Heel. Fuck no.

"You can say that again.... can I join you?" I asked, knowing that I honestly didn't give a fuck if he said no.

He opened his eyes slowly and looked up with me with a cocky sideways smirk. "Finally taking me up on that smoke? I knew you couldn't resist."

I wanted knock that smirk right off his face. The cockiness in his voice immediately made me take back any question of liking him. "Don't flatter yourself, I've got my own." I said, watching one side of his smirk fall when I took out my pack. Justice.

"Suit yourself.... what's with you guys anyway?" Gates asked as I pulled out a Marlboro. "I can your attitude isn’t from bad taste." He smirked again holding up his matching pack. "So what is it?"

"Your cocky attitude," I said bluntly, watching his face fall again. "And that you think you can have whatever you want. Well guess what, you can't, asshole!" I snapped as Syn raised a brow at me. I must have hit a nerve.

"You know me so well," Gates replied with a small frown as he stood up. "What a shame that I'm such an asshole that I was about to invite you to our tour kick off party at my place. But I can see that you've already formed your opinion of me."

I gapped at him, not expecting that response at all. So he wasn't hitting on me?

"I-I...."

"Kady are you okay?" I turned around to see Marley standing behind me in the door. Great timing Mar. Now I'm the asshole. "We are getting ready to go back on the air."

"Yeah, I'll be back inside in a minute," I said as I put out my cigarette.

"Okay, babe," he said with a wink.

I turned back around just in time to see Gates walking back towards the door. "Gates Wait," I said, grabbing his arm.

I smiled lightly as I felt his muscles flex under my touch. Damn, he was ripped and don’t even get me started on those monster tattoos. He was sexy, I’d give him that but I couldn’t think about that. He was off limits!

Gates stopped and turned to look at me with his brown eyes. "It's Brian and don't worry about it, Violet."

"It's Kady, and I'm sorry." I looked down at my feet.

"Forget about it. See you tonight." He threw his cocky smirk at me and left me stand outside with my mouth open.

That fucker just played me!

Zacky's POV


I couldn’t fucking believe the nerve of Fatal Façade. I mean, calling us out on national television? Oh, if Caleb wanted to start a pissing match, he was going to lose. Hell, it was taking every ounce of effort to sit in my seat and not say anything else to that douchebag. I knew that my actions before were unprofessional, but everything about Caleb just fucking pissed me off. He was always a pompous ass who wanted something that didn't belong to him. In my opinion, he was about five years overdue for an ass beating.

"Zack? Earth to Zacky?" I blinked and shook my head only to find Jimmy waving his hand in front to my face. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, he jumped on my lap, knocking the wind out of me. "A soon full of Jimmy helps the world go round!"

"What the fuck, dude?" I gasped.

"I called your name like fifty fucking times!" He sang and I cracked a smile.

"Sorry, what's up?"

"Do you want me to get anything 'special' for the party tonight?" He asked, wagging his eyebrows at me. "Johnny wants brownies."

"I want something a little harder after today..."I mused, knowing that Matt would kill me if he knew what I was requesting. We had promised to avoid hard drugs once Jimmy had been diagnosed with a heart problem. "Brownies would be fine. Just make them strong."

"Haha oh Zackary, I don't make them!" Jimmy laughed, clapping my back. "I'd fucking burn the house down."

"You got your head back on, Baker?" Matt cut in and I answered with a nod. I knew he had spent the last couple of minutes apologizing to the Mayhem staff for our outburst. "I promised the tour manager that there would be no more issues. You better keep it to yourself man and then vent later."

Shut the fuck up, Matt. You don't know the half of it. Sure he screwed you over but you don't even know the half of it.

"Yeah," I said as a song started blaring in the studio. I listened to the female voice both scream and sing in such a unique way. The tune was damn catchy too.

A little mayhem never hurt anyone
Where'm I gonna get some?
A little bedlam 'til I'm coming undone
Where'm I gonna get some?
A little mayhem never hurt anyone
I'm a gonna get some, get some, get some
A little bedlam 'til I'm coming undone
I'm a gonna get some, get some, get some, oh
I had to admit, this was a good song.

"Girl can sing," Brian said, taking a seat nested of me. He smelled like smoke and gave his 'I have the best news ever' smile.

"What did you do?" I asked suspiciously. I usually wasn't the biggest fan of Brian and Jimmy surprises. They were usually insane or pissed me off.

"I invited Kady to the party tonight." He looked so proud of himself. However, I knew that wherever the lead singer went the rest were sure to go. I would definitely have to keep my distance or get some hard drugs to keep from pummeling Axel.

"Kady huh? I though she was more of an Julianna...." Jimmy mused. Yep, Gates and the Rev were two peas in a pod. "Is she bringing any lady friends?"

"I don't even know if she is coming," Brian muttered as the host started his introduction again. “But I’m going to be ready…”


Brian's POV

My head was spinning as I walked around the house with a beer I hand. I didn't know what number beer it was, but what did it matter? Not to mention Jimmy's famous brownies...

"Gates, I challenge you to a shot contest!" Jimmy yelled from the makeshift bar in the kitchen. As I stumbled towards him, he lazily poured out ten shots. Fuck, I was going to regret this decision in the morning.

"You haven't beat me yet," I laughed sliding a crossed the kitchen floor in my flip-flops.

"I vote Haner," Zacky said leaning on the counter. The party definitely seemed to have improved his mood and I knew we were in for one hell of a night. I just hoped that the spunky little redhead would show up. "Sorry Jimmbo, but you lose momentum around the third shot."

"I've been practicing," Jimmy yelled just as Matt and Val entered the kitchen.

"With who? You've been with us at the studio. When have you had time?" Matt asked as Val moved out of his arms and walked over towards me.

"I don't want to upset you, but I invited Michelle," Val said softly. Her words caused my heart to plummet into my stomach. Damn it. Michelle was the last person I wanted to see, so I would definitely need to be drunk.

"You ready, Jim?" I asked, pretending to ignore Val.

"Put your money where your mouth is!" Jimmy pulled out his wallet and placed a one hundred dollar bill on the counter. Someone was feeling confident tonight. Too bad I would have to crush his dreams.

"What are we drinking?" I asked, throwing my money down and rubbing my hands together in anticipation.

"A deathbat!"

"What the fuck is that?" Matt asked, looking at the dark substance in the shot glasses.

I laughed and patted Matt on the back. "It's victory in a glass. Vodka, tequila, spiced rum, jägermister, and red bull. You act like you've never played this game, Sanders."

"It's because he doesn't remember when he does," Zacky laughed before slamming the rest of his beer. "Pussy."

"Shut up, Baker. I had to drag you ass off the floor last week. You know damn well you don't know remember it." He shot back before kissing Val.

"Hey,” an eerily familiar voice sounded in my ear as a small hand landed on my back. My body instantly stiffed and I felt like I was going to be sick. I wasn’t ready to deal with Michelle this early in the night, and I certainly wasn’t going to give into her. Fuck, I needed more alcohol.

"What are you doing, Bri?" Michelle asked, wrapping her arms around me. I definitely needed a drink…

"Let's go!" I ignored her and pulled away from her and made my way over to Jimmy. I needed to distance myself from her and completely forget what I was doing. Those memories were not something I wanted to think about. Fuck I didn't even want to see Michelle!

"First one to finish all five shots wins," Zacky said before downing one of his own. "On your mark, get set, go!"

I quickly picked up the first two shots and downed them at the same time. Damn, the burn in the back of my throat felt good right now. Without hesitating, I grabbed the next two and drank them just as easily. The burn intensified. As I swallowed my vision started to blur and all the painful memories stared to drift away. One more and the deathbat shot would do it’s job. I quickly downed it and held my hands up in victory, expecting my imminent win.

"The Rev wins!"

"What the fuck?" I slurred, looking over to see Jimmy doing a victory dance and falling on the floor with his body flaring. "You motherfucker! How the hell did you beat me?"

"Put your money where your mouth is, Haner!" Jimmy sang waving the $200 in my face. "Told you I've been practicing."

"I can't believe it," Zacky said shaking his head. It was then that my body felt numb and emotionless. This was the feeling I was looking for. I quickly disappeared to the back patio before Michelle could get to me.

Now it was the avoidance game.

Notes

Did Kady judge Gates too soon or is he exactly what she thinks he is? What do you think Caleb did to Zacky to make him so mad? And now we know a little bit more about what happened between Brian and Michelle. Do you think he will be able to avoid her?

Thank you for your comments! :) You guys are awesome! Let me know what you think and if there is anything you'd like to see. ;)