Don't You Dare

A bad dream woke Aubrey up with a jolt. She blinked a few times, adjusting her to her surroundings. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but it had to still be the middle of the night. The bus was quiet but she could feel it gently rocking, meaning they were still driving. She threw on a sweatshirt and climbed out of her bunk then drug her feet into the living space to grab a bottle of water.

“It was hilarious, man,” Jimmy slurred, talking to the bus driver as he laid with his back on the floor and his legs up, resting over the couch cushions. “He puked everywhere, all over his expensive clothes, all over his girlfriend. Instant karma.”

“What goes around comes around, kid,” Merle, the bus driver, replied.

“Aubrey!” Jimmy finally noticed her in the room. “What the fuck are you doing right now?” He seemed totally unaffected by the fact that was it four in the morning.

“Getting some water,” she said as she pulled a bottle out of the fridge. “What the fuck are you doing right now?”

“Just livin’ my life,” he said dreamily.

Merle closed the divider that separated his driver’s area from the rest of the bus, hoping Jimmy would finally pass out soon. He truly enjoyed his late night talks with the drummer, but he knew Jimmy needed to sleep off the alcohol and drugs in his system.

“Where are my fuckin’ glasses?” Jimmy asked as he swung his legs back onto the ground. He tried to sit upright but swayed violently.

“Whoa, lay back down,” Aubrey said as she grabbed Jimmy’s glasses off the counter. “Here.”

“Thaaank youuu!” He sang as he took them from her and flopped back onto the floor then slid them onto his face.

“You’re welcome,” she said as she stood over him.

“Are you gonna hang out with me?” He asked sweetly, looking up at her with big eyes.

“Sure,” she said with a smile as she sat on the couch and tucked her feet under her.

“I took too many pills,” Jimmy admitted somewhat sheepishly. “Everything is floating.”

“You gotta be careful, Jim,” she said with sincerity. “You really shouldn’t mix pills. Especially with alcohol.”

“Okay, MOM!” He said with a laugh. “I’m fine. Besides I’m not gonna live to see my thirtieth birthday anyway.”

“Don’t say that,” she told him softly.

“You’re fucking cool, AC,” he said, as if he was finally coming to that conclusion. “I like you.”

“I like you, too, Jimmy,” she replied with a chuckle.

Before he could speak again, Brian sauntered into the room quietly. He smiled at Aubrey sweetly. She responded with her own grin.

“Whoa!” Jimmy shouted, whipping his head toward his bandmate, finally noticing him in the room now. “Stealth ninja!” He brought his hands up in the air in a karate pose.

“You are twenty kinds of fucked up, aren’t you?” Brian joked to him as he sat down next to Aubrey, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

Jimmy shrugged from the floor. “I’m good.”

“I bet you are,” Brian laughed.

“AC, did you know that Synyster Gates and I have been best friends since we were like eight?” Jimmy slurred.

“I did not know that,” she answered truthfully, glancing at Brian who still had a gentle smile on his face.

“Yep,” Jimmy said simply. “One time, when we were younger, he fuckin’ pushed me into this lake in the park by where we grew up. When I got out, I told that motherfucker, ‘If you ever push me into a lake again, I’m gonna shove a knife in your neck.’ And you know what he did? He fuckin’ pushed me right back into that lake. And I knew from that moment that we’d be best friends for the rest of our lives. This fuckin’ prick.”

Despite his joking nature, she actually really enjoyed hearing that story, hearing about their extended friendship and their childhood. She smiled at Brian, who was smiling even bigger at the memory.

“He has literally dropkicked me on several occasions since then, so I don’t really feel too bad about pushing him into that lake anymore,” Brian told her.

He turned to Jimmy expectantly, anticipating a witty response. But he didn’t reply.

“No comment?” Brian wondered. “No comeback?”

The only noise Jimmy emitted was a soft snore.

Brian let out a hearty laugh at his suddenly unconscious friend. “What an idiot.”

“Have you guys really been friends that long?” She wondered.

“Yeah,” he answered. “Nearly twenty years. And not a single moment has been dull.”

“I believe that,” she laughed. “Should we try to get him to his bunk?”

“Yeah,” Brian exhaled, standing up. “Probably.” He leaned over his friend and snapped his fingers in his face. “Jimbo, get up. Go lay in your bunk.”

Jimmy simply snored louder.

“That’s not gonna make him want to get up,” Aubrey laughed. She moved off the couch and kneeled down next to Jimmy then moved his hair out of his eyes sweetly. “Jimmy,” she cooed. “Come on, let’s go get you comfy in your bunk.”

Jimmy moved but only to snuggle up to Aubrey’s legs, curled up like a little kid.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna work either,” Brian chuckled as he crouched down behind his best friend’s head and lifted him upright from his shoulders.

“Hey, what the fuck are you doing?” Jimmy slurred, lazily trying to swat Brian’s hands away from him as he was being pulled to his feet.

“Come on, man. You’re gonna wake up with a killer crick in your neck if you sleep on the floor,” Brian said, getting him to his feet.

“Piss off, let Aubrey carry me,” Jimmy said, flinging himself onto her shoulders.

She laughed and tried to keep him upright despite the fairly large height difference. “Come on, big guy.”

Brian stayed close behind, just in case Jimmy decided to go limp and take her down. Between the two of them, they managed to finagle him into his bunk. As she covered him with his blanket, he reached up and ruffled her hair.

“You’re a doll,” Jimmy said sweetly in a childlike voice.

“So are you, Jimmy,” she replied with a grin.

Within seconds, he was snoring again. They pulled the curtain closed, laughing.

“He’s a mess,” Brian whispered.

“Like you said, never a dull moment,” she replied quietly.

He stood in front of her, close but not touching; his eyes locked on hers. She glanced at his mouth and he swallowed hard. Why was he so drawn to her? She was a walking magnet and his dick was solid metal.

“Goodnight, Brian,” she said softly.

“Night, Aubrey,” he replied then watched as she climbed into her bunk.

He hesitated a moment then got into his own bed. He frowned, rubbing his face with both hands. It had only been a couple days since they had sex at the venue, why couldn’t he keep his dick in his pants? Why didn’t he want to? He tried to tell himself that it wouldn’t happen again - it couldn’t happen again - but he knew that the second the opportunity presented itself, he would go for it again.

And how could he not? They had exhilarating sex. Taboo, dirty, secret sex. Just the thought of sneaking around made him hard.

He wasn’t worried about her getting hung up on him or falling for him or anything like that. She definitely didn’t give off any vibes that she took their relationship the wrong way. And she didn’t seem like the type of girl to get hung up on a hookup anyway. Which was good because he couldn’t and didn’t want to date their merch girl. Although he told himself he didn’t want to sleep with her either and that was a fucking lie... Either way, he only wanted casual sex, especially on tour. He just didn’t want it with her. Well, that wasn’t true either; he did want it with her. But he needed to control himself. He couldn’t have it with her. It just wasn’t smart and he needed to be smart.

With those thoughts, he nodded to himself, as if he had made up his mind and he was done... No more sex with Aubrey.

Ø
As hard as he tried, Brian would never be successful in avoiding Aubrey, as they were consistently within a few feet of each other at all times, living on a tour bus together and working at venues together, but as long as he made sure to never be alone with her, he felt as if he had, at least, a miniscule amount of self-control.

And for a few days now, he was successful. He interacted with her as usual, talking with everyone, and making jokes - but he didn’t put himself in the position to jump her bones. She didn’t seem to have any issue with the way things were going; hell, she didn’t even really seem to notice that he was staying away from her. And for that reason, he was thankful. She was making the quest extremely easy for him.

However, that didn’t mean that he was satiated in the slightest. He still craved her every time he saw her.

Especially when he walked into the merch area of a venue a few days later and saw her setting boxes down behind her table. With her ass sticking out. Taunting him. His mouth watered as he watched her open a box and pull a few of the contents out. With the merch area nestled between the venue’s entrance and the stage area, he knew he’d be passing by her a lot that day and night. He’d have to make sure he was never alone.

She stood back up and turned around, setting accessories on the table in front of her. She glanced over at him when she realized she wasn’t alone and smiled when she saw him. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Just seeing if you need any help,” he said, mentally patting himself on the back for coming up with such a nonchalant excuse for why he was standing there.

She looked around briefly. “I think I’m good actually. Thanks, though!”

Suddenly, Valary poked her head around the corner. “Promoter is gonna put on some music - have any requests?”

“Put on some Jay-Z or something,” Aubrey suggested.

Brian made a face as he sat on top of one of the empty merch tables across from her.

“What? You don’t like Jay-Z?” She asked.

“Not exactly what I’d expect to be playing in the venue before our show,” Brian said with a laugh.

Aubrey shrugged. “Outkast?”

Brian shook his head as he and Valary laughed.

“Jay-Z and Outkast it is,” Valary winked and disappeared.

“You might be the only one in the history of ever to listen to Jay-Z and Outkast before an Avenged Sevenfold show,” Brian said.

She shrugged again as she began to set things out on the merch table.

Moments later, the sound of Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’” began playing through the venue. She smirked and raised her eyebrows at Brian.

“I cannot believe this is happening,” he laughed as she danced silly, moving her shoulders up and down.

“You know I thug ‘em, fuck ‘em, love ‘em, leave ‘em - ‘cause I don't fuckin' need ‘em. Take ‘em out the hood, keep ‘em lookin' good, but I don't fuckin' feed ‘em,” Aubrey rapped to Brian, dancing goofily and pointing to him.

Out of nowhere, Jimmy ran into the merch area and rapped, “I'm a pimp in every sense of the word, bitch - better trust than believe ‘em!”

Aubrey continued to rap along to the song, pointing to Jimmy and giving Brian a look that said ‘SEE ITS NOT JUST ME WHO LOVES THIS SONG!’ Jimmy danced over to Aubrey, still rapping the words along with her. He thrusted his hips at her, faux-grinding on her. In return, she shook her ass playfully at him.

“And let's ri-i-i-i-i-ide,” they sang, still dancing. “Check ‘em out now, r-i-i-i-i-ide.”

Brian laughed, watching them have fun. Between the two of them, they knew every single word to the song. It surprised him that Jimmy knew the song so well. But it didn’t surprise him that Aubrey knew it. Yet it made him appreciate her even more. Why was she the coolest girl he’s ever met?

“We doin’ big pimpin’ - we spendin' cheese,” Zacky sang as he walked in next.

“Not you too!” Brian wailed, though he was hysterically laughing at this point. All of his friends were against him!

Zacky thrusted his hips toward Brian, continuing to sing.

Johnny walked through next. “This song is making me horny!” He yelled over the music. Brian was thankful he didn’t seem to know the words, but of course he stopped to dance with his friends anyway.

Moments later, Valary walked through. She was busy looking over a handful of papers but she bobbed her shoulders along to the music.

When Johnny saw her walking toward him, he danced in her direction. As she walked by him, she stopped to shake her hips on him briefly, then continued walking out the room.

“Woo, Valary!” Johnny called as he followed her out still dancing.

“Uh smokin' out, throwin' up, keepin' lean up in my cup,” Jimmy, Zacky, and Aubrey sang simultaneously. “All my car got leather and wood, in my hood we call it buck.”

“Texas girl, this is all you,” Jimmy hollered over the music as it hit a certain part.

“Uh now, what y'all know ‘bout them Texas boys?” Aubrey rapped as she shook her hips. “Comin' down in candied toys, smokin' weed and talkin' noise.”

“Oh shiiit,” Zacky bellowed in support.

When the song ended, all four were laughing. Brian, amused as ever, was shaking his head with a huge smile spread across his face.

“Okay, okay,” Aubrey waved her hands in surrender. “I'm done, back to work!”

“Good times, HOVA,” Jimmy said as he high-fived her then ran back toward the stage area to finish setting up his drums.

“That made me feel like I was in high school again,” Zacky commented, walking out of the venue.

Aubrey laughed then went back to setting up the merch. Brian watched her for a minute then walked away shaking his head. That little show she just put on sure as fuck didn't help his avoidance cause.

That afternoon, he walked back and forth past the merch booth from time to time, catching subtle moments as she gently swayed her hips and softly sang along to Outkast. He even caught her as she reached up to hang up a t-shirt, exposing her midriff. The sight stopped him dead in his tracks.

It was right in front of him. Her bare skin. The skin he touched. The skin he kissed. The skin he dug his fingertips into. The skin that’s marked with a faint fading bruise. The skin that he left a mark on.

He swallowed hard as he hurried past her before she noticed him. He needed to get away from her and focus on their show, because he could feel it - he was losing his control.

Notes

So I know this chapter seems SUPER random, but this was actually based on a huge part of my dream. How weird, right? Singing Jay-Z with Avenged Sevenfold - what is my subconscious trying to tell me?! Ha! Anyway, hope you enjoyed part of the inspiration for this story - stay tuned for the next steamy chapter! ;)

&*