Don't You Dare

Aubrey’s eyes fluttered open. She took in her surroundings as she did each morning. Judging from the sun blaring through the blinds that covered the small window in her bunk, it was early in the morning. And although she never really adjusted to waking up in such a small, confined space, it got easier each day. The bus was still, meaning they were parked and probably already at the next stop.

She put on a sweatshirt and climbed out of her bunk then walked into the front lounge. Jimmy was passed out on the couch, his mouth wide open and drooling onto the leather. Valary was standing at the small kitchen counter making herself a bowl of cereal. She was always the first one awake, making sure everything was going according to the plan for the day. Then subsequently made sure all the guys got their asses into gear at an appropriate time.

“You’re up early!” Valary greeted. “Slept well?”

“I did actually,” Aubrey answered, feeling surprisingly refreshed. Maybe she was finally getting used to life on a tour bus.

“Great!” Val replied. “We don’t have a lot on the schedule today and we’re already at the venue, so lots of free time today!”

Aubrey laughed as she sat on the couch. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

Valary chuckled. “Probably bad for anyone who has to encounter the wrath of Avenged Sevenfold with free time.”

“I heard that,” Jimmy mumbled from the couch.

“But I still love you, Jimmy-boo,” Valary called over her shoulder.

“I’m so hungover,” Zack whined as he walked into the room and flopped down onto the couch with Aubrey, laying his head in her lap then snuggled up to her. “Help.”

She laughed and began running her fingers through his hair sweetly.

“I’m not hungover enough!” Jimmy roared as he sat up then rose to his feet with his balled fists in the air then walked over to Valary. “MOM! Do we have any HoneyBuns?”

“Look in the pantry,” she said as she brought her cereal bowl to the table and sat down to eat.

“Did someone say HoneyBuns?” Brian asked as he appeared in the doorway.

“What the hell is happening this morning? I don’t think any of you have been awake before noon this entire tour,” Valary asked, shaking her head. “There is not enough on the schedule today to keep you guys out of trouble all day.”

“Bad omen,” Aubrey contributed, watching Brian and Jimmy fist-bump when they found the HoneyBuns. She removed her hand from Zack’s hair but he quickly grunted.

“Keep doing that, please,” he begged quietly. “It’s keeping me alive right now.”

She smiled down at him and resumed raking her fingers through his hair.

“Morning, babe,” Matt greeted, walking straight over to Val and leaning down to kiss her cheek.

“Oh, good morning, sweetheart” Brian replied with a mouthful of HoneyBun, nodding in Matt’s direction as if the greeting had been for him.

“Why is everyone up so early?” He asked, scratching his chest through his shirt.

“I have no idea, but I’m starting to get worried,” Valary answered half-jokingly.

“I don’t know how you’re even standing right now,” Matt said to Jimmy as he sat down on the couch across from Aubrey

“I am immortal!” Jimmy shouted, pounding his fist into the air, clutching a HoneyBun.

“Shh,” Zacky pleaded from Aubrey’s lap.

“I thought you’d look worse than him,” Matt said to Jimmy, motioning toward Zacky. “You drank three times as much as he did.”

“He’s immortal!” Brian reiterated the same way Jimmy had, holding a HoneyBun in the air.

Everyone chuckled, except Zack, who was barely even moving.

“Where’s the closest bar?” Johnny asked as he sauntered into the kitchen. “I need a drink.”

Zack gagged, throwing a hand over his mouth. Aubrey was the only one who noticed; she stifled a giggle, not wanting to laugh at his agony, and continued to play with his hair.

“Oh, no,” Valary protested, shaking her head. “You guys are not going to start drinking at noon. Absolutely not. Load-in is at 5 o’clock.”

“Fuck a load-in,” Jimmy snorted. “I’m about to load-in a fuck ton of beer.”

Johnny and Brian laughed wildly as Matt, Valary, and Aubrey shook their heads. Zacky simply groaned.

Valary tried as hard as she could to prolong the inevitable. She tried to take everyone shopping, she tried to take everyone to a movie, and she even tried to take them all to the zoo, but by 2pm, she had given up.

Looking like a biker gang on a mission, they all walked into a nearby bar.

There were some major sporting events on TV that day, therefore the bar already had quite a few patrons for the early hour, but Johnny and Brian secured a spot big enough for all seven of them alongside the back of the bar counter.

They lined up in the barstools - Matt then Valary then Aubrey then Jimmy. Johnny and Brian got situated at the pool table next to their friends while Zacky spread out in an adjacent booth with the hood of his hoodie up and his sunglasses covering his face as he tried not to vomit from the smell of alcohol all around him.

“It’s freezing in here!” Val complained.

“I know,” Aubrey agreed. “We should’ve worn long sleeves.”

“Alcohol will warm you up!” Johnny suggested as he racked the pool balls.

“Yeah, let’s get a round of Irish Car Bombs, AC! Val, get in on this!” Jimmy encouraged his friends as he flagged down the bartender. “Matt, you too?”

Matt and Aubrey nodded.

“I’ll do one!” Valary agreed.

Jimmy glanced over his shoulder at his pale, hungover friend and decided to be snarky. “Zack, you want one too?”

When Zacky lifted his middle finger high in the air, Jimmy let out a deep laugh then ordered four Irish Car Bombs.

When the bartender delivered their drinks, Matt counted to three then they all dropped the shot glass into the dark beer and downed the beverages.

Valary and Aubrey slammed their empty glasses down simultaneously, a few solid moments before Matt and Jimmy.

“Holy shit!” Brian shouted, clutching a pool stick. “Val and AC just dominated your asses!”

“What! AC can chug just as hard as Val? Where have you been all our lives?!” Jimmy exclaimed. “BARTENDER, FOUR MORE!”

“No!” Valary protested. “I already wiped the floor with your ass once, I’m done!”

“Boo!” Jimmy shouted at her.

Aubrey shivered as a chill swept over her. Brian noticed and shrugged off his leather jacket then handed it to her. She smiled at him appreciatively then slipped her arms into it. It smelled like him - expensive cologne and cigarettes and even a little of his natural musk that she often smelled when they made skin-to-skin contact. It turned her on to be enveloped in his clothes that doused her in his scent. And the alcohol inhibition wasn’t going to help.

“What a gentleman,” Matt commended his friend on his generous gesture. “I knew you had it in you.”

Brian waved him off then went back to the pool game.

“Which one of you bastards wants Val’s car bomb?” Jimmy asked Brian and Johnny as the bartender set the drinks in front of them.

“I do,” Johnny nodded.

“AC’s gonna put you pussies to shame,” Brian teased, pausing the pool game to watch.

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Johnny challenged, walking over to the bar and grabbing his two glasses.

Once again, Matt counted to three. Shot glasses dropped. The bottom of the pub glasses turned up. And Aubrey was the first to slam hers back onto the counter.

“Son of a bitch!” Johnny yelled.

“Thatta girl,” Valary praised then ordered a light beer.

Matt ordered his own beer then hopped off the barstool and joined Zacky in the booth, watching the pool game. “I call next!”

The bar patrons erupted in loud cheers at whatever happened on the game that was playing on every TV in the place, gathering everyone’s attention, but before anyone could wonder what team scored what goal, the bartender set two more Irish Car Bombs down on the counter.

“Jesus, Aubrey, would you slow down? I told you, I don’t want to get too drunk before the show,” Jimmy accused, feigning offense.

She held her hands up in wonderment. “When did you even order those?”

“I didn’t,” he insisted. “You did.”

She rolled her eyes but smirked.

“Last one for me, Jimmy,” she informed him. “I can’t keep up with money if I’m seeing double tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he pushed hers in front of her. “Let’s go.”

They repeated the drink routine on the count of three by Val. Yet again, Aubrey’s glass hit the counter first.

“You’re like a fuckin’ fish!” Jimmy yelled then grabbed her face and kissed her cheek. “I love this bitch!”

She laughed and shoved him away from her. He ordered a drink then jumped off the barstool and sauntered over to the pool table and began fucking with Johnny, trying to mess up his game.

Aubrey and Valary sat at the bar chatting casually and laughing at their friends’ antics. Jimmy humped every pool pocket as Johnny tried to concentrate on sinking his ball and Matt would occasionally sneak up behind Johnny and scare him just as he jabbed his pool stick into the balls, causing him to flinch and usually miss his shot.

After a few rounds of pool and even more rounds of beer, one of the bar patrons causally made his way over to Valary and Aubrey, leaning against the counter coolly. He was decked out in chino shorts and a button down, donning a trucker hat on his head, looking like a real winner.

“What’re you ladies drinking?” He asked. “Next round is on me.”

Aubrey raised an eyebrow at him and laughed at his cliché approach to talking to girls in a bar.

Valary rolled her eyes. “No, thanks.”

“Come on, it’s just one drink,” he continued.

“I’m good,” Valary insisted.

“Don’t make me beg,” the guy went on.

Val turned her back to him.

“Fine. What about you, babe?” He turned to Aubrey.

By this point, all the guys were acutely aware of the interaction and were watching closely. They knew the two girls could handle themselves but being the protective friends that they were, they discreetly eavesdropped in case they were needed.

“Definitely not your babe and definitely not interested; thanks anyway,” Aubrey told him.

“It’s one fuckin’ drink,” the guy bargained. “I don’t bite.”

Aubrey ignored him.

“One drink and I’ll leave you alone,” the guy persisted.

“She said no,” Johnny reiterated firmly to the guy, feeling the need to intervene already.

The guy scoffed. “Is she your girlfriend or something?”

“No,” Johnny said matter-of-factly, as if it didn’t matter if she was his girlfriend or not, because he was still sticking up for her.

“Then fuck off,” the guy retorted.

“No, she’s family, you prick!” Jimmy spat as he reached over Johnny and shoved the guy, getting increasingly pissed off at his refusal to take ‘no’ as an answer from the girls.

“Whoa, hey!” Another douchebag patron called as he walked up defensively, clearly friends with the first douche.

The rest of the guys came up behind Jimmy and Johnny to show the two guys who they were up against.

Aubrey felt Valary grab her arm and pull her away from the developing scene, knowing exactly how these things usually played out, knowing they needed to move away in case things got ugly.

“Be careful,” Douche Two mocked. “Don’t wanna scuff your leather boots or smudge your eyeliner, do you?”

Jimmy cackled, actually thinking his comment was funny because it was so clearly the cliché thing to say.

“Good one, dickhead,” Matt mocked. “Haven’t heard that one before.”

“Not worth your time, Drew,” Douche Two said to Douche One. “Them or the girls.”

“Fuckin’ sluts,” Douche One spat at Aubrey and Valary.

At those words, Brian instantly saw red. In a flash of involuntary movement, he stepped in front of Jimmy and threw his fist into the douche’s jaw, sending him backwards into his friend and stumbling to the floor. A few people in the bar gasped.

Before anyone else could raise a fist, the bartender shouted, “Hey! Throw another punch and I call the police!”

“Guys, let’s go,” Valary pleaded, not wanting to have to bail any of them out of jail despite having done it numerous times before.

Douche Two helped Douche One to his feet as he wiped his bleeding lip with the back of his hand.

“When a girl says no, she means no,” Brian stressed, staring them down as he moved toward the exit.

The rest of the guys followed suit, being overtly macho and eyeing the two douches as they left the bar.

“What a piece of shit,” Matt grumbled as they moved through the parking lot.

“Future rapist,” Johnny added.

“No, those guys have for sure sexually assaulted women before,” Jimmy insisted as they all climbed into the big SUV.

Zacky was the DD for the day, too hungover to even think about alcohol, so he jumped into the driver’s seat.

“You ladies okay?” Matt asked, despite knowing they were physically fine.

“All good,” Val answered.

“Totally okay. Thanks for sticking up for us though,” Aubrey mentioned to the guys. Although it was really unnecessary and troublesome, she truly appreciated the guys for having her back. It felt really nice and comforting to know that they would look out for her like that. And she had never felt safer.

“That’s what they do,” Val smiled, proud of her friends for having such good hearts.

“For you, yeah,” Aubrey continued, wanting them to understand her appreciation. “But I never had that before. It was nice to have a biker gang my corner. So thank y’all.”

They all chuckled at her biker gang comment, but Brian was smiling at her use of the word ‘y’all’ again. He couldn’t understand why it was such a turn on for him. Not to mention she was still snuggled up in his jacket.

“Dude, just like Jimmy said, you’re family now,” Johnny replied. “Of course we’re gonna stick up for you.”

“Seriously,” Matt reiterated. “If you become a part of the Avenged Sevenfold family, you’re family for life. We’ll always have your back.”

Val smiled at her, understanding the comforting feeling of having five tough guys looking out for you at all times. It was something she never took for granted.

“Just wish I could’ve hit him one more time before we left,” Brian fussed. “Guys like that shouldn’t be allowed near women.”

“Douchebags are drawn to hot chicks, dude,” Johnny explained. “Just look at Matt and Val.”

Everyone laughed, even Val and Matt, who shook his head too.

“You’re awfully quiet up there, Zack,” Matt pointed out. “You okay?”

“Just trying not to puke,” he answered seriously as he watched the road ahead of them. “If that dick would’ve swung at me, I definitely would’ve vomited all over him.”

“Should’ve done it anyway,” Jimmy encouraged.

The entire car laughed and agreed.

“For Val and Aubrey, I would have,” Zack said sweetly.

Aubrey smiled, her heart full. She never had such loyal and caring friends like these six beautiful people before and she cherished them greatly. She only wished their friendships would continue after the tour was over.

Notes

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