Life On The Road

Thousands of different voices, screams, cheers and chants came from all around the arena. Even more hands raised to the sky, many with horns high, others gripping mobile phones, tablets or signs, aimed at one thing in particular. Everyone was waiting. They knew what was going to happen... Or did they?

"One more song! One more song! One more song!"

A flash of lights from the centre of attention, and the crowd is sent into overdrive almost immediately. The large screen that many eyes had been glued to like their phones hadn't been switched off, and was now displaying that logo that they could pick out a mile away. Was it going to happen? Would they return? Or was this just a trick?

"One more song! One more song! One more song!"

The image glitched and disappeared. The arena was suddenly plunged into darkness. The excitement was growing at a thickening pace. Then, out of nowhere came the familiar orchestral introduction that made each and every fan go wild, and as the drums, bass and guitars kicked into action, an explosion of light, sparks and pyro erupted on the stage.

They had indeed come back for one final song.

The fans sang with passion fueling their voices, to the point where the vocalist so many of them looked up to wouldn't even need to sing. And yet he did, leading them in and out of the verses. As each chorus approached, he would spin around and hand it to the drummer. The pair shared vocal duties throughout the song, the crowd joining in like a choir. Then they handed over to the rhythm guitarist, who spoke the words of a vicar at a really fucked up wedding. In the end, everyone sang as one until the end of the song. The music faded, and the lights dimmed. It was over as quickly as it started. All that was left to be heard was the immense cheering, congratulating the 5 men for such a spectacular show.

"You guys have been fuckin' amazing tonight!" The vocalist beamed, adjusting his signature hat and glasses upon his head, "We've loved every second of tonight, and we hope you have too! We'll be sure to come back very soon and we love you all! Goodnight!" And after a few short moments, he had disappeared off to the backstage area. It wasn't long before the rest of the band waved their goodbyes and joined their vocalist. As each member headed into the room, they were congratulated by some of the roadies who were helping with their gear. They all smiled, thanked them for the kind words and headed in.

"Yeah! That was an awesome first show!" The lead guitarist hooted as he slipped his jacket off, hanging it over his arm while his free hand ran through his sweat soaked hair.

"Damn right! That's how you kick off a tour!" The vocalist agreed, removing his hat, bandanna and glasses from his head and placing them on the table. He stripped off his sleeveless flannel vest and tossed it alongside his accessories, before wandering over to the older man and wrapping his muscular, tattooed arms around his frame, burrowing his face in the crook of his neck.

"Oh, hey there Shady- Ewwww... I really do appreciate you want cuddles and all, but you're not gettin' shit until you wipe off that fuckin' sweat that you've so kindly just soaked me in!" Synyster whined loudly, immediately trying to back out of the hug.

His boyfriend snickered, releasing Syn and wiping his sweat from his own face. As he went to turn away to grab a towel, he felt something heavy land on his back, falling to the ground shortly after. Shadows glanced down to spot the guitarist's studded leather jacket, and he scooped it off of the ground and bolted off with it.

"MATTHEWWW!" Syn howled as his love dashed off with the jacket, his joke having backfired on him. He sprinted after him, much to the amusement of the rest of his bandmates.

"So I'm guessin' that's Matt and Brian back to their old antics?" The drummer, Jimmy, spoke with a grin. The two shorter men, Zacky and Johnny, nodded and shared the same grin.

"Y'know, I'm kinda surprised with those two." Zacky then said, looking at his friends, "I mean, they've been together for a long time, including before the break. I'm surprised neither of them have proposed or anything."

Jimmy looked down at Zacky and chuckled, shaking his head, "You really think those two are gonna get married? That's like me goin' into a room full of spiders - Never happening. Those two just aren't the kind of guys you'd see settlin' down together."

"Well, you never know. Matt could turn around and propose to him tomorrow. They're too unpredictable when it comes to things like that." Johnny added.

"I just can't see it happenin', dudes." Jimmy shrugged, plopping down on the couch. He removed his tie from around his neck and placed it down beside him, "We got any beer around here?"

Johnny just looked at the drummer, a sarcastic glare on his face, "That's a stupid ques- Of course we've got beer!"

Just then, the vocalist came strutting back into the room, wearing his boyfriend's leather jacket and a pair of his sunglasses. Behind him was said boyfriend, who was not pleased at all. "Sanders, I swear to god, if you don't give me back my stuff!" he warned in a slightly jokey tone. Their bandmates found it hilarious.

"Wait! Lemme just do this!" M insisted, crossing his arms and posing as if it were some kind of photoshoot, earning a laugh from all, including Syn (That's if you count sarcastic laughs).

"You're so not funny..." The guitarist grumbled, shaking his head as he took a seat beside Jimmy. The drummer leaned over and gently punched his shoulder, distracting him from Matt making a complete ass of himself.

"Bri, go jump on his back and start playfully beating him up or somethin'. That'll be fun to watch!" He grinned from ear to ear. Syn wasn't too sure, but with the drummer's encouragement, he couldn't say no. He slowly got out of his seat and began to fake a pout, slipping back out of the room. This caught Shadows' attention, and he immediately turned to follow him out.

"BriBear..?" He called out softly, removing the sunglasses and stuffing them into one of the jacket's many pockets. Syn paused in his tracks, but refused to turn and face his boyfriend.

"Babe... I'm sorry- Here, you can have your jacket back, I was only tryin' to be funny..." He then offered, slipping the leather off of his body and holding it out. Syn didn't take it.

Instead, the guitarist looked down at the floor, intentionally avoiding Matt's gaze. "Stand in front of me, and turn your back so it's facing me."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

"Well- Okay then.." Matt murmured, positioning himself so he was standing just how Syn had asked. The guitarist then turned the other way and pretended to walk off. And then, with no warning, he sprinted back and launched himself into the air, landing right on the vocalist's back. Shadows let out a cry of surprise at the sudden attack, hands instantly grabbing Syn's thighs to stop him from falling off. He felt tattooed arms snake around his neck and the guitarist's head rested on M's left shoulder.

"Go Epona, go!" Syn giggled, gently tapping his heels against M's leg as if he was a horse.

"Neigh neigh, motherfucker... You're lucky I love you." The vocalist groaned dramatically but agreed to do so with a big grin on his face. He held onto Syn's legs tight and dashed into the other room, surprising their bandmates and giving them a good laugh. The Rev even got a video recorder out, capturing the pair's entertaining show for them all to watch at the end of the tour. Eventually, M carefully threw Syn off of his back and onto the couch, where he then flopped. Syn gave a bright smile and kissed his boyfriend's cheek, arms wrapping around him again.

"You're the best, Matty," He smiled lovingly, gazing up at him as he rested his head on Matt's chest.

The vocalist chuckled, playing with a lock of Syn's long, black, scruffy hair, "I'm glad you think so, BriBear. I do try my best for you."

"Awwhh... Well, there's just one thing though..." Brian then began, sitting up slightly. M's eyebrows raised in confusion, and he looked up at his love.

"Huh?"

"You didn't wipe that sweat off of yourself!" He laughed, reaching over and tossing a towel at M's face. The vocalist groaned and began to wipe himself down, starting with his face. Once his face was dry, he stripped off his shirt and dried off his torso. Then, he rolled onto his stomach and handed the towel to Syn, "Dry my back, please?"

"Fine... But you have to dry me off next time, and I mean completely."

"Deal."

Syn grinned and took the towel from the vocalist. He dried off his back as he asked, and then he playfully whipped M's ass with the towel once he was done.

"Hey! You lil' shit!" Shadows yelped with a dimpled smile, looking up at the guitarist. Syn pulled the most innocent face he could muster as he returned the look.

"Huh? Me? I did nothing wrong." He insisted. M shook his head.

"Bullshit. Now come 'ere and cuddle me..." The vocalist spoke, rolling back onto his back and holding out his arms. The pair finally got all cuddled up together when Jason, one of the roadies, showed up with an important-looking piece of paper. Everyone gathered in the room.

"Alright guys, listen up! I've got all the dates for all the events for the rest of this month all confirmed. Few shows next week, meet and greet after the 3rd show, I won't bother with interviews 'cause you know that shit already, blah blah blah... Fuck it, I'll just post these around on the bus, I won't bore you all with details."

Everyone gathered gave a nod, and Jason informed them that they were free to head back to the bus. Syn and M looked at each other, and without either of them having to say a word, they both got up and took each others hand. M looked at the guys and asked if anyone was coming with, but it seemed they would have the bus to themselves and Jimmy, Johnny and Zacky planned to hit one of the local bars. With this in mind, M invited some friends to join them n the bus, just to keep him and Syn company.


One thing was for certain though, as the pair plus the friends headed back to the bus and the rest of the band headed to the local bar, Avenged Sevenfold were back.

Notes

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
So this is the sequel to Tough Vs Shy. I'm pretty excited to write this one, I've been having loads of ideas for it! I'd love to hear what you guys think!
Does anyone have any predictions of what could happen? Leave them in the comments!