Life On The Road

After arriving at their next major city the previous day, the guys had gone straight to their new hotel rooms. Each man inspected their accommodation thoroughly, beds being the centre of attention, for a comfy bed was what the guys desired more than anything. Generally, their hotel rooms in the past had been top notch: Comfy, clean beds, dust-and-cobweb-free and, most importantly, spider-free. However, on one particular night in London, the tiptop quality of their rooms had dropped following the sighting of a large, hairy spider who had made himself quite at home in the top left hand corner of the room. A mortified Rev had burst into Matt and Brian's room, begging one of the pair to dispose of the unwelcome guest. Even after the ordeal was taken care of, the drummer ended up sharing a room with Zacky and Johnny.

After extensive quality inspection, they finally agreed that this was indeed top notch, much to their delight. For the time after that, the guys would then head out to find some form of entertainment to engage in - Syn and M heading out for shopping and Johnny, Jimmy and Zacky disappearing off to see what the busy city had to offer. Following that would be the highlight of the night - The show. As expected, it was a great success. The fans were buzzing from the excitement, a feeling that would surely last even hours after they departed the arena and made their way home.

After the show, the band lazed around in the backstage room, much preferring to stay inside until late to avoid the fuss and harassment they would be all too certain to encounter should they step out now. With that in mind, an exhausted M Shadows had settled on the couch, feet up and head back, arms loosely by his side. His eyes drooped slightly as they wandered across the room from behind those mirrored shades of his, watching as people came and went, disappearing into different rooms and then reappearing later on.

He didn't even recall dozing off, nor did he recall entering his hotel room last night, but he awoke to find himself nested on the luxurious king size mattress, the covers brought right up over his chest, head resting on pillows that felt more like soft, fluffy clouds. He brought a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes before propping himself up on his elbows. Across the room rested his boyfriend, lazily sprawled out on the couch, eyes glued to the tv on the wall, a blanket draped over his body.

The vocalist slipped out of bed quietly, his feet hitting the floor with a gentle thud. He made his way over to the couch and crouched beside the end where Syn's head resided. The guitarist glanced over the end with raised brows, curious as to see what was moving closer to him.

His adorable dimpled boyfriend. Syn just couldn't help but smile. Why the fuck was he so cute when he looked so sleepy?

"Heya handsome boy~"

"Hey, Dimple Slut" Syn smiled, snickering at the nickname. Matt gave a playful groan and a roll of those gorgeous hazel eyes before crawling over to the front of the couch, sitting down against it. Syn's tattooed fingers found their way into the vocalist's short, scruffy hair, ruffling it with a grin. Matt tipped his head back, pushing against Brian's hand.

"You gonna let me on the couch?" He questioned. Syn snorted.

"Oh really? You wanna come up here?" The guitarist asked, looking down at his love with arched eyebrows again.

"Haner, I'll fuckin' sit on you if you don't," Matt warned sternly in a low, gruff voice, his adorable smile disappearing along with those dimples. He was one of those people who could go from looking like the cutest little thing to suddenly possessing a face of thunder, brows narrowed, a deathly glare shooting out from once bright, dazzling eyes, penetrating souls with ease. Matt could be a scary motherfucker when he wanted to, and that was what got him what he desired most of the time. Or a punch to the face. Sometimes both.

"Y'know, you only gotta ask nicely. Big, tough Matty boy don't scare me anymore." Brian smirked, rolling onto his back and folding both hands behind this head, removing his gaze from Matt and focusing on the paint job of the walls.

The muscular man grumbled and muttered under his breath, glancing to the floor briefly, "Ugh... Whatever..." Perhaps it was from his sleepy state, but he was in quite a poor mood, no mood to argue with the guitarist, and so he heaved himself up from the floor and returned back to bed, burrowing himself into the nest of covers and pillows.

Syn propped himself up into a sitting position and peered over the top of the couch and over to the bed, a frown appearing on his face. He picked himself up off of the couch, shoved the blanket onto the floor and quietly stepped over to the bed to where his boyfriend rested.

"Matty."

The vocalist reluctantly turned his head to face Syn. He was somewhat calmer, for he didn't display the grouchy, irritated look on his face, but Brian could still feel the tension between the two, lingering over them like thick clouds. The guitarist settled himself down beside the bigger man, lightly placing his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry... I'm bein' miserable again, aren't I..?"

"Yeah... I know why though," Syn spoke in a soft, gentle tone, soothingly running his hand along Matt's bicep, giving the occasional light squeeze here and there, "You're tired. I can see it just by lookin' at you. I know you, Matty. You get all grumpy and annoyed when you're sleepy."

Matt knew Synyster was right. His mood did indeed have a tendency to turn negative when all he wanted to do was sleep. He took a deep sigh and rolled over to face his love, shifting closer to snuggle up against his smaller frame, "I'm sorry baby... You know I don't mean to be like that.." Syn shook his head.

"Here, lemme sort the bed out so it's nice and comfy for us, and we'll go to sleep together? It's gettin' pretty late and we've got a big day tomorrow." Syn suggested, retaining the gentle voice all throughout. As Matt agreed with a small nod of the head, they both got up, Syn immediately got to work, plumping the pillows and fixing the bed covers, ensuring everything looked neat and tidy. The guitarist then crawled into his side of the bed and held his long, tattooed arms out, inviting Matt into his loving embrace. The vocalist happily accepted the offer, flopping down onto the bed and shifting himself over into the warmth and comfort of his boyfriend.

"I love you, BriBear."

"I love you too, babyboy. Just remember that."

Matt's eyes shot up to meet Brian's, lighting up like a candle had been lit inside and twinkling like a star on a cloudless night. If there was one thing Matt adored, it was cute nicknames, and Brian knew it. He'd hit the jackpot with this one. Brian allowed a soft chuckle to escape his lips.

"You like that one?"

"Yes I do!" He beamed up at his love, allowing his head to fall and rest on Syn's bare chest.

"Alright, I'll start callin' you that every now and then, but you gotta go to sleep first, yeah?"

"Deal." Matt agreed, allowing his heavy eyelids to finally close and his mind to wander as he soon drifted off into a peaceful, blissful sleep.




The meet and greet was scheduled to start in 1 hour. It was late afternoon the very next day, and the guys had all gathered in the hotel lobby, blending in with the mixture of people of all different types, and they where awaiting their limo to take them to the event. Everyone was well rested, smiling and, most importantly, prepared for the unexpected. They knew just how bizarre encounters at the meet and greets could be. They've been asked some odd questions over their years, asked to sign some pretty strange stuff and had some fans confess some things that none of them could explain. Hopefully, today would be alright, but it was always wise to be prepared.

The limo arrived, and the men piled into the back, M and Syn sat beside each other and in the middle, Zacky next to Syn and Johnny sat upon his lover's lap, the drummer's slender, colourful arms slipping around the bassist's waist to hold him close. They all had a glass of wine to enjoy during the journey and were all happily chatting away with one another.

"So, what do you think's gonna be the weirdest thing we're asked to sign tonight?" Matt questioned out of curiosity, interested to hear what his bandmates thought.

"Dildos. Most definitely dildos." Replied Jimmy, "We've had wayyyy too many of those brought to us, it's practically commonplace now."

"I swear, if I get asked to sign one, I'm gettin' up and leavin'," Syn chuckled, giving a shake of his head as he spoke, "I just don't know why we keep gettin' them to sign. It's so fuckin' weird."

"Well I mean, what's worse? That, or some real skeleton bone? I've been asked to sign some dude's skull before. No joke." The Reverend added.

"...I'd pick the skull any day. I'd pick a fuckin' whole dead, decayin', stinkin' body over dildos." Matt spoke, turning to face his lover, who was leaning against him. The vocalist brought his free hand to Syn's hair, playing with the long, silky strands of jet black, "Baby, can I style your hair?" He asked, hoping to switch the topic.

"Of course you can, babyboy," Syn replied with a smile, his response earning an "Awwwwww" from both Jimmy and Johnny. M just chuckled and gave a playful roll of the eyes, before turning his attention to Synyster's hair. He ran his large fingers through his locks, then fished his free hand through his jacket pocket, producing a small tub of styling gel and immediately getting back to work.

He had just finished spiking up the guitarist's hair when they finally arrived at the venue of the meet and greet. Shadows slipped on his signature aviators, hoping to reduce the blinding lights from the cameras they were certain to encounter, and each man braced themselves. The door opened, and out they climbed. A deafening cheer with some screams mixed in surrounded the band, and sure enough, they were being repeatedly flashed by cameras, who's owners were snapping up shots. The guys, not wanting to be blinded or deafened, quickly made their way inside and took their seats at the signing table. Zacky took the middle seat, with Johnny on one side of him and Syn on the other, leaving Jimmy on the far left and Matt on the far right. After a few minutes of settling in and being treated to yet another glass of wine, the doors were opened, and fans piled in, desperate to meet their idols.


For the most part, the evening had gone relatively well. A few odd questions here and there, posing for photos with fans, the occasional bizarre item, nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, the guys had all agreed that the evening had all gone smoothly, thus them deciding that there would definitely be more of these events in the future.

Well, almost smoothly.

Nearing the end of the evening, the crowds had died down a considerable amount. The guys were much more relaxed at this point in time, sunglasses removed, leaning back in their chairs and slightly more chatty. That would all change when a small but heavily built man wandered into the building, approaching the signing table. His eyes locked with the vocalist, eyebrows narrowed, fists clenching as he neared closer and closer. At first, the vocalist shrugged it off. Perhaps he'd gotten into an argument with security who guarded the doors, but the issue had been resolved and he was allowed inside. Oh, how wrong was he when the man placed his hands down onto the table, standing directly in front of Matt. It was then that the situation registered in his mind.

"Missed me, Sanders?" The smaller man hissed, a cocky smirk spreading on his face like a wildfire. Matt's brows raised at the question, and he sat up in his chair. The rest of the band looked on in confusion.

"Wait a minute... You're that guy from that band who tried to crash our set last year!" Matt exclaimed, his voice turning considerably gravelly. The man just laughed at him.

"Your set was shit, of course something had to be done!" He replied, mocking the vocalist's tone the best he could. Matt felt a hand placed onto his thigh, running up and down his leg to soothe him. It wasn't enough though. Matt's body tensed up, aggression radiating off of both of the men, a low, guttural growl escaping from the back of his throat.

The vocalist then glanced away for a moment, and when he turned back he was greeted by his wine glass being smashed across his face, shattering into millions of pieces on impact, the crimson liquid contained within it splattering everywhere. The bigger man was stunned and he was so, so close to falling out of his chair. The rest of the band looked horrified, and Brian had already jumped out of his seat to attend to his boyfriend.

The smaller man stepped away from the table with a wicked, evil smirk on his face, mocking the rest of the band. He then turned away, expecting to see security lunging at him. Instead, there was nothing but shocked fans, staring with mouths agape and eyes widened in horror. He cackled and cackled, and he spun around to mock the band once more. What he didn't expect however, was the vocalist's fist to collide with his face, like a meteor colliding with a planet. The man stumbled back and crashed to the solid flooring beneath him.

Matt, soaked in red wine and his own blood, took advantage of his vulnerable state, pouncing on top of him like a lion pouncing on a zebra, and he began to rip right into him, fists pounding his face, chest, anywhere he could reach. The man screamed, cried and howled for help, desperately clawing at Matt's face to make him stop the brutal assault, but it was no use, and all he got out of it was his hands drenched in the blood that poured out of Matt's wounds.

Then, at last, the beast of a vocalist was dragged away from the confrontation by the rest of the band. He kicked, thrashed, twisted and turned to escape, like a toddler being dragged away by their parents, but his friends had a solid grip, and they dragged him back to the table. The attacker tripped and stumbled as he got to his feet, immediately turning tail and dashing out of the building. Matt had successfully beaten him to a bloody pulp, bruises already forming and blood, a mix of both his and Matt's, streaming down his face and upper body.

"He started it!" Matt screamed out in anger as he was hauled into a small, quiet, unoccupied room, his body still thrashing against the restraints that were his bandmates, "It wasn't my fault! Get off of me!" Jimmy released his grip and locked the door behind them, and they propped Matt against a corner.

"Zack, grab me some tissues or a towel or anything like that please. I don't think we'll need an ambulance, so don't worry about calling one." Syn instructed, before he crouched down beside his bloody, injured boyfriend, who was panting heavily and looking around the room, somewhat dazed.

"It wasn't my fault, Brian... He started on me..." Matt whined softly, his tone much more pained and shaky than his screams only moments ago. Syn nodded, reassuringly rubbing his arm, aiming to ease him, even if it was only slightly.

"I know sweetheart... I saw it. You're not in the wrong here."

Then, Zacky reappeared, clutching a large bundle of tissues and a few sheets of cloth, as well as some disinfectant / healing cream. Syn gratefully took the supplies and began to carefully wipe away the mixture of blood and sweat from the vocalist's face, frowning and quickly apologising every time he accidentally inflicted pain by touching one of the many scratches.

The cuts were quite a gruesome sight, especially one underneath his left eye where the glass had been struck. Luckily for him, there was no glass stuck inside of his skin or his eyes and the wounds were not too deep, meaning that they wouldn't scar, much to Matt's relief. As Syn cleaned up the injuries, Matt hissed in agony, but the job was soon done in around 10 minutes. The guitarist applied the healing cream and dressed the wounds, then helped Matt remove his soaked, torn shirt. He mopped up the blood and sweat from Matt's body and then stripped off his own shirt and handed it to the bigger man to wear.


"Alright, time to get you back to the hotel." Jimmy spoke after a while as he approached, wrapping his arm around Matt's torso to help lift him to his feet. Syn did the same, and Johnny and Zacky headed out to clear the path so they could all get back to the limo as quickly as possible. With that, Matt was half-carried back to said limo, which he was assisted into, before being driven back to the hotel.

Notes

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Feedback appreciated!