A7X One Shots

I first got into metal when I was a freshman in college. My dad had taught me everything he knew about classic rock, and I wanted to see what he hadn't taught me. As much as I loved Santana, the Moody Blues, and Pat Benatar, I needed more. And that's when I'd found Black Sabbath.

Dad hated them; he thought they weren't music. I was in love with what they gave music. I devoured their music more than I had with the Moody Blues. I started looking into everything I could about Black Sabbath and their genre. From the research, I found Metallica, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Disturbed, Megadeth, Pantera, Slipknot, Slayer, and my new favorite, Avenged Sevenfold.

Every band I found made me love metal a little more. Each band gave me a favorite song, but Avenged gave me all of my favorite songs. They didn't have a song I didn't like, so far. They had just come out with City of Evil when I found them. They were in their mid-twenties, and I was a 19-year-old with a penchant for metal songs.

I think the reason I loved Avenged so much was that they gave me lyrics that matched what I was feeling. I was a young woman going through every unimaginable thing I could be going through, but they made it manageable. Not to mention, their lead singer was the hottest man I'd ever fucking seen.

"Cameron, it's time to get going!"

I jumped out of my bed and headed to the voice of my best friend, Alice. We were going to a metal festival in Fort Worth today. There was supposedly a surprise guest headliner, and I wanted to see my favorite local metal bands play. These tickets had been half of my paycheck, but it was totally going to be worth it.

"Cam, you have to wear something else. Avenged Sevenfold isn't going to show up!" Alice grimaced at the sight of my shirt.

"Hon, I love them, and they're a metal band. I'm wearing it."

She sighed but didn't argue. She knew there was no way I was changing my outfit. I thought I looked mighty fine in my Avenged tank and black short shorts. And while she was right that they wouldn't be there, it would make me stand out. And I wanted to stand out. I was hoping they picked me out of the crowd to sing with the headlining band, Blacktop Mojo.
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Blacktop Mojo burst onto stage right at eight. It had been an amazing day for local bands. There were all kinds of metal heads here. We were moshing, creating circle pits, and head banging to our hearts content. We'd even had a wall of death at one point, which Alice had stayed the fuck away from.

Blacktop was a killer band from Dallas. While they weren't quintessential metal, they did add a new flavor to the genre that made them a head banger group. Alice loved this band more than any other metal band, even Metallica. I thought that was blasphemy, but she had only just got into the genre.

"Alright! We've got one more song before the surprise guest comes out. This one is called Burn the Ships!"

Alice and I shouted. This was our favorite song by them. This was also the song where they pulled someone out of the crowd to sing. I was dying for it to be me, which is why we were practically on top of the barricade.

"Since our surprise guest is after us, they'll be the ones choosing someone to sing!"

Disappointment rolled through me. Now there was no chance I'd get picked. Blacktop was at least a hometown band with some ties to liking Avenged. Who knew what the next band would even be like?
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The lights flashed as Mojo left the stage. Alice hadn't been able to keep the smile off her face. She had sung to every song, and now, we were tempted to leave because we had no idea who the guest would be.

Fire lit up the stage, and all my attention was on the drumset popping up. I squinted and recognized the Deathbat. My heart fucking stuttered in my chest. HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! I grabbed Alice's arm, and I almost fainted. AVENGED SEVENFOLD WAS HERE!
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My throat was sore from signing to every song they played. They looked even better in person, especially Matt. He was a muscled, tattooed god, and I wanted to lick his dimples. I swear that man knew how hot he was too.

"Alright, we've got a few more songs, but does anyone know the lyrics to Pantera's "Walk?"

I screamed. That was one of my favorite songs. I threw my hand into the air, hoping beyond hope that Shadows would notice. They usually chose guys to sing the song because they could evoke the gravel sound Phil could, but I had been training for this moment.

Matt walked right pass me and then turned and came back. Smiling, he pulled me up on stage and looked me up and down. He smirked when he saw the shirt I was wearing.

"This little lady thinks she can handle Pantera. What do you think, Fort Worth?"

I could distinctly hear Alice's scream and knew that I had to prove to all these metal heads that girls could scream and growl too. Matt kept his hand cupped to his ear as I reached for the microphone. The big man was about to get a shocker.

"Play it, please," I said and waited for the beat to drop. Syn and Vengeance just stared at me but the Rev started it, and I sent my own smirk to Matthew.

"Can't you see I'm easily bothered by persistence
One step from lashing out at you
You want in to get under my skin
And call yourself a friend
I've got more friends like you
What do I do?"

Matt's mouth dropped open as I started into the second verse, my voice matching the growl and screams necessary for the song. He flicked his aviators up and his hazel eyes met my blue ones. He nodded and grabbed another mic to join in with me.

Day fucking made. We finished the song together and Matt hugged me to him. He smelled like sweat and Jack Daniels. It was a weirdly delightful smell. I breathed him in and then took a step back. I just sang with my idols!

"That was fucking awesome!" Matt yelled to the crowd. "We got one more song, but give it up for..."

"Cameron," I said.

The crowd yelled and I started to jump back into the pit. Matt's hand landed on my shoulder and he motioned for the side stage. My heart skipped. I got to watch the finale and encore from the best seat in the house.

Was I fucking dreaming?

Notes

Short, hopefully cute story. I cannot sing for shit, but if I could, I would love if Avenged still pulled people on stage to do "Walk." Weirdly enough, this is very similar to the first time I saw Avenged live... except we knew they were headlining and it was with HTTK music.

Enjoy lovies! Now to update my other stories.