Don't Change the Way You Think of Me

Shortly after the photo shoot the boys had to get to sound check so I chose to get back to Lily and Roxie. I shot Rox a text and we decided that we’d eat down by Redondo Beach. Lily loved the pier and seafood was becoming one of her favorite dishes surprisingly.

I smiled thinking about what we were gonna do before the show, it was only about a 30 minute drive from the Nokia theater to the pier, and luckily traffic was mild. I peeked into my back seat, seeing the present I had kept hidden in my car for the last few days. It had came in the mail and I’ll be damned if Roxie didn’t almost open it and ruin the surprise.

As I pulled into a free parking spot at the pier, I saw Lily waving to me from the bench we usually met up at. She was jumping up and down as she waved, her cute little sunglasses starting to slip from her face. “Hey monkey!” I smiled as I exited the car with the present.

“Hi mama!” She greeted me, she leapt onto me when I was close enough and it took all I had to catch her and balance the present. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm and kissed her cheek.

“Are you having a good birthday, sweetheart?” I asked her as I sat her back on the bench. “Hey Rox,” I smiled and hugged her from the side.

“Yeah!” she nodded excitedly, “ Is that for me?” She asked, her eyes grew wide with intrigue.

“I don’t know, it came addressed to a ‘Lily’ but surely that’s not you,” I teased her.

“Ugh!” she all but whined reaching out for the present.

I smiled, laughing under my breath noticing Roxie’s smirk, “What do we say Lily?” She asked with a hint of amusement in her tone.

“Please Mama?” Lily looked at me with the puppy dog eyes and I knew my fun was over.

“Oh alright, we’ll open your present first and then we’ll go to lunch,” I gave in, “Happy birthday baby.”

She immediately sat down with the present and tore into the paper and opened the box, which I had left conveniently easily accessible for her. Her eyes were gonna bug out of her head if they got any wider, she pulled out a new shirt that said “Keep Calm and Eat It, Eat It, Eat It” with death bats at the bottom and a plaid blue and green skirt. “Oh my gosh mama! I love it! I wanna put it on!” She immediately reached for the hem of her shirt and I had to catch her hands.

Roxie and I were both laughing at her childlike ways and her not caring who saw her undress. “Lily, I’ll make you a deal,” Roxie reasoned with her. “We’ll go eat lunch, mama will carry the outfit in her purse and then we will change in the restaurant.”


Lily thought about this, clearly not understanding why she couldn’t just change right there. She let out a huge sigh, “Fiiiiine. I’m hungry, can we go eat?”


“Of course baby, you wanna walk or you wanna ride?” I asked tilting my head, admiring the beautiful little girl. She was my angel, my image of perfection. No one and nothing would ever change that point of view.


“Hmm, ride,” she stood up on the bench and reached out. I backed up towards her, kneeling slightly so she could latch onto my neck and back.


“As you wish darling,” I held my arms behind me, latching my hands onto the opposite wrists, making a little seat for her. Her legs were wrapped tightly at my sides, hooked over my arms. Roxie slid the outfit into my purse and carried it for me.


A couple hours later, we had laughed hard enough to cry and were filled up with food. “Lily do you wanna ride with me or Aunt Roxie?”


“Uhm…Aunt Roxie, but can we go in together?” she pouted towards me. Damn I needed to work on my game when she did this. It was my weakness and she knew it.


“Yeah that’s fine baby. Rox?” I looked at my older sister who had a knowing smirk on her face. “Follow me? We have special parking, but I won’t be able to get you in if you guys don’t jump into my car once we get there.”


“Yeah that works, we’ll follow you and meet you there,” Rox conceded with my plan and looked at little Lily. “You ready chick?”


“Yeah!” Lily excitedly hugged my legs before running up to Roxie’s car.

We giggled and shook our heads before hugging each other. “See you there.” I was all for giving Lily the choice of who she wanted to ride with. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt a little that she wanted to ride with Roxie though. I hadn’t gotten to see my baby all day, but it was her day. Her birthdays were the one day that she got almost everything she wanted out of life. Today was no exception and when she got to venue she was going to get a million more things that she’s wanted since discovering who Avenged Sevenfold was. I can’t believe she’s four. Fuck.


**Brian’s POV**

I couldn’t get Dani out of my mind, the texts from last night were playful and flirty. The way she interviewed us today showed me an entirely new side. Then when she was describing Lily, well, I felt very intrigued and I knew I needed to get to know this woman, even if we would only be friends. She had so many layers, so many faces and none of them bad. She knew the roles well and knew when to switch and which one was more appropriate.


“Gates,” Jason Berry snapped his fingers at me.


“Huh?” I asked tuning back in.


“Jesus, get your head out of whatever pair of tits it’s in,” Jason joked with me. “Checking sound for Buried Alive.”


“Oh, got it,” I nodded as we all went through the song. There were about 3 different guitar changes that we would do before the encore, we were currently checking the final change. Jason had everything figured out for when we were needing the different guitars. His brother, Matt helping Zack with his guitars.


After checking the guitar, we all gathered around the set list. Jimmy, enthusiastic about making sure Lily’s birthday was unforgettable. Fuck we haven’t even met this little girl and already we’re mush. I mused looking it over.


“Well, she said her favorite songs included Dear God and A Little Piece of Heaven,” Zacky said thoughtfully.


“There’s also Seize the Day and Unholy Confessions,” I added in as Jimmy looked at the set list puzzled.


“Hmm, we don’t want to do it too early in the show,” Johnny offered.


“But you don’t want to do it too far in either,” Matt agreed.


“Are we wanting to bring her on stage?” I interjected and everyone looked at me.


“That’s the best fucking idea you’ve had all night!” Jimmy shrieked enthusiastically, throwing his hands up in the air.


I couldn’t help but chuckle at him, “Maybe we could do the Happy Birthday thing in the middle of the set. You know when we kick up some of the older songs.” Zack said pointing to the middle of our set list.



“Yeah, so like do Unholy Confessions followed by Bat Country,” I stated.


“Then bring her up on stage,” Matt nodded in agreement.


“Then maybe she can sing Dear God with us on stage!” Jimmy bounced excitedly.


“It would be a good photo op for Dani,” Johnny nodded along.


“I think she’d be more worried about Lily bouncing around with a bunch of bigger guys,” I smirked. “After all, we’re pretty much a bunch of five year olds with big musical instruments who can drink.”


The guys laughed at me and Jimmy looked shocked, “I don’t know what you mean by WE, just because you’re immature.” He joked with me.


“Fair enough Jimbo,” I smiled at him.


“Maybe she can be with Matt? Maybe he can carry her around,” Johnny mused.


“Or we could get her a chair,” Zacky added realizing it would be the more sensible option.


“That’s a good idea Zack,” Matt nodded. “Larry, can we get like a director’s chair? I don’t wanna have to worry about her tipping backwards off a stool.”


“I’m sure we can figure something out that’s similar to that,” Larry nodded, Fuck I almost forgot he was here. He was never here for this long, usually. He almost always had other places to be.


“Can we also have presents for her?” Jimmy asked, he loved birthdays. Always knew exactly how to celebrate everyone’s and he was thoughtful enough to know how to make everyone feel special.


“I imagine we can figure some out,” I nodded smiling at Jimmy’s kind heart.


“Well, we better get busy then, we have about an hour before VIP meet and greet starts and that’s when we’ll get to meet her,” Matt stated looking at his phone.


“How are we going to make sure that there’s no favoritism shown that would be exposed for bad press?” I asked looking around the group.


“Well, what if we have them meet us in a different spot from the rest of the VIP’s? Can we do that?” Zacky asked looking at Larry.


“I wouldn’t see a problem with that, it would mean having 30 minutes with the regular VIP’s and then 30 minutes with Dani and her guests,” Larry said nonchalantly looking through the schedule for the night.


“Then it’s a done deal, we’ll do that,” Jimmy said leaving no more room for negotiation.


“And for an encore, we’ll do A Little Piece of Heaven,” Matt agreed.


“I think we have a solid show for tonight guys, lets get some food and get ready,” I told everyone. Ready for a night to remember…



**Dani’s POV**

I pulled into the venue, Roxie and Lily had managed to stay close to me throughout the drive and jumped into my car almost immediately. Lily all but yelled “LETS GO!”


“If you want it you can get it let me know,” Roxie joked and I couldn’t help but laugh getting the reference.


“I want it! Let’s go!” Roxie and I erupted into a fit of laughter at the child who was bouncing around the back of my car as though she were in a mosh pit.


“Buckle up baby,” I reminded her and she huffed but did as she was asked.


“Now can we go?” She pouted and whined slightly.


“Oh I suppose so,” I laughed and drove up to the security gate.


“Back again, eh? With more guests?” The guard joked with me recognizing me from earlier.


“Yeah,” I flashed him a smile, “Here’s our passes.”


He caught sight of Lily in the back seat, “Are you the birthday girl?”


“YEAH!” she nodded excitedly.


“Well you’re in for a treat tonight little lady,” the old man smiled warmly at her.


“Thanks Roger,” I said warmly, knowing that the boys had probably filled everyone in.


“How the fuck did he know it was her birthday?” Roxie asked as we drove towards the venue and parked closer to the back door.


“I’ll tell you later,” I smiled widely. “Shall we go?”


“YEAH!” I couldn’t help but smile around this little girl, she reminded me of Jimmy with how enthusiastic and animated he got during the interview.


“Alright, got your ear plugs?” Roxie asked her.


“Yes Aunt Roxie,” she sighed out.


I chuckled, “Rox you have our outfits?”


“Yeah, I went a little more eccentric than you this time though,” Roxie flashed me a mischievous grin.


I shook my head knowing what that meant and smirked at her, “You’re a hot mess Rox.”


“Sometimes,” she smiled at me as Lily kicked the back of my seat.


“Lily, do we kick the back of seats?” I asked turning around and looking at the girl who was now looking shyly at me.


“No,” she stated ducking her head.


“Okay then,” I shrugged it off, rolled my eyes at Roxie and nodded my head as an indication to get going.


When I opened Lily’s door I lifted her into my arms, putting a lanyard around her neck. “You have to keep this on you at all times, okay baby? It lets people know that you’re special.”


She nodded and looked at the laminate housing the VIP pass, it was bigger than her tiny hands and her eyes went wide as she looked it over. It reminded me of how I looked at a necklace her dad bought me once. “I’ll keep it always mama.”


“Ah, Dani!” Larry said walking out and holding the door for us.


“Hello Larry,” I smiled warmly. “I’d like to introduce you to my sister, Roxie.” I waved my arm towards her. “And, this special little girl right here, is my Lily.” I nodded and lifted Lily up a little bit.


“Larry Jacobson,” Larry stuck out his hand to Roxie.


Lily got squirmed excitedly, “YOU’RE AVENGED’S MANAGER!” Roxie looked shocked as she shook Larry’s hand.


Larry sharing a look of surprise smiled warmly at the precocious child in my arms, “Yes, yes I am, and you’re the birthday girl.” He said just as excitedly.


“How does everyone know about her birthday?” Roxie asked aloud confused as fuck.


“Well during the interview today, the boys somewhat brought up tonight’s show and we found out that a very special girl was coming to the show tonight,” Larry let on without letting too much on. I was grateful, I didn’t want Lily knowing until at the right moment. It was going to be the ultimate birthday gift having her favorite band sing Happy Birthday to her.


Roxie’s eyes went wide, “You interviewed Avenged today and you didn’t tell me!?”


I chuckled, “I figured you’d find out eventually and it didn’t come up.”


“Mama, can we go in now?” Lily asked and tried to get down. “I’m four now, I’m not a baby, I wanna walk.”


Those words hit like a ton of bricks but I nodded in agreement, “Alright Lily. But stay close, no wandering.”


Larry chuckled, “Very independent child isn’t she?”


“You have no idea,” Roxie and I said at the same time.


Larry smiled and knelt down to Lily’s height, “Are you ready to go to the special VIP lounge?”


Lily nodded excited but timidly, she had never really warmed up to men since her father passed, “Are the Avenged Sevenfold guys gonna be there?”


Larry laughed, “Yes they will, you wanna hold my hand so people know you’re with the band?”


Lily looked back at me curiously and I nodded, “Go ahead baby, he won’t bite.”


She looked back at Larry and nodded, “Yeah, that’d be okay.” Larry smiled brightly and offered her his hand, which she took.


I chuckled and shook my head, “So…” Roxie asked as we fell a few paces behind Larry and Lily. “You told the band it was her birthday?”


I sighed, “It wasn’t like that Rox, it just kind of came up. Like Larry said, they asked if I was coming to the show. I said yes and that you and Lily would be in the stands celebrating her birthday while I worked.”


“Oh,” she nodded as Larry led us to a dressing room fit with a lounge type feel.


“Alright, the boys should be here in about 30 minutes, they wanted a special meet and greet with the birthday girl,” Larry smiled warmly at us as Lily looked around amazed.


“Is there a place we can change real quick?” Roxie asked looking around the room.


“Yeah, there’s a bathroom through that door,” he pointed towards the Southwest corner of the room.


“Awesome, thank-you Larry,” I flashed him a grin.


“You’re welcome, drinks are in the fridge and we’ll be back here shortly,” Larry waved at Lily before exiting the dressing room.


“Do you wanna change first?” I offered to Roxie as Lily wandered through the room, finding a hat with the Vengeance University logo and a drum stick laying around.


“Yeah that works,” Roxie nodded and went to the bathroom to change. Lily put the hat on, she knew the clothing lines the guys had. I chuckled at how much knowledge she had about the band even though she was only 4. Fuck she really isn’t a baby anymore. Where did these years go? I thought to myself.


“Mama! Look what I found!” she said coming up to me holding a guitar strap with SYN written on it.


I chuckled, “You may have to give those back to them when they get here Lil.”


She sighed and nodded, “But I wanna keep Zacky’s hat Mama.”


I laughed, “I know you do baby, but he may want it back.” I reasoned with her. She had the biggest crush on Zacky. It was honestly kind of cute the way that she fawned over him.


“Ohkay,” she sighed out and continued walking around the room.


I shook my head and withheld a chuckle knowing it would irritate her. Rox walked out of the bathroom wearing a short pleated, plaid, skirt similar to Lily’s and a pair of black tights underneath. Her knee high low-heeled boots hugged her legs and on top was an Avenged Sevenfold shirt from my closet. It was black with a blue colored skeleton bound in chains and blindfolded. Her make up was flawless, her eyes done with a slight smoky look to it, but not to the point where she had racoon eyes. She had a light greenish white color to her eye shadow with a hint of blue to bring out her eyes. Her lips were painted a bright red that drew most of the attention to them.


“Nice shirt,” I joked with her and she stuck her tongue out. “You look amazing as always,” I complimented her.


“Thanks,” she smiled and held out her bag that had my shirt and sneakers in it. “Your turn.”


“Thanks, I’ll be right back,” I smiled and went to the bathroom. “Lily, listen to Aunt Roxie.”


“Yes Mama,” I heard from across the room.


I laughed and shook my head, if those boys left anything else laying around, you can be damn well sure that Lily would find it. I closed the bathroom door and found my shirt which had a black base, green glowy outline of a Zombie crawling out of a grave and up a guitar laid out in front of him. I also changed out of my boots and into my light green, comfortable sneakers. I knew better than to wear heels when at a concert. Sometimes it’s dark in that walkway in front of the stage. Sometimes you accidentally step on people. I’d hate to hurt someone’s foot with heeled boots. I looked at my make-up and groaned, it’d need redone completely. I pulled out my wipes and cleaned off my face. Once my face had dried, I reapplied mymake-up. I went with natural eye liner, mascara, dark brown with a small amount of purple mixed into my eye shadow. Lipstick, I went with a neutral color to enhance my own beauty.


I looked at my phone, “Shit. The guys will be here any minute.” I packed my old shirt and boots into the bag Roxie had brought and exited the bathroom.


“Mama, you look beautiful,” Lily said running up to me and hugging my legs. She still had the hat on but had apparently found a bandana which was tied around her neck, and a belt that was around her waist. The guitar strap was over her shoulder while she carried the drum stick. I laughed and shook my head.


“Thanks baby,” I smirked down at her, “Think you’ve found something of everyone’s.”


She shrugged, “They were laying around and they looked cool.”


Roxie raised her hands in defense, “I didn’t do anything.”


“Yeah I see that,” I joked with her and she smiled sheepishly at me.


Just then the door opened and in toppled 5 guys, “OH MY GOD IT’S AVENGED!” Lily cried out.


“OH MY GOD IT’S LILY!” Jimmy yelled out enthusiastically as everyone laughed at their childlike ways. Lily looked as though she was gonna explode with excitement.


“Hello guys,” I greeted them, “This is my sister Roxie,” I nodded towards her, “and as Jimmy pointed out, that’s my daughter Lily.”


All of them waved at me and Roxie, before they all noticed Lily’s outfit. “I see we weren’t good about picking up after ourselves,” Brian smirked and sat on one of the couches.


Lily went up to Zacky, “Here’s your hat, Mama said I’d have to give it back.” She handed him the hat and he looked at her sad face.


He smiled warmly and knelt down in front of her, “I think it looks cuter on you. Plus it’s your birthday right?”


She nodded shyly, “Yeah, I’m four now. Practically an adult.” I looked at Roxie with a smirk on my face and she shook her head, quietly laughing.


Zacky chuckled, “Well then, here’s a crown for the princess of the night.” He gently sat the hat on her head, the way she had it before.


She touched it as though it was her most prized possession, which in all honesty, it probably was to her. “Thank-you,” she smiled widely, her dimples showing.


“You’re welcome,” he smiled.


Jimmy sat on the floor next to Lily, “I like your outfit, did you know that I love that song? It’s crazy and amazing,” he pointed to her shirt.


She was amazed at the guy in front of her, “It’s one of my favorite songs. My mama got me this for my birthday.”


“She did? Well isn’t she the best mom in the universe?” Jimmy enthused as he somewhat rocked back and forth.


“Yeah, and Roxie is the best Aunt. She said we’re gonna go to Disney Land now that I’m old enough and tall enough to ride rides,” Lily bounced her knees. I couldn’t help but laugh at how alike those two were.


I looked over at Roxie, “That’s a good idea Rox. I hadn’t thought of that.”


She winked at me, “Well that’s why I’m the older sister.”


Lily handed Jimmy the drumstick and he just looked at it curiously. “Just a sec,” he got up and grabbed a sharpie before signing that stick and grabbing another one and mimicking the actions. “There you go, now you have a set and you can become an amazing drummer just like me!”


She looked up at him wide eyed and tackled him in a hug. “Thank-you Jimmy!”


He chuckled and hugged her back, “You’re welcome. Although short shit may not let you keep his belt, he may need that.”


She pointed at him, “SWEAR JAR!”


I burst out laughing and smirked, “Uh oh, now you did it Jimmy.”


“The fuck’s a swear jar?” Johnny asked.


“SWEAR JAR!” Lily yelled out again.


Roxie laughed at the bewildered guys, “So we have this thing where if we curse in front of her depending on the word we owe money to a swear jar which can be used for a rainy day.”


“OH, well I suppose we owe you a dollar or two, don’t we?” Jimmy asked thoughtfully.


“We may as well give her a hundred and call it even for the night, she’s gonna hear a lot at the concert,” Matt joked.

“No, you guys really don’t have to,” I laughed and looked at Lily. “Lily we’re their guests, they don’t have to pay us.”


She nodded and went over to Johnny, “Okay Mama.”


“Wow Johnny, she’s just about your height,” Brian teased him.


“Shut up Gates,” Johnny countered. “What’s up little chick?”


“Myname’s Lily,” she sassed him.


“Ooooh, she don’t wanna be treated like one of your fan-girls,” Zacky laughed at her sass.


Johnny chuckled and held up his hands defensively, “Alright, my bad. What’s up Little Lily?”


She handed him back his belt, “Here you go. You may need it to hold up your pants.” Everyone burst out laughing because Johnny’s pants were sagging a little. “Don’t want your butt out there for everyone.”


“Just tell him not to drop the soap,” Jimmy egged her on.


I laughed and covered my face knowing that these guys were gonna corrupt her more than Roxie and I could. “That’s a bit much, don’t you think Jim?” Brian offered but was snickering at the joke.


“Fine, just don’t say that to anyone else,” Jimmy told Lily.


Lily laughed and looked at Johnny, “Don’t drop the soap.”


Johnny shook his head and started tickling Lily, “You’re super sassy, you know that?”


Lily squealed out in delight and squirmed away from him, running to Matt who was the tallest person around. She hid behind his legs and I saw Roxie melt as Matt gently put his hand on her head. “Don’t worry Lily, I’ll protect you,” Matt smiled down at my daughter.


Lily stuck her tongue out at Johnny then looked up at Matt, “Thanks.”


“I see you have my lucky bandana there,” Matt showed her his dimples.


She nodded and handed it back to him, “I didn’t know it was your lucky one.”


He smiled, “It’s okay, thank-you for finding it for me. I forgot where I put it.”


“That’s not good, if it’s your lucky one you should keep it with you,” she said reasoning with him.


“You’re right, I’ll keep it in my pocket at all times from now on,” he agreed with her.


“So that’s what’s always showing,” Roxie joked with him and everyone laughed and yelled out “oooh burn”.


“Nah, that’s something else,” Matt nodded at her with a cocky smirk on his lips.


She blushed slightly but didn’t shy away from his gaze, “Maybe you should prove it at some point, then.”


“I kinda like her Shads, she can keep up with your bullshit and call you on your bluff,” Brian smirked at him.


“It’s no bluff, ask the fan girls that obsess over it,” Matt joked with everyone. I released a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding, I figured that conversation would have gone a lot worse.


I then noticed that Lily was sitting next to Brian, “Synyster?” She looked up at him.


He looked down at her and smiled, “You can call me Syn or Brian or whatever you wanna call me Lily.”


She grinned up at him, “I like Syn.”


He chuckled, “Okay then.”


“Syn, here’s your strap on back,” she told him not realizing why everyone was laughing hard enough that there was a simultaneous coughing fit going on.


I had tears rolling down my cheeks from laughing so hard. Brian’s face was priceless and by the look on everyone’s face he wouldn’t live this down any time soon. “Lily, it’s called a guitar strap, sweetheart,” I corrected her as I regained a little of my composure.


“Oh, here’s your guitar strap Syn,” she handed it back to him.


“Thanks,” he tried his best to maintain composure, his lips turned into that infamous smirk as she bounded back to Jimmy. Oh good lord, this child is going to be the death of me.

Notes

Alright guys, I know it's a super long chapter but I couldn't decide where a good stopping point would be. Also, couldn't help but slip in that dirty joke that everyone but Lily got. It was the perfect opportunity and I took it hahaha.

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