14 Days

The show went as smoothly as ever, not a single technical fuck up in sight. It made Evie relax for once, and by the time the encore came around, she was almost calm. Her anxiety had definitely lowered as each song was played, and the second the last note was played, she let herself actually relax.She took the guitar from Brian as he came flying off the stage, grabbing the transmitter from his back pocket as he moved towards the table of cold beverages awaiting the band. Even though she was still feeling a little animosity towards Brian, she hadn’t let it get in the way of doing her job. Their changeovers had been as smooth as they had been the day before, the only difference being that Evie was quiet. Instead of reassuring him during the show, telling him it was going great, or attempting a joke when she realised he fucked up in the song previous, she remained silent. She couldn’t help her almost childish reaction to him, but his lack of apology so far had helped her stay in her funk. Evie couldn’t help but be a little disappointed in the lack of communication with him, having gotten used to their bantering over the last few days. It definitely shone a new light on the man.

Evie joined the crew on stage and helped start the pack down. Time once again flew, and with the introduction of beers due to tomorrow’s off day, it quickly became a lot more enjoyable. Evie walked with JB out to the trailer, the pair holding the final two merch boxes to be stacked away. As soon as the lock was on the trailer, JB took out a blunt from his pocket and Evie dissolved into a fit of giggles. JB looked at her quizzically while he held out his hand, palm side up, wordlessly asking for her lighter.
“What the fuck is with you?” He asked her, nudging her with his awaiting hand to get her attention.

“Oh, nothing,” she managed to reply, standing straight again to retrieve the lighter from her back pocket. She handed it over, busying herself with fetching a cigarette as he lit his blunt. “Just something Zacky and I were talking about earlier.”

“You and Zacky, huh?” JB questioned, handing the lighter back as he held the smoke in his lungs. A deep exhale soon followed, a smile gracing his lips. “Cute.”

“Not like that,” Evie said, rolling her eyes at his middle school response. “We were discussing Brian.”

“Brian huh? Cute,” JB replied, his tone of voice the same, a cheeky smirk on his face. He had waited to speak until Evie was starting to light her cigarette, meaning that she couldn’t immediately respond. Though she was too busy to speak, she was not too busy to use her free hand that had been shielding her flame from the wind to give JB a sharp punch to the arm.

“You’re an ass,” she told him, taking a lungful of smoke before playfully exhaling it him. He returned the favour as soon as he was ready, blowing the smoke in O shapes at her. As his smoke was thicker, she was the one to flinch and try to keep it away by blowing air to break the rings.

“But you love me,” he taunted, nudging her shoulder with his own as they stopped trying to outdo the other with smoke.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” she replied, sending him a eyeroll. She couldn’t help that the smile on her face reminded, thus rendering her comeback less hurtful and more joking.

“Now you sound just like Matt,” he said. “You guys need to spend less time together.”

“You scared that I will turn into a female version of him? Then there will be at least two of us that won’t take your shit,” Evie questioned, enjoying the joking atmosphere between them. She hadn’t spent as much time with JB as she had his brother, so it was reassuring that she was getting along with him just as easily as his twin. “You clearly don’t take my shit now,” he replied. “You fit in entirely too well.”

Evie laughed at his comment, trying to brush it off as nothing flattering, but inside she was ecstatic. She was finally starting to feel settled in this job, and the longer she stayed, the more she felt like she was truly accepted into the Avenged family. They had told her before, but she was only just beginning to actually feel included, like she wasn’t a burden and only here because she had one skill, but that she was wanted. It helped thaw out her agitation from earlier. What a difference a few words can make.

“Well, while everyone else is still inside, I am going to go make use of the shower,” she said, finishing her cigarette with one last puff and grinding it on the pavement below.

“Enjoy. Are you coming back out afterwards?” JB asked, still leaning against the bus. It seemed he was using it more and more for support as the blunt became smaller and smaller.

“Out?” She asked.

“Yeah, after party is here tonight. Schedule says we are staying in a hotel just up the road, and doing the 8 hour drive tomorrow,” JB explained, motioning to the venue before gesturing to a random spot down the road.

“Oh, right. I didn’t realise,” she said, taking in the info. She thought that they always drove on the night after a gig, but they decided to throw another curve ball her way. Now she thought about it, it hardly seems fair to make them drive for so long after a gig. “I guess so.”

“I’ll see you in there, then,” he told her, taking it as his cue to leave. Evie continued to the door of the bus, unlocking it with her key before ascending the stairs. She had been looking forward to having a shower, dressing in her comfy pjs, and getting some sleep. Today had already taken all her energy, beginning with her early wake up and obsessing over fixing the guitars, Brian’s attitude, the gig, and then her conversation with JB. She was spent, emotionally and physically.
She stepped into the small bathroom and quickly stripped, stepping into the cubicle and relaxing under the water. Even though the spray was soft, it was better than nothing. She washed away the sweat the had expelled during the set up and pack down, finally beginning to feel human again. She was always amazed the restorative properties of a shower, even if it was less of a shower, and more like someone spitting water at her body.
She hopped out, saving her hair wash and proper grooming until tomorrow when she would have the luxury of a hotel shower. She dried, wrapping the towel around her before opening the door and descending in to the bunk section of the bus towards her bags. She had forgotten that nearly all her clothes were now dirty, and only had a small handful of outfits to choose from. She highly doubted that most of them were appropriate for an after-gig ‘party’, the clothes either falling into far too casual, or far too formal. After compromising, she narrowed her choice down to a classy grey knit, off-the-shoulder sweater and a pair of black leggings to dress it down a little. It wouldn’t have been her first choice of outfit for a social occasion, but she had nothing better.

As she slid on her shoes, the door to the bus opened. She glanced up, tilting her head in confusion as Zacky sauntered on to the bus. Among the many other people Evie could have guessed would enter the bus while she was the sole inhabitant, Zacky was pretty low down on the list. Really, today had been the most the pair had interacted thus far, so to see him had definitely surprised her.

“You know this isn’t your bus, right?” She asked him, moving to her left shoe and fixing her laces.

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” he replied sarcastically, adding an exaggerated eye roll for good measure. Evie shook her head as she giggled at his reaction.
“Well then, Sir Smarty-pants, why are you in my bus?”
“Your bus? Taking ownership already?” He asked, quirked an eyebrow at her wording. “Just checking in, seeing if you were coming to the after party.”

“Well I am clearly not going to bed in this,” she replied, motioning at her outfit now she had completed the task of putting shoes on. Apparently Zacky’s sarcasm was rubbing off on her.

Evie stood, motioning for Zacky to about face and start making his way out of the bus now she had finished her dressing. She quickly bent over and collected her cigarettes, lighter and laminate from her bunk, leaving her phone to charge. She realised that she had no pockets. Shit. She put her lighter in her cigarette packet and then placed the packet between her skin and the strap of her bra. She kept her laminate handy for locking the door, and then planned to shove it in the waistband of her leggings. Good enough.
They exited the bus, Evie making sure to lock up behind her while Zacky lit them both a cigarette. He handed one over once she rejoined him and the pair made their way towards the venue once more. Evie could see a few people still milling about outside, some smoking, some running final errands before they, too, could join the party.
“You do look kinda fancy,” he admitted, taking her in. The sweater was a lot more dressy than was warranted at a messy, boozey, usually groupie-filled after party. He was used to seeing her in a tee shirt or tank top and jeans, and this was quite removed from that. “Who are you dressing up for?”

“Dressing up? More like utalising the only remaining clean clothes I have with me,” she answered, looking at him like he had grown three heads.

“Ahhh, the woes of the travelling life,” Zacky said, sympathising with her struggle. He couldn’t count the amount of times he hadn’t realised he only had dirty clothes remaining, having to re-wear shirts and pants until they stopped to do laundry.

“And the fun day I will have on tomorrow's day off. Doing laundry. How exciting,” she told him, her voice droning with her lack of enthusiasm. It was definitely not what she had envisaged doing on a day off, but her needs dictated she must.

“At least you can do that while hungover,” he said, yet another cheeky smile on his face.
“Are you suggesting I should get drunk?”

“Strongly.”

“I might be able to be influenced.”

“In that case, please follow me,” Zacky said, grinding out his cigarette and beckoning Evie to follow him back into the venue. He held the door open for her, grabbing her arm and linking it through his own as soon as they had stepped inside the building. He refused to let go, regardless of Evie trying to pull her arm back, or insisting she knew the way to the band’s dressing room. Eventually she gave in, rolling her eyes at him as they approached the music filled dressing room, dodging people already filling up the hallways leading to the room.

They managed to get into the room, Zacky leading them to the table filled with bottles of nearly anything imaginable. Without asking, he started pouring bourbon into two cups with his dominant left hand as his right was still preoccupied holding Evie’s hostage. While he worked, Evie let her eyes wander around the party, trying to get a glimpse of familiar faces. To her immediate left, Jimmy and Johnny were mid argument, the giant drummer clearly disagreeing with the bassist as he currently held Johnny in a headlock. Evie stifled a giggle. Near by, the Berry brothers stood with a few men she had recognised from the opening act, the group of about 6 chatting together in a circle. Further towards the entrance of the room, she saw the two older members of the roadie crew, Dave and Bruce, talking to one another, each with a beer in hand. It made her happy to see them out of the bus, being social while the others partied until their hearts were content. It really added to the sense of family among the tour.

Abruptly, Zacky thrust a drink at Evie, gaining her attention from her surroundings and back to the green-eyed guitarist. He made a motion to clink his cup against hers before taking a hefty swig. Evie copied his motions, unable to hold back a groan as the liquid hit her tongue. Immediately she felt the alcohol warm the back of her throat, the coke Zacky had mixed in clearly taking a back seat to the sheer volume of bourbon in the cup. She had to focus on swallowing, not immediately spitting out the concoction in surprise.

“Holy fuck,” she cursed once she had managed to get it down. “What fucking ratio was that?!”

“I wasn’t exactly measuring,” Zacky replied with a giant grin on his face. “From here on out, you are on a one way road to getting fucked up.”

“Cheers, I guess,” Evie said, hitting her cup against Zacky’s once more for another toast. Even though this time she was prepared to experience the burn of the drink, it still make her groan as she drank. “This will be the death of me.”

“Yes it will!” Zacky cheered, suddenly leading her away from the table by the arm as it was still caught hostage in his right arm. Zacky wound his way through the mass of people that had accumulated in the fairly sizable room like a man on a mission. He was finally starting to slow down as soon as Evie had regained her footing, and came to a dead stop. It was a miracle that Evie didn’t actually crash into him as his momentum stopped abruptly and hers continued, and she was even more thankful that her drink didn’t drench him! Once she felt stable, Evie took in her surroundings. Zacky had immediately started talking to Matt, the singer nodding a welcome to Evie as she made eye contact. She smiled in response and quickly moved her gaze around to see who else she had interrupted. As her luck would have it, the other person that had been talking to Matt, was Brian.

Evie tensed, her previously forgotten stress building back up as soon as she realised he was near. If she had thought his attitude was going to settle down after the show, she had been wrong. The lead guitarist was currently staring at her with a look of what bordered on frustration, his gaze moving down to her still entwined arm before returning back to her face. She subtly tried to remove her arm, suddenly very uncomfortable with her proximity with Zacky. Instead of letting her arm slip away, Zacky forcibly tucked his arm in tighter, capturing her with more strength without missing a beat of his conversation. Evie pulled against him firmer, but only received the same treatment. For a reason unbeknownst to her, Zacky refused to let her go.

Trying not to think too in depth about why Zacky was behaving this way, Evie took a long draw from her cup, deciding to answer any confusing statements or actions with another drink. Perhaps not the healthiest attitude, but it would definitely make her night a hell of a lot easier.

“You look nice tonight,” Matt said to Evie, breaking through her internal monologue to involve her in any sort of conversation.

“Thanks,” she replied. She was actually surprised that her outfit was getting so much attention, even though she knew it was a little out of her usual look, she didn’t expect it mentioned every time she started talking to someone. Again, she felt the need to explain her outfit choice. “One of the only things I have clean.”

“Well, it looks great,” Matt told her, breaking into a smile and bringing out his knee-weakening dimples. Even though Matt wasn’t exactly her type, how can a girl not enjoy seeing that adorable smile?

“At least I don’t smell as bad as the Berry’s,” she joked, indicating the brothers near the door to the room with a laugh. Mat joined her, nodding along and agreeing.

“I don’t think anyone can smell that bad,” he said, still laughing. Evie noticed that they were the only two reacting, and quickly looked at Zacky. He was locked in a silent conversation with Brian, the pair exchanging meaningful glances. Evie took a drink.

“I don’t know, I think you guys could rival them after you perform,” Evie countered once she had finished her mouthful, going back to ignoring the guitarists that flanked her.
“That hurts,” Matt replied, playing wounded and putting a hand to his heart in mock pain. “Just when you think you know someone, they cut you so deep.”

“Drama queen,” she said, giving him a playful wink to know she was just joking along.
“You are really on our name calling game tonight,” Zacky commented, finally returning from his silent conversation with Brian and butting in to Evie’s and Matt’s. “Earlier I was Sir Smarty-Pants.”

“Only because you called me Captain Obvious,” Evie retaliated, furrowing her eyebrows at him. “You definitely started it.”

“Well aren’t you adorable when you are pouting?” He asked her rhetorically while squeezing her arm, successfully confusing her further. She took a big drink.
“Thanks?” She asked, unsure where to go from there. Zacky was beginning to fuck with her mind as much as Brian was, and she was not thrilled by that realisation. She needed some space and some solitude to get herself back in the right headspace to deal with the guitarists in her life. “Can I have my arm back, please?”

“No,” Zacky answered easily, leaving no wriggle room. “What do you mean no? I want to go” she argued, pulling her arm against Zacky’s grip.

“No,” he repeated cryptically. “You are fine here.”

“Zacky, let go. I need to pee,” she told him, thinking of the first excuse that came to mind that may let her escape his clutches for at least 2 minutes.

“Fine,” he relented, releasing her arm with an over dramatic eye roll. “But you better come back!”

Evie took another drink before turning and making her way back through the throng of people and towards her escape. She passed by the booze table, and trying to be as casual as she could, swiped a bottle without slowing her pace.

What the fuck was with these guys? Were they always this insane and she just hadn’t noticed because she had been spending time with JB, Matty and Dan? Something was definitely happening and she was very unaware of what that could possibly be.
Evie hurried down the corridor, bypassing the bathrooms and making her way back outside. She needed some actual alone time, and wasn’t planning running into anyone she knew for a while yet. She passed through the open backstage door, elegantly held open by a brick now there was only approved band, crew and selected ‘guests’ milling about. She passed them all by, not making eye contact with anyone on her way to freedom. Pausing for a second, Evie surveyed her options of hiding places. Eventually she decided to head towards the busses, but instead of climbing aboard her home on wheels, she skirted around the back and behind the vehicle. She sat herself down in front of one of the wheels, leaning her back against it for support and to help hide her figure if anyone started to look for her. She felt safe here, close enough to the party to hear if they decided to call it a night and start moving to the mystery hotel, yet far away enough that she would get the peace she wanted. Perfect.

“You’re going to ruin that sweater by leaning on the tyre.”
Evie jumped, startled by the voice that had interrupted her solitude. Of course she could never get a minute to herself. She should have just got on the bus and hid in her bunk, ability to smoke be damned. She looked to her left to see Brian hiding out behind the band bus, the cherry red glow from his cigarette softly illuminating his face as he leant against the metal. She suppressed a groan when she realised that not only was she now not alone, it just had to be Mister Cranky that was interrupting her self-care time.

Maybe Zacky was right when he said she was on her name calling game tonight. That one was completely unprompted.

“I really don’t care,” she replied, placing her still semi full cup of Zacky’s bourbon mixed with more bourbon concoction on the pavement, and the stolen bottle of what turned out to be yet more bourbon. She sighed, figuring that at least the hangover won't be too bad if she wasn’t mixing spirits.
“You should. It looks really good on you,” he told her, his tone of voice remaining as factual as his previous statement. Evie took a drink.

“I don’t get why everyone is commenting on this fucking sweater,” she ranted, pulling at the sleeves to bring them over her hands as she stared down at them. “It’s just a fucking sweater!” “Like I said, it looks good on you,” he replied, once again as if the words he was speaking were just obvious truth. This time, Evie didn’t take a drink. Instead she took her laminate from her waistband and threw it next to her beverages followed by the cigarettes from her bra. She was setting up camp.

She was silent, unable to find the words to reply to his seemingly loaded statements. Instead, she busied herself with lighting a cigarette of her own, letting the nicotine take away the stress and confusion of the last 24 hours. She breathed out slowly, the action helping her ease into a more relaxed mode. She had not been in the mood for a party like the one currently happening in the venue, and had agreed to go against her better judgement. More and more signs were telling her that she shouldn’t have gone, she should have just crawled into bed instead and forgotten about today.

“Can I join you?” Brian asked, interrupting Evie’s silent pity party. She looked up, noticing he had moved closer towards her and was now standing in front of her. How had she not heard his approach?

“If you must,” she replied curtly, biting her tongue and resisting the urge to tell him to fuck off.

“Thanks,” he said, making quick work of lowering himself to the ground and sitting in front of her. She quickly looked behind her, making sure that if he was seated, he too would be blocked by the van tyre if anyone was to come searching. She motioned him to scoot to his right, holding up her hand to stop once he was in prime position.
“Why are you hiding out here?” She asked him, deciding to take the direct approach to hopefully beginning unravelling at least one of her mind fucks.

“Wasn’t in the mood to party,” he replied easily, taking another drag of his cigarette as he leant back on one hand to stabalise his now seated position. “And I didn’t want to get dragged back in if someone found me.”“Why did you go in at all?” She questioned, a little surprised that he would ever not be in the mood for an after show party.

“Zacky made me,” he answered, shrugging.

“He can be very forceful,” Evie commented, nodding at Brian’s words. She could definitely see how Zacky could get such an outcome to occur.

Silence enveloped them once more, Evie focusing on her smoking, Brian seeming to be content with staring into the sky. Looking down, Evie noticed Brian was beverageless. She grabbed the stolen bourbon and moved it towards him, placing it as close to his hands as her arms would let her. Her act of kindness for the day was complete.

“I've been a bit of an asshole today,” Brian stated, breaking the silence. He moved his attention from the stars above back to Evie.

“No shit, Sherlock,” she said, her words coming out before she could stop them. A light flush covered her cheeks as she realised the words came out, sans any sort of filter.

“I have just been in this shitty mood, and I couldn’t pull my head out of my ass. I'm sorry I took it out on you,” he told her, sitting up from his relaxed position and using his now free hand to rub the back of his neck absentmindedly. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but something in his voice told her that he was being honest. “You did nothing to deserve the shitty things I said to you, and how I have treated you. So I am sorry.”

Evie was a little taken aback by his admission. She had pegged him as very stubborn, arrogant, with a panache for doubling down even when he was in the wrong, yet here he was, trying to make amends to her without her having to bring it up. Without Evie even mentioning the way he behaved. It was surprising, and she had definitely not been expecting his apology when she had let him join her.

“Uh, thanks, I guess,” Evie replied lamely, once more her words not coming out as elegantly as she had hoped. The disappointment she had felt earlier about him vanished with his short explanation, leaving her feeling relieved and hopeful. She tried not to look into that too deeply.

“No problem,” he said, his attention leaving her once he was satisfied that she believed and accepted his apology, and moved to the stars once more. Evie took a drink, once again trying to drown her confusion with bourbon. She was beginning to feel the warmth of the alcohol, and with that combined with her long pants and sleeves, she was really beginning to heat up. She pushed her sweater sleeves up, the cuffs now around her elbows as she tried to correct her body temperature.
Today had been all kinds of fucked up, and not much had been more confusing than the last 10 minutes. Evie felt like she had finally got a grasp on what the guys on this tour were actually like, and then Zacky behaves like a possessive lunatic, and Brian gets the balls to apologise and make amends. She decided to deal with one fire at a time and to forget about Zacky for now. She would interrogate him tomorrow and hopefully get a few more answers as to why he was being weird around her.

She glanced over at Brian again, taking note that he had accepted her drink invitation and had opened the bottle of bourbon in front of him. He had just taken a drink as Evie looked up and was slowly taking the bottle away from his lips. His eyes made contact with her. She immediately flushed, embarrassed that she had been caught looking at him. His lip twitched, curling at the sides in a small, knowing smile. Trying to play it off, Evie made a show of rolling her eyes at his non-verbal reply and busied herself by downing the last of the contents of her cup.

She placed the plastic down on the pavement, trying to will the heat away from her cheeks while she shielded her features with a protective curtain of hair. Her body was behaving like a teenager again, blushing because a boy happened to look at her. How ridiculous. So what that she thought he was attractive, surely she had outgrown the embarrassing reaction from mere eye contact.

To help her move past the moment that had just transpired between the pair, she picked up the bottle of bourbon and filled her cup back up, busing her hands and her mind. It would be a long 8 days if she continued to let her baser instincts be in charge.

Notes

Holy shit, she updated!
And it was a MUCH longer update. Thank you to my inspiration fairy that appeared this week. I greatly appreciate you, mystical being.

Let me know your thoughts! Is this moving too slow? Too boring?

xoxo
Sas