14 Days

It felt like only minutes had passed by the time Evie was called to work, regretfully peeling herself away from her friends and finding herself back in the testosterone-filled Avenged Sevenfold world. She was pleased to see that Matty, JB and Dan, Bruce and Dave had all finally made it after having decided to hang back the day before and ride along with the busses and equipment. Evie greeted them all, the techs all banding together immediately for a quick run through on the change over of the bands before the Avenged show, and how the night would run.

Evie felt confident in tonight’s performance, the experience from yesterday’s Halestorm show fresh in her mind leaving her feeling prepared for whatever the night would bring. The few mistakes from the night before were small timing issues and miscommunication troubles between herself and Troy, something she was now realising might not have been as ‘mistaken’ as she had thought. Maybe the walkies hadn’t gone down as Troy had claimed...

Pulling her head back into the moment and out of that particular train of thought, Evie quickly glanced over at the band, the boys starting off their pre-show rituals. She let herself get distracted for a moment, taking in Brian’s profile as he laughed at something Jimmy had said. Finding the happiness infectious, she couldn’t help but softly smile as she drank in the sight of him, clearly not having had her fill this morning. An elbow to the ribs brought her back to Earth.

“What’s with you?” JB asked her quietly, being the only one to notice her attention shift as the group dispersed.

“Just taking it all in,” she replied vaguely, a slight melancholy coming into her tone as her excuse reminded her of the reality of the evening.

“You know, we will miss you, too,” he told her in a brief moment of sincerity. “I don’t know how you did it, but you wormed your way into our little group and have left your mark on all of us.”

“Um, thanks, I guess,” Evie replied, a slight flush covering her cheeks as she tried to accept the compliment she was receiving. She was used to moments of sentimentality with Matty, but JB was always the clown, the first one (apart from Jimmy) to get up and entertain, to push reality to the background and live entirely in the here and now. He was the last one Evie would have expected those words to be coming from.

“I have this feeling that this won’t be the last time we will be seeing you,” he told her cryptically before abandoning his position beside her and bouncing over to a hollering Jimmy.

She couldn’t help but watch the pair, their interaction making her realise exactly why JB was Jimmy’s drum tech, the pair a perfect mirror of one another in energy, spirit and chaos. Not many people could keep up with the free spirited drummer and still be able to talk shop in detail to keep his kit up to par with the musical genius, but JB had the perfect drive and passion to stay on top of it all. The pair worked perfectly together, JB being able to anticipate Jimmy’s needs before he had a chance to verbalise them to give Jimmy the freedom to put his all into his music. Evie was endlessly fascinated with their entire dynamic, and unable to stop herself from making comparisons to herself and those she worked with.

She felt like she had a similar connection to Lzzy and Josh, but was unsure if that only because of the amount of time they had spent together. She had grown up with Josh, their 14 month age difference often blurred as if it didn’t exist, so she felt like she knew him better than she knew herself. With Lzzy, though they had only met 5 years prior, they had spent nearly everyday together, whether it was band related or not, and they were so intuned with one another that they could often communicate wordlessly.

Her relationship with Brian was vastly different. Though they had only known one another for a mere two weeks, their professional connection was all but immediate with things growing from there. There had been some hiccups along the way, but what had started out with a courteous professional relationship, morphed that into a friendship, had now opened into a romantic relationship. Though the extent of their connection was constantly changing, their work had not suffered. Through the moments of doubt, of awkward encounters and sneaking around, they had still managed to put on all-but seamless shows night after night.

In exploring the semantics and workings of another band and tour crew, Evie realised that she was feeling more professionally fulfilled than she had been in a long time. She hadn’t recognised that she was stagnant in her position in Halestorm, able to do her job without batting an eye and knowing how to fix anything that had broken down. The small stint with Avenged had her busy, her problem solving skills in demand, and at the end of each night, she could go to sleep knowing that she put 100% of everything she had into that performance. She hadn’t felt that in a long time.

It dawned on her just how much she was about to lose. Everything she had worked so hard for was getting ripped away, one by one. It would start tonight with her last show, continue tomorrow as she left the A7X family, and could extend into the future with her rocky stance on her current job. Everything she had known over the last 5 years could come crashing down around her, and she wasn’t ready for that to happen.

“Brain overload?” Brian asked, having noticed Evie drift off into the land of the fairies. He was starting to be able to attribute her body language to her moods, and knew that currently she was needing to dive back into reality, back into the moment. He didn’t know if she was buried in the past, on drowning in the future, but he did know that she needed saving.

“Unfortunately,” she admitted, finding comfort in his warm chocolate gaze.

“Want to talk?” He offered, slightly concerned at her change of attitude. She had been happy when they parted hours ago, eager to go and party with her brother and band, yet she returned quiet, reserved and stand-offish.

“Thanks for asking, but it’s okay,” she told him, putting her hand on his bicep and squeezing affectionately.

“If you’re sure,” he said, unsure whether she was being truthful or if she was just holding it in as she usually did.

“I’m sure,” she told him, once again floored by how much attention he had paid her along the way to understand her idiosyncrasies.

“Enough flirting, you two! To the stage!” Jimmy decreed, launching his lanky body between the two to sever their physical connection. Brian shook his head as Evie couldn’t help but let out a giggle at the endlessly entertaining man. “Your lord and saviour has spoken!”

“For once, he is actually right. We need to get you guys to the stage,” Larry told them all, sounding legitimately surprised that Jimmy, for the first time in his life away from the drum kit, had the timing correct.

Taking Larry’s confirmation, the group exited the room, Brian being led away by his rhythm counterpart and Evie by Matty. With a quick wink, the pair sank deep into their rolls, Brian going over a few last minute points with Zacky to help get his mind into the performing headspace. This was what he lived for, this was his one true love. Being on stage, performing the songs he had written to thousands of fans was a fantasy he was able to live every day, and not for one second was he ungrateful for the privilege.

Once they had reached the stage, Evie saddled up each of the boys with their guitars, making sure everyone’s transmitter was safe and snug before retreating back with the rest of the crew. Though tonight’s show was less than typical and all of the timings, routines and spacing was off, Evie was glad to be finishing up with such a huge performance. She couldn’t imagine a better last show than day two of Rock on the Range.

The organ opening of Critical Acclaim started, prerecorded tonight to let Matt come out on stage from the wings rather than start there. One by one the boys trickled on stage, each member eliciting a more intense applause from the crowd than the last. She couldn’t help but join in, clapping along as they tore into the song.

Standing side stage as she watched them, Matty and JB flanking her, she felt a wash of calm come over her. She had finally reached a point where she felt confident enough to listen and enjoy the music, not just hyperfocus on the guitars alone. She felt the bass thrum through her, the hits of the kick pulsate in her veins. She could visualise the notes as the guitars ran through the solos, the scales harmonising to perfection, and the growls and scratchiness of Matt’s voice enhance the raw honesty of the lyrics. For the first time in two weeks, she was actually able to listen to the music she was helping create every night.

The song drew to a close, Evie and Matty ready to bounce on stage to change over guitars for the boys while Matt vamped the crowd, JB ducking beside Jimmy to check his kit. They made quick work of the change over, flying on and off stage within the minute to let the boys crack into another song. She was more than pleased to see the arrival of her friends side stage, giving them a quick wave hello from her position before her attention returned once more to the stage.

Unlike Halestorm, Avenged were able to have a 7 song set, and before Evie even realised, the set was all but finished. She had in hand the last guitar for the changeover, the boys having chosen Almost Easy as a set closer. As Evie took Brian’s drop D from him and replaced it with the Drop C#, she felt his hand encase her wrist. She looked up to him questioningly, trying to pull it back again to no avail. He just grinned in return, unintentionally making Evie swoon slightly from the look of pure happiness on his sweaty face.

It took a second for Evie to realise that Matt was speaking to the crowd once more, her attention transferring from Brian to the front man as she recognised her name in the slew of words he was telling the crowd. Evie’s eyes widened and she could feel herself drain of colour. There was a reason she was more than happy to be a worker bee behind the scenes, the main reason being that she did not do crowds well. Having any attention drawn to her made her panic, and right now she had walked into a nightmare. Brian walked Evie towards the front of the stage, sensing her unease but forcing her anyway. She felt her try to pull away, and held fast to her wrist.

“We borrowed Evie from Halestorm - who here saw Halestorm yesterday?” Matt asked the crowd, pausing for a smattering of applause and screams. “If you didn’t, you missed out! Keep an eye on them, they are up and comers that you will be seeing much more of soon!”

Again, the crowd cheered. Matt’s attention moved from the sea of people to the pale technician, throwing an arm around her and bringing her small body to his side.

“Techs and everyone working behind the scenes never get the proper thanks they deserve,” he started, pausing for a moment before adding, “that even includes our own, I guess. But we just wanted to take the chance to say a huge thank you to Evie for helping us out over the last two weeks. Without her, we wouldn’t have made it here, and wouldn’t be playing for you all right now. So give it up for Evie, the best guitar tech in the game!”

This time the crowd erupted, eager to please Matt and help give her the credit she deserved. Unsure of what to do in response, she awkwardly waved with her free hand to the masses before trying to pull away from Matt and sink back into the shadows.

With her face bright red she met Brian once again, the lead walking her side stage as Matt continued to speak, amping up the crowd for their final song.

“I am going to kill you all,” she told Brian, yelling above the noise to make sure he heard her promise.

“You won’t, you would miss me too much. The others, not sure sure about,” Brian quipped back happily, his adrenaline still running through his system and allowing him to take anything she threw at him. “If anything, it was Matt’s idea, so stab him first.”

“No promises,” she replied, still trying to calm her overactive heart. “I have a feeling you weren’t innocent in this!”

They reached side stage quickly, Evie all but booking it to try and get out of the limelight. Before stepping back in place, Brian leant down and gave her a quick, hard kiss. As soon as it started, it was over, the guitarist making it back under the stage lights in no time.

Evie stepped off the stage, placing the guitar in the road case before her attention fell once more to the people around her. A sea of shocked faces greeting her return, everyone but Lzzy’s jaw on the floor after the small display of affection.

She had some explaining to do.

Notes

Again, I am so sorry this took so long!! I have no excuse, just me being shit.
It's short, and not my favourite, but its better than nothing?

xoxo
Sas