Just Before You Go

Jimmy ran at me like it was the first time he’d seen me in months. He wrapped his long arms around my waist, pulling me up to his chest. As I wrapped my legs around him, he gave a quick thanks to Brian and then moved us toward the beer tent. I kissed at his face happily, a little surprised at how happy I was to see him. We’d been apart for only a few hours but the relief was real. In his arms, I was at peace.
“How was your nap?” he asked me cutely, using my rear end to hold me up.
I smiled, “Good.”
“Brian behave himself on the way over?” he smirked. “Pretty girl like you must be hard for him to resist.”
“Gross,” I teased. “It was actually a pretty good ride.”
Jimmy contorted his perfect face, “The drive or Brian?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, shaking my head, “Definitely not Brian, you weirdo.”
“You have expert timing, I must say,” Jimmy told me as he finally set me down onto the dirt next to where Matt was seated. “We were just getting ready to head to the wings.”
“It’s almost my time to shine!” Matt added with a smug gin.
“It’s always your time to shine,” Zack groaned with a roll of his green eyes. “You’re a total glory whore.”
Matt made a little grunt before dropping his sunglasses down onto his nose. He didn’t seem to care that the sun was starting to set. Typical M Shadows.
“Johnny!” Jimmy screeched suddenly and with ear-piercing frequencies. “Johnny fucking Christ!”
Johnny was panicking, only fifty-or-so feet away, a beer in each hand. He looked around hurriedly before taking off in a sprint. It was no use, Jimmy the Gisele, was hot on his tail. Johnny’s short legs were no match for the giraffe.
“They made a bet,” Zack told me.
I grinned, “For what?”
“Let’s just say that Jimmy won,” Zack laughed lightly. “And Johnny will be spending the next hour of his life in the portapotty.”
“Johnny’s been hiding out,” Matt added with a chuckle.
Jimmy was back within a couple of minutes, looking disgruntled and unhappy.
He folded his arms across his chest, “He’s too fucking short. I lost him the crowd of average heighted people!”
The guys erupted with laughter, shaking their heads. Zacky passed Jimmy another beer understandingly, giving Jimmy a little encouraging nudge on the arm.
“You guys coming?” Brian asked, startling us all.
Zack lowered his brows, “Where the fuck did you come from?”
“Satan’s bowels,” Brian said with a straight face.
“Where are we going?” I asked dumbly.
They all answered together, “To the wings.”
“Time to watch Brian’s wife strut her stuff,” Jimmy smirked.
Zacky considered this with a devious grin, “Is she Brian’s wife or Matt’s girlfriend? Or do you guys just alternate? What’s the arrangement here?”
To my surprise, Brian didn’t look all the phased. He had the strangest look to him…I just couldn’t quite place it. Matt was rolling his eyes, though. He was the first to head off in the direction of the stage Haven was set to walk out onto any minute now. Jimmy slung an arm around my shoulders, leading me to Brian’s side and then toward the stage.
“My two favourite people,” Jimmy smiled, taking Brian under his free arm. “It’s a birthday miracle!”
“Firstly,” Brian laughed, “it’s a Christmas miracle, not a birthday miracle—”
“But it isn’t Christmas,” Jimmy argued, his little lisp hanging onto each of his words. “And it is my birthday.”
“That doesn’t matter, Jim,” Brian smirked. “Secondly, we’re together all of the time. It’s hardly a miracle at all! Forget the specifics of the time of year shit.”
“Stop being a birthday buzzkill,” Jimmy pouted.
Everyone was quiet as we finally hit the wings. Jimmy pulled me off to the side, enough so that Haven’s tech crew could get in and around without being tripped or murdered. They scurried around quickly, which honestly, was my favourite part of a live show. I loved to watch the crews setting up and tearing down the stages. They were usually timely and had it down to an art. It was entertaining.
Eventually the stage fell dark and the band rushed up beside us. Blair was jittering, bouncing a little on the soles of her feet. She looked genuinely nervous. God damn it…it only made my love for her that much stronger.
I looked up to Brian to find he seemed to be having a similar epiphany.
“I’m going to puke everywhere,” she said to, I think, Tyler.
Because he answered her, “I’m not cleaning it up.”
“You would,” she rebutted. “Because you love me.”
He smiled down at her, as he towered over her in a similar way that Jimmy towered over me. Though, Tyler was just a little taller than Brian, he held himself together in a way that suggested grandiose to me. I found myself a little curious about the guy. I was mostly curious about his relationship with Blair; how it had started, when it had started…Relationships were interesting things to dissect.
Unless they’re your own. Then they’re usually best kept as mysteries.
“Come on, you nervous fuck,” the drummer said to her. “Let’s go.”
They all piled on the stage one by one, leaving Blair at the back of the line. Tyler gave her a quick peck on the cheek before marching himself out to his mark. She was visibly practicing deep breathing, which was something I could relate to.
And then she looked at us.
No, not at us. At Brian. He seemed just as confused by it as I was. At first I thought maybe she was looking for Matt—but no. She flashed him a quick little smile before shamefully ducking her head down and diverting her attention to the stage.
And she was gone.
We all watched quietly, reveling in the talent they all shared collectively—and independently. They weren’t really my taste in music, but I would never deny that they were a pretty solid group. Their songs were good and their riffs were groovy. Blair was magnetic. She demanded your attention, whether she meant to or not. I was impressed.
“We’ve got a special little treat for you all tonight,” Blair spoke into the microphone, walking from one side of the stage to the other. “Put your hands together and help me welcome to the stage, my friend, M fucking Shadows!”
The crowd went insane. I could only assume that Haven and Avenged Sevenfold held a lot of commonalities in their fan bases. The roars grew as Matt sheepishly headed to the stage, his sunglasses still fixated on his nose.
They sang together, their pitches actually complimenting one another’s quite nicely. Brian was bobbing his head along to the music, watching as his friend and his desire strutted around the stage together. There wasn’t even a ping of jealousy detectible anywhere in his nonverbal language.
“Not bad!” Jimmy shouted to the group.
They all nodded.
I turned to Brian, moving in closer so he could hear me without the rest of the group drowning in what I wanted to say. He looked down at me expectantly, moving his head closer to my lips.
“I guess they were actually rehearsing,” I laughed lightly to him.
He nodded, a ridiculously smug grin on his face, “Wouldn’t matter if they weren’t, anyway.”
I narrowed my eyes in confusion, “Oh?”
He shrugged, still grinning, “I’m Synyster Gates, remember?”

Notes

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