You're So Pretty On the Outside

*Nicholls*

Mathieu was back with Beheading of a King. He was still unstable with his moods but he was able to control himself when on stage which was good. Jennifer was in a similar situation as him although she was getting better at holding back her tears every time her friend was mentioned. Everyone from LA who had come with Beheading was a little off. The majority of them had shoulders to cry on though, often turning to their band mates or even us when they needed it.

Lee was always making sure Jennifer was okay. That was the only problem. Most of us had a boyfriend or girlfriend to look out for us. Mathieu didn’t and it was starting to get to him. It was obvious. 

Oli found himself a new girl but it’s still obvious he’s not really interested in her. He loves Angel and no matter how often he denies it, we know it’s true. 

To say I was pissed when I found out about what Angel had done was a complete understatement. I couldn’t even explain how furious I was! Jennifer had called her a few days after to give her shit for it! I wanted so badly to just rip the phone from the girl’s hand and scream at the receiver until she cried. What she did was pure fucking cruelty!

The tour was over by now. Mathieu was staying with Kean and I while deciding whether or not he wanted to go back home or stay here in Sheffield for a little while. He seemed to be leaning more toward Sheffield, wanting to stay near Jennifer. His band was open to the idea of staying here for a little while. It would help them get themselves known outside of North America which would prove useful eventually. Jennifer and Sarah ended up deciding to move in with their beaus. 

“Hey,” I heard someone murmur in my ear. I looked back at them.

“Hey, baby,” I replied as Kean leaned in and kissed me.

“What’s wrong?” he inquired, wrapping his arms around my waist while resting his chin on my shoulder. I shrugged.

“I’m just getting fed up with Angel,” I admitted. “On top of that I still miss her and I miss Venita. A lot.”

He kissed my neck, brushing my bangs out of my face. “We all do.”

I nodded. “What d'you think is up with Angel anyway?” 

“What do you mean?”

“They were perfect together,” I explained. “Sure they had their disagreements but they always managed to patch it up... somehow.”

He laughed. “You sound a little uncertain, there.”

“Really, though,” I replied. “How could she ruin it? And by getting pregnant with some other man’s baby too? That’s just low. She should’ve just ended it when she had the chance, right?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed after a moment of silence. “I don’t want to think about this though. Let’s do something.”

“Like what?” I asked, curious. 

He blushed. I laughed and turned to him. “Why are you blushing?”

“I-I... well, I was actually thinking we could maybe go on a... a date... or something,” he blushed, looking down. I grinned.

“What did you have in mind?” I smiled. He shrugged.

“I heard there was an Avenged Sevenfold concert. I went to the venue and got some tickets,” he explained. 

“Avenged?” I asked, shocked. “They’re here? Seriously?”

“Yeah,” he replied. 

“You have tickets?” I verified. He nodded. I grinned. “Let’s go! Wait, do the others know?” 

He nodded. “It’s Amanda who let Oli know and then he spread the word to everybody else.”

“Awesome,” I replied. 

He smiled and leaned in, kissing me. My fingers tangled themselves in his hair, our bodies pressing together tightly. My tongue slipped passed his lips, mingling with his as he allowed his hands to drift down to the hem of my shirt, slipping under it.

Someone cleared their throat, catching us both off guard. We gasped as we jumped away from each other. Oli and Amanda were standing in the doorway to the kitchen. I had completely forgotten they were even here. I took in both expressions, blushing wildly. Guilt seeped into me when I noticed Oli's pained look, clearly remembering Angel. My mood quickly changed to annoyance when I noticed the disgusted look being sent our way be his 'girlfriend'.

“Great,” I muttered.

“You’re... gay?” Amanda asked. We nodded. “Oh.”

“Is that a problem?” Kean asked.

“Of course not,” she replied. Bullshit, she was definitely lying.

“Let’s go,” I sighed, taking Matt’s hand.

I pulled him out of the room. We left the apartment, standing out front in the parking lot. I pulled him to me and connected our lips for a few minutes before replying to his earlier request. “I’m up for a good show.”

He smiled. “Great!”

“What other bands are playing?” I asked. He shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “We’ve missed most of them though. Let’s hurry up and get to the venue before they get on, shall we?”

“Good idea,” I grinned. “Are the others going too?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I think if they are then they’re already there.”

“I see,” I nodded.

“Why?” 

“Just wondering,” I replied.

“Does that mean you want them aro-” I cut him off quickly.

“No way! I was just asking,” I reassured. “I swear we’ll be alone! Well... as alone as we can be.”

He chuckled. “Okay, fine.” 

I smiled, leaning up and pecking his forehead. He laced our fingers together and pulled me toward the street. I frowned, looking toward the parking lot.

“We’re not driving?” I frowned. 

“It’s not that far,” he explained. “Ten minute walk from here.”

“Oh, okay then.”

We reached the venue about ten minutes later, giving our tickets to the bouncer. He let us by, handing us our tickets back. We moved to the crowded main room, threading our way down to the crowd on the floor. The venue was huge. We wouldn’t have the best view. At least we had the music, though. That’s all that counts.

We stopped a little farther from the middle of the floor. I turned to the guy next to me, nudging him. He looked at me, confused.

“What?” he asked.

“Who’s on now?” I asked over the babble of voices. He glanced to the stage then back at me.

“Avenged Sevenfold,” he replied. “Did you just get here or something?”

“Pretty much,” I nodded. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” he replied before turning back to the stage, anticipating the show.

Critical Acclaim's intro began, getting the crowd riled up. People were already clearing space for moshpits that were sure to take place. The show went in a similar fashion with kids moshing and screaming. Matt and I got into a few pits, leaving with our fair share of bruises.

I pulled Matt aside as the crowd began to clear out. I smiled at him. “Great choice.”

“I know, right?” he smirked. “You want to meet them?”

“Do you?” I asked.

“Kind of,” he admitted. I chuckled. 

“Let’s get our asses out of here then,” I replied, grabbing his hand.

We got out of the venue and I pulled him toward where I figured the buses would be. We walked down the alley next to the venue, heading toward the back. On the way there, we spotted somebody stumble out from behind the building, laughing obnoxiously. I squinted as we got closer, trying to recognize them. I grinned when I realized it was Jimmy. He looked our way and grinned, waving us over.

“Hey there, fellas!” he called as we approached.

“Hey!” we called back.

Matt and I sprinted to him. Jimmy squinted, staring at us with obvious confusion.

“You’re those kids from that band there, aren’t you?” he asked. Matt chuckled.

“There’s a lot of bands out there, don’t ya think?” I laughed.

“I forgot the name! God, how did I forget the name?! I know this! I know I do!” he exclaimed. “God, what’s the- Bring Me the Horizon! Yeah, that’s it! You’re the bassist and you’re the drummer, right?”

I chuckled. “That’s us.”

“Oh shit! You guys are awesome!” He laughed. “You guys playing a show soon?”

“Tomorrow, actually,” Matt replied.

“Seriously?” he asked. “Well good luck with it!

We grinned back at the man. “Thank you.”

I was about to ask where the others were when my phone started vibrating. I sighed and pulled it out of my pocket. 

“Hello?” I answered.

“You guys coming back or what?” It was Oli. “We’re going out for a bit. You joining?”

“Where?” I replied.

“Club,” he replied.

“Give me a second,” I replied.

I pulled the device from my ear and turned to Matt. He gave me a questioning look.

“Up for a bit of clubbing?" I asked. He grinned.

“Sure,” he agreed.

“We’ll come,” I said into the phone. 

“Okay, we’re in front of the venue,” he said. 

“See you there,” I replied, hanging up.

I turned to Jimmy with a smile. “Great show. We’ve gotta go though. Good luck with the rest of your tour.”

“Thanks, good luck tomorrow night!” he smiled. “It was nice meeting you!” 

“You too,” we called before heading to the front.

“Guys!” Curtis called, waving.

We ran to him. “So you guys did come.”

“Of course! Why would we miss them? We’d be crazy to do something like that!” he exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. Looking around, I noticed Jennifer, Lee, Sarah, Oli and Amanda. Amanda was giving us a weird look. I sighed, my fingers tightening around Matt’s.

“Where’s Mathieu?” Kean asked.

“He said he had stuff to do,” Oli replied.

“Okay, so are we going or not?” I asked.

“Yeah! Let’s go!” Curtis grinned, grabbing his girlfriend and leading the way.

We got to the club and got in easily. Curtis knew the bouncer. He went to school with his younger brother or something. The most of us headed to the crowded dance floor while a few went to grab some drinks.

We were dancing near Amanda and Oli. He seemed distracted, uninterested in her. She was in the same position, glaring at us rather than paying attention to her boyfriend. 

Matt turned me around, pulling me flush against his chest. He brought his lips near my ear murmuring, “He found himself a nice little homophobe, eh?”

I nodded. “Seriously. I’m not happy about it.”

“You think he’s noticed yet?” he asked.

“I don’t think so,” I sighed.

“Mmm,” Matt hummed, burying his face in my neck. 

He trailed kisses up to my ear, sucking on my earlobe gently before trailing back down. I let out a shaky breath as his lips pressed to my Adam’s apple, sinking to my collarbone. I gripped his hair gently, aiming his face up to mine. He grinned softly, hand slipping down to mine as we kissed. 

His finger’s tightened around mine as he pulled back. He turned and started pushing his way through the crowd. We managed to escape and leave the club.

We ran to the apartment complex, sprinting up to our apartment. I unlocked the door and slipped through. I pulled him to our room, barely acknowledging the resounding ‘bang’ caused by the front door as it shut.

I pushed Kean down, straddling him as I kissed him roughly. In the middle of our make out session, his phone began vibrating between our thighs. We both jumped, breaking contact. He groaned as he reached down and pulled it from his pocket.l

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Oli,” he sighed. “Do I answer?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Why?”

“He’ll just keep calling ‘til someone picks up?” I offered, brows raised.

“True enough,” he sighed, answering. “Hello?”

“Yeah we left,” he replied after a moment of silence.

I stared down at him as he spoke, getting bored of waiting. He glanced up and froze at the mischievous look on my face, suspiciously eyeing me. I smirked, my hands traveling down to the hem of his shirt, lifting it up. I latched my lips to his nipple, my tongue flicking over the hardened nub. He gasped and stifled a groan before quickly stuttering a goodbye to Oli. He glared at me as he hung up. “You bastard!”

I smirked, kissing down the center of his chest and back up to his lips. “Sorry.”

“You’d better be,” he growled playfully, flipping us over. “It’s my turn now.”