If This Is Heaven Then Baby I Don't Wanna Know Hell

**Niky's P.O.V.

"Hey guys, you wanna come out here and help us with this equipment?" Dan called from the doorway of the bus. Jaymie and I had been lounging in the back and doing shit-all until the last minute just like every night. We were the lazy ones, specializing in warming couches, yelling at strangers and putting on a damn good show when we went on tour.

"What's the matter, can't carry a base drum by yourself you little pussy?" Jaymie heaved her skinny self of the couch and went into the front of the bus. Before she did anything incredibly stupid I reluctantly followed her out, grabbing my dented, light blue guitar as I went.

As per usual, Jaymie had Dan pinned against the door, her arm wound backwards and she was just about ready to hit him when she saw me. In that instant, most of the anger in her eyes was replaced by her usual façade and she grinned playfully. "Just havin' a bit of fun with Danny-boy here. C'mon fuckers we got a show to play." She threw on her giant hoddie and ran through the horde of kids lined up with her face hidden in her hood so no one noticed her. Dan followed behind her quickly.

I adorned my leather jacket and Mardi-gras style masquerade mask; it was self-adhesive so there was no string to mess up my hair, which was spiked in all directions on top of my head. I checked Lynda's bunk; she must have already been inside setting up.

"Ricky!" I yelled as I exited the bus "Everyone's inside lock up when you have everything, I'll send David back out to help you with the merch and stuff."

We had been on time that night, so we had been able to set up the barriers and everything before those crazy kids got in here and tried to kill us.

"Whoa, nice try kid, Avenged Sevenfold only." The dickhead security guard had a hand on my shoulder, forbidding my passage.

"I'm with the opening band." I unzipped my coat to show him my pass and walked in the back room. Jaymie was drumming on the table in time with Lynda's random bass riffs, both of them were literally bouncing where they sat, there was discarded pixie stix all over the floor. Brian was helping one of the techs tune guitars, with a beer in one hand. Zack was standing in front of a mirror, over-doing his eyeliner. He looked over at me and stared and my hand. "You're not playing tonight with that piece of shit are you?" he laughed. I scowled but otherwise ignored that comment; I was not ever going to play a show with my shitty GFX. I took off my mask and jacket, it was always freezing backstage, and my lack of body heat didn't help that fact.

"Sound check's done guys, time to go!" someone yelled.

"Alright, fuckers, let's rock their fucking worlds tonight! Whooo!" Nick practically materialized out of nowhere and ran for the stage. Dan, Lynda, Jaymie and me all followed him out to meet the screaming crowd.

* * * * *

The show that night was going great. Usually, the crowds aren't very welcoming to the opening bands, especially us because we were still unsigned and basically unknown. About five songs in, the entire crowd was jumping and screaming, absolutely loving us.

The venue we were playing didn't have security guards willing to stand between us and the crowd, so poor Ricky, David and Leslie had to keep the kids from jumping over the barrier.

I was playing solo after solo, and started joining in with Nick's guitar solos because my voice was starting to crack and my throat was sore. Jaymie was having a blast behind the drums, killing it. After a song, she stood up and removed her hoodie.

"Holy fuck it's hot in here. Hey Orlando you guys are fucking awesome!" Jaymie yelled into her mic. Again, the crowd went crazy, the guys hooting when she took off her sweater. She was only wearing a half-tank top underneath, and she had a great body.

She smiled. "Are you fucking excited to see Avenged Sevenfold tonight?" the crowd screamed in response. "Okay then, we have about 2 more songs for you then we'll let them play, sound good?" more screaming.

Jaymie answered back with a drum solo, which shifted into the next song. Nick's fingers screamed across his fret board in a fury of notes. Before I could start singing, Jaymie stopped playing. She jumped over the drums and ran across the stage, jumping into the crowd, while the rest of the band continued playing.

Ricky helped her out when the crowd finally sent her back. She climbed back up on stage and ripped off the last of her top. She was standing only in black skinnies and a black bra, smiling and sweating. "Rock and roll bitches!" she screamed. Nick set his guitar down and removed his own shirt as well, revealing his tattooed, muscular body, and tossed it into the pit, this time the girls hooted.

"Okay, when you two are done your little strip tease, can we proceed with the show?" I laughed.

Jaymie returned to her drum set eagerly, and we playing the last songs without incident.