Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

Matt invited Dawn to stay for a few more days so that she could celebrate Halloween with us. The show on Halloween was going to be in Baltimore, Maryland. I didn't see how the guys could play a show and still think they'd have time for a party, but then again, nothing really surprised me anymore.

The guys had a day off on the thirtieth. We used it to shop for costumes. Needless to say, the guys were adamant that Dawn and I follow the "slut rule."

"It's not like you don't see me mostly naked on a day-to-day basis," I said to Brian as we filed into a warehouse that had been converted to a costume shop for the month of October.

"Yeah, but you don't really go for role playing," he replied. "I don't ever get to see you dressed up."

"Really, Gates?" Zacky plucked a Minnie Mouse costume from the nearest rack. "You get turned on by cartoon characters? Maybe you had childhood fantasies about the female Disney characters, and in your fantasies, they were total sluts, and now you want Jordan to embody those fantasies."

"Let me remind you, Zee, that you're the only one who had brought a date dressed as a Disney princess to a Halloween party in the last six years," Brian shot back.

Zacky had dated a girl for about three months last year. They'd shown up at Matt's Halloween party as Snow White and her prince.

"Can I interrupt?" Jimmy suddenly appeared holding a Jasmine costume. "This is all you, Jordan."

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm serious!" Jimmy widened his blue eyes, attempting to look sincere. "Gates can be Aladdin. He's got the dark eyes and the dark hair and a tan, which helps with that whole Arabian thing."

Brian and I exchanged an amused glance.

"Or they can go as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf," Johnny suggested.

"Why do you guys automatically assume we're doing couple's costumes?" Brian asked.

"Because it's cute," Jimmy said.

Brian shook his head.

"What about you, Slim?" I questioned. I just wanted the focus off of Brian and me. "What are you going as?"

"A Knight of the Round Table," he said.

"No!" Matt and I cried simultaneously.

Jimmy blinked. "No? Why?"

"You with a sword, even a fake one, is an awful idea," Matt stated. I nodded in agreement.

Jimmy shrugged. "Fine. I'll be a doctor. Hey, Jordan, wanna be my nurse?" He smirked and grabbed a nurse costume that definitely fell under the heading "slutty."

"And Dawn can be the sexiest witch ever," Johnny chimed in, pointing out the witch costume made up of the least amount of fabric.

"Or a cop," Matt said. "Comes with handcuffs." He caught Dawn's eye and smirked. She blushed.

"I've got it!" Zacky flashed a wicked smile. "Dawn can be a cop and Jordan can be a fireman...um, woman."

Dawn and I exchanged another look, shrugged, and nodded.

"DON'T!" I said loudly as Brian and Jimmy both opened their mouths. "If I hear even one joke about a hose, I'm changing costumes."

Brian and Jimmy both closed their mouths, looking disappointed. Dawn giggled.

"Now, let's pick out something for you guys," I said, heading over to the men's section.

Grumbling, the guys trailed after me.

It took another hour to find the guys costumes they were happy with. Johnny was going as Robin Hood; Matt as King Arthur; Jimmy as a mad scientist; Zacky as a wizard (which required some serious persuasion from Dawn and me, and everyone to swear not to call him Harry Potter); and Brian had decided to be a pirate.

Back at the hotel, I kicked off my shoes and stretched out on one of the beds. The guys had wanted a hotel to come back to after the Halloween party tomorrow; Dawn and I had demanded that they get rooms for the night before as well. We wanted honest-to-God showers and somewhere to get ready for the party.

"Bri," I said, watching him lift his shirt over his head.

"Hmm?" he mumbled with the shirt still covering his face.

"Why didn't you want to go as a pair?" I kept my tone casual. I wasn't upset. Not really. Or am I? I wondered.

Brian dropped his shirt on the floor and ambled to the bed in nothing but his strategically ripped jeans. "I don't know. You didn't seem too enthusiastic about the idea, either."

"I wasn't going to ask you to do something you didn't want to do."

"Baby." Brian crawled onto the bed and lay beside me. "If you want to go as a pair, we'll go back tomorrow before the show and pick something out."

"No, it's fine. It's just...it's not like any Avenged fans are going to be there."

"Depends on where we go. And what does that have to do with anything?"

I chewed on my lower lip, not looking at him.

"Jordan?" He gripped my chin between his thumb and forefinger and forced my face up. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Are you sure that the reason you didn't want to do it is because you're afraid someone would see us together and figure out that you're taken?"

Brian sighed. "How many times are we going to do this, Jordan? What do you not understand? You said you were okay with this, that you would let me choose the best time to announce that I'm taken. Not only taken, engaged."

"I'm sorry," I said quickly, wishing I'd kept my mouth shut. "You're right."

"Baby." Brian smoothed my hair back from my face and kissed me on the forehead. "I'm only going to say this one more time: I love you. I don't want anyone else. You are the most important thing in the world to me. The rest of it, what the fans think they know, it's all bullshit. It means nothing."

I nodded and gave him a small smile.

"No more worries, right?"

"Right," I echoed.

*****

The show on Halloween was one of the best I'd ever seen. More than a few fans in the audience were dressed up, and it seemed to pump up the guys even more, like this was a pre-party and everything that came later was the real party.

There was no meet-and-greet. We went straight back to the hotel, where the guys showered and changed. Dawn and I had only to get our costumes on; we'd showered and done our makeup before the show.

The club was within walking distance of the hotel. Brian took a little longer than everyone else to get ready, so I waited behind with him while the others went ahead. When Brian emerged from the bathroom, I had to exercise all of my self-control to keep from attacking him. We were already going to catch hell for being late; if I made us even later, we'd never live it down.

We arrived at the club to find it overflowing with people in costume. Almost every female there had had the Slut Rule imposed upon her. The guys were going to be like kids in a candy store.

"AAAAAARRR!" Jimmy growled in his best impersonation of a pirate as Brian and I approached the bar.

"AAAAAARRR!" Brian echoed.

"HEY!" Jimmy turned on me, pointing accusingly. "You let Shads have a sword! No fair!"

Matt gloatingly brandished the fake sword that was an accessory with his King Arthur costume.

"That's because Shads won't impale himself, or anyone else," I told Jimmy.

"Not on my sword, anyway," Matt said with a smirk.

"GROSS!" I yelled.

"You only protest like that because deep down, you really want to know how it feels," Matt retorted.

"God, Shads! I totally just threw up in my mouth."

"Sunshine!" Jimmy reached for my hand. "Dance with me?"

"Jimmy!" Brian said warningly. "You'd better keep your hands where I can see 'em."

Jimmy saluted Brian. "Sir, yes, sir. I'll keep 'em right where you'll be staring."

"Her tits?" Johnny guessed.

"Her ass," Jimmy stage-whispered.

"Do you want two broken wrists?" Brian threatened.

"You can't break my wrists. You need me. I'm the drummer." Jimmy stuck his tongue out at Brian and dragged me out onto the dance floor. Usher's "Nice and Slow" was just starting.

"Ooooh, a slow song," Jimmy said, chuckling. "Romantic." He slipped his arms around my waist and we swayed to the rhythm.

"Jimmy!" I scolded as his hands slid down my back, towards my ass. "I don't need Brian to protect me. I'll break your hands myself."

Jimmy laughed. "Sorry, sunshine." He rested his hands on my hips. "I can't help myself. A hot body is like a magnet to these hands."

We danced through three more songs, Jimmy occasionally making an observation about the other club patrons. After the third song, Jimmy tugged me to the bar and ordered two drinks: a vodka and Red Bull for himself and a Jack and Coke for me. Matt and Dawn were standing at the end of the bar, talking.

"Um, where's everybody else?" I asked as Jimmy and I joined them.

"I think they went upstairs," Matt replied.

"What's upstairs?"

Matt shrugged. "No idea."

"Let's find out!" Jimmy seized my hand and led me to the staircase at the back of the main room. We climbed to the second floor.

There was another bar here, and fewer people. To the left, in a dark corner, were a small sofa and two chairs. Zacky was on the sofa with two girls. Both of the chairs were occupied as well. Johnny was in one, talking to Zacky and the girls on the sofa. Brian was in the other. And there was a girl on his lap.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I turned to Jimmy. "Is that nothing?"

Jimmy didn't answer. I looked back and discovered that Zacky had spotted us. He was saying something to Brian, who glanced over his shoulder.

I flashed Brian a forced smile. "Let me ask you something," I said to Jimmy, again facing him. "How far am I supposed to let this go just to maintain his fucking image?"

"He's not doing anything," Jimmy said. "It's innocent. She probably sat on his lap without waiting for an invitation."

"And he can't tell her to get up? Oh, no, wait, that might make it look like he doesn't enjoy groupie sluts all over his cock, and we don't want that."

"Sunshine..."

"No, Jimmy. I don't want to hear it." I sighed. "If I stay here, I might say something to him. I'm gonna go." I hugged Jimmy. "Love you."

"Love you, too."

I waved at Zacky and Johnny, but Brian was focused on whatever the girl in his lap was chattering about, so he didn't notice. "I can handle this," I murmured to myself, descending the stairs. "God! Do I really expect Brian to give me a pep talk every time he does anything?"

I hurried out of the club, into the cold night air. Brian's words came back to me. "I love you. I don't want anyone else. You are the most important thing in the world to me. The rest of it, what the fans think they know, it's all bullshit. It means nothing."

Still, I couldn't help thinking that Brian having a girl on his lap was taking this bad boy image a little too far. I didn't doubt his feelings for me; however, I did wonder if he wasn't taking advantage of the persona he'd created for himself. How convenient to have an excuse to flirt and play around, an excuse that made me look like a jealous fiancée if I called him on it.

This is exactly what Jimmy was talking about, I thought, yanking open the door to the hotel lobby. He wanted me to see the reality of the rock star lifestyle.

And you said you could handle it, that voice in the back of my brain piped up.

I felt a surge of defiance and determination. So I'll handle it.