Only You Give Me That Feeling

Brian’s POV

“When did you wake up?” I heard Steph ask quietly. I turned to Melanie when I heard her sight and saw her staring deeply at Steph.
“A couple of months after you left” she replied.
“Oh” Stephanie said coldly.
“So, are you staying with us, Brian?” Audrey said once silence was starting to take over. Everyone stared at me, waiting for me to answer.
“Yeah, I was hoping he’d stay with us, is that okay?” Stephanie replied for me.
“Yeah, no problem, you can stay here as long as you want” Her mom said and gave me a warm smile “So, How did you two meet?” she asked.
“At a bar” Stephanie replied “Alana and I went to this bar and one of his band mates started to make conversation with us and asked us to sit with them. We hit it off right away” she said. I smiled as I remembered the first time I saw her, who knew I’d care for her as much as like I do now.
“Band mates?” Mr. Mark asked confused, Stephanie nodded her head as she squeezed my hand. I stared nervous at Stephanie and she smiled at me, silently saying it was okay
“My friends and I have a band, sir.” I said
“Like a hobby?” Mr. Mark asked, I shook my head
“No, we recently signed with Warner Records” I paused “We’re on tour right now, actually. We’re playing one of our last shows tomorrow.”
“What’s your band called, sweetie?” Mrs. Caryn asked
“Avenged Sevenfold” I replied and heard Audrey squeal
“I knew it!” she said “You’re Synyster Gates!” she squealed making me laugh
“Synyster Gates?” Stephanie’s dad asked “I thought you said his name was Brian” he asked Stephanie, frowning
“Yeah, it is” she replied and her dad stared confused at her
“The guys in the band and I stage names, sir” I answered “Mine is Synyster Gates”
“Oh” was all he said, his face softened

“Okay, its late already, I’m going to make dinner, you must be starving” Mrs. Caryn said standing up going to the kitchen.
“So, how’s the rock star life, son?” Mr. Mark asked upset after his wife left
“Actually, is not much different from anything, sir. We do stuff like normal people, we just make music for a living” I replied
“And you’re traveling around with them?” he asked Stephanie, she nodded
“Yeah, they asked me to come on tour with them a while ago” she replied “I’ve had a terrific time with the guys” she smiled
“Where are they, by the way?”
“They’re staying at Alana’s” she said “I asked only Brian to come with me” she replied. Her dad just stared at us and suddenly stood up

“I’ll go tell your mom I want some steak” he said and left. I stared confused at Stephanie
“That’s my dad for you, when he doesn’t like something, he decides to ignore it” she said and shrugged
“Fuck” I mumbled worried, he didn’t like me, just as I feared.
“Don’t worry, he liked you” she said smiling at me

“So, how’s been the love life?!” Audrey asked excited “There has to be someone” she said staring at me with a smirk on her face. I smiled and turned to Stephanie, waiting for her to reply
“Actually there isn’t” she smiled.
“Really?” Audrey asked, Stephanie nodded “Not even him?” she said pointing at me. I opened my eyes wide open and turned to Stephanie, she sighed and rolled her eyes.
“I just had to know” Audrey said standing up before walking towards us. “I missed you” she said and threw herself onto Stephanie
“I’ve missed my pain in the ass little sister too” she laughed and held her tight so she wouldn’t fall off her legs.
“Brian, when we’ll be meeting your friends?” she asked me
“Whenever you want” I replied “We’ll have a show tomorrow night; you can come with us”
“Really!?” she said excited
“Sure, if your sister is okay” I said as Audrey frowned
“I don’t care if she’s okay or not.” she grinned making me laugh.
“Hey! Be nicer to me” Stephanie exclaimed
“He’s the rock star, not you. shush” she said. I let out a laugh, that girl acted just as Stephanie.
“You can come too, Melanie. If you want” I asked her. She shook her head
“I can't. I have to go to Manhattan tomorrow” I nodded “I’ll be back the day after tomorrow, don’t worry” she said when Steph frowned

“Dinner’s ready!” I heard Mrs. Caryn yell
“C’mon, they get pissed when you don’t go when they call you” Audrey told me as she and Mel stood up and went into the dining room.

“Hey, wait” I said, Stephanie turned around and looked at me “How has this been for you?” I asked her, putting the hair on her face behind her hear.
“Nerve racking” she stared at me “But perfect”
“I told you” I smiled and kissed her forehead “C’mon I’m starving” I said and stood up. She nodded as we started our way to the dinner “Special occasion I see” I joked
“Clearly” she laughed. When we walked into the dinner I saw the table set. We made our way to the table and sat down right before Mrs. Caryn brought out the food.


Dinner was filled up with conversation, mostly Stephanie’s parents asking her what she had done the past years or asking me questions and Stephanie telling them to leave me alone.

“Sweetheart” Mrs. Caryn said putting down her glass of water “What made you come back? I mean, why now?”
“Brian and the guys talked me into it” she replied not looking up from her plate. Both of her parents stopped eating and stared at me.
“Yeah. She didn’t want to at first, but at the end, she agreed” I said.
“Thank you, son” Mr. Mark stated after a few seconds of silence. He smiled at me and continued eating. I smiled back and turned to Audrey when I heard her say something.
“How many days?” she asked
“I think a little over a week, cause we have a show next Saturday in LA” I replied and silence took over once again.
“So, are you planning to stay, Stephanie?” Melanie asked. I tensed up immediately, I didn’t thought about it. If Stephanie decided to stay with her family, I wouldn’t see her anymore, just thinking about it made my heart start to ache. I turned to look at her, she just shrugged her shoulders
“I don’t know”
“What you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean, I want to stay here” she paused, I felt my heart stop beating for a second there “But I don’t wanna leave the guys. I have a lot of thinking to do”
“We understand” Mr. Mark replied “So, kids.” he stated “Your mom and I were planning on doing a BBQ tomorrow afternoon, to celebrate Stephanie is back, what do you think about that?” he asked her. I tried my best no to laugh as I remembered what Steph had told me earlier, about her father always looking for a reason to do a BBQ
“A BBQ?”
“Yeah, you could ask your old friends to come, I’m sure they will” Mrs. Caryn said “We’ll call our family in London and let them know you’re back”
“I don’t know, dad” Stephanie said worried
“Why?” Audrey said sadly
“Because, Brian’s show is tomorrow”
“You have to go?”
“Yeah, mom. I do” she paused “What about the day after tomorrow? Thursday would be perfect” she smiled
“Perfect!” her mom said “tomorrow at work I’m going to call everybody. Everyone’s gonna be so happy you’re back” she said as I ate the last piece of meal in my plate



“Mrs. Caryn. Dinner was awesome, it was delicious” I said grinning
“Thank you, Brian”
“She’s the amazing woman who taught me how to cook” she said and her mom laughed
“She cooks better. I don’t know how, I taught her everything. She still makes it taste better” she said smiling
“It was amazing though” I replied “Thank you for having me”
“No, thank you for staying and bringing our little girl back” She smiled
“Okay, I think you should go to bed” Mr. Mark told Audrey
“I don’t want to” Audrey complained
“It’s school night, Missy” Mr. Mark said
“C’mon! I wanna be with them!” Audrey said but her dad shook his head “Please” she pleaded
“No, you will see them tomorrow, now go to sleep”
“Ugh, fine!” Audrey said and stood up “Night, guys. I love you sis” she said grapping her arms around Stephanie and me, soon enough she left cursing under her breath.
“I think I should go to sleep too” Melanie said standing up “I’m leaving early morning tomorrow. Thank you for dinner mom, Night dad” she said and headed towards Stephanie. “I already told you I’ll back on Friday. I will see you then, right?” she told Stephanie, almost in a pleading way
“I’m not going anywhere” she said and both of them smiled
“Goodnight, Steph” she said kissing the top of her head “Night, Brian" she paused “Thank you” she whispered and walked out the kitchen, I couldn’t help but smile



I sighed and moved Stephanie’s hair away from her face. She frowned and moved her face away. I smiled as I stared at her sleeping on my lap, it had been a really hard day for her, she must have been really tired.
I looked up and saw both her parents staring at her. We had helped Mrs. Caryn clean up the dirty plates a while ago and head back to the living right before Steph fell asleep

“You like playing, Brian?” Mr. Mark asked, I sighed, I could tell he didn’t like what I did for a living
“I love it, sir” I replied “I get to do what I love with my best friends. The feeling you get on stage, people screaming for you to play, its priceless. And we get to help people with your music on the way, that’s the best thing” I paused “Somehow we can change lives”

“But, the stalking fans or traveling around so much doesn’t bother you?”
“The fans are amazing, I love spending time with them. It’s the least I can do, they’re the ones I’m doing this for.” I smiled “The only thing the bothers me, is that I have to be away from the people I love” I paused “But most of the time, it’s worth it” I grinned

“What you mean being away from the people you love?”
“Once we start touring, its hard to see your family. Every day we’re in a different city and if we stay in a place for longer than one day, it’s for interviews or photo shots. Sometimes, we barely have time to sleep” I sighed and stroked Stephanie’s arm “I haven’t seen my family since we started touring, 8 months ago. Only my dad has come visit once or twice, but just for one day” I paused
“Oh” He replied
“So how come you’re staying here so long?”Mrs. Caryn asked
“My friend, Matt asked our manager if we could have this week off, and he agreed. We’ll only have to spend a day doing some radio and magazines interviews”
“Oh that’s very nice” he grinned and stood up “I’ll be back right away” he said and headed to his office

“How is she?” her mother asked after Mr. Mark left
“She’s fine Mrs. Caryn, just sleeping”
“No, I mean” She said and paused “How’s she been”
“Well, pretty good actually. She has her up and downs, but she’s been pretty happy about most of the time, there is nothing to worry about, not anymore” I said as she stared at me.
“You really care for her, don’t you?” she asked as a warm smile appeared on her face
“More than I should” i said after a few seconds of silence, staring at Stephanie.

“She cares about you too, a lot” she said. I didn’t reply, I looked up and stared deeply at her “If I know my daughter, and I do, she cares about you too”
“How could you be so sure?”
“I haven’t seen her look at someone the way she looks at you” She said with a sweet and warm smile on her face. I didn’t reply again, just stared at Stephanie, lost in thought. “And you look at her the very same way” I looked up again and stared at her, my eyebrows raised in surprise. “I’m a mom, Brian” she paused at my awe “We know everything” she grinned
“But... I- I don’t know” I said giving up, knowing I wasn't going to convince her otherwise
“Talk to her, I know my daughter, she can be the most absent minded person alive. She will never notice if you don’t talk to her” she said “And it may take a while for her to accept her feelings, but you have to do it” I stared at her, listening to everything she said “Trust me” she said smiling, warmth in her eyes, letting me know I could trust her. I look away when I heard Mr. Mark walking back into the living room.

“It’s pretty late” He said looking at his watch “I think we should go to sleep” he said and walked towards where I was sitting. “Let me take her to her room” he said trying to pick up Stephanie
“It’s okay. I can do it, sir” I said standing up with Stephanie in my arms making him stop. She grunted as she wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Alright” He said he said stepping back “You can sleep in the spare room” he said pointing to the left “it’s on that hallway, next to the dinner room” He said walking up the stairs.
“Nonsense” Mrs. Caryn said making him stop “You can sleep in her room”
“I don’t think that’s apropiate, Caryn”
“Mark, she’s in a place she doesn’t know anymore, with people she hasn’t seen in years, I think the best thing for her is to wake up to a familiar face”
“We’re her family, what’s more familiar than that?”
“Her family now, is him” she said pointing at me “and their friends, not us”
“Mrs. Caryn, its okay, the spare room its perfect” I said ashamed
“I want her to be with someone she’s comfortable around when she wakes up, and that’s him” she said staring at her as I held her on my arms.
“Fine” Mr. Mark stated
“Are you sure?” I asked shyly before she nodded “Thank you” I smiled
“No funny business, alright?” He said seriously. I chuckled
“I promise, sir. No funny business” I smiled. He nodded and headed upstairs. I smiled and followed him.
“You know where her room is, don’t you?” she asked. I nodded “Alright, I’ll go get you some clothes then” Mrs. Caryn said once we reached the second story.
“Oh no, it’s okay. We brought our luggage. Thank you, though” I smiled making her nod. She turned left and walked into a small room at the end of the hallway. I turned right and made my way to Stephanie’s room, once I reached her room door, I somehow managed to opened it and walked in

I was carefully lying Stephanie down on the bed when I heard a light knock on the door. I turned my head and saw Mrs. Caryn standing next to the door holding something on her arms.
“Let me help you” I said once walking closer to her.
“Those are some blankets and pillow, Brian” she said handing them to me “and some pj’s for her” she paused and stared at her daughter and raised her eyebrow “That’s if she wakes up to change clothes”
“Thank you mam” I said
“Have a good night, Brian” she said patting my shoulder
“Good Night, Mrs. Caryn” I said and she smiled at me as she walked away

She closed the door behind her right before I walked to the big couch. I put the blankets on and placed the pillow on the couch. I grabbed the pj’s and walked towards the bed; I placed them on the dressing table and turned around. I picked Stephanie up slowly and lied her down under the comforter; I kissed her forehead and walked over my suitcase to change into my sleeping clothes.

I walked back to the couch, grabbed the pillow and placed it on one side of the couch; I lifted the blanket, lied down and cover myself with it as I made myself comfortable.
It had been a really long day. Stephanie’s family was really nice, I could not imagine how Stephanie must have been feeling; she finally got to see her family after a long time. I sighed and smiled, I was happy I got to be the one by her side; I got to see that missing sparkle appear in her eyes. I sighed.
”Ugh, why can’t you just get over her?” I said to myself. “She’s just my friend” I said. I groaned as Mrs. Caryn’s voice appeared in my head.
’She cares about you too, a lot. If I know my daughter, and I do, she cares about you too’
‘How could you be so sure?’
‘I haven’t seen her look at someone the way she looks at you. And you look at her the very same way’
“Could she possibly feel the same way?” I asked myself running my hands through my hair. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes before I fell asleep.