Better Than Me

Riley was at the side of the stage, supposedly watching the Black Veil Brides' performance. In reality, she was taking care of some things that, she reasoned, needed to be done. She had e-mailed both Sammi and Piper, sharing a brief summary of the reunion and assuring both girls that she and Corinne were doing well and loved and missed them.

It was almost automatic for her to sign in to Facebook after sending the e-mail. David and Cody had accepted her friend requests. Cody had tagged her in a few of David's photos from the night at Cafe Firenze. Riley grinned as she perused the images. There were plenty of stuck-out tongues, raised middle fingers, and devil horns. It was obvious they'd all been having fun.

She also had a message from David. It said "Don't forget us little people now that you're back with the rich and famous :-)".

Riley couldn't resist replying. "I don't think anyone could ever forget you. The scars, you see. They never completely disappear."

A tiny part of her wanted to talk to Jacob, but she didn't know what to say. It hadn't even been a full twenty-four hours since she'd seen him, and it had been less than twelve hours since they'd had the exchange about "Feels Like June." Nothing had happened to her in that time. At least, nothing that she would share with Jacob.

"What are you concentrating on so seriously?" Corinne questioned curiously, appearing next to her with two bottled waters.

"Nothing." Riley hastily logged out of Facebook. Pocketing her cell, she looked at Corinne.

"Oookay?" Corinne offered her one of the waters. "Here."

"Thanks."

The two girls turned to the stage, where Andy was kneeling, arm outstretched to some lucky fan who was clinging to his fingers. Riley was suddenly assaulted with the memory of Jacob in front of her on his knees, his knuckles brushing her cheek as he played guitar. She could see his smirk and the gleam in his blue eyes.

Riley shook her head to rid it of the recollection. Twisting the cap off her bottled water, she focused back on Andy. The band had just ripped into "Die For You." Andy was watching her and as their eyes met, a smile curved his lips.

"The writing's on the wall/Your crimson touch is going nowhere/I'll hang on every word you said/And sink my teeth into this nightmare/I'm screaming out/Can you hear me?/I bleed for you/Forever I will lie awake/I would die for you/I see the truth/I've given you my heart to break/I would die for you."

Corinne nudged Riley gently. "Aww!"

"Shut up," Riley mumbled, but she was smiling.

Andy was again singing to the crowd; however, Riley could literally feel his awareness of her. It made her heart skip a beat.

"I feel your body crawl/Pale flesh for my devotion/True pain was all you ever meant/Love would be our last emotion/I'm screaming out/Can you hear me?"

"We're really lucky," Corinne commented.

Riley glanced at her best friend to find her eyes glued to Christian. "I know."

"What'd you and Andy spend the afternoon doing?" Corinne said slyly. "Or do I even have to ask?"

Riley smirked. "I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count."

"You're gonna get pregnant."

"We're careful."

"As often as y'all go at it, one of Andy's little soldiers is bound to break free and go for the gold."

Riley burst out laughing, causing Corinne to laugh as well.

"That's...disturbing!" Riley managed eventually.

"What? Having kids with Andy?"

Riley rolled her eyes. "No. The way you described the process."

Corinne shrugged. "It's the truth." She paused, considering Riley thoughtfully. "You and Andy would make adorable kids."

"Cori!" Riley protested, covering her ears.

Corinne tugged one of Riley's hands down so she could be heard. "Does Andy want kids?"

"We haven't talked about it. I mean, hell, we haven't even talked about marriage yet. We're just enjoying being together."

"And things are still going strong between y'all?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Corinne shrugged. "When we were in Alabama..."

Riley faced her. "What?"

Corinne hesitated.

"What?" Riley demanded sharply.

"You wanted to stay."

"One extra day! And I didn't hear you complaining!"

Corinne sighed. "I'm not complaining, Riley. I had a great time. It's just that you seemed to want to spend every second there with Lynam. With Jacob, specifically." She met Riley's gaze. "You barely contacted Andy."

"It was only two days," Riley said. "Andy and I aren't attached at the hip. And the Lynam guys were really fun to be around. We needed time with them. We had ten years to catch up on."

"Tell me one thing you learned about David this weekend," Corinne challenged.

"He likes U2 and Motley Crüe."

"And?"

"He's an Auburn fan. He hates Asking Alexandria. His favorite movie is The Big Lebowski." Riley lifted a shoulder carelessly. "And, you know, all the stuff about Lynam."

"What'd you learn about Jacob?"

Riley frowned. "What's your point, Cori?"

"You just seemed really interested in him."

"He was fascinating."

"Did you find him attractive?"

Riley opened her mouth to respond, but shut it again when the audience erupted deafeningly and the members of Black Veil Brides filed off the stage. Andy stopped long enough to kiss her, then jogged after the others to the dressing room.

"Riley," Corinne said the instant the guys were gone.

"We're not having this conversation, Cori," Riley cut in, her irritation veering swiftly to anger. "It's fucking ridiculous! I was enjoying being around people I hadn't seen in ten years. Jacob and I got along better than David and I. Who cares? We were just talking and catching up."

"Did you add him on Facebook?"

"I added all three of them on Facebook. It's the easiest way to keep in touch."

"It's the easiest way for you to keep in touch with them without Andy finding out."

"I'm here, Cori. I'm in Louisville, Kentucky, with my boyfriend, whom I love! I'm not in Birmingham, Alabama, with Lynam. What does that tell you?"

Corinne inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. "All I'm saying is be careful talking to him."

Both girls smiled brightly as Christian, Andy, Jake, and Jeremy rejoined them, all dressed in fresh clothes and clutching bottled waters. Andy slid his arm around Riley's waist and she snuggled against him. She dismissed Corinne's warning. Talking to Jacob was harmless. She had everything she wanted right here. Why the hell would she chase someone she could only contact via Facebook and that lived three thousand miles away?

**********

"I'M CONTROLLING THE STEREO!" Christian yelled, elbowing Jake aside. "I claimed it before the show."

"When?" Jake said, confused.

"Before the show," Christian repeated emphatically.

"During lunch," Corinne specified for Jake's benefit.

"That doesn't apply to me," Jake countered. "I wasn't there."

Christian towered over Jake, crossing his arms over his chest. "Try me, Pitts."

"Because you'd really hurt me," Jake drawled.

"We just want to check out this band that the girls hung out with in Alabama," Andy told Jake, approaching the sofa with two glasses of amaretto. He gave one to Riley and lowered himself onto the sofa next to her.

"Let them have this one," Jeremy advised Jake from where he was seated at the table, flipping through a magazine. "It's four against one."

"Not if you'd side with me," Jake grumbled.

"I'm not taking sides," Jeremy said. "Because I don't care."

Christian smirked triumphantly. "Ha!"

Jake trudged dejectedly to the table and slumped into the seat across from Jeremy.

"Which CD?" Christian asked Riley and Corinne.

The girls looked at each other.

"Tragic City Symphony is the most recent of the studio albums," Corinne said.

The title of the album registered in Riley's brain; it was the album that had the song "Heartbreak or Loaded Gun" on it--one of Jacob's favorite tracks that he'd worked on during his career.

"That's a good place to start," she remarked, sipping her amaretto.

Christian grabbed the chosen CD and slipped it into the CD player. "Track one is..." He studied the back of the case. "'Is This a Heartbreak or a Loaded Gun?'"

Riley smiled.

"It takes a lifetime, baby/But I won't run and hide/I can promise that I'm bored as you/How's it gonna be?/Don't even know me/Not quite broken, but I'm breaking down/Then, again, we make this alright/Is there something I should know?

"Is this a heartbreak, or a loaded gun?/Is this a heartbreak, or a loaded.../Is this a heartbreak, or a loaded gun?/Is this a heartbreak, or a loaded.../Yeah, it's loaded/Keep on moving on/Right where you want to be/I can be just what you need/Something's going wrong."

"Oh, wow," Jeremy said. "That chorus was totally 80's."

"Have you looked at them?" Christian said. "They're obviously influenced by the 80's. And Hinder helped them on those gang vocals," he added, flipping through the CD booklet.

"I've been thinking lately/You've got me paralyzed/It's hard to lose what we could never find/Now it's hard to breathe/Your words surround me/If it doesn't hurt it can't be real/Then, again, we make this alright/Is there something I should know?"

Without even thinking about it, Jake was drumming the beat on the wooden table. Jeremy and Andy were both bobbing their heads with the music. The chorus was repeated, then Jacob went into a guitar solo, using a talk box quite generously.

"Bon Jovi," Ashley called, twisting around in the passenger seat to grin at the others.

"I don't want to make snap judgments or anything," Jeremy said, totally abandoning his magazine, "but I think I like these guys."

The second track opened with drums and guitar, switching into the main riff with David tearing up the cowbell.

"MORE COWBELL!" Christian crowed.

Corinne and Riley exchanged a glance. Riley set aside her glass of amaretto, stood, and pulled Corinne to her feet. The girls began dancing together. Their earlier argument was forgotten that easily.

They listened to the entire CD from start to finish. Riley's favorite songs were "Just Say Anything," "White Trash Superstar," and "Suffer." Her least favorite song was "If You Leave."

While Christian, Ashley, and Jeremy debated over which Lynam CD to put in next, Andy gave his opinion on Lynam. "They're pretty good, I'll admit. But I thought you said Jacob was, like, this guitar god or something."

Riley felt a flash of annoyance. "I guess he doesn't do as much on their albums as he does live."

"He is really brilliant," Corinne chimed in. "I was probably the most impressed with him playing part of 'Eruption' by Van Halen."

This caught Jeremy's attention. "Van Halen?"

Riley and Corinne both nodded.

"And Guns 'N Roses," Riley said. "You should watch some of their live videos on YouTube."

"On it," Jeremy said, taking out his cell.

Jake moved to Jeremy's side of the table, forcing him to scoot over so that they could sit side-by-side and both see the cell phone screen.

Christian and Ashley decided to play Lynam's White Trash Superstar next. Riley rested her head on Andy's shoulder and closed her eyes, smiling as Jacob's voice washed over her.