Better Than Me

"What are you doing here?" Riley demanded when she finally found her voice.

"I'm a guest of Steven Adler's," Jacob answered.

"Steven Adler? Guns 'N Roses' drummer?"

Jacob nodded. "That's the one."

"Y'all are friends?"

"Kind of. I'm writing and singing for his new band."

Riley frowned. "So...you're leaving Lynam?"

"No. I'm going to be in both bands."

Riley stared at him for several seconds in silence. She still couldn't quite wrap her mind around the fact that Jacob was here, in Los Angeles, at the Revolver Golden God Awards. She had messaged him this morning, assuming he was in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was supposed to be. Instead, he'd been on a plane, flying the three thousand miles that separated Birmingham from L.A.

"Should I be hurt?" Jacob asked, breaking into her thoughts.

Riley gave him a blank look.

"You're obviously not happy to see me," he clarified.

"No! I am! I'm just surprised, that's all." Raising her eyes to his, she saw a teasing sparkle in the sapphire depths and knew he'd just been messing with her. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"It wouldn't have been as fun that way."

"This is too weird," Riley muttered.

"Jacob!" Slash stepped up beside Jacob. His attention was immediately drawn to Riley. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Riley," Jacob said. "She's dating Andy from Black Veil Brides."

"Oh." Slash held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Riley said, shaking his hand.

"How do you two know each other?" Slash queried curiously.

"We went to high school together," Jacob replied.

"Wow." Slash chuckled. "Small world."

Jacob was watching Riley. She fidgeted, taking a sip of her drink.

"John's around here somewhere," Slash said to Jacob. "He didn't want to come, but I persuaded him. I'm sure he'll want to talk to you about the work he did in the studio last week."

"I'll hunt him down later."

"Alright. I'll, uh, leave you two alone." Slash cast an unreadable glance at Riley and walked away.

"John who?" Riley questioned. She wasn't sure she could handle another stretch of silence between them.

"John 5," Jacob said. "From--"

"Marilyn Manson." Riley's brow furrowed slightly. "Why does he want to talk to you about his work in the studio?"

"Because he was working on a song for Adler. He and Slash are both making guest appearances on the album."

"That's...awesome! Why are you staying with Lynam?" Riley joked.

Jacob laughed. "It has been pretty mindblowing," he admitted. "I'm in the booth, recording vocal tracks, and I look out to see guys I grew up listening to right on the other side of the glass."

Riley couldn't help her smile. He had played it cool with Slash right beside him, but now he had a mildly dazed expression. It reminded her of Andy's reaction to meeting Tommy Lee at a Motley Crüe concert.

"So," Jacob said. "Where is Andy anyway?"

"He and the rest of the guys are backstage. Their performance is soon."

"And you're not back there with him, giving him a pep talk?"

"What can I say? I'm a terrible girlfriend." Her eyes met Jacob's again, briefly, and she felt her stomach quiver as it had so often in Alabama. "Actually, the guys have their pre-show ritual. No girlfriends allowed."

"Ah. Okay." Jacob nodded towards the group Riley had abandoned that consisted of her girls and three members of Avenged Sevenfold. "You probably want to get back to rubbing elbows with Avenged Sevenfold, who, if I remember correctly, is your 'favorite fucking band ever.'"

Riley glanced over to discover that only Corinne had noticed what was keeping her at the bar, and she did not look very thrilled. Piper and Sammi, on the other hand, were laughing at whatever story Brian and Zacky were sharing.

Riley returned her focus to Jacob. He fit in so well here. With his overly-styled hair, the touch of eyeliner, and the solid black ensemble, he definitely had the image. And, although not everyone was aware of it, he had the talent as well.

"I want to shine like the stars, but I could never get it right." The lyric, sung in Jacob's haunting voice, echoed through her mind.

Adler was giving Jacob another chance. Perhaps his last one.

"I'll talk to you later," Jacob was saying. He had taken her lack of response as a confirmation that she would prefer to be back with Sammi, Piper, Corinne, Brian, Matt, and Zacky.

"Wait." She stopped him before he could even start to turn away. She didn't want him to go. He was good company and besides, she didn't know when she would see him again. "I can hang around a while. I mean, if you don't have anywhere to be."

Jacob smiled. "My schedule has just been cleared."

"Let's sit down," Riley suggested. "Preferably at a table with a good view of the stage."

The majority of the individuals in the VIP area were milling around, chatting with various other individuals, which made it easy for Jacob and Riley to find an empty table that was against the railing that was the only thing keeping them from plummeting into the audience below. Their view of the stage was completely unimpeded.

"You look beautiful, by the way," Jacob said.

Riley blushed. "Thanks. So do you."

"Really? Because I'm dressed exactly the way I dress back home."

"Well, maybe I thought you were beautiful there, too."

"But not in high school. What a shame."

"Would it have made a difference? Even back then your one true love was music."

"You got me," Jacob conceded. "Girls just weren't as important. There was plenty of time for all of that later."

"Apparently not," Riley observed. "Ten years later, you're still single."

"I've dated."

"And?"

"And I haven't come across anyone who is willing to be in second place behind my 'one true love.'"

Riley shook her head. "You musician types."

"Does Andy put you first?"

"Not often."

"He was lucky to find you."

"We were both lucky."

Jacob and Riley both looked up at the introduction of the Black Veil Brides to the stage. As they started Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock," alongside Dee Snider, Riley snuck a peek at Jacob. She wondered if spending this time with him was a mistake.

We're just two old friends, talking about our lives, she assured herself. Where's the harm in that?

**********

Riley and Jacob parted ways almost as soon as the Black Veil Brides left the stage. Riley didn't feel that this was the best way for Andy and Jacob to meet for the first time.

"We should get together again while I'm in L.A.," Jacob said.

"That would be great," Riley said honestly.

The two of them exchanged numbers and hugged, then Riley went back to her girls. Matt, Zacky, and Brian were gone.

Corinne grabbed Riley's arm, steering her a few feet away from the others. "What the hell? Was that Jacob?"

"Yeah. He's here with Steven Adler. They're in a band together now."

"He's leaving Lynam?"

Riley laughed. "That's exactly what I asked! No. He can multi-task, apparently."

Corinne crossed her arms over her chest. "What was so interesting that y'all had to cozy up alone and discuss it?"

"We weren't 'cozied up,'" Riley protested. "And we were just talking. Idle chit-chat about Adler and Andy and high school."

Corinne looked as though she had more to say, but the guys--minus Ashley--came back and she refrained. Riley was thankful for the distraction. She really didn't feel like talking about Jacob with Corinne. For the first time ever, Corinne didn't understand an aspect of Riley's life. It gave Riley a sense of loss. She and Corinne had always been so close and had so much in common that they were practically the same person. Corinne had never judged Riley for any of her opinions or actions; however, it seemed that lack of judgment was at an end.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, except for Marilyn Manson's performance with Johnny Depp on guitar and the fact that Jake and Jeremy won the award for Best Guitarists.

Riley was relieved when the night was over. She wanted nothing more than to go home, take a shower, and go to bed. She wasn't in the mood to deal with any more people.

"Are you okay, babe?" Andy questioned as they got into her car.

"I'm fine."

"Did you have a good time?"

"I had a wonderful time."

"I'm assuming you didn't 'fangirl out' over the Avenged guys?" Andy inquired teasingly.

Riley grinned. "Almost. I was doing really well until Brian joined us. That was a near miss."

Andy chuckled. "You'd better get used to meeting famous people, Riley. You're gonna be on my arm at a lot of awards shows."

Riley said nothing. Hearing Andy referring to their future together gave her a distinctly trapped feeling. She couldn't put her finger on the problem; she simply knew that she couldn't listen to this.

"Y'all were totally robbed in the 'Best Fans' category," she commented.

"You don't think Avenged deserved it? You do remember that you're an Avenged fan, right?"

"I don't know that I would label Avenged fans as the 'best.' More like the craziest."

"Same difference."

"No, it's not. Avenged fans take it to a whole new level. And a lot of them are hateful, too. I mean, every time I've seen Avenged, they have fans that boo the other acts, or walk out during them. A girl I know said that when Avenged played with Shinedown in her city, there were some Avenged fans that were throwing shit at Shinedown while they were on the stage. Real classy."

"Exceptionally passionate?" Andy supplied.

Riley snorted, but his light tone had eased her mood to one of amusement rather than building anger. Andy smiled at her. That smile had once made her breath catch in her throat and her heart skip a beat.

What the fuck is wrong with me? she wondered.

"Ashley met a girl," Andy announced randomly.

"Gee, color me surprised," Riley said sarcastically, her thoughts had jumping abruptly to Cody. "Will we be graced by his presence at all over the next three days?"

Andy smirked. "Judging by her, um, assets...nope."

"Ugh! Ash is such a pig!"

"Yeah. Despite that, we still love him."

"Speak for yourself."

"Aww, you don't love Ash?"

"Only in those rare instances where he acts like a normal human being."

"Roughly once every three months then?"

Riley snickered. "Exactly."

There was a brief pause. Andy broke the silence by saying slyly "You know what we should do when we get home?" He reached over and rested his hand on her bare thigh.

Riley swallowed a sigh. She wouldn't be going straight to sleep tonight.