Kill Me With Words

The end of the summer had finally arrived and it was time for Maiden Voyage to play their last set of Warped tour. The moments leading up were bittersweet. Beth's mind raced back in time and filtered through everything that had happened from June until now. None of their dramatic issues had been resolved but at least they were all getting along for once.

Ever since Heidi's date with Ashley, she had been talking to Beth again, like they used to when they were teenagers.

"And then Ashley said..." Beth half listened to Heidi go on and on about Ashley and how perfect he was. She was happy for Heidi but she didn't want to listen to her any longer. It was their last show of the tour and she wanted to get herself into that performing zone she always got herself into before every set they did.

Beth stood side stage patiently waiting for it to turn 3:50 so they could start their set on time. She peeked out into the audience and her eyes scanned through the crowd. They settled on a large tattooed, balding man in the very back with a silver earring dangling from his right lobe and a scruffy beard surrounding his pursed lips.

"Dad?" Beth whispered to herself.

"Almost ready?" Spencer came up behind her and put an arm around her shoulders.

She looked over at him briefly and then back out at the crowd. The man was gone. "Y-yeah..." She trailed. "I thought I just saw my dad in the crowd... But... No, it couldn't have been him."

Spencer didn't say anything. He just stood next to Beth and let her sort through her thoughts, trying to shake the idea that there was a chance her father would show up to see their last set of tour.

The stage managers and stage hands were telling everyone to go and Beth slowly made her way out onto stage with the rest of her band. She stepped in front of the mic stand and looked out at the giant crowd in front of her. The moment the tip of her converse hit the bottom of the stand was the moment she realized that it was all over. The tour, the crowds, summer; Everything they had ever dreamed of was coming to an end, and they had no plans on what they were going to do next.

Beth shook herself out of her vegetative state and smiled at everyone looking up at her. "Thank you guys so much for coming out today." She began. "Final day of Warped Tour and we're all feeling a little sentimental." The crowd cheered for them. "Anyway," She continued. "This one's called Healing."

They played through the first song they always played and a couple more after that. Before Beth knew it, it was almost time for them to play their last song and then it would officially be over.

She grabbed a swig of water before skipping back over to the mic stand as the second to last song ended. Before she could introduce the last song, Spencer began to speak.

"Beth, I'm just gonna say something real quick if that's alright." Spencer said into his back up vocals mic. Beth nodded and he continued. "As a lot of you out there may know, Beth is the daughter of the very famous guitar player Arthur Gavin of Poison Sun." The crowd cheered. Everyone had heard of Poison Sun, even if they had no idea Beth was the daughter of Arthur Gavin. "So to make this last day of Warped Tour very special for Beth, we pulled some strings." Spencer played a note on his guitar.

Beth laughed at his corny joke and felt tears welling up behind her eyes. She didn't want tour to be over. She didn't want to leave Andy and the boys behind.

"Everyone give it up for Beth's father, and a second father to all of us here in Maiden Voyage: Arthur Gavin!" Spencer exclaimed and sure enough Beth's father emerged from the side of the stage.

Beth's mouth dropped open and she couldn't hold back her tears any longer. She ran up to her aging father and embraced him in a big bear hug. She never thought the day would come that he would come to one of her shows.

Spencer walked over and removed his guitar, handing it to Beth's dad. "Surprise." He winked at his daughter and walked over to the mic stand. "Warped Tour, how are you guys doing today?!" The crowd went wild. "When my daughter was a little girl, she went to almost all of my U.S. tours and traveled through the states with me, rocking out on side stage, cheering me on every night. As she grew older and decided she wanted to be just like her dad, I didn't want her to become like I had. Today, this final day of Warped Tour, is my very first Maiden Voyage show. And to celebrate, I brought some friends along to help me play my daughter's favorite Misfits song."

Beth looked behind her as the rest of Poison Sun came out and waved and smiled at Beth. She hadn't seen them in so long and to see Poison Sun reuniting during her dad's first Maiden Voyage show brought her to her knees. She was so overwhelmed with emotion that she broke down, her legs growing weak and her heart sore with nostalgia and the overflowing love of her dad and his band.

As they started in with the intro to Dig Up Her Bones, she felt someone come up behind her. Heidi helped Beth pick herself up off the ground and supported her best friend's body with her own. Despite their differences and all the drama that had occurred over the years, Poison Sun was always going to bring Heidi back to Beth, no matter how nasty Heidi had become. Seeing Beth's father finally supporting his daughter's dreams could melt anyone's cold heart; even Heidi's; at least for now.