Symphonies of the Damned

“What did he want?” Jinxx asked, after Andy had nodded and stepped off the bus.
“He…wanted to take me out.”
I still couldn’t process that; I was still incredibly dumbfounded.
“Are you…”
“I, I don’t know.” I admitted.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t thrown off.
On one side, I wanted to happily shout out yes, and just follow him everywhere. I was in love with him!
The fact that he had taken notice of me was unbelievable.
On the other hand, I wasn’t sure if he meant it.
What if I was just a rebound to fill the spot Juliet could no longer fill? I mean, it’s not like he asked to fuck.
He said he wanted to take me out.
He never mentioned anything about sex.
“What do you think about it?” Jinxx asked hesitantly.
I knew he wasn’t about to influence my decision, but it was obvious he didn’t really trust the idea.
“I think I’m going to give him a chance.” I decided. “I really love him, and what if he’s actually trying?”
“Then try.” Jinxx nodded. “If he’s fucking with you, I won’t hesitate to break his face though…”
“I know.” I laughed.
“I’m serious Ashley, I’m tired of seeing him pretend other people’s emotions don’t exist.”
“Yeah.” I sighed, leaning against the couch.
It seemed like forever, but Christian finally emerged from the back room with his phone in hand.
“Do you have everything?” Jinxx teased. “Shoes, jacket, phone, wallet, pants…?”
“Yes!” CC laughed, running off the bus.
We followed him off the bus, heading towards the gathering of people that awaited.
“We’re here!” I announced, reaching hearing distance.
“Finally…” Chris muttered.
“Come on now, Motionless.” Ronnie laughed. “We could have easily left without them.”
“It’s not like we were planning on waiting much longer.” Jake spoke up. “You were in the middle of counting down from twenty when they showed up.”
“Still.”
Shaking our heads, we headed down the sidewalk and towards the flashing iHop sign at the end of the street.
“This is where things get difficult…” Ryan whispered, as we entered the restaurant.
It was Thursday morning at least, so there weren’t too many people seated in the establishment.
The workers were forced to push several tables together, and even then, we still had to divide into three groups.
It was our band, Ronnie, Jacky, Ryan, Chris, Jon, and Kayla who were seated together, while everyone else and their crew sat together.
“Alright guys!” CC announced, holding the girl’s hand. “This is Kayla.”
She was just as pretty as I remembered, her dark hair falling over her eyes. She had tan skin, a color that complimented her eyes.
“Kayla is Christian’s girlfriend, that he had forgotten to tell us about.” I spoke up, sending him a look.
“I had my reasons!” CC defended.
“How long have you been dating?” Andy asked, absentmindedly trying to grab the hair that was no longer there.
“Since the UK part of the tour…” CC answered sheepishly.
“Oh.”
There was a hint of jealousy in Andy’s voice.
“If you guys are done with the introductions, can we order breakfast now?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah, man.” Ronnie nodded, picking up the laminated menu.
All through breakfast, Andy kept sending my little smiles and casual glances, as if trying to send a message.
“I almost forgot.” Jon spoke up, near the end of breakfast. “You guys are staying in hotel rooms tonight.”
“Really?” Jake asked, relieved.
“Yeah, since we have a day off today and a show tomorrow. We figured, why not?”
“Thank God.” Jacky sighed. “I was getting tired of sleeping on the bus.”
“Honestly, I don’t mind it…” Chris trailed off.
“That’s because you’re part vampire.” Ronnie teased.
“I’ll admit, I do like how much it feels like a coffin.” Chris laughed. “It feels comforting.”
“Well, I like being able to breathe.” Jinxx muttered.
“Same here.”
We paid the tab before leaving iHop.
You could almost feel all the waiters letting out a sigh of relief as our tremendous group of people exited.
“Well, we have a day off in Seattle!” Ryan reminded us. “What are we planning on doing?”
Surprisingly, the weather wasn’t too bad for Washington.
It wasn’t raining, snowing, or hailing. There wasn’t even a breeze.
The sky was clear, but it wasn’t necessarily warm.
It was still freezing as fuck.
“I’d like to just walk around downtown.” Chris nodded, glancing at Ricky with a hopeful look.
“Sure.”
“Kayla and I are going to the aquarium!” CC announced, grabbing her hand.
“We are?”
“Yes!”
“I want to go look at fish…” Logan trailed off.
“Anybody feel like going to the zoo?” Ronnie asked, offering the invitation to mainly Jacky.
“I will.” He volunteered.
“I think I’ll go too.” Derek decided.
“Caleb and I’ll go too!” Chad spoke up.
Everyone else wanted to just roam the streets of downtown Seattle, besides Robbie and Ron who decided to catch up on sleep.
“What are we doing?” I asked Andy once everyone had dissipated and left us behind.
“Let’s go back to the hotel and shower, yeah?” Andy suggested. “I feel gross.”
“Sure.”
We went back to the tour bus, which was parked just a block away from the hotel we would be staying at.
Grabbing our suitcases, we pulled on plain black hoodies and crept towards the hotel.
Hopefully this day wouldn’t be ruined with fangirls.
Don’t get me wrong, I love our fans! I just…wanted to spend the day alone with Andy.
After we had showered and gotten redressed, I was sitting on the edge of the bed in the room I was sharing with Andy.
Yeah, sharing.
Jinxx had switched key cards with Jake, so he was rooming with the asshole and Andy and I were together.
It was a nice offer, considering he was stuck with Jake.
“Are you ready to go?” Andy asked, turning off his flat iron in the bathroom.
“Yeah.”
“Alright, let me just grab my wallet.”
Pulling on a leather jacket, I pocketed the room key and waited for Andy in the hallway.
He finally emerged, buttoning his denim jacket over a Navy Blue hoodie.
“Let’s go.”
I followed him downstairs and out into the crisp air.
There were crowds of people trying to maneuver their way around the cobble-stoned sidewalks and around the awkwardly planted trees.
“Let’s just walk around first.” Andy smiled, leading the way towards the Heart of Seattle.
We spent over two hours just walking around.
It was a pretty fun afternoon, actually.
We were wandering around the Pike Place market, just sampling different bits of food from different countries.
After finding a candy store, Andy just had to go in and buy himself something.
You could smell the chocolate from a block away.
Of course, the candy Andy bought himself mainly consisted of peanut butter and chocolate.
“Do you want anything?” Andy offered, looking like a kid in a, well, in a candy store.
“Sure.” I nodded, choosing a raspberry bar covered in dark chocolate.
We were walking along Lenora Avenue when we heard the screaming coming from somewhere.
“Fuck.”
“Let’s turn this into a game.” Andy suggested, with a sly smile.
“What?”
“Let’s see if we can hide from them.” Andy laughed, running away from me and towards the piers.
“Wait for me!” I yelled, running after him.
We kept running for a few minutes. At one point, I looked behind me and saw a group of about seven girls, just chasing.
Andy stopped in front of a wooden entrance, ducking through the glass door.
“Wait!” I panted, trying to catch my breath.
“They can’t get us here.” Andy breathed, pointing at a sign.
“No shoes, no shirt, no service?” I read, staring at the plain sign.
“No!”
I kept looking, finally catching the “Seattle Aquarium” printed above the other sign in scripted font.
“I still don’t get it.” I muttered, looking around the painted murals of fish.
“There’s a twenty dollar entrance fee, Ash. I don’t think they’re going to pay for an aquarium visit.”
“True, but are we?” I enquired.
“Do you want to look at weird-looking fish?” Andy asked.
“Uh, sure?”
He laughed, paying for two tickets and letting me lead the way into the glass walled room.
Before long, we ran into CC and Kayla.
“Hey guys!” I greeted, looking around for the missing guitar player. “Where’s Logan?”
“He went to the zoo with Caleb instead.” CC answered. “Something about penguins?”
“Oh.”
We left them then, continuing our gazing around the aquarium.
“This is probably the worst date you can take me on.” I laughed, when we were crossing between buildings.
We had finished looking at the fish, and were heading towards the Sea Otter’s tank.
“Why?” Andy pouted, casually taking my hand.
I didn’t bother letting go, just wrapping my fingers around his palm and letting the moment happen.
“Because I’m just ignoring you.” I pointed out. “There are too interesting things to look at, I’m not paying attention to you!”
“It’s fine.” Andy smiled, stepping closer to me. “It’s kind of cute seeing you get all excited like this. I like it.”
Blushing slightly, I bit my lip and ducked my head down.
“Aw, let me see those eyes of yours Ashes.” Andy pleaded, hooking his fingers under my chin.
Gazing into his baby blues, I tried not to lose myself in the moment.
I still wasn’t sure if I could trust him.
“Ashley…”
“Andy…” I whispered, in a softer tone that I intended.
I sounded lustful, as if I wanted him to lean in closer and just kiss me.
Hell, I did want him to kiss me!
Just…not yet.
“Sea otters!” I yelled excitedly, seeing a furry little creature swim by.
Laughing, Andy recomposed himself before following me to the glass wall.
“You are adorable.” I heard him whisper.
By the time we were done at the aquarium, and had bought some cheesy shark shirts at the Gift Shop it was almost five.
We had spent three hours there, and another hour in the gift shop.
“Are you hungry?” Andy asked, as we walked back towards the main street of Seattle.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go to the next part of our date then.” Andy smiled, taking my hand again.
“Wait, there’s more planned?”
“Yeah, three parts actually…”
“Wow.”
We walked along the still buzzing streets towards the very center of the big city. Even from a distance, I could see the towering point of the Space Needle.
“Are we going up there?” I asked excitedly.
“Yes.”
We paid another entrance fee, taking the elevator to the very top of the Space Needle.
When we reached the top, we just stood and stared at the buildings and people that made up this place.
There were so many components to it, and it all just came together in this beautiful view.
It ended at the sparkling edge of the Pacific Ocean, a ferry crossing the water from here to Mukilteo.
“I love it…” I whispered, taking it all in. “But, it’s not edible.”
“Come on.” Andy laughed, guiding me back towards the elevators.
We went down a floor, stopping just outside the polished doors of SkyCity, a really fancy restaurant in the Space Needle.
“Really?” I asked, glad I hadn’t worn a cut up shirt.
In fact, Andy had chosen my outfit for me today – choosing a silk button up shirt and a tie over skinny jeans.
He really had planned all of today to the last detail.
“Do you have reservations?” a waiter asked, opening the door for us.
“Yes.” Andy answered. “It should be under Biersack.”
He nodded, ushering us to a small table closest to the window. From here, we could see every inch of the city.
“How did you make reservations?” I asked, looking around the nearly full restaurant.
“You’d be surprised about what you can do when you’re famous.” Andy grinned, opening his menu.
We ordered a bottle of Zinfandel and some Wild Gulf Prawns as a starter.
“I can’t believe we’re eating in the sky.” I laughed, taking a sip of my wine. I seemed to be laughing a lot today.
“Anything for you.”
“When did this happen?” I asked, unsure if I wanted to have a serious conversation yet.
Today had been perfect so far.
“When I saw you with that one girl, actually.” Andy sighed. “It made me realize just what I had been doing to you, and how it felt. It also made me realize how I felt about you.”
“Oh?”
“You’re more than just a one night stand, Ashley. You’re much more than a good time. You are someone I want to spend my days with, because, well, because I think I might love you.”
That caught me by surprise.
A waiter came by then, bringing a basket of warm bread and refilling our wine glasses.
“Have you decided what you’d like for dinner?” he asked, in a professional matter.
“Yes, can I have the Beef Tenderloin?”
“I’ll have the lamb.” I decided, closing the menu and offering it to the waiter to take.
“Alright.”
He left us alone then, with more wine and savory bread.
“Can we just eat here every day?” I asked, biting into a piece of bread.
“I wish.”
“So, what was that about loving me?” I smirked.
“Ashley, you are really wonderful. You’re important to me, and I’m not going to let Jake influence my thoughts. You are so much more than I could ever ask for, and I love you more than I ever cared for Juliet. I’m tired of being an unfaithful asshole, and I’m really trying to change.”
“Is that why you cut your hair?” I sidetracked.
I really wanted to hear this conversation, but I wasn’t ready to speak yet.
I needed a moment to think.
I needed to decide what the good thing to do was.
“Yeah, do you like it?”
“It looks nice.” I admitted. “I’m still not used to it, but you look adorable.”
“Thanks.”
“You don’t look like an eighteen-year-old kid anymore though.” I offered. “You look older.”
“That’s probably why I wasn’t carded.” Andy mumbled, nodding towards his glass of pink liquid.
“Probably.”
We changed topics then, spending dinner just talking about the most random things.
It was back to sharing little tour stories and random memories.
They were mostly his tour stories, considering I had barely stepped outside the tour bus when it wasn’t necessary.
“What are we going to do about Jake?” I finally asked.
“I’ll talk to him later.”
That was the end of that conversation, made obvious by the way Andy crumpled his napkin in his fist.
After dinner, Andy picked up the tab and we walked back outside into the darkening sky.
I felt bad that he had been spending all his money on me; from the candy to the aquarium, to dinner.
“What are we doing next?” I asked, as we slowed down our pace.
“What do you think?” Andy queried, gazing up at the Ferris wheel that lit up the empty pier.
“Really?” I asked, getting excited.
He nodded.
“Sure!” I agreed. “But, only if you let me pay for the ride.”
“Fine.”
Paying for our tickets, we claimed a car for ourselves and waited for it to start.
The wheel moved slowly, pausing every car to let someone else climb in and enjoy the ride.
At one point, we were at the very top of the spinning metal.
“It’s beautiful…” I whispered, staring at the different hues of the Washington sky.
It was a light in different shades of blue, black, and purple.
A few stars were peeking out.
“It’s not as beautiful as you.” Andy smiled, leaning in.
He pressed his lips against mine, resting a hand on my thigh.
Relaxing against him, I let my hand move from my lap to the back of his shoulders.
My lips moved with his, in a synchronized dance.
It was the perfect ending to a perfect date with the perfect man.