Symphonies of the Damned

That morning, I woke up with a smile.
Yesterday was the best day of my life, and I couldn’t help but sigh at the pure bliss of hours ago.
It didn’t seem real to me, actually.
Turning on my side, I caught side of Andy’s sleeping form next to me in the hotel room.
The blanket had been kicked off, and his shirt had ridden up during the night showing off his perfect hipbones.
His black hair fell messily across his face, the ends curling lightly.
“You’re absolutely perfect.” I whispered softly, leaning forward to press a kiss against his forehead.
He stirred under my touch before opening his gorgeous blue eyes and letting a smile light up his face.
“Good morning Ashy.” He yawned adorably, rubbing his eyes.
“Morning baby.” I answered.
He pushed himself up, bringing his lips to mine.
“I wouldn’t trade this morning or last night for anything.” Andy mumbled through the kiss.
“Shut up and kiss me.” I complained, kissing harder.
“Yes babe.”
He placed his hands on my shoulders and pushed me back against the pillows, his hips straddling me.
After a few minutes, he pulled away breathlessly.
“Can we wake up like this every morning?” I asked happily.
“I really hope so.”
Gently pushing him off me, I forced myself out of bed and padded towards the large window.
It was another overcast day. Does this place ever get sun?
I hadn’t noticed Andy had gotten out of bed until I felt arms wrap themselves around my waist.
“How’s your head doing?” I asked absently.
“It hurts a little, but I can see straight.” Andy promised. “I’ll be fine for the show tonight.”
“Okay.”
We stood there for a bit longer, just gazing at the already-busy streets of downtown Seattle.
“Do you want to go downstairs for breakfast, or go out?” Andy asked suddenly, rubbing his stomach.
“Whatever you want.” I chuckled, turning so I could face him. “We don’t have to be anywhere until tonight.”
“I think…we should grab breakfast together and explore the city just one more time…” Andy pleaded. “Then, spend lunch with the band and announce our relationship.”
“You’d actually tell them?” I asked, awed.
“Well, yeah.” Andy shrugged. “I don’t give a fuck what they have to say, or anyone for that matter. I love you.”
“I love you too.” I grinned, throwing myself at him.
“Hey, come on now! I’m easily breakable!” Andy laughed, untangling himself from me.
“Let’s get dressed!” I decided excitedly.
Throwing open my suitcase, I tore through the articles of clothing as if my life depended on it.
After we had finished getting ready, I grabbed Andy’s hand and pulled him outside the hotel.
Putting on sunglasses and beanies, we tried to avoid attention.
“Where do you want to go?” I asked, intertwining my fingers with his hand and started walking.
“Let’s just grab some coffee.”
Nodding, we headed towards the nearest Starbucks.
Honestly, it wasn’t even three minutes away from us; it’s like we were in the capital of coffee shops.
“What do you want?” Andy asked me.
“Uh…just a caramel latte and a lemon scone.” I decided, not really caring what I had.
When we had received our order, we started walking the opposite path of yesterday.
We had been in the really tourist-y section of Seattle, and we wanted to see something different today.
We ended up in the more artistic area.
It was amazing, seeing all these painters and musicians just displaying and selling their work.
It’s amazing how talented some people can be.
It was nearing one when Andy’s phone started ringing with a phone call from Jon.
“Hold on a minute.” Andy interrupted, pausing my rant.
He answered the phone, holding a two-minute conversation with our short tour manager.
“What did he want?” I asked after he had hung up.
“We have to head to the hotel.” Andy made a face. “It’s almost time for sound check, and we have to load our stuff onto the bus.”
“Oh.”
We hadn’t walked as far as yesterday, cutting through several parking lots, and reached the hotel in half an hour.
Our suitcases had already been packed before we left for breakfast, so we just had to throw them on the bus.
“Let’s go!” Jon announced, after the last bag had been brought.
Jake and Jinxx were already on the bus, but it took a few minutes to find CC, and even longer to pry him away from Kayla.
In the end, we had to let her ride on our bus.
“Thanks guys!” CC beamed, before locking themselves in the backroom and turning up a random CD.
Ten minutes later, after maneuvering through the lunch-hour traffic, we had reached the venue.
It was a fairly large bar we had played before.
The techies and roadies were already setting up when we entered the room, getting everything tuned.
The other bands’ techies were doing the same.
“Sound check!” Jon announced, ushering us up on stage and cueing the lights and sound people.
We performed a quick run-through before turning over our instruments and letting Falling in Reverse do sound check.
“You have two hours!” Jon reminded us. “Don’t do anything stupid, and don’t be late!”
Andy sauntered towards me with a smirk on his face.
He grabbed my hand and dragged me away from everyone else before seductively whispering into my ear.
“Two hours is more than enough to do something, if you know what I’m talking about.”
The breath that tickled my ear caused a shudder to run down my spine.
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” I sighed, taking his hand and rushing towards the tour bus.
Thankfully no one else was onboard as we locked ourselves in the backroom and let my hands pin Andy against the couch.



“What the hell are you guys doing?” Andy called out, after CC had burst out laughing for the second time.
“Nothing!” Jinxx called out, before mumbling something.
“What the hell…” I trailed off, looking in their direction as if the wall between us would suddenly disappear.
“Want to find out?” Andy asked, getting off the couch.
We were watching Batman on his laptop for the sixth time this tour.
“Sure.”
We paused the movie and crept towards the bunkroom where Jinxx and CC were holed up in Christian’s bunk.
“She’s so cute…” Jinxx whispered before laughing quietly.
With a confused look, Andy pulled back the curtain and let light flood into the small bunk space.
Jinxx and CC had curled themselves around a tiny orange kitten with pale stripes and bright green eyes.
They were staring at it, mesmerized and kept petting its furry head and laughing every time she bit them.
“Where did you guy-” I started, only to be cut off.
“You guys have a kitten?!” Andy shrieked excitedly, before scooping her in his arms.
“She’s mine!” CC pouted, trying to get her back.
“What’s her name?” Andy ignored him, rubbing his cheek against the soft ginger fur.
“Eloise.” Jinxx answered.
“She’s so cute!” Andy cooed, rubbing Eloise’s chin and smiling.
“Where did you guys get a damn kitten?” I asked again, watching Andy play with the feline.
He looked so adorable.
The way his eyes just lit up and the laughs he let out.
Adorable.
“Uh, we were walking around and saw a pet store and we kind of, sort of had to buy her.” Jinxx mumbled.
“Had to?” I repeated.
“Okay!” CC gave in. “We couldn’t just walk away, and we bought her. I mean, could you say no to this face?”
He snatched the kitten from Andy’s grasp and held her to my face.
Her eyes were opened wide as she stared at me before letting out a quiet meow.
I’ll admit, it was cute.
“Fine.” I laughed, petting Eloise.
“Fuck yes!” CC shouted. “We have a Tour Kitten now! This is much better than any tour dog!”
“You’re just jealous of Charlie!” another voice called out.
Turning towards the sound, we found Jake and Ronnie walking towards us with paper bags.
“Hey Ronnie!” Andy called out, taking Eloise back. “Meet our new Tour Kitten!”
“Andy!”
The tattooed front man threw his arms around the other tattooed front man and hugged tightly.
“Don’t hurt the kitten!” Christian yelled in alarm, watching as the kitten was sandwiched between them.
There was a suffocated meow, as if Eloise was letting CC know she was okay and nothing was wrong.
Laughing, Ronnie stepped back and took Eloise.
“It’s cute, but it’s no Charlie.”
“She’s better!” Andy shot back, handing the kitten back to Jinxx. “Anyway, what did you guys bring?”
He was glancing curiously at the paper bags Jake was holding.
Things with Jake weren’t much different.
He rarely spent time with us, but at least he wasn’t making any rude comments about me.
Then again, Andy had forgotten to announce our relationship.
“Uh, just Burger King.” Jake shrugged, opening one of the bags to show the foil-wrapped items.
Andy nodded in satisfaction.
He was just glad it wasn’t McDonald’s this time.
We followed him back towards the kitchenette, where the forgotten laptop was placed on the table.
CC was still cradling Eloise as Ronnie grabbed napkins and soda from the mini-fridge.
Jake was passing out burgers and containers of fries.
This was the first time the entire band had been gathered without any rush since we had arrived in Seattle.
During the bus rides, half the band had chosen to sleep before the next venue and we haven’t had any all-bands/crew dinners in a few days.
Andy stepped up behind me, squeezing my shoulder.
“Today?” he whispered.
“Today.” I confirmed, smiling on the inside.
The fact that we were about to confirm the very thing Jake hated made my stomach twist.
My hunger disappeared.
I was sitting there, just ripping apart a napkin and playing with Andy’s fries.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Jinxx asked.
“Not hungry.” I answered, distracted.
“Are you okay?”
No.
“Yeah.” I answered, watching Jake.
I feel a reassuring nudge from Andy, reminding me to relax.
“Hey guys…” Andy began, after downing half a bottle of soda. “I, uh, we have an announcement to make.”
He shot me a smile, which I returned.
Ronnie was leaning back with a knowing smirk; he was the only one Andy had told.
They were close friends, after all.
“What is it?” CC asked, slightly distracted with Eloise.
Andy glanced back at me.
“I, uh…” I tried, unable to speak.
“Ashley and I are dating.” Andy blurted out, with a sigh of relief.
“Really?” Jinxx asked.
“Yep.” Ronnie confirmed, getting up.
He walked around the table and pulled us both for a hug. “I didn’t get to say this earlier, but congrats.”
“Wait, you knew?” Jinxx demanded.
“Uh, yeah… I’ve known for two days.” Ronnie laughed.
“You’re just not telling us?” Jinxx directed the question at Andy.
“Yes.”
“Well then…” he pouted before smiling. “I’m glad it finally happened guys! Finally, Ashley can stop complaining.”
“Shut up!” I blushed.
Andy was smirking before pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Personally, I think it’s adorable.”
“Not as adorable as Eloise!” CC shouted. “Anyway, what Jinxx said. You guys are cute together, and I wish you the best.”
“Thanks?” I asked.
He wasn’t really paying attention, instead smiling down at Eloise.
“Someone better tell Kayla she’s been replaced…” Andy laughed, watching him too.
Jake had been silent this entire time.
“Jake?” Jinxx asked tentatively, noticing his facial expression. “Is there something you want to say?”
“Yes.” He replied, tersely.
“What?” Andy asked, eyes narrowing at the guitarist.
“Yeah, it’s… are you fucking kidding me?!” Jake yelled, causing Andy to shrink back momentarily.
“No, I’m not kidding. If you have a problem, you’re more than fucking welcome to get off this damn bus.”
“Why the hell should I leave?” Jake asked. “I have a fucking right to be on this bus.”
“We have a right to be together.” I spoke up timidly.
“Actually, only humans have rights.” Jake muttered.
“What was that?” Andy demanded.
“I said, only humans have fucking rights!” Jake repeated, a lot louder.
Andy seemed shocked, but his narrowed into an intense glare. “If we’re not human, then what are we?”
“Trash.”
“Jake, what the he-” Jinxx started, but Jake cut him off.
“You heard me, Andy! You’re nothing but fucking trash! Disgusting, worthless, vile trash! God, I can’t believe I’m in the same fucking band as you guys.”
“You don’t have to stay.” I mumbled.
“I didn’t ask for your opinion, cunt.” Jake shot back.
“Do not call my boyfriend that!” Andy yelled, clenching and unclenching his hands.
“What do you have a problem with?” Jinxx asked sensibly.
“I swear to God, if it’s for some religious reason…” Andy growled, locking his arms around my waist.
“Fucking please.” Jake sneered. “Other people don’t believe in gays because of religion. I don’t believe in you two faggots because I don’t want to lose any fans! I worked hard for this.”
“You are such an egotistical prick!” Andy cried out, letting go of me. “How the hell can you say that? I worked hard for this band too! It’s my band!”
“What was that?” Jake mocked. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you over my ‘Guitarist of the Year’ award.”
“It’s my award too…” Jinxx muttered angrily.
At this point, I was just waiting for someone to punch Jake.
“Jake, there isn’t any reason for this.” I tried to make him understand. “We all worked hard for this, and if the fans don’t like our relationship, then that’s their problem.”
“Drop dead.” Jake seethed, grabbing his soda bottle and walked towards the backroom.
“Well…” CC finally spoke up, awkwardly.
“Fuck this shit, fuck everything.” Andy mumbled, opening a cabinet door over the microwave.
He pulled out a bottle of whiskey, unscrewed the top, and took a long drink.
Before anyone could say anything, he turned on his heel and walked off the bus with a pissed off expression.
“Andy, wait!” I called out, hoping to bring him back.
He ignored me.