The Hand of Destiny

ASHLEY’S POV

1 year later

~

After that kiss in the hospital everything changed. The guys and Sammi (who just had to walk in and ruin our moment, well, moments actually, we were kissing for a while) swear blind they knew all along it was going to happen. And yes, we are still together. We celebrated our one year dating anniversary last week and even though it couldn’t be anything too fancy or spectacular considering we had to keep to the tour bus it was pretty damn perfect. Hell, anytime spent with Andy is perfect.

That brings me on to the second major change I guess. Yeah we practically live on a tour bus but that’s because we are a touring band now (even though we only have a small bus)! We put all the drama of the Craig incident behind us and focused on what we all loved – music. (And each other…) I would always add happily in my head when we were asked about it in interviews. The band has become a really close knit family now.

A week after I was released from hospital Andy started to share all the lyrics he’d written over the past couple of years with the guys and about a month that we had practiced enough to start playing venues.

The biggest and best surprise of the year was being signed, that was undoubtedly one of the best things I’ve ever experienced. People liked us and they liked out music, to me that will always be amazing. Not because I don’t think we’re good but because it’s amazing that so many people get it, they get the message and the meaning and want to be a part of what we have going on. It’s just incredible.

We even have a band name now – Black Veil Brides- we never thought to think of one when we first started and were just playing around on our instruments.

Andy gets asked to explain the band name a lot since he came up with it and it’s not the most obvious band name in the world. You see, Black Veil Brides is a Roman Catholic term used for when a woman marries into the church and gives up all the pleasures of life to devote her life to God. She is then deemed a Black Veil Bride. Sorta’ similar to a rock band where you have to give up many things in pursuit of what you're passionate about or believe in. It also has the dichotomy of the positive and negative. The happiest time in one’s life, could be getting married. And the opposite of that in one’s life would be at a funeral of a loved one. It all tends to fit really well for a dark and heavy rock band.

Whenever he explains this he smiles at me when he gets to the bit about how there are something’s in life so great you’d give up anything for them.

That brings us to where we are now, sitting in a back stage room buzzing with energy and excitement to perform. Jinxx’s doing some intricate finger warm ups by the coffee maker while waiting for it to boil and produce delicious hot drinks for him. C.C’s sitting in Jake’s lap, twirling a piece of his black hair in-between his fingers while Jake sits there patiently enduring it. They aren’t a couple but everyone can see that they inevitably will be, they’re too cute and perfect together to not be. Plus, I saw (and then took photos on my phone in case I ever need something to blackmail them with) the two of them cuddled up asleep on one of the sofa’s in the bus the other day after having a little private movie night together.

One of the stage managers walked into the room with his headset on and ever present clipboard in hand.

“You’re on in about 60 seconds guys” he informs us before walking straight back off in the direction he came from. We all jump up and grab our respective instruments (and a microphone in Andy’s case), everything else forgotten as the rush of performing hit us even stronger than before, even Jinxx’s beloved coffee was forgotten.

As we head towards the stage Andy briefly grabs my hand, we unintentionally made a little barrier with our bodies along the narrow hallway. I have my bass clutched tight in my left hand while Andy has his mic in his right and our hands are linked in between us. As we approach the edge of the stage Andy releases my hand, we aren’t quite ready to tell the fans about us yet. We walk out with confidence and purpose.

"We are Black Veil Brides" Andy announces in a booming voice, then the screams started as the guitars did "and this is Heaven’s Calling , mosh for me London!"

The experience was exhilarating and by the end of the first song my heart was already pounding like one of C.C’s drums. As the song finished, Andy turns to me and briefly grins at me before addressing the audience.

“We’re going to play a new song for you lucky people next. It’s dedicated to someone very special to me. Someone who’s face I love to see in the morning, someone who is always able to make me smile and someone who is always there to save the day. This one’s called Rebel Love Song"

My heart swells at his words and I grin at how personal it feels, because although he announced it to a large crowd there are very few people who know he’s talking about me.

3RD PERSON POV

Though it was unfortunate circumstances that brought them together, in the end, the hand of destiny dealt them good cards.
And now, when people ask if Ashley and Andy are okay and they say they’re fine, they actually mean it.