I'll Take You There And Back Again

"You're having what?!? Ok hold on a second. Repeat that for me please?" I asked the guys as we were all sitting outside on the grass. I'm sure my eyes were as wide as saucers at the news I had been told. The faces of the guys all read the same emotion, fear. They were all staring anywhere but at myself and Becca who was wearing an expression identical as mine.

Matt was trying to keep cool about the situation but he wasn’t doing such a great job. "We're having some strippers join us for the rest of the tour. For our set. They'll be dancing during Scream."

"And when are they getting here?" Becca questioned as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Today." Matt mumbled. I could feel the tension rise as both Becca and I looked like we were about to explode. No warning. None at all. I looked to Brian to see that he was picking grass out of the ground. They all knew. Even my band knew and no one bothered to tell us.

"Fucking-A." I heard Becca mumble before standing up and pulling my hand so I was standing as well. She had me weaving through the buses despite the guys yells that were following us. She had pulled me all the way into the venue and onto the vacant stage. She sighed before slumping to the ground pulling me with her still.

"What the fuck Kace? How could they forget that detail? How long have they known? What if I don’t want some bitch rubbing up against Zack while he's playing? I mean sure we're not dating but still! Practically everyone knows I adore the guy!"

"Becca."

"I mean come on! Shouldn't we get a say in this being the only females on this damn tour?"

"Becca!" My yell cut off her rant and she stared at me apologetically. "I don't have an answer to any of those questions. All I can say is that I agree with you. They should have told us sooner instead of the day of." I trailed off as we swung our legs over the side of the stage.

If there was ever a time we needed to get away and have some girl bonding we would take over the stage. It was so peaceful sitting on it. That was one of the hardest things about being on tour; you didn’t get much personal space. It was rare that you got time to yourself without one of the guys breathing down your neck.

"This is just crazy." She muttered as the heels of her converse tapped against the stage.

"Yeah. We all know how my last venture with strippers went." I said as I remembered back to the club incident a few weeks ago. Becca's mouth turned down in a scowl at the thought. She had heard all about it and was on my side still.

"It's just hard I guess. I mean it is Avenged Sevenfold. They're known for their love of strippers, booze and sex. This shouldn’t be a big deal to us." She explained before lying back on the stage so she could stare at the ceiling.

"Easy for you to say. You're not dating one of them yet. But the thing I can't get over is how my guys couldn’t even freaking warn me. I mean Garret tells me everything!" I followed Becca's example and laid down on the stage. I felt a vibration in my pocket and pulled my phone out.

"Speaking of Garret…Should I answer it?" I turned my head to face her. She nodded as she rolled her eyes.

"What." I said in a non-enthusiastic voice.

"Where did you two run off to now?"

"Where else do we go when we get pissed off?" He should know the answer to this.

"I see. Are you coming back?" I could tell he was amused and I could hear the various voices in the background. None were female and if they were I'd have to kill someone.

"Wasn't planning on it." He paused after my reply and I knew his amused smile had disappeared. I knew my friend all too well and he knew me equally well. He knew when I said no I meant it.

"Alright then. I guess I'll see you later then." And with that he hung up, which was actually very odd. It wasn't like Garret to not put up a fight or at least get me to talk to him more. He was usually the one who attempted to make me feel better about something.

"Boys suck." I laughed lightly at Becca's random comment. I had closed my eyes and was trying to calm myself down a bit more before I decided to venture out more.

My head bolted up when I hear Becca let out a startled scream but I laid right back down when it smacked into something hard. I clutched my forehead as the other person groaned as well. I blinked several times to see Brian crouching above me also holding his forehead.

I glanced sideways to see Becca was holding a hand over her chest as Zacky crouched above her as well. I slowly sat up as did she and we turned to face the two men who were now standing.

They looked at eachother and gave a quick nod before reaching forward and hoisting us off of the ground.

I was flung over Brian's shoulder as he headed off stage. "Brian! Put me down! Eeek!" I let out a squeal as he pinched my ass. That wasn't very nice of him. He shifted me slightly causing me to fall further down his back than I already was. Needing some way to steady myself I shoved my hands into his back pockets. He groaned a bit but I just rolled my eyes. I was still mad at him for not telling me. I looked up to see Becca was hanging over Zacky's shoulder as well but she was being quiet. I knew she was too busy starring at his ass to complain.

"I hate you." I muttered.

"Now we both know that's not true. If it was you wouldn’t be groping my ass." I narrowed my eyes and I could hear the smirk that was on his lips. I huffed and let the subject drop.

"Well would you look what the guitarists brought back." Drew stated as I felt myself being brought back over Brian's should and placed in his lap. We were back on the grass and Becca was in the same position as me. Both Brian and Zacky had their arms wrapped around our waists so as to keep us in place.

"So can we explain now?" Matt asked as I shook my head no.

"Too bad. They are only on stage for Scream and they'll be on the deck that’s by Jimmy's drum kit. You know the one that runs across the stage?" I rolled my eyes knowing exactly what they were talking about. "And yes they will be traveling with us for the rest of the tour. Deal with it. They'll have their own buses and won't be on ours without us knowing."

"Doesn’t mean we can't have them on our bus though." I glared at Will as if daring him to say that again. He was sitting next to me so I leaned across and pinched his cheeks together making it look like he had fish lips.

"Care to say that again William?" His eyes bugged out and he shook his head. I released his lips and he rubbed his cheeks.

"Can I go now please?" I squinted my eyes at them all not really seeing the reason why I needed to be kept here.

"Only if you make a promise to us all." Garret said while he looked pointedly at me. "You can't go beating up any of the girls." I scoffed at his words.

"I can't promise that. I can promise that if they don't piss me off then I'll leave them alone though." The pondered that for a second before realizing that was the best they were going to get. Brian released me from his grasp and I stood up while straightening my clothes out.

"Shall we Bex?" My partner in crime was released as well and she linked arms with me before we trotted off in the direction of the venue once more.

***

"You fucking bitch! Get back here so I can beat you to a bloody pulp!" I was startled slightly as the words rang through the air of the outdoors and realized that they were a girls words, just not mine or Becca's.

I looked up from the book I was reading on the grass and saw a brown haired chick go flying by while attempting to catch up to a blonde. The blonde scurried up the stairs of a bus and shut the door, locking it so the brunette wasn't able to get inside. I watched as she pounded on the door for a good minute or two before giving up and slumping against the side of the bus.

I quirked an eyebrow at her behavior and watched as she looked up and her gaze met mine. I gulped as she stood up and made her way toward me. I heard her grumbling something along the lines of "I hate these girls" and "such bitches" before she plopped down next to me. She had short brown hair and wasn't very tall by the looks of it. She had blue eyes that were very similar to Jimmy's and Garret's. Her body was curvy so it made sense that the guys would pick her to be one of the dancers for on stage. She had a large bust, much larger than my pathetic excuse. If I was being honest, I was envious of her looks. I wish my body were as curvy as hers. But sadly I got stuck with the athletic build rather than the curves.

"Hi there." She said. "I'm Tiffany. You must be Kacie." She let out a sigh but managed to give me a smile. I knew she had to be one of the strippers. But she actually seemed cool. She wasn’t dressed slutty but rather in a black Metallica shirt and some skinny jeans.

"That would be me. Nice to meet you." She looked relieved that I was speaking to her. I wonder if they got word of me not being thrilled about them being here.

"You too. Especially since I know for a fact you are a lot cooler than those other skanks I'm stuck with. I swear they're a bunch of punk ass bitches." I chuckled as I folded the page in my book and set it down in the grass beside me.

"You're the first one I've met. But if that’s the case I'd rather not meet them." She chuckled and nodded in agreement. We sat there just chatting for a few minutes before I felt my stomach grumble. Pulling my cell phone out of my pocket I saw it was around lunch time.

"Would you like to go find some lunch with me? I'm starving. And I'll bet that if we don’t go soon then the guys will eat it all and there will be none left for us." This caused her to laugh as she stood up alongside me. We headed into the venue and toward where I knew the food would be. She sort of followed me since I assumed she didn’t know the way.

I pushed the door open and we were greeted with laughter. As we entered I heard Tiffany groan when she realized that the laughter was female. Looking around the room I saw that everyone else was already here, and I mean everyone. Both bands were seated throughout the room along with the new girls. Poor Becca was sitting in a corner looking like she wanted to puke as the girls laughed with the guys. There were seven girls total including Tiffany. My eyes wandered over each of them and I couldn’t help but notice they were extremely close to a guy. And the blonde that was running from Tiffany was strategically placed next to Brian.

Everyone looked up as we entered and Becca's eyes were pleading for some help here. I gave her a knowing look before I grabbed a plate of food and sat down on Brian's lap. The blonde girl looked at me before speaking in a snotty voice.

"Um excuse me but who the hell are you?" I raised an eyebrow as I popped a grape into my mouth. I saw Brian give me a warning look but I conveniently chose to ignore it.

"I would be Kacie. Lead singer of Murder By Midnight. You know, the opening band? And I also happen to be Brian's girlfriend." Her jaw dropped as she looked from me to Brian.

"You're going out with her?" The tension in the room was quite evident as her question was asked. Obviously she had been flirting with Brian, which was obvious when I had walked in, and he failed to mention he had a girlfriend. It was also obvious that she thought little of me.

"Umm yeah." Brian muttered making my head snap up to face him.

"Is there something wrong with that?" I asked the girl realizing that I'd deal with Brian later.

"Well yes. For one, you're not pretty. Certainly someone who shouldn't be dating a rockstar. And two I bet you're just a whore." I felt my jaw clench at her words and I looked to Brian only for him to remain quiet. I think that stung more than her words. I didn’t even have to think twice before my fist launched into her jaw and I felt everyone shift. I was now being held back from taking another swing and she was being held back by Drew.

"You fucking bitch! You better watch your damn mouth! If anyone on this tour is a whore it's you!" I struggled in the arms I was in and eventually got out only to turn and face Brian. The tears from her words and his lack of were falling down my face.

"Some boyfriend you are. Can't even stick up for me." I whispered before abandoning my lunch and leaving the room. I don’t even know where I was going as I walked. The anger was apparent from a mile away. JB tried stopping me but I continued to walk right past him and out of the venue. I stopped by the bus and left my phone and wallet on the counter, not wanting anyone to bother me right now. Not the smartest move but right now I really didn’t care.

I made my way to the grassy area where I had been earlier and walked further away from the venue. Eventually I came across a big tree and slumped down against the trunk. I brought my knees against my chest and let my head rest on them.

What if blondie was right? What if I wasn’t pretty enough? I mean sure I had my imperfections as everyone did but what if I just wasn’t right for Brian? There are plenty of prettier girls out there so why me? And why did he sound so unsure when he said I was his girlfriend? Why didn’t he stick up for me?

With each question more tears fell. I could hear people calling my name off in the distance but I ignored it altogether. Rather than being upset, I was more so angry at Brian right now. It's like he's bipolar at times. One minute he's loving and caring and the next he's acting like I don't even exist.

I hastily wiped my tears from my eyes as I heard footsteps approaching my current hideout. I buried my head in my knees so I didn’t have to look at the person who had just stepped around the tree. I heard them shifting and realized they must have sat down next to me. I felt arms wrap around my curled up frame and I was instantly pulled into a firm chest. I instantly recognized the smell of alcohol and cigarettes mixed with a light trace of cologne that I knew to belong to Brian. I unfolded my arms and wrapped them around him as I felt a few more tears fall. He leaned back and brought my with him so that we were both lying on the ground in the grass.

I let out a sniffle as he held my head against his chest. "You shouldn’t take off like that on me. I was worried about you." I rolled my tear filled eyes at his statement. He sure didn’t seem to be worried about me earlier.

"You sure didn't seem like it." He let out a sigh.

"I know. And I'm sorry. I guess I was just a little overwhelmed with the other girls here." At this statement I leaned up to glare at him.

"Oh I see. So you were too busy paying attention to them to acknowledge me." His eyes widened slightly at my words and he frantically shook his head.

"No Kacie. I guess I just, I don’t know. I wanted to make sure they felt welcome. And then when that chick said that stuff about you it's like I snapped out of it."

"Oh." I knew he was being honest but it still sort of hurt.

"I don't like them Brian. Well I like Tiffany but not the others. Especially miss bitch blonde." This made him chuckle lightly and I could feel the vibrations from within his chest.

"Well how about this, if miss bitch blonde gives you shit again you have my permission to dish it back and maybe even throw a nice punch. But something already tells me she's going to be leaving you and me alone."

"Ok. I think we still have a ways to go Brian." He knew I was referring to our trust in our relationship. It was going to be even harder now that there were more girls added to the tour so it would be a real test.

"We do Kacie. I know. But I'm still determined to prove to you that things will be alright." I gave a light smile hoping that he could indeed prove that to me because I don't think I could endure another full blown fight with him.