I'll Take You There And Back Again

"So are you all having fun tonight?" I screamed into the mic as I bounced up and down lightly on the stage. I received an uproar from the crowd. "Now that's exactly what I wanted to hear! You know, sometimes it sure sucks being a girl doesn’t it ladies?" I chuckled knowing what I was getting myself into here but it was about time the girls who came out to the show got some recognition.

"It's not easy having to live in a man's world as we all know. Sometimes we don't always get the respect we deserve and other times we're just treated simply as "toys"." I air quoted as I rolled my eyes. I could feel the energy in the room getting pumped up by the girls who knew something good was coming up.

"So as some of you may know, we like to do one cover song at each show. And its almost always a different song. Well tonight, I don't care if you think this band is shitty or sucks balls or whether you love them to death, this song is for all you girls out there!"

As the intro of Just A Girl by No Doubt started I watched as Becca made her way onto the stage with one of Zacky's guitars in hand as she kicked Adam back to the keyboards so she could take his spot. Most of the crowd knew who she was by now so she got quite a few cheers as well. It had taken some convincing on Becca's part to get Zacky to let her use one of his guitars. But after a quick kiss on his cheek and some begging he had caved, which I knew he would.

Although a No Doubt song wasn't really in the same musical genre as us, the crowd was surprisingly really into the song. The girls in the crowd were going nuts which was incredible to see. I was happy with how well they were responding. I bounced up and down in place as I sang. "'Cause I'm just a girl, I'd rather not be 'cause they won't let me drive late at night. Oh I'm just a girl guess I'm some kind of freak 'cause they all sit and stare with their eyes. Oh I'm just a girl take a good look at me, just your typical prototype. Ohhh I've had it up to here!"

Becca and I bounded across the stage as the guitars continued playing. It felt good to get the girls riled up for once. I felt like we all deserved some recognition these days. It was clear that most guys only looked at us for our boobs and looks. But there was so much more to it so it felt good to bring those frustrations to the surface through a song. I glanced to the side stage to see that the Avenged guys were standing there looking sort of shocked, Brian more than the others. I hope he and Zacky learned that if they wanted me and Becca then they were going to have to give up gaping at the 'strippers' that were now here or else they would get nowhere with us.

We finished off the song and I gave a salute and bow to all of the girls in the crowd as we launched into our last and final song.

"So I bet you guys are tired of us now and are finally ready for all the muscle, good looks, and sexiness that make up the five guys known as Avenged fucking Sevenfold!" The crowd screamed as I chuckled. "Oh and lets not forget all those mad musical skills as well." I winked. We said our final goodbyes to the crowd and exited the stage. The guys were nowhere to be found and I stepped to my left to avoid being trampled by an amp that went rolling past me. I swear one of these days I'm going to be flattened by one.

"Sorry Kace!" JB yelled over his shoulder. Becca rolled her eyes at JB as she walked past me with a rack of guitars. I rubbed my arms and neck with one of the towels that had been thrown at me by Will. He had disappeared for a moment and was now walking back my way with Jimmy. I did a double take and noticed that the two drummers were both shirtless. It was funny how similar body type wise they are despite the obvious difference in tattoos. Will had a few but it was nothing compared to Jimmy's impressive bunch.

"How ya doing doll?" Rev asked as he slung an arm around my shoulder.

"I'm good Jim. Tired but good." I sighed as I slumped slightly. Will smiled at me knowing I was truly exhausted and it had been getting worse by the night. I had a feeling on our next day off I'd be spending it sleeping all day. If there was one thing a tour did to you it was wear you down when it came to sleep.

"Are you going to stick around for the set?" I nodded at Jimmy's question as he removed his arm and he lifted me up onto an amp. I could have done it myself but I was glad for the help. Will handed me a water bottle before looking shiftily away from me. Jimmy turned to face the same direction as Will. His eyes widened before he snapped his head back to face me looking nervous. I raised an eyebrow before turning my head slowly and spotted the reason for their worry. The seven girls were standing off to the side already dressed, if you could call it dressed, and were chatting. The blonde, whom I learned was named Stef, was glaring at me. I just rolled my eyes and looked to Tiffany who was also looking like she was ready to murder Stef. She caught my gaze and made her way over to me.

"Hi there!" I smiled and replied with my greeting. "You guys sure put on a great show."

"Thank you. Are you ready for tonight?" She nodded and I noticed that she was eyeing Jimmy's bare chest out of the corner of her eye. When I discreetly looked at Jimmy's face it was to see that he was also eyeing up the girl that now stood before us. Tiffany smiled at Jimmy as he winked at her in reply. Something told me that Jimmy was going to enjoy having her dancing by him tonight.

Laughter erupted from somewhere nearby and I turned to see that the rest of the band was making their way over to us. Brian stood behind me by the amp and wrapped one of his arms around my waist, pulling me closer into this chest. I gave a weak smile at the gesture and unfortunately for me Will took notice of it. I felt Brian's hand gently caress my lower hip in what was actually a comforting manner. I closed my eyes gently and just enjoyed his touch. I sort of spaced out enough that it shocked me when Brian leaned down so we were now face to face.

"Can I get a good luck kiss?" His husky voice floated through my ears.

"I don't know. Do you think you deserve one?" I teased as his chocolate eyes stared into my own blue ones.

"I like to think I do. You wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to me on stage would you?" The corner of his mouth twitched up into a small smirk. I searched his eyes for a moment before smiling up and leaning in. His tongue ran across my bottom lip gently and I chose to let him in. It was a short kiss but it was sweet all the same. He pulled back and I could see the lust that was apparent in his eyes. He gave me one final quick peck and then slung his guitar over his shoulder. All five of them headed onto the stage to the typical massive uproar that greeted them night after night.

Will gave me a sad smile before taking a seat next to me on the amp. He placed his arm around my shoulders so I could lean against his.

"Are you doing alright tonight? You look a bit off. And don't you dare even think of lying to me because I can read you like a book." His voice was raised so that I could hear him over the band.

"I'm just a little worried is all. Syn and I haven't been together all that long and I'm just scared maybe he'll find someone else he likes who is willing to give him what he wants." My gaze shifted over to where Stef was stomping her foot as Tiffany yelled at her for something.

"I may not know for sure but it sort of looks like he already has what he wants, and that's you. I don’t possibly see how he would choose some trampy bitch like her over a girl as genuine as you. I honestly don’t think you have anything to worry about." He gave my shoulder a squeeze in assurance as the girls made their way over seeing as Scream was the second song on the set list.

I carefully stuck my leg out as Stef walked by causing her to trip up a little bit. She glared at me but I just gave her an innocent smile as she turned back around and headed onto stage. Tiff gave me a high five before she too followed the rest onto the platform. I watched as Tiffany took her place right next to Jimmy and I swear I was crossing my fingers he wouldn’t get distracted and screw up the song.

"That wasn't very nice you know." Will chuckled into my ear.

"What wasn't nice?" I asked still playing the innocent card. "I had to stretch my legs." I shrugged making him laugh out loud.

"Damn I love you Kacie." He chuckled as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Ditto Will."

He and I continued to watch the set with interest and eventually we both stood up and moved closer to the side of the stage. I watched as the lights dimmed and Brian launched into one of his monstrous solos. His ego was a bit too much on stage sometimes. The crowd was going nuts as he stood atop one of the amps and played. His fingers moved over the frets as if he didn’t even have to think about what he was doing. He continued playing but stepped off of his current amp and started to move to one that was closest to us.
Upon trying to hop onto the amp his feet got tangled and I watched as he fell to the side and off of the amp.

For me it felt as if he were moving in slow motion. I raised my hand to my mouth as he lost his balance and started tipping over backwards. his back hit the ground first and i watched as his feet went over his head as he performed a rather nice back roll. His guitar made a rather odd sound, much like hitting the whammy bar, during the mishap.

"Oh shit!" He yelled in mid roll which only resulted in me laughing. He stood up amidst the laughs and cheers and hopped back up onto the amp and gave a slight bow. I could see that his cheeks were blushing slightly at his mishap. His eyes looked over to my hunched over form and glared slightly at the fact that I was too busy laughing with Will. I could hear the others howling with laughter as well as Brian continued to play.

Well that ought to get his ego in check.

He didn’t look to be hurt but I did catch him rolling his ankle slightly as if it were sore. I tried to contain my giggles but it was just too much. I stood up from my hunched over form and turned to face Will as I burst out laughing once more. Brian would send a glare in my direction every now and then which would only result in me laughing more. The rest of the band finally rejoined him on stage and I saw Brian give them all a look that meant they would be dead if they mentioned it. The rest of the show was fairly uneventful. I almost lost it when I came on stage to sing however. Anytime I watched Brian get up on an amp I would start giggling and it was all I could do to prevent myself from hunching over on stage once again.

I waited for their exit on the side of the stage. Brian's form was hunched over slightly and he was wincing as he walked. He handed his guitar to JB before coming over to me.

"That wasn’t very nice of you to laugh you know. I fucking hurt myself. Some good luck kiss you gave." Brian started pouting as he hobbled away from me and down the hallway. I took a few quick steps and was able to catch up with him. I snaked my arm around his waist to help him walk straight.

"I'm sorry babe. It was just too much to pass up. It's not everyday you see Synyster Gates get an ego check while on stage." He just grunted in reply as I helped him into the shower room.

***

"Dude what the hell happened to you?" Adam asked as I helped a still hobbling Brian onto the A7X bus.

"Mr. Gates here tried to show off his acrobatic skills on stage instead of focusing on sticking with guitar." I snickered as I helped him sit down.

"Oh shut the hell up Kacie. It's not funny."

"Actually it is man." Matt added as he took a beer out of the fridge and began chugging. Brian just flipped his bandmate off while the rest of them still sat there confused.

"I fucking tripped and fell backwards off an amp." His explanation brought more howls of laughter from my band which only made him feel worse. I lifted his foot up onto the table and slid his flip flop off. Tugging his pant leg up as well I noticed that his ankle was indeed slightly red. I felt around for a minute trying to feel if anything felt out of place but decided that it looked alright. I pressed lightly on his ankle bone and he let out a yelp in return.

"Mother fucker!" I rolled my eyes as he glared at me.

"Well since that hurt it must just be a bit bruised. Nothing a good ice pack won't fix. Johnny get me some ice will ya?" Johnny looked perplexed for a moment as I gave him my request.

"Um Kace we don’t have any ice." I quirked an eyebrow at his statement. What kind of tour bus doesn’t have ice? I mean what if you wanted a drink on ice? Especially with these guys and their alcohol.

"Well then I guess we get to stop and get some." I nodded my head toward the driver's area and Johnny scurried up to tell him that we needed to make a pit stop.

Not ten minutes later, which felt like thirty with all of Brian's complaining, we were pulling into the parking lot of a grocery store. Johnny and I decided to go in and the others were to all watch Brian to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.

We had to walk from the back of the lot to the front of the store since the buses wouldn’t fit. I turned to look at Johnny when we reached a point where it sounded like a girl was crying.

Small sniffles were coming from a nearby car. Johnny must have also heard it because he stopped in his tracks. We both glanced around before I saw Johnny take off to our left. He stopped when he reached a small silver compact car that had a girl sitting up against it. Her cheeks were tear stained as she held her head up in her right hand. Her long brown hair cascaded over her shoulder to slightly hide her face.

"Excuse me. Are you alright hun?" She jumped slightly at the sound of my voice but she sat up straight and furiously wiped at her eyes. Her gaze travelled from me to Johnny and I watched as her eyes widened. It was then that I noticed she looked extremely worn out and even had an Avenged t-shirt on; which led me to believe she had been at the concert.

"I, um, I would say I'm fine but I'm actually far from it." She sniffled. "My car won't start and as good as I am with them I can't find a damn thing wrong with it." She stood up and I was quick to notice that she was short, shorter than Johnny even.

"Can we give you a ride somewhere? Home maybe?" Johnny suggested.

"I'm afraid not. I'm not even from this area. I drove three hours to see you guys tonight, and disobeyed my douchbag of a boyfriend in doing so. He told me if I left then I wasn’t welcome back. So I really have no place to go!" She wailed which caused more tears to fall. I wrapped my arms around the sobbing girl and let her cry against my shoulder. I looked at Johnny from over her shoulder and he nodded knowingly at me. I released the girl and let Johnny take over. The instant she felt his arms she just went limp and cried even more.

"Why don't you come walk into the store with us and then we'll take you back to our bus and figure out someway to help you." She pulled away sniffling and nodded. Johnny took hold of her hand and the three of us entered the store.

"My name's Audrina by the way. But people call me Aud for short. I already know who you guys are but I figured you should probably know my name." Johnny chuckled as he reached in and grabbed a bag of ice.

"Why do you guys need ice?" Aud asked as I paid with a twenty.

"Well since you were at the show I'm sure you saw my lovely boyfriend's attempt at acrobatics. He ended up bruising his ankle." I rolled my eyes in a dramatic manner which brought a smile to Audrina's face. I grinned knowing I had lightened the mood somewhat and lifted the bag off of the conveyor belt.

"Bout fucking time! What the hell took you so long?" Brian groaned as we re-entered the bus. His foot was still propped up on the table and he had a pained look on his face. "Who's the chick?" He continued.

"Everyone this is Audrina. She's got herself in quite the pickle and I'm thinking we might be able to help her out." While Johnny was telling the story I grabbed a Ziploc bag from one of the drawers and filled it with ice. I then went into the hallway of the bus and fished out a hand towel to wrap it in. I entered the crowded front room once more and sat next to Brian before pulling his foot into my lap. I gently placed the ice on his ankle and watched as the goosebumps formed on his skin.

"So I think it's settled then." Drew stated while he finished off his beer. The other guys nodded and I found myself clueless as to what they were talking about.

"I can't possibly do that you guys. I don't want to intrude like that." Aud stated from her place on the floor curled up next to Johnny.

"Sure you can. And I think most of us are going to insist anyway." Will piped up from across the small room.

"What's the plan?" I asked as I rolled the ice over Brian's foot. He groaned slightly while I gave him a glance.

"She's going to continue the tour with us until she can find someplace to stay." Zacky said as there was a knock on the door. He stood up and opened it to find Becca standing there. She grinned before climbing the steps and entering the bus.

"I think that sounds great." I said before giving Becca a smile as she sat down next to Zacky. "Do you have any of yours things with you?" Aud gave me a light nod.

"We'll go grab them and be back." Johnny said before helping Aud up and they left the bus. Zacky was explaining things to Becca who grinned.

"And the female count goes up! Anyway how's your foot Haner?" Brian glared playfully at her before sticking his tongue out.

The chatter continued as Johnny and Aud came back with her things. They went and placed them in the backroom for now. My band left the bus saying that they were going to go sleep. I stood up as well but Garret pushed me back down in my seat.

"You stay here tonight. I think he's going to need your help." He said motioning to Brian. I nodded and gave hugs and kisses before they left. Shortly after they left the bus started moving again and I turned to face Brian.

"Does it feel any better?" He nodded as one of his hands grasped mine.

"It would feel even better if you'd kiss it better." I scrunched up my face at the thought of my face getting anywhere near his foot even if it was only his ankle.

"I think I'd like to keep my sense of smell thanks." He mock glared at me before puckering up his lips. "But I can do that kind of kiss." I said as I leaned in and pecked his pouty lips.

"I think I like having you take care of me." He smirked as my hands moved to message his ankle some more. I saw him start to get comfortable and smacked him in the chest.

"If that's the case then up and to bed with you. It's three in the morning anyway." His eyes widened as I stood up and looked expectantly at him.

"You're not serious are you?" I placed a hand on my hip to show I was in fact serious.

"If you want help getting in bed than I suggest you get your ass up and moving. Or else you can have one of the guys help you hobble back there." He sighed before sliding to the edge of the seat and standing up on one foot.

"Damn! Gates is whipped already!" Brian sent a glare in Zacky's direction.
I smacked the back of Zacky's head as I passed him before turning and giving him a sly wink. Becca was howling her head off while he just pouted.

Brian and I entered the bunk area and he stripped down to his boxers. I gave him support as he climbed up into his bunk. It sort of sucked that it was up on top. After almost falling once he managed to roll in and I heard a thud meaning he had hit the wall. I rolled my eyes. These men could be such babies over a simple injury that really wasn’t that bad.

I shimmied out of my own clothes and climbed up into his bunk with him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his chest.

"Thank you for helping me tonight." He murmured quietly. "It's still really sore though."

"Well your welcome but next time try to refrain from the stunt man act alright?" He lightly tickled my sides making me giggle.

"Alright. I'll try to for the sake of my ego." I smacked his chest lightly before rolling over to face him and snuggling further into his chest.

"Good night Brian."