The Most Unexpected Faces

ANDY'S POV

~

It's safe to say I'm getting first show nerves but at the same time I'm so excited! Tonight Warped Tour kicks off for us and I can already tell this is going to be one of the best tours we've done. Of course, all the ones we've been on - no matter if we were headlining or opening - have been fantastic. We got to meet great people and see all these amazing cities and meet such dedicated fans. That's what keeps me going really, along with my band brothers and Ashley. I remember the day we got the call from the Warped Offices asking if we would be interested. We'd just finished the AP Tour and were ready to relax a bit before the next one - our UK tour- but we were all enthused to get straight back on the road again; desperate to be back in our war paint and under the stage lights. We all celebrated and partied hard that night; earning ourselves killer hangovers and a craving for coffee and Advil the next morning. However, I had another motive for drinking. Within all the good there was some bad and that bad came in the form of keeping secrets.

Ashley doesn’t want our relationship to be constantly in the public eye, he doesn't want it public at all. I can understand that he may not be ready to come out after having and maintaining a reputation of a ladies man for so long but I still don't like it. Sometimes I feel like he's ashamed of our relationship, like he's ashamed to be with a guy even though he re-assures me he's not. I want to be able to hold his hand in public and kiss him on stage and act in the restaurants like we do in the privacy of our tour bus – like a couple. He still wants it to be a secret kept between the band and our assistants only though. Yeah, the assistants know but only because they don't knock when they come into our dressing rooms and there are only so many times we can pretend we weren't kissing.

In a way though, I guess that we each have something we're not ready for; he's not ready to go public and I'm not ready to go the whole way with him.

My reasons are obvious.

His?

The main and most obvious one seems to be reputation and the way people see him. He won't admit it but I find it rather obvious. He's scared of what people will think of him, what people will think of us, what people will think of the band. Sometimes I get envious of Jinxx and Sammi; their relationship has been public since they first got together. They don't have to hide or be careful about what they do in public, they can just be happy in their relationship with each other.

I thought about this as I lay in bed next to Ashley; we'd decided to retreat to our bunks for a bit and rest before we arrived in Pomona, California for our first show. He'd been really bubbly all day since Jake and C.C got together. While the rest of us had been slightly shocked, Ashley just sat there smiling at them. Even though everyone knew that they were going to get together at one point I don't think anyone was quite expecting it to be then. Their feelings may have been rather obvious to everyone around but I didn't think they would have the courage to talk to each other without a little nudging. That's probably why Ashley was smiling; I bet he had something to do with it. Good thing that he did that too; it saved me a talk with Jake and now they're happily each other's boyfriends.

I wonder if C.C and Jake will go public...

Probably not straight away but I’m sure it won't be long - intentional or not. C.C has always been so open with his feelings, he'll probably start making out with Jake in public and then only realise when the flashes of cameras start. I doubt they'd really care though.

Ashley's warm voice drew my attention away from thoughts about the group's newest couple and towards the man I loved. Despite the minor things that kept our relationship from being "normal" I loved him more than anything. He saved me from Craig's hands and made me feel wanted again. He made me feel beautiful and loved, like I'm someone special.

"Hey baby" he whispered to me as he wrapped his strong arm securely around my waist.

"Well hello there" I whispered back and shifted slightly so our lips were just millimeters apart. We wasted no time in joining them and closing the gap between our bodies so we lay chest to chest.

"I love you so much, Andy" he whispered into my ear, his warm breath making the skin on my neck tingle.

"I love you too" I replied before re-attaching myself to his lips. His kisses were passionate and loving, so different to the ones I saw him give to after random hook ups before we got together. His hands slid under my thin t-shirt and gently gripped my waist, holding me lovingly.

As we broke apart and lay back down on my our pillows and smiled at the brown eyed man - my fingers gently tracing his 'Outlaw' tattoo. I remember when he got it after I’d sung to everyone for the first time. 'Holiday' has become one of our "couple songs" now. You know the ones I mean, those songs that if you hear them play you call your partner to the dance floor saying "aw honey, it's our song!” Except Ashley and I don't dance. Never have done and never will. Dance floors and us aren't all that good a mix, especially when we've been drinking as proved by the video we discovered on Jake's iPhone after a party where the booze was flowing and the music was loud and obnoxious pop tracks.

I smirked at the memory causing Ashley to raise an eyebrow. I just shook my head lightly and wrapped my arms securely around his small frame. We had about two and a half hours until we would be arriving at the Pomona Fairplex and I intended to spend as much of that time as possible snuggled up to my baby.

*****

"Oi, lovebirds! Time to get up!" a voice so rudely disturbed me and woke me up. I opened my eyes slightly and narrowed them at the person who awoke me.

"Go away Jinxx, sleeping" I mumbled and pushed my head back into the pillow.

"No can do. Manager wants you up" he replied before pulling the curtain all the way open.

"The show’s not for hours, Jinxx!" I whined, uncaring of the fact that I probably sounded like a child.

"Yeah but we have to set up and warm up and meet some people. Apparently we have some new techs for this tour" he stated, trying to convince me that another half an hour in bed was not an option.

"Let's just get up Andy, we're both awake now anyway" I jumped slightly at Ashley's voice; I wasn't aware he was awake yet.

"See Jinxx! You woke Ashy up! That's rude!" I lightly scolded Jinxx with a pout.

"Actually Andy, your whining woke me up" Ashley piped up making Jinxx burst into laughter.

"Yeah, yeah but it was Jinxx's fault for making me whine so there!" I stuck my tongue out at him before shuffling towards the edge of the bunk and drop-jumping to the floor.

"You know the bunks have steps, right?" Ashley asked with his head popped over the side of the bunk.

"Yeah, but one of the pros of being tall is that you don't have to bother" I smirked knowing he would get touchy about his height.

"Leave me and my shortness alone. Besides, I'm not that short! I'm taller than Frank Iero!" he argued.

"Yeah but that's not exactly hard, Ash" I chuckled. I've met Frank a few times; he's a really nice guy but he is actually really short, especially compared to me. I found it endearing though because he is so hyper.

"Whatever" he huffed before climbing down the ladder to join me. Shortly after, we felt the bus pull to a stop and heard the rest of our little party calling for us. As quickly as we could in the time given, Ashley and me got dressed and put on our eyeliner. We would do our war paint inside the venue when we had more time.

ASHLEY'S POV

We stepped off of our tour bus and into the warm Californian air where we were greeted by our tour manager Rob, some of the Warped tour managers and 3 boys who looked around our age.

"Hey guys! As I'm sure you've been informed you have three new techs with you for the duration of Warped and we thought you'd like to meet them before the tour officially starts for you as you'll be working pretty closely with them” Rob greeted.

I studied the guys who all stood there smiling, they seemed nice enough.
Suddenly I felt some one grab my hand and turned to see Andy looking at the new techs with wide eyes.

“What’s the wrong, Andy?” I whispered.

“It’s them. I thought I’d never see them again” he replied quietly.

“What do you mean by “them”, Andy? Are they old friends?” I asked and looked back up at the techs to find the one with the black and blonde hair smiling at Andy.

“Okay, let me re-phrase. I hoped I’d never see them again”.