The Most Unexpected Faces

ANDY’S POV

~

As always the crowd were electric. They were like sparks of energy colliding off each other creating a massive crowd of electricity that lit up the Fairplex. They definitely ranked high among our best crowds; their screams were testimony as to how much they were getting into the music and getting lost in the sound.

Thankfully, once I was on stage again all thoughts of my previous band mates disappeared and left instead the warm, buzzing feeling that performing gaze me. As a band we made no mistakes on stage that night. We performed the show to our full out maximum and the audience noticed and thrived on it. It was if they sang out my lyrics just a little bit louder, moshed that bit harder to Jake and Jinxx’s guitar solos, cheered that little bit wilder when Ashley blew kisses to the crowd and waved a little bit more frantically when C.C produced a camera mid set and took a photo of the audience. Everyone was living and breathing what we were creating on stage and what our fans were creating around us. It was simply amazing.

As we ended our set to thunderous cheering, I made sure to thank the Warped tour people like I’d wanted to and then thanked everyone for watching us and supporting us. With that and a wave to the audience we all exited the stage and headed to our area for a bit to get a drink before we did meet and greet with fans – something I’d always loved.

“That was seriously sick! That’s gotta be one of our best shows we’ve ever done!” Jake exclaimed as he flopped down into a chair; his hands now free of his guitar as one of our roadies retrieved it from him and took it to the bus as we made our way here.

“No doubt about it” I agreed before gulping down a good ¾ of a bottle of cold water. “The fans were going crazy!”

“Hell yeah!” C.C leant over the arm of the chair to kissed Jake before tucking his sticks away into his bag and swapping it for a black sharpie. “Ready to meet some of them?”

“Yup! Then after I can go see Sammi!” Jinxx cheered.

“You’ve only been apart for a couple of hours, dude…” Ashley chuckled before looking at me. Despite laughing at Jinxx’s Sammi craving I knew that both Ashley and me missed each other while we were performing. Of course, we were actually on stage together but when you’re throwing all your effort into performing you can’t spend that much time interacting with each other in a personal way. There was a few times where we had a couple of seconds to interact together but all we could’ve done in that time frame was kiss. And Ashley didn’t want that on stage…

Pleased that we could be together properly now, (even if it was only for a few minutes) I pulled Ashley into my arms and felt him nuzzle his face into my neck before gently nipping at the skin his soft lips came into contact with. My arms slid tightly around his waist as he moved up to my mouth and we shared a deep kiss. His tongue slid along my lip asking for entrance causing me to hesitate. We had fans to see in a minute, we couldn’t get into this now. Displeased with my refusal to part my lips Ashley took matters into his own hands. Literally.

I gasped and involuntarily gave Ashley what he wanted when I felt hands push against my ass, closing the small gap between our bodies. His tongue explored my mouth as his hands roamed my lower back, ass and the top of my thighs. His touch left me gripping at his exposed hips, probably leaving tiny nail marks.

It’s his own fault. I know he owns at least one shirt, it was his choice not to wear one.

Too soon for my liking I was separated from Ashley by someone pulling me backwards by my jacket.

“Dude, meet and greet! Jesus, I fake coughed like three times, I thought you would have got the message!” Jinxx huffed, while Ashley and I just grinned at each other with flushed faces. His eyes
held a glint of mischief and promise – we would be continuing this later.

Right now though it was time to grab our permanent markers and head back outside to where the other people who made my world go round were – the fans.

*****

Countless autographs, photos and hugs later we finished our meet and greet and started to head back to our bus for the night. I was pretty damn exhausted but I bet at least some of the others will want to go out and celebrate. They can if they want to but I probably won’t join them; that show has literally left me drained of all energy. I watched as Jinxx, Ashley, Jake and C.C ran towards our bus, eager to get in the shower first so they could start getting ready for their night out.

Even after the show they still had energy!

I seemedd to have a lot less afterwards, but then again I practically lived off Skippy’s peanut butter so it wasn’t really that much of a surprise.

I watched as C.C slid the door open and they all raced up the metal steps; I couldn’t help but laugh a bit when Jake tripped up the stairs slightly in his rush to get inside. With no one to hold it open the door slid back slightly covering the gap but it wasn’t with enough force that it clicked shut again. I was only about 25 metres away from the bus when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I turned around expecting to see a member of the Warped tour staff or possibly a fan but instead I came face to face with Zander, Chris and Jack. Surprising myself, I didn’t freak or cry or run away I just looked at them. If I survived Craig then these three were no massive bother to me, I’d dealt with worse.

“Yes?” I decided to act civil towards them but kept it to that. They didn’t deserve me to be kind or welcoming towards them but I wasn’t going to stoop to a bad level and be outright rude either.

“Andy!” Jack cried before throwing his arms around me and hugging me tight. I stood frozen under him as he clung to me for a few seconds before releasing me and stepping backwards. “I can’t believe it’s you!” I studied the boy in front of me; he had barely changed since I last saw him. His blue fringe was still dangling into his eyes and he was wearing a black choker collar not quite identical but pretty similar to the one he used to wear. His actions confused me slightly, did he think I was still his friend? I turned to the other guys to find them smiling at me as well, only Zander looked slightly sad.

“Hey Andy” he spoke quietly, biting his lip nervously as he ran his hand through his black hair. It was shorter than I remembered it and cut slightly differently; he’d also gotten snake bites. They suited him well actually, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. I wasn’t standing here to be nicey-nicey.

“Hi” I said sharply, speaking to all of them. “Sorry to be blunt but why are you here?” I asked rudely.

Screw what I said earlier, I can be as rude as I want to them.

I saw Jack’s smile falter slightly as he looked at the other two taller boys on either side of him.

“We wanted to talk to you, Sixxy” the use of my old nickname annoyed me; we weren’t friends anymore so why was he acting as if we were?

“Yeah well I don’t particularly want to talk to any of you. The only reason I’m still here is because I want some answers so I can have closure, then I’m leaving.” I stated, no use beating around the bush.

I saw emotions fly in Zander’s eyes as he took a step towards me and looked at me sadly.

“Andy… I’m not even going to ask what you’re talking about because I’m not stupid. What happened is a prominent in our minds as I’m sure it is yours right now. The first thing I want to say is sorry. We are all so incredibly sorry that we just stood by and watched what happened happen! We should have done something but the truth is Andy we were scared and maybe a little selfish. I think there were parts of us that didn’t want to try and change what was happening for fear of destroying the band but it happened anyway. We realise now that we should have put you before the music and tried to help. You don’t know how much I wish I could go back in time and change what happened, Andy” As shocking as it seemed to me Zander appeared genuine and so did Chris and Jack as they nodded in agreement to what Zander said.

“We didn’t want to lose you, Andy. We didn’t want what happened! Hell, after I registered the original shock and spent a week trying to stop Craig doing things he’s regret, I set out to find you. I spent so long trying to locate you to fix things and try to repair what we had! Then I found out that you’d moved and I felt like there was nothing I could do! Then, after hearing nothing from you or about you for years I see you on Kerrang! when I’m at home flicking through the channels. I see you performing and pouring your heart into your music and I thought about how much I wanted to do that with you again, Andy! Me and the guys talked and we all do, Andy. We all miss what we had before Craig ruined everything. That why we joined this tour. So we could see you, so we could talk to you, so we could apologise to you. I just hope and pray to God that you’ll forgive us. The simple truth, Andy is that we want what could have been had Craig not wrecked it all. We came here to ask you something and I’ll say now that I know you can’t just give us an answer. I know this may seem crazy or stupid but I want you to think about this, okay? I want you to remember the good points about what we all had together and I want you to really, really think about what I’m saying before you answer. We don’t want an answer today, or tomorrow or even before this tour ends if you’re not ready. All we ask is that when you’ve thought this through and you’re sure of your answer is that you tell come find us and tell us, okay?” Zander finished his speech and looked me dead in the eyes; I could see the plea in his gaze.

“Okay” I agreed cautiously, curious as what their question was.

“Andy” Chris took over the conversation from where Zander had left off. “We want to try again, make a fresh start and make use of the potential we had together. What we’re asking is this. Would you consider reforming as a band with us? Come home with us, Andy. Come back where you belong”