Our Pain Will Shine a Light

Third person

A crowd of people

About three months later Andy turned in his resume at the club and got a job working at Matt's rehab center. It took him a while to get there everyday, but because he was spending more money paying the bills and not drugs, he started to drive his car again.

One day Ashley walked into Mitchell's and Jake was waiting for him with a piece of paper in his hand. It was small, like a certificate, and when Ashley looked at it, he couldn't believe his eyes. He and Jake were gifted $50,000 from the owners of the place. He told them not to ask; they listened.

Ashley took the money and sat it aside in a bank account and for two years he added $30 from every pay check.

One day Andy asked him what he had been saving the money for and Ashley just shrugged.

"Whatever we want I guess."

"I know what I want."

"And what is that?"

"I want to open another rehab center, but one closer to here. One that's affordable, but nice."

"Then we'll make it happen."

Andy held Ashley to that promise and two years later, he was now head of a new rehab center.

Andy, Ashley, and Matt stood behind a protium over looking about three hundred people. All three of them had on suits and Andy's tie just so happened to be blue because Ashley talking him into it. Ashley stepped forward to the microphone.

"Good afternoon. I want to thank everyone for coming out today. Andy, Matt, and I along with everyone else worked hard with this place. One day I got a check from my boss and instead of spending it uselessly, I put it into a bank account. Andrew asked me what I'd do with the money and I told him we could do whatever we wanted with it and another day he said 'Ash, that rehab center where Matt is staying is over priced for what it is. I don't think people realize how little money we have. Why spend your money on a crappy rehab center when you could just buy the drugs again?' I stared at him for a long moment when he said that, that night in our bed and I agreed with him. Shortly, about a week later, Andy talked to me about buying this place out. So here's the man with the idea and heart. Andrew Biersack."

Andy stepped forward and Ashley moved in his place.

"Thank you Ashley. Again I'm Andrew, call me Andy. I'm a recovered drug addict. Meth was my addiction, but now I've moved past it. I'm now two years sober and I couldn't have done it without this man, Ashley Purdy. A hand for him please."

Andy turned and shot Ashley a smile while everyone clapped. He cleared his throat and began to speak again.

"As Ashley told you, I said Why spend your money on a crappy rehab center when you could just buy the drugs again? In our minds, it's much easier to give in to your addiction than to get help. Help costs money. Nothing is free, but why spend all your money on a place that's just one step higher than being on the streets. I've reconstructed this place not only for my friend and Vice President Matt, but for everyone who was like me; who are still like me. You never change, you just grow. From the time I was 17 and hooked to drugs until right now, I never thought of doing something like this. It's overwhelming. I've made mistakes and so have a lot of other people, but some people deserve second chances. We've designed this place to be affordable, but affective. With the extra money we saved, the generous donations, and the recycling of things that were already here, we've made this place somewhere you'd want to live. It isn't the play boy mansion or anything, but you feel welcomed. We've gathered employees who work their hardest and who genially care about our residents. We've selected food from good companies that people actually want to eat. We've also made a family room, complete with two gaming consoles, a pool table, and of course a flat screen tv. Not only do we want our residents to recover, but we want them to feel great while doing so. Also, volunteers have offered to teach literacy classes for some of us who were unfortunate and didn't get proper teaching. We also have job preps and paying opportunities for our residents so once they leave, they have something to look forward to. So again, than you very much. Matt, do you have anything to say?"

"No man. It's all you."

"Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I'm honored to unlock the doors to The Biersack-Purdy, Autumn, Rehab center!"

Andy turned his back and took a key from his pocket. He turned the look at opened the door and the crowd irrupted into cheers. Matt stepped back up to the microphone.

"Also, for those of you who entered the drawing, 100 of you have been selected to to take residence for two months with no charge. See our secretary and manager, Roberta, for more details."

"One more thing!" Ashley spoke over the microphone. "I've been waiting to do this for over seven months. I bought this ring when Andy mentioned building this place and now that it's opened, I'm going to open up too. Everyone, I love this man with all of my heart and now," Ashley got down on one knee. "Andrew Biersack, will you honor me and take my hand in marriage?"

"I will Ashley."

Everyone again irrupted into cheers and Andy and Ashley were embracing each other. They stayed behind, shaking hands and thanking people before the whole place was cleared out. That night, everyone Matt, Andy, and Ashley went to Roberta's for a
home cooked meal. Andy was surprised at her support for their marriage, but for some reason, every since that day that Ashley had both of them worried sick, Andy had felt no resentment towards Roberta, only an appreciation for her. And Andy couldn't believe that he had this beautiful ring on his finger right now, but he want complaing.

Whenever he thought about his life, he didn't regret anything. Yeah, being hooked on drugs wasn't a good thing, but he got a lot out of trying to better himself.

Andy never really visited the rehab center. Things were looking good from reviews and paper work, but he found himself driving past it and stopping to stare at his creation. He and Ashley got a plaq put on the door with a quote that was ironically from the bible.

“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”
Corinthians 6:12

I asked Roberta to explain it to me the first time I saw it, but she told me to figure it

I liked it, the quote. You can do anything you want, but is it always helpful to? No one has control over you. It's up to you do be the change that you want in your life.