Lost in the Echo

"THANK YOU SEATTLE!" Jimmie screamed in the microphone.

Tonight Dead Hands Mess had their first show. Opening up the show for The Unguided and Avenged Sevenfold. They had a shitload of fun and were so stoked they could be about this tour.

"HELL YEAH! ARE YOU STOKED FOR SOME AVENGED SEVENFOLD?" He asked and the crowd went crazy.

"Great show guys!" Roy exclaimed whent they walked off the stage.

"Thanks man" Alex chuckled and handed over his guitar to one of the techs.

"The crowd is on fire tonight, feels like they're as stoked as we are abot this tour" Simone grinned and put down her guitar in a guitar-stand.

"I bet, thank you guys for warming them up for us" Matt chirped in out of nowhere.

"Hey! I thought you guys were backstage and chilli'n" Pete said, looking surprised

"Nah, need to check that mah girl is shredding the shit outta her guitar" Syn smirked and stepped forward from where he stood behind Matt.

"You know I always do Syn" Simone retorted. Brian was no longer to be seen. He had let Synyster take over. She kind of liked his stage-persona. Simone replied his smirk and felt her eyes linger on his, longer than she meant to.

"Looking good tonight" Syn nodded at her and tore his gaze away from hers when he felt Roys gaze burn onto him.

"Good luck guys!" Matt smiled at Roy

"They will tore this place down when you guys are going on" Roy smirked before he
disappeared onto the stage.

Simone rolled her eyes at her brother. Always so overprotective when it came to Brian. Simone walked backstage to grab a beer. She was greeted by Jimmy, Johnny and Zacky who tried to make an videoblog for themselves.

"Hey Simmy? Do you know how to do this shit?" Jimmy asked her once she entered the room.

"What?" She asked and raised her brow.

"We're trying to make a vlog. What are we supposed to do?" Johnny asked.

"Just talk some shit to the camera" Simone chuckled and went to the fridge to grab a beer.

"Hiya folks! The Rev in da house! Whats up?" Jimmy said to the camera.

"Right now we're in Seattle, going to have our first show soon" Zacky said and did thumbs up to the camera.

"Seems like you guys figured that out" Simone chuckled and took a sip from her beer.

"Oh yeah, we got the lovely Simone Harper from Dead Hands Mess with us at this moment!" Jimmy exclaimed happily and ran over to her, and put the camera in her face.

"Oh stop it Jim, you're making me blush" She chuckled, a bit of sarcasm in her voice as she tried to push the camera away.

"You're welcome" He snickered and ran away to Johnny.

Simone chuckled and left the room, she needed a smoke. She went outside and put a cig between her lips before she lit it. She took a long drag and inhaled slowly, leaning against the wall. She closed her eyes for a few minutes, enjoying the silence.

"Since when did you began to smoke?" She heard a voice out of nowhere.

She recognized that voice everywhere. Synyster. When Brian was himself, and not his stage-persona, he had a softer voice, and not as raspy as this one she just have heard. She figured out that when Brian is Synyster, he let is cocky and arrogant side take over completely. And that side you could hear in his voice.

"Why do you care?" She opened her eyes slowly to meet his gaze. He had a playful smirk on his lips.

"Does Roy know?" He asked her and lit his own cigarette.

"No, and if he figures it out... well.. he'll just figures it out" She shrugged.

"He's too overprotective sometimes" Syn told her.

"Yeah, tell me about it." She replied with a tired tone.

"So are you excited for the show?" She asked him with a smile

He nodded slowly and once again that smirk appeared on his lips.

"Can't wait for the screaming fangirls you know?" He smirked and took a drag from his cigarette

That made Simone laugh out loud.

"I thought you haven't missed them at all" She chuckled. Syn chuckled too.

"No, not really. But it feels good to be on the road again"

"I agree. Well, if it feels better, I am still your biggest fangirl" Simone gave him a playful smirk before she put out her cigarette.

Syn eyes landed on hers, she couldn't read his eyes this time but something was feeling different. She tore her gaze away from his, feeling a bit unsure what to do.

"Well.. see ya later" She murmured to him before she went inside again.

Syn leaned against the wall and sighed. He though about that pool-party they had a few weeks ago. When Jimmy practically forced all of them to play spin the bottle. When Michelle just had to show up and make a scene.

He clenched his jaw at the memory and took another drag.

He didn't dare to ask Simone if she remembered that kiss they shared that night. He was convinced that she either didn't recall it, or simply she didn't care about it. He was scared out of his mind that he was starting to get feelings for her. More than friendly feelings. A few days after their kiss, he tried to convince himself that it was the booze that made him dizzy that night. The same with him longing for her touch. It was just something temporary, but yet, he couldn't explain why he still, to this day was yearning after her touch.

He took another deep drag of the cigarette. The way she handled her guitar tonight, that solo in their song "Coming Down" took him off guard. The way her fingers danced along the fret-board on her guitar made his insides go crazy. He quickly shook that thought away.

He took the last drag oh his cigarette before he put it out. He glanced at his clock. 45 minutes until they were supposed to hit the stage. 45 minutes he had left to get some focus. He took a deep breath and went inside. He was walking backstage, hoping to keep his mind on something else. Jimmy was good at entertaining people and keep their minds busy with other shit.

Speaking of the devil.

"Hey Synny-boy!" Jimmy yelled when he entered the room

"You know that sounds ridiculous right?" Syn chuckled as Jimmy put his arm around his shoulders.

"Maybe it does. But you my friend, ARE ridiculous " He grinned and gave Syn a beer.

Synyster heard a girly laughter. His eyes wandered around the room until his eyes found what he was looking for. Great, just what he needed right now.

"Way to go Jim! Just destroy whats left of his arrogant attitude" Simone giggled and held onto her beer. She was becoming slightly drunk.

"Ouch!" Zacky laughed beside her

"Yeah whatever, at least I got the most fangirls besides Matt" Syn muttered and took a sip from his beer and plopped down next to Johnny in the couch.

"40 minutes left until showtime!" Matt yelled and stepped out of the bathroom.

"YEAAAH!" all of them shouted in choir.

Syn downed another beer and left the room. He couldn't think straight with her in the same room. Not right now. He went to his guitar-tech and grabbed his guitar. And began to warm up for the show. He felt that he was starting to loose his Synyster Gates- attitude.

He played a pentatonic scale a few times. He didn't hit every note.

"Damn!" He muttered and tried to play it again a few times. He failed. He began to play the intro for Afterlife instead. Failing again miserably.

"FUCK!" he shouted.

"How it's going man?" Jimmy asked him as he walked by to grab a pair of drumsticks.

"I can't even stay in my own head" Syn muttered as his gaze landed on Simone as she walked by a couple of meters away.

"Your mind is somewhere else tonight?" Jimmy asked as he twirled a drumstick between his fingers, following Syns gaze until Simone disappeared behind a corner.

"Uhm.. yeah. kind of" Syn murmured. His eyes landed on Jimmys

Jimmy smirked.

"Or shall I say on SOMEONE else?" He snickered and saw Syns gaze flickered, unsure where he should look.

Syn scratched the back of his head nervously.

"It's not what it looks like" Syn sighed. Fearing that Jimmy already came up with his own conclusion. Which he probably have.

"Whatever you say dude" Jimmy shrugged.

Syns gave him a funny look.

"Aren't you supposed to jump to conclusions?" Syn asked

"I've already did. But this time I'm gonna keep my mouth shut" Jimmy shrugged once again.

"What?" Syn raised his brow, looking slightly confused

" Don't worry Brian, your secret is safe with me. I'm not gonna tell the others" Jimmy whispered

And with those words he left Brian there, alone and slightly confused.

Did he just assumed that I have feelings for Simone? Brian though for himself and tilted his head, looking in the same direction Jimmy had walked.

"Hey Syn?" He heard Matts voice out of nowhere.

Syn jumped slightly and met Matts gaze.

"Yeah?" He asked, still looking a bit confused

"You're ready to hit the stage? You're looking confused " Matt asked

Syn shook his head. "Yeah, Jimmy just playing around you know?" He chuckled and took the in ear-kit his guitar-tech gave him.

"Good, 5 minutes left" Matt smiled and patted his shoulder.

"You're psyched now? " He heard a female voice ask. He sighed and turned around.

"Yeah, now I am" He smirked and met Simones blue eyes.

"Great! Break a leg" She smiled and went in for a hug

"Thanks" he nodded, hugging back and glancing at the clock on the wall.

"Are you gonna stay and watch?" He asked her when they parted from the hug.

"I might, my lovely bandmembers wants to start drinking early today tho" She smirked

"Might aswell watch us while you drink" Syn returned her smirk

"I doubt it would be worse things to watch" He winked

"Yeah, and watching those raging fangirls scream at you guys" Simone rolled her eyes

"Ey, you're the only fangirl I want to scream at me" Syn chuckled. Making Simone chuckle too.

"Yeah, but I don't scream for the good reasons. I'll scream at you because you're so damn stubborn" She snickered.

"Shut up" Syn chuckled and met her gaze. Her smile was beautiful. If she was gonna watch the whole show, he would probably have a hard time to focus on the right things.