The American Spirit

June 23rd, 2015 1:00 a.m

By the time they made it to the next stop, Ryanne was jittery with nerves. She refused to sit down for most of the ride. When they made the first gas pit stop and they realized that Black Veil Bride's bus was in the same gas station lot as them, they shoved her onto the bus. Andy chuckled and practically forced her to sit down.

"Why are you so jumpy today?"

Ryanne flushed, flopping onto the couch with her hands under her. "I'm not meaning to be so fidgety. I can't help it."

Christian chuckled. "Well, at least they aren't getting onto me."

The dark haired girl flushed, pouting softly as they teased her. It wasn't her fault! She didn't know why she felt so jumpy; she just did. Maybe it was the fact that she was on her way to the fifth tour date, barely halfway into the tour, and already she was dealing with two guys (one of which was vying for her attention, the other of which had already caught her attention), her father having basically a small heart attack while she and her sister were away, and the possibility of a girl who might be jealous of her.

Of course, she meant Juliet. Ryanne wasn't stupid, she'd seen Juliet following her and Andy with her eyes as they stumbled off to his hotel room the other night. She wasn't blind either. It wasn't hard to see that she was still in love with him. She obviously just felt like she had no other choice but to end things with him, because she thought it would make him see differently. But, he was with Ryanne now. And Ryanne didn't even know if they were together in that way. Sure, they'd slept together, but that didn't mean anything.

"What are you thinking about so hard over there?"

She flushed again and lied. "Nothing. Just the set list for tomorrow. I wanna switch it up. We play the same songs in the same order, it's boring."

Andy nodded, setting himself beside the red-faced girl. A large grin split his face as he watched her get more and more flustered. It was honestly the most adorable thing that he'd ever seen. She seemed so flustered and couldn't sit still for the life of her.

Ryanne chewed her lower lip, her thoughts going to her father. She really wanted to see him and she didn't think she could wait for the days off in Nashville. She was very excited to have the two days that they were being given off. It would give her and Chelsea plenty of time to go visit their parents and make sure everything was doing great. It made her sick to her stomach to know that they could have left the tour, if only for a little, to see how their family was.

"Ryanne!" Andy's voice broke her train of thought and she looked up into his eyes. Her brow furrowed in confusion when she realized all of the guys were staring at her in concern. "What are you thinking about so hard there?"

A nervous giggle escaped her as she flushed bright red. "I'm sorry. I was thinking about the days we have off in Nashville. I'm gonna see about renting a car to go down to Memphis to see my parents."

Andy nodded and the guys made noises of understanding as she curled into Andy's side, her energy finally fading. She vaguely heard Andy asking if she wanted to go back to the bunks and watch a movie. She mumbled incoherently, her thumb making it's way to her mouth. Andy giggled softly as he realized that this adorable girl was still a child in more ways than one.

Scooping her up, he couldn't help but enjoy the way that she stirred slightly, only to wrap her arms around his neck and go back to sleep. As much as he hated not being able to see her beautiful hazel eyes, she was still so damn cute with her face contorted into one of contentment while she slept. A grin made it's way to his face when she snored softly.

June 23rd, 2015 2:25 pm

"Is it real, those pretty little words you say? Are they true, every time you say them to me? Or is there someone else you say them too as well? Those pretty little words are so ugly underneath." Ryanne finished off the song, grinning at the crowd that was screaming. Screaming for her band. For her and her girls. She felt like she was on top of the world. "Thank you! That was Pretty Little Words from our EP that you can grab at our merch tent. We'll be over there signing after this song."

Chelsea began the beat to Millennia by Crown the Empire. Swaying to the beat, Ryanne began to sing her favorite song by Crown the Empire. And she had become kind of obsessed with the band again, so it was only fitting to play one of their songs. She was so glad her friends liked the same things and knew how to play the songs she felt like singing sometimes. This song definitely held some meaning to her and it felt good to finally sing it on the tour.

"Close my eyes and lay me in my tomb and pull the trigger and send me..." She trailed off, ending the song on a soft note. "Thank you guys so much! You've been awesome!"

"Give it up for New Year's Day! My girl Ash is gonna kill it!" Faye yelled into Ryanne's microphone. "We love you guys!"

***

"Man, I am so ready for an off day." Chelsea groaned, plopping down on their bus couch. "Is that bad? We're not even that far into the tour."

Faye made an incoherent noise. "No, this heat is freaking ridiculous. I think it's worse than Tennessee heat."

Ashleigh scoffed. "Doubt it. Mom says that there's been a heat advisory for most of the summer so far."

Ryanne wasn't surprised. As far as summer's go in Memphis, the weather was always unpredictable. She was glad she wasn't there to endure the hundred plus heat that was most likely plaguing her hometown. The heat she was suffering through here was enough. It made the girl's hateful and snappy too, making it hard to be on the bus together for long periods of time without breaking up the monotony. So, when one of the guys shows up, all of the girl's breathed out sighs of relief.

Like they did when Andy Velasquez and Bennett Suede showed up in their bus. Ryanne's eyes widened and she hurriedly pulled her headphones out of her ears. Looking around at all of the girls in their comfiest, coolest pajamas, she felt a blush rise up her cheeks. They had all taken off their make up as soon as they could, she had taken her contacts out, Chelsea had put in her retainer and began reading her book, Faye and Ashleigh were beside each other playing some game on their DS's.

"H-hey guys." Ryanne stuttered, bringing the other's attention to the boys.

"Hey! Your manager said it would be chill if we came back here. He's got that whole front lounge to himself." Andy chuckled nervously. "We could come back another time?"

Ryanne jumped up. "No! No, that's fine. We just weren't expecting company today."

Benn nodded. "Yeah, we got to see your set today and Andy couldn't stop talking about how you nailed Millennia and how much he loves you now."

"Benn, shut the fuck up." Andy snapped, nudging the guitarist.

Blood rushed into Ryanne's cheeks and she looked down, embarrassed. Her head snapped up and her eyes narrowed into a glare at Faye as she laughed at the dark haired girl. It was no secret that , besides Andy Biersack, Ryanne was completely in love with Andy Leo of Crown the Empire and to have him compliment her on her rendition of Milliennia was the highlight of her day.

"I really appreciate that. I'm a huge fan of you guys' band." I finally replied.

Chelsea laughed, loudly. "Dude, she's completely in love with you!"

"Shut the fuck up, Chels!"

**

The guys hung out with the girls until an hour before bus call. They all said their goodbyes and made sure they had all exchanged numbers and the like. As soon as they were both off the bus and Chelsea checked the windows to make sure it was clear, they all began fangirling. Ryanne fell onto the couch and grabbed a throw pillow to bury her face into and screamed.

"That was one of the best experiences of my life."