The American Spirit

June 18th, 2015

The girls made it back to the buses, all talking and giggling at the fact that their lead singer and drummer had an interview already with Bryan Stars. Their first tour and now their first interview? All four of them were super excited to see how that turned out.

Once they made it back to where the buses would be, they were excited to see how many people had made it. Including the boys of Black Veil Brides. Ryanne took off at a run when she spotted the gazelle legs of Andy, remembering her promise to hug him tightly. She grinned when he turned to see her racing towards him after screaming his name. She saw him brace himself and immediately launched her petite frame at him, giggling loudly as he picked her up and spun them around.

"I told you I would hug you super tight when I saw you." She teased, steadying herself back on the ground. "I always make good on hug promises."

He chuckled, his deep voice sending vibrations through her even though they weren't touching. "I'm glad you make good on those promises. I'm gonna have to take you up on a lot of those."

She nodded. "I can do that. Oh! I have an interview with Bryan Stars tomorrow. You should drop in. Your interviews with him are always hilarious."

He agreed and they began walking around, saying hello to all the other bands as they talked and goofed off. It all felt so surreal to be walking next to one of her favorite musicians on a tour she had been going to for practically years. Never in her wildest imagination did she ever dream she would be here, sharing a stage with some of the best bands in her opinion.

She hadn't realized she gone deep into her thoughts until she heard Andy shout her name, a big grin on his face. Heat flushed her cheeks and she ducked her head in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. This just made the tall man grin wider, obviously enjoying her embarrassment.

"I've been calling your name for like three minutes." He chuckled, tapping on her forehead. "Where have you been, 'Murica?"

Her head snapped up at the sound of the familiar nickname, lips pursing in an attempt to hold her tears back. She hadn't been called that by anyone other than Chelsea since her brother passes away. And even then, Chelsea had stopped calling her that because she felt the pain was too much. It was nice to hear the familiar nickname, though, and she felt a smile creep onto her face.

Andy noticed the hesitation on the girl's face after he used the nickname and immediately felt bad. He opened his mouth to apologize and use her right name when she attacked him in another hug. His confusion was monumental, but he wrapped his arms around the small girl anyway and relaxed. He could feel the tension in her shoulders drain and a small smile crept along his face at the thought of her being so comfortable with him.

"So are you going to the big bonfire tonight? They apparently have one every time the tour first really starts. They didn't want to have one last night without you guys. And a few other bands that weren't there last night." Andy mumbled, the vibrations rumbling through Ryanne.

She looked up, confusion written all over her features. "But, we already did a kick off thing?"

He laughed. "Yeah, that Kevin set up. That's more of a company kind of thing. This is a real party."

She nodded, looking down at her batman tattoo in thought. "Yeah, I'll see if the girls wanna come. It should be fun."

He nodded. "By the way. Your Batman tattoo is fucking badass as shit. I didn't notice it earlier."

She grinned.

**

"Come on, you guys!" Chelsea hollered, bouncing on her toes. She tugged on the brown skirt of her dress in impatience. "I'm ready to get my drink on!"

Ryanne rolled her eyes. "You do know you're still underage, right?"

Faye burst into laughter at the look on Chelsea's face. "Dude. I forgot you're still a baby."

The way that Chelsea carried herself and because of her height, people always thought she was older than she really was. When, in fact, she was the baby of the group. Ryanne turned twenty three in ten days, so she was the oldest of the group. Ashleigh followed behind, turning twenty three in August. And Faye was third, turning twenty three on Halloween. And finally, Chelsea would turn twenty one, actually, on Andy Biersack's birthday.

Chelsea pouted at her sister, crossing her arms over her chest. "That never stopped me before."

Ryanne laughed. "Nothing ever stops you from anything!"

"Alright, alright girls. Let's just go." Nick stepped in, shooting a look at Ryanne. He grinned when she looked sheepish, a blush crawling it's way up her cheeks. "Chelsea, don't drink too much tonight, okay?"

"Okay."

And with that, they made their way to the giant bonfire looming over all of the buses. The girls all chattered behind Ryanne and Nick, getting excited and giggly at the prospect of another party. Ashleigh even opened up and admitted that she was excited to talk to CC again. This surprised all of the band, including Nick.

"I'm worried about Chelsea. She drinks more than I do. And I've been legally able to drink for a two years."

Nick sighed, throwing his arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry about her. She's mostly safe when she drinks. She only drinks when one of us is around, so she's never in any real danger. And she doesn't go out and get wasted like every night."

Ryanne sighed. He was right, of course. She never did anything that could be potentially harmful to her or anyone around her. In fact, she mostly drank at the house to wind down after work or tracking a demo. What really had Ryanne worried was that Chelsea never had an inclination to drink before. She was very against it until about two years ago. Then, one day, she picked up a Smirnoff and was addicted. And that scared Ryanne.

"You worry too much."

**

"'Murica!" Andy called, striding over to the other dark haired singer. "I'm glad you guys made it."

She smiled and gratefully took the Coke from the tall musicians hands. She swayed to the music blaring from the speakers, letting the bass vibrate through her. That's what she always loved about music and concerts. The bass beneath your feet, feeling like your heartbeat. Soon enough, the music starts getting wild and she and Andy were dancing like mad people. And even sooner, there was a white person version of an Indian drum circle around the fire.

"Hey. Hey, Ry." Andy chuckled. "Come with me."

She nodded, following behind him still dancing. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along, eliciting a giggle from the small girl as she demanded to know where he was taking her. Their laughter filled the air until finally he shushes her and skids to a stop. She giggled and held her finger to her lips, imitating Andy's stance.

"What are we doing?" She whispered, staring up into his blue eyes.

He chuckled. "Look."

She peered around the bus they were hiding behind and a gasp tore through her lips. A flash of familiar purple hair passed through her vision as she watched it be pushed against the bus. Ashleigh and CC were intertwined, kissing like a pair of horny high school teenagers, against the bus they were hiding behind. Ryanne's eyes grew wide as she watched her shy, quiet bassist kiss the loud and wild drummer of Black Veil Brides.

"What the fuck?!"