Second Heartbeat

“How could neither of you tell us this?!”
 
Was the collective response of the remaining members of Radiant Eclipse and Avenged Sevenfold. It was the morning after the girls’ comeback show, and they had just found out all the history between the terror twins and the Walst brothers, and that Anne had an abortion and not a miscarriage.
 
“Hey, do not look at me like that. It wasn’t my place to tell okay?”
 
Ash said from her spot on the couch, as she nursed her son. As they finished their breakfasts, and spent the rest of the morning relaxing and playing with their children, the girls received a call from Mike just before lunch. It was just a courtesy call; to remind them of their breakfast date with Three Days Grace the next day. Since they had nothing scheduled for the rest of the day, they ate lunch, then decided to go out as a big group, to Ripley’s Aquarium.  

Just they all walked up the steps of the Aquarium, the girls talked about their interviews the next day, while the guys got ready to buy all their tickets. As soon as everything was paid for and they were inside, the kids made a beeline for the sting ray pool, where they could interact with the fish. While the guys helped their kids dunk their hands into the pool, the girls stayed back to discuss the day of interviews that they had coming up.

“This is going to be so much fun.”

Anne said under her breath, referring to working with their exes.

“We’re going to have to talk to them eventually. Like the four of us will have to sit down and hash shit out.”

“Do we really have to?”

Anne asked, as the group finally started moving away from the sting ray pool.

“Je dois tu vous reembarrer dans une piece encore?”

Ash asked her, referring to how she once locked Anne and Matt in a room together. The drummer narrowed her eyes at the bassist, who just smiled at her and walked on. After getting through the aquarium and spending some time in the gift shop, the group walked out of the building, and over to the nearby Jack Astor’s for a late lunch.

“So, when exactly do you girls head back into the studio?”

Jimmy asked, as the server placed his beer down in front of him.

“Honestly, we’re not even entirely sure. I’m guessing we’ll find that out tomorrow.”

Jess replied, as she burped Sorin. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, as the group just chose to head back to the house to relax.

“Before we forget, we had this idea for a second, and slightly longer version of ‘Here’s To Us’ …”

Corinne announced, as they all settled in the backyard, once all the kids were down for a nap. She quickly laid out the plans to have the guys sing on the track as well, to which they readily agreed to. The rest of the day passed with the girls poring over their lyric books and seeing what other songs they would want to include on the album. The next hours passed in a blur, and before they knew it, the girls were pulling into the Westin Harbour Castle with Laeticia, Jonathan Junior and Sorin in tow. The rest of the kids stayed behind at the house, with their fathers.

“I am starving. What kind of breakfast are we having? Is it buffet or sit down?”

Mateja asked, as they left the vans with the valet and headed inside.

“No clue. I guess we will find out soon.”

Corinne replied, as they were greeted by a rep from the hotel, who informed them that there was a breakfast buffet set up for them. They got up to the conference room to see that they were the first ones there, but it wasn’t to be for long. As Brad got his kids settled in the corner with some games and a portable DVD player, Matt sat down next to Ash who watched from the other side of the room.

“So, when are you going to admit it?”

“Admit what?”

“That you’re still in love with my big brother?”

“Just as soon as you admit that you’re still in love with my terror twin.”

“I am not …”

Matt trailed off, when he saw the look that Ash was giving him.

“Matthew Jean Paul Walst, please don’t forget that I have known you for fifteen years now.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah …”

“Well?”

“Alright, I’m not over her, and I don’t know if I ever will be. Are you happy now?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. It’s your turn now.”

Ash groaned and rolled her eyes, as she put her son back into his car seat.

“I don’t think I ever got over him. I mean, I was so desperate to make it work with him, and it didn’t seem like he felt the same way. But of course, he’s off and married with kids now. Like how could he want that with someone else but not me?”

The conversation was halted as Brad came over to greet his ex, and then they all chose spots to sit around the table. After getting Laeticia, Sorin and Jonathan Junior settled in their playpens, Anne, Jess and Ash grabbed plates and went to see what their options were. Ash had just set her plate down, and was about to get a drink when Brad set down a mug of green tea beside her plate.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

He smiled at her, before going to take a seat next to his brother. They ate and talked about an assortment of topics, before they decided to get down to business after Brad’s kids were set up with plates of food, and the babies were fed as well.

“So, when did you guys want to get into the studio?”

Corinne asked, as she sipped her hot chocolate.

“Well, we’re free for the next few months, so we can go whenever. But we figured, that we would give what you girls have already done a listen, and also see what else you all have.”

Neil answered, as he set his coffee down. They all took their lyric books out, and got down to work. By the time it they got packed up to leave, they had one song fully done and two more started. Before they all went their separate ways, a time was set for them to get into the studio.

"On a scale of horrible to awesome, is the idea of working so closely with the brothers?"

Anne asked Ash, later that day as they watched the kids feed the geese in the pond at the park.

"Is horrible to the nth degree an option?"

Ash replied, as she bent over to pet a puppy that had run over after its ball.

"Do you really think that it'll be that bad?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

As they were busy contemplating the pros and cons of working with their exes, Mateja and Corinne, were driving their husbands mad.

“You two do realize you're married right?!”

Jimmy grumbled, as he took a long swig of beer. Ash and Anne were the only ones that opted to go to the park, leaving everyone behind at the house. He and Matt were none too enthused about their wives gushing over 3DG’s drummer, Neil Sanderson.

“Gosh, they’re just stating the obvious James!”

Zacky exclaimed, as he had decided to have a laugh at his bandmates expense. He made sure that the kids were not in view, before Jimmy flipped Zacky the bird and muttered profanities. Another half hour passed, before Johnny and Brian decided to venture out to the park, and see what was taking the girls so long. They received a message that night, from Matt, asking if they were able to hit the studio the next day, instead of the weekend as previously discussed. They informed Anne and Ash about Matt’s message, and as soon as everyone, kids and parents included, were fed and showered, everyone relaxed for the rest of the night then hit the hay. But while the rest of the house was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, Ash tossed and turned. She only stopped when Johnny pulled her into his arms to keep her still.

“What’s wrong?”

He mumbled, as Ash turned so that they laid chest to chest.

“Just wondering if working with them is a good idea or not.”

“It went well earlier did it not?”

“Yeah, but the kids were there. And you have to remember, it’s been so long since the four of us have spent a significant amount of time together. So many words unsaid, unresolved feelings, and … there’s just so much history and —-“

Johnny cut Ash off before she could say anymore.

“If you ask me, I think the four of you really need to sit down and talk. Just talk; just the four of you and no one else, and hash things out. But right now, at this moment, I think you need to forget everything, and go to bed.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and pulled the covers back over them. Ash took a deep breath, and closed her eyes; eventually letting sleep finally take over her body. It wasn’t long the next morning, before Ash’s premonition about working with Matt and Brad being a bad idea came true. Both Matt and Brad were being very short with them, while it was all smiles and laughs with the other girls.

“You girls alright?”

Neil asked Anne and Ash, as they stole a breath and a sip of tea.

“Dandy. We’re just dandy.”

Anne retorted, to the man who taught her a lot of what she knew.

“Want me to beat them up?”

Barry chimed in.

Neil and Barry, obviously knew of the history between Anne, Ash, Matt and Brad; having only learned of Anne’s abortion a few nights before. Despite that, they thought that the way Matt and Brad were behaving towards them, was uncalled for. As much as they wanted to see that happen, they understood that there was work to do, and tried to suck it up and stick it out.

"Did you even pay one bit of attention to what I just showed you?"

Brad said to Ash, as they stopped what they were doing for what seemed like the hundredth time that hour. They were working on the melody to one of the songs that they had come up with the previous day, and while Ash thought that she was copying exactly what Brad was doing, he thought otherwise.

"You know what, maybe we should take a break? We've been at it for nearly three hours. Let's take a break!"

Neil suggested, as he could hear and feel the tension building between the two bassists. Ash couldn't have gotten up any faster, as she put her bass down, grabbed her phone and scurried out of the room. The rest of her band mates soon followed suit, with Barry bringing up the rear. Only Matt, Brad and Neil remained, with the latter blocking the brothers from leaving.

"You want to move out of my way?"

"You want to make me?"

"What the hell is your problem?"

Matt growled, unhappy that the drummer was clearly running interference.

“What the hell is my problem?!? What the hell is yours? The both of you! I thought we agreed, going into this, the we would leave the past in the past! At least, until we are finished in the studio. We all made a promise to Mike, and the two of you are making it virtually impossible to keep!”

With this being said, Neil huffed and walked out of the room. The brothers looked at each other and shrugged, before they eventually followed. After an hour long break, they all went back into the studio, and worked for another three hours, without much distraction. Save for a few instances of under the breath mumbling, and short breaks for Ash and Jess t breastfeed their younger children.

“I don’t know if I can take another day of this.”

Anne told Ash, as they packed up the car for the night.

“I know, but we can’t give up just now; not after one day. How about this? We give it at least one more day, and if nothing changes, then I will call Mike myself tomorrow, and see if we can make other arrangements.”

Anne pursed her lips, but agreed, for the sake of getting the album completed. It was barely noon the next day, when both girls regretted their decision to push through one more day. It only seemed like the animosity got worse by the minute, and everyone’s patience was wearing thing. So much so, that Ash texted Mike and SOS and let him know, that she and Anne were actively looking for somewhere else to record.

“Are you sure you girls can’t work it out with them?”

Jess asked, when Ash informed the rest of RE of hers and Anne’s decision.

“We probably could, in time, but that time is not now. They are both being the impossible, stubborn, assholes that we know they can be.”

Anne huffed, before they disposed of their lunch garbage, and went back to face the dragons. Things nearly came to a complete halt, and a physical fight, when Anne lamented that she did not think that she could reach a particular note with her voice. Ash was seeing red and ready to pounce, when Matt retorted “she CAN do it. She just won’t tell you about it.” Having heard what was said, Neil forced Ash out of the rom, and for everyone to take a break. At the end of the session, Ash and Anne stayed behind, and as soon as the last engineer left, they started packing up all of their gear.

“What the hell happened earlier?!”

Anne asked, as Ash had been too irate to speak earlier. Her expression darkened, as Ash spoke in French, in case someone decided to come back in. She too packed her things, and made a special call to some old friends back in Québec. Ash called Mike, and explained the situation; telling him that they tried, and it just wasn’t going to work out.

“Are we good to go?”

Ash asked Anne, once she finished her call.

“Yep. We’ll tell Johnny and Brian when we get back, then pack up the kids and head out first thing in the morning.”

Making sure that her son was strapped in correctly and tightly, Ash got into the driver’s sear, and they headed back to the house.

“You know, this wouldn’t be so hard, if I didn’t still love his stupid ass.”

Ash admitted, as they stopped at a red light.

“Yeah, me too.”

Anne mumbled in reply.