The Man Behind the Makeup

Chapter 11: Talk To Him

After we ate, she climbed back on my shoulders and we walked around for a little bit, bought a few things, then we went back to the bus. I had her in my arms since she was all pooped out. Her head rested on my shoulder, drooling a little, but I didn't care. Ronnie smiled and took her from me as I walked into the front lounge.

"All tuckered out." He chuckled and set her on the couch with a pillow and her blanket. "Kevin texted me saying that BVB were playing on the Monster Stage in a few minutes." I nodded as I grabbed my camera and headed back off the bus. I looked at the gauze attached to my hip and took it off, revealing my new tattoo. I threw away the nasty bandage and walked to the stage where they were just starting to walk out. Andy looked horrible. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy and his hair was messy. Shit, what part of hell did he crawl out of?

I stood on the side and took some pictures as his band started playing. He had one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard. He looked over and our eyes locked. He was still singing and I felt bad.

No Anna, he's putting you on a guilt trip. Don't fall for that.

My dad's voice echoed in my head and I looked away as I took more pictures of the other band members. You're right, dad. This boy is affecting me too much and I'm letting it get to my head. I almost didn't want to take Andy's picture just because of how out of it he looked. He didn't have any of the paint on his face except for this black line from one side to the other and his arms were covered.

He kept stealing glances at me and I noticed that his eyes were glassed over like he could start crying at any moment. I took one more and then left, not wanting to see this any longer. Just as I was going to start down the stairs, a hand caught my arm. I looked to see that it was Kevin. Uh oh, what did I do?

"You're not in trouble. C'mon." We walked off the stage to a more secluded area behind the stage. He looked at me and had a pitiful look in his eyes. "I think you should talk to Andy. He broke up with Juliet earlier and he's still pretty shaken up about it. He won't tell anyone what exactly happened and his band members won't give any details other than that they broke up." I sighed and looked at my camera. "Plus I overheard your conversation earlier when he walked to your bus." I looked at him and stomped my foot on the ground and swung my arms around like a five year old.

"Fine only because you asked." He chuckled and patted my shoulder as he walked away. I trudged back to the bus and set down my camera, deciding that I was done for the day and emailed my boss the pictures so he could get them published tonight. Alexia walked up on the bus and smiled at me, which I barely returned.

"Aw what's wrong?" She sat next to me and I put my head on her shoulder, letting out a loud sigh.

"Andy broke up with Juliet and Kevin heard our conversation earlier outside the bus, so he asked me to talk to him and try to get more out of him." She rested her head on top of mine and patted my knee.

"You'll be fine. He did look really bad out there, though." I nodded. She looked at her phone and showed me the time. "His set is over in a few minutes, you might want to get yourself presentable." I giggled as I got up and walked into the bunk area to sit on my bunk and touch up my makeup by going over my eyeliner once more and grabbed my leather jacket, considering it wasn't as hot and I just had a sports bra for a top. I walked out and she looked at me as I put out my hands and spun around.

"Better?" She giggled and nodded. We hugged and I walked off the bus to go find the BVB bus and just hoped that Andy was on. I sat down outside the front door when I realized that the set wasn't over yet because I could hear them playing on the stage. I decided to start going through my pictures on my phone, from the very beginning. I had put all my pictures from my old phone on my new one and so now I had about 12,000 pictures. Some made me smile because the beginning was mostly Andy and I, along with some of him and Dustin. I miss my brother so much, but I'm happy that he's doing what he loves.

I came across a picture of me on Andy's back and was debating on whether to set it as my home screen or not. My thumb hovered over the button and the more I stared at it, the more I felt the pain in my chest start to ache. I missed him all those years and he just completely shut me out of his life. I hit the button and locked my phone, not wanting to see it any longer. A single tear ran down my cheek, making me quick to wipe it away before anybody saw it. I heard Andy's shaky voice scream goodbye as the set was over. I doubt he would want to talk to me about any of this, but it was worth the shot.

About an hour went by and he still wasn't back yet. Were they ever going to come back? I hugged my legs to my chest as I rested my chin on my knees, starting to wipe off the dirt on my boot considering I was extremely bored.

Laughter and yelling filled my ears as I heard the band walking towards the bus. I stood up, brushing the dirt off my butt and pants as I leaned back against the bus like I had just got there and hadn't been sitting there for an hour and a half. They turned the corner and I could feel their judgmental stares as I turned to them. Andy was tucked behind the group, clearly not wanting to socialize with any of his fellow band members.

"Can we help you?" Ashley asked in a rather rude tone as he crossed his arms. You snap at me, I'll snap at you.

"Yes by not being such a rude douche and letting me talk to Andy." He looked taken aback, like he wasn't expecting me to come back at him like that. They walked up on the bus and Andy stood there, looking on the ground as he lightly dug his foot into the ground with his toe. "Andy." He looked at me with tears streaming down his face. I gasped as I covered my mouth with my hand and he ran up to me, wrapping his arms around me as he cried on my shoulder. Okay, since when has hugging been okay between us? Since now. I wrapped my arms around tightly around his waist as he sobbed.

"Annabelle, I-I'm so sorry that I didn't do anything all those years ago. She was so rude to you and I b-broke up with her. She was never a good person and I am so, so s-sorry that I a-abandoned you and Dustin." He rushed out through his sobs and I rubbed his back. I kissed his shoulder and pulled away. I looked at him to see that the black line was smudged and his breathing was erratic. I wiped away the tears, only to have them be quickly replaced with fresh ones.

"Calm down. Take a few deep breaths." He did so and most of the crying subsided, only a tear or two being released every few minutes as we looked at each other. "I am not mad at you. I was just hurt." His lip quivered and I pulled him back into my arms. "I was hurt that you completely dropped me so quickly and wasn't there to help me through thick and thin. You were my best friend and it just hurt that you would let go of your best friend so easily for another girl."

"I didn't meant to hurt you." He pulled away and looked at the ground. I gently put my hands on the sides of his face, moving his head a little so he would look me in the eyes, only he refused. I was only a few inches shorter than him, so it wasn't so ridiculous getting him to look me in the eyes.

"Andrew Dennis Biersack, look at me." His icy blue eyes locked with mine. He always did what I told him when I addressed him by his full name.

"I am so sorry, Anna. I want to fix things with you. Mend the parts that have been torn between us." I kissed his cheek and smiled at him. He weakly smiled back and wrapped his arms around my waist. I put mine around his neck and he lifted my legs around his waist as he spun us around, making me scream with laughter. We always did this at games when Dustin's team won. He laughed with me and stopped, setting me back down. "I missed doing things like that with you." I messed up his hair.

"I did, too." I giggled as he flipped all my hair forward and pushed it in different directions. "I missed you Andy."

"I missed you, too Annabelle." I smiled at him and we parted ways, him walking onto his bus and me going back to mine. I was glad that Kevin had me talk to him, but I will never forget that he chose Juliet over me.