I Know It's Hurting You, But It's Killing Me (A7X Fan Fiction)

Chapter Eight: Down-to-Earth Rock Star

            Of course you can’t expect to go out of the house with Synyster Gates and not be recognized by someone.

            As soon as Lyric and Syn walked out into the parking lot, a boy who looked to be about 15 or 16 noticed them and ran over to them.

            “Synyster Gates?” He asked hesitantly.

            Brian gave the boy one of his signature smiles. “That’s me! And you are?” He questioned, sticking out his hand for the boy to shake.

            “Gage,” he replied before shaking Brian’s hand, an amazed look on his face. “I can’t believe this is really happening!” Gage exclaimed excitedly.

            “Well it is,” Brian told him, sporting a big smile. Syn just loved meeting fans. He was fascinated by the idea that there are people out there who look up to him.

            “Who’s this? Your girlfriend?” Gage asked, now looking at Lyric. He wanted to shake her hand too, to be polite, but he wasn’t sure if Synyster would get mad or not so he decided to just continue standing there.

            “No, but I’m Zacky V’s sister, Lyric Baker,” she said, grinning at the boy.

            “Zacky Vengeance?” Gage’s eyes lit up. “Is he here anywhere?”

            Lyric felt bad since it was obvious that Gage wanted to meet her brother. I’m afraid it’s just the two of us. Sorry, Gage.” She apologized.

            Gage frowned for a moment, but didn’t want Synyster and Lyric to see his disappointment so he quickly hid it with a small smile. “That’s alright,” he told them, and then he stuck his hand in his pocket, fishing for something. “Damn it!” he cursed, his frown returning. “I had a piece of paper in my pocket from earlier. I must have taken it out,” he said, now sad that he couldn’t get Syn’s autograph because he had no paper for him to sign.

            “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be right back,” Syn said before running back into Best Buy, leaving Lyric and Gage awkwardly standing together in front of the store.

            “So… Zacky’s sister, eh?” Gage questioned, breaking the silence between them.

            “Trust me, it’s not as fun as it sounds,” Lyric sighed, remembering all of the hissy fits Zack threw because of her and Brian.

            “Really? Tell me about it,” Gage said, his voice full of interest. While Avenged Sevenfold was Gage’s favorite band and he looked at all of them as inspiration, Zacky Vengeance was his main reason for starting guitar. Zacky Vengeance was whom he really idolized.

            “Well, see here’s the thing. Zacky and I just came back into each other’s lives at the beginning of the week after eight years. And he surprised me by showing up to my house on Sunday. Since then he has introduced me to the rest of the band, threw me a welcome party, and managed to get into several arguments with me,” Lyric explained, remembering their latest argument at Brian’s house that lead to her demanding Zack to take her home.

            Gage was just about to say something, when Brian came bounding out of the store, something in his hands behind his back.

            “Say, you haven’t gotten the chance to get our new C-D yet, have you?” Brian asked Gage, his wide grin spreading over his face. It was a rare thing to see Brian smile, but it was something Lyric had been seeing a lot of lately.

            “No. As a matter of fact, my brother dropped me off today so I could come here and get it, along with some other things I needed,” Gage replied, confused.

            “That’s great!” Brian exclaimed, taking a newly bought sharpie out of his pocket and showing the object he had behind his back. It was the new Avenged Sevenfold C-D that had just came out.

            Then Brian pulled out the booklet and signed it. Lyric stood and watched as Gage’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.

            “Here ya go,” Brian said, handing the C-D to Gage, who was too shocked to do anything right away.

            After a few moments, Gage took his C-D and thanked Synyster before walking into Best Buy.

            During the car ride, Lyric wouldn’t stop telling Brian how nice it was of him to do that for the boy.

            “It was the least I could do to repay him,” Brian kept telling her, not seeing why Lyric was so surprised by his actions.

            “I know… I just never imagined you to be such a down-to-earth rock star,” she confessed.

            “Well babe,” Brian started, taking one hand off the steering wheel to hold her hand. “That’s me, the down-to-earth, loving, compassionate rock star,” he said, chuckling.

            Lyric gave out a small laugh before looking down at their hands. Just like the previous time they had held hands, she felt her cheeks redden. She liked holding hands with Brian. It wasn’t like he had his hand on her thigh, inching it up her leg, or trying to kiss her and shove his tongue down her throat.

            She had a few boyfriends before, but not many. Being an author had always kept her busy, and she always felt like she did better on her own. But there was something about Brian that seemed to bring out the best in her. She felt calmer, more at peace. She wasn’t constantly worried about everything like due dates for her rough drafts, her brother, etc. It was like when she was with him, all of her problems seemed so tiny and insignificant. They seemed to virtually melt away.