Don't You Dare: A Synyster Gates Story

Chapter Sixteen

"So what, you're just not going?" Lauren half-asked, half-shouted through the phone.

"I can't go just for Brian," Aubrey defended, clutching her phone to her ear.

"The hell you can't!" Lauren huffed. "I mean, are you just going to do the long-distance thing for the rest of your lives?"

"I don't know," Aubrey shrugged. "If he wants that."

"He obviously doesn't want that!" Lauren replied. "He wants you with him!"

Aubrey sighed into the phone.

"Look, I love you, girl," Lauren exhaled with a tad bit more sympathy. "But you are fucking stubborn. You need to man up before he gives up. You need to either tell him how you feel about everything or suck it up and go be with him."

"I mean, why the hell can't we just do a long-distance thing?" Aubrey began to feel defensive.

"Do what you want, Aubrey," Lauren relented. "I'm just saying - he's not going to wait around forever. Not when he's surrounded by tons of other ready and willing women."

Lauren didn't know if Brian was the type to just shack up with the next girl in line, and she knew her words would be harsh, but her friend needed a swift kick in the ass to realize what she was doing and what she was risking.

The words stung Aubrey's ears, but she knew Lauren was right.

"I just can't," Aubrey stated. "I have to find my backbone. I refuse to get into a relationship with someone when I feel so lost and uncertain of everything. It's not fair to me but it's really not fair to Brian. And I owe him way more than that. He deserves so much better than that."

Lauren sighed. "I'm sorry, Aubrey. You know what's best for you. I just want to see you happy."

"I will be," Aubrey said. "I just have some things to work on first."

Ø

One Month Later

"Come on, guys," Val encouraged, clapping her hands at the five members of Avenged Sevenfold who drug their feet toward the bus like half-dead zombies. "Get a move on."

"Noo," Jimmy protested with a moan as he dragged his duffel bag on the ground behind him. "Too early to think, too early for load-in, too early to be awake."

"Not if you never went to sleep the night before," Johnny added, raising his eyebrows at Brian as they threw their stuff into the storage compartment of the bus.

Brian snorted and rolled his eyes at Johnny's remark, leaning against the side of the bus with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

It was 4:30 in the morning, pitch black outside, and they were about to head out for the next leg of the tour. Which is usually exciting once the sun comes up and everyone feels human again. But as the new merch assistant walked passed him, Brian wasn't so sure that would happen for him today.

Her name was Hannah. She seemed young but she was cute, with short red hair and bright green eyes. She certainly looked the part of an A7X merch girl, way more than Aubrey ever did, with her thick eyeliner and black-on-black wardrobe and black combat boots. She seemed nice enough but she wasn't Aubrey. And although that wasn't her fault, Brian could tell the others felt the same way as the day went on.

Val was friendly but kept her conversations with Hannah short and strictly business. Matt and Zack tried to chitchat with her, but it sounded forced and uninspired. Johnny greeted her kindly but didn't exchange any further dialogue. And Brian was fairly sure that Jimmy didn't say a word to the poor girl all day.