Stay With Me

8

"Did you get anything written last night, Dead?" snapped Euronymous.

Dead smirked. "Actually, I've got our next three songs done so there's really no reason for you to be pissy at me now."

"You got three songs done just last night?" asked Necro is disbelief. "That's great Pelle! We can use those three and one of our older songs and that'll give us a whole set list for the night."

Euronymous glared over at the Swede, tossing an empty Cola bottle onto the floor and shattering it as it hit the wall.

"Seriously?" groaned Hellhammer. "We just fucking cleaned up the place and now you're gonna throw glass on the floor? Do you even think before you do dumb shit?"

"Shut up and let's get to practicing. Dead, you think you'll be able to get through a whole set without Vanessa here?"

Rolling his eyes, Dead stood up from the couch and headed towards the garage where their set up was. Sure he had been a bit quieter today since Vanessa was working today, but he had no intention of letting it get in the way of his performance. If anything, having her near when they practiced gave him motivation to do his absolute best. Their show was tomorrow night and Vanessa couldn't wait to see Dead perform. She hadn't been allowed in the room while Melanie did everyone's makeup, well, everyone except Euronymous, so the anticipation was practically killing her. Hellhammer and Necro followed after Dead, Euronymous trailing behind them with a scowl on his face.

"Your face is gonna get stuck like that if you keep it up," teased Dead as he picked up his microphone.

Hellhammer and Necro laughed along with the Swede, he hadn't ever teased Euronymous before. For once it felt good to poke fun at the man who always tormented him. Euronymous, however, was unimpressed.

"You know she's only with you out of pity right? She's probably just trying to make sure you don't off yourself so she doesn't feel guilty for not dating your sorry ass."

Dead's smile fell, as did Necro and Hellhammers. "Dude, that was fucking low," snapped Necro. "He was playing with you and you just had to go for a low blow to make yourself feel better. I seriously hope you don't pull this bullshit at the show tomorrow."

"Let's get this over with," growled Dead.

Taking a slow, deep breath, he let the anger he felt towards Euronymous fill his mind. If they wanted a good show tomorrow, all he needed to do was focus on how much he hated the guitarist right now. There was no longer a friendship between them, and Dead would have been lying if he had said it didn't sting just a little bit. But Euronymous had broken whatever friendship was there by what he had been doing to his relationship with Vanessa. If Euronymous had really been his friend he would have been happy for him; not try and steal her away from him.

They practiced for nearly three hours going over the new lyrics and chords, Necro and Hellhammer praising him for his performance.

"You better keep that energy for tomorrow!" grinned Hellhammer as he patted Dead on the back. "I could really feel the hate. I think that's as good as we're gonna get so why don't we go grab something to eat and get some rest. Vanessa should be home soon right?"

Dead's anger melted away as quickly as it had come. "Yes."

Euronymous pushed past them, heading inside. "I'm having a friend over so try to act normal. Don't be making out with Vanessa while he's here."

Necro crossed his arms. "Who's this new friend? Hopefully a new girlfriend."

Euronymous snickered. "His name is Varg. I ran into him in town and he seemed alright. He's coming to the show tomorrow."

Dead made his way out of the garage into the yard. "I'm going to town to meet with Vanessa. I'll see you later."

"Have fun, Romeo!" teased Necro.

With a final wave, Dead began the walk into town.

~

Vanessa smiled as she bagged another customers groceries, her mind elsewhere as she pretended to listen to whatever they were talking about. Normally she would have talked with them, but she was far too excited about the concert tomorrow night. Melanie was going with her as Hellhammer's date and would be sitting to the side of the stage with her so they could watch up close. After the concert there was supposed to be some kind of after party where the fans could mingle with the band for a while, but Dead had made it clear the two of them would probably make a late appearance in order to have some alone time.

Her smile grew wider as she thought of having the vocalist alone to herself even if just for a few minutes before the fans stole him away from her. The woman she had bagged for said her goodbyes as she picked up her few things and made her way out of the store. Only fifteen more minutes before she could leave and get back to Pelle.

"You're in an awfully good mood today, Ness," laughed Melanie. "I guess you're excited about the show? No! That couldn't be it at all could it?"

Vanessa laughed along with her. "I'm sorry, Mel. I guess seeing Pelle perform for the first time is just an exciting thought. What about you? You've been pretty dreamy today yourself. You wouldn't happen to be thinking about a certain drummer by any chance, would you?"

"Okay! You caught me red handed! But at least I'm not in the air right now."

"What are you..."

Before she could finish, she was lifted into the air and spun around. Once she was back on her feet, she turned around meeting Dead's gaze.

"Pelle!" she yelled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "What are you doing here?"

"I figured I would walk you home when you got off. work"

Melanie shook her head. "Get out of here you two. I'll see you guys tomorrow night."

Vanessa gave Melanie a quick hug. "Thanks, Mel. See you tomorrow."

Taking hold of his hand, the two made their way out of the store.

"How did practice go?" she questioned.

Dead shook his head and sighed. "Euronymous has been being an ass today so there's that. He mentioned something about having a friend over at the house today who's gonna be at the show tomorrow. I think he said the guys name was Varg or something."

Vanessa could taste the vomit building up he face turning pale. "Pelle, whatever you do, you can't go near him."

"Why not?"

"Because he's the man who killed Euronymous. The last thing I want to have is him killing you too."

"Well if he kills Euronymous we could just find another guitarist and that'll be the end of that issue. I can't stand him anymore."

"I know, Pelle. I agree that it would solve that issue, but I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Promise me you'll stay as far away from him as possible."

Pulling her against him, Dead nodded. "You have nothing to worry about."

Vanessa couldn't help the feeling she had deep in the pit of her stomach, something was going to go wrong; she just didn't know when or what. Could she even save the both of them? Worst case scenario she would happily let Varg kill Euronymous if it came down to it. But did he really deserve to die? She tried thinking of a reason, any reason, why he should be allowed to live. The more she thought about it and all the things she had seen and read about him, the more sure she was that he wasn't going to make it out of this alive one way or another. Euronymous was bound to tick off the wrong person eventually with how he treated people, but that didn't mean Dead had to go down with him.