The Devil In The Mirror

X

In the weeks that follow, it is filled with no drama and amazing shows. Our fanbase has grown significantly thanks to the fame we've gotten exponentially.
It feels great to be bathed in success, but as we all know, it doesn't last for long. In my heart, I know once tour ends, we could just disappear.
We are now in the airport heading to our last show in Dublin and I am thoroughly exhausted from the past month's shows.
"You excited to be heading home for a little bit?" Cara asks me as we sit down on the plane.
"Very. It'll be a nice couple of days to settle for a little until we return back to touring. Touring is quite stressful and fatiguing."
"I agree completely."
I seize the silence to plug in my headphones and listen to some P.O.D.
~
I head back sweaty after our show late after catching up with some fans whilst the others went for showers. I return to the bus empty with a note that said they were going out for a bit of drinking. I head to the bathroom and shower, coming out to find a bare naked Andy.
"Shit. Sorry." I say, covering both my body and eyes, yet we'd both already seen everything. I sigh and come out from behind the door.
"Not much to look at. Move along perv." I say coming out without being covered. I feel Andy slap my bare ass.
"Nope there's a booty there."
"Fuck your shit Andy." I yell, rolling my eyes and putting on a bra and panties. I search through Andy's clothes before scoring a loose skeleton shirt. I slip on black booty shorts and put my hair in a messy high pony, sitting on my bed before grabbing my black acoustic guitar. I head face first into Scars by Papa Roach, with flooding memories of Alex, my ex abusive boyfriend. He was a drug addict, delving into both alcohol and cocaine daily. Until one day he used heroine and I finally escaped from his issues, finding him too doped up to form a word.
I stop singing and playing entirely, watching the brief good memories of our relationship pass by.
"Why'd you stop playing?" Andy's deep voice rumbles, snapping me from my thoughts. I look up at him, his short hair tousled and a towel wrapped around his hips.
"I was thinking."
"About what?"
"Personal things." I reply quietly. He nods and goes back into the bathroom, presumably to change. He comes back out shirtless in black sweatpants and sits down next to me.
"So, what's really going on with you?" His question lingers in the air like a drug, begging me to take in and answer.
"That's a vague question to ask so I'll give a vague answer. A lot of things." He chuckles and runs a hand through his hair.
"I mean right now. Why are you so sad? You said it was because of personal problems." I nod and take a deep breath.
"Let me explain. But rather without your ears or eyes. More with touch. And I trust you." I say slowly. He looks at me with pure curiosity and fright. But he manages a nod and closes his blue orbs shut. I quietly place the guitar down and strip to my bra and underwear. I take his strong arms and move them to my shoulders.
I then take his hands and tell him to run them down my arms, allowing him to feel the jagged white flesh torn open years before. I close my eyes when I hear his small gasp but allow him to trail farther down.
His hands further travel from my arms to my hips. He gets to my thighs and I uncomfortably allow him to feel the flesh on the insides of my thighs, before taking his hands off of me and getting off the bunk.
"Ara..." His soft yet deep voice purrs into my ears. I feel his chin rest upon my shoulder as I slip on his shirt.
"That was the only way I coped. I used anything and everything. Pain without love." I whisper with a thick throat.
I finally manage to build up the courage to look at him. But the look I get shatters my heart.
Pain.
Pain etched so deep into him, it makes him look like a sad, alone, lost, and naïve little puppy.
"I'm sorry I did that." I say, letting a tear fall. He nods no and kisses my forehead.
"Believe me, I'm glad you let me in." He says against my skin, enveloping me in a warm and tight embrace.
I nod and slip my shorts back on, grabbing my guitar and sitting back on the bunk. He sits beside me, going on his phone for a bit until opening his laptop, placing it in front of us, and starting a video thing.
"Hi guys. Andy here from Black Veil Brides with a good friend of mine Echo Agony from her own band Oh Sweet Agony. She decided she wanted to play some songs for you guys tonight before we totally disappear until the US portion of the tour. Anyway here we go. Give it up for Ara." He says, smiling his ever so charming smile into the camera lens.
"Hey guys. Echo here. Um, I guess I'll just be playing some original, unheard work and some covers. This first one is a good favorite of mine. It's called Skin and it goes like this," I say, going straight into the song and forever forgetting my pain and feeling the warm and watchful eyes of my best friend beside me.