Cuatro:
I woke up the next morning to the sound of loud snoring. I smiled when I saw that my boys (Tom, Josh, and JP) as well as the boys of BVB were all sprawled out in various places around my room. I was snuggled in between Tom and Ashley and somehow, Andy fell asleep lying across the three of us. I gently wake Ashley and giggle quietly at the bewildered look on his face.
“We leave for the tour today and everyone crashed in here,” I whisper. Ashley looks up and around and chuckles when he sees the makeshift camp my room has turned into. We quietly get up without waking Tom and Andy and Ashley goes to make coffee while I take a quick shower.
I tried to be careful but I still ended up opening my cuts while washing up. I was about to pull back the curtain when suddenly Ashley barges in.
“Sorry, Lex, but I really have to piss,” Ashley chuckles.
“It’s fine, can you hand me my towel, please.” I take the towel from his hand and wrap it around me before pulling back the curtain.
“Uh, I’m bleeding again,” I mumble as I show him my arms. Without another word, Ashley picks me up and sits me up on the countertop while he grabs the First-Aid and cleans and bandages my wounds. “There all better,” he smiles. I blushed once I realized just how close we were. He was practically in between my legs and our faces were just inches apart. I also happened to notice that he didn’t have on a shirt.
“Um, I think it’s your turn for the shower,” I whisper. Why isn’t my voice working?
“Yeah, I think you’re right.”
After another awkward silence, I manage to get down and exit the bathroom. I walk back into my room and wake up Tom who wakes up the others so I can change. I pick out a pair of black sweats, a yellow tank top and a “Purdy” hoodie. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and didn’t bother with makeup, besides my face hurts anyway. I pop two ibuprofens into my mouth then take my bags out to the bus once I noticed that it had pulled up outside the apartment building. I decided to go ahead and pick out my bunk and began decorating it with pictures and some artwork.
Soon the others begin climbing onto the bus. Ashley takes the bunk right across from mine and smirks when he sees my hoodie. Blushing, I turn on my iPod and take out one of my lyric books.
“What you writing?”
I looked up and smiled into Ashley’s face. He was dressed in a pair of sweats and had his hair down and pushed back behind his ears. “Um, a song; I’ve had this phrase running through my head all morning.”

Open your arms for me. The sweet silence will welcome thee. Let me smother you in darkness, and take away your pain. You’ll no longer hurt or regret. Open your arms for me my sweet, and let death’s embrace pull you under. I blushed again as he read it.
“I know it’s a bit dark and depressing. I’m not sure why I thought of it.” I tried to shut the book, but he shook his head no.
“It’s really beautiful despite its dark meaning. You’re a good writer,” he smiled.
“Thanks.” I chuckled. One of my earbuds had fallen out of my ear. Ashley picked it up and gently put it back in my ear. He was so close… His eyes locked on mine and I found myself flicking my gaze back and forth between his eyes and his mouth. As if sensing my inner turmoil, Ashley takes control and presses his lips against mine. At first I was kind of surprised, but then I, gingerly, pressed my fingertips to his cheeks, as if to hold him there, and kissed him back. We heard a commotion coming our way and instantly broke apart. I was blushing like mad and knew he was smirking at me.
“Lex, where are you,” Josh called.
I mumbled an excuse me and climbed out of my bunk before heading into the kitchen/living room area. Oh my God, this tour just got more interesting.
~****~
We arrived at our first destination after four hours of driving. The guys and I don’t do stage makeup so all we had to do was just change out of her sweats. My boys always perform shirtless, so I’m the only one that has to really worry about what I’m wearing. I decided on a pair of ripped black shorts, and a Guns n’ Roses t-shirt that I had shredded. I left my hair down and slid into my combat boots.
“Damnit Tom, what did you do with my makeup?” I yelled once I noticed my makeup bag was missing. Tom’s shoulders shook with laughter while he tried to look innocent. “I don’t know babe, what did happen to your makeup.”
I turned around to face a chuckling Andy, “Come on, I’ll do your makeup for you.” Tossing another glare in Tom’s direction, I followed Andy back to where the guys were getting ready.
“Where’s Ash,” I asked once I noticed he wasn’t in the room.
“In the bathroom doing his hair, it takes him the longest to get ready,” Jinxx chuckled. I chuckled and nodded my head at this. Andy did some basic makeup for me (eyeliner, red lipstick, and mascara), but he added a little of touch of BVB as well. On my right cheek, he drew two zebra stripes. Ashley. I thought to myself.
“So,” Andy whispered so only I could hear. “I caught you enjoying some lip action with my bassist. Care to elaborate?” I think I about died at the smug smirk on his face. Luckily Tom called for me; it was time to go on stage! I threw a quick “thanks” at Andy before running towards Tom.
“You just fucking saved me,” I chuckled. “Oh so Andy got to you first huh,” Tom asked me, his tone serious. “I saw the kiss. We’re going to have some words later, alright?”
“Yes, father,” I rolled my eyes and exited the bus. There were fans outside the bus waiting for us. They had no idea who we were, but my boys were hot and so they got mobbed. I received a few dirty looks; I’m the only girl walking off a bus known to belong to Black Veil Brides, yeah I think they hate me. We were bombarded by fans as we ran towards the back door and I bit back a scream when someone slammed into my side. Once inside I gingerly lifted my shirt and saw that my bruise was spreading. Taking in a deep breath, which hurt like fuck, I followed my band mates onto the stage.
~****~
The crowd went wild as Vanilla Lace tore up the stage. After tonight, every BVB fan was going to know their name! They performed a song towards the beginning that was kind of provocative, or at least Tom thought so. His first thought when they had recorded the song was, “This will make a great song to fuck to; don’t you agree Lex?”
Lex moved around the stage the best she could without hurting herself, but it was of no use. On the outside she was this sexy girl up on stage dancing with her perverted guitarist and bassist, but on the inside, she was screaming. It hurt to breathe, her muscles felt like they were on fire, and she was sure she had blown a few stitches on her arms. But she carried on with the show. These people paid good money for a good fucking show, and that’s exactly what they were going to get.
The lights dimmed. Lex took in a deep, painful breath and smiled through the pain out at the audience. “How are guys doing tonight?” The crowd roared their approval. Lex chuckled. “This next song we’re going to do is a cover, so don’t go running your fucking mouth saying we stole it.” The audience laughed. “This is for those who hide behind their smiles and lie through the pain. We’re fucking survivors!”
The music kicked in and Lex sang their cover of “Hell is for Children”. The spotlight was aimed right on her. Her bruises, her wounds were lit up and on showcase for the entire world to see. She was vulnerable and even allowed herself to cry. But she wouldn’t break down, not here, not now. The song died down and the stadium erupted in cheers and whistles. Alexis smiled through her tears and turned to see her boys as well as BVB, on side stage, smiling at her. They exited the stage and Lex wiped away her tears as she received hugs from everyone.
“That was fucking brilliant,” Ashley smiled. Lex’s smile grew wider as she hugged before letting go so he could run on stage. Vanilla Lace decided to hang out behind the curtains and watch the show, and even rocked out to a few songs. Lex gripped onto her side and struggled to breathe.
She bit her lip, drawing blood. “Don’t blackout, don’t blackout,” she whispered. This had become her mantra. There had been many times where her dad would beat her until she could do no more but stare, dazed, at his retreating feet. As the kicks and punches rained down on her, she repeated her silent mantra: don’t black out, don’t blackout.
“Tomi,” she called. She could barely breathe, let alone speak, but somehow Tom heard her. He always heard her. He rushed forward as did Josh and JP, and scooped her up into his arms.
Ashley happened to glance back, thinking he’d see Lex’s smiling face. Instead he was greeted with Tom’s retreating back. He clutched Lex to his chest while Josh and JP ran to find help. He felt horrible, he couldn’t leave the stage. Even when Andy broke his ribs, the guys had to keep playing.
“Please let her be okay,” he whispered before stepping back up to the mic.