It was the last performance before the tour would head up to Canada and then it was off to join the Kerrang Tour overseas. Dess was backstage, watching as Andy and Ashley warmed up with one another and she was laughing at them as they made faces in the mirror. It was snowing outside, they were in Pennsylvania at this point and Dess was beginning to feel the exhaustion creep in to her bones. Andy had finally forced her to see a doctor when they had a day off between their Maryland show and the New York one and Dess had been diagnosed with a Sinus Infection, which explained the headaches thankfully and the doctor also told her she needed to get more rest.

Yeah-right.


“You both look ridiculous.” Dess said as she swung her legs off the edge of the counter and leaned her back against the mirror behind her. Andy just looked at her, his eyes sad but then he smirked at her and Dess shoved his shoulder playfully.

“You know what’s ridiculous?” Ashley asked, stopping his warm up as he walked over to Dess and stood between her legs, his hands resting on her thighs gently. Things had been weird between the two since he had drunkenly confessed that he had a thing for her and Dess made sure that she was never alone with Mr. Purdy.

“Uh-your hair right now looks pretty absurd to me…” Dess laughed as she reached out and yanked a strand of his dark hair and Ashley just smirked at her and reached around her, his knuckles grazing over her side. He pulled up a can of hairspray and acted like he was going to spray his own hair but instead he reached out and yanked a piece of Dess’ hair and sprayed it quickly.

“Nope…now your hair looks ridiculous…” He laughed as Dess pushed him away and tried to yank down the piece of hair that he had sprayed. Sighing Dess turned to Andy and saw that he wore a bemused smirk on his lips, but his eyes looked concerned.

“Ashley!” Dess shouted as she caught herself in the mirror and tried even more in vain to get the piece of hair that was almost sticking straight up to lie flat against her head.


The bassist just smirked over at her from across the room as he bent down to grab a beer and Dess jumped down from the counter and walked over to him. The way she moved was slightly off putting as she swayed her hips and Dess stopped right in front of Ashley, her lips smirking at him as she reached out, her hand touching his before she yanked the beer from his grasp and took a huge swig of it. His mouth dropped open as she handed him the almost empty bottle and Dess just laughed as she walked back over towards Andy and kissed him gently on the mouth.


“You only encourage him when you do that…” Andy said as Dess just shrugged and hopped back up onto the counter. She placed her hands on his hips, smirking up at Andy as he looked down at her.

“But I wanted a beer…” Dess looked up at him, her eyes wide and innocent looking as she stuck out her bottom lip and Andy smiled. He moved from her then, walking over to the small cooler and removed two beers as he walked back over and handed one to Dess.

“Here’s your very own beer.” Andy said as Dess just smiled up at him, her fingers popping off the top as she took a swig and then placed a cold hand against his side. Andy jumped at her cold touch and Dess only laughed at him as he moved away from her to finish getting ready in peace.


Dess sat there, her legs dangling over the edge of the counter as she watched the guys move around the room in near silence. It had been a long few weeks and they were all feeling the strain. Dess tried to keep things light and fun, but here lately they were all resorting to drinking in mass quantities to entertain themselves and even Dess, who had never been a big drinker, felt the need to over imbibe as of late. She looked around the room, smiling as Andy and Ashley took up their vocal prepping once again and CC was busy tapping away at the table in front of him, his head nodding to the beat that he was creating. Finally a stage hand popped his head in the door and announced the five minute call to get to the stage.


“Do you ever get tired of watching him strut around on stage?” Someone asked from behind Dess and she smiled as she turned and faced Jinxx and then noticed that everyone had followed her example and were lining up near the door.

“Sometimes, but then again I’m sure he gets tired of watching me sketch all the time.” Dess smiled as she looked over Jinxx’s head and noticed that Andy was looking at her, his eyes crossed and Dess just giggled loudly and turned her attention back to Jinxx.

“He’s told me that he actually loves to watch you work…” Jinxx said as Dess only smiled and walked out the door, leading the small group through the catacomb-like halls until finally they were all gathered on the left side of the stage.


Dess felt a pair of arms wrap around her, hugging her from behind and she leaned back, her head resting against Andy’s broad chest as he settled his chin on top of her head. The band was waiting for the Overture to start and Dess could feel Andy’s heart beating against her back and she smiled. He was always so intense before going on stage and Dess admired him for being so focused. Finally they were given the one minute warning and Dess felt Andy lean down, pressing his lips to the top of her head as he moved past her and joined the others. Soon enough they were all out on stage and Dess watched as they moved into playing Wretched and Divine when all of a sudden she could no longer hear Andy singing.

Dess popped her head around the edge of CC’s drum riser and saw that Andy was okay, but he looked pissed as he held his mic stand above his head and watched as it came crashing down onto the stage. What was going on? Dess wondered this as she saw Andy approach her and she tried to mouth something to him but in a second he was gone and approaching Ashley. He grabbed onto the bassists shoulder and began to sing into Ashley’s wireless headset. Why wasn’t Andy using his mic? Dess looked around and noticed that all of the stage hands were frantically searching around for something and after a few minutes they came up with another mic and hastily tried to get it on to the stage.

The guys were able to finish their set without another mishap and Andy seemed in better spirits by the time he came running off of the stage, grabbing on to Dess as she stood there and he pulled her off towards the dressing room. She tried to ask him what happened, but as soon as they got to the dressing room Andy disappeared through a door and Dess could hear crashing and slamming coming from the other side. What on Earth? Dess looked around, noticing that all of the other guys had come into the room and they too looked aggravated. Quietly Dess walked over to where Jinxx sat on one of the couches and as she perched on the arm Dess looked down at the quiet guitarist.


“What happened?” She asked as Jinxx looked up at her, his eyes tired and his forehead covered in sweat.

“Andy’s mic cut out and since our inner ear systems are only connected to the mics we use he couldn’t use mine and I guess he could only use Ash’s for a little bit…” Jinxx said as Dess looked off towards the door where Andy had disappeared to. Finally he came back out, red faced but calmer as he passed by Dess and moved over to the small cooler next to the couch.

“I told them! I fucking told them during soundcheck that something wasn’t fucking right! I looked like an idiot out there!” Andy said, his voice angry and loud as he cracked open his beer and almost downed the entire thing in one shot.

“Babe…calm down. These things happen sometimes…” Dess said as she approached him, her hands up in the air and suddenly Andy’s face grew soft. He reached out to her and Dess fell into his arms, his chest heaving heavily and Dess could only smirk against his skin as she pulled away from him.


Everyone seemed to calm down and after twenty minutes and a few beers Andy was in very good spirits and ready to meet some fans. Dess sat on one of the couches, like she always did during their Meet and Greets, and sketched while the guys met with their devoted fans. Dess loved to watch the MGs, it was always amusing to listen to the fans talk to one another as they waited in line and she was reminded of Moira, Trish and Brady. Finally Dess looked up and saw that the line was coming to an end and the guys looked like they were all ready to get things going back on the bus. After the last fan had gotten her picture, Dess watched as Andy stood, smiling at her as he came towards her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he led her off towards the bus.




“Dess-truth or dare?” Jake asked as Dess took another sip of her beer and squinted her eyes at the guitarist. They had all gotten back to the bus and instead of going to some bar they had decided to stay in as a group and play a rousing game of Truth or Dare while they waited for the crew to pack everything up.

“Truth.” Dess wasn’t as drunk as some of the guys-she and Andy had stuck to beer while the other four had started taking shots as soon as all of them had gotten on to the bus.

“How many people have you had sex with in your life?” Jake asked her and Dess raised an eyebrow as she looked at him and then looked over to Andy. He was just sitting there, a bemused smirk on his face as he rested his chin on a hand and looked back at her, waiting for her answer.

“Guys or girls?” Dess asked, finishing off her beer as there was a collective ‘ohhing’ coming from everyone in the room and she moved to get up and get another drink.

“Um, both?”Jake asked as Dess moved to sit back down and looked over at Andy. His mouth was hanging wide open, his blue eyes wide as he just looked at her, waiting on bated breath for her answer.

“Three guys and two girls would make a total of five…” Dess just sipped at her beer, her eyes scanning around the room and she couldn’t keep the smirk from her lips. Andy and Ashley were both looking at her with open mouths while Jinxx, Jake and CC seemed to be silently dumbfounded.

“Why did I not know this?” Andy asked as he stood up, moving from the couch as he grabbed another beer and sat down quickly. Dess just smiled at him, her legs coming to rest across his lap as she looked at Andy and then her eyes drifted next to him where Ashley sat.

“You never asked…CC, truth or dare?”Dess asked as she turned her focus to the drunken drummer who sat on the floor below her.

“Uh DARE!” CC shouted, his voice syrupy and slow as he’d had the most to drink out of the lot of them. Dess smiled as she thought for a moment, thinking long and hard until finally she smirked and took another sip of her beer before speaking.

“Good…I dare you to strip down naked and run around outside for a whole minute.” Dess said as CC just looked at her before standing and he began to fumble to remove his clothes. Dess just smirked wickedly at him and she looked around, noticing that all of the guys had their faces turned away, Andy even had his eyes covered with his hands.


Dess moved to get up as CC had finished getting undressed and she followed him to the door of the bus, keeping her eyes on the back of his head as he stumbled his way to the front of the bus. CC opened the door and Dess could feel the cold night air hit her in the face as she smirked and noticed that CC had stopped walking and had turned around to face her, his eyes unsure. She waved him on with her hands, smiling encouragingly as CC rolled his eyes and stepped down, hissing as his feet hit the snow and he began to run around. Quickly and before CC noticed, Dess pulled the door of the bus closed and locked it behind her as she walked up the stairs and made her way to the back of the bus. All of the guys gave her strange looks as she reentered the lounge and resumed her seat next to Andy.


“Uh, where’s CC babe?” Andy asked, his hands coming out to rest on her feet as he rubbed them slowly.

“Outside…” She said simply and then laughed as a low banging could be heard from the front of the bus.

“You locked the door behind him didn’t you…” Andy accused and Dess only smiled sneakily as she looked up at him.

“Yep…” She said and suddenly there was a banging right behind them. CC had obviously made his way to the back of the bus and was banging on the outside, right behind where they were sitting.

“Dess! Let me in dammit!” CC yelled, his voice muffled slightly as Dess just smirked and moved to open one of the windows behind her head. Finally getting it open, she popped her head out and looked down, seeing CC standing below her, his hands covering as much as he could as he glared up at her.

“Eh…I think you could stand to stay out there a bit longer…” Dess said as she moved to shut the window and resumed her seat. Andy just looked at her, his head cocked slightly as he stared her down.

“Ugh…fine…” Dess sighed after a few minutes of silence from Andy and she moved to go towards the front of the bus. She finally reached the front and noticed that CC was again outside the door, hopping up and down in the snow as he watched her approach.

“I’m only opening this because Andy was giving me the silent treatment…” Dess said as she opened the door and moved to the side to allow CC to get onto the warm bus. He rushed past her, running back towards the bathroom, probably to get into the shower to try and warm up and Dess only smiled.

“Don’t fuck with my coffee ever again Coma!” Dess shouted through the wood of the door as CC replied in a mumbled fashion and she just smirked as she walked back towards the lounge.


Truth or dare could be fun, but it could also be very dangerous when participating in the game whilst drunk beyond reason.

Notes

Dess is evil *manic laughter* O.o

So good news and bad news...

Good News: As of *looks at watch* twenty minutes ago I have completely finished writing What It Is To Burn. I will be taking a few days to focus my attention on other things(other stories) and then I will be diving head first in to writing Together Burning Bright. : )
Bad News: Guys...please don't make me update this any less than I already do. I moved updating from every day to every other day because reviews were lacking and it's getting so bad that I may move to once per week. I work hard for you guys(literally I type until my fingers go numb) and I would really appreciate some kind words or feedback. A simple 'loved it' is fine by me-you guys don't need to write out a four page paper on each chapter and why you loved it. Just send me some love is all...we all like being loved. : )

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