We're Setting Worlds On Fire

The sounds of boots clicking against the hard tile floor caused Lily to look up and she couldn’t help but smirk. Andy, all ready for the stage with his skinny black leggings, ripped black wife beater, five belts, War Paint and of course his lucky leather boots, was pacing back and forth across the room. It was Black Veil Brides first show over in the UK as the opening act for the Murderdolls and all of the guys were incredibly nervous. They were playing to someone else’s audience-kids who weren’t there to see BVB and no one was sure how it was going to go.

They’d had a meet and greet, which had just ended and while that went fairly well, Lily knew that it wasn’t enough. She was going to have to be in the crowd tonight and possibly for the whole tour, just to keep the peace so the guys could perform. They were only five minutes from going on and Andy was still pacing across the room. His long hair, straight and hanging in his eyes, was gleaming under the harsh lights coming from above and Lily only smiled as she stood up and walked towards him. He stopped suddenly, sighing as he trained his sad blue eyes on her delicate face.


“You pace around too much you won’t have any energy to run around that huge stage out there…” Lily teased as she reached Andy and the singer only looked up and smirked softly. The girl before him looked awesome in a tight BVB shirt, her old War Paint trailing down her cheeks. Her blonde hair was teased to the ceiling and she was wearing the skinniest pair of jeans possible. Lily was back and Andy was enjoying every minute of it.

“Yeah well I don’t even know if I’m going to make it out onto the stage tonight.” He looked down at her, his face was slightly green and Lily could tell Andy was terrified. It was the airplane incident all over again.

“Don’t think about that right now…think of something else.” Lily suggested as she linked her arm with his and led Andy over towards one of the beat up, empty couches in the room. All of the other guys were at different mirrors, finishing up their hair or their makeup.

“Like what?” Andy asked as he sat down and smiled as Lily sat beside him, her legs draping over his and he placed a hand on one of her calves. This was just like old times and Andy was wondering if Lily was trying to make him feel better, or if she really wanted to be this close to him.

“Think about how funny everyone over here sounds-I saw you giggling earlier.” Lily teased and Andy blushed as he looked over at her and smirked. She was right…he had giggled a few times while they were meeting fans.

“I wasn’t trying to be mean, but words like bloody and bugger, don’t really make sense to me. Explain to me again why people in Great Britain sound different from you and the rest of the guys?” Andy said and Lily only smirked. Andy had been shocked at first when he heard people speak when they had gotten to the airport and the further South they went, the worse it got.

“When the colonists first came over, they were influenced by the Native Americans and how they spoke. Add in all of these cultures coming together-British, German, French, Italian and a few more and by the 1900’s people had completely lost any form of accent and were speaking ‘American’.” Lily explained and Andy only nodded as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.


The two of them had become very close ever since getting off of the plane and Lily knew it was because being stuck beside someone for nine hours straight would force anyone to get along. She loved Andy, but being around him was proving to test her will and her patience. He wanted to make out-constantly and Lily always told him that it wasn’t a good idea. They weren’t supposed to actually be together-she had been given her feelings back to get work done…not to get laid. Lily sighed as she stood up, wiping her hands against her thighs as she held out her hands for Andy to take.

Looking down at the girl before him, Andy couldn’t help but feel his heart soar. She had finally admitted to him that she still loved him-that she had never stopped. It made him feel magical…like anything was possible and Andy was hoping that that feeling would help him tonight. They were in the UK for a month, then it was back home to work on recording their next album and then they would go on a short stint around the US before going somewhere he never knew existed-Japan. The guys, especially Ashley with his new found Hello Kitty obsession, were looking forward to going over there, but Andy wasn’t sure. He hated flying and traveling overseas only meant one thing-flying everywhere.


“Stage time guys!” Jon called from the doorway and Lily turned to face Andy and gave him an encouraging smile. She grabbed his hand, giggling at how clammy and sweaty his palm was, but she said nothing as she just led him towards the stage.


As they walked down the hall, Andy and Ashley-who was behind Lily and Andy-were going over their vocal warm up. Once they got to the side of the stage, Lily peaked around one of the tall speakers and her stomach clenched. No one was chanting, no one seemed excited and some people already had their middle fingers up.

Fuck-okay…she had some work to do. As Jake, Jinxx and Ashley all strapped on their instruments, Lily turned to Andy and took both of his hands in hers. He desperately wanted her to stand on the side of the stage and watch, but she needed to smooth things over with this audience.


“You aren’t staying are you.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement and Lily only nodded softly as her lavender eyes stared into his deep blue ones.

“I can’t Andy-you guys need me out in the crowd…getting these fuckers to calm down so you can have a good show.”She explained and Andy felt numb. What was he supposed to do without her there? He would feel so lost without his lucky charm.

“I need you here though…you’re my good luck charm.” He smirked at her, that lopsided grin and Lily felt her knees buckle. God he could be so persuasive.

“Well I have something that might be a pretty good stand in.” She said, smiling as Lily dropped his hands and Andy watched wide eyed as she reached over her shoulder and bit down on her lip.


The pain was excruciating, but it was worth it. Lily was currently digging her fingers into the very roots of her wings, tugging with all of her strength until finally something snapped. Humans couldn’t see her wings-all they saw were a pair of winged tattoos that flanked her shoulder blades, but Andy could see what she was doing and he was horrified.

She cried out, almost falling to her knees, but Andy quickly placed his hands out and caught her as Lily fell against him, but quickly straightened up. She had tears in her eyes as she held up her right hand, her fingers covered in a silvery liquid that almost looked like blood. Between her thumb and pointer finger, was a singed feather that she had plucked from her own back. Without saying a word, Lily grabbed for a piece of his hair and began to tie the feather to the tip of the strand.


“Lily what are you doing?” Andy asked as he watched her, a horrified expression on his face. She winced-that had hurt more than she expected, but it was worth it.

“Giving you a different good luck charm.” She said, biting down on her tongue as she tried to get his hair to knot around the very tip of her feather. Finally she got it and Lily smiled as she moved back and looked at him. His hair was hanging down by his shoulders, black as night except for one lone feather that was white but then solid black towards the end.

“But-“Andy stopped talking as Lily’s lips had rested upon his and he smirked into her kiss. She pulled away, her eyes closed for a moment and Andy held his breath as he watched her open them slowly.

“Go get ‘em tiger.” She smiled at him and suddenly Lily was nowhere to be found.


Andy joined the rest of the guys at the side of the stage and as he looked out towards the audience, he could faintly see a mist floating above their heads. People who had been standing still, were suddenly pushing forward and the guys with their middle fingers in the air, were now crossing their arms over their chests and nodding their heads. Andy looked towards Ashley-was he seeing this? The bassist smiled at Andy, but said nothing and suddenly Andy wondered what was up with his best friend. Ash used to always be the one who could see Lily’s powers of persuasion and now all of a sudden…nothing.

Andy jumped in place a few times as CC, then Jake and Jinxx ran out on to stage to minimal applause. As he waited, Andy could hear faint chanting of their names and soon the room was filled with screaming as he ran out. He looked out towards the crowd, smirking and pointing as he grabbed the mic and they were off.

They started with Perfect Weapon, led into All Your Hate and were just in the middle of Love Isn’t Always Fair when Andy caught site of Lily. She was standing in the middle of the crowd, her arms in the air and her eyes were closed as her head was pointed up towards the ceiling.


“What the fuck is up London?!” Andy said into the mic and everyone screamed and he smiled. This was turning out much better than he had though it would have.

“We are the Black Veil Brides from Hollywood California and we are here to get things in motion for this awesome show tonight!” More screams and Andy smiled wider as Lily looked at him and waved slowly.

“We are so excited to be here tonight playing for you guys-you’re our first overseas show and we want to do this shit right! This song is a favorite of mine and it’s brand new…this is Fallen Angels!” Andy smirked at her and Lily only smiled back as she began to sing along to a song that made her soul glow.


At first she had been really angry that Andy and Jake had written this song-she felt like it was an insult to her. But the more she listened to it and after talking to Jake about it, Lily realized what the message behind this song was. It was about unity-the guys and their Army coming together and saying ‘we have been alone for so long-now we aren’t’ and that was a beautiful thing. As Lily walked, bumping into people and watching as they magically learned the words and began to sing along, she couldn’t help but smile.

The guys brought something out in people-togetherness. Everyone who loved this band and this music became a family as they listened to it and Lily couldn’t think of a better way to bond. The guys had been so wonderful with their fans and Lily knew they would do anything for the hundreds of kids who waited in line for hours to meet them, bought every new piece of merch they released and the ones who asked over and over when they new album would be out.

They were nothing without their fans and Jake, Jinxx, CC, Ashley and Andy all knew that. They had even held a contest to find the Carolyn for their second video off the record for the song of the same name. Sadly the video fell through, but the girl was being offered an even better role.

A Fallen Angel in the next video the guys were going to shoot soon-Fallen Angels.


“Alright guys-it’s almost time for us to hit the road, but we want to thank you for the warm welcome! You can find our new CD at our table and on iTunes. Now I’m going to leave you with this piece of advice-don’t ever let anyone drag you down and tell you that you can’t do something. Be yourself and don’t add to your own wounds…grow from them and make the hard choices in life. Have a good night guys-this is Knives and Pens!” Lily felt her heart stop as a familiar guitar strain played over the speaker and she listened to Andy sing the song she had written when she had been in the worst place in her life.

Alone at last we can sin and fight.
And I've lost all faith in this blurring light,
Stay right here we can change our plight.
Storming through this despite what's right.
One final fight for this tonight.
Whoa-oh-oh
With knives and pens we made our plight.

As Lily sang along, the tears streamed down her face. These guys-they had been there for her through thick and thin and they had never given up on her. Now here they were-never giving up on a lot of kids and Lily knew that they had saved lives. They wanted everyone to be loved-the outcasts, the wretched and the divine…everyone deserved to be someone. As she stood there and blew Andy a kiss, Lily laughed as he saluted her and smirked.

They had been through so much and she knew as she stood there that there was more to come, but things were different. They had been soul mates-made for one another-but they couldn’t be together anymore. Life was filled with hard choices and as Lily stood there and blew Andy another kiss she knew…her hardest choice was going to be to let him go one day and no one knew if that day was going to come sooner or later.

But it would come…

Notes

I always wondered why Andy started wearing feathers in his hair...

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