Imagine Me and You

The heat was unbearable and it sucked because they were only on day five of Warped Tour. Rebel wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand as she helped their guitar tech Mike lift up one of the dummy amps to put it near the stage. These fucking things were more trouble than they were worth, but it’s what the guys wanted and so of course they were going to say no.

Rebel, all 5 foot 2 inches of her, was a tough chick-you kind of had to be in the world of rock and roll. As she straightened up, Rebel pulled her rainbow hair up from her neck and wished to God that she had thought to bring a hair tie with her. She looked around the back of the stage and she felt her heart stop as she noticed that his eyes were on her again.

Ashley Purdy.

She waved to him-a smallish wave that did nothing but show how shy she was around him. Rebel was never usually shy but there was something about Ashley. She had been hired as his bass tech two weeks ago and ever since their first meeting he had flirted with her mercilessly. She thought he was joking at first, but then he had kept it going even after the tour started.

Rebel didn’t know what to think at first-she was a fan…she knew his rep. But after getting to know him, Rebel could see that he was one of the sweetest guys in the entire band. All of the guys were nice to her, but Ashley seemed to go out of his way to be overly nice. He would always find a way to come over to her-much like he was doing now.


“What’s going on my little Rebel?” He asked, his voice smooth as silk and his eyes were covered in those huge aviator sunglasses, but she could tell he was staring at her. His chest was bare and tan, he had been out in the sun almost every day for five days straight, but he still looked absurdly good.

“Just helping Mike get those redundant dummy amps up near the ramp so we can wheel them on stage as soon as Sleeping comes off.” Rebel said, biting down on her lip ring as she looked down at her shoes. Leather boots-her feet were killing her and she knew that this would probably be the last day for her boots for the summer. It was too hot wearing leather in this heat and it was only going to get worse the farther south they traveled and the later in the summer it got.

“Yeah those things are a bitch-sorry about that Rebel Yell. So…whatcha doin later?” He asked, reaching out a steady hand to twist some of her rainbow colored hair around his strong fingers. He tugged gently and Rebel felt herself swoon internally, but of course she kept a soft smirk on her lips.

“Probably hanging out with Mike and Sam. They were talking about walking around the venue for a little bit after we get everything packed away.” Rebel said as she bent down and reached for a wound up cord. She began to unwind it and smirked as Ashley huffed softly and placed his hands over hers. Her hazel eyes drifted up until she was staring straight at his face and she couldn’t keep the blush from crossing her nose.

“Oh, okay. Well good luck getting those amps out there and I guess I’ll see you later tonight at catering.” He smiled at her, chucking her on the chin and Rebel silently prayed that he thought her blushing was a sunburn. She watched him walk away, her heart beat speeding up as she looked him up and down. God he was amazing…both inside and out.


Rebel continued to work on getting some of their cords unwound, but of course she had to stop once Mike got back from talking to the sound engineer. They both grunted as they got the other set of dummy amps in position and she smirked as Rebel caught site of Sleeping. They were jumping around on the stage and of course Kellin was shirtless-those fans of his were nuts.

She only laughed as the guys on stage finished up their last song and then thanked the crowd for coming out that day. As they all passed her, Rebel could tell that they could hardly keep the smirks off of their faces. Being a female bass tech was a hard job-not just physically, but mentally as well.

Most of the other bands thought she was a girlfriend or worse and once she told them that no, she was in fact Ash’s bass tech-they laughed at her until they cried. Sighing, her black bangs blowing out of her face, Rebel heaved with Mike to get the dummy amps onto the stage. The crowd screamed as soon as they saw the amps and the picture that was on them and Rebel couldn’t help but wave at the shifting crowd as she walked off stage right. It was a mans world on Warped Tour-there were only two other female techs and all three of the girls had bonded on the very first day. Rebel smiled as she thought of her new found friends and what they were probably doing in that very moment.

Chelsea was probably helping Nikki Misery, of New Year’s Day, get his guitar in tune since they were playing right around the same time as Black Veil, but on one of the smaller stages. Brit was probably still asleep on The Summer Set’s bus, since they were playing last that night and didn’t need to be at the stage until around five.

Rebel felt like she was melting as she and Mike got that final amp on the stage and then moved off to finish up getting all of their cords unwound. She noticed as she turned the corner that Ashley had two girls at his sides and he was openly flirting with them, but he kept looking over at her. God he could be so infuriating.


“Purdy got his eyes set to stun I see.” Someone said from behind her and Rebel only nodded as she turned around and bumped her forehead into the chest that was right behind her. She looked up and was met with a pair of bright blue eyes. Rebel only laughed, tucking a piece of blue hair behind her ear as Andy smirked down at her.

“Yeah-as per his usual he’s found his ladies for the evening.” Rebel scoffed as she moved back a step and reached over to where Ash’s basses were set up. He had brought four with him that he used on a regular basis, but Rebel knew that she could simply make a call and a few more would be sent out. Ashley was pretty rough on his basses-and his women.

“Yeah well…I know one girl who he has his eyes on but she’s not cooperating.” Andy said pointedly as he looked down at her and Rebel only rolled her eyes. The guys liked to tease her and Ash-saying that they would make the perfect couple, but Rebel knew she would never be able to tame the Purdy Beast.

“He has his eyes on anything with tits Andy-lets be real here.” She laughed as Rebel picked up a bass and strummed the strings a little bit. In tune. This was her life-tuning, restringing, fixing and plugging in all of Ashley’s basses. She liked her job-it was a job and it afforded her to be away from home and around the music that she loved.

“Well from what I hear he’s really only interested in one pair…especially when they’re covered in that leather vest you love so damn much.” He laughed as he ruffled her hair and walked off to start his vocal warm up. Rebel only sighed as she looked down at her vest and then she began to blush. It couldn’t be true-did Ashley Purdy have a crush on her?


Rebel could remember the first day that she had ever met Ashley Purdy. There had been a posting for a bass tech for the summer tour and Rebel needed a job. Her home life left a lot to be desired and she needed an out. What the hell? She had thought to herself as she sent in her application and crossed her fingers.

Not even an hour later she received an email telling her the time and place and to please prepare a song to play. She had to be able to show them that she could actually play bass and not just know how to fix one and keep the maintenance on it. Rebel smirked as she set down one bass and picked up another-she hadn’t even known what band this was for.

She had walked in there with a song prepared and it had been a song from one of her favorite bands-Black Veil Brides. Imagine her shocked face when she faced that table and looked down at the five guys who had gotten her through some rough shit in life. She giggled nervously as Ashley waved her, those brown eyes of his filled with so much mischief and desire as he looked at her standing there.

She had been dressed much as she was now-her leather vest with a black shirt underneath, skinny black jeans and her leather boots…they were just lucky she had left her lace tutu at home. Most people in her life called the way she dressed weird, but Rebel just knew that it was one way for her to express herself.

She played Rebel Love Song for them, getting nods as she finished and then they asked her some normal questions. Then the fun part came-they timed her to see how long it would take for her to restring a bass from scratch. Rebel had prepared for this-she could restring both her bass and her guitar in under three minutes flat and it was in that moment that she knew she had the job.

She smiled as she caught Ash’s eyes once again and he only tipped his beer bottle at her. After a few minutes of deliberation, she was offered the job and all of the guys stood to come and formally introduce themselves. Ashley was the last to shake her hand and Rebel smiled as she remembered him giving her the once over as he stood before her.


“Earth to Rebel!” Someone said loudly near her ear and Rebel shook her head, her streaked hair fanning out around her as she cleared her thoughts and looked up into Ashley’s sunglass shaded eyes once again. He was smirking down at her and she couldn’t help but look down at his bare chest-his Outlaw tattoo was peaking at her from right about the waist band of his ripped jeans.

“Wh-Oh sorry. You guys ready to get out there?” Rebel asked as she handed over the bass that she had just finished tuning. Ashley only nodded as he grabbed the strap from her and pulled it over his head. He strummed it, smirking as he heard nothing but perfection. God damn this girl was fucking fantastic.

“Yeah. She sounds good Rebel Yell-you always amaze me.” He smiled at her as he looked up from his bass and Rebel could only blush once again as she heard Jon call out a two minute warning. Rebel watched as Ashley walked over towards where Andy was standing and the two of them began to warm up together.


After a few minutes the guys were all ready and Rebel had to move out of the way so that they could get to the stage. She watched as one by one they ran out to the opening strains of Shadows Die and she couldn’t help but shake her head as Ash ran out to a lot of screaming and shouting. The guys played and as they played Rebel stood at the side of the stage near the bass cart just in case Ashley needed a replacement. She smirked as the guys began to play one of her favorite songs and it just so happened to have the same name as Ashley’s nickname for her-Rebel Yell.

She watched as Andy ran around the stage like a mad man, but Rebel couldn’t keep her eyes off of Ashley. He played it to the crowd-that was for sure and Rebel always found it hilarious to see all of these young girls throw themselves at him. Ashley had a type and Rebel certainly wasn’t it, but she noticed that during the song he kept looking over his shoulder at her.

She knew that they were doing some sort of dance, but would it end with him kissing her or would it end with the two of them in bed together for one night and then the rest of the summer would be spent in an awkward silence. Rebel crossed her arms over her vest clad chest and her eyes grew wide as Andy kept singing but Ashley walked off stage right and stood right in front of her. He strummed his bass and sang along with Andy, but his face was only mere inches from hers as he lowered his sunglasses and looked right into her eyes.

I'd sell my soul for you babe
For money to burn with you
I'd give you all, and have none, babe
Just to, just to, just to, to have you here by me
Because

He was singing right at her, his eyebrows raised suggestively and Rebel felt her knees grow weak as she looked into those chocolate brown eyes.

They were set to stun and it seemed like Purdy only had eyes for her and in that moment Rebel knew she was in big, big trouble.

Notes

Hope you liked it!