In The End

In The End
A BVB FanFic
Chapter 35

Raven's POV


A week went by much faster than I expected. The girl's are all over at Andy and I's house along with the rest of Black Veil Brides and a few members of Falling In Reverse. Even Synyster came to see his little sister off. While the guys load the trailer with our equipment, I load my bunk with everything I need or want on the road. I had to make a list of everything to make sure nothing got left behind. I stole a couple of Andy's shirts to keep with me because they smell like him. Last week Andy took me shopping for all sorts of goodies. He bought me a laptop so I can Skype him when we are on the road, a brand new cell phone, new jelewery, a new digital camera, and we replaced my old iPod with a new iPod touch. He honestly spoils me, but I won't complain.

The girls got spoiled too. Looks like the boys all went shopping together to surprise us. As a tour gift Jake and Jinxx got us guitar players a box of new personalized picks. CC gave Scarlet a bunch of awesome drumsticks that were personalized, Jenae got a keyboard decal cover from her brother and Ryan, and Andy gave me a Black Veil Brides bandana so I can tie it on my microphone for shows, that way he's always with me. With our trailer loaded down with our equipment, our bus ready to roll out and us anxious to get going, we said our goodbyes, but before we could leave I asked Will to do me a favor. All of Black Veil Brides, Wicked Angels, Synyster, Jackie and Ryan got in a group and we took a group photo. "Promise you'll call on your first night. I love you. You girls have fun. Austin and the boys will be at the venue before you guys get there." I nod and hug Andy. I didn't think leaving would be so hard, but I don't want to leave him behind.

We all wave goodbye as the bus pulls out of our driveway. It's quiet on the bus and I think it's because we are a little stunned that this is actually happening. Most of us are sitting around on our phones and I think Gemma is back in her bunk straightening it out. "How long until we make it to the venue?" I ask William. He looks at me in the mirror and gives me a smile. "It's a 37 hour trip. We only have one stop on the way to get gas and that will be in Colorado." I thank him and head back to my seat afterwards. Craig got a hold of us the day before yesterday and gave us the boxes of merchandise for us to sell at our booth after our shows. I'm super stoked to play live shows and meet the fans, but it's even better that we get to open for Of Mice and Men. I've never been to one of their concerts, but now I don't even have to pay to see one, and I get VIP tickets. Deciding that I have nothing better to do, I pull out my laptop and set up my Skype account so I can chat with Andy later.

I close down the laptop and head back to my bunk, where I lay down and cuddle into my blanket. I feel really sick to my stomach and I don't feel good at all. Scarlet comes back with me and sits on the edge of my bed. "You feeling okay, Rae? You look really white and pale." I hug my blanket tight and bury my head into my pillows, but the motion of the bus is making the naseua worse. Suddenly I'm pushing Scarlet out of the way and I'm running for the bathroom. Thankfully I make it just in time to heave up my entire breakfast and then some. When it's over, I brush my teeth and rinse my mouth out and when I come out, the girls are standing around waiting. "How do you feel now?" Emerson asks. I shrug and step out of the bathroom, but Gemma sits me down on the couch while Jenae feels my head and cheeks. "You're burning up, Rae. What did you eat last?" I think about it for a minute, but nothing comes to mind. "You don't think you could be pregnant, could you?" Scarlet asked. I just shrugged and sat back. Jenae grabbed my phone and pulled up a calander. "When was the last time you and Andy had sex?" she asked. "Last night, but if I'm pregnant it would have to have been about a month ago when I met him." I say. Gemma grabs my phone and asks me about my period, which I realize is late. "I'm late...by two weeks." I hope that I'm not pregnant, not that I don't want kids, because I do, but me and the girls have worked too damn hard for this and I know Andy, if he thinks I'm pregnant, he'll have the tour cancelled and I can't do that. "Fine, when we stop, we'll get you a CVS kit and have you test it." Emerson says. I agree and the girls leave me alone to sleep out the rest of my time on the bus.

When I wake, we are at the first venue. I climbed from my bunk and peered out the tinted window to see 2 vans with tow-behind trailers lined up and another bus with Of Mice & Men's logo on it. The girls had already got off the bus and I was the last one to get off. When I stepped out into the sunlight, arms were tightly thrown around me and I was squeezed, until Scarlet pulled whoever it was off of me. "That's Raven, be careful. She's not feeling great, been throwing up and she slept the entire bus ride here." I gave a quick nod and wave to all the people gathered around, who I assumed, were the other bands. Five guys instantly stuck out to me. They were the guys from Of Mice and Men and suddenly I wasn't feeling great. I couldn't run, but somehow my feet carried me to the back of the bus and I was again, throwing up. Scarlet and Emerson excused myself and themselves before coming to my aid while the girls talked to the bands and began unloading our stuff. "Let me see if one of the other bands will let us borrow their van and we'll take you to the nearest store." Emerson said. I nodded and sat on the trailer tongue with Scarlet while we waited. She rubbed my back while I tried to hold down the rest of my stomach contents, which would be nothing. Soon enough, 3 guys come out of the venue and they unhooked their trailer hitch from the van and handed Emerson the keys. Emerson and Scarlet guided me over to their van and once inside I laid down on the seat while the girls navigated the city. After some much needed help from Google Maps, we were pulling into a mini mart of some kind and then I was being dragged about the store.

Emerson knew exactly what I was looking for and we quickly paid then rushed to the bathroom. They followed me in and locked the door while ripping the box open and reading the directions, as if I needed to be told how a pregnancy test worked. Soon after, it was being shoved in my face and I was being demanded to pee on it. When I finished, Scarlet took it from me and laid it on the counter while I washed my hands. "If it's a girl, name after me?" She said with a grin. I gave her an angry glare and shook my head. "Just for that, you aren't allowed to hold it!" I said. Scarlet pouted, but smiled and gave me a hug. "Fine, you can hold it. If it makes me feel like shit like now, you can even keep it." I told her. She just grinned and we waited for my fate. Emerson got her phone out and dialled a number while we waited. "No, Ash, this is not a sex call! Put Andy on? Okay.." My eyes went huge. "What are you doing?" I mouthed. She held up one finger to tell me to wait. "Hey Andy, It's Emerson. No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to let you know that Raven is really sick. We aren't sure...she said she was late so we are making her take a pregnancy test right now. Of course, here she is." I was horrified. Giving me a smile and the phone, Emerson and Scarlet left me alone to talk to Andy while they checked the test. "Hey. Yeah, I'm okay. I got really sick after we got out of L.A. and I guess I slept the entire bus ride. I threw up twice and I felt like shit, but I'm feeling fine now. We're checking the test now so I can tell you while you're right here...." It goes silent and Scarlet turns the test to me. A little face is frowning at me and I just smile. "Andy? I'm not pregnant. I will, I promise. We've got to go get everything set up and ready to go for the show. I love you, too. Here's Emerson." I smile and hand the phone back to Emerson who is talking to Ashley while Scarlet and I gather the rest of our stuff. On the way back to the venue I pick up something for my upset stomach and take it and it isn't long until I'm feeling back to normal. I think it may have been nerves.

When we pull up outside the venue, Austin and his guys come out to greet us. I jump out of the van and he gives me a hug and a smile. "You must be the infamous Raven I've heard so much about?" I laugh at his comment, but nod. "In the flesh. Sorry about earlier. I obviously have a knack for screwing up when meeting famous people." I blush the color of my hair, but Austin just waves it off and then introduces us to his band, even though I know them all by heart. "Raven, this is my band, I'm Austin, this is Alan, Phil, Aaron, and Tino. Boys, this is Raven Michelson, Emerson and Scarlet from The Angel Effect." We hug the guys as we make our way into the venue for our sound check. Our trailer has been unloaded and we find Gemma and Jenae are inside already. Our instruments have been tuned and set up and all we have to do is set up our merch booth and get our sound check ready to go. I run out to the bus to grab my in-ears and my bandana from Andy before heading back in to get ready. I put my guitar on and tighten the strap, then I set my floor pedals for the right sequences and then I tie my bandana in place around my microphone stand. When I turn around to see if the girls are ready, I notice we've drawn a small crowd of watchers. All of Of Mice & Men, Set It Off and Conflict of Interest are standing in the wings watching. Austin smiles and gives us the thumbs up, which I return with a smile. Each of the girls give me a nod to tell me they're ready and I wave to the tech at the back of the room who is setting up everything. I plug my in-ears into my ears and strum a few chords to get warmed up. I pull out my setlist and look it over.

I fly into the intro of 'Here's to Never Growing Up' and the girls follow right along. As we play our first song, a laser light show plays across the theater. When the song ends, I pull out my in-ears and look to the tech guy who gives us the thumbs up to go ahead. I catch Austin recording this on his phone from the corner of my eye, not that I mind. I reset the pedals for 'Smile' and begin the intro. We fly through the chorus and remaining versus fairly early and again the songs ends. We move on through 'Rock N' Roll' and we decided to play 'Shatter Me' even though Jeremy isn't here to help out on violin. Gemma learned his part of it on keyboard and she will fill in for him and I taught the girls on guitar the parts they could do while Scarlet was free to follow with the drums. When it comes to an end, we stop and cheer for a successful first sound check. Everyone that was watching cheers for us as well and we take a bow. We have almost 3 hours until the doors open and then the show starts, so I figured I could talk to Andy in that time, get my social media checked out, get our merch table organized and watch the other sets inbetween. The girls all agreed to help me and we get started immediately. Conflict of Interest starts their setup while we sort out our merchandise and get our booth set up. The shirts are all folded according to size, posters and CDs are ready to go along with the bracelets and bandanas. We get all the prices set up and when that's finished I decide I had better call Andy and talk to him before I get so busy that I forget. I step outside of the venue and dial his number. He picks up on the second ring and as soon as I hear his voice, I smile. "Hey babe! No, everything is great. I just wanted to call and talk to you before the show tonight. We just did our soundcheck and then we got our merch table set up. After I talk to you I'm going to set up my social media and then we can just hang out until the show." I walk around the parking lot while we talk, and it feels like I never left. "Austin is great. He's been helping us a lot and the other bands seem really cool. I think this tou is going to be pretty rad. Wait, you heard that from Austin? No, we haven't heard anything about tonight. I'll be sure to ask him. Okay, give Crow my love! I love you, too. Bye." I smile and hang up the phone. According to Andy, our show has completely sold out tonight and we have over one thousand people coming tonight. I get on the bus and grab my laptop and head back inside to set it up at our merch table.

The girls are playing on their phones and exploring the venue while I set up my Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and everything else social media for myself and the band. When I check my personal Twitter I see that Andy has given my band a shoutout and my followers are just blowing up. I quickly go on a follow spree and follow back as many as I can before thanking Andy. I haven't had much of a chance to check out my laptop so I figure I could do it now while the other bands are busy. I find that it has a top of the line recording program on it and all sorts of good stuff on it. It's like every musicians dream computer. While Set It Off is doing their soundcheck I notice that Austin is coming my way. He sits down next to me and gives me a smile. "You doing okay over here?" I nod and turn to face him. "Is it normal to be this nervous before a show? I mean, I love performing, and this is what we wanted, but a sold out show? I'm nervous they won't like us." I bite my lip and shrug at him. He gives me a smile and grabs my hand. "You're going to kick ass. The first crowd is always the hardest, but if you can give it your all, they'll love it. If you're having fun, they'll have fun. I promise. You have a great band, they'll love it." I nod and turn back to watch Set It Off for a minute. "What are you thinking about, Red?" Austin asks, using my nickname. I turn to face him with a grin. "You guys are all seasoned veterans when it comes to touring. My girls and I need to see if we can keep up with you guys. Maybe we'll give you guys a run for your money." I say cockily. Austin laughs and shakes his head. "You never know. You guys are pretty talented, just give your all." I nod and go back to my computer and Austin leaves so OM&M can get ready for their soundcheck. Deciding on doing something a little different than most bands, I take my laptop out to the bus and grab a couple of permanent markers in red and head out to the front of the venue where I can see kids lined up for blocks. I tap security on the shoulder and have him get the crowd's attention for me. "Excuse me! Hi, everyone! I know you're here to see Of Mice & Men and my name is Raven. I'm the lead singer and guitarist for one of the opening bands, The Angel Effect. I know you guys are waiting to get in, but I figured I could come out and talk to you guys, maybe sign stuff and take a few pictures with anyone who wants one." I thank the security guard and get down at the front of the line where I start signing stuff and taking a few pictures.

Showtime
Everyone crowded around backstage and we could hear the roar of the crowd while we waited for our cue. "We need a ritual before we go on stage, something for luck." Gemma says. The rest of the girls and myself agree and we start to brainstorm. None of us are religious so praying wouldn't be a good fit. "Let's chant TAE 3 times. T.A.E! T.A.E! T.A.E!" We shout. We cheer at the end and then we go out on the stage. The crowd is insane and loud, which is good. I put my in-ears in and turn everything on and the girls give me the sign. I don't say anything to the crowd and start right into the first song. As we begin, the crowd cheers and it gets louder, but all I can hear is my guitar. I start singing and everything comes out naturally, which surprises me because I'm so nervous. After the first verse finishes, things run smoothly and I feel more comfortable on the stage. We finish the first song and the crowd goes nuts. I smile at them and then begin talking a little. "Hey guys! Thank you for coming out tonight and supporting this tour! We are The Angel Effect and this next song is called 'Smile'!" Again the cheer louder and I start us out. It's hard to see at first, but then I see them getting into it. We kill it on 'Smile' and then we start on Rock N' Roll which everyone seems to really like as well. When it comes to 'Shatter Me', I stop to talk to them again. "Thank you guys so much again, for this opportunity. We can't tell you how much it means to us. This is our last song. It's called 'Shatter Me' and after our set, you can find us back at our merch table in the back and we'll be signing autographs and taking pictures, so come see us! Thank you again!" I plug my in-ears back in and I hear the keyboard start. I begin singing and I let the words just flow through me. Before I know it, we are finishing our entire set and it's time to tear down. "Thank you guys so much! Let's hear it for our friends who are also on this tour, Conflict of Interest!" The crowd cheers again. "And our friends in Set It Off!" Again, they scream and jump for joy. "And of course, the band you all came to see tonight, the boys in Of Mice & Men!" I smile as the crowd screams and cheers in excitement. We shut everything down and begin to put it all back and load the trailer again. When we are finished, we head back to the merch table and get ready for the rush of kids coming our way.

By the end of the night I've signed so many autographs that my hand is sore and I'm practically blind thanks to all the camera flashes. I wouldn't trade any of it for the world, though. This is what I live for. The crowd was so into it and they reacted well. We sold out of all the merchandise we had for this stop and we had to order more. I've met a lot of people and we've gained a few fans which is incredible all on its own. When we make it to the bus, I collapse in my bunk and groan. I'm sore and tired, but I'm happy. I know it's not late back in L.A., but I decide just to text Andy instead of calling him. I tell him how the show went and tell him I love him and then I post the pictures of the crowd and my band on stage on my social media before changing into my PJs and climbing under the covers. The other girls are either on the phone or in bed already. As I lay my head down to sleep I feel the bus pull out of the venue parking lot and we get on our way to Columbus Ohio for our next show and I'll be meeting Andy's parents.

Notes

Hey guys! Thank you so much for the reads! I love you all. If you could follow, heart, vote & favorite, I'd greatly appreciate it! I love you all so much. Thank you again and now that I'm out of this writing slump, I'll be updating this a LOT more frequently. I've been writing this for over a year! Writer's block is a bitch. Also, check out my Harry Styles/One Direction fanfic as well. Vote on that one too and I'll follow back! Much love to you & Merry Christmas & Happy New Years! Sorry for any mistakes, I'll be editing this story when it's finished!
Again, I do NOT own the songs or anything. I do own my characters, but that's it.