In The End

n The End
Chapter 37
Raven's POV

Our bus rolls out of Tempe, Arizona sometime around 12:30 in the morning, but I'm not paying much attention. We've played the last few shows in sold out venues and our fan-base just keeps growing. In roughly six hours we'll be in our native land of Los Angeles, where I'll get to see my love again. I've missed him so much and though I've talked to him everyday, it's not the same. I call out my goodnight to the girls and Will and then I crawl into my bunk. I text Andy to tell him I love him and I can't wait to see him. The minute my head hits the pillow, I'm out.
I wake up sometime the next morning and look around. Snores fill the bus and it's stopped moving. I peel my covers back and get up to check on everyone only to find them all asleep. I quickly dig through my bag and throw on some clothes, then do my hair and makeup before grabbing my phone and going outside to have a cigarette. I know it's a nasty habit, and it started on this tour, but now I'm addicted to it. Andy wasn't happy about it, but finally let it go. I light my cigarette and take a drag off of it while dialing Andy's number. "Hello?" His morning voice greets me. He's still asleep.
"Hi, babe. Guess what? We're in L.A.!" I say. I hear Andy mumble a bunch of incoherent words. "You alright over there?" I ask. Finally, he sighs and answers me. "Yeah, I'm good. So where are you guys then? I'll come pick you up and we can spend the day together till your sound check." I flick the ashes from my cigarette and kick the dirt. "We are at The Wiltern Theater, but I'm afraid I have to put a rain-check on your plan. We are writing a new song and demoing it out and stuff. But you can come help us! We'd love it." I say. Andy agrees to meet us at the theater and we hang up. I head back into the bus and find clothes. Pulling out a pair of bell bottoms, a Batman shirt and my DC shoes with a Black Veil Brides hoodie, I head to the bathroom and quickly get dressed. I do my makeup and straighten my hair and decide to change my belly button ring to my Batman one.
Standing in the isle where all the bunks are, I cup my hands around my mouth and holler. "Rise and shine, ladies! We are on California time and the boys will be here in about ten minutes! Move your asses." The girls groan in protest, but once I mention the boys coming, blankets start flying off and everyone is scattering to get their clothes. I get my laptop, guitar, notebook, and one of the amps I'll need in the venue. Roughly ten minutes later a horn blares outside, and then another. I set all my stuff down on the ground outside the bus and run out to the cars. Andy, Ashley, CC, Jake and Jinxx are climbing out of Andy's car and Jackie, Ryan and Synyster are climbing out of Ryan's car. "Hey guys! I'm so glad you could all make it!" I run to Andy and engulf him in the biggest hug ever. He catches me with a smile and squeezes me. "I've missed you." He whispers against my ear. I kiss his cheek and pull away. "I've missed you, too. Thank you for coming down here to help us. I know you wanted to spend the day with me."
"I am spending the day with you. I would love to help and I'm so glad that you want us to be there while you work on new material. That's huge for you guys." I hug him again and then give all the other guys hugs. As I step back the door on the bus opens and out come Emerson, Scarlet, Jenae, Gemma, and Will. The girls all go to their guys and once they've caught up, we grab what equipment we'll need and head inside. Andy excuses himself and disappears down a long hallway and soon comes back with an older woman. "Everybody, this is Andrea. She's the manager here at The Wiltern. She's giving me the keys for the day so she can go run errands." I walk over to her and shake her hand with a smile. "Thank you so much for allowing us to come here. My band and I are extremely grateful." The woman shakes my hand and tells us it's no big deal before leaving us alone. "What do you and the guys wanna do?" I ask Andy.
Grabbing my laptop and cords, he leads me backstage and sets them down by the soundboard and begins plugging things in. "I am going to record everything and work with your program. I believe the rest of the guys were going to help you ladies with anything you need. We are at your disposal. Go make music." I lean over the soundboard and kiss him quickly before leaving him to help the girls set up. When everything is set up, I grab my pen and notebook and sit down on the edge of the stage so my legs are draped over the side. "Got anything good yet?" Jenae asked as she sat down next to me. I shrug and shake my head. "Not yet. Writer's block sucks ass." She laughs and takes the notebook and pen from me. "I may have something, can I?" She asks, referring to my notebook. I nod and she begins to write.
"I've been wasting time with clueless guys
But now it's over
Let me tell you why
I'm through
I've meet someone new
Who's just like you"
Handing the book back to me, I read it over and smile. "This is awesome. I think we can work with this." She smiles at me and shrugs. "Cool. I've had that stuck in my head since last night." She laughs. I read it again and think for a minute. "This sounds more like a pre-chorus. I think it needs something at the beginning. It doesn't have to be long, but maybe something like a couple lines." I grab the pen and begin writing.
"You're the kind of friend who always bends when I'm broken
Like remember when
You took my heart and put it back together again
I've been wasting time with clueless guys
But now it's over
Let me tell you why
I'm through
I've meet someone new
Who's just like you"
I hand it back to her and she looks it over. "Let's take it to the others and see if we can get a tune going." I get up and gather the girls around and the boys gather around. I grab my guitar and grab a pick. "I have an idea. Just listen." I strum a few chords to make sure the sequence sounds good together, and then I begin to hum the words. "That sounds really good, but instead of dragging out the word guys on that pre-chorus, cut it short and then on the next beat go into the next line." Emerson cuts in. I do it again, but add the correction and it sounds better. "What do we do about the chorus?" Jenae asks. Scarlet grabs the pen and notebook and begins writing.
"You're it
You're the ultimate
It's automatic.
I'm sure of it
No lie
So don't even try
To tell me that you're not the guy"
"That's all I've got for the chorus, but I think it should be longer." Scarlet says. The rest of us look it over and agree. "I got something!" Gemma says and takes the book and pen. "The rest of the chorus could go something like...
Cause I've been waiting all my life
For someone just like you
But you're it
You're the ultimate, you"
Again, everyone agrees. We think about the next verse and as we talk about it, Ryan and Jacky take my notebook and pen. It must be 'Everyone-Write-In-Raven's-Book' Day. Ryan mumbles to Jacky and I think Jacky says something about a guitar solo. Soon enough, they hand my book back and I read Ryan's neat handwriting. "
"You're the kind of guy who's hands in mine send shivers up and down my spine
You took my heart and put it back together again.
You're the kind of guy that blows my mind
But now it's my turn
You've been right in front of me
Everything I need
Why didn't I see"
I look up to the guys with a smile. "How did you come up with this? It's really good and it fits perfectly." Ryan shrugs with a smile. "I guess a little of our creative side came out. I think it's going to sound pretty fantastic when it's all put together." I grin and just nod at him. The girls pass my notebook around again and they are adding notes. "What if after the second verse it went back into the pre-chorus and then the chorus again?" Gemma says. I look at the way it's written and it's coming together. "Raven, if you're interested, Jake and I have a really cool guitar solo idea." Jacky says. I pick up my guitar and Jake grabs Emerson's. Jacky looks around and grabs my other guitar. After everything is tuned how they wanted, Jake starts the solo and Jacky follows.
Usually I'm a fast learner, but I don't think I could ever keep up with these two. Seconds later, they stop playing and everyone cheers. "The chord progression is very simple. I'll write it down while Jake plays it." I watch Jacky write notes out as Jake goes through each one. Minutes later, I'm being handed a guitar and they are trying to teach me what they wrote. "That sounds really good, baby! I like it." I speed up the playing and finish it off. I look over at Andy who winks at me and makes me blush. "I think we need to go into the chorus again, repeat it twice and then end the song. Sound good?" The girls all agree and everyone gets into place. I look over at Andy and nod to him so he can record.
Standing in front of the mic, the guitars start in and then the drums and keyboard follow. CC is helping Scarlet with the drums since none of us know our way around a drum kit. We fly through the verses fairly quickly and before I know it I'm playing my solo. I use the sweep picking method to fly through the notes as fast as I can and it sounds amazing. We finish the last two verses and the song ends. Andy gives me a thumbs up and I set my guitar down and go to him. I push the play button and I can hear the recording playing back and the theater gives us such a unique sound. "I think with a little mixing and audio pitching this will be solid. I think CC is helping Scarlet with drums, but you guys will have it down pat in no time." I give him a smile and he leans over to kiss me.
"Hey, if we get it down in time, you guys wanna play it in tonight's show? We can substitue two songs out for our two new ones." Emerson says. She plops down in Ashley's lap and they cuddle. I shrug my shoulders, but nod my head. "I'm okay with that if you are." The other girls agree, which means we have a lot of work ahead of us. We spend the next several hours playing and recording the song we wrote over and over. Andy records the final version and tweaks a few minor details and it's finished. The playback sounds flawless and I think the crowd will really enjoy it.
Andy decides that he wants to take me out before the show so we get some alone time together. We go out to a little diner that looks like a hole in the wall. Andy is sure they have the best food so I'll just have to take his word for it. "How is everything on tour so far?" He asks while picking through his french fries. I take a drink of my soda and pick through my food. "It's a lot of fun. Standing on a stage with people I love, doing what I love is exhilerating. It's everything I hoped it would be. I miss my fiance, though." He smiles and sips his beer. "I miss you just as much. The guys and I are leaving next week for our tour." I smile and finish my lunch, as does Andy.
Later @ the show
I'm standing backstage with my band and we do our pre-show ritual. When it's done, we come out onto the stage and get set up. The crowd is insane, but we love it. Every seat is filled and I can see everyone in the balcony seats cheering and waving at us. "Hi, everyone! We are The Angel Effect and we are opening for Of Mice and Men along with Set It Off and Conflict of Interest!" Again, the crowd cheers and we begin our set.
It doesn't take long for us to play our entire set and before long we are thanking the crowd and tearing our equipment down. We all head back to our merch table, which is being overrun by fans, who want pictures, autographs and merchandise. We sellout of everything and have to order more merchandise, again. When I finally get away from the table, Andy catches me outside and he dangles keys in front of me while grabbing my hand. "Will gave me the keys to the bus. Let's go." He nods towards our tour bus and I follow with a smile. Once we are on the bus, Andy locks the doors and turns the bus on so we can see.
Andy lets me go first and I pull him into my bunk with me. Because of the small space I lay down on my back and pull Andy on top of me. "I could get use to this. You are definitely coming on tours with me in the future." I giggle at him, but I couldn't agree more. I wrap my arms around his neck and press my lips to his. I can feel the bulge in Andy's pants growing between my legs and I know he wants me. Good thing the feeling is mutual because I want him just as bad.

Notes