So This Is Love?
No One Like You
Chapter 6 – No One Like You
Gabby POV
“So what’ll we do now?” asked Andy before draining the last of his drink, putting the empty cup next to him, same with the other guys, having finished their drinks. I thought for a minute as I drained my can before squashing it under my shoe.
“Hmm... we could show you around the place so you don’t get lost, though I need to get out of these clothes at some point, they are a bit sweaty” I said, tossing my squashed can into the recycling bin, everyone else following suite.
“Sounds good” the guys all agreed so I darted upstairs and quickly changed and grabbed a few things, then putting my glasses back on and ruffling my hair a bit I raced back downstairs where the guys were debating about video games. “Find anything to play yet?” I asked, cleaning my glasses while leaning against the wall and putting them back on.
Everyone turned around, Ashley’s jaw dropping – Jake discreetly nudged him in the ribs with his elbow. “YES!” CC shrieked, holding up my Guitar Hero games in one hand and the drumsticks for the drum controller in his other hand. Jake and Jinxx held the guitar controllers and Andy held the mic for it.
I laughed, “That’s my favourite game series alongside Gran Turismo, Star Wars Battlefront and Ratchet & Clank” I said, leaning against the wall, blowing chewing gum bubbles. “Can we please play them?” CC asked with a super cute puppy dog face that I knew my friend Arya would absolutely love. I smiled, “Sure but I thought you guys needed your hair dyed, Jeremy obviously does unless he wants to go pastel” I said.
“Oh yeah!” the guys all exclaimed, putting the game stuff down, all 6 of them racing to grab the hair dye we left on the table. I just laughed and went to the bathroom that had my hairdressing equipment from when I did the course for it – it was a school-based one so I already finished it and the sinks were installed when I was given the house, I just did a bunch of renovating.
Anyway, I put on my apron and got out the tinting bowls to get the colours mixed up, the brushes to put the dye on their hair, the cape things, box of foil pieces in case any of them wanted foils and the box of gloves after I unpacked the bag I took to school.
“Can you guys bring the hair-dye in here? The docking station too Jeremy!” I called out, getting the stool out of the cupboard for them to sit on one at a time, and a stack of towels.
The guys all came rushing in, CC crashing into Ashley, sending him toppling over, about to face plant onto the tiles (been there, done that – NOT FUN) when I raced over and caught him. “Gotcha!” I said, catching him before he hit the ground. “Holy shit she’s strong” I distantly heard Andy comment as I gazed into Ashley’s warm chocolate brown eyes.
We just stayed there for what felt like a while, Ashley in my arms as I crouched down as we looked into each other’s eyes, him smiling sweetly up at me. I knew I was in love with him, while hoping to hell and back that he loved me too.
I snapped out of my trance when Jake cleared his throat, rapidly standing up and helping Ash up, putting the dye he carried onto the bench and indicating to the guys to put their dye there too as I made sure my hair was out of the way which would do nothing to hide how red my face was.
“You ok there Gab?” Andy asked, putting his arm around my shoulders, trying not to laugh. “Yeah I'm ok Andy, just a bit flustered and obviously red in the face” I said, grinning at them before plugging my iPod into the dock and amplifying whatever I was listening to on it, which turned out to be ‘Sex Action’ by LA Guns, making the guys laugh.
“Go on Andy, say it, you’ve been itching to since CC did earlier” I said, noticing Andy was holding back from shouting the same thing CC did. Andy took in a deep breath, I leaned back, ready to bolt if I had to as he opened his mouth, everyone else (being Jinxx, Jake, Jeremy & Ashley – CC just stood there failing to hold back laughter) doing the same as me as Andy yelled “I SHIP ASHBY!!!!!” we all cringed and rubbed our ears.
“Dude you sure you don’t have a mic hidden on you?” Ashley said, rubbing his ears but grinning widely (ok, ok I admit it, I was too) at me as my face went pink again, the guys minus Ashley joining in with Andy chanting ‘I ship Ashby’, which was cute but will probably get real annoying real fast. I just rolled my eyes and started getting the 7 colours ready for Jeremy’s hair. “You’re up first Jeremy, you know what to do” I said, mixing the first colour, only being as nice to him as I was because Black Veil was staying with us after all.
I just hoped Jeremy would find someone else to do this for him or at least move back in with his mother or even Matt, I was ready for him to be out of my life. “Sir yes sir!” Jeremy exclaimed, complete with soldier posture and salute making me laugh – he can still be funny – before putting a towel around his neck, tucking it into the shirt he had on, then the cape thing, handing them out to the guys and instructing them to do the same along with removing any ear piercings and bandanas.
The guys all took off their bandanas and any ear piercings they had in (I did the same except for the ones I’d gotten done a little while ago since they needed to heal, and my hair needed to be redyed too after all, I’m just leaving it up for now) and sat them in the basket nearby. “How many colours are you mixing up there?” Andy asked as he put the towel around his neck and then the cape before brushing the hairspray he had in out.
“Well a heap of black for you guys and me obviously, then for Jeremy, his hair is rainbow and he has a 7 point colour thing going on so for him I’m mixing up neon pink, neon purple, bright blue, neon green, yellow, orange and red” I explained, finishing the purple, sitting it with the pink and starting on the blue which was a pretty blue topaz colour. “Oh cool” said Jinxx who happened to be listening in on the conversation.
“Yeah it looks great when it’s not pastel, I have photos of it on my laptop that I’ll show you later” “Awesome, is black your natural hair colour?” Jinxx asked, leaning against the wall and texting someone as someone knocked on the front door, Jeremy leaving the room to answer it while Jake, Ashley and CC pretended to be superheroes in their capes which I laughed at, they did look hilarious and adorable in Ashley’s case.
I shook my head, “Nope, naturally my hair is a chocolate/mahogany colour, gets random blonde streaks in the summer. I actually started dying it when I was like 14 or 15, about a year or so after I got it cut off, I have dyed it other colours though” “What colours?” asked Jinxx, “Maroon for state of origin, once I dyed it neon pink during the xmas holidays so I had Pinkie Pie hair while Jeremy has rainbow dash hair”
“Oh wow, how long was it?” asked Jinxx, cursing when his phone went flat. “Ashley, can you grab one of the spare cords for iPhones & iPods? Jinxx’s went flat. My hair went all the way down my back, it was a nightmare to take care of but my parents wouldn’t let me get it cut off but they gave in when I was 12, nearly 13” “Sure thing” “How does he know where everything is? He obviously knew where your room is” asked Andy, he was a little confused.
“We gave each other Skype tours around our houses, so he knows where to go” I explained as Ashley came back with all of them. “Just in case the rest of them go too” he explained when I raised an eyebrow while I started mixing the green for Jeremy, Ashley plugging Jinxx’s phone into the power board I had in the bathroom.
“Fair enough” I said as my phone started ringing. “Ash can you get that? I don’t want to get dye on it, made that mistake with my iPod nano that died a few years ago” I said. Ashley answered it on speaker, “Hello Gabby’s phone” “Hey who’s this? You sound familiar but I can't quite remember where from, I'm Mara by the way” “I'm Ashley Purdy” “OMG!” “You ok?” CC asked, I was trying not to laugh too much.
“Um yeah I'm ok, wait.... how would Ashley & CC happen to have my best girlfriend’s phone?” “I’m mixing up colours for Jeremy’s hair Mara, I don’t want to get dye all over it and I asked Ash to answer it” I explained, finishing the green and starting the yellow. “Fair enough.... hold the fuck up a minute”
“All too easy” I said, smirking at Ashley, he laughed and the others all shook their heads. “Not like that LadyDeviant!” Mara laughed. I just flipped the phone off, “And don’t flip me off either Queen Purdy-dala” she added, I stood there with my mouth hanging open and weird expression on my face, somehow I hadn’t dropped the yellow hair dye I was still mixing.
“Dude I think she’s broken!” Jake joked, taking the dye out of my hands, sitting it on the bench then poking me, I didn’t respond. “How the hell did you know I did that?!” I asked. “Turn around” I swore I heard two Mara’s... then realisation hit me.
“You’re standing behind me aren’t you? With Arya by the sound of it” I said, standing up straight and closing my mouth. “Yep!” I heard them behind me as I turned around, Ashley hanging up. “You are insane you know that?” I said, laughing as I hugged my two closest female friends, trying not to get dye on them.
“If I’m insane then you’re batshit crazy insane with no hope of recovery!” Mara joked, us girls laughing, the guys joining in too. Mara and Arya looked over at the guys and their eyes widened comically, I tried to stifle my laughter behind my hand while I finished up the colours for Jeremy.
“Hi girls!” CC said, waving at them. Mara and Arya burst out giggling while I started putting the dye into Jeremy’s hair, starting with the pink – Mara was looking at Andy, Arya at CC. “So what brings you two here?” I asked, putting in the green dye, blending the colours a little as I go. “Well while you were presenting your oral I filmed it for you and thought you might like a copy, plus my internets being annoying at the moment” Arya said while looking at CC every so often.
“Oh yeah thanks, can you put it into the video folder on my laptop?” “Sure thing” Arya said, going to where I put my bag and dug out my laptop. “I wanted to see my bestie” said Mara when I looked to her, I just raised an eyebrow. “Fine I also wanted to get my hair dyed as well” she added, holding up a box of blue dye that was really dark so that it was close to black.
“Ok cool, just put your dye with the massive pile of black but a little way away so I know it’s yours and get yourself ready” I said, before wiping excess dye of Jeremy’s face. “Ok Jer just wait about half an hour, which of you is next?” I asked, looking at the BVB guys – Mara was eyeing off Andy too I noticed, this will be an interesting afternoon I noted.
The guys all looked at each other, Jake volunteering. “Any chance you can cut hair as well as dye it? I could use a trim” Jake said as he sat down. I nodded, “Yeah of course, I did a school-based apprenticeship after all and I’ve got people coming over to get their hair done a lot, mostly my friends, even some teachers put in requests” I explained, grabbing the trolley that has my tools for cutting hair and all that on it.
“Oh good, can we get our hair trimmed as well as dyed then?” Andy asked, I nodded. “Sure, just let me get Jake’s hair underway first since he volunteered to go first” I said, before asking what he wanted. A few minutes later I trimmed and added more layers to Jake’s hair before putting in the dye.
“Ok Jake, you’re done for a little while, Jinxx your turn” I said, letting Jake hop off the stool after I used a clip to keep his hair off his neck and staining his skin. Jinxx asked to get his hair trimmed & layered too and some deep red foils added along with the black. I quickly trimmed & layered his hair before grabbing the box I had set out earlier for this reason.
Then I mixed a new bowl of red since Jinxx wanted a darker red than the Coca-Cola like red Jeremy sports. I put in the foils and the black on the rest of his hair, letting Andy think about what he wanted to do with his hair. He decided to have something relatively like what Ash and I have, but a lot shorter as well as a colour touch up, so I trimmed it then shaved it on the side, then re-dyed it.
CC was next, just getting rid of split ends and re-dying it with some dark brown highlights. I have to say, CC and Jinxx looked hilarious with bits of alfoil in their hair so I took a photo of it while I took a break from cutting & dying hair and tweeted it saying ‘hair styling with the guys! @ccbvb & @JinxxBVB look totally awesome’. They just laughed as I trimmed and dyed Ashley’s hair, then I started cutting Mara's since she wanted some off the ends.
“HEY ARYA!” I shouted over my shoulder while I cut Mara's hair the way she asked me to. “Yeah?” she called back, bringing my laptop with her, setting it on the bench away from my equipment, especially the dirty stuff. “Want anything done with your hair? Aside from the pink & green that I know you’ve been wanting?” “Umm, yeah could you cut it and dye it?” she said, coming into the bathroom and sitting on the bench next to CC.
“Go ahead and pick out a colour, Mara’s hair’s nearly done, just have to put the dye in” I said, finishing what I was doing then putting on yet another pair of gloves and putting in the dark blue dye that looked very close to black and clipping it up off her neck. Then Arya sat down and told me what she wanted done. “You do know if I cut it like that, you won’t be able to do those fancy styles you tend to do right?”
“Yeah I know, this is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, I'm just finally getting around to it” “Oh yeah I remember you telling me when we were in yr 8, you two were tiny back then” I said as I started cutting her hair so that it was short mostly, but still had some long parts and that it covered her left eye like my hair did, but her style was more scene girl, mine’s based on Ashley.
Then I did the chocolate brown foils and black then I finally got my hair done, with Arya doing it for me, she was studying a hairdressing course at TAFE that she goes to on weekends and Tuesdays. Then while the dye in my hair did its job I started rinsing it out of everyone else’s hair, starting with Jeremy.
I grabbed the shampoo and conditioner I for dying hair and set it up next to the sink along with another towel to at least stop it from dripping everywhere, cos once I forgot to do that and I slipped over breaking my wrist and ankle which hurt, and prevented me from training for a few weeks, casts aren’t waterproof and I doubt I’d have gotten far anyway. Although I was still able to play my games and guitars, it just takes a little getting used to.
Anyway, Jeremy sat in the chair and leant back, waiting for me to get the dye out. While I got the water to the right temperature, Mara and Arya got the straighteners and hair dryers that we use for this out and set them up so they were ready to go. While I started rinsing the dye out of Jeremy’s hair I saw the guys eyeing the straighteners. “Go on, suss them out” I said, shooing them towards them where they inspected it and approved it which made me laugh.
“You guys would be hilarious hair stylists with the way you inspected the straighteners just now” I commented, getting a tongue poke form Jake. Then I shampooed & conditioned Jeremy’s hair and sent him over to Mara to dry off. “Mara, you can dry them, Arya, you straighten them out if they need it” I said, the three of us trying not to laugh as I rinsed out Jake’s hair.
Once Jake was cleaned, he went to Mara who started drying his hair while Jinxx sat down in the chair and leant back. Then I carefully took off the bits of foil in his hair and grinned at the results. “They look ok?” he asked, noticing my smile.
“So far so good Jinxxy, now you sit back and relax, you’re all practically getting free head massages here, can't tell you how many times Jeremy has fallen asleep lying here while I get the dye out, even Jake nearly nodded off” I said, indicating to Jeremy who was rapidly typing on his iPod, his hair now a vibrant rainbow that was nicely blended, then he left the room to do who knows what.
The guys all laughed as I started massaging the shampoo into his wet hair. He tried to stifle a moan as my hands worked the shampoo through his hair. I couldn’t hold back the laugh that threatened to escape me so I let it out, Ashley shot me a questioning look and I pointed at Jinxx.
“Ashley, let me just say this chick’s good with her hands!” said Jinxx, Ashley laughed, “Oh I know that all too well, sure will be nice to get her hands back on me” I smirked evilly, “That it will be Purdy, that it will be, though Jinxx’s expression right now is pretty hilarious, I didn’t know he was related to a tomato” I said, seeing as Jinxx’s face was red.
Ashley laughed as I rinsed the conditioner out and sent him off to Mara who’d just sent Jake to Arya who started straightening his hair – Jeremy’s was too short to do anything with and he lets pretty much no-one but himself mess with his rat tail. Then I started rinsing out Andy’s hair. “Blimey are you sure you’re not a massage therapist?” said Andy as I once again massaged shampoo through someone’s hair.
I laughed, “Nah, though Ashley would say otherwise..... If you know what I mean” I said, adding an evil laugh on the end, with Ashley smirking at me and Andy screwing up his face. Then I rinsed the shampoo out and added the conditioner. As I finished rinsing the conditioner out I noticed some water had dripped onto his ears so I dried it off, tickling him which was funny.
Then while Mara dried his hair off I started on CC who stayed very still which was a little surprising. Though we both burst out laughing when both our stomachs and Ashley’s all decided to grumble at the same time. “Guess it’s nearly dinnertime” I said, laughing while I sent CC to Mara and starting on Ashley, I was gonna take my time with him.
Arya POV
“Oh boy, she’s so gonna take her sweet time with him” I murmured, straightening Andy’s hair. “She’s got it bad for him hasn’t she” said Jinxx, joining us, happy with his new hairdo, tweeting about it and putting a photo up on Instagram.
“Yup, she was miserable when she came home. Mara and I picked her up at the airport and we thought it had gone horribly wrong when we saw her, cos she was miserable, crying, couldn’t talk, not walking too well either and looking like a zombie too” I started to explain.
“She was like that for a little while, even at school. When we asked her a few days before her birthday about it she broke down and cried that she wanted to be with Ashley instead of being at school. We knew she had a crush on him, she always mentioned him more than the rest of you in her schoolwork, in class when she has nothing to do seeing as she finishes her work way sooner than she has to, she draws him, and she’s done some pretty good ones too” said Mara, sitting near Andy.
“Anyway we figured that she’d fallen in love with him, and when she told us what had gone on between them, that was when we knew that Ashley had captured her heart. Then that afternoon while we were hanging at her place she was messing around on Skype while emailing people when someone called her on Skype. That someone turned out to be Ashley, then they talked for a while after that, he started calling her and they’re usually texting non-stop. She was more cheerful after that and now we’re here” I explained as I finished with CC’s hair – it’s so soft!
A few minutes later Ashley was sent over to get his hair dried which I took care of seeing as Mara had to get the dye out of her hair. Then I got my hair sorted and we sorted Gabby’s out. Then we went out for dinner to McDonalds, well really, we ordered our food and went to a nearby park. Then the guys bombarded us with questions, for the second time in Gabby’s case seeing as they’d interrogated her earlier.
“So, what’s your favourite colour?” Andy began once we’d sat down after setting up some lights so we could see. “Tie between silver and purple” said Gabby. I followed with “Neon green” and Mara finished with “Blue topaz”. Then Ashley asked what our favourite foods were and we answered in the same order, “Pizza” “Spaghetti” “Ice-cream”. Then they asked some more generic questions like what our favourite subjects were. Gabby’s is a tie between ICT and Art, and it was also Art hands down for me & Mara.
Then they wanted to know our favourite drinks, mine was the green monster energy and Mara favours vanilla coke while Gabby can’t stay away from coke zero. Then came the question of our favourite instruments, guitar for Gabby, drums for me and bass for Mara. After that CC asked what can’t we leave home without.
For me that would be a can of monster, Gabby refuses to leave her iPod or melon flavoured hello kitty body spray behind and Mara loves bringing her batman gear around and about. Jake then asked one of those would you rather questions, this time it was Nikki Sixx or Gene Simmons. Mara and Gab like Nikki more than Gene, though I don’t mind him.
Andy then chimed in asking what our least favourite days of the week are, I know for a fact Gabby absolutely hates Tuesdays, I’m not overly keen on Mondays and Mara also hates Tuesdays. Jinxx asked why and Gabby responded sarcastically that they’ll know tomorrow, then they looked to us for an explanation.
Mara subtly glanced at Gabby for approval since she’s the head of our coven – more on that when the guys are ready to know – and she gave us permission to tell them. “Well there are some girl who are always trying to make Gabby’s life hell, the SEP staff don’t help either, she has SEP parade tomorrow morning and 2 classes with said girls” Mara began.
I picked up where she left off, “I only have one with Gabby tomorrow but even I’ve seen how awful they treat her. It gets bad enough she leaves class way early and that temptation flares up though she hasn’t given in for years and doesn’t want to start now, she’s gonna need all five of you tomorrow. Her favourite way to cool down is to hit up the pools, though diving is really what does it for her, even though there’s nowhere to do that in Toowoomba”
“None of the pools are deep enough and there are no platforms and springboards to jump off. Occasionally she’ll bust out a few songs but she prefers to wear herself out by training or hitting up the open range” Mara finished. Jinxx looked sad for her, but fortunately no sign of pity. “Goddammit that’s gotta suck” said Ashley, cuddling her to him. “It does, but I'm used to it by now, though no one should have to be” she replied, snuggling back into him.
Gabby POV
Soon after that we headed back home and Mara and Arya left to go back to their homes as it was getting late, we were at the park for a while eating and talking. “I’m gonna head up to bed guys, gotta get up early if I want to be ready for hell on time, I'm not much of a morning person” I said, standing up from where I was snuggled with Ashley.
“Night Gab” they all replied after me and Jeremy leant them some PJ’s to wear until we got their luggage from the motel they were staying at tomorrow after school. I started going upstairs when I realised Ashley wasn’t following me, I turned around to see he was staring at me lovingly from the bottom of the stairs.
“Still want that bed Ash?” I said, snapping him out of his trance. “Oh yeah” he said, scampering up the stairs and taking my hand as I lead him to my room, ignoring the snickering from downstairs. Opening the door, I saw it how I left it earlier, and my cat snoozing on the end of my bed. I opened one of my drawers and tossed Ash a pair of pyjama pants before grabbing a pair for myself and a crop top.
Then I shut the drawer and we got changed, brushed our teeth and crawled into bed. I hummed in content, “You ok?” Ashley asked me. “Yep, just really comfy... and warm and happy” I said, running my hand over his chest where my head was laying. His chest vibrated from his laughter as he tightened his arms around me and he kissed my forehead.
“I’ve missed you so much” he said, looking down at me. “I missed you too Ash” I replied, turning over and taking his face in my hands, both of us smiling at each other before I leaned down and rubbed his nose with mine then I kissed him deeply and passionately, with him returning it immediately. We sat up as Ashley deepened the kiss, fighting me for dominance which he won. All too soon we had to break apart from lack of air.
We slowly pulled away, leaning our foreheads together as we breathed heavily. “Were you really miserable coming home from Download baby?” he asked me, our heads still touching. I sniffled, remembering that day.
FLASHBACK – the morning after at Download
I woke up, feeling happy, content, satisfied and very warm. My pillow was also moving which I thought was unusual until I realised I was laying on someone and that both of us were naked. Ooook then who the hell am I lying on? I thought to myself, sitting up then I saw ‘outlaw’ tattooed on the person’s chest, recognising him as Ashley then smiling.
Then I remembered everything that happened last night, man that was the best day ever... I thought before my phone started going off with a reminder. I checked it and my heart sank. It was the reminder I’d set to make sure I was up and packed for my flight back home to Australia in about 5 hours. I got out of bed, fighting back tears – I didn’t want to leave Ashley, not now or ever. But I unfortunately have to.
I started putting my clothes back on, what wasn’t ripped anyway, noticing I was a bit stiff and sore, especially around my hips, thighs, that area and my ass. ‘Damn Ashley did a number on me last night, but then again I did ask for him to be rough’ I thought as I got all my clothes back on and had my stuff together. I decided I’d leave a letter for him to explain everything. I grabbed my notepad, a pen and an envelope from my bag and started writing. This is the letter I left behind.
Dear Ashley,
I'm so goddamn sorry that I had to leave you like this, even though we both knew I had to go home, as much as I want to stay. Last night was incredible, the best night of my entire life in the nearly 20 years I’ve existed, and for that I can never thank you enough. There are some things I’ve held back from you, number one being that although I'm nearly 20, I am still in high school. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s unfortunately true. While I was in primary school I had been expelled twice and had to repeat grades one, three and five, so I'm in year 12 this year when really, I should have graduated 3 years ago. Another is that I have autistic spectrum disorder and ADHD along with anxiety, it’s something I prefer not to tell people, what with all the discrimination people like me get. Another thing is that I’ve had a crush on you for years, even back when you were in ‘Children Of The Beast’ and ‘Stolen Hearts’. Out of all the guys in BVB, you’re my favourite member, and have been since day one, even though the other guys are awesome. I also have your Stolen Hearts songs on my iPod that I listen to a lot. That outlaw tattoo I have on my chest, similar to you? That’s partially based on you, and partially on the fact that I am an outlaw where I come from. When I was younger, in primary school I was an outcast, I never belonged anywhere, I was always being bullied for being myself which is why I was expelled, for standing up for myself. To be honest I’ve never really felt like I fit in anywhere, except for when I with you and when we hung out with the guys – that’s really the only time I felt like I belonged somewhere, aside from when I'm in the pool, it’s like I can let everything go and be who I really am. Though when I was around 14, I started self-harming. I managed to stop when I first heard the ‘We Stitch These Wounds’ album which I immediately downloaded onto my iPod and iPhone when I got it. Then I also started learning the songs, my favourites being perfect weapon and never give in as well a sweet blasphemy. That album is like a warm comforting hug, whether it be a family member, best friend or you. Then ‘Set The World On Fire’ came out, which I also learnt as soon as I could and downloaded onto my gadgets. Saviour means the world to me Ashley, I listen to it whenever I feel down and I know I can get through whatever’s bothering me at the time, same with Ritual. That album gives me strength and makes me feel as though I can really stand up for myself, I keep crumbling and once a year I have a massive breakdown, from everything that’s happened that year, WSTW and STWOF helped me through all that. Feel free to share this with the guys as well if you want to, I don’t mind. Tell them that I love them like the family I always wanted but never had – my parents often hid me away from my family which sucked. Andy’s like a goofy older brother to me, Jake an older bro that looks out for me, Jinxx like the father I never had but always wanted and CC’s the crazy insane brother who can make me smile and laugh even when all I want to do is cry and scream. Well anyway I have to go, pack my stuff up and get to the airport. If you want to say goodbye to me in person, I’ll be at the East Midlands airport in the international terminal area at gate 18, my flight leaves a bit after lunchtime at 1:30pm. I hope we’ll see each other again Ashley and.... I love you. You hold my heart now Ash, please don’t break it, you’re the only man I’ve been with willingly and the only one I could ever want to be with. 0468349852 <- that’s my number if you’ve forgotten, we swapped them at Soundwave when we first met, my Skype name is Space_Princess92, twitter is the same as well as Instagram. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. My love, my Saviour, my handsome outlaw, one day we’ll see each other again, Love Gabby...
Then put it into an envelope and wrote ‘My Ashley – forever and a day’ on it and left my pillow. Then I put on my jacket and my backpack over that. I walked over to Ashley and set the envelope on the pillow next to him. I stood there, tears running down my face as I watched him, he had a smile on his face as his chest rose and fell with every breath he took.
I leaned over him, gently moved his hair out the way and kissed him one last time before I stood up and walked to the door, barely able to contain my tears as they fought to escape my eyes. I stood in the doorway and looked at him and whispered, “I truly... deeply... love you and I before I leave I want you to know...” before turning away and shutting the door quietly and leaning against the wall, sliding to the floor, tears streaming down my face.
I didn’t notice someone watching me from the room next door, or know that that person was like a goofy brother to me as I left to the room I’d been staying in, wondering how the hell I could see where I was going. I packed up everything I brought with me after I’d calmed down then at 11:50am I caught a taxi to the nearby airport to get have some lunch and catch my flight home.
At 1:10pm the loudspeaker system announced that my flight was now boarding so I put my luggage through and kept my backpack with me then got onto the plane. Although as I was getting onto the plane, I thought I heard someone familiar calling my name, it sounded like Ashley. I turned around, but when I looked I couldn’t see him or anyone I knew so I thought it must have been my imagination as I sat in my seat which was a window one.
Several long hours, who knows how many tears and songs later the plane landed at the Brisbane airport in the international area. I grabbed my backpack and made sure I had everything with me before hopping off the plane, still limping very noticeably from all the crying I’d done (and was still doing) and the love Ashley and I made.
I got my luggage from the baggage area and got something to drink and tried to clean myself up a bit which was pointless, it didn’t make me feel any better. I felt horrible, like I split myself and my heart in half and left one half in that room with Ashley and dragged the other half back here to Australia with me. I felt hollow, empty, broken...
I sat down in the lounge area with my things and drink, when I heard my best girlfriends Mara and Arya call out my name excitedly. I looked up and tried to smile but couldn’t. They saw that immediately and brought me into a bone-crushing hug which I was thankful for, but it wasn’t their arms I craved. It was Ashley’s but he was back in England, and I was here in Australia. Then my phone vibrated in my pocket and I saw Ashley DM’d me on twitter.
“I miss you :’( I’ll Skype you as soon as I can, I promise you” I replied “miss you too :’( I look forward to it”. Then I got home and unpacked and realised I left a CD behind, but it was only one with my vocal covers so I wasn’t too worried about it.
I was a shell of a person just existing one day at a time for around a fortnight, then Ashley started texting and calling me which brought me to life along with a side of me he’d unearthed that night. I was happy again and not even the SEP teachers and kids that liked to make my life hell could ruin that.
I AM BULLETPROOF.
END FLASHBACK
“Yes I was... I couldn’t see where I was walking, I was crying that much... couldn’t walk too well but that part I didn’t mind. I was miserable for around a fortnight when I got home, then you started texting and calling, you brought me to life Ashley, and brought out a side of me that I never knew was buried there” I said cupping his cheek with my hand, he leaned into my touch, sighing.
“I was the same after you left. I woke up and your side of the bed was cold and empty. Then I saw the envelope with ‘my Ashley – forever and a day’ written on it. I read the letter and immediately dressed and headed to the airport to find you. There were several things I wanted to tell you, one that you having autistic spectrum disorder, ADHD and anxiety doesn’t matter to me, it makes you who you are and I love everything about you.
It doesn’t bother me that you're still in school, it takes dedication to do what you've done, to have all that happen and still be here fighting your way through it. I'm honoured that you feel that way about our music, especially those songs and the Stolen Hearts ones. I'm proud of you for stopping self-harming – that takes effort and determination too. I think it’s great that you learnt our songs and I did show the guys the letter and they happy that you think of them that way, I wouldn’t be surprised if Andy thought of you as a goofy sister, Jake a baby sister, CC a crazy sister and Jinxx a daughter. Andy even told Chris and Amy about you, they want to meet you, so do the rest of our families actually” said Ashley.
I was honestly surprised – their families wanted to meet me, they thought of me the same way I thought of them, but with sister and daughter instead of brother and father... he was proud of me for overcoming all the obstacles I’ve faced, he accepts that I'm autistic (he also knows about the ADHD, depression & anxiety) and that I'm still getting through school. He’s proud of me that I managed to stop hurting myself even when the temptations there from time to time. He loves everything about me. And I love him.
I threw my arms around him, sobbing. He hugged me back just as tightly, my back got wet and I realised he was crying too. I sniffled, “Thank you Ashley, I can't even begin to tell you how much that means to me” I said, wiping away tears.
“When I first heard of you, I was just messing around on YouTube and found ‘Can't Get Away’ and I was sold immediately, same with ‘I’ll Be Damned’. That was the same way I found BVB actually and I recognised you in the Perfect Weapon video too. When I found you I got those crazy fan girl crushes that everyone gets but after a little while it grew until I like you for you, not just the sexy bassist that everyone sees. It intensified at Soundwave and in Arya I think it was, it turned into love and here I am now, head over heels in love with you” I said, laughing.
Ashley grinned and gently brushed my hair out of my face.
“You know, when we met at Soundwave, I thought it was just going to be the usual play a show, get drunk, sleep with some random girl and repeat. But it wasn’t and I'm glad it wasn’t. Instead after playing in the insane heat you guys get here, I was at the signing/meet & greet with the guys and this girl who wore shorts, canvas shoes, a Mötley Crüe shirt, a cowboy hat, aviator sunglasses and had a Star Wars backpack came up to us and asked us to sign her copies of We Stitch These Wounds and Set The World On Fire, so we did and got photos with her. I liked her so I asked her if she’d like to hang out before we had to go down to Sydney for the next show.
She agreed, we swapped numbers and hung out for a while then I had to leave. While on the way down to Sydney I realised I had a crush on her and it only grew, even the guys noticed. Then later on in the year we came to the UK for Download and we play on the main stage and again I'm at the meet & greet/signing thing and I hear this girl say ‘hey there cowboy’. I look up from whatever I was doing to see the girl I had an insane crush on leaning against the wall wearing knee-high converse, skinny jeans, a red headband with a tight sex pistols shirt, lord of the rings backpack and wristbands.
She was chewing on gum and blowing bubbles with it. I get up and hug her, she hugs me back and we all sign her iPod this time. Then we hang out again, the guys laughing their asses off as they shoo us away. She tells me that she’s not in the UK for long and has to go back to Australia soon so we made the best of the time we had. We saw Rock Of Ages together, that was an awesome movie. We sang along to the songs, she knew every lyric to them. We sang the duets and stole kisses from time to time. After that I took her to McDonalds for dinner, then we went bowling where she kicked my ass completely, though I will admit I was distracted by her beautiful body and the tattoos I could see.
Then we went to a small pub and had a few drinks together and played a few games of pool. I was being cheeky and broke her concentration, making her sink the black 8 ball. We stuck around for a bit longer but had soft drink instead of alcohol, neither of us wanted to get drunk at the time but we did have some Jack Daniels while we were there. Then we walked hand in hand back to the hotel we were both staying at sat around talking for a while. Then things got serious when Rebel Love Song started playing on her iPod that was on the iHome I brought with me.
She told me that was her favourite song on the Set The World On Fire record. I then kissed her passionately with her returning it. Then we were making out, soon naked and then I made love to her, her returning the favour. I may have had sex with random girls a lot but that was the first time I ever made love to a woman, it meant way more than personal satisfaction to me. Then we had a shower together and fell asleep in eachother’s arms. I woke up the next morning alone which wasn’t unusual but she was the first to stay with me afterwards, the first to make me feel whole, complete so to speak. I tried to find her at the airport but I was too late. The guys dragged me out of there literally and back to the hotel where I told them everything except for the details of what we did. I showed them the letter and they said how she was like that to them too. Then I found the CD she left behind.
I would listen to it every chance I could unless I was playing a show, at meet & greets, signings, or working on new material. I listened to it partly because she has formidable vocal skills, and partly cos I wanted to hear her voice. Jinxx and Andy agreed she was a talented vocalist and guitarist as we looked at her covers on YouTube. Then the month’s pass by slowly, we haven’t come up with much for our next album yet, I would talk to her every chance I’d get, texting, calling, skyping, tweeting etc. and next thing I know Jon tells us we’re going to Australia for a vacation until January, clear our heads a bit and see if we can get some ideas for the next album.
Then he mentions this high school in the town she lives in booked us for a graduation & formal concert. We wake up this morning, I had another dream of her and I texted her to see what she’s up to. She said she was getting ready for school. We get to the school and choose to hang with the leader of the misfit faction. Dave said that it would make her day if not year and he leads us to where the leader was. I call the girl I love – yes love – on the way and she was packing her guitar stuff up. Then Dave tells us a few things and uses the leader’s nickname ‘Queen Purdy-dala’ and walks off trying not to laugh.
Then we walk into the classroom he said the leader was in and guess who I saw in there” said Ashley. “Who?” I whispered, playing along even though I knew he meant me. “You. I saw you Gabby. You're the girl I’ve been talking about the entire time. The one I got a crush on at soundwave and fell for shortly before Download, knowing for certain that I love you that night. You're the woman I took to see Rock Of Ages with, the one I sang duets with, the one I kissed during the movie from time to time.
The one I took to dinner, bowling and that pub afterwards. The one walked back to the hotel with while holding your warm hand in mine. The one I talked to about a whole heap of random topics before kissing you. The one I made out with before we undressed each other. The one I made love to that night and showered with before I fell asleep with you in arms. That night I knew I was in love with you. You’re the one I cried over the next morning when you left, my tearstains joined yours on the letter you left.
You’re the one I tried to find at the airport but couldn’t, you're the one that the guys think of as family, the one the rest of our families want to meet. You’re the one I saw in the library this morning, the one bonding with the guys as I er took care of myself earlier today. The one who sang ‘Cherry Pie’ with me while playing it perfectly. The one I went grocery shopping with this afternoon and who I let cut and dye my hair. You are the one Gabby, the only woman I can ever love. I love you more than I can ever scream” he said, taking my hands in his, so much passion and love in his beautiful chocolate eyes.
“I love you too!” I cried, flinging my arms around him, breaking down in tears at the beautiful speech he gave me. He held me just as tightly as I held him, our lips crashing together in a very passionate kiss, our tears mixing together. Then we broke apart, breathing heavily. “Now there’s only one thing left to say” said Ashley, still holding my hands.
“What's that?” I said softly, brushing his hair out of his eyes. He gulped nervously and looked me dead in the eye. “Will... will you please, be my girlfriend?” he asked softly, but I still heard every word as though he held a microphone in front of him. “Yes!” I squealed, hugging him. He laughed and held me closely.
Then we hopped out of my bed and danced around my room. He picked me up and spun me around, both of us laughing then he tossed me onto my bed and pounced on top of me, I was squealing with laughter. “You’re finally mine” he said, brushing my hair out of my eyes.
“And you’re mine” I replied kissing him then yawning. “Let’s get to sleep yeah?” he said, me nodding, suddenly really tired. “Goodnight baby girl, I love you” “Night, I love you too” I whispered, snuggling into him and shutting my eyes as he kissed my forehead, we drifted off to sleep not long afterward.
Gabby POV
“So what’ll we do now?” asked Andy before draining the last of his drink, putting the empty cup next to him, same with the other guys, having finished their drinks. I thought for a minute as I drained my can before squashing it under my shoe.
“Hmm... we could show you around the place so you don’t get lost, though I need to get out of these clothes at some point, they are a bit sweaty” I said, tossing my squashed can into the recycling bin, everyone else following suite.
“Sounds good” the guys all agreed so I darted upstairs and quickly changed and grabbed a few things, then putting my glasses back on and ruffling my hair a bit I raced back downstairs where the guys were debating about video games. “Find anything to play yet?” I asked, cleaning my glasses while leaning against the wall and putting them back on.
Everyone turned around, Ashley’s jaw dropping – Jake discreetly nudged him in the ribs with his elbow. “YES!” CC shrieked, holding up my Guitar Hero games in one hand and the drumsticks for the drum controller in his other hand. Jake and Jinxx held the guitar controllers and Andy held the mic for it.
I laughed, “That’s my favourite game series alongside Gran Turismo, Star Wars Battlefront and Ratchet & Clank” I said, leaning against the wall, blowing chewing gum bubbles. “Can we please play them?” CC asked with a super cute puppy dog face that I knew my friend Arya would absolutely love. I smiled, “Sure but I thought you guys needed your hair dyed, Jeremy obviously does unless he wants to go pastel” I said.
“Oh yeah!” the guys all exclaimed, putting the game stuff down, all 6 of them racing to grab the hair dye we left on the table. I just laughed and went to the bathroom that had my hairdressing equipment from when I did the course for it – it was a school-based one so I already finished it and the sinks were installed when I was given the house, I just did a bunch of renovating.
Anyway, I put on my apron and got out the tinting bowls to get the colours mixed up, the brushes to put the dye on their hair, the cape things, box of foil pieces in case any of them wanted foils and the box of gloves after I unpacked the bag I took to school.
“Can you guys bring the hair-dye in here? The docking station too Jeremy!” I called out, getting the stool out of the cupboard for them to sit on one at a time, and a stack of towels.
The guys all came rushing in, CC crashing into Ashley, sending him toppling over, about to face plant onto the tiles (been there, done that – NOT FUN) when I raced over and caught him. “Gotcha!” I said, catching him before he hit the ground. “Holy shit she’s strong” I distantly heard Andy comment as I gazed into Ashley’s warm chocolate brown eyes.
We just stayed there for what felt like a while, Ashley in my arms as I crouched down as we looked into each other’s eyes, him smiling sweetly up at me. I knew I was in love with him, while hoping to hell and back that he loved me too.
I snapped out of my trance when Jake cleared his throat, rapidly standing up and helping Ash up, putting the dye he carried onto the bench and indicating to the guys to put their dye there too as I made sure my hair was out of the way which would do nothing to hide how red my face was.
“You ok there Gab?” Andy asked, putting his arm around my shoulders, trying not to laugh. “Yeah I'm ok Andy, just a bit flustered and obviously red in the face” I said, grinning at them before plugging my iPod into the dock and amplifying whatever I was listening to on it, which turned out to be ‘Sex Action’ by LA Guns, making the guys laugh.
“Go on Andy, say it, you’ve been itching to since CC did earlier” I said, noticing Andy was holding back from shouting the same thing CC did. Andy took in a deep breath, I leaned back, ready to bolt if I had to as he opened his mouth, everyone else (being Jinxx, Jake, Jeremy & Ashley – CC just stood there failing to hold back laughter) doing the same as me as Andy yelled “I SHIP ASHBY!!!!!” we all cringed and rubbed our ears.
“Dude you sure you don’t have a mic hidden on you?” Ashley said, rubbing his ears but grinning widely (ok, ok I admit it, I was too) at me as my face went pink again, the guys minus Ashley joining in with Andy chanting ‘I ship Ashby’, which was cute but will probably get real annoying real fast. I just rolled my eyes and started getting the 7 colours ready for Jeremy’s hair. “You’re up first Jeremy, you know what to do” I said, mixing the first colour, only being as nice to him as I was because Black Veil was staying with us after all.
I just hoped Jeremy would find someone else to do this for him or at least move back in with his mother or even Matt, I was ready for him to be out of my life. “Sir yes sir!” Jeremy exclaimed, complete with soldier posture and salute making me laugh – he can still be funny – before putting a towel around his neck, tucking it into the shirt he had on, then the cape thing, handing them out to the guys and instructing them to do the same along with removing any ear piercings and bandanas.
The guys all took off their bandanas and any ear piercings they had in (I did the same except for the ones I’d gotten done a little while ago since they needed to heal, and my hair needed to be redyed too after all, I’m just leaving it up for now) and sat them in the basket nearby. “How many colours are you mixing up there?” Andy asked as he put the towel around his neck and then the cape before brushing the hairspray he had in out.
“Well a heap of black for you guys and me obviously, then for Jeremy, his hair is rainbow and he has a 7 point colour thing going on so for him I’m mixing up neon pink, neon purple, bright blue, neon green, yellow, orange and red” I explained, finishing the purple, sitting it with the pink and starting on the blue which was a pretty blue topaz colour. “Oh cool” said Jinxx who happened to be listening in on the conversation.
“Yeah it looks great when it’s not pastel, I have photos of it on my laptop that I’ll show you later” “Awesome, is black your natural hair colour?” Jinxx asked, leaning against the wall and texting someone as someone knocked on the front door, Jeremy leaving the room to answer it while Jake, Ashley and CC pretended to be superheroes in their capes which I laughed at, they did look hilarious and adorable in Ashley’s case.
I shook my head, “Nope, naturally my hair is a chocolate/mahogany colour, gets random blonde streaks in the summer. I actually started dying it when I was like 14 or 15, about a year or so after I got it cut off, I have dyed it other colours though” “What colours?” asked Jinxx, “Maroon for state of origin, once I dyed it neon pink during the xmas holidays so I had Pinkie Pie hair while Jeremy has rainbow dash hair”
“Oh wow, how long was it?” asked Jinxx, cursing when his phone went flat. “Ashley, can you grab one of the spare cords for iPhones & iPods? Jinxx’s went flat. My hair went all the way down my back, it was a nightmare to take care of but my parents wouldn’t let me get it cut off but they gave in when I was 12, nearly 13” “Sure thing” “How does he know where everything is? He obviously knew where your room is” asked Andy, he was a little confused.
“We gave each other Skype tours around our houses, so he knows where to go” I explained as Ashley came back with all of them. “Just in case the rest of them go too” he explained when I raised an eyebrow while I started mixing the green for Jeremy, Ashley plugging Jinxx’s phone into the power board I had in the bathroom.
“Fair enough” I said as my phone started ringing. “Ash can you get that? I don’t want to get dye on it, made that mistake with my iPod nano that died a few years ago” I said. Ashley answered it on speaker, “Hello Gabby’s phone” “Hey who’s this? You sound familiar but I can't quite remember where from, I'm Mara by the way” “I'm Ashley Purdy” “OMG!” “You ok?” CC asked, I was trying not to laugh too much.
“Um yeah I'm ok, wait.... how would Ashley & CC happen to have my best girlfriend’s phone?” “I’m mixing up colours for Jeremy’s hair Mara, I don’t want to get dye all over it and I asked Ash to answer it” I explained, finishing the green and starting the yellow. “Fair enough.... hold the fuck up a minute”
“All too easy” I said, smirking at Ashley, he laughed and the others all shook their heads. “Not like that LadyDeviant!” Mara laughed. I just flipped the phone off, “And don’t flip me off either Queen Purdy-dala” she added, I stood there with my mouth hanging open and weird expression on my face, somehow I hadn’t dropped the yellow hair dye I was still mixing.
“Dude I think she’s broken!” Jake joked, taking the dye out of my hands, sitting it on the bench then poking me, I didn’t respond. “How the hell did you know I did that?!” I asked. “Turn around” I swore I heard two Mara’s... then realisation hit me.
“You’re standing behind me aren’t you? With Arya by the sound of it” I said, standing up straight and closing my mouth. “Yep!” I heard them behind me as I turned around, Ashley hanging up. “You are insane you know that?” I said, laughing as I hugged my two closest female friends, trying not to get dye on them.
“If I’m insane then you’re batshit crazy insane with no hope of recovery!” Mara joked, us girls laughing, the guys joining in too. Mara and Arya looked over at the guys and their eyes widened comically, I tried to stifle my laughter behind my hand while I finished up the colours for Jeremy.
“Hi girls!” CC said, waving at them. Mara and Arya burst out giggling while I started putting the dye into Jeremy’s hair, starting with the pink – Mara was looking at Andy, Arya at CC. “So what brings you two here?” I asked, putting in the green dye, blending the colours a little as I go. “Well while you were presenting your oral I filmed it for you and thought you might like a copy, plus my internets being annoying at the moment” Arya said while looking at CC every so often.
“Oh yeah thanks, can you put it into the video folder on my laptop?” “Sure thing” Arya said, going to where I put my bag and dug out my laptop. “I wanted to see my bestie” said Mara when I looked to her, I just raised an eyebrow. “Fine I also wanted to get my hair dyed as well” she added, holding up a box of blue dye that was really dark so that it was close to black.
“Ok cool, just put your dye with the massive pile of black but a little way away so I know it’s yours and get yourself ready” I said, before wiping excess dye of Jeremy’s face. “Ok Jer just wait about half an hour, which of you is next?” I asked, looking at the BVB guys – Mara was eyeing off Andy too I noticed, this will be an interesting afternoon I noted.
The guys all looked at each other, Jake volunteering. “Any chance you can cut hair as well as dye it? I could use a trim” Jake said as he sat down. I nodded, “Yeah of course, I did a school-based apprenticeship after all and I’ve got people coming over to get their hair done a lot, mostly my friends, even some teachers put in requests” I explained, grabbing the trolley that has my tools for cutting hair and all that on it.
“Oh good, can we get our hair trimmed as well as dyed then?” Andy asked, I nodded. “Sure, just let me get Jake’s hair underway first since he volunteered to go first” I said, before asking what he wanted. A few minutes later I trimmed and added more layers to Jake’s hair before putting in the dye.
“Ok Jake, you’re done for a little while, Jinxx your turn” I said, letting Jake hop off the stool after I used a clip to keep his hair off his neck and staining his skin. Jinxx asked to get his hair trimmed & layered too and some deep red foils added along with the black. I quickly trimmed & layered his hair before grabbing the box I had set out earlier for this reason.
Then I mixed a new bowl of red since Jinxx wanted a darker red than the Coca-Cola like red Jeremy sports. I put in the foils and the black on the rest of his hair, letting Andy think about what he wanted to do with his hair. He decided to have something relatively like what Ash and I have, but a lot shorter as well as a colour touch up, so I trimmed it then shaved it on the side, then re-dyed it.
CC was next, just getting rid of split ends and re-dying it with some dark brown highlights. I have to say, CC and Jinxx looked hilarious with bits of alfoil in their hair so I took a photo of it while I took a break from cutting & dying hair and tweeted it saying ‘hair styling with the guys! @ccbvb & @JinxxBVB look totally awesome’. They just laughed as I trimmed and dyed Ashley’s hair, then I started cutting Mara's since she wanted some off the ends.
“HEY ARYA!” I shouted over my shoulder while I cut Mara's hair the way she asked me to. “Yeah?” she called back, bringing my laptop with her, setting it on the bench away from my equipment, especially the dirty stuff. “Want anything done with your hair? Aside from the pink & green that I know you’ve been wanting?” “Umm, yeah could you cut it and dye it?” she said, coming into the bathroom and sitting on the bench next to CC.
“Go ahead and pick out a colour, Mara’s hair’s nearly done, just have to put the dye in” I said, finishing what I was doing then putting on yet another pair of gloves and putting in the dark blue dye that looked very close to black and clipping it up off her neck. Then Arya sat down and told me what she wanted done. “You do know if I cut it like that, you won’t be able to do those fancy styles you tend to do right?”
“Yeah I know, this is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, I'm just finally getting around to it” “Oh yeah I remember you telling me when we were in yr 8, you two were tiny back then” I said as I started cutting her hair so that it was short mostly, but still had some long parts and that it covered her left eye like my hair did, but her style was more scene girl, mine’s based on Ashley.
Then I did the chocolate brown foils and black then I finally got my hair done, with Arya doing it for me, she was studying a hairdressing course at TAFE that she goes to on weekends and Tuesdays. Then while the dye in my hair did its job I started rinsing it out of everyone else’s hair, starting with Jeremy.
I grabbed the shampoo and conditioner I for dying hair and set it up next to the sink along with another towel to at least stop it from dripping everywhere, cos once I forgot to do that and I slipped over breaking my wrist and ankle which hurt, and prevented me from training for a few weeks, casts aren’t waterproof and I doubt I’d have gotten far anyway. Although I was still able to play my games and guitars, it just takes a little getting used to.
Anyway, Jeremy sat in the chair and leant back, waiting for me to get the dye out. While I got the water to the right temperature, Mara and Arya got the straighteners and hair dryers that we use for this out and set them up so they were ready to go. While I started rinsing the dye out of Jeremy’s hair I saw the guys eyeing the straighteners. “Go on, suss them out” I said, shooing them towards them where they inspected it and approved it which made me laugh.
“You guys would be hilarious hair stylists with the way you inspected the straighteners just now” I commented, getting a tongue poke form Jake. Then I shampooed & conditioned Jeremy’s hair and sent him over to Mara to dry off. “Mara, you can dry them, Arya, you straighten them out if they need it” I said, the three of us trying not to laugh as I rinsed out Jake’s hair.
Once Jake was cleaned, he went to Mara who started drying his hair while Jinxx sat down in the chair and leant back. Then I carefully took off the bits of foil in his hair and grinned at the results. “They look ok?” he asked, noticing my smile.
“So far so good Jinxxy, now you sit back and relax, you’re all practically getting free head massages here, can't tell you how many times Jeremy has fallen asleep lying here while I get the dye out, even Jake nearly nodded off” I said, indicating to Jeremy who was rapidly typing on his iPod, his hair now a vibrant rainbow that was nicely blended, then he left the room to do who knows what.
The guys all laughed as I started massaging the shampoo into his wet hair. He tried to stifle a moan as my hands worked the shampoo through his hair. I couldn’t hold back the laugh that threatened to escape me so I let it out, Ashley shot me a questioning look and I pointed at Jinxx.
“Ashley, let me just say this chick’s good with her hands!” said Jinxx, Ashley laughed, “Oh I know that all too well, sure will be nice to get her hands back on me” I smirked evilly, “That it will be Purdy, that it will be, though Jinxx’s expression right now is pretty hilarious, I didn’t know he was related to a tomato” I said, seeing as Jinxx’s face was red.
Ashley laughed as I rinsed the conditioner out and sent him off to Mara who’d just sent Jake to Arya who started straightening his hair – Jeremy’s was too short to do anything with and he lets pretty much no-one but himself mess with his rat tail. Then I started rinsing out Andy’s hair. “Blimey are you sure you’re not a massage therapist?” said Andy as I once again massaged shampoo through someone’s hair.
I laughed, “Nah, though Ashley would say otherwise..... If you know what I mean” I said, adding an evil laugh on the end, with Ashley smirking at me and Andy screwing up his face. Then I rinsed the shampoo out and added the conditioner. As I finished rinsing the conditioner out I noticed some water had dripped onto his ears so I dried it off, tickling him which was funny.
Then while Mara dried his hair off I started on CC who stayed very still which was a little surprising. Though we both burst out laughing when both our stomachs and Ashley’s all decided to grumble at the same time. “Guess it’s nearly dinnertime” I said, laughing while I sent CC to Mara and starting on Ashley, I was gonna take my time with him.
Arya POV
“Oh boy, she’s so gonna take her sweet time with him” I murmured, straightening Andy’s hair. “She’s got it bad for him hasn’t she” said Jinxx, joining us, happy with his new hairdo, tweeting about it and putting a photo up on Instagram.
“Yup, she was miserable when she came home. Mara and I picked her up at the airport and we thought it had gone horribly wrong when we saw her, cos she was miserable, crying, couldn’t talk, not walking too well either and looking like a zombie too” I started to explain.
“She was like that for a little while, even at school. When we asked her a few days before her birthday about it she broke down and cried that she wanted to be with Ashley instead of being at school. We knew she had a crush on him, she always mentioned him more than the rest of you in her schoolwork, in class when she has nothing to do seeing as she finishes her work way sooner than she has to, she draws him, and she’s done some pretty good ones too” said Mara, sitting near Andy.
“Anyway we figured that she’d fallen in love with him, and when she told us what had gone on between them, that was when we knew that Ashley had captured her heart. Then that afternoon while we were hanging at her place she was messing around on Skype while emailing people when someone called her on Skype. That someone turned out to be Ashley, then they talked for a while after that, he started calling her and they’re usually texting non-stop. She was more cheerful after that and now we’re here” I explained as I finished with CC’s hair – it’s so soft!
A few minutes later Ashley was sent over to get his hair dried which I took care of seeing as Mara had to get the dye out of her hair. Then I got my hair sorted and we sorted Gabby’s out. Then we went out for dinner to McDonalds, well really, we ordered our food and went to a nearby park. Then the guys bombarded us with questions, for the second time in Gabby’s case seeing as they’d interrogated her earlier.
“So, what’s your favourite colour?” Andy began once we’d sat down after setting up some lights so we could see. “Tie between silver and purple” said Gabby. I followed with “Neon green” and Mara finished with “Blue topaz”. Then Ashley asked what our favourite foods were and we answered in the same order, “Pizza” “Spaghetti” “Ice-cream”. Then they asked some more generic questions like what our favourite subjects were. Gabby’s is a tie between ICT and Art, and it was also Art hands down for me & Mara.
Then they wanted to know our favourite drinks, mine was the green monster energy and Mara favours vanilla coke while Gabby can’t stay away from coke zero. Then came the question of our favourite instruments, guitar for Gabby, drums for me and bass for Mara. After that CC asked what can’t we leave home without.
For me that would be a can of monster, Gabby refuses to leave her iPod or melon flavoured hello kitty body spray behind and Mara loves bringing her batman gear around and about. Jake then asked one of those would you rather questions, this time it was Nikki Sixx or Gene Simmons. Mara and Gab like Nikki more than Gene, though I don’t mind him.
Andy then chimed in asking what our least favourite days of the week are, I know for a fact Gabby absolutely hates Tuesdays, I’m not overly keen on Mondays and Mara also hates Tuesdays. Jinxx asked why and Gabby responded sarcastically that they’ll know tomorrow, then they looked to us for an explanation.
Mara subtly glanced at Gabby for approval since she’s the head of our coven – more on that when the guys are ready to know – and she gave us permission to tell them. “Well there are some girl who are always trying to make Gabby’s life hell, the SEP staff don’t help either, she has SEP parade tomorrow morning and 2 classes with said girls” Mara began.
I picked up where she left off, “I only have one with Gabby tomorrow but even I’ve seen how awful they treat her. It gets bad enough she leaves class way early and that temptation flares up though she hasn’t given in for years and doesn’t want to start now, she’s gonna need all five of you tomorrow. Her favourite way to cool down is to hit up the pools, though diving is really what does it for her, even though there’s nowhere to do that in Toowoomba”
“None of the pools are deep enough and there are no platforms and springboards to jump off. Occasionally she’ll bust out a few songs but she prefers to wear herself out by training or hitting up the open range” Mara finished. Jinxx looked sad for her, but fortunately no sign of pity. “Goddammit that’s gotta suck” said Ashley, cuddling her to him. “It does, but I'm used to it by now, though no one should have to be” she replied, snuggling back into him.
Gabby POV
Soon after that we headed back home and Mara and Arya left to go back to their homes as it was getting late, we were at the park for a while eating and talking. “I’m gonna head up to bed guys, gotta get up early if I want to be ready for hell on time, I'm not much of a morning person” I said, standing up from where I was snuggled with Ashley.
“Night Gab” they all replied after me and Jeremy leant them some PJ’s to wear until we got their luggage from the motel they were staying at tomorrow after school. I started going upstairs when I realised Ashley wasn’t following me, I turned around to see he was staring at me lovingly from the bottom of the stairs.
“Still want that bed Ash?” I said, snapping him out of his trance. “Oh yeah” he said, scampering up the stairs and taking my hand as I lead him to my room, ignoring the snickering from downstairs. Opening the door, I saw it how I left it earlier, and my cat snoozing on the end of my bed. I opened one of my drawers and tossed Ash a pair of pyjama pants before grabbing a pair for myself and a crop top.
Then I shut the drawer and we got changed, brushed our teeth and crawled into bed. I hummed in content, “You ok?” Ashley asked me. “Yep, just really comfy... and warm and happy” I said, running my hand over his chest where my head was laying. His chest vibrated from his laughter as he tightened his arms around me and he kissed my forehead.
“I’ve missed you so much” he said, looking down at me. “I missed you too Ash” I replied, turning over and taking his face in my hands, both of us smiling at each other before I leaned down and rubbed his nose with mine then I kissed him deeply and passionately, with him returning it immediately. We sat up as Ashley deepened the kiss, fighting me for dominance which he won. All too soon we had to break apart from lack of air.
We slowly pulled away, leaning our foreheads together as we breathed heavily. “Were you really miserable coming home from Download baby?” he asked me, our heads still touching. I sniffled, remembering that day.
FLASHBACK – the morning after at Download
I woke up, feeling happy, content, satisfied and very warm. My pillow was also moving which I thought was unusual until I realised I was laying on someone and that both of us were naked. Ooook then who the hell am I lying on? I thought to myself, sitting up then I saw ‘outlaw’ tattooed on the person’s chest, recognising him as Ashley then smiling.
Then I remembered everything that happened last night, man that was the best day ever... I thought before my phone started going off with a reminder. I checked it and my heart sank. It was the reminder I’d set to make sure I was up and packed for my flight back home to Australia in about 5 hours. I got out of bed, fighting back tears – I didn’t want to leave Ashley, not now or ever. But I unfortunately have to.
I started putting my clothes back on, what wasn’t ripped anyway, noticing I was a bit stiff and sore, especially around my hips, thighs, that area and my ass. ‘Damn Ashley did a number on me last night, but then again I did ask for him to be rough’ I thought as I got all my clothes back on and had my stuff together. I decided I’d leave a letter for him to explain everything. I grabbed my notepad, a pen and an envelope from my bag and started writing. This is the letter I left behind.
Dear Ashley,
I'm so goddamn sorry that I had to leave you like this, even though we both knew I had to go home, as much as I want to stay. Last night was incredible, the best night of my entire life in the nearly 20 years I’ve existed, and for that I can never thank you enough. There are some things I’ve held back from you, number one being that although I'm nearly 20, I am still in high school. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s unfortunately true. While I was in primary school I had been expelled twice and had to repeat grades one, three and five, so I'm in year 12 this year when really, I should have graduated 3 years ago. Another is that I have autistic spectrum disorder and ADHD along with anxiety, it’s something I prefer not to tell people, what with all the discrimination people like me get. Another thing is that I’ve had a crush on you for years, even back when you were in ‘Children Of The Beast’ and ‘Stolen Hearts’. Out of all the guys in BVB, you’re my favourite member, and have been since day one, even though the other guys are awesome. I also have your Stolen Hearts songs on my iPod that I listen to a lot. That outlaw tattoo I have on my chest, similar to you? That’s partially based on you, and partially on the fact that I am an outlaw where I come from. When I was younger, in primary school I was an outcast, I never belonged anywhere, I was always being bullied for being myself which is why I was expelled, for standing up for myself. To be honest I’ve never really felt like I fit in anywhere, except for when I with you and when we hung out with the guys – that’s really the only time I felt like I belonged somewhere, aside from when I'm in the pool, it’s like I can let everything go and be who I really am. Though when I was around 14, I started self-harming. I managed to stop when I first heard the ‘We Stitch These Wounds’ album which I immediately downloaded onto my iPod and iPhone when I got it. Then I also started learning the songs, my favourites being perfect weapon and never give in as well a sweet blasphemy. That album is like a warm comforting hug, whether it be a family member, best friend or you. Then ‘Set The World On Fire’ came out, which I also learnt as soon as I could and downloaded onto my gadgets. Saviour means the world to me Ashley, I listen to it whenever I feel down and I know I can get through whatever’s bothering me at the time, same with Ritual. That album gives me strength and makes me feel as though I can really stand up for myself, I keep crumbling and once a year I have a massive breakdown, from everything that’s happened that year, WSTW and STWOF helped me through all that. Feel free to share this with the guys as well if you want to, I don’t mind. Tell them that I love them like the family I always wanted but never had – my parents often hid me away from my family which sucked. Andy’s like a goofy older brother to me, Jake an older bro that looks out for me, Jinxx like the father I never had but always wanted and CC’s the crazy insane brother who can make me smile and laugh even when all I want to do is cry and scream. Well anyway I have to go, pack my stuff up and get to the airport. If you want to say goodbye to me in person, I’ll be at the East Midlands airport in the international terminal area at gate 18, my flight leaves a bit after lunchtime at 1:30pm. I hope we’ll see each other again Ashley and.... I love you. You hold my heart now Ash, please don’t break it, you’re the only man I’ve been with willingly and the only one I could ever want to be with. 0468349852 <- that’s my number if you’ve forgotten, we swapped them at Soundwave when we first met, my Skype name is Space_Princess92, twitter is the same as well as Instagram. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. My love, my Saviour, my handsome outlaw, one day we’ll see each other again, Love Gabby...
Then put it into an envelope and wrote ‘My Ashley – forever and a day’ on it and left my pillow. Then I put on my jacket and my backpack over that. I walked over to Ashley and set the envelope on the pillow next to him. I stood there, tears running down my face as I watched him, he had a smile on his face as his chest rose and fell with every breath he took.
I leaned over him, gently moved his hair out the way and kissed him one last time before I stood up and walked to the door, barely able to contain my tears as they fought to escape my eyes. I stood in the doorway and looked at him and whispered, “I truly... deeply... love you and I before I leave I want you to know...” before turning away and shutting the door quietly and leaning against the wall, sliding to the floor, tears streaming down my face.
I didn’t notice someone watching me from the room next door, or know that that person was like a goofy brother to me as I left to the room I’d been staying in, wondering how the hell I could see where I was going. I packed up everything I brought with me after I’d calmed down then at 11:50am I caught a taxi to the nearby airport to get have some lunch and catch my flight home.
At 1:10pm the loudspeaker system announced that my flight was now boarding so I put my luggage through and kept my backpack with me then got onto the plane. Although as I was getting onto the plane, I thought I heard someone familiar calling my name, it sounded like Ashley. I turned around, but when I looked I couldn’t see him or anyone I knew so I thought it must have been my imagination as I sat in my seat which was a window one.
Several long hours, who knows how many tears and songs later the plane landed at the Brisbane airport in the international area. I grabbed my backpack and made sure I had everything with me before hopping off the plane, still limping very noticeably from all the crying I’d done (and was still doing) and the love Ashley and I made.
I got my luggage from the baggage area and got something to drink and tried to clean myself up a bit which was pointless, it didn’t make me feel any better. I felt horrible, like I split myself and my heart in half and left one half in that room with Ashley and dragged the other half back here to Australia with me. I felt hollow, empty, broken...
I sat down in the lounge area with my things and drink, when I heard my best girlfriends Mara and Arya call out my name excitedly. I looked up and tried to smile but couldn’t. They saw that immediately and brought me into a bone-crushing hug which I was thankful for, but it wasn’t their arms I craved. It was Ashley’s but he was back in England, and I was here in Australia. Then my phone vibrated in my pocket and I saw Ashley DM’d me on twitter.
“I miss you :’( I’ll Skype you as soon as I can, I promise you” I replied “miss you too :’( I look forward to it”. Then I got home and unpacked and realised I left a CD behind, but it was only one with my vocal covers so I wasn’t too worried about it.
I was a shell of a person just existing one day at a time for around a fortnight, then Ashley started texting and calling me which brought me to life along with a side of me he’d unearthed that night. I was happy again and not even the SEP teachers and kids that liked to make my life hell could ruin that.
I AM BULLETPROOF.
END FLASHBACK
“Yes I was... I couldn’t see where I was walking, I was crying that much... couldn’t walk too well but that part I didn’t mind. I was miserable for around a fortnight when I got home, then you started texting and calling, you brought me to life Ashley, and brought out a side of me that I never knew was buried there” I said cupping his cheek with my hand, he leaned into my touch, sighing.
“I was the same after you left. I woke up and your side of the bed was cold and empty. Then I saw the envelope with ‘my Ashley – forever and a day’ written on it. I read the letter and immediately dressed and headed to the airport to find you. There were several things I wanted to tell you, one that you having autistic spectrum disorder, ADHD and anxiety doesn’t matter to me, it makes you who you are and I love everything about you.
It doesn’t bother me that you're still in school, it takes dedication to do what you've done, to have all that happen and still be here fighting your way through it. I'm honoured that you feel that way about our music, especially those songs and the Stolen Hearts ones. I'm proud of you for stopping self-harming – that takes effort and determination too. I think it’s great that you learnt our songs and I did show the guys the letter and they happy that you think of them that way, I wouldn’t be surprised if Andy thought of you as a goofy sister, Jake a baby sister, CC a crazy sister and Jinxx a daughter. Andy even told Chris and Amy about you, they want to meet you, so do the rest of our families actually” said Ashley.
I was honestly surprised – their families wanted to meet me, they thought of me the same way I thought of them, but with sister and daughter instead of brother and father... he was proud of me for overcoming all the obstacles I’ve faced, he accepts that I'm autistic (he also knows about the ADHD, depression & anxiety) and that I'm still getting through school. He’s proud of me that I managed to stop hurting myself even when the temptations there from time to time. He loves everything about me. And I love him.
I threw my arms around him, sobbing. He hugged me back just as tightly, my back got wet and I realised he was crying too. I sniffled, “Thank you Ashley, I can't even begin to tell you how much that means to me” I said, wiping away tears.
“When I first heard of you, I was just messing around on YouTube and found ‘Can't Get Away’ and I was sold immediately, same with ‘I’ll Be Damned’. That was the same way I found BVB actually and I recognised you in the Perfect Weapon video too. When I found you I got those crazy fan girl crushes that everyone gets but after a little while it grew until I like you for you, not just the sexy bassist that everyone sees. It intensified at Soundwave and in Arya I think it was, it turned into love and here I am now, head over heels in love with you” I said, laughing.
Ashley grinned and gently brushed my hair out of my face.
“You know, when we met at Soundwave, I thought it was just going to be the usual play a show, get drunk, sleep with some random girl and repeat. But it wasn’t and I'm glad it wasn’t. Instead after playing in the insane heat you guys get here, I was at the signing/meet & greet with the guys and this girl who wore shorts, canvas shoes, a Mötley Crüe shirt, a cowboy hat, aviator sunglasses and had a Star Wars backpack came up to us and asked us to sign her copies of We Stitch These Wounds and Set The World On Fire, so we did and got photos with her. I liked her so I asked her if she’d like to hang out before we had to go down to Sydney for the next show.
She agreed, we swapped numbers and hung out for a while then I had to leave. While on the way down to Sydney I realised I had a crush on her and it only grew, even the guys noticed. Then later on in the year we came to the UK for Download and we play on the main stage and again I'm at the meet & greet/signing thing and I hear this girl say ‘hey there cowboy’. I look up from whatever I was doing to see the girl I had an insane crush on leaning against the wall wearing knee-high converse, skinny jeans, a red headband with a tight sex pistols shirt, lord of the rings backpack and wristbands.
She was chewing on gum and blowing bubbles with it. I get up and hug her, she hugs me back and we all sign her iPod this time. Then we hang out again, the guys laughing their asses off as they shoo us away. She tells me that she’s not in the UK for long and has to go back to Australia soon so we made the best of the time we had. We saw Rock Of Ages together, that was an awesome movie. We sang along to the songs, she knew every lyric to them. We sang the duets and stole kisses from time to time. After that I took her to McDonalds for dinner, then we went bowling where she kicked my ass completely, though I will admit I was distracted by her beautiful body and the tattoos I could see.
Then we went to a small pub and had a few drinks together and played a few games of pool. I was being cheeky and broke her concentration, making her sink the black 8 ball. We stuck around for a bit longer but had soft drink instead of alcohol, neither of us wanted to get drunk at the time but we did have some Jack Daniels while we were there. Then we walked hand in hand back to the hotel we were both staying at sat around talking for a while. Then things got serious when Rebel Love Song started playing on her iPod that was on the iHome I brought with me.
She told me that was her favourite song on the Set The World On Fire record. I then kissed her passionately with her returning it. Then we were making out, soon naked and then I made love to her, her returning the favour. I may have had sex with random girls a lot but that was the first time I ever made love to a woman, it meant way more than personal satisfaction to me. Then we had a shower together and fell asleep in eachother’s arms. I woke up the next morning alone which wasn’t unusual but she was the first to stay with me afterwards, the first to make me feel whole, complete so to speak. I tried to find her at the airport but I was too late. The guys dragged me out of there literally and back to the hotel where I told them everything except for the details of what we did. I showed them the letter and they said how she was like that to them too. Then I found the CD she left behind.
I would listen to it every chance I could unless I was playing a show, at meet & greets, signings, or working on new material. I listened to it partly because she has formidable vocal skills, and partly cos I wanted to hear her voice. Jinxx and Andy agreed she was a talented vocalist and guitarist as we looked at her covers on YouTube. Then the month’s pass by slowly, we haven’t come up with much for our next album yet, I would talk to her every chance I’d get, texting, calling, skyping, tweeting etc. and next thing I know Jon tells us we’re going to Australia for a vacation until January, clear our heads a bit and see if we can get some ideas for the next album.
Then he mentions this high school in the town she lives in booked us for a graduation & formal concert. We wake up this morning, I had another dream of her and I texted her to see what she’s up to. She said she was getting ready for school. We get to the school and choose to hang with the leader of the misfit faction. Dave said that it would make her day if not year and he leads us to where the leader was. I call the girl I love – yes love – on the way and she was packing her guitar stuff up. Then Dave tells us a few things and uses the leader’s nickname ‘Queen Purdy-dala’ and walks off trying not to laugh.
Then we walk into the classroom he said the leader was in and guess who I saw in there” said Ashley. “Who?” I whispered, playing along even though I knew he meant me. “You. I saw you Gabby. You're the girl I’ve been talking about the entire time. The one I got a crush on at soundwave and fell for shortly before Download, knowing for certain that I love you that night. You're the woman I took to see Rock Of Ages with, the one I sang duets with, the one I kissed during the movie from time to time.
The one I took to dinner, bowling and that pub afterwards. The one walked back to the hotel with while holding your warm hand in mine. The one I talked to about a whole heap of random topics before kissing you. The one I made out with before we undressed each other. The one I made love to that night and showered with before I fell asleep with you in arms. That night I knew I was in love with you. You’re the one I cried over the next morning when you left, my tearstains joined yours on the letter you left.
You’re the one I tried to find at the airport but couldn’t, you're the one that the guys think of as family, the one the rest of our families want to meet. You’re the one I saw in the library this morning, the one bonding with the guys as I er took care of myself earlier today. The one who sang ‘Cherry Pie’ with me while playing it perfectly. The one I went grocery shopping with this afternoon and who I let cut and dye my hair. You are the one Gabby, the only woman I can ever love. I love you more than I can ever scream” he said, taking my hands in his, so much passion and love in his beautiful chocolate eyes.
“I love you too!” I cried, flinging my arms around him, breaking down in tears at the beautiful speech he gave me. He held me just as tightly as I held him, our lips crashing together in a very passionate kiss, our tears mixing together. Then we broke apart, breathing heavily. “Now there’s only one thing left to say” said Ashley, still holding my hands.
“What's that?” I said softly, brushing his hair out of his eyes. He gulped nervously and looked me dead in the eye. “Will... will you please, be my girlfriend?” he asked softly, but I still heard every word as though he held a microphone in front of him. “Yes!” I squealed, hugging him. He laughed and held me closely.
Then we hopped out of my bed and danced around my room. He picked me up and spun me around, both of us laughing then he tossed me onto my bed and pounced on top of me, I was squealing with laughter. “You’re finally mine” he said, brushing my hair out of my eyes.
“And you’re mine” I replied kissing him then yawning. “Let’s get to sleep yeah?” he said, me nodding, suddenly really tired. “Goodnight baby girl, I love you” “Night, I love you too” I whispered, snuggling into him and shutting my eyes as he kissed my forehead, we drifted off to sleep not long afterward.
Notes
Eeee so sweet I got a toothache ahaha
@Comatose69
I'm glad you're enjoying it
3/21/15