Gift of Sound

By the time the school year ended in late May, things were going great for the school’s only biker gang, now known as The Fallen Angels. The entire school still ridiculed them for wearing black all the time, the guys for wearing makeup and growing their hair out to the length that it was, but they were also beginning to respect them more. The jocks and cheerleaders obviously weren’t, but for anyone smart enough to realize that appearances weren’t always what they seemed, things were getting better.

In fact, there was one more or less nerdy couple by the names of Jason and Sara who got tutoring in Spanish from Andy. Since he could speak Italian fluently, it wasn’t that hard for him to pick up on, and he was one of the best students in that class, so he offered to tutor those who weren’t doing so good. One afternoon during lunch, they’d been sitting under The Fallen Angels’ tree, going over some of the previous night’s homework before class, when a group of jocks made their way over and started beating Jason up. Unable and unwilling to fight back, he’d just laid there on the ground, curled up into a ball as he tried feebly to protect himself, while they tried beating him to a bloody pulp.

Having seen enough of this garbage during his teenage years, the now seventeen-year-old Andy jumped up and started swinging back at them. Sure, he got hurt a bit in the process, which upset Ash when he found out, and got suspended from school for a week, but it was worth it. He ended up gaining more respect from quite a bit of the school for standing up for the couple, particularly poor Jason, and the rest of The Fallen Angels had his back, as well. Even though they didn’t like him getting suspended for his actions, they were proud of him for standing up for himself and the young man, which he wouldn’t have done a year ago.

Sammi was also eight months pregnant with hers and Jinxx’s baby, so she’d been out of school for the last month to rest. Since she was a junior, she wouldn’t be graduating this summer, but Jinxx still brought home all of her assignments and turned them in for her so she wouldn’t get behind and fail. And on top of that and preparing to become a daddy, he was working his ass off, too.

“You ready for graduation, Ashes?” Andy asked. They were hanging out at his house since school was out and they didn’t have band practice that afternoon.

“I’m nervous as Hell, especially since I’ve been hearing rumors that I’ll be one of the valedictorians,” he answered. “I mean, considering that I was out those two weeks at the beginning of the school year for my idiocy, I doubt I’ve actually got the grades to be valedictorian. And if I am, I’m kinda nervous and scared about the speech I’ll have to make.”

“I don’t blame you in the least, mio deviante,” he murmured, hugging him close.

“And, even though this probably won’t be much of a surprise, if I do have to make a speech, I won’t be calling you out as my boyfriend, mio profeta,” Ash told him. “You’ll just be named as one of my closest friends.”

“That’s fine by me,” he agreed. “I mean, we’re finally starting to get some respect around there; why jeopardize that by admitting you’re gay to the whole school?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“I’m guessing CC’s probably ready to graduate, too,” Andy said, changing the subject.

“Yeah, he is. He’s sick of having to leave Casey with nurses all the time,” he agreed. “I mean, he’ll still have to sometimes so he can work to take care of her, but it won’t be as often since he won’t have school, too.”

“She’ll enjoy seeing more of her big brother,” he said softly.

“Yeah. I mean, sometimes I feel kinda guilty for taking him away from her all the time so we can practice, but maybe we’ll make it big and he’ll have more than enough money to take care of her.”

“And our EP is coming along so good, too.” His lover looked thoughtful. “This time last year when I had to move yet again, I never would’ve thought I’d meet the love of my life, nor start the band I’ve dreamed of since before I hit double digits.”

“You’ve dreamt of starting a band that long?” he asked, surprised.

“Yeah. My mom claims my dad was in a band when they met, but since I’ve never met him, I don’t know.” He shrugged. “She taught me to love music, and just being able to hear in general, and that was one of my biggest dreams.”

“I sure hope that we can get a record deal with Sex & Hollywood,” Ash said thoughtfully.

“Exactly. Then Black Veil Brides would take off and actually go places,” he chuckled.

Shortly thereafter, they headed downstairs to help Amy with dinner and eat. They were both pretty hungry, and their sexual activity didn’t help how fast their metabolisms ran, but they couldn’t care less. They were just happy to be together and that their lives were going in the direction they wanted them to go. Otherwise, they didn’t really think about much else these days.


Two weeks later, in early June, Ash awoke with the sun as he seemed to do more often than not these days. It was the day of graduation, and he thought he’d awoken so early from nerves, considering that he’d found out for sure that he was a valedictorian and would have to come up with a speech off the top of his head. But shortly after waking, he was fighting his way out of his lover’s arms to make a run to the bathroom because he felt like he was going to be sick.

Kneeling before the toilet, he retched and heaved as his stomach rejected the remnants of the previous night’s dinner, but he didn’t think much of it. He’d always been known to get sick like this when he was really nervous, something he’d been trying to work on for a while, so he wasn’t very concerned. He merely wiped his mouth before brushing his teeth when he was done, then made his way back to their room.

He’d accidentally woken Andy up with his fight to get out of his arms, so he gave a sheepish smile and apologized for waking him so early. His lover pouted like a child and begged for a good-morning kiss to make up for it, which he was more than happy to give him. He was still concerned that he’d woken up sick, but agreed that it was likely the nerves of being a graduating valedictorian that’d caused him to get sick. Even Amy agreed when they told her what’d happened, so they doubted it was anything serious. Besides, they had to worry about getting ready for the ceremony and getting there on time.

“Ready, mio deviante?” Andy asked, holding out his elbow to escort him outside.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, mio profeta,” he answered, nodding jerkily. He still felt a bit sick, but paid it no heed so he wouldn’t actually get sick again.

“Are you sure your nerves aren’t going to get the best of you while you’re on stage?” he asked, concern etched into his features.

“Dramamine will probably help keep that from happening,” Ash told him, a small smile curving his lips.

“Eh, I don’t know. Most people use that for motion sickness,” he said thoughtfully.

“It was a thought. Didn’t mean I’d actually take it,” he laughed, his smile growing to a grin.

“There’s the smiley, confident Ashley I know and love,” his lover chuckled in response.

“You always know how to make me smile, baby. And you know how to keep my own anxiety from eating me alive.” He wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him. “What would I ever do without you?”

Andy chuckled again as he wrapped his own arms around his sweetheart’s waist, drawing his body close so he could give him a deeper kiss. Somehow they managed not to go as far as second base, although it was hard since they both wanted to skip the graduation ceremony and just go back upstairs to bed. They hadn’t been able to make love the past couple days because they were so tired from school and band practice, especially the days when Jinxx was able to come, and they really wanted to.

However, once they were at the school, there was only so much he could do to help Ash with his anxiety about graduating in general, which was only worsened by being a valedictorian. The twenty-year-old was having a hard time calming down, and he could tell that his stomach was even more unsettled now than it was earlier. In fact, it was so unsettled that he startled the rest of their friends when he made a sudden beeline for the bathroom. His lover had to check their surroundings well before taking off after him, but thankfully, the guys also helped check around them and assured him it was fine to chase after and check on his boyfriend.

In the bathroom, he found his sweetheart on his knees in front of the toilet, retching and heaving once again, although nothing but bile came up. Even though he knew he shouldn’t, he’d skipped breakfast this morning so he wouldn’t make himself even sicker if he couldn’t calm down his anxiety. If he’d actually eaten, there’s no telling what the mess in the toilet bowl would look like right now.

Whispering soothing words, both in English and in Italian, Andy dropped to his own knees behind him and started rubbing his back in a soothing motion. He knew that graduating was going to be hard for him, especially when he had to make the valedictorian’s speech, but he started thinking that that might just push him over the edge. He didn’t want his sweetheart having a panic attack while on the stage because he didn’t want to see him get hurt, so he quietly asked him if he wanted him to talk to the principal about getting out of said speech. He nodded his head jerkily, his breathing still a little too fast for his liking, and he knew that if he went up for anything beyond accepting his diploma right now, a panic attack was sure to follow.

“Mr. Henry,” he said softly, tapping one of the assistant principal’s shoulders. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure, Andrew. What is it?” the elderly black man countered, turning to face him.

“Do you have any idea where Mr. Ebert is? I kinda need to talk to him, too,” Andy told him, hating being called by his full name.

The assistant principal grabbed the walkie-talkie clipped to his belt and radio’d for the high school’s main principal, who said he’d be there momentarily.

“Morning, Andrew,” he greeted him, extending his hand. “What is it that you need to talk to us about?”

“My friend, Ashley Purdy,” he answered.

“Our male valedictorian?” the main principal asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Would it be possible for him to back down from the valedictorian’s speech? Or give up the title altogether?” Andy asked. “He’s so nervous that I’m afraid he’s going to have a panic attack on the stage.”

“How do you know he’s that nervous?” Mr. Henry asked, concerned.

“One, I know his habits, and how he acts before a panic attack starts,” he answered. “Two, I just chased him into the bathroom to make sure he was okay, only to find him losing his breakfast because of his anxiety.” It wasn’t the full truth since he hadn’t eaten, but it wasn’t a complete lie, either.

“Well, the next one with the grades to earn the title of valedictorian would be Christian Mora,” Mr. Ebert said. “And he’d be willing to give up the title?”

“He was hoping to get out of just the speech, but I think he couldn’t care less either way,” he answered.

“Well, let’s go find him and ask,” the two principals said in unison.

With a nod, Andy agreed and led them over to where his boyfriend was sitting beneath their tree, his hair soaked from where he’d poured a bottle of water over himself since he was apparently hot. Their friends surrounded him, with the exception of Sammi, who was at his grandparents’ house with them and his mother for her own safety. They were extremely worried about him, and upon getting closer, he realized why.

Ash was panting heavily, as if he’d just gotten through with the mile-run in gym class, but he wasn’t doing anything but sitting on the ground beneath their tree. His face was a sickly ashen color, which was far from its typical tan hue, and almost looked green in some spots. Overall, he just looked entirely too sick to be here, though he’d never seen him have an anxiety or panic attack so bad in the past. Maybe it was a good thing he’d decided to go talk to the principals about him not making the valedictorian’s speech; there was no way he’d let him walk up to get his diploma alone, much less that, too.

He and the elderly men squatted down so that they were at his level, and the principals gasped at his condition. They agreed that he should just go home, even though they were sad that he couldn’t walk like the rest of the graduates, and Ash agreed to let CC have the title of valedictorian. If he hadn’t been so obviously sick, their friend would’ve argued the point and asked if he was sure, but instead he dropped to his knees and gently wrapped his arms around him. He kissed his head gently, thanked him, and let go.

Jake and Jinxx had to help get him back to his feet, but once on them, they realized that he wouldn’t be able to walk without making a beeline to the bathroom. As quickly but gently as he could, Andy swept him up into his arms bridal-style, paying no attention to the odd looks he got for carrying another man that way, especially one that was older than him. Jake led the way back to Mrs. Pitts’ car, Jinxx following in their wake to help keep other students off them, so they could take him home that way. Ash didn’t want his lover leaving him, so he tossed the keys to the Fallen Angel at Jinxx and asked him to ride it back to his house. He nodded and made his way over to the Heritage Softail while Jake cranked the car up.

“We’ll be home soon, Ashy,” he murmured, letting him lay across his lap.

“I feel like shit,” Ash moaned, clearly fighting off the nausea.

“Jake, think you can run to my grandparents’ house and get Mama and Sammi once you drop us off?” Andy asked, turning his attention to their friend.

“Sure. It’ll take someone with a car, and I doubt you wanna leave Ash alone right now,” he answered.

“You’re right, bud. And thanks.”

“It’s no problem, Andy.”

“You wanna try eating something light when we get home?” he asked, craning his neck to kiss his sweetheart’s temple.

“I’m not sure if that’s such a smart idea, mio profeta,” he moaned softly, one hand clutching his stomach.

“I wasn’t thinking anything heavier than chicken soup and some crackers, mio deviante,” Andy assured him. “Anything else would be too much for you.”

“You’re gonna make it, right?” He opened his eyes, and he could see the despair at being sick in them.

“If you want me to,” he answered, smiling.

“Of course I want you to,” Ash said softly. “No one but your mother cooks better than you.”

It wasn’t long before Jake pulled up outside the Biersacks’ house, where Jinxx was already waiting since he’d gone slower than normal to avoid upsetting his friend’s stomach even worse. It took all three of them to get him inside, considering that he was feeling so weak and sick, but they didn’t mind. Once he was in the house and on the couch, Jinxx offered to stay behind while Jake went to get Amy and Sammi, that way Andy could get started on his sweetheart’s chicken soup and someone would be there to keep an eye on him.

Notes