Love And Other Drugs

As the door in to the back of the venue shut behind them, Andy dropped her hand like it had burned him and Luxe only sighed. If they were going to make this work then moves like that couldn’t happen. They had to believe they were a couple or else the joke would end up being on them. Luxe followed Andy down the hallway-it was like a maze back here-until finally he stopped in front of a door. Andy could hear CC’s laughter and Luxe could hear Pixie’s tinkling voice. The two of them stopped at the door, breathing in and out slowly and Andy could tell that Luxe was as nervous as he was.

He knew the guys were going to flip out and Andy was pretty sure the Dolls would do the same. The bands weren’t the closest and all Andy had been doing the past few weeks was bad mouth Luxe and the girls to anyone who would listen. His views hadn’t changed on the girls-he still thought they were spoiled, ungrateful and only mildly talented-and Andy knew his opinion was probably never going to change. He had played broken and bruised and the girls just flitted around on the stage like a bunch of dancers in a ballet class.


“You ready for this?” Andy asked as his shaking hand hovered over the door handle and he just looked down at her. His eyes were so blue it made her heart hurt and Luxe only gulped as she turned away from him and faced the door.

“Not really but we don’t have a choice.” Luxe said and Andy only gave her a small smile and reached down for her hand. His palm was sweaty against hers and Luxe didn’t think she had ever seen him this nervous.

“Yeah…I know.” Andy said, his voice low and Luxe could tell that he was completely dreading this moment. That made two of them.


The door swung open into the room and the two of them were left standing there, looking around at their collected bandmates. The girls were all sitting around a small table, shot glasses spread over the surface and all of them looked up at their singer as the door opened. Luxe could see the happiness on their faces-they were having the time of their lives-and then that happiness disappeared as soon as they all noticed that Andy and Luxe were holding hands. Andy could see the shocked look on Ashley’s face as he looked down at their clasped hands.


“What-uh-what’s going on guys?” Jake asked as he got up from his seat on the couch and looked at the two of them. Something strange was going on and it was throwing everyone in the room off slightly.

“Yeah Luxe-did you guys get super glued together or something?” Char joked as she pointed at their hands and Luxe said nothing as she chewed down on her lip ring.

“Um-no.” Luxe said, a blush creeping across her cheeks and Andy sighed as he cleared his throat and tried to address the room.

“We’re-um-we’re dating.” Andy said quickly and noticed that Ashley was staring at him with his mouth open and CC had spewed his Monster all over Lulu.

“I-I’m sorry. I think I have energy drink in my ear, but I could have sworn he just said that you’re dating.” Char said as she looked from Luxe to Andy and then back again.

“N-no. No you heard correctly.” Luxe said softly and all of the girls just continued to look at her with shock lacing their features.

“Okay. Why?” Ashley asked as he stood up and moved towards his best friend and bandmate. The two lovebirds were still holding hands and Ashley wanted to just run up and rip them apart.

“We just thought maybe we’d give it a try.” Andy said, his voice wavering and he knew that Ash could tell he was lying. Andy looked down at Luxe and noticed that she looked like she wanted to cry.

“You’re fucking lying dude! You were just saying earlier that all of these girls were a bunch of fakes who could hardly play their instruments!” Ashley said and Luxe winced-harsh. Mads hadn’t said anything yet, but Luxe noticed that the drummer looked pretty angry and that the red haired girl was getting up from her seat.

“Is that how you really feel Ashley?” Mads asked as she slowly walked towards the bassist and Luxe held her breath. Everyone else was just sitting by, watching the two musicians as they stared one another down. Luxe hoped that Andy would leave her side and control his friend, but the singer seemed to be just as frozen as she was.


Andy had never expected this to happen-he had never thought that the bands would attack one another, but that they would attack their individual singers. He wanted to just come out with the truth, but sometimes the truth was worse than a lie and their lie was a pretty huge one. He just didn’t know what to do at this point-let the two hot heads fight it out or come out with the truth and let everyone hate on Alex for a while. Hating Alex as a collective group would be good-maybe they could get rid of the sleazeball sooner rather than later, but Andy only kept his mouth shut as shouting filled the room.

Luxe winced as she heard Ashley say some of the things that she was pretty sure Andy had placed on the table and it hurt her feelings. How was she spoiled? She had worked hard on this record and while yes, most bands didn't get signed right away or get huge buses for their very first headlining tours, that didn't mean Luxe hadn't worked hard. Talentless? How the hell were they talentless when their first album had reached much higher on the charts than BVB's first album had and they were getting good reviews left and right? Luxe closed her eyes and tried to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth, trying to stay calm as Ash and Mads fought it out in the middle of the room.


"I'm just saying that girls can't play as well as guys. Their hands are too small and they don't have the arm strength to hold their instruments for as long..." Ashley was saying as Luxe tuned back into his words and her anger flared up. Char, Pixie and Lulu were some of the best guitarists out there and Luxe wanted to jump in to their defense, but Andy was keeping her in place.

"I know you aren't trying to pull that sexist bullshit in this room right now Purdy. I will you knock two ways from sunday..." Mads was almost nose to nose with Ashley and her being the tallest of them all she matched him eye to eye.

"Look you girls know I love the ladies and you girls are especially close to my-uh-heart, but facts are facts. You girls can't play as well as Jake, Jinxx and I and there's just nothing to be done about it." Ashley had crossed his arms over his chest and Luxe felt her eyes grow wide as Mads pulled her fist back and then let it fly. Ashley was quickly pushed to the floor as Mad’s fist and then her entire body hit him and she was now sitting on top of him.

"Fuck you Purdy!" She was shouting and the chaos in the room only continued to grow as the guys and the Dolls all moved towards their bandmates. In the craziness Luxe hadn't even noticed that Alex had walked into the room and now the manager was pulling the two apart.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Alex shouted as he held Mads in his arms. The drummer was putting up a good fight and Luxe only watched as CC and Jake both held Ashley as far away from the livid drummer as they could manage.


What had happened? Luxe thought it over as she stood there, Andy's hand still in her own and she knew that Alex would be happy by that little site. The last thing she remembered clearly was the diner-everything else was such a blur. Waiting tables and dealing with people had taught Luxe to take things in stride and to just let people be, but had she let Alex McFadden completely control her life to the point where she didn't even know who she was anymore? Luxe looked down at the hand that was in her own and she smiled tightly. This wasn't right-it would never be right because it would never be true and she was going to have to figure out a way to make it stop before either she or Andy got seriously hurt.

The group all spoke at once and yet Andy couldn't really focus on what was being said. He had never expected his and Luxe's news to cause a dressing room brawl and he actually felt bad because the group had seemed to be getting along before they had showed up. Lulu and CC had been joking around, which wasn't much, but it was something. Now his band was looking over at the Dolls as they all walked down the hall like they were a bunch of witches that needed to be burned at the stake. Andy just continued to hold Luxe's hand tightly as they walked and as he entered the room that had been designated for their M&G, he noticed that holding her hand, while weird at first, now it almost felt natural.


"I don't want any arguing for the rest of the night." Alex was saying as they entered the room and he quickly placed Mads at the very end of one of the tables and Ashley took the safe bet and took the chair farthest away from the drummer.

"He started it..." Char said, coming to Mads defense and Luxe winced as Alex gave the guitarist a look and the purple haired girl shut up. Char had once been such a strong person when it came to Alex, but his threats were making them all slightly jumpy.

"I don't fucking care. It stops here. Luxe, you and Andy will sit in the middle together and I'm sure you wouldn't want it any other way..." The last part was very pointed and so the two singers both took their seats and kept their hands clasped together.

"Alright! Jon let the first group in!" Alex called out as he took his usual spot in the corner of the room where he could watch over them all.


Luxe felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest as she held Andy's hand every chance she could. She was on his right, so he had to let go of her hand every time he had to sign something, but he made sure to touch her in some way. The fans seemed to love it, all of them smiling and giggling as the couple played it up for them. Luxe signed her name so much that she completely lost count and she hugged so many fans that her arms were getting tired, but it didn't matter.

It was these kids and their support that had allowed her to do any of this and for that she would always love them and do what she could for them. Finally it was time for the last group, which was the group that had paid the most and would get pictures with both bands and with Andy and Luxe as a couple.

As Luxe posed and smiled, she could feel in her bones that this had been the plan from the start. The duet, the studio time together, the huge tour, the forced date with all of the cameras around, the combined M&G and then of course the performing of the duet on stage every night which had to end with a kiss.

It was all a product of Alex McFadden and they both knew that they were stuck. She and Andy couldn't do anything to change their situation right now and so they were just going to have to make the best of it. As Luxe posed with the last fan, she tried to smile as wide as she could, but the girl's words as they finished their photo right before she walked off would haunt Luxe for a while.


"I really love you and Andy together...it's like a fairy tale or something." The girl said as she smiled at Luxe and then walked away.

"Yeah...right." Luxe said softly as she turned around and noticed that Andy had left her side and was now talking quietly to his bandmates.


A fairy tale...yeah fucking right. This would turn out to be a very grimm fairy tale indeed.

Notes

So someone finally exploded-it just wasn't Andy or Luxe. The bands seem to be wary of this pairing, which they should be. Andy and Luxe seem to just be dumbfounded, but soon enough they'll begin to figure things out.

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