"So band practice is at whose house?" Mae asked, nervously.

"Mine." Andy said. Mae blew out a happy sigh of relief.

"Awesome." She had a vision of hanging out with Amy and Chris more than being with the band but she knew Andy would make her.

They were currently in the car together, having dropped everyone off at Sandra's who would drive them over to Andy's.

He had told Mae that he needed to go downtown and he begged her to stay behind she was hard headed and was not going to let that happen. She didn't trust those guys and she didn't want Andy to get hurt.

"What are you doing so far over there?" Andy laughed, "I have a bench seat for a reason, come here." She scooted over to him and he propped his arm around her shoulders.

"What time is practice?" She asked.

"Five." He replied. She glanced at the clock to see it was already three.

"Hmm." She said. "So how did you meet these guys?"

"Parties. Gigs." Andy shrugged.

"And you don't want me around them?" She asked, raising her brow.

"Not without me." He said, glancing down at her.

"Oh so protective." She pouted, letting her hands glide across his chest.

"Mmm." He said, as she laid her chin on his shoulder. His hands glided on her arm. "You're beautiful." She closed her eyes.

"I like you." She said, smiling up at him.

He chuckled, remembering their first night. "And my lips too?" He asked.

She smiled, "Lips too." Andy smiled and parked his car on the side of the street. He slid out and Mae took his hand before doing the same.

"Listen, babe." He said, turning to look at her. "Don't let go of my hand. Don't leave my sight."
Mae's eyes pulsed with annoyance at his words.

Why would he bring her here if it was what bad?

"Okay." She mumbled. He squeezed her hand and pulled her to the same alley they had been in before.

"Boys I'm here." Andy said, his grip on her tight as possibly can be.

Suddenly, the three men emerged from the shadows of the back of the alley. It was Xavier, David, and Russell.

"Is this that little vixen we met a few days ago?" Xavier asked, circling the couple.

"Yeah, you said you guys needed something?" Andy changed the subject as he pulled Mae into his side.

"Hmm?" Xavier snapped out of his trance fixed on Mae. "Oh yeah. We're having a party Saturday night. We need you to get the booze."

"First of all, I have a gig. Second of all, I'm the youngest one here. How does that make sense?" Andy raised his brow. Mae couldn't deny it. She was scared and all of the boys wandering eyes didn't help.

"I don't know, figure it out." This time David spoke.

"Well I can't. My band has a gig down at Mainstay." Andy said. "I'm not missing it because of a stupid party."

"Come after." Russell crossed his arms. Andy sighed. Afterwards he and Mae had made plans to go home and watch movies all night.

"It's going to be a late show and I'll have to get Mae home." Andy said, trying everything in his power.

"Okay. Take her home and come to the party." Xavier said. "You know Andy, it feels like you really don't want to be friends with us anymore."

"I have a girlfriend now. I want to spend time with her..." Andy mumbled. Russell looked at Mae and rolled his eyes.

"Well maybe you should enjoy it.." He crowed.

"Yeah, do you really expect such a beautiful girl to stay with you?" David chuckled.

"Hey, don't-" Mae started but Andy shooting a glare at her made her stop in her tracks.

"We really like each other guys." He said but Mae had more to say than that. She wanted to tell these assholes off and then make sure Andy never went near them again.

"Whatever. Enjoy your time together, come on boys." Andy sighed as Xavier brushed by his shoulder angrily.

"Come on." He said, taking Mae's hand and pulling her back to the car. Once they were both buckled, he tore across the pavement. He reached down and turned on some music. It was Alkaline Trio and Mae seemed to like it more than other stuff he listened too.

"This is nice." She smiled. "It's more.."

"Real." Andy interjected, keeping his eyes locked on the road. He was mad- that she could tell.

"Yeah." She nodded, "Exactly. Why can't all your music sound like this?"

"To tell you the truth, this is my favorite band." He said, glancing at her finally.

"I like them." She smiled. He leaned his head back on the seat.

An idea popped into his head, and he couldn't wait to bring it to light.

---

Mae picked at her thumb as she listened to Andy and the guys play. Kaya wasn't there, so it was just her and she felt weird being the entire audience.

Andy explained to her that the guys had an EP they gave out at shows and it had seven songs on it. He asked her to be in charge of their merch table and she agreed, knowing it would mean a lot to her boyfriend if she was involved.

Andy had also told her that a few record labels were taking interest in the band and he had sent his demo out to all of them. Standby Records seemed to be the most interested. They were an indie label that really hadn't taken off yet but they wanted to make Black Veil Brides known and that's all Andy cared about.

Apparently the band had a following already since Andy Sixx had made such a presence on MySpace and online. He also knew a guy from around town that he made videos with called Chance and Andy. They had become pretty popular so when the fans heard Andy made music they jumped on it.

Mae even had a ton of friends on MySpace now that she had never even met since Andy made a point of posting pictures of them. He was proud of the relationship and wanted to show it off, along with the band but never Russell, Xavier, and David. He acted like they didn't even exist.

"How was that?" Andy asked, collapsing down next to her.

"Good." She smiled, ruffling his hair. He laid down in her lap and she felt her heart contract.
Why was he so great?

"I'm tired." He yawned but Chris threw a pillow at him.

"We have to keep rehearsing!" He yelled at him. Andy only flicked him off and curled up against Mae.

"Mae, can you tell him!?" Chris exclaimed. She laughed and shook her head.

"I'm not in control of him." She smirked.

"Hah!" Andy laughed against her jeans. She patted his back.

"I'm gonna go talk to Amy for a bit." She said, leaning down to kiss his cheek and pushing him off of her.

"Ugh." He sighed as she walked out of the basement they held rehearsals in. Amy was in the kitchen putting away groceries.

"Hi dear." She smiled at Mae as she sat at the counter.

"Hey." Mae nodded, twiddling her thumbs.

"Is something bothering you?" Amy asked.

"I just.." Mae sighed, "Why is Andy friends with those other boys?" Amy was quiet for a moment and she looked up at the young girl. It warmed her heart how much she cared for her son and even after a few days Amy easily thought of her as part of the family.

"I don't know." She shook her head. "I wish could tell you but he's always wanted to be apart of their little clique. The used to go to school with him and Andy was the only one they seemed to accept. I guess they make him feel important but he doesn't like to go up there very often now that he has you." Mae smiled down at her lap and looked up to see Amy smirking.

"I'm just worried." Mae said. Amy walked to her and took the young girls hands.

"Me too." She said, "But not as much with you around. You really like him don't you?" Mae nodded and suppressed her grin. Amy's eyes were so much like Andy's it was almost scary.
"Please don't leave him. I think it would break his heart...and mine."

Mae giggled, "I won't."

Andy smiled at his two most important girls from the door frame. He had come up to get some water but caught the tale end of their conversation.

"Hi guys." He smiled as they both looked up at him. Andy walked over to Mae and rested his elbows on her shoulders. She chuckled.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I like you." He said, kissing the back of her head. Amy grinned at the kids and winked at Mae.

"Do you guys want pizza?" She asked.

"Yes!" Andy exclaimed. "Order it later when not everyone is here though."

Amy laughed, "How rude. I was going to wait for your father anyways."

"Good." Andy chuckled. "Okay, gotta rehearse." He swiftly picked up Mae, causing her to squeal.

"Hey!" She laughed.

"I'm kidnapping you!" He shouted, making her laugh. He ran back downstairs and placed her on the couch. Chris was staring at them, his guitar strapped around his shoulders.

"Come on dude, we've got to go." He said, his jaw set angrily.

"Yeah man, if she's going to be a distraction-" Mark was cut off as he messed with a fret on his own rhythm guitar.

"Hey, this is my house guys. Watch what you fucking say." Andy raised his brow at the two boys and then back at Sandra on the drums. They were rehearsing without Bobby since he was sick but the overall sound wasn't too messed up.

"We're just worried about the gig, dude." Chris said, "Kaya lives next door too and she's not here. She realizes that we need time to work things out without girls in the room. Minus Sandra."

"Dude-"

"Andy, it's fine." Mae said, standing up. She kissed his cheek and slipped on her shoes. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, Mae-"

"I get it." She said, nodding. "I really don't care." She walked out of the basement, leaving Andy standing there. A few tears surfaced to her eyes but she quickly swallowed them down.

The last thing she heard was, "Let her go bro, it's better for the band."

Notes