Demons

Andy’s intense gaze was scorching, and my mind was racing at a thousand miles per hour, simultaneously attempting to cope with the situation and trying to conjure an appropriate answer. Somehow, merely replying “I like you, too” seemed too ridiculous and immature to be fitting, but I honestly had no idea what else to say. So that’s what I said. “Wow. I, uh… I like you, too.” Dimples indented his cheeks from how widely he was smiling, but no words left his lips. He opened his arms, gesturing for me to enter them, and I did so tentatively, scooching ever-so-slowly across the seats. What I expected to be an awkward embrace, showed to be overly comfortable. His arms tightened around me, his chin perched on the crown of my head, and I placed my own on his chest, inhaling deeply. As always, there was a rich cinnamon fragrance with an undertone of smoke and leather, along with something that was just so indescribably him.

When he spoke, vibrations rippled down my spine to the tip of my toes. “Does that make this our first date?” I peered up at him through my lashes to find his gaze already on me, a smirk firmly in place. His confidence made a small spark ignite in my bones, and I settled for a casual shrug. “Wouldn’t that require you to ask me?” I teased. A dark eyebrow rose in return and I kept quiet, waiting for him to answer. But instead of answering right away, he managed to maneuver me so that I was sitting on his lap, facing him. With a mask of seriousness and importance, he grasped one of my hands between his cold ones. “Amelia,” he addressed me so kindly, “would you like to go out on a date with me? Or, stay inside on a date with me? Right now? Fuck, that doesn’t make any sense,” he sighed, shaking his head in slight frustration. My stomach flipped by how adorable he was being, and I decided to put him out of his misery. “Yeah, I will. But now, please, can we return to the movie?”

During the last hour of the movie I was cuddled up next to his side. His small displays of affection left my heart a fluttering mess - twirling a few strands of my hair around his finger, gently rubbing my upper arm, squeezing me just a little bit tighter when a scene got too emotional… Once the credits finally rolled across the screen, my gaze was glued to the ceiling as I tried to blink away the tears. “Are you crying?” Andy asked, with too much amusement coloring his tone for my liking. “No? I just got… something in my eye, ugh…” When the dampness faded, I dared looking at him, although I knew my skin must have been flushed from my traitorous tears. He reached to brush my unruly hair away from my face, tucking it nicely into place behind my ear with a content smile on his face. “You’re just too adorable, did you know that?” he murmured. And once again, my heart fluttered like a startled bird within a cage. His compliments were numerous, but hadn’t once failed to touch me with their authenticity.

Even though I had spent so little time with Andy, I was already more comfortable around him than I was around most of the people I knew. He was so kind and light-hearted, and I found that the more time I spent with him, the more I wanted to be around him.

“What now?” he asked, startling me out of my momentary daze. My eyes snapped to level with his, and he gestured towards the now black screen. “Do you wanna watch another? Or what do you want to do?” “Oh,” I breathed, leaning my head back against his solid chest. “This position is very comfortable. Anything that doesn’t require moving anywhere would be favorable, really,” I joked, snuggling closer into his warmth. He chuckled deeply. “There really isn’t much to do, then… Except this?” A split-second after the words left his mouth, his hands were on my sides, tickling the most sensitive spots right below my ribs. I erupted into a fit of laughter, desperately trying to pry his fingers off of me, but ultimately failing. “Oh, my God, stop!” I laughed, barely managing to get the words past my throat as my lungs were heaving for air.

“Hey, guys,” a third voice greeted from within the archway, and both of our movements stilled. Jake was standing a few feet away from us, leaning against the wall with exaggerated casualty, watching us with an eyebrow lifted in amusement. I of course flushed in embarrassment while Andy simply sat up and smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt before running a hand through his disheveled hair. “‘Sup?” he greeted with a nod. “I called you a bunch of times, man,” Jake complained, strolling over to one of the arm chairs before lounging himself in it. “Yeah, I must’ve turned it off,” Andy shrugged, no hint of an apology in his voice. I was still lying down on the couch, watching their exchange, and I quickly sat up and smoothed myself out to look presentable. “We need you in the studio. Jinxx and I came up with this epic riff, CC’s already got some drums for it. You seriously need to hear it.” Andy briefly turned towards me before acknowledging Jake once again. “Sure. Amelia’s coming, too.”

I turned to him with wide eyes at his bold exclamation, but he just kept his eyes trained forward on Jake, though a smile tugged at his lips. For some reason, I felt like I was intruding on something I shouldn’t, and I quickly turned to Jake. “Only if that’s alright with you guys. I mean, you can tell me if you don’t want me to-“ “It’s fine,” Andy interrupted before standing. “Come on,” he urged, offering his hand to me, “I promised to take you to the studio one day. Plus, this is still our date. What better way to end it than to listen to some sick tunes?” His reasoning sounded genuine enough, and I allowed him to pull me to my feet. “A date, huh?” Jake asked, smugness heavy in his voice. “Yes. A date. Now get your ass down into the car.”

To my relief, Andy offered to join me in the backseat so I wouldn’t have to sit alone on the 1-hour drive. The stereo was as loud as it could get, the windows were down, and we were all hoarse by the time we arrived at a large gray building. “This is it,” Jake acknowledged before climbing out of the car. Andy and I followed after, and before long we were walking into a dimly lit room. The rest of the band were all sitting behind their instruments, all pitching in with the effort of coming up with a bass-line as Ashley stood in the middle, heavily focused on the stringed instrument in his grasp. As we walked in all eyes turned to us, but no one seemed to care that I tagged along, surprisingly enough. “Hey, Amelia,” Ashley greeted as he reached over to give me a one-armed hug, since he was already standing up. I waved to the rest of the guys before perching myself on the edge of an amplifier that wasn’t in use.

My eyes were on Andy as he stood with his arms crossed in the middle of the room, urging the band to show him what they had come up with. Jake and Jinxx shared a look before allowing their fingers to dance across the strings with practiced ease. CC slowly joined in while Ashley pitched in here and there with a chord or a note that fit the melody. And it was beautiful. I saw Andy close his eyes and I decided to do the same, cutting off one primary sense to allow the music to overwhelm me. The melody wasn’t long, sadly, and when it was over, everyone’s eyes were on Andy, gauging his reaction. “That’s fucking amazing, guys,” he complimented before walking over to peek at the sheet of music which carried their scribbles and poorly drawn notes. “Is that a C-sharp?” Andy asked curiously, and I decided to drown out their lingo, since I had no idea what it meant. “No, I think it sounds better without the key signatures in this section. It needs to fit the key…” My eyes wandered around the room, drinking in every detail of the room. The walls were decorated just like Andy’s, with framed vinyl records and plates, along with the many guitars that hung on the wall. In one corner stood a dying plant - very likely the boys’ attempt at making it homey, but failing to keep it alive.

For a long moment I was awestruck. A month ago I would have never dreamed of going to one of their concerts, even less actually meeting them, and now I was surrounded by them, standing in the actual studio where some of my favorite songs had come to life. And now they were about to make another.

A few hours passed where the boys smoothed out kinks in the melody, added onto it and even adding a few rough lyrics. And now I would forever remember the moment where I suggested a sentence that actually made it into a song by Black Veil Brides. A heavy weight threw itself into the couch next to me, and I looked down to see Andy smiling up at me. “So, was this date okay?” he asked with feigned innocence, well-knowing that this was an absolute dream come true for me. “Meh,” I answered, crinkling my nose. “I’ve had better.” He rose an inquisitive eyebrow, still gazing up at me from his place next to me on the couch. I reached to smooth out the lines on his forehead, a smile on my face. “No, this was perfect. Thank you.”

Notes