Jake was sitting on the ground outside of his tour bus, plucking at the strings of his acoustic guitar absentmindedly as he hummed to himself. It was approaching one in the morning, and it was cold outside, but not unbearably so.
It was the first show of tour, and it went perfectly. The crowd was incredible, nothing went wrong other than CC almost falling off the drum riser at one point, but he was fine.
Shows like that reminded Jake of why he did this for a living.
It's been nearly a decade and a half of being in Black Veil Brides for Jake now. It was so hard to believe that it all started as a favor for Jinxx who insisted he give the band a chance because 'the band kind of sucks, but their singer is a star! We could make it work if we join!' The older man had insisted, and god, was he right.
Black Veil Brides wouldn't work without all of them, but it wouldn't exist without Andy. He was a scrawny, stubborn teenager with big ideas and the intelligence and talent to make it happen when Jake met him. Now he was a strong, confident man who proved daily that his creativity never ran out even after all this time.
Jake admired Andy's belief in what they were doing(or delusions as he would call it back when he first met the singer). Andy somehow knew deep down that they were going to make it, and he was right.
It was scary how a few years ago, they almost lost everything. They were so close to saying goodbye to this band, but Jake supposed the universe wasn't done with BVB quite yet.
The band was better than ever before in every way possible. Jake felt like he got his best friends back, and gained another along the way.
The bus door opened, but Jake didn't look up. Call time wasn't for another hour so he had time.
"It is fucking freezing out here!" Andy hissed, tugging his jacket tighter around himself.
"Its not that bad." Jake chuckled. "You literally grew up in fucking Ohio, dude! You've dealt with worse."
"LA spoiled me." Andy said as he sat down on the concrete across from Jake, and took a hit from his vape, looking up at the stars.
"Clearly." Jake smiled, shaking his head in amusement as he continued to play.
"Why'd you come out here?" Andy asked.
"Fresh air, didn't want to wake anyone up while I was playing." Jake explained.
Andy nodded, resting his hands behind him so he could lean back.
"What about you?" Jake asked in return, but seeing as Andy rarely slept on tour, the question seemed stupid.
"My anxiety is really bad tonight." Andy said calmly, blowing the vapor into the air after taking another hit.
That was another thing that was new about the band. They actually talked to each other about stuff. There were so many things that were left unsaid solely because none of them thought to say anything. Hell, they didn't know about all of Andy's health problems and his nerve damage until years after the fact and they lived on a tour bus with the man!
Now it was normal to talk to each other about everything. It was rare that the weren't talking in the group chat every day at this point.
"Yeah? What's going on?" Jake asked, his eyes filling with concern for his friend.
"I don't know, just the usual shit." Andy shrugged. "My ribs have been bad again so I had to start physical therapy." He said, picking at his nail polish.
"Oh shit, really?" Jake's eyebrows shot up at that. "How bad?"
"Well before I started PT again, I couldn't lift my arms above my head or laugh- or breathe for that matter." Andy chuckled.
"Jesus, Andy." Jake hissed sympathetically.
"It's fine for the most part now, the physical therapy has helped a lot. I was really worried for a minute that I'd be struggling on tour, but it's been fine so far." Andy said.
"I'm really glad, man." Jake said with and earnest smile.
The two fell into a comfortable silence once more as Jake continued to play the guitar. He started playing a few old Disney songs, making Andy chuckle every time he recognized the tunes before he began playing one in particular.
A soft, sleepy smile spread across Andy's angular face as he stared up at the stars.
"Robin hood and little John walking through the forest, laughing back and forth at what the other had to say." Andy's deep voice sang softly.
Jake smiled at this, the singer's voice sounding like dark melted chocolate as he sang.
"Reminiscing this and that, and having such a good time oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally golly what a day." Andy's legs were crisscrossed as he flipped his vape around his fingers.
"Why do you know the words to this song?" Jake asked with a chuckle.
"Used to watch it with gran when I was a kid." Andy replied, a ghost of a smile on his lips as he thought about his late grandmother.
"Never ever thinking there was danger in the water. They were drinking, they just guzzled it down." It was a clear night with a full moon. Crickets being the only sound outside of Andy's voice and Jake's guitar.
It was peaceful in a way Jake never thought about. Tour was either non stop or sitting in the tour bus with nothing to do. Moments like this was rare, but Jake cherished them, and he would cherish this moment as well.
"Never dreaming that a scheming sheriff and his posse was a-watching them and gathering around." Andy took a hit off his vape, his anxiety now nothing more than background noise. Singing wasn't something he did in his spare time really, but here, under the stars with one of his bandmates, it was a wonderful thing.
"Robin Hood and Little John running through the forest. Jumping fences, dodging trees and trying to get away." Jake watched Andy sing for what felt like the first time ever. On stage he always had so many things on his mind and was busy playing guitar, and in the studio they were focused on recording.
He's never really watched Andy sing just to watch him sing.
It was really beautiful. That was the only way Jake could describe it.
Andy seemed so relaxed and comfortable in his element. His eyes closed and a smile on his face as he sang the silly little tune. Andy wasn't like most singers that had to flex their abilities every chance they got. In fact, Andy avoided singing outside of work as much as possible.
Jake didn't really understand why. Maybe the constant shit he got for his voice over the years made him self conscious about it? That hurt to think about. He loved the singer's voice, and not just because he was in the band and it was a given, Jake liked Andy's solo music as well. The younger man had such a unique voice, Jake loved it.
"Contemplating nothing but escape and finally making it. Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day. Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day." Andy trailed off, opening his eyes to look at his guitarist only to find the whiskey eyes already trained on him.
"What?" Andy asked, his brows furrowing slightly.
"I don't tell you enough how good your voice is." Jake said without thinking.
Andy's eyes widened slightly, and he looked away, clearing his throat awkwardly. He's never been great with compliments.
"Thanks, man." Andy replied, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous laugh.
"Get the fuck on the damn bus!" Yanni yelled from the bus door, cutting off whatever Jake was planning on saying.
"Coming, Yannis!" Andy shouted back with a lazy smile. He stood up, and offered his hand to the older man. "Shall we?"
"We shall." Jake grinned, taking the hand, and allowed Andy to pull him to his feet.
Jake could get used to this.
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Heard a guy on tiktok cover that song and immediately thought about Andy singing it. Tis v short, but it's cute