#andyb

“You have a bad feeling every night,” Andy said, though his voice was wavering. “I have to go. The bar isn’t going to tend itself. Plus you know how Jinxx gets. He’ll see a pretty girl and start giving out the shots like they’re water. I always lose a profit when he’s the one behind the wood.” “Why can’t you just ask CC to keep an eye on him?” You asked, giving him your best rendition of puppy-dog eyes. No, you went beyond that. You went straight into Puss’n’Boots territory. As big as possible. Holding his hand up against your face. Lower lip jutting out.

“Ahh, don’t be giving me that look,” He said, moving his hand away. It was shaking a little. Whether it was with nerves or with anger, you couldn’t quite tell. If it was anger, he didn’t let it show - he never took that out on you, ever. “You know I’ve got to go. If I don’t, the boys are gonna lose faith in me-”

“You know they would never,” You said, pulling yourself up onto your knees. You had his coat wrapped around your shoulders - and only his coat. The rest of you was naked, trying to find warmth in the leather that he would be taking off of you in a moment. “They love you. They’ll never think any less of you if you just - stay in with me - for one night.”

“I can’t,” Andy said, though he did look like he was going to give in for a second there. “Please - stop making me feel worse about it. I’m already dreading tonight. So come on, give me my jacket and - and maybe I’ll stop by that all night bakery you like. Get you some muffins for breakfast.”

So now he was trying to bargain. That was the sure-fire way to know that he was serious and that you weren’t going to get your way tonight. You huffed, and slid out of the jacket, holding it out to him, as far away from you as you could possibly get it. “Fine. But I want the banana muffins. And they better be fresh, Andy. Just - promise me that you’ll be careful tonight? I really can’t shake this feeling.” Andy took the jacket from you. Slipped it on, like it was a second skin. He took the opportunity to smell at the collar, which now had the scent of your bodywash on it. He pulled out the sleeves to make sure that they were long enough and smoothed the leather over the front of his body.

“I promise,” He said, taking a couple of steps backward, keeping his eyes on you. A smile overtook his features, but he looked tired already. Late nights working at the bar that he owned. You had been there once or twice, but he always said that you shouldn’t. Rough crowds. Somehow they had become a sort of biker bar, and he couldn’t exactly turn away business. You had seen the clientele and - well, you could agree. It wasn’t the sort of place where you would willingly go. But you loved Andy and had tried to make it work until a fight had broken out near you and he advised you to just go - that he’d see you at home. “Your turn. You gonna promise to stay in tonight?”

Since you were left cold from the jacket, you wrapped the blanket around your shoulders. You took your time in answering because you knew as soon as you did, he would be out the door. You enjoyed the warmth of snuggling something, even if it wasn’t your boyfriend. “Yeah. Not like I’ve got anything else better to do,” You mumbled. “Just me, Netflix and Doordash, what a great Friday night.”

“I’ll make it up to you. Promise. Love you,” Andy said, leaning in and gave you a kiss on the cheek. One last check of his jacket, of his pockets and he was out the door.

You tried.

You really did.

But there was this feeling, this nagging deep inside of you that just would not go away. The feeling that something was wrong. You tried to distract yourself from it. You put on an action movie, something to keep your entertainment, but then switched to a comedy when all of the guns made your stomach feel topsy turvy. But nothing could make you laugh right now. Sorry Kevin Hart and The Rock, it’s just not working out.

You hadn’t exactly said the words ‘I promise’ to Andy regarding tonight. That felt like a good enough loophole. Besides, maybe he would appreciate seeing you show up at his work. Maybe he could get Jinxx to take over behind the bar and you two could go over to a secluded booth and just - be for a little while. Yeah. That’s what would happen. That’s what was in the forefront of your mind as you took off your comfortable lounge clothes and put on something a little more appropriate for the bar - all black, to fit in with Andy’s aesthetic. Called up an Uber, fluffed out your hair, applied some lipstick to make you feel a little more confident and rode down to the seedy side of town.

You got out of the Uber. The driver took off quickly. You walked up over the curb towards the doors of the bar and -

and they were chained shut.

That couldn’t be right, could it? You took a couple of steps back to look up at the sign that was overhead of the door. ‘Scarlet Cross’ it said, in dark red letters against black. You remembered watching him put up that sign. His tight jeans had nearly fallen off as he stretched across the ladder to try to get it absolutely straight.

You moved in closer towards the door again, held your hand over the glass so that you could look through it without the street lights interfering. Completely dark inside, as pitch. No lights from the kitchen or the back or anything. The chains felt new. There was a sign next to the door that you didn’t immediately see but it just said ‘Re-opening Monday.’ Andy had not mentioned this to you at all. Not one hint.

Your mind was trying to come up with a good reason for this. But there wasn’t one. If he didn’t know, then he probably would have been home by now. You took your phone out of your pocket, thinking that it would be best to call him - for what? Yes, he was a rather secretive guy, usually ignoring some of your questions but - you didn’t think that he would cheat on you, did you? You skipped past his name. Going down to CC. His friends would cover for him, surely. But they liked you. Or at least they seemed to. You felt dizzy, and more than a little confused. And definitely at a total loss.

You walked back over to the curb, closing the messenger app. No, you were just going to wait until Andy got home. You would be able to think of something to say by then, surely. You started to order another Uber to take you home. But it said that it wouldn’t be there for another twenty minutes. Damn this part of the city. You’d be lucky if it showed up at all. You paced the sidewalk for a little while - until your eyes were set upon the bar across the street. You never noticed it before. It must have been a new one? It looked like it was closed - but - there was movement behind there. Noises were coming from it. The sound of breaking glass.

Then the front windows erupted in an explosion. Fire burst out, flames licking at the sign above that read ‘Big Red’s’, really turning into red hot. You could feel the warmth from where you were standing. It licked at your face like a dog off of a leash. You took a step back, gasping. It didn’t look like it was an accident but -

The sound of laughter. It was so familiar. If you were at a party of a thousand people, you would be able to pick out that laugh immediately because you caused it a lot of the time. Andy’s. You caught sight of his thin and lanky frame coming out from behind the burning bar. Jinxx’s hollering too. You knew that well from the times that he was over and you’d make dinner as the two of them played video games after a long night at work.

Andy had a baseball bat over the back of his shoulders, leaning against his neck, his arms hanging around it like he was in a guillotine. Jinxx was next to him, opening and closing a zippo and laughing. But the laughter cut-off right in the middle when they both saw you, standing across the street, looking at the burning bar in horror. “Fuck,” Andy said, at the exact same time that Jinxx said, “Shit.”

“Are you - fucking serious right now?” You asked, your voice barely carrying but you were afraid to yell. You started to walk over. Your foot left the curb. It touched down on the street when a car started to barrel close.

“HEY, IT’S THOSE BLACK VEIL GUYS-” A voice came from the open window as it slowed down close by.

“And they’re burning down our bar!”

“Better hope we kill ya before Big Red does-” And then sounds - horribly loud sound that echoed off of the buildings near by. The sound of gunfire. Andy went diving in front of the car, rolling towards you. He wasn’t even thinking of himself at that point. He just had to get you out of the way. Idiot that he was, he wasn’t thinking that he was bringing more attention to you. You might have been able to make it out unscathed. Though it wasn’t likely. You were a witness to it. You had heard the voices, and you had seen the car. But still. Maybe they wouldn’t have been able to see you if Andy hadn’t have done what he just did. He pulled you close into one of the alleyways as the car sped off. You were in shock. Complete and utter shock.

“You alright Jinxx?” Andy called out, poking his head out of the alleyway.

“Yeah, they shoot like stormtroopers, shit!” Jinxx yelled back. “You okay Andy? Y/N?”

Andy turned back to you, his eyes wide with fear. He started to check you all over. You could feel his hands on some parts of your body. On your shoulder. On your arm. But when he touched down your side, all that you felt was cold. A painful, teeth-chattering cold. “Andy?” You asked with concern. Not just for him, but for you as well. “Why can’t I - I can’t feel -”

“Guys?” Feet bounded against the pavement as Jinxx started to come in closer. You could barely make out his figure in the opening of the alleyway. “Oh - oh shit dude. Andy, that’s a lot of-”

“I know,” Andy growled. He took off his jacket, the one that he had been wearing before. He took it off and he wrapped it around you just as you lost your balance and fell down towards the ground. He caught you.

“A lot of what?” You asked, starting to shiver. Andy laid you down on the ground, really tying a knot on his jacket around you. “A-Andy?”

“Blood, y/n, blood,” He said. “Call a fuckin’ ambulance, Jinxx!”

“But the cops will-”

“Fuck the fucking cops,” Andy roared in a way that you have never heard him do before. “I’m not letting y/n bleed out in a fucking alleyway. Just do it.”

“Did I get shot?” You asked. Your thoughts were coming to you slowly. Everything felt like - like a slug. Just going along so slowly. “Did I - seriously - just - get shot?” You tried to look, tried to crane your neck but Andy wouldn’t let you. He just ran his hand across your forehead lightly, soothing you back down. “What happened, Andy - why did you burn the bar, why - what?”

“I’ll tell you when you’re not bleeding out in my arms, baby,” Andy said. His voice sounded as shaky as you felt. “JINXX, YOU BETTER BE ON THE PHONE-”

“They’re sending someone over as fast as they can!” Jinxx called out.

“It’s because I’m bleeding out in your arms that you should tell me, Andy,” You said, mustering enough strength at least to scowl at him. “I took a bullet for you. I deserve answers.”

“Oh, so it’s like that now?”

“You’re damn right, Biersack,” You said, blinking slowly. “So come on. What’s going on? Tell me before the ambulance comes - I’ll hold on.”

“Promise?” He asked, his head hanging. You nodded the affirmative, and then rested against him once more. “You hear of the Black Veils? Well - fuck, y/n, I never wanted you to know. I never wanted to drag you into all this shit.”

You looked up at his face. God, he was so pretty. But now you were wondering if that was just a mask. What was your boyfriend really capable of? The fact that he had been lying for so long was already a huge red flag, a giant concern. But as you felt more and more cold, you reached for more of his warmth. “You’re still just Andy to me.”

He laughed a little, tears filling his concerned eyes. All of the late nights made sense now. All of the stepping out. All of the bruises that he would come back with and claim it was just a rowdy night at the bar. The way that he was close with the rest of the guys, really close. Always looking over his shoulder when he took you out. Always in the nicer part of town, barely ever letting you step foot in the seedier area where he tended to spend most of his time. “That’s all I want to be,” He told you, taking hold of your hand. Your Andy.”

“Promise me two things?” You said, gripping him tighter.

“Yeah, anything.”

The sound of sirens. They were coming over to you faster than you could talk. You tried to increase your speed. “First, don’t ever lie to me again, Andy. Ever. Do you understand me? Never.” He nodded at this, wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve. “And two, get the hell outta here. Right now. I got shot, there’s going to be questions, ones that you can’t answer. So seriously - go.”

“I’ll come see you in the hospital,” He promised, and pressed his lips against yours in a quick but tender kiss. You waved him off, feeling too cold to do too much else. You refused to close your eyes as you watched Jinxx grab a hold of him and pull him away from the scene - wanting to watch. Barely even seconds after you watched his lanky figure disappear, the bright lights of red and blue sirens started to appear. You cried out for help to try to get them to notice you and within minutes, you were on a stretcher, in the back of the ambulance, drifting off to sleep as the painkillers took effect.