"Uncle Syn. It's OK. I'm fine. I'll go back on stage. Hold my hand though. I can't do this on my own" He wiped his eyes, nodded and grabbed my hand. We went back on stage and Matt hugged me. The song ended and the concert ended. I went backstage and cried on Valerie. We then went back to mine and Syn's house and ate pizza. The guys and Valerie stayed over. I couldn't be alone so Zacky volunteered to stay in my room. I went to sleep crying in Zacky's arms.

It was midday when I woke up alone. I felt alone. My heart hurt. I missed my father dearly. Everything just wasn't right. I was in the wrong bed. Wrong house. Wrong people around. I started crying. I reminded myself of that song that was played yesterday. Fiction. Daddy wrote that. He wrote that and gave it to Matt on Christmas Day. I then had an idea. I jumped out of bed and ran to my wardrobe. I threw on a pair of skinny jeans, t-shirt and a flannel shirt. I tied my hair up into a ponytail and chucked on my Doc Martin boots. I walked downstairs and was greeted by Syn and Matt sitting at the kitchen table. "Morning!" I smiled. They looked at me as I ran around getting cereal and a glass of chocolate milk and laughed.

"Morning Aaliyah. What's the rush kid? Calm down". Syn says laughing. 

"Not to be a bother but can I borrow some money? I want to go get some stuff in the mall. I've woken up with a great idea!" I said enthusiastically. At that moment Johnny and Zacky walked down the stairs and came in. 

"Aaliyah. Take $25 from all of us. Don't say no. You have to. Go have a shopping trip on your own. Also take my card. Don't leave me broke. Get your phone to be safe. Want a lift?" Zacky asked as he gives me the money and card.I shook my head and ran upstairs to grab my bag, phone and headphones.

-M Shadows' Point of View-

Myself and the others watched Aaliyah run upstairs. I turned to the others. "She's a good kid. If we are to raise her the way Jimmy wanted us too then we are going to have to cut down the alcohol and cigarettes. We are going to have to treat her as if she was our own". They nodded.

"Where is she going to stay? She can't live with Syn forever and she can't go back to the house on her own" Johnny asked. 

"As much as I'd like to keep her forever, I do feel like to quit my addictions I need to do it on my own". I nodded. I looked at Zacky.

"Any ideas?" I asked him.

"Maybe she can stay with one of us at a time. Like for example, she stays with Matt and Val for a month. Then goes to Johnny. Then Brian and then me. A month at a time. That means she'll be living with each of us for 3 months in total. Sound good?" We nodded. 

"Yeah. That's a good idea. I don't want her living on her own until she is at least 16. It's what Jimmy would have wanted". Just after I said that Aaliyah walked in smiling. I smiled at her.

"I'm going to go now. See you all later!" She gave us all a kiss on the cheek and then left.

"They grow up so fast don't they?" Johnny said and I burst out laughing.

"Right. Back to work then!" Zacky jumped up and grabbed some water. Back to working out our new album. Without Jimmy.

-Aaliyah's Point of View-

I was now on my own walking to the mall to have some quality me time. I had made a list on a scrappy piece of paper of what I really wanted to get. After a 15 minute walk, I had found my way to the mall. The mall was really big and I knew what shops to go to but first I had to do something important. Eat some lunch. I saw there was a McDonalds there so I went and ordered a cheeseburger with fries and an Oreo McFlurry (This is what I order everytime I go to McDonalds!) I then sat down to work out how I was going to tackle the shops when I got a text from Johnny. Hey kiddo. Syn wants you to do the grocery shopping too. Zacky and I will pick you up later. See ya xxx  I smiled and texted him that he didn't need to pick me up and that I could walk home. He complained and I said I was fine. He then gave in but swore that he would call me every hour. I started eating my food and thought about my relationship with the guys. Johnny was like that annoying overprotective brother but you and him together equal trouble. Synyster was that really chilled out brother that you can do anything with and talk to him about anything. Matt was the dad of them. He could stand a bit of tom foolery but if you did something that was really bad, he wouldn't be happy. Yet he was the happiest guy ever. At that point, I had only seen him really upset once and that was when my father passed. Zacky. Well Zacky was a mix of all of them but quieter. He was caring, strict, chilled,naughty and good all at the same time. They were all complete legends and I loved them all so much. 

At this point I had finished eating my food so I got up, grabbed my things and left. I then decided to go into Hot Topic as I needed a few things. I wandered in and saw that they had a sale on sunglasses. I perused the sunglasses until I found the pair. Yes. That pair that you instantly fall in love with. They had Jack Skellington's skull on one side and Sally's face on the other. They were only $6 so I had to buy them. Then I went over to look at the bags. I saw a black backpack with candy skull cat heads on it. I then saw a black lace parasol and got that. I then bought Green Day's most recent album. 21st Century Breakdown. I then went to pay. I went to the checkout and the bored Hot Topic employee said "That will be $26.95". He looked up and gasped. "Are you Aaliyah Sullivan?" I sighed and nodded.

"Yep. That's me". The guy squealed.

"Can I get your autograph? Or your picture?" I nodded and signed his arm and took a picture. "Look kid. I'm Luke. I'm sorry if I was too forward on you. If you need anything I'm always here. I'm also sorry about your father. He was a great man. I met him once. He was actually in here a few weeks before he passed looking for clothes for you. He's up there. Watching. I swear". I looked at him, mumbled thanks and ran off with my new things. I could feel the tears brew. I stopped myself and put my sunglasses on so no one else recognized me. I then walked into Staples (Sorry! It's a British shop but I don't know what the American equivalent is!) to get a new notebook and some new pens. I found a large A4 black notebook with nothing on the front. Then I found some really nice pens and went to the checkout to pay. I checked the time. I saw that it was 3pm. I then walked over to Walmart to do the grocery shopping. I grabbed a trolley and got the shopping. I also went and bought some ingredients for baking a cake and decorating it. I wanted to make the boys feel better so making a cake sounded like a good idea. As I was walking to the sweets aisle, I walked into someone and fell over. My glasses falling off.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Here. Let me help you up. My name is Ross. Ross Way. What's yours?" He helped me up  and picked up my sunglasses. I looked down. "Hey. Look at me. I'm not that ugly am I?". I looked up and saw his face. His skin was pale. He had deep brown eyes and dark brown hair. It was quite curly. He wore a pair of black glasses. He looked slightly older than me. He was wearing a white t-shirt, a light blue and white flannel, black jeans and a pair of scruffy converse.

"My name is Aaliyah. Aaliyah Sullivan. You may have heard of my father. The Rev from Avenged Sevenfold". I said. He shook his head. I gasped.

"What?" He looked at me like I was a lunatic.

"Everyone knew who my father was. You're one of the only people who doesn't know who he is". Corey laughed and I smiled.

"If it's rock music he plays, then I am not into it. Oh. I'm 12 by the way. 13 in March I could tell you were trying to work it out. How old are you?"

"10. 11 in May ". He nodded. "I'd better continue shopping. My uncles are going to be wondering where I am".

"Oh. Do you mind if I shop with you? I can walk you home too. It's getting dark and you walking alone doesn't sound fun". I smiled. 

"Sure". He helped with my shopping and we talked a lot. I told him about my family. He talked about his and we both discovered that we are completely different people. I wasn't really into video games but he was. I loved rock music and he liked everything. Whilst he walked me home, we talked about our plans for life. I told him that I was going to follow my Dad's footsteps and become a musician and Ross said that he wanted to entertain people by playing video games. At my doorstep, we exchanged numbers and he left. I opened the door and got into the house. "Syn! I have the groceries. I'm going to be doing something in the kitchen if you need me!" I shouted and closed the door.

"Yep. That's fine! We'll be down in about an hour and a half for dinner. We'll order pizza!" He shouted back.

"OK. I want Margarhita please!" 

"Alright!" I then went into the kitchen and started baking the cake. Zacky and Johnny came in when I stuck it in the oven. 

"Hey Sweetheart. Whatcha up to?" Zacky asked as he and Johnny went to go get a Red Bull from the fridge.

"Oh. A secret. Come back in 50 minutes please!" Johnny laughed.

"Alright kiddo. We'll be here in an hour! Don't do something stupid". I laughed at Johnny as they left. Then my phone started to ring. I looked and saw it was Ross. 

Conversation  

Normal writing = Aaliyah

Italics = Ross

Hey Ross. What's up?

Nothing much. I was bored. That's why I called. You?

Oh. I'm baking that cake I said I was going to bake. I'll save you some yeah?

Yeah. So. Can I meet up with you soon? I think you are a pretty cool and would like to hang out more.

Hold on. I'll ask my uncles if you can come over. I'm bored and they are doing stuff in the recording room.

Sure. That sounds awesome!

"SYN! CAN I HAVE A FRIEND OVER?!" I yelled.

"YEAH SURE!" Syn yelled back.

Yeah. You can come over.

OK! I'll be around in like 10 minutes! Bye!

Ross hung up and I waited until there was a knock at the door. I opened it and saw Ross. He was panting. He looked like he had ran here. "Hey. Want a drink? You are panting!" I asked and started laughing.

"Yeah. Sure. Thanks. Aaliyah. You. Are. A. Star" He said whilst gasping for air. I led him into the kitchen and poured him a glass of water. He downed it then drank another glass. All whilst I was giggling. After what seemed like forever, Ross finally got his breath back and the cake was cooked. I had made a chocolate cake. Only because I was fancying one. Ross and I then decorated the cake. We wrote 'Feel better soon' in red icing and 'foREVer' in white. As soon as we finished decorating, the doorbell rang. Syn ran downstairs and answered it. It was the pizza man. 

"Aaliyah. Here's ya pizz- oh. Who's this?" Syn said as he came into the room holding my pizza and some garlic bread.

"Syn. This is the friend I wanted to come over. Ross this is Syn. Syn this is Ross. Ross can share my pizza. Thank you Syn. Love you". I said. Ross and Syn nodded. I took the pizza and garlic bread and placed them down. I watched Syn head back upstairs and grabbed plates. I placed the cake in the fridge and grabbed two bottles of Tango Orange. I turned to Ross. "Want to watch a film whilst we eat this?". 

"Yeah. What films have you got?" He asked as he grabbed the pizza.

"The Breakfast Club, The Crow. School of Rock. Are you into anime? We could watch Death Note. A friend of Syns in Japan has dubbed it in English for us". I said as I grabbed the plates and the Tango. 

"Do you mind if we watch School of Rock? I kind of want to see what it's like". Ross asked and rubbed the back of his neck. I smiled and walked into the living room, Ross following me. I placed the two plates and Tango down on the coffee table.

"Yeah sure. Let me go and get it and give the guys some napkins and plates. Stay there. Won't be too long" I smiled as Ross sat down. I grabbed napkins and plates from the kitchen and ran upstairs into the rehearsal room. I knocked and heard Matt call come in. I walked in and smiled. "Hey guys. I've just brought up plates and napkins. Also, I've come to get School of Rock. What you up to?". I passed the plates and napkins around and walked to the DVD rack. 

"We are having a jam session. We've written all the songs on the album. Your father wrote a few of them. We are going to be including Fiction and So Far Away. We want to give this to you. It was a demo that we recorded when we were in the studio last. It's a song that Matt and your father wrote called Buried Alive. Listen to it alone or with your friend downstairs. This is a surprise for you Aaliyah". Zacky said and gave me a CD. I nodded and ran downstairs with the CD and School of Rock. I walked into the living room and saw Ross smiling.

"Hey hey! I'm going to stick some background music on whilst we watch the film. Uncle Zacky wanted me to listen to this CD so I will". I said. Ross nodded as I popped the CD into the player and the DVD into the TV. I clicked play and we began to watch the movie and eat our pizza and garlic bread. Then the singing kicked in. I instantly froze. It wasn't Matt singing. It was my father. "R-Ross. Can y-y-you turn the music o-o-ff?" I asked as I started to cry. Ross looked at me.

"Yeah. Sure Aaliyah. Can I ask why? Why are you upset?" Ross turned the music off, came over and hugged me.

"The singer... was my Dad. He passed away a few weeks ago. His funeral was the day before yesterday and we held a concert in his honor last night". I cuddled into him.

"Oh. I'm so sorry Aaliyah. Do you want to talk about him?" Ross asked quietly. I nodded.

"My father was a wonderful man. He was nice, kind, funny and he really cared about me". I then went on to talk about my times with my father. Ross listened intently and cuddled me. Then he had to go home. I went upstairs and got ready for bed. I heard the guys talking.

Syn = Normal

Matt = Bold

Johnny = Underline

Zacky = italics

What are we going to do about the band?

I don't know. Johnny. Syn. Ideas?

I think we should release the album. Wait for Aaliyah to grow up a bit. Then tour.

Yeah but Syn. What do we do for now? Whilst she is growing up

Lie low for a bit. Matt. Zacky. That a good idea?

It went quiet so I assumed they nodded. I felt so bad but if they thought that it would be the best then that was fine but still I felt so bad.

- TIME SKIP TO AALIYAH'S 17th Birthday-

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY AALIYAH!" I heard a loud yell and jolted awake. I saw that it was Valerie, Matt and their two sons named River and Cash. They were only four and two. But they looked the spitting image of Matt. I had been staying with them for about a year now. The original plan was for me to stay with each band member for a month at a time and then move into my old home at 16 but even they realized that I couldn't do it. I ended up staying with Syn until I was 13, then I moved in with Johnny for a year and a half, then Zacky and now Matt and Val. Not that I was complaining. I love them all so much. I noticed that the boys were on my bed and Matt and Valerie were laughing at me. I instantly smiled and pushed myself up.

"Morning to you all too! Thank you River and Cash!" Cash started laughing at me and I realized that my hair was all stuck up.

"Happy Birthday Aaliyah. Get out of bed and come downstairs. There's a surprise waiting. But first. Get dressed" Matt told me. I nodded and put on my birthday outfit. This was a Metallica vest, nude tights, a black skirt and some knee-high, black and grey striped socks. I looked in the mirror and put my glasses on. I only wear my glasses when I'm not going out now. I have gotten used to the contact lenses. Well, I should have. It's been 7 years! I smiled at myself and went downstairs. I walked down the stairs and into the dining room. The curtains were drawn and the lights were out so and turned them on. 

"SURPRISE!!!!" I jumped when I saw Zacky, Johnny, Syn, their wives and children jump out. But the one person I didn't expect jumped out. Ross! Ross had been my best friend now for seven years but he moved away to Seattle to do work for a very famous person to make videos on Youtube. He moved back in 2014 and I hadn't seen him in 3 years. I ran over and hugged him. Ross hadn't changed a bit. He was just a lot taller and a tiny bit more muscular. He was wearing a Legend of Zelda tshirt, brown shirt, blue jeans and black vans.

"ROSS!!!" He caught me and hugged back. I then jumped out of his arms and stood there. "When did you get back? How long are you here for? Why didn't you ring me? I hate you yet I am so thrilled you are here!" Ross began laughing.

"I've been back for about a day. Here for a week. I didn't ring you because it was a surprise and I know you hate me". He laughed even more. I looked at the time. It was 11am. Val came in with a pile of pancakes and a candle. Everyone began singing Happy Birthday. I blew out my candle and made a wish. I then proceeded to eat said pancakes and then went around hugging everyone. This birthday was amazing but something was missing. As it was every year. My Dad. It had nearly been eight years since he had left the world and I missed him even more. Ross could see that I was looking a little lost and he came over. "He is here hon. He's smiling and joining in with the others. You just can't see him". He hugged me. I began to cry a little, then Val called us all to the living room. We all sat down and watched some footage of Avenged Sevenfold at their last tour to get pumped for the next tour which I would be heading on. This was the Nightmare tour. Seven years late but it was better than nothing. I sat by Ross on the couch and brought my knees to my chest. I left a blank space next to me.

"Aaliyah. Why have you left a space next to you?" Syn asked. I sighed.

"For Dad. I know he's here and I know he'd want to sit down. That was his favorite spot on Matt and Val's couch was it not?" Syn looked at me solemnly and nodded. There was a video from the Singapore show that was so funny. It was a video of Zacky singing a weird song and my father was playing drums and singing along. It was hilarious. I laughed a ton. 

"Zacky! Why haven't you showed me this earlier?! I could have blackmailed Dad!" I laughed.

"I don't know Aaliyah! I never got around to it!" He laughed too. 

-??? POV-

She was happy. Aaliyah was happy and I couldn't have felt anymore happier. What she hasn't talked about was the fact that over the last seven years, she has dealt with depression. The depression got worse after her friend left back in 2014 though. I looked at her properly. I knew that she looked like her mother but it had taken me seven years to see. She was the spitting image of me. She was sitting by a young man whom I learned his name. Ross. I instantly liked him. He was so different yet I knew he loved her. Even if he hasn't said it yet. I knew that this would be the last time I'd see her for a long time. Until she was married. Had children and then joined me in heaven. He only let me see her when He thought it was necessary although He let me see the guys often. I begged Him to let my soul come back to my body but He told me that at that moment it was time for me to go. I was there when she found my physical form. I was at my funeral. At the concert they held for me and here. Now. Sitting next to her. Wishing I could talk to her. Praying that for once I could speak to them again. Let them know I was on the other side. Tell them I was safe and OK now. Before I passed away, I had left some things for the guys to give to her when she turned 17, 18,  21, 29 and 30 but I knew that the 29 and 30 presents would be given to her sooner. I turned to face the TV and began laughing. Then He told me it was time to go back. "Bye bye Aaliyah. I'm watching over you. Always".

-Aaliyah's POV-

I checked the time. It was now 1pm and I hadn't opened any presents yet. That was because I always opened presents late at night. I wanted to leave now and go for a birthday walk on my own. I got up from the couch and told everyone I was going to go for my birthday walk. I grabbed my leather jacket from upstairs and combat boots. I then decided to put on makeup. I went and did my full face. Foundation, concealer, powder, black eye shadow, mascara and a dark lipstick. As I was brushing my hair, I heard a knock on my door. "Come in" I said. I looked into the mirror and noticed Ross slip in and walk over. "Hey" I smiled as I continued brushing my hair. 

"Hey there" He said as he walked over. I was now sticking in some earrings, my labret piercing and my new eyebrow piercing.

"What's up?" I asked as I moved over to my bed. Ross typically following.

"Do you mind if I come with you on your walk? I love your family but I'd rather spend time with you" He scratched the back of his neck.

"Yeah. Sure. I was going to go to the store, then my Dad's grave then to the park. I may pop to my old house as well. It would be nice if you would come with me" I smiled at him and went to my dresser to grab some money, my phone and my father's old house key. "Guys! Ross and I are gonna head out for a bit! See you later!" I shout.

"See you later! Be back by 6!" Val shouted as Ross and I walked out. We then spent ten minutes talking whilst walking to the store. When we got to the store, we went to get Monster Energy drinks, flowers and a packet of Cadburys chocolate eclairs. I placed the drinks and eclairs in my pockets. We then left the store to go to my Dad's grave. It took fifteen minutes to walk to the cemetery. We started to catch up and he told me about Seattle. Then. We got to my father's grave. It had been a while since I last visited. Never had I come here with Ross. I untied the flowers and placed them on his grave. You'd think after seven years of seeing this it would get easier. It doesn't. I stood up. Ross came over and cuddled me as I started to cry.

"Shh shh shh. It's OK. I know he meant a lot to you. It's going to be OK". He spoke to me and ran his hand through my hair. Being in Ross' arms felt so... right. I didn't want to move. So I didn't. I just kept crying. Eventually, I knew it was time to leave Dad so I whispered goodbye and walked away. We popped into my old house just to make sure everything was OK. We then went to the park and sat drinking Monster and eating eclairs. We were sitting in my Dad's favorite spot in the woods by the lake. We ended up looking into the lake and suddenly, I was lost in thought. "Aaliyah". Ross started speaking. I looked and nodded. "What are we going to do when I leave?". He stared into the lake.

"What do you mean Ross?" I said as I picked up a stone and threw it into the lake.

"You're seventeen yeah? I'm nineteen. We've been friends for a shit ton of those years. Moving away when I was sixteen was one of the hardest things I ever did. You saw how I was leaving. Everything was rough when I first left. I realized though that it wasn't Huntington I missed. It was you. I wanted you around. That's why I came back for this week. Was to see you. Seeing you again has made me so happy. I don't want to lose that happiness again Aaliyah". Ross sighed. He'd just poured his heart out to me.

"Ross. I'm so glad you are back. I missed you so much. I'm going to be honest. When you first left, I spent a good week and a half in my room in Zacky's place. Looking at all of our pictures together. They were all so worried. When you left. Everything went to shit. I felt so depressed. You also made me so happy. Took me out of this heartache that I was suffering. Seeing you in my living room at 11 o'clock in the morning felt so right". I said. Ross came closer and sat right by me. 

"I want you to come back with me. Or at the very least. Come see me when you go on tour. I need you around. The amount of Youtube videos I have watched with you in is sad. My boss/friend, my roommate and my other friends/co workers are beginning to worry. My boss, his name is Adam by the way, sent me here just to see you". We stared out into the lake.

"I'd love to come back with you. I really would but you know I have so much commitment here. I have the guys to look after, Cash and River to babysit, my future music career to work on. A lot of shit Ross. I can't deal with it. I could come see you before tour starts though. I believe we start in Seattle. 3 shows there and I'm the opening act. I can ask if I can live there for a few weeks before tour. Seeing as tour is in a few weeks, I could maybe fly out with you". I looked at him. The sun was beginning to set.

"Really? You'd do that for me? Oh my god Aaliyah. You know I love you yeah? If you don't know well now you do". He hugged me. I laughed. "Umm. I want to tell you something.. If you don't mind". He scratched the back of his neck.

"Sure Ross. I'm all ears". I placed my head on his shoulder. He instantly froze. I giggled a little bit as he placed his arm around me.

"I was going to tell you this before I left but I didn't and now I still mentally kick myself for it". I could feel him move as he talked.

"Hmm. What was that then?" I asked him quietly.

"I wanted to tell you that... I love you. Not in a brotherly way either... It's weird. Like, I used to love you in a brotherly manner but it changed. It's like my heart craved your presence. It felt so out of touch without you and now you are here. Everything feels..."

"Complete". I finished his sentence and looked up at him. He looked down at me and said.

"Yeah". He looked a bit shocked.

"I know. Being without the person you wish to spend the rest of your life with is like Link always losing Zelda. They go apart but they always come back together and everything feels right with the universe". Ross laughed.

"Nice analogy there". I giggled at him. "Wait. You just said that analogy. Does that mean you feel the same way?". I smiled at him and nodded. Then, we did something we never thought we would end up doing in all our years of friendship. We kissed. Now I'm not going to say sappy stuff like 'Fireworks went off. It felt so right'. That's just a load of bullshit but I will say that opposites can and will attract. The deathbat and the anime nerd do go well together. We then ran home and walked in at 6 on the dot. It was time for Birthday dinner and presents. 

 Hey guys!!! CHAPTER FOUR IS DONE!! I am going to try and extend this to make it 10 chapters long. I have an idea of where this book is going and there will be no spoilers! This took me three straight days to write and I am proud of it! Thank you as well for nearly 30 reads! That's fantastic!! See you all soon! Bye!!

Word count: 5207! Highest word count to date in any one of my books!