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chapter song the avett brothers: january wedding "so in january / we're gettin' married"
1984
"Everly, open this fucking door right now!" An incessant string of knocks came from the front door causing El to grab a pillow and attempt to smother herself with it.
"Who the fuck is that?" Nikki groaned, rolling over to wrap his arms around El.
"I don't know, but I'm about to kick their ass," she grumbled as she rolled out of bed. She grabbed a cardigan that was hanging off the dresser and threw it over her shoulders and made her way down the steps.
The knocking, more like pounding, continued which only pissed El off more. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" She whipped the door open only to be faced with her seemingly angry band mates. "It is 8:30 in the morning! Whatever you two are pissed about can surely wait until all my brain cells have had time to wake up."
"No, El! An explanation for why you fired our fucking manager can't wait!" Jude exclaimed as he and Del pushed past the doorway and into the foyer.
"Vera's a cunt," El shrugged, "I don't think that needs an explanation."
"You can't just fire Vera because she doesn't like your boyfriend," Del rolled her eyes.
"Is that what she told you?" El raised her brows and scoffed. "What she thinks of my relationship with Nikki has nothing to do with it. The fact that she's irresponsible, inconsiderate, and money-hungry has everything to do with it!"
"What do you mean by that?" Del asked.
"What do you mean, what do I mean by that!?" El threw her hands up in frustration. "Are we all just forgetting that she basically enabled all of us to kill ourselves and one out of four succeeded!? Vera didn't give a damn about what happened to us as long as we were still able to make her money! I don't know how y'all don't see that!" Del sat down on the couch while Jude continued to stand stiffly in front of El.
"We were all capable of making our own decisions, El. You can't put the blame on her for Ezra's death and you certainly can't blame her for all of the other stupid shit that we decided to do," Jude calmly spoke.
"Jude, I am fully fucking aware that we're all adults. The point I'm trying to make is that it is her job as a manager to manage us! We shouldn't have to worry about drug dealers following us around and dangerous people from our pasts coming out of the woodwork to put us back in harm's way! Her entire career is based on making sure we are safe and healthy and ready to perform at the top of our game! I know Ezra chose to do what he did, but she certainly wasn't offering him a fucking lifeline. I know I fucked my sobriety up, but it never would've happened if she would've told Cato to get lost!" El ran her hand down her face in disbelief that she was even having to explain this, which allowed her to know that Vera must have really pulled the wool over their eyes. "We will find another manager, a better manager, who supports us and encourages us to be better instead of falling in the same traps we've cycled in and out of constantly for the last seven years. Now, if you'll excuse me, I would really love to go back to sleep. I'm nicely asking you both to fuck off and I will talk to you later."
-
Nikki rested in between El's legs with his head heavily laying on her stomach as she played with his hair. He was most content like this, not having to put up any walls or putting on a front to appear cool to people he's secretly begging to accept him. He was trying to soak up as many moments as he could before he had to return to the studio, but he was grateful that was still a ways away.
"When should we get married?" El asked softly from above him. Nikki didn't turn his head to face hers. He just squeezed her waist tighter.
"As soon as possible," He mumbled into her shirt.
"Wow, that's so helpful," she rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, come on."
"I want us to have a cool wedding date," he said.
"Halloween?" She proposed.
"No," he immediately said, "too predictable for us. Everyone assumes Scary Sixx would get married on All Hallow's Eve," Nikki shifted the tone of his voice to mimic a monster causing El to snort.
"I don't know where you keep getting this idea that you're some weird, scary dude, but I'm here to tell you that you are absolutely not that," she laughed.
"Would you just shut up and let me live?" Nikki groaned. "I want to be scary," he pouted, though El couldn't see.
"Okay, okay baby. You're plenty scary, I'm sorry for saying you weren't," El said, a slight tease resting just under her words. Nikki grinned and cuddled deeper into her.
"That's what I thought," he stated matter-of-fairly and El couldn't help but roll her eyes at his childishness.
"Okay, seriously! Wedding date," she urged him on by tapping his back.
"What about New Year's day?" He asked. "It'd be cool as hell and I'd never forget an anniversary."
"Wow," she sneered, "your love and cherishment for me is so obvious." Nikki jabbed his fingers into her ribs causing El to yelp.
"I'm just kidding, babe," he looked up at her through his bangs, messy from El playing with them. "How could I ever forget the day I married you?"
"God," she groaned as she gagged, "you make me sick."
"But you love me," he crawled up her torso to plant a slobbery kiss on her lips.
"Not when you cover me in your spit! Get off!" She shoved him away, laughing harder the more he fought her.
"Oh I'm planning to get off," he wiggled his brows suggestively.
"I'm calling off the wedding. It's illegal for me to marry a twelve-year-old," El finally started to catch her breath after he laid back down on her, this time his head resting just above her heart.
"You wouldn't dare," he giggled.
"Don't test me," she responded playfully. Then, there was a moment where the air settled between them. The peacefulness had been restored, their breathing returning to an even pace. Wrapping her arms loosely around his neck, El bit her lip to suppress the grin she knew was coming.
"January 1, 1985?" She asked shyly, but he could hear the smile in her voice.
"January 1, 1985."
-
a/n: holy hell sorry i've been gone. i was out of town and then faced some major writer's block so sorry this is kind of a filler. lmk what y'all think in the comments! love y'all
