Stay With Me

20

Dead tried to hold back his frustration, knowing that today was already going to be stressful enough as it was, but at the same time he wanted to be alone with her. They hadn't gotten many chances to be by themselves with her working and him trying to write more songs to please Euronymous. He almost hated the guitarist for making him work so hard when the tour was still months away, but it was good for the band to get more exposure.

Looking down into her eyes, Dead placed a chaste kiss on her lips before helping her off the desk as Hellhammer continued to call for them.

"We're coming!" hollered Dead, opening the door with a scowl.

"Hurry up or we're gonna be late!" Hellhammer scolded.

Vanessa sighed, shaking her head as she took Dead's hand in an attempt to calm him. She knew how frustrated he was, how busy Euronymous was keeping him, and knew that she had been putting in longer hours at work; but it was almost entirely her fault. After her discussion with Euronymous he had become even more eager to begin his out of country tour. The extra hours she had been putting in would no doubt help with expenses for the shows, travel, and if everything worked out the way she had planned, she would be able to give Dead exactly what he wanted.

A part of her was racked with guilt. He had been trying to push her to go to the courthouse with him to sign the marriage papers, her new forged documents had been finished two days ago, yet she had to keep pushing it off. Every part of her wanted to run and sign the papers the moment he had the new documents in his hand, and every time it killed her to put it off when it was brought up. Eventually he would figure it all out, why she had to keep saying no right now, but until then she would just have to hope he didn't give up on their relationship.

As they reached the living room, Vanessa couldn't help but smirk at the sight of Melanie holding tightly to Hellhammer's hand.

About damn time.

"You two ready?" exclaimed Melanie, a bright smile plastered across her face.

Dead nodded. "Let's get this over with."

Melanie pouted. "Aren't you excited, Pelle?"

Vanessa shook her head. "We both think a baby wouldn't be a good idea right now. With everything going on and the band about to start touring it would just put everything to a screeching halt."

"I guess you're right. You two would have such cute kids though!"

"Oh, shut up," grumbled Dead as he pushed past the two.

Vanessa couldn't help but laugh at his reaction, noticing the tint of red that was creeping its way onto his usually pale cheeks. She knew the stress he was under; even she wanted this whole thing to be over with so they could go back to focusing on their relationship. Taking a glance behind her, she caught a glimpse of multiple travel papers thrown across the coffee table. Her heart jumped as her eyes landed on one specifically for Romania. So, Euronymous actually was going to help her.

Pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind for now, Vanessa followed Melanie and Hellhammer out the front door where Dead stood with his hand in his hair. She wanted so badly to help him, to tell him that everything was going to be okay, that there wasn't anything to worry about. Taking hold of his free hand, Dead looked down at her with a deep worry in his eyes.

"We need to go," she whispered.

Dead nodded, giving her hand a gentle squeeze as they walked over to the waiting truck. Hellhammer sat in the front seat with Melanie beside him, music blasting through the speakers as Bathory played. The familiar music helped calm him a little as he and Vanessa climbed into the back seat. Instinctively, he wrapped his arm over Vanessa's shoulder pulling her against his chest, his fingers running through her hair as Hellhammer pulled out of the driveway.