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The Rose and Thorn	By : FlameWolf666 Category: Singers/Bands/Musicians > Marilyn Manson Views: 3180 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I still don't know Marilyn Manson, Johnny Depp or any of the other famous people in this fic in real life. Needless to say, this is a work of fiction. I make no profit from this and this is just for fun.

Chapter List
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Author’s Note: “What a useless guy.” - Pierre Kirby (Ninja Untouchables)

It makes me happy to see people are still keeping up with this long thing. Getting close to wrapping up. Only a few more chapters planned before the next book!

Chapter Twenty-Five: Back to Business

“Alright, I have to run off to the set now. They only gave me a few days of personal time,” Johnny announced as he came downstairs, feeling a twinge in his chest at the sad look Raven gave him.

    “I’ll be back later tonight. Have fun with your first recording,” he continued, waving to the small group before turning and leaving. He didn’t see the black clad female stick her tongue out at him.

    The artist continued to glare at where the actor had been standing, not really happy about the playful reminder she was going to be starting her new life as a singer today. “You’ll be fine,” Twiggy assured from his position on her right wrapping a loose arm around. The pale female only groaned and sank into the couch before looking at Ginger, who was on her left. So far they were the only people awake, Amanda long gone to her new workplace. The two men sandwiching her had been awake before her and had sensed her nerves, making her sit on the couch while they made her breakfast. It hadn’t been long after that Johnny had come down.

    “Do you really think I can do this? What if I choke? What if they don’t like my voice? What if I can’t think of any songs?” the stressed twenty-nine year old whispered, twisting the hem of the Marilyn Manson t-shirt she wore. A light, chirping meow startled her and she found herself staring down at an expectant Lily white. Chuckling slightly, the freelancer patter her jeans clad lap; tensing slightly when the feline hopped up. To her relief, the temperamental animal merely curled up and began to purr.

    “I think she’s telling you it’ll be okay too,” the drummer on her left murmured scooting away from Raven slightly just in case the felid decided to attack. Even Jeordie backed away, eyeing the cat warily. With Lily’s reputation, the artist couldn’t really blame them for their behavior.

    “Yeah, I think she is,” she sighed, giving the cat’s ears an affectionate scratch. Lily purred deeply in response, eyeing Lady and Mystery as they entered the room cautiously.

    “What time do they want you to go in and meet everyone?” Twiggy asked, straightening the hem of his powder pink dress.

    “Oh, they wanted me to come in as soon as I could. They’re very excited to start working with me,” she replied, fiddling with her ponytail as she watched the two pets.

    They seemed to share everyone else’s opinion about the feline, giving her mistrustful glances while keeping a safe distance. It was probably a safe assumption that the cat had probably well asserted her dominance the other night. The scratches on Lady’s nose were a testament to that. “Well, we can take you. Marilyn won’t be up until later on tonight. The man is normally quite a night owl,” the dreadlocked man to her right offered, keeping his dark eyes on the pet in her lap.

    “Yeah, I’m aware. I was a pretty big fan of his for a large chunk of my life, still am. I really don’t know where I’d be without his music and I wanted to learn everything about him that I could. It may sound creepy but it helped me feel closer to him and I kind of need that for a while,” she whispered, an embarrassed look on her porcelain face as she got to her feet and carefully placed Lily onto the couch.

    “You’ve proven that you aren’t just some fangirl or after his fame. You’ve seen him at his worst and have come back. You don’t try to change or control him but let him choose to do as he pleases. He trusts you implicitly so I think we can overlook a harmless obsession you had during a tough time in your life,” the bleach blonde replied, getting to his feet as well. He was closely followed by a smiling Jeordie, the bronze skinned musician smoothing the front of his dress.

    “Enough with all the bad feels! Its time to get you off to the shop. I’m sure Mare will want this over and done with by the time he wakes up,” the black haired ex-guitarist chirped, grabbing her upper arm in a gentle grip and leading her to the door.

    Raven could only swallow nervously, her mouth feeling bone dry. All of a sudden her heart was beating far too fast and she found herself wondering if it would just be easier to stay a freelance artist. But it was too late now and she could only continue moving forward. “Ugh what have I gotten myself into. I’m not sure if I’m cut out for stardom,” she whispered,ducking into her car and inserting her keys into the ignition.

    “Its not so bad but you’ll have us with you every step of the way. Just try to believe in yourself,” the acne scarred rumer suggested as he took the rear seat behind her. Twiggy, to her surprise, took the passenger seat and gave her a big smile.

    “Yep, anyone messes with you and they’ll have to answer to us,” he declared, buckling his seatbelt as she started the engine.

    The artist barely stifled a giggle at his words, eyeing him out of the corner of her vision. Somehow, she doubted anyone would find him or Ginger very intimidating. The drummer was an absolute teddy bear until the situation called for something different and the former guitarist... Well, most people didn’t find a man in a dress all that scary. Still, she knew the two of them were more than capable of being vicious. She had seen the bleach blonde jump to Amanda’s defense more than once and had heard about Jeordie’s odd temper. “No offence, but I don’t think you two will keep anyone away though I have no doubt you can kick their ass,” she chuckled, backing out of the driveway.

    “You’re damn straight! You’re family and no one is gonna hurt someone Mare is so close to,” the darker skinned male to her right snarled, a dangerous look coming into his dark eyes. Raven only smiled at the pair before turning her focus to the road and driving.

    Hours later and she was plopping herself down on the couch while the band minus Manson watched her in amusement. As soon as she had entered the recording studio, it had been a whirlwind of introductions and handshakes. She had met so many people, it would be a wonder if she remembered all of their names. On top of that, they had shoved her into a sound booth and had insisted she sing something for them; anything. She had ended up singing ‘Last Day on Earth’ since her mind had essentially gone blank from nerves. Thankfully they had loved it, asking her to do three more songs before they were satisfied enough to send her back home. She now had a week to write her first song for them or they would find her a songwriter, a prospect she found humiliating.

    She had never written a song in her life but she was of the opinion that she wasn’t worth her salt as a musician if she couldn’t write her own stuff. Right now, though, her mind was completely blank. Grabbing a red pillow, the nervous female buried her face in the silky fabric and let out a long, loud groan of utter frustration. “I take it that things went well?” came Pogo’s teasing voice, drawing her irritated attention.

    “They want me to write a song in a week,” she snarled, more anxiety than anger in her voice as their eyes locked. To her shock, the normally mischievous keyboardist got a reassuring expression over his pale face. Then he was heading toward the couch, sitting on the cushion behind her sprawled legs and draping his own over them. Then he was patting her lower back, a gentle smile curling his lips.

    Raven could only look at the man with mistrust and utter surprise. Of all the things she expected Gacy to be doing, this certainly wasn’t one of them. She knew he was certainly capable of being nice but that simply wasn’t his normal state of being. In all honesty, she found herself waiting for the other shoe to drop. “You have a lot of people who can help you. All of us have helped Manny boy more than we can count. The trick to songwriting is to try to tell a story or make your audience feel something. Draw from your personal experiences and feelings,” he suggested, ignoring the stunned expressions of the people around him.

    Giving Pogo a small smile, the midnight clad female shook her head with a chuckle. “Thanks for the advice. There are a few songs I attempted to write in High School. Maybe I can improve on those and use them to learn,” she replied, feeling a tiny bit grateful when the unpredictable musician got off her.

    “Sounds like as good a place as any,” he agreed before strolling off into the kitchen to get himself something to eat.

    Shaking her head, the young woman sat up to scrub her milky face with her hands. “I’m just making too big a deal of all of this. Let’s just knuckle down and do this,” she hissed to herself before getting to her feet and striding to the kitchen herself. At this moment she needed something to help keep her alert and focused but she somehow doubted Manson had been able to stock any Red Pop. This left her with her least favorite alternative, making some coffee. Grimacing at the thought of having to choke down the foul substance, the artist turned singer sighed and elicited Pogo’s help to find the instant coffee and filters. Before she knew it, the pot was brewing; smelling so much better than it ever tasted. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink coffee before,” came a mostly asleep, male voice from behind her, nearly making her jump out of her skin.

    Turning around, she saw a zombie that faintly resembled her fiance swaying in place. The rock star seemed like he was barely awake enough to stand, let alone move. In fact, it looked like he could barely keep his eyes open. “What are you doing up?” she found herself asking, unintentionally avoiding his observation.

    “You weren’t in bed with me. On top of that, I also heard your car leave and come back. You were gone for quite a long time. I take it they liked you?” came his dazed, husky reply, his now matching eyes blinking owlishly.

    “I guess so. They want me to write a song in a week,” she replied, steering the performer towards the living room and gently helping him sit on the closest couch.

    When she pulled away to go back to the kitchen, the taller male grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his lap; earning a surprised squeak from the black haired female.   Then his arms were wrapping around her as his chin came to rest on the top of her heard, a deep sigh of contentment leaving him. “I’m glad things went well but could you leave a note next time? When you were gone for so long I started to wonder if you were going to come back,” he requested, his voice a throaty rasp as he took deep inhales of her scent. Raven could only nod in response, kissing under his chin in apology. Manson purred loudly in reply, his sleepy lips seeking hers. Unfortunately, Pogo chose that moment to be ‘helpful.’

    “Here’s your coffee,” he chirped, shoving the mug at her with a wide grin on his face. Rolling her eyes, the new musician took the hot mug while her fiance released a low warning growl.

    The morning only descended into chaos from there, Marilyn ending up chasing the mohawked keyboardist when he had kept interrupting their cuddling moments. Raven only sat on the couch, Lady beside her as she tried to remember one of the songs she had written in High School. All at once she had it and she was shooting to her feet, startling the shit out of the group of men in the room with her. Then she was striding upstairs, her eyes full of purpose; Manson and Jeordie close behind her. “Raven? What’s going on?” the two of them asked in unison as she reached Marilyn’s room.

    “Let’s just say I got struck by inspiration,” she replied, moving to the boxes that had been moved in. Then she was rummaging around, pulling out a notebook and pen triumphantly.

    The two men watching her from the doorway could only shrug to eachother before Jeordie simply took his leave. It didn’t look like the former freelancer was in distress and he figured Manson would like some more time alone with the strange woman. The less shy she became, the more her personality began to shine through; a fact the ex-guitarist was more than happy about. Manson, on the other hand, was more than baffled by her behavior. She was now a flurry of energetic activity, her hand flying as she seemed to plot out the lyrics with herself. He had never seen her like this, far more used to her being like a mouse and too shy to even look him in the eyes on a good day. The woman he saw before him was almost the complete opposite and he honestly found himself more attracted to her in this moment.

    Having forgotten her infamous company, Raven was happily falling into her habit of talking to herself. It was a strange habit that got her many an odd look but it was one she couldn’t break. “Alright, this is a pretty good start but I need to expand the chorus a bit. I also need to add another one before the lyric repeat fade. Also, is my voice really suited to singing this metal style?” she mused, nibbling the end of her pen as she glanced over the admittedly terrible lyrics. With some work and care, however, they could become rather decent. Humming the tune she had planned for this piece, she began to work on expanding the message it was trying to tell.

    “May I take a look?” came a voice from behind her, very nearly giving her a heart attack. Clutching a hand in her band shirt, Raven found herself looking at the owner of the room she was in.

    “O-oh... er, s-sure,” she whispered, suddenly feeling shy around the singer. He had written more songs than she had ever thought about. Her pitiful high school attempt would probably be nowhere near his level.

    Heart pounding against her breastbone, the nervous artist handed the elderly notebook to the ‘Antichrist Superstar.’ As he flipped through the pages, she found herself frantically trying to remember if there were any songs she had written about him. To her utter horror, the taller male began to sing an old love song she had written for him. All at once, she desperately wished she could simply melt into the floor and disappear. It was definitely something she had written while in a bad state of mind, talking about how he haunted her dreams and how she wished she could just talk to him once. It then went on to talk about how he had saved her life a few times and how sad she was that he would never know just how much of a difference he had made in her life. By the time he was done, she was pretty sure her face had turned into a tomato. The look he was now giving her in response certainly wasn’t helping.

    Then he was handed the well loved notebook back, a warmth shining in his brown eyes as a smile curled his lips. “I knew you were obsessed back in the day but I didn’t know the depth of feeling you had for me. With what you were going through at the time, I’m glad my music helped you in such a profound manner,” he rumbled as he slowly closed the small amount of distance between them to wrap his tattooed arms around her. The nervous woman couldn’t help but sag in relief at his words, a slight weight lifting off her shoulders.

    “I just wish I had been able to help you in return,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around his thin waist and burrowing her face in his bare, scarred chest. Manson made a quiet noise in response as he hugged her back, kissing the top of her head.

    As soon as the embrace started, the singer was breaking it and backing away; giving her hair an affectionate ruffle. “Let’s work on the song you chose together. I’m sure that was one of your items on your bucket list before we met,” he teased, walking over to the bed and sitting on it. Raven could only stare at him, feeling an extreme urge to pinch herself to see if this was a dream. All too often, when things had been particularly bad with her parents, she would pretend Manson had been there to support her; even whisper words of encouragement into her ear. Now that it was actually happening, she could feel the ever present fangirl in the back of her head squealing with joy.

    Quashing that part of her as best as she could, she shyly approached the bed to sit by his side; blushing when he wrapped a bare arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Its so adorable that you’re still a little shy around me,” rumbled the rock star’s baritone as warm lips met her temple. Grumping playfully, Raven opened her notebook to point out the song she was planning on working on.

    “This one was one of my favorites and is probably the only one I still remember the tune I had planned for it. It’s going to be a more metal style song but I really don’t know if my vice is a good match for that,” she explained, her hazel eyes moving over the familiar lyrics. They still needed polishing but it should be enough to give Manson an idea of where the piece was going.

    Soon she found herself singing while he tweaked her voice and gave suggestions on lyric direction. By the time Amanda had come home, they were putting the finishing touches on the song. In fact, Raven had been in the middle of belting it out upstairs when the curly haired female opened the door. Looking up at the ceiling with a confused expression, she shook her head and walked into the crowded living room. Ginger and Twiggy sat on the shorter couch while Pogo, John 5 and Tim sat on the longer one. The sizeable group had been watching SpongeBob when she came in, making her giggle slightly. “You know, its just weird that a rock band enjoys cartoons so much,” she teased before moving into the kitchen to make herself some coffee.

    To her utter surprise, there was already a full pot; making her wonder just what she had missed today. Then it hit her and a grin slowly appeared on her pale face. Raven had her introduction to her new bosses today. They had probably told her to come up with a song, explaining the rather growly sounding singing coming from the second floor. Pouring herself a mug of the black liquid she sought, the journalist moved back into the living room to sit in a chair near the couch Ginger was sitting on. “I take it things went well for Raven,” she offered before taking a sip of the life giving fluid.

    “Yep! As you can hear, they want a song from her in a week. I’d say it sounds pretty bad ass so far,” Pogo responded before anyone else could, smirking at the twenty-nine year old across from him.

    “Yeah, I never thought someone as meek as her could pull off that specific kind of music,” she observed, taking another sip of her coffee and releasing a sigh of contentment.

    Ginger watched her closely before slowly getting to his feet and lifting his shocked fiance into his arms. Then he was sauntering back to his spot on the couch, sitting down so she was placed in his lap. His long arms wrapped loosely around her body, his chin resting on the top of her curly haired head. It was both a possessive and protective gesture, allowing the pair to cuddle while reestablishing their relationship slightly. “How was your first day?” he purred, nuzzling her forehead affectionately as she settled against his lithe body.

    “Hectic but in a good way. They put me on some big stories my first day and they really seemed to like my work so far,” the writer replied, taking another sip of her coffee as her gaze traveled to the cartoon on the huge flatscreen. To be honest, she was surprised she wasn’t homesick for her old house. Yet, as her fiance placed loving kisses on her milky cheek, she found herself coming to the realization he was her home. In the short time they had know eachother, she had never felt more cherished or taken care of.

    “I’m very glad. I wanted to talk to you about our wedding and I wanted you to be in a good mood,” he sighed, smirking slightly when she jerked around in his arms to give him an incredulous stare.

    “I want to get married as soon as possible. I have no family to really inform and I doubt you do either, otherwise you would have introduced me to your parents. Manson might decide to go back on tour any time and I want to have you as my wife before that happens. Knowing I have someone waiting for me at home would help me get through the long separation,” he reasoned, a hopeful look on his pockmarked visage.

    Amanda could only stare up at him with a stunned expression, nibbling her lower lip as she considered his proposition. While she had always dreamed of a huge, elaborate wedding that took weeks to plan, she found that she didn’t care about the ceremony as much as she did the end result. Also, there was the little fact that the musician was right. She had been estranged from her family for a very long time, making the woman upstairs and the group around her the closest thing she had to one. “Well, I guess we could really get married at any time, just as long as we have some sort of ceremony. As small as this family is, I want them to be there as a priest declares us man and wife,” she agreed, giving his chin an affectionate peck.

    “Mmm, I’m sure we could do that somehow. Though I kind of doubt most priests would be all that enthused to marry someone from this band,” he whispered, his hands moving slowly over her silky skin.

    Shuddering, the writer blushed before closing her eyes and melting into his embrace. “Who’s gonna be your best man?” came Pogo’s teasing voice as if through a thick fog.

    “Actually, I was thinking about asking you Gacy,” Ginger returned, drawing a chuckle from the content woman in his lap when his fellow musician began to sputter in shock.

    “After all the shit I put you through on a daily basis, you want me to be your best man?” he murmured in a quiet voice before he was dragging the other male into a tight hug.

    “I can’t tell ya how much that means to me. I’m truly honored man. I promise to behave myself,” he assured before releasing a completely godsmacked drummer. In fact, the bleach blonde was staring at him with an incredulous look. Even Amanda was quirking a brow, a mixture of disbelief and surprise on her pale face.

“I didn’t think that would be possible,” the curly haired female joked, getting a sour look in response. Then the mohawked male smirked before ruffling her loosely curled locks affectionately as his normal mischievous gleam came into his eyes.

“Well, I can behave during the ceremony. I never said anything about the reception. I consider that fair game,” he purred, his brown eyes glimmering with humor as he resumed his spot on a near-by couch.

    “It would be silly of me to expect anything else. We’ll probably have to expect a grand return of ‘Wonder Pogo’ and his ‘Penis of Doom,’” she sighed in a playfully put upon voice, moving her green gaze when she heard the stairs creak loudly.

    The sight that greeted the descending pair made them d’aww internally as they took in the drummer and his now blushing fiance. Smirking at the older female, Raven wandered into the living room to sit in the chair closest to the couch the pair were seated on. “You look comfy,” she teased, meeping slightly when Manson scooped her up into his lithe arms.

    “And seeing them like this gave me one Hell of an idea,” rumbled the rock star, giving her a kiss as he sat in the chair and set her in his lap. Then his arm wrapped loosely around her as his chin came to rest on the top of her head, mirroring Ginger exactly. Now it was the new singer that found herself the subject of light teasing, blushing as her childhood friend taunted her by sticking her tongue out.

    Chuckling in unison, the two men looked at eachother before giving their beloveds a searing kiss in sync. The small group in the room only watched, varying expressions of amusement on their faces. It was then that Johnny came back, stumbling into the house to be greeted by the oddly adorable situation. Before the actor could say anything, Lady went tearing past with Lily close on her tail; effectively breaking the moment. “I better stop her before she kills the poor pooch,” the black clad singer sighed, a semi annoyed look on his make-up free face as he go up and replaced Raven in the chair. Then he was calling for his pet, probably saving his fiance’s dog from a severe mauling.

    “Lily you silly thing, I told you not to beat them up too bad. Do I need to put you in your time out corner?” cooed the performer as the star moved into the living room behind him. It was no surprise when Lily merely huffed and blinked slowly in reply when he picked her up in his tattooed arms.

    “How did your day go?” the thespian whispered, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead while keeping his gaze fixed on Manson for approval.

    Blushing at the contact, Raven also moved her eyes to her fiance; relaxing slightly when she saw him giving them both a wide grin. “Pretty good. They’re having me write my own song, which Manson and I are putting some finishing touches on. Soon it’ll be ready for me to try it out in front of you guys acapella,” she replied, a light blush on her porcelain cheeks. Johnny hummed in approval before moving off into the kitchen to get himself some coffee and warm up some food.

    “Ginger and I also decided to get married as soon as possible,” Amanda announced, relishing the various reactions she got from the unaware trio. Raven stared at her with her mouth open, Manson blinked a few times before moving to an empty chair and sitting down slowly, and Johnny came running to the doorway of the kitchen with his brown eyes wide.

    “Congratulations!” the artist exclaimed after a few beats of silence before rushing forward and scooping her best friend into a tight hug. The writer only giggled before extricating herself from Ginger to squeal with her slightly younger acquaintance.

    As the two began to gush over the upcoming wedding and began to plan what dresses to wear, the rock star watching them got a thoughtful expression on his pale face. In all honesty, he was more than a little surprised that his drummer was getting married before he was and he found himself feeling a bit anxious. Brown eyes traveling to Raven, he pursed his naked lips as he mulled over why he was waiting. Neither of them really had any large family to worry about and he had more than enough money to get any ceremony they could want and yet he felt hesitant. He had rushed into marriage before and, while he had no doubt the freelancer would be wildly different than the others, he still found himself reluctant.

    As if sensing his thoughts, Raven turned to him and gave him a heartbreaking smile; slowly walking toward him. Then she was sitting on his lap, wrapping her arms loosely around him as she rested her dark haired head on his still naked chest. “Don’t worry Bri, we’ll get married at our own pace. Besides, I don’t think I’m ready for this either,” she whispered, making the knot of tension in his chest unwind with her words. Chuckling, he wrapped his own arms around her and rested his lips on the top of her head.
    “Thanks. Just having you living with me is more than enough for now,” he rumbled gratefully, watching as Johnny came forward to offer his own congratulations.
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