Reason to Live

As we pushed our way backstage we had to pinch each other to confirm that we weren't dreaming - this was real!
I turned around to ask the guy why we were there, but he was gone.

“This is heavy... " said Holly before she was interrupted by Billie's scream of excitement.

"I just saw Gene Simmons!" she yelled.

"Where?" we asked, looking desperately.

I heard a familiar voice behind me. The instant I heard that voice I got that sick, but beautiful feeling again. I turned to see Bruce talking to some guy dressed in black. Bruce looked so good in the same costume he wore in the “Tears Are Falling” video.

I must have been staring at him, because Debbie tried to subtly knock me out of it. “Audrey. Audrey. Stop it. AUDREY!” she hissed.

“Audrey!” Bruce yelled, suddenly realising my presence. “There you are. I was looking for you. I’m glad you made it,” he smiled.

I instantly blushed, and felt as if I was going to faint again. I quickly glanced over my shoulder and noticed my three, disbelieving friends standing there gawking. I flashed them a quick “told you so” grin, then turned back to Bruce.

"Hi Bruce!” I awkwardly squeaked. “You invited us back here?" I asked him. As soon as I said that I cringed.
What a stupid question. Of course he invited us backstage, who else would’ve? , I thought to myself.

He smiled widely at me. "Yeah. I thought you might like to meet the band, being such a huge KISS fan and all. You all can come hang out with us, that is if you want to?", he smiled.

"Are you kidding?" screamed Billie.

“Haha thought so,” Bruce laughed. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you to the boys,” Bruce said as he led us inside a room.

"Eric!" he yelled, as I felt his hand on my shoulder. I swear my heart almost stopped when I felt him touch me again. Then I saw the rest of them.

“Fuck. I can’t believe it’s true,” I heard Holly whisper when Eric Carr and Paul Stanley walked towards us.

“You owe me. All of you,” I quietly stated to them.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Audrey and uh...", Bruce said, looking at me.

"Oh, sorry," I laughed. "These are my friends Billie, Holly and Deb."

"Hello," said Paul as he shook our hands, like a true gentleman. Eric just nodded his head at us, smiling politely. These guys were supposed to be arrogant, yet they seemed so nice.

"I've got to change. I'll be back soon, ok?" Bruce said as he patted me on the back. I smiled at him and nodded, still finding it hard to speak. I had half of my favourite band standing in front of me, yet I couldn’t take my eyes off Bruce as he walked away.

“So you’re Audrey. Boy have we heard a lot about you,” Paul grinned.

“Oh, really?” I smiled, awkwardly.

“Oh, yeah,” Eric laughed, rolling his eyes.

So there we were hanging out with Paul and Eric. They are amazing! Eric was so sweet and Paul was hilarious. They joked around at each other's expense, proving to be quite entertaining. We had a great time.
Deb kept looking at me, amazed, as if she couldn't believe that I had accidently enabled us to meet the greatest band of all time. I couldn’t wait to brag about it. I made her feel so guilty about not believing me.

When Bruce returned Gene followed him, looking rather exhausted.

"Hi, I'm Gene Simmons, but who doesn’t know that already?" he said as Bruce introduced him to us. He had an expected hint of arrogance in his voice, yet was still polite and comforting.
"So your Audrey?", he smirked as he shook my hand. " Bruce has told me so much about you", he said, still smirking.

"So I’ve heard," I replied a little nervously. GENE SIMMONS WAS SHAKING MY HAND! This is the man that I once referred to as “god”. It got me sent out of class in the eleventh grade almost every day. I felt like I was about to die right on the spot. I had to be dreaming.

“Gene, phone for you,” a woman yelled from another room.
“Excuse me. Nice meeting you Audrey, very nice,” he said with a sleazy tone to his voice. Then he stuck out that long, long tongue and wriggled it around a bit.

“Oh my god!” I gasped, bringing my hands to my chest a little dramatically. It was one of the most amazing moments a KISS fan could ask for. And with that, Mr Gene Simmons departed, grinning from ear to ear.

“Yeah, see ya Gene,” Bruce mumbled, rolling his eyes. Bruce does that a lot.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” I excitedly said, turning to face Bruce with wide eyes. That was when I “froze” again.

“He does that to every pretty woman he meets,” Bruce explained as he led me by the hand to a leather couch on the other side of the room. “So what’d you think of the show?” he asked, waiting patiently for a response on my behalf. I just stared at him with two thoughts racing through my mind. One was “Oh my fucking god, did he just call me pretty?” and the other “ he looks AMAZING!”

“Audrey? Are you ok?” he asked, amused.

“Oh, ah... um.”

He started laughing. “You weren’t kidding about being a KISS fan. I’ve killed your ability to speak.”

“It was great!” I finally responded. “I mean, It was unbelievable!”

“Glad you thought so,” Bruce smiled. He watched me with interest as I beamed while telling him exactly why I thought It was amazing.

"Tears are falling was excellent, your solo was perfect!" I smiled.

"Thankyou," he replied, staring directly into my eyes. I couldn’t stop my smile from growing wider.

Our moment was disturbed as Eric plonked himself in between us on the couch. Wrapping his arms around us both he gasped “ Wow that Billie girl can talk.”

I cracked up. “She can alright. Has she hit on you yet?” I asked.

He nodded. “That’d be why I’m here Audrey.”

Bruce gave Eric a look that hinted he wasn’t wanted.

“Oh!” Eric yelled. “ Am I interrupting something?”

Bruce laughed with frustration, burying his head in his hands.

“We were just talking about the show tonight. All I could see of you was that massive hair of yours Eric.”

“Ha ha thanks,” Eric beamed, proudly.

“Hmm. He thinks its falling out,” Bruce told me.

“It is!” Eric added.

“And we think he’s insane,” Bruce teased. They acted just like brothers.

Everyone’s attention suddenly focused on Gene, as he returned, followed by a line of scantily clad strippers.

“Oh!” Eric yelled, jumping up from the couch. “Get me out of here!” Eric quietly begged Bruce. I looked at Bruce confused.

“So you have a choice Audrey. Stay here for the stripper party, or hit the town with Eric and I. What’ll it be?” he asked, smirking.

“Take me with you.” I begged.

“Now, how did I know you were going to pick option number two?” Bruce smiled.

“C’mon man. If I’m caught here I’m dead.” Eric whispered as the three of us literally snuck out of the room.