A Week, A Lifetime

Dakota and Kaylee joined the guys to set up for the first of two London shows, and Dakota was now helping Jack set up his guitars. She had no idea what she was doing, but she could at least try. A wire fell out of her hands, and she took a step back.
“I will let you do this by yourself, I don’t want to mess anything up,” Dakota said, and smiled slightly. Jack grinned, and picked the wire up from the floor.
“You’re anxious,” Jack stated, and put a hand on her shoulder. He dropped the wire, and pulled her with him to the outside, and Dakota really enjoyed the fresh air that filled her lungs.
“Thanks, Jack!” she said, and breathed, and leaned up against the wall. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Nervous about the show?” Jack asked, bringing Dakota back from her dream, she looked at him with scared eyes.
“I am seriously going to pee my pants,” Dakota giggled, before she slip down the wall, and ended up sitting with her legs pressed up against her body, her arms wrapped around them.
“You’ll do fine!” Jack said, and put a hand on her knee. “And you aren’t even wearing pants!” Dakota giggled at the remark. No, she was not wearing pants; she was wearing shorts, with fishnets. She was also wearing a white shirt, a brown belts accessorising the outfit.
“No, I am not even wearing pants,” Dakota agreed, and smiled at Jack. He was such a sweetheart. A weird sweetheart, but a sweetheart nonetheless.
“You did great last night, and you will do great tonight as well, D, don’t even think about worrying about that,” Jack said, and nudged her chin with his knuckles.
“I’m just nervous, that is all,” Dakota replied, and smiled sweetly at Jack, his kind face smiling back.
“You’re pretty awesome, you know that? I mean, you know how to laugh!” Jack said, and laughed a little.
“Why are you telling me this, Jack?”
“Because, I think you need to know. You need to know how awesome you are. You have really made me laugh during these few days. Both you and Kaylee.”
“You are so sweet, Jack, you know that?” she cupped his face in her hand, and looked sweetly at him. “You might actually be one of the sweetest and most dorky people I know.”

Jack giggled, and grabbed hold of Dakota’s arm, and pulled her into a hug. Dakota laughed, but felt comforted in his arms, and surprisingly enough the nerves seemed to fade away.
“Thank you, Jack!” Jack shrugged, and got back on his feet, pulling Dakota up as he did.
“Now, are you ready for this show, or are you not?” Jack asked, putting his arm casually around her shoulders.
“I think I am ready,” Dakota replied, and Jack started walking back into the arena. As they walked in, Dakota noticed that the stage was empty, and she quickly walked out on stage, and stood in the centre of it. She looked carefully out into the very large room, and she shuddered at the thought of all the people that was going to be in there in only a few short hours. She took a deep breath, which was interrupted as Rian put his arms around her waist. He kissed her sweetly on the neck, before resting his chin on her shoulder.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, tracing circles on her stomach.
“Good, actually. Jack managed to calm me down.”
“Jack calmed you down?” he asked, the sound of disbelief clear in his voice.
“Yeah, would you believe it? Jack calmed me down.” Rian laughed, before turning Dakota around in his arms.
“You look amazing!” Rian said, pushing her away from him to look at her. He twirled her around, taking a good look at her. “And the fishnets.”
“What, you don’t like the fishnets?”
“I love the fishnets! You look hot!” Dakota giggled, and pecked him on the lips. The small peck was obviously not enough, because Rian pulled her back into a passionate kiss.

Dakota loved kissing Rian, but she felt that they were on display. She carefully broke the kiss, looking him sweetly in his eyes.
“Ok, enough. Let us get ready for the show,” Dakota walked slowly away, but Rian grabbed hold of her hand.
“One more kiss!” he said, their lips crashing together. Dakota giggled as she pulled out of the kiss, and she tiptoed across the stage, and disappeared in between the curtains. She quickly found Kaylee.
“Hey Kota, had a nice long kissy-time, did you?” Kaylee giggled, and nudged Dakota’s shoulder.
“Kota? Wow, you have not called me Kota for a long time!”
“I figured… My nickname is Kay, so we need to give you a nickname as well. And I called you Kota for years.”
“Just follow the flow, the guys just call me D.”
“Not inventive enough, I’m afraid. So from now on, if I remember, I will call you Kota.” Dakota grinned, and put her arm around her friend’s shoulders, pulling her to the backroom where the rest of the guys were pacing.
“She is Kota from now on,” Kaylee said, bringing the guys back from focus.
“Kay, I think we might have ruined their pre-show routine. Maybe we should just leave.” Dakota started pulling Kaylee out of the room, but Jack came running over and dragged both girls back into the room.
“Kota… Sounds cheesy. I think I’m gonna stick with D,” Alex said. He was trying to sound funny, but he sounded nervous.
“Guys. Seriously. You are one of the biggest bands out there, and you are pacing around here being nervous?!” Dakota never thought she would be doing this, ever, but she was actually giving her first pep talk. “Your fans love you to death, and no matter what you do, those girls squeal with excitement! Stop pacing, and go up there, and be amazing!” Silence fell for a few seconds, before the guys exclaimed in excitement.
“Let’s do this, guys!” Jack yelled, and the guys cheered, sprinting out of the room, super hyped for the show. Kaylee lifted up her hand, and Dakota high-fived her.
“Nice one!”
“Thank you!”

The pep talk was never really needed, because the guys were rocking it on stage. Of course! And the crowd loved them – like always! Right now, the only thoughts in Dakota’s head was that fact that she would be out on that stage in only a short amount of time, singing at that. She was slightly nervous, but unlike the night before, she felt quite confident tonight.
“You ready?” Kaylee asked, nudging her arm. Dakota nodded, not being able to speak. “Dakota…!”
“I’m fine. A little nervous, but I can do this.”
“Good, because… You need to walk out onto that stage right now!” Kaylee gave her a push, and Dakota walked out on the stage, and the crowd cheered.
“Everybody! This is our good friend Dakota, and she will be singing ‘Remembering Sunday’ with me.” Alex gave Dakota a hug, and started the song. Dakota smiled, as a rush of emotions went through her body; all positive emotions. And then she sang!