A Week, A Lifetime

Dakota and Kaylee were late for the entrance to the show, and they were both terrified they would not get to the front to see the guys. Kaylee especially.
“You will see them later, though,” Dakota tried comforting her friend.
“Yeah, I know. But it is the show I want to see, not so much them.” Dakota was about to reply, but her phone buzzed.
“I got a text from Alex,” she said, and opened the text.
“Come to the left side of the fence. You’ll get backstage for the show. AG” she read out aloud. Kaylee squealed, and grabbed Dakota’s arm and ran to the left side of the fence. Matt was standing there, and he waved the girls to him.
“Quick!” he said, and pushed them through a door.
“Oh, all those fan girls out there are going to hate us,” Dakota said, getting shivers from the thought.
“I won’t argue with you on that,” Matt agreed, and showed them the way to the back of the stage, where all four boys were standing. Alex was jumping up and down, shaking of the nerves. He saw Kaylee and Dakota, and ran over and gave them both a hug.
“A new gig experience for you,” he said, and ran back to the others. Jack was shaking his arms around; Zack was standing completely still, and to Dakota’s surprise, Rian was crying.
“Rian!” Dakota said, and walked over to him. “What’s the matter?”
“Nerves,” he said quickly, and Dakota brushed away the single tear that was running down his cheek.
“You will be brilliant, Rian. Don’t even think about worrying about that.” Dakota said, and gave him a comforting smile.
“He always cries,” Jack said, and grinned. “He’s kind of a girl like that.” Rian shook his head, and wiped away the rest of the tears, before agreeing.
“Yeah, I always cry before a gig. The nerves are killing me.”
“You will do great,” Dakota said again, before stepping back to stand with Kaylee. They guys walked out on stage, and the show was on.

Kaylee was absolutely booming with happiness, and her face was wet from all the tears she had shed. Dakota’s heart was racing from excitement, as the guys said their final “thank you’s” and “you’re awesome’s”. They ran of the stage, their faces dripping from sweat.
“That was a great fucking show,” Alex exclaimed, and jumped in excitement. Zack immediately sat down, wiping the sweat of his face. Jack was grinning like a crazy-person, while Rian came over to stand by Dakota.
“Did you like it?” he asked, and put his arm around her waist.
“It was blooming brilliant!” she squealed, and threw her arms around his neck, giving him a hug. She quickly regretted it, as she was now drained in his sweat.
“Smart move,” he said and grinned.
“Yeah, I got that.” Her t-shirt was wet in the front, but she really could not care less.
“But you were brilliant!” Rian grinned, and his smile absolutely melted Dakota’s heart. “And you are an excellent drummer,” she added quickly, before blushing slightly.
“I could show you,” Rian said, and Dakota gave him a puzzled look.
“I could show you how to drum. I could teach you a little.”
“Really?” Dakota exclaimed, her face glowing with joy.
“Of course!”

Alex, Jack, Zack and Kaylee went back to the bus to start the party, but Dakota and Rian stayed in the arena, waiting for everyone to leave.
“You should go out and meet your fans,” Dakota said. “We don’t have to do this right now.”
“No, let’s do this now.” He took her hand, and dragged her onto the stage. There was very little light, which ended up making her trip over a couple of cables.
“Watch it,” Rian said, supporting her weight. She smiled carefully, before Rian ran off the stage.
“Where are you going?” Dakota exclaimed, not feeling to comfortable being alone on stage.
“Ready to be in the spotlight?” she heard Rian say, from somewhere in the dark. A light switched on, and Dakota was now standing in the middle of a spotlight, right in front of the drums. Rian came sprinting back up to the stage, and took a seat behind the drum kit.
“Come here,” he said, and patted his thigh.
“Is this going to be like one the cheesy “I’m going to teach you to play pool”- kind of things?” Dakota asked, and giggled.
“Probably!” Rian laughed, and patted his thigh once more. Dakota followed orders, and carefully walked towards Rian. He took her hand, and led her the rest of the way. She slowly sat down on his lap, feeling quite uncomfortable. She never had liked sitting on anyone’s lap. Rian placed one drumstick in one of her hands, and the second in her other hand. She then wrapped his hands around each of hers.
“Now, place your foot on top of mine,” he said, his breath tickled the back of her neck. She slowly turned around to look at him, and he smiled carefully. She placed her foot on top of his, and he started drumming carefully.
“Just keep counting to four. The high-hat counts the beats. The bass drum on every first beat, and the snare on every third beat. Basic drumming.” Dakota giggled, as it actually sounded kind of all right. She jumped at the movement he made, as he made her hit one of the other drums.
“Good, you can actually do this,” he said, causing Dakota to giggle. They kept drumming, and Dakota had no idea how long they had been sitting like this. She was getting the hang of this, at least until Rian let go of her hands. She completely forgot about the drumming, and everything got quiet.
“Try it for yourself,” he said, and put his hands on her waist.
“All right,” Dakota said, sitting up straighter in his lap. She tried thinking about the beat, and she actually managed a few beats before stopping.
“Why did you stop? You were doing great!” Rian said, his hands still on her waist.
“I just… Don’t want to make a fool out of myself.”
“You won’t. You’re doing great!”

Dakota kept drumming for quite some time, Rian walking around on the stage, listening. She took a good look at him, and realised what an incredibly wonderful man her was. He was looking at every single detail of the arena, the stage. He looked so content, so happy up there. She stopped drumming, and put the drumsticks down.
“Tired already?” he asked as he turned around to look at her.
“No, it’s not that. I was just looking at you,” she said and cocked her head to the side to look at him more closely.
“Yeah. What were you looking at?” he asked, his face filled with wonder.
“You just… You look so incredibly happy up here. On stage. This is your life. You were meant to be on stage, weren’t you?” Dakota smiled, and Rian took two steps towards her.
“I love it on stage. I really do. Wait – you could tell all that just by looking at me?” Rian looked puzzled, yet he was smiling.
“You look like you are in love when you are up here,” Dakota stated. Rian smiled, and put his hands around Dakota, pulling her in to a hug. Dakota let her head rest on his shoulder, and Rian held her close.
“And you sound like you know me better than most people,” he said. Dakota felt his breathe in her hair, and she felt silly for feeling the way she did. She had known him all but three days, but it felt like a lifetime.
“One can tell a lot just by observing,” she replied and pulled out of the hug. She walked to the centre of the stage and threw her arms wide open, and twirled around.
“I think I could enjoy it on stage myself,” she exclaimed, while continuing to twirl around. She went to a sudden stop as Rian wrapped his arms around her.
“You would like to be on stage?” he asked, and Dakota nodded.
“Yes, I would love it! Although I would absolutely piss my pants.”
“What is you talent then? The guitar, the bass? Do you sing?” Dakota shook her head violently, giggling as she did so.
“No, no. I like to sing in the shower, but that’s it!”
“I’m sure you’re a great singer. You just need to try.” Dakota shook her head again, walking away from him, looking out in to the room.
“I would not dare in a million years.” Rian laughed, and took her hand, leading her away from the stage.
“I’ll bring you out of your shell, don’t you worry about it.”