Set Fire to the Rain

Drum beats pounding, people screaming, and Jared hadn’t even come on stage yet. This was going to be one an incredible show. Shannon was still standing above his drums hitting away with a timed precision that begins to make you think he’s part robot. I knew it was the opening beats of ‘Escape’, and I could feel the hairs on my arms and neck literally standing on end, and when Shannon finished with his drum entry, the ballroom went dark, and the crowd went crazy. The music continued the crowd started to scream louder when they heard Jared singing the opening lines to ‘Escape’, there is still no sign of Jared on stage, but you can hear his voice.

Tomo is at the far corner of the stage opposite Shannon, wearing a very long white robe of some sort with the hood pulled up over his head. I could barely make him out in the shadows jumping up and down. Shannon had a white t-shirt on with white pants and white sneakers from what I could see. Blue lights started to flash out from somewhere in the floor in front of the Triad symbol that was on stage at the top of a flight of steps that had been erected, and the crowd suddenly went wild. The music became louder, and the crowd with it. There was a person coming up from under the floor below. Suddenly Jared was standing at the top of the raised platform where the triad symbol stood with his arms stretched outward, wearing a long white cape and pants with his hair standing on end. As the lights went as bright as they could, everyone screamed, with a loud explosive sound happening simultaneously and Jared went running down the steps and the song changed over to ‘A Beautiful Lie’. Holy shit! I had chills watching this whole production happening in front of me, I could honestly say, that as of right now, I am absolutely pleased with the decision I made to be here tonight. I can’t wait to see Shannon’s face when I step out from behind the curtain. Nervous, but so excited!

Jared ran around spinning in circles and bounced like a kid who had been given a weeks’ worth of caffeine in one day. Energetic is an understatement. There were 2 large screens on either side of the triad where they had the video playing for ‘Beautiful Lie’. It was a great idea. Jared had a long runway that was attached to the stage that went into the crowd and he was already putting it to great use, and it was only the first song. The man was an amazing entertainer. No, I want to correct that, Jared is magical to watch. He has energy, a connection, a fire, a genuine love and affection for all of the Echelon. You can see it when he is out there performing for you. Jared is giving a piece of himself to every person out there to take home with them. A moment in time to keep with them forever, that can never be replicated. When you have a leader of sorts that loves to get in the thick of the crowd and surf with them, crawl on them and trust that they will get you back to the stage eventually that is huge. I would be petrified, but he is a crazy ass monkey mother fucker. He tells the crowd to jump and they jump every single one of them. God forbid he see you sitting down or standing still. He will point you out and find a way to get you up and moving, and that is fucking funny to watch! The whole thing was insane to watch. I actually had chills. Tomo was almost as crazy. He was bouncing around like a fucking rubber ball at the end of one of those wooden paddles that you play with as a kid.

Shannon, he was a fucking machine on the drums. I knew that people had given him the nickname ‘Shannimal’ and it was easy to understand why now. He was so focused on his playing that I honestly didn’t know if he would notice that I was there when I decided to make my appearance known to him. I was almost afraid to let him know, for fear of making him screw up. That would be just my luck.

At a certain point during ‘Beautiful Lie’ these huge ass fucking balloons started falling from the rafters above everyone in the crowd and began bouncing up onto the stage. My eyes actually started to get teary. Maybe it was just the thought of how amazing this all was, and I was finally able to experience something like this on my own, with the people I was experiencing it with. Or just me being overly emotional, who the fuck knows, I tend to think the latter. Jared and Tomo were busy kicking the balloons back to the crowd while playing. I figured I would step out to the side and let him know I was there after the first song was over, once Shannon was settled in. The time was growing closer and I was getting nervous. I caught a glimpse of Emma and she gave me a big smile and a nod, making me feel a bit more at ease. The song ended and I knew it was now or never.

Taking a deep breath I moved the curtain aside with my hand and stepped to the right so that I would be visible to Shannon and the guys on stage, but not to the crowd. Hands shaking, I nervously pushed a few strands of hair out of my face and behind my right ear and watched Shannon hoping and praying that he would eventually look my way. What if I had picked the wrong spot? I mean, he was so focused on doing his thing right now, there was a chance that he wouldn’t even notice I was there. My heart slightly hurt at the thought. What the fuck was up with that? I looked down at the floor momentarily then glanced back up in Shannon’s direction, vaguely noticing that Jared was talking and joking around with the crowd and Tomo was joining in. It happened so fast, I almost missed it, but the hazel eyes I had been watching for met mine. He actually did a double take as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and huge grin came over his face. I smiled back at him. Jared had started the cue for the next song, which happened to be ‘This Is War’, and once again the video was played up on the screens next to the triad. Shannon played with such enthusiasm and power it blew me away. I watched as stick after stick went flying in tatters behind him and beside him. To see the condition they were in, only proved to me the amount of power that Shannon put into his playing was beyond human. My heart seemed to beat in time with the playing of his drums. He would constantly look in my direction smiling, winking making funny faces on occasion. Then there times that he was so into his music that he forgot everything but the music, I loved that the most. I took pictures of him when he was like that, because to me that was the true Shannon. He was simply amazing at what he did. Jared noticed that I was there on one of his trips to Shannon’s side of the stage, and winked as a greeting to me, I simply gave a little wave back. The rest of the show went on like this, and I have to say that, yes, even though it is only the 2nd concert I have ever been too, I have a feeling that it will be hard to top. I found myself singing and jumping and throwing my hands in the air with the rest of the crowd, even though they couldn’t see me. Shannon noticed me doing this, and I think he enjoyed it. Jared was the conductor of the masses, and anything he asked of them, they did it without question. He truly had the power here. There is something really special about this group of men and their family, not fans, but family. There’s a connection, and you can feel it in the air. It’s electrifying.

I had thought that the show was finished because Shannon had walked down the steps and away from his drum kit, taking a towel from his tech on the way and immediately starting to wipe his face free of the sweat on his face, neck, arms and hands. The three men made their way together to the front of the stage and down to the end of the runway turning around and facing towards the stage away from the crowd. They were having their concert picture taken by the crew photographer. When the photo was taken, they started to run towards the stage once more with the exception of Shannon. He was making his way towards me at a quick pace with a goofy grin and I couldn’t help but smile in return.

“I really want to fucking hug you right now, but I am so muddafuggin sweaty, I just can’ bear to do that to you, you look so beautiful.” He said while grabbing a bottle of water and taking a chugging it back quicker than I imagined possible. Then he took a breath, put the bottle down on top of a black storage box that was next to him, and leaned in to me saying, “But it won’t stop me from doing this.” Before I could say anything Shannon leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek. My face flushed from embarrassment and I looked away shyly.

“I appreciate the thought.” I joked.

“I can’t stay with you because we have to go back up for the encore. I just wanted to come tell you something” I felt his warm breath tickle the skin on my neck as he whispered into my ear, making me shiver, “I was so fucking happy to look up and see you standing here.” Then he took off back to his kit for the final song.

Jared with the help of Tomo and security had already started helping some of the extremely ecstatic fans up on stage for the final song, ‘Kings and Queens’. Members of the crew told these eager fans to go stand behind the ego riser that was just behind where Jared was beginning to perform the song. It was one of the Echelon’s favorites, a theme song of sorts and it was amazing to watch live. Jared was so full of energy, and when he sang to the people there was a connection, a magic that happened it was a beautiful thing to witness. His voice pure and unmatched is there nothing the man couldn’t do. This band had affected all sorts of people from different walks of life, standing together on stage singing as one. It was truly incredible to watch. The thing was that it had not only happened here, but all over the world. When you think about that, it’s mind-blowing.

When ‘Kings and Queens’ came to an end, Tomo, Shannon and Jared made their way over to the crowd, Shannon threw drum sticks and Jared threw a few guitar picks into the crowd, and then they rushed off stage to shower and get ready for the meet and greet with their fans, The Golden Ticket holders.

Emma and Karen, who had come back to check in on me, were nice enough to fill me in on what the next few hours were going to be like for the band. They had interviews, and the meet and greet with over 150 fans. Complete insanity if you ask me. They do this after almost every concert; how they do it I don’t know. Karen brought me backstage to a holding room to wait for the guys to come back to when they had finished with everything. It wasn’t as bad as you would think. There was a small blue couch in the beige room with a few scattered chairs along with two long card tables open along the walls with an assortment of food and drinks for people to pick at. I met Tomo’s wife, Vicki, who was an absolute doll. She is maybe an inch or two shorter than me, her arms are adorned with beautiful tattoos, her hair is long, brown and was pulled into a ponytail, and she has brown eyes. She’s really beautiful, and I can see why Tomo adores her so much. We spent a decent amount of time getting to know one another, along with some of the other crew members and some people from the opening band. They were all really very nice, totally unexpected from what I imagined them being like for some reason. Vicki and I got along really well, and had a lot in common. I had a feeling that we will become good friends. She is a really nice girl, laid back and super chill. Not much bothers her other than creepy stalker people. At least she and I had that in common. Hahaha! I think that deep down we are all a little bit crazy, but in the best way possible. You have to be, to do this for as long as they have. This group has been doing this for a long ass time!

One of the last times I remembered looking at my watch it was 1am, and there was no sign of Shannon. Vicki had wandered off to find Tomo, and I told her I would stay put, just in case Shannon showed up. I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up to a pair of soft lips on mine, and the tickle of facial hair against my skin. Someone started whispering softly into my ear that it was time to wake up and my eyes fluttered open and I took in my surroundings, remembering where I was. Emma and the rest of the crew were no longer in the room with me, and I was now sitting next to a clean, very tired looking Shannon. He smiled at me, rubbing a hand at his scruffy chin and up along the side of his face and rubbing the back of his neck. He had changed into one of his black t-shirts that he’d at some point taken a pair of scissors too. So now it just looked like a drape over his shoulders a very nice drape mind you, along with a pair of black skinny jeans and sneakers.

“Hey ya, sleepy head. Tired huh?” He asked.

“Look who’s talking. You look exhausted.”

“I am, but I am thrilled to see you.”

“The show was, just, incredible. I never imagined it would be like that.”

“Thanks, sweetheart. Of course, I was your favorite, right?” He said in a deep voice with a wiggle of his thick eyebrows and a smile in his hazel eyes.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Tomo was actually very impressive tonight.” I said in the most straight faced sincere tone I could.

“Oh, ok. I see how it is. I guess as long as you enjoyed the show, it doesn’t matter who your favorite was.” Looking down at his lap, he said nothing else.

“Shannon, you know I am only fucking around with you right?” Biting my bottom lip and looking up at him from under my long lashes my heart began to race.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to pressure you into picking a favorite that you don’t reeeaally like.”

“Seriously, are you going to sit there and sulk like a 3 year old, and make me beg you to believe me? I won’t beg you know. I will only say this once Shannon Leto. You are the most amazing fucking drummer I have ever had the honor of seeing perform in my life. There are no words to describe how you make me feel when you play. From the first beat of your drum, it was like my heart was in sync with you. It was incredible. I have never felt that way before. You are so fucking talented, and fucking beautiful to watch when you play. I could never get tired of watching or listening to you. You are just that good, dumbass. Is that good enough for you?”

The drummer sat in front of me for a moment in slight shock, with a grin growing on his features. The next thing I knew, he had thrown his strong tattooed arms around me and was squeezing me for dear life. “Oh my God, you actually liked it! You really liked it?” Pulling away from me he had a straight face and said” I was so afraid that I would disappoint you when you did come to see us. And I didn’t put my all into rehearsal tonight because I was all disappointed and shit when you said that you weren’t coming. I was acting like a dumb mother fucker all morning. Then when I saw you here, first I thought I was going crazy and then I thought I was going to totally fuck things up. But you said you liked it! Yes!” Then he leaned in and kissed me for a real fast, victory kiss and pulled away. I was a little confused, but ok with it. He was happy, and that was all that mattered. “So are you going all the way back into Jersey tonight?”

“Fuck no. I am actually staying at Kym’s place. We figured it would be much easier on me to do that than have to travel all the way home tonight and tomorrow. “

“Good, because I would have worried about you making your way home at this hour alone knowing that dickhead is out there somewhere.”

“Awwe, aren’t you sweet.” Poking him in the arm in a joking manner, I smiled at him then looked at my watch; it was almost 2:30am. I groaned at the thought of having to get up for work tomorrow morning. “So where are Jared and Tomo and everyone else?”

“They are packing up their stuff for the night so we can head home. We all came in before to say hi, and saw you were sleeping and they said they would let me do that alone. Normally they aren’t so umm, gentle about it so consider yourself lucky babe.” He chuckled.

“Y’all are too fucking much sometimes.” I joked.

“That we are.”

Yawning, Shannon stood up from the couch stretching his strong arms above his head; I couldn’t help but stare at the sight in front of me. The strong, hard muscled, tattooed, talented, funny, gentle, smart, caring man was a work of art to me, just perfect. All I wanted to do at this moment was trace my fingers over the lines of the world tattoo set between his shoulder blades, the symbols that lined his right forearm, and the beautiful work of art that was inked on his upper left arm. I wanted to learn every line, every detail of them, of him. Wanting to feel his warm skin under my hands was all I wanted or was thinking about right now, oh my god. Seeing a pair of hazel eyes now looking into mine, I realized I had been staring. Fuck, my mind and all the thoughts that were going through it right now, I blame the fact that I hadn’t had sex in like 3 years

. I have no idea if he noticed that my eyes had lingered a bit too long, but he held both of his hands out for me to grab on to. I took Shannon’s calloused hands in mine and he slowly pulled me up so that we were standing only inches away from one another. I could feel the heat of his body, the warmth of his breath upon my face, and smell the scent of the soap and cologne he had used when he had showered earlier. It was intoxicating to me, and I slowly looked up to find his hazel eyes staring back into my blue ones. My heart was pounding so hard, I know he could feel it. There was no way he couldn’t. His hands that still held mine lifted my arms up and wrapped them around the back of his neck so that I was now holding onto him, then he slipped his strong arms around my small waist and pulled me in so that I was flush against him. I was starting to have difficulty breathing, and was feeling weak in the knees. No man had ever made me feel this way just by being around them. Seriously, he hadn’t done anything, and I was putty in his hands. Shannon began to glide his hands along my back and my sides, then working his hands up into the ends of my hair, giving a gentle tug. Not being able to look away from those eyes, his face slowly moved closer to mine, his warm breath tickling my face again, and his full lips were on mine in a hungry, passion filled kiss. Our tongues danced and he devoured me. I kissed back with just as much hunger and need as he seemed to be showing me. Nipping and pulling at my bottom lip with his teeth playfully, then placing soft, sweet kisses along my jaw and working back to my mouth, Shannon moaned lowly. I was melting. My hands moved in through the sides of his shirt. I needed to feel the warmth of his skin. He was a masterpiece. I had my hands on his back and pulled him closer to me. Our kiss slowed, and we began to pepper each other with small kisses until he was leaning his forehead against mine. My mouth tingled from the sensation of his kisses and my face was raw from the scruff of his short beard and it felt amazing.

“Fucking hell, Eliza…” He moaned softly with a smile and darkness in his eyes. That was new.

“Shannon. Oh wow.” I moaned at almost the same time, and we started to laugh.

“EEEEEEHHHHHHHEEEEEMMMMM!!!” Tomo cleared his throat from the doorway. “Yeah, guys, ummm, I am really, really sorry to interrupt, but it’s getting late, and we need to get the fuck out of here. We have a long fucking day tomorrow. I just wanted to make sure you were both awake, and ready to roll.” Leaving the door open behind him, Tomo left shaking his head from side to side muttering something under his breath with a laugh.

“I guess it’s time to go huh?” I said, reaching my hand up to place my hand gently on Shannon’s face.

Leaning into my hand, he took a breath, turned his lips towards my hand and kissed the palm of my hand. “Unfortunately, that muddafugga has the worst fucking timing in the world.” He laughed. “It is really late though and we both have really long days tomorrow. It’s time to get you into a cab and on your way to Kym’s, Sweetheart. Come on, let’s go find everyone, and I will walk you out.”

On our way out, we caught up with Jared, Tomo and Vicki while the rest of the crew had already taken off. They were the smart people in this group. I was fucking exhausted. We all walked upstairs to the back exit with security in tow, I was introduced to the head of their ‘Security detail’ saying that instead of coming in the front tomorrow night with everyone that I should come to the back door and knock. Someone would be there to let us in as long as we had our passes. Tomorrow was going to be a huge deal. Not only were the guys getting an award, but they were streaming the show live all over the world via VyRt. No one had ever done it before. You could go online and actually buy affordable tickets to watch the show live over the internet. They were going to do special behind the scenes things for the people at home, which I thought was really cool. Supposedly there were fans all over the world that were getting together and having VyRt parties, plus you could possibly chat online with Jared during the show. How amazing is that! The group of us made it to just inside the exit door and one of the security guards asked how many taxis were needed and Shannon said 3. Tomo and Vicki were taking one, Shannon and Jared were sharing another, and I had the last one. That was my assumption anyway.

Stepping out into the cool night air, there were very few people out on the sidewalk at this hour. A couple of fans still lingered asking for autographs and pictures, which they did happily. While they were talking with their fans, I looked down the block and could have sworn I saw a man with dark hair and a long black over coat, the same as one I have seen all too often, standing on the corner staring straight at me. He had the same exact features as David from where I stood. I immediately had chills that went down my entire body, and not in a good way. I felt the blood drain from my face. Closing my eyes for a brief second, I opened them again and looked back at where I had seen the man standing. There was no one there. The memory of feeling like I was being followed earlier came back suddenly. Fucking hell, I know it was David, I just know it was. I started to look around, trying to see if this man was anywhere in sight without trying to draw any attention, of course that didn’t work. Shannon was next to me in a matter of seconds.

“What’s wrong El?” Brows furrowed in concern, he looked down into my eyes.

“I…Nothing.” I whispered. My eyes couldn’t help but dart in every direction looking for possible danger.

“You have never lied to me, don’t start now babe. Did you see something, or someone?” He growled.

“I don’t know Shannon. I may have.” Nodding in the direction where I spotted the man. “I think David is here. There was a man standing on the corner down there a minute ago that looked just like him. He was just standing there staring at me, it gave me the creeps. I closed my eyes for a second, and when I opened them to see if he was still there, to see if it was David or not, the man was gone. But there is no proof. I am tired, really fucking tired, and for all I know, there may not have been any one there at all. Maybe I am just losing my fucking mind.” Lowering my eyes to the ground, I shook my head slowly in frustration.

Shannon stood there looking in all directions trying in earnest to find something or someone hiding in the distance, but coming up empty. Giving a frustrated sigh, he looked down at me, and put a protective arm around me, and said “J, I am taking Eliza to Kym’s place then I will head home. I am not taking any chances that David is actually anywhere in the area and could try something.” He was still looking in all directions for any sign that something was off. The guys were all now on alert. Great way to end the night.

“No problem bro. Make sure your girl is safe, ok. Eliza, it was a fucking great surprise when you walked out from behind that curtain tonight. Shannon was being a real pussy when he thought you bailed. Just kidding man, just kidding.” Jared said shoving his brother in the shoulder.

Giving Jared the finger, Shannon said “Fuck you muddafugga! Fuck you!”

We all hugged each other and said our good-byes and climbed into our cabs. Shannon slid in next to me and wrapped his arm over my shoulder pulling me close. I gave the driver the address to Kym’s apartment and the cab started the drive there. It wasn’t a long drive, not much being said on the way. I leaned my head on Shannon’s chest, while he placed his chin on the top of mine occasionally kissing the top of my head. We were both absorbed in our own thoughts along the way. Our taxi began to slow, and pulled up to the sidewalk so that I could get out. Shannon leaned forward telling the driver that he was walking me to the door, and he would be right back, asking him not to leave. I slid out the passenger side door, and Shannon followed behind. We walked over to the flight of steps that led up to the brownstone building that housed the apartment where Kym lived. I pressed the button next to the slot with her last name on it for the buzzer and waited for her voice to come up on the speaker. Shannon stood as sentry and watched everywhere. He was on edge now, and I felt awful about it.

Crackling broke through the quiet making me jump slightly. “You had better be my best friend or I am going to commit a murder.” Kym’s voice growled.

“I love you too sexy beast!”

The door buzzed open, Shannon leaned ahead of me pulling the door open wide and we walked through, shutting the door behind us. She lived on the 2nd floor, so we only had to walk up one flight of steps, not bad. No elevator in this building. When we arrived in front of her door, I knocked, a minute later I heard the scrape of a chain, and then 3 tumbles of the numerous locks she had on her door. The apartment door opened and Kym stood there in her pink polka dotted pj’s, pink piggy slippers and her hair pulled back into a high frizzy ponytail, her eyes heavy with sleep. She was not happy to be awake at this hour.

“Hi Kym, thanks for”

“Mhmm, yeah, yeah, yeah. Going back to sleep. See you tomorrow. Tell me then.” She said groggily, waiving a hand in the air talking to herself on her way back to her bedroom.

I busted out laughing along with Shannon. Turning around to face him, I took a deep breath.
“I am sorry about how tonight ended.”

“I’m sorry?” Raising a questioning eyebrow at me, his head slightly tilted.

“The whole David scare. It was probably nothing, and I freaked everyone out. You don’t need this in your life.” Looking down at the floor, I felt his calloused fingertips under my chin pull my face up to look at him.

“Sweetheart, first of all, you have nothing to be sorry for. It was an incredible night. I had the time of my life babe. You can’t help the way things worked out when we left. You saw what or who you saw. None of us can say or not if it was David that you did see at the venue. For his sake, I hope like fuck he knows to stay the hell away.” Looking at his wrist for the time, I knew he had to get back to the taxi, before he ended up stranded here without a ride home tonight. A hand rubbed his face and through his hair then to the back of his neck then glanced up at me. “Listen, I really hate to run off on you like this, but it’s late, and I need to go.” He said to me.

I nodded my head in response and went to turn to enter the apartment, before Shannon stopped me by gently grabbing my arms.

“Oh yeah, and who said anything about the night being over already, we still need to say goodnight.” With a wiggle of his eyebrows and a smirk on his plump lips, his tongue wetting them briefly before he leaned in and gave me a very nice, not too long, but Shannon controlled kiss goodnight. God but the man could kiss. “Now, tonight is over, and it was perfect. Ok, now, get your sweet ass inside and lock up. I am not leaving until the locks are turned.”

True to his word yet again, he waited until the chain was in place and the locks were flipped. I told him goodnight through the door and he gave me one of his mini salutes through the peep hole and I watched him disappear from view. I leaned my forehead against the door and stood there for a moment when I heard the shuffle of slippers come up behind me.

“Woman, you are so fucked.” Kym said in a tired raspy voice.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Yep, playing stupid right now, is my best option.