Got a Spark, Got Somewhere to Be

If the start of the show was amazing, then the end was just awesome. The guys did what most bands did; disappear off stage leaving the fans cheering and suddenly run back on stage to play an encore. Which, as always, was ‘Dear Maria, Count Me In.’

What was actually the most surprising about the finale - to Anna at least - was that the fans singing along got that loud they over took Alex’s voice a few times making him seem the one that was singing along to his own song. It was the first time she had seen it happen at concert and it really showed the love the fans had for this band. It was amazing to witness in person and for a moment took her breath away.

The stage lights flickered like disco lights in every colour possible brightening not only the stage but almost every corner of the room, balloons fell down with some confetti over the first few rows of fans and one of the blow up beach balls that had been crowd surfing most of the night made it on stage. Both Zack and Jack ran for it, almost colliding in the centre of the stage, but it was Zack who managed to kick it back out to the fans.

Alex ran across the stage, jumping on speakers and reaching out to touch people’s hands, while Jack threw out guitar picks, trying to make them skim through the air as far as he could. He even turned around at one point and flicked one to Anna, which amazingly enough, as it was hard to see with the flashing lights, she managed to catch it with only a little thumbling.

Though Anna hadn’t moved from her spot behind the speaker the bass of the drum thumped in her chest twice as heavy as before feeling like a second heat beat. Trying to line up photos was harder now too, with how badly the floor was shaking from all the noise. But that made everything that more exciting, bright and real.

The smile on Anna’s face right now was impossible to wipe away.

“...Story at the bottom of this bottle. Thank you everyone!” Alex said into the mic jumping up on yet another speaker, in the centre of the stage this time. “Tonight was fucking awesome!”

“Thank you Australia!” Jack yelled gaining even more deafening screaming than before.

Just when Anna though the fans couldn’t get any louder they always did. It was quite surprising.

“And a big thank you to our Aussie crew and merch guy. Matt our tour manager, our record label and most of all; all of you!”

The encore of music started to die down and Rian left his drum kit, handing out a few drum sticks to whoever happened to be closest within his reach from the stage edge. Jack threw his last pick out and Zack threw out some unopened water bottles.

The four of them took turns waving at the crowd as they exited of the stage into the wings. Matt who had been playing Alex’s guitar for the song while still singing backup, headed towards the band. Anna took the chance for a last picture of the crowd now the floor wasn’t shaking as much, before following the way Matt went, weaving in and out of the crew members that were running around.

When she finally reached the guys they were all sharing a group hug. She stood back watching with a bright smile and if she hadn’t of realised how much all this had meant to them already, she would have right then without a doubt. It was impossible to ignore their love and passion for music.

All four of them pulled away with bright smiles and as Zack and Rian attempted to attack Matt with sweaty hugs, Alex walked over to Anna with the bright smile still spread across his face.

“Did you like the show?” Alex asked leaning down to her ear so he wouldn’t have to yell over everyone.

Anna nodded and quickly grabbed her notebook and pen.

‘Loved it! One of the best shows I have seen. I can believe how loud the crowd was!’

Alex flashed a new grin and Anna would swear she could feel the energy drifting off him. Alex was practically glowing with it. She wondered if that was what it was like for him every show, it probably was.

“That was probably the loudest show we’ve played for a while. It’s usually loud but that was, yeah, wow,” he laughed running a hand through his hair. “And they’re still going.” He added jerking this thumb back towards the stage.

Anna shook her head a little in disbelief. Standing back stage it was easy to see why the guys did this for a living and to be able to get reactions like that from people was beyond amazing, impossible to really describe and Anna only happened to be witnessing it close by. She couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like for Alex, Jack, Zack and Rian.

Or any other band in the world for that matter.

“Girls turn for a hug!” Jack yelled from somewhere.

Before Anna could even look around for him, arms were being wrapped around from behind and from her side tightly. She saw Zack and Rian run over joining in, creating a huge mass of mixed up limbs and puffs of laughter. After a moment she groaned internally shifting a little.

There was no problem with the hug or the fact they were dripping in sweat (“We should collect our sweat into bottles and sell it on EBay!” “That’s gross, Jack.”) But that fact they all stunk, quite badly. She twitched her nose in silent protest and someone must have managed to notice because they all started pulling away then, until there was only Alex’s arm draped lightly over her shoulders.

“Don’t know about you three, but I’m going to have a quick shower before I knock someone out.” Rian smiled heading back towards the dressing room, slapping a few crew members’ hands on the way.

“I call the second shower!” Jack yelled running off.

Zack closed his mouth having the words taken right out and shrugged. Alex turned Anna around slowly heading that way too with Zack following behind.

“Hey Alex, did you see Jack and Anna dancing during the acoustic set?”

Anna’s face flushed again for the second time in the last hour and she quickly ducked her head as Alex looked at her and Zack laughed at her reaction.

*

Anna sat alone in the dressing room as the band and Matt packed up the guitars, drum kit, mics and any of the sound equipment that was theirs. Even from inside at the back of the building it was still easy to hear the fans trickling out of the venue along with a lot of yelling and laughing. A complete opposite to the dressing room that was silent apart from the tiny click from Anna’s camera as she looked at some of the photos she had taken.

It was sort of hard to believe that twenty – thirty minutes ago she was watching All Time fricken Low perform in her hometown for the first time and was able stand backstage of all places. Anna can’t describe how grateful she was for that and was finding it hard to be able to express it other than writing thankyou in huge bold letters in her notebook.

It was a little overwhelming too that the guys did this for her out of kindness and not only because she helped Alex find his way back to the hotel. They even made sure she had one of the best nights ever; full of fun and excitement and smiles. Honestly, those five guys are probably the nicest guys she had ever met.

She doubts she could actually thank the band and Matt enough for tonight. If Anna had a voice she would be speechless and as it was, she was wordless. The best she could do right now, in this empty room alone, was shake her head and press her longest finger nail into her skin to make sure this wasn’t a dream. Though it was hard to think of this as a dream because Maddy would have woken her up by now, barking like a dog to join the real ones howling down the street all hours of the night. That hasn’t happened yet.

Letting out a sigh, she continued looking through the pictures. Some were beyond blurry but a lot were clear enough from what she could tell with the small screen. There were four she spotted already that were going to join the ‘photo wall’ in the lounge room.

Anna sat like that for another five minutes before the dressing room door opened revelling Alex. He smiled and headed over towards the bag of clothes and other stuff sitting on what was a coffee-table-turned-junk-holder.

“Get any good photos?” Alex asked curious.

Anna nodded and picked up her notebook quickly writing ‘a lot’. Locating the photo she was looking for when Alex walked into the room, she held her camera up for him to see. It was a simple photo really, of Alex standing on the amp closest where Jack was, pointing out to the crowd holding his guitar up high. But it was the lighting that made the photo, the pinks and purples, and the slight hint of orange over his shoulder. The way the lights shone down on Alex made him stand out like a star or something. Beautiful.

After studying the photo for a few long moments with wide eyes, Alex grinned, eyes all scrunched and teeth showing.

“That’s...That’s a beautiful photo. Do you do photography for a living or?”

‘Hobby. I work in my Aunt’s clothing store.’

Alex nodded and stated placing things into bags, quietly mumbling what sounded to be a check list. Anna turned her camera off and put it away. She was about to ask Alex if he needed any help when Rian walked in.

“Stage gear is all done and ready to be picked up tomorrow morning.”

“Our flight isn’t until midday right?” Alex asked holding up a t-shirt eyeing it.

“Two,” Rian corrected. “But we have to get there by then; Jack wants to go to that little souvenir shop he spotted. Wants to buy a toy kangaroo or something.”

Anna smiled to herself imagining what Jack would have looked like when he walked past the shop, jumping up and down wanting to go look. It’s probably exactly what happened, she figured, after getting to know Jack today; totally possible.

The door opened again and Matt walked in this time starting to grab a couple of the small packed bags. He headed back towards the door but came to a sudden stop, spinning around on his heels until he was facing the couch.

“After we finish packing everything were going straight back to the hotel-“

“Hotel bar, whoop!” Rian called making Alex chuckle.

“As I was saying,” Matt glared at Rian who quickly decided it was better to keep quiet this time much to everyone’s amusement. “We’re going straight back to the hotel, we’ll take you with us of course. Did you want me to arrange a cab or anything for you to get home, whenever you’re ready?”

Holding up a hand, Anna shook her head while gathering up her pen.

‘No need. I can walk back home from the hotel, it’s a short walk.’

She held the notebook up for him to read. After his eyes scanned the words a frown pulled heavily on his lips.

“You sure? It’s already after ten. I don’t really want to check out the news before we leave tomorrow and find out you got robbed or worse, because I let you walk home alone in the middle of the night.”

‘I’m sure. I’ve walked home at night a few times. It’s a pretty safe area, police station very close by and you always see police cars drive past doing nightly checks. I’ll be fine.’

The frown on Matt’s face lightened up a little but didn’t leave completely. Letting out what looked to be a sigh, he nodded. Anna looked up at him, just watching Matt for a second slightly taken back by his kindness and worry over her safety. She hadn’t have been expecting that from anyone, it was really sweet of him to say the least.

“Okay, but if you change your mind before you do go home, tell me and I’ll organise something.”

Anna nodded and Matt left the room leaving the door half open. Turning her attention to the opposite side of the room, she managed to spot Alex throw a sock at Rian’s head, just missing his nose.

Rian threw it on top of a bag and pulled out a pair of random boxes, holding them up with an equally dirty smirk. Alex squealed, actually squealed, and made a run for the door just as Zack appeared.

“Grab him!” Rian yelled bounding over the back of the couch patting Anna’s head on the way.

She laughed and watched Alex struggled in Zack’s arms as Rian stalked closer with the underwear. Alex yelled out for help only receiving Jack’s loud laughing from down the hall and the click of Anna’s camera.

*

The first thing everyone noticed while climbing out of the small rental van was that it had finally stopped raining. Clouds were still hanging heavily above but they were still, just like the wind had become. It reminded Anna of the saying ‘the calm before the storm’ and hoped that the weather continued to hold off until she got home.

Though by the looks of the ground it had probably stopped raining during the concert, it was hard to tell if that was a good thing or not. Either way it was still chilly out in the open air and Anna tugged her raincoat tighter, burying her hands into the pockets. Her fingers slid of the smooth surface of Jack’s guitar pick causing her to smile.

“It’s cold,” Rian said dragging out the ‘o’.

Mutual sounds of agreement rang out before being replaced with complaints of having to carry their bags back up to their room. Anna was secretly happy she didn’t have to do that, no matter how small some of the bags were, but at the same time felt bad she was empty handed, not helping. The bags were all snatched up before she could even offer.

They headed for the lobby doors and as they opened, got slammed with a lovely wall of heat. Jack even went as far as making some type of moaning noise that had the desk lady looking up in shock.

“I’m doing that in every hotel lobby I walk into from now on,” Jack snickered with a bright smirk.

Matt shook his head and reached out hitting Jack lightly over the head. Anna smiled and took a chance to look around the room making sure to remember everything because it was highly unlikely she’d actually come back here again. It still stunned her how simple but pretty it was.

“So what is everyone doing? We have to be up early tomorrow and I’m not nursing anyone with a hangover while on the plane.” Matt stated standing in front of the group.

“Food,” Zack shrugged. “Then sleep.”

“Food, food is good.” Jack nodded.

Rian said something about checking out the hotel bar which Alex nodded too. Matt turned his attention to Anna and she look over at him at the same time, sort of expecting it. She smiled, not only to show Matt she was listening but because he always remembers she was there, not a part of the scenery.

That was something else Anna noticed about these guys apart from their understanding and patience with the way she communicates. They didn’t make her feel left out or any different for it.

“What about you? You can hang out with us for a bit longer, but I think most of us are going to bed early. I know I am.”

Thinking for a moment, Anna pulled out her notebook and pen, flicking through the book for a clean page she realised she was on one of the last ones.

‘I think I might head home. I’d like to be with you guys longer but you need your sleep, so do I.’ In an afterthought she added ‘my house can’t clean itself’ with a smiley face.

Matt chuckled at the last part and nodded while a wide smile spread across his lips. Anna moved the book around for the others to read gaining a mix of smiles and frowns, not-yets and understanding.

She smiled at all of them and hoped they could tell how much fun she had tonight with just that. Because she did. Tonight...tonight was just fantastic in her eyes and she knew there was no real way of proving to them how grateful she was for everything. There seriously were no words.

“Do you want me to call you a taxi or something?” Matt offered pointing his thumb over towards the payphones, over in the corner of the room.

Like before, Anna held up a hand and shook her head. She knew the area well, living there for the better part of her life and the police station was two streets away from her house, she had to walk past it to get home. Matt frowned and pressed his lips into a tight line. He opened his mouth to say something but Anna cut him off shaking her hand.

She scribbled quickly in her notebook.

‘It’s fine really. I know this area well, it’s a safe walk. Thank you for the offer.’

She was about to hold the notebook up to him, when Matt decided to move first, standing beside her and reading over the shoulder. Before Matt moved away, she added.

‘I’ll email Alex when I get home, so you know I’m fine.’

“You better, otherwise I’m seriously not going to sleep tonight,” Matt said wrapping an arm over Anna’s shoulders in a sideways hug. “Can’t have my new little friend getting hurt.”

“I’ll walk you home.”

Everyone turned around, snapping their eyes towards Alex. Anna looked at him questionably and when she realised Alex seriously meant it, she pressed her lips together and started to shake her head. The guys had done so much for Anna already; they didn’t need to walk her home either. Especially not Alex who had the idea for all of this in the first place.

Alex didn’t seem to get - more like ignore - what Anna was trying to say and grinned.

“It’s only fair. You walked me “home” and now I’m returning the favour.” Alex stated matter-of-fact.

“If anyone ever says you’re not a gentleman, they deserve my socks in their face.” Jack stated with a nod that both Zack and Rian cringed too.

Anna twitched her nose that cause a few laughs to bubble out. Not that she had the experience of being around Jack’s socks but she couldn’t imagine being hit in the face would be very pleasant. Even more so when Zack and Rian cringed like they did.

She gripped her pen to write something down, only for it to be slid out of her hand before the ink could touch the paper. Alex smiled twirling the pen around in his fingers.

“I’m going to walk you home,” Alex said which for some reason made Jack started chuckling quietly. “Whether you like it or not, savvy?”

Figuring it was useless arguing, Anna nodded giving a little solute much like Jack Sparrow does in the movie. That managed to make Jack full on laugh out loud.

“It was great to meet you Anna.” Zack smiled placing down his bag and walked towards her.

Zack wrapped her up in a gentle bear hug and the moment she hugged back, Zack lifted her up off the ground. She gasped and faded into silent giggles as he spun her around before placing her feet back on the floor. They let go of each other but not before Anna mouthed “thank you for tonight” that took a second for Zack to understand. Smiling he stood back and Jack took the opportunity to pounce.

If Zack’s was a bear hug then Jack’s had to be a python or something. Anna suddenly felt like Timon in The Lion King three and if she had her pen, or could move for that matter, she would write the line ‘choking, not breathing’ down in her notebook. Jack let go almost just as quick as he wrapped her up into a little ball, which was probably a good thing, apart from the fact he was now frowning.

“The rest of the tour is going to suck now; I won’t have a dancing partner or a partner in skateboard skiing crime,” Jack pouted a little. “Or anyone to kidnap.”

“You got to give her back sometime.” Rian chuckled stepping around Jack, giving Anna a light hug. “Hope you had fun tonight. Keep in contact, okay? You’ll be the first one to know when we come back to Australia again.”

Rian pulled back with a grin showing of his mostly perfect white teeth. Anna nodded and flashed her own grin just as she spotted Matt hovering out the corner of her eye. She turned to him and both reached for a hug at the same time. They pulled apart a second after and Anna held her hand out for her pen. Alex happily gave it back.

She flicked over to a new page in her notebook and let the ink bleed into to the page.

‘It’s impossible to explain how awesome tonight was for me. Thank you all so much.’

Taking a deep breath, she handed the book to Matt, who was closest and watched as it was passed around the group. She could fell her cheeks prickling with heat from their beaming smiles directed her way.

“You’re welcome!” Rian said handing the book back.

Jack squeezed himself in-between Zack and Matt to quickly give Anna another hug that was less python like this time. Anna pulled back looking over at Alex who was standing quietly out of the way, ready to go whenever she was.

She looked back to her notebook and lifted her pen.

‘I’ll see you guys again when you come back, hope the rest of the tour goes well and have a safe trip home.’

When she was sure they all had read it, she headed over to Alex waving. It felt weird having to say goodbye like that after spending the day with them and most likely not seeing them again for a very long time. But Anna had the photos, Jack’s pick and the memories. Just having them was enough to remember this night for a lifetime.

The four of them were still calling out goodbyes when the hotel doors shut behind her and Alex.

*

Amazingly enough the whole way back to the corner down the street from Anna’s house the weather decided to be nice, staying calm and dry. It still wasn’t all that warm; actually it felt like it was getting colder but that was alright, it hadn’t started raining yet.

It was quite apart from the odd car and their footsteps. It really took no time at all until Anna could see her house come into view and as it did she pointed it out to Alex. The house wasn’t all that big or new and it needed to be re-painted, but it was one of the better houses on the street that wasn’t newly built. The lounge room light was on and Anna almost sighed relieved that the light timer actually worked this time. Not that Maddy would notice, she’d sleep whenever she felt like it.

“Apart from the fact it’s cold, it’s nice out here.” Alex said quietly as they stepped onto the front lawn.

Anna nodded in agreement and led Alex across the grass to the steps leading onto the front veranda. The lounge room light shinning though the curtains was just bright enough for them see.

“I’m glad you had fun today,” Alex smiled being careful not to hit the birdfeeder hanging by the stairs. “It’s pretty rear that we can do that for people, so when we do have the chance to it makes it more special. Even more when we consider you as our friend.”

Turning around from the front door, Anna looked at Alex with wide surprised eyes. She had somewhat thought it herself and the guys had joked around a few times during the day saying things like ‘my little Aussie friend’ but to actually hear Alex say it like that, made it real. A wide smile started to spread across her lips as Alex nodded answering an unspoken question.

“You’re our first official Australian friend,” Alex said almost sounding excited. “And my rescuer.”

Anna laughed and hit Alex lightly on the arm, shaking her head. Digging around in her pockets, she pulled out her trusty notebook and pen, and using what light there was she managed to just see what she was writing.

‘I really didn’t do anything, like I said this morning anyone would have helped you. I just happened to be there at the right place, at the right time.’

She shrugged off-handed when Alex looked up from the page. Rolling his eyes, Alex reached out and pulled her into a hug.

“You’re too kind. Yes, you saved me from being lost, that’s that,” Alex said mostly into her hair. “And I’m not letting go until you agree.”

Letting a silent laugh shake them, Anna nodded easily giving up in arguing about it. It was proving to be pointless anyway. As Alex said he would, he let her go but not before tightening the hug for a moment. Anna scrabbled to write what she wanted to say before Alex had a chance.

‘Thank you, so much for today. No one has ever down anything really special for me. I had a fabulous night. Thank you.’

Hoping to really show that she meant, she mouthed ‘thank you’ when Alex looked up from reading what she had written. For a second she thought here was some unknown light reflecting in Alex’s eyes, but she quickly realised it was his eyes sparkling as a huge smile pulled at his lips. She was wrapped up in another hug before she could even blink.

“From what I see you deserved it,” Alex smiled against her cheek. “You’re welcome and hopefully that won’t be the last time. I can’t wait until we can hang out again. Maybe we can get more time here and you can show us around?”

Anna pulled back just enough for Alex to see and ignoring her heating cheeks she nodded, eye bright and locked with Alex’s. She wasn’t sure what Alex saw there, but he grinned again almost looking excited like she verbally said yes to the idea.

Suddenly Alex pulled away and the smile turned into a frown.

“You’re shivering.”

Glancing down at her hands Anna noticed that, yeah, she actually was. It was then she noticed she couldn’t really feel her fingertips touching her notebook or her nose either.

“I better go and let you get inside,” Alex said almost a little reluctant. “I’ll email you when I get back, so you know I didn’t get lost.”

‘Sure you don’t need any directions?’ Anna quickly wrote with a smirk holding the pad up.

Alex laughed quickly shaking his head.

“Not unless you hear knocking on your front door in five minutes.”

‘Have a safe flight home.’ She quickly wrote before Alex could turn away.

“Thanks.”

Anna smiled and watched as Alex slowly navigated his way back to the veranda stairs, just managing to miss the hanging birdfeeder again. He turned around when his foot touched the first step.

“I’ll see you next time. I’ll let you know when.” Alex promised.

He waved and turned heading down the stairs. Anna crossed her arms across her chest to keep her hands warm while watching Alex tread carefully over her front lawn. When he reached the footpath, he looked back waving again. She waved back and before she knew it he was out of sight heading down the street.

She stood there for a moment, letting her mind flick back on today and everything that happened. A beaming smile spread across her face and she quickly pulled her keys out. As the door swung open a slow flood of heat mixed in with the cool air and Anna quickly went inside locking the door behind her.

Maddy stirred in her cage and welcomed Anna home with one of her lovely songs.

*

Not two days later, a whole new array of photos decorated Anna’s living room wall, many more than the four she had originally picked out. There was that many, the wall that had only been a half way covered was now fully covered, ceiling to floor in frozen memories.

And the boys were on their way home, completely unknowing of the photo’s that hopefully will be arriving in their mail boxes any day now.