I'm Yours Tonight

LAYLA’s POV
Sam, Andy and Brad left that same afternoon, flying back to their homes in Sydney. Sam had given me his number, so he and I had begun texting and becoming close friends. I was hoping Charlotte would want to remain in contact with Brad, but she had only said a brief goodbye to him when they left. I really wanted those two to be together, almost more than I wanted Sam and I to be together. So far we had only been subtly flirting through Facebook messages and texts, but other than that, our relationship was nothing more than a budding friendship. I desperately wanted it to be something more.

Ever since Charlotte’s reuniting with Lucas, she had barely spoken to me. I hadn’t forgotten Lucas, and I surely hadn’t forgotten all the nights I spent up crying with Charlotte because he had gotten into a heated argument with her, or he was just completely ignoring her. I was never one for second chances, especially after Ben, so I didn’t trust Lucas. Deep down, Charlotte never really got over him. It was rough for her to leave him in Sydney because they would talk a lot, and they helped each other out a lot whenever they weren’t arguing. Her problem with their relationship in the past was that it was very one sided – she devoted so much time and effort into making him feel better about himself and make him a better person to be around, but he didn’t do the same for her. In fact, he would tear her down on multiple occasions, and never bother to put her back together. Their relationship was poison for them both, and I was suspecting he hadn’t changed much since we were in high school.

It was a Wednesday afternoon, and I had just returned from my job as a waitress. Charlotte was yet to return home from University, so I had the whole apartment to myself. There wasn’t much to do in an apartment like mine when you’re all alone – that’s why Charlotte and I chose to live together, so we wouldn’t have to be alone.

I sat down at my desk, opening up my laptop. Immediately, there was a beep, followed by a loud ringing noise from Skype. It was Sam, wanting to video chat with me. Of course I accepted – we talked on Skype a lot, and texted whenever we could. He was busy often with his band; they were leading up to a new tour and they had to practice a lot of their newer songs for the show. He knew I was a fan even though I was still his friend, so he let me watch them rehearse a new song via Skype video chat. That was one of the major perks of being friends with people in a band you absolutely loved.

“Hey you,” he greeted as soon as the call was connected. I saw his goofy smile and messy brown hair first, and that made me smile. He had an overall lazy appearance that could be deemed generally Australian. It was very evident through his looks that he grew up close to the beach, often venturing out into the waves whenever he had the chance.

“What’s up dude?” I asked, grinning at him. I hadn’t seen him in close to two months, when he was still in Melbourne with Brad and Andy. Since then, we had gradually been building up our friendship. It began with one or two texts in a day, which went on to a phone call every now and then, and eventually the point we were at where we were texting almost constantly, or talking on the phone. I was talking to Sam more than I was talking to Charlotte, which was something I was certainly not used to.

“Stupid band stuff. We’re kicking off our tour tomorrow. I’m kind of nervous about it.” He confessed.

“Don’t be nervous! I’ve seen you play your new stuff enough to know you will be fine. More than fine. You’ll be amazing. Don’t doubt yourself!” I said. He smiled, looking down as his cheeks turned a bright shade of pink.

“You just have to say that because you’re my friend. I probably won’t stuff up, I just always get nervous, I guess.” He said. It was a good feeling seeing a real part of Sam come out – a part that wasn’t hidden by all the fame. He put on an egotistical act when he was in a public domain, but when his walls had fallen down, he was really down to earth and a very genuine guy.

“You never look nervous onstage. Your confidence radiates throughout the whole concert venue.” I said. In a way I was pumping up his confidence a little, but it was all truth. A Grace Falls live experience was an amazing one that I rarely passed up the chance to see. I was incredibly excited for their Melbourne show, not just to see Sam again, but to see the whole band get up and play.

“Okay, you have to stop before my head gets too big to fit on this screen,” he chuckled, making me smile. His laughter never failed to make me smile, so I tried to make him laugh as much as I could. His laughter faded, and he looked into the camera with a warm smile. “Only four more days until the Melbourne show. I can’t wait to see you again.”

“I can’t wait to see you guys play! It’s been a while since I’ve been to a Grace Falls concert. I miss the amazing feeling.” I grinned as I spoke.

“And I’m sure you’ll enjoy it even more side stage. With Charlotte, of course.” He said. I let out a little squeal, jumping up in surprise and excitement. Being side stage? That was a major dream of mine, and Sam was just about to make it come true!

“Are you serious? Oh my God Sam, I love you! This is the best! Holy shit!” I screamed. He laughed lightly at my crazy fan-girling.

“Okay, okay, but don’t do that when you’re there. I don’t need you cramping my style I worked so hard to get to its high point its at today.” He joked, the pinkness of his cheeks returning.

“Sam, my boy, you don’t have any style. Please stop acting like you do, its just getting sad.” I joked right back, still beaming from the news.

“I gotta go, but I’ll text you. Reply to me right away or else I’ll post that great photo from Halloween you sent me the other day on Twitter, you butt.” He said. I just laughed, blowing a kiss to Sam before closing my laptop. I relaxed back into the lounge, the grin of my face beginning to fatigue my cheeks. I couldn’t wait to tell Charlotte! I tried calling her phone, but after it rang out several times, I figured she was too busy with Uni or Lucas to care, so I just eagerly awaited her return home.

---

The concert couldn’t have come quick enough. The long days of work dragged on, and my excitement grew almost unbearable. Charlotte wasn’t nearly as excited as me, especially the night before the concert when her and Lucas got into a huge fight. She moped around for days, but put on a happy face when we went to go meet Sam and the boys at the venue.

Sam said to dress nicely as there was an official after party at a nearby bar we would be accompanying them with, so Charlotte and I dressed to impress. I wore a white tight dress with lace overlay and black pumps while Charlotte wore a fluorescent pink crop shirt, black tube skirt and black wedges. She looked more than amazing, and if I had known any better, I’d say she was trying to get the attention of some boys in an attempt to make Lucas jealous. While they weren’t actually anything official, they still spent a lot of time together and engaged in certain intimate activities that made me think they were basically already a couple. However, the whole non-exclusive thing meant Charlotte could see other people. I was hoping that meant she would take a chance with Brad.

I too was trying to impress a boy – Sam. Our long conversations made me learn how much of a great guy he was, and my lust for him turned into actual feelings. I was beginning to really like this guy, something I had been wary of allowing myself to experience for such a long time. But with Sam, taking the leap seemed worth it. Getting to know him over the two months made me see how much I really wanted him to want me back.

It felt weird going to an all ages concert in clubbing attire, and especially weird going in the middle of the day. Charlotte and I stopped lining up early to concerts when we turned 18 because we spent so much time around the bar or talking to friends anyway.

When we reached the venue, there were already quite a few die-hard fans outside the venue. There were a few that were older than us, and glared as we walked up to the front of the line. The burly security guard looked us up and down, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“You must be Kenady group. Right on time.” He said, smiling. He seemed very friendly, promptly escorting us into the venue and away from the now-confused and probably jealous fans.

We followed him through the wide hallway to the wide-open theatre space where the stage was a fair few metres away from us. People were still setting up the barrier in front of the stage, and testing equipment onstage.

“It’s so weird seeing it this empty,” Charlotte mumbled, looking around the room in awe. I had to agree that it was definitely an interesting sight to see for live music fans, but I was too interested in searching for Sam. My eyes scanned the room, looking in every little dark corner and through all the little gaps I could to find him. One of his band mates, Andy, was already on stage, testing his equipment. He looked up for a moment, seeing Charlotte and I, and smiling. He had met us earlier in Melbourne with the other boys, and I had spoken to him a few times on Skype if he was with Sam, but my relationship with him was barely a friendship. He hurried off the stage, returning quickly pulling Sam along behind him.
When I saw his face, I grinned so wide that I felt like my lips were going to burst off my face. I was filled with excitement, happiness, relief and a slight sense of anxiety all at once. I jogged over to the stage, swiftly evading the barrier construction. Sam jumped down so he was standing in front of me. As soon as he was stable, I threw my arms around him, and he held me tight. He smelled so nice, I never wanted to let go…

“I told you to dress nice, dork.” He scoffed as he pulled away. I raised an eyebrow at him, examining what he was wearing. Of course he looked great, but I wasn’t going to let him know that.

“Says you, idiot. You look like you let a blind monkey choose your 4clothes, again.” I retorted. He pulled a fake hurt expression, laughing away the “pain”.

He took Charlotte and I backstage, through the twists and turns of the corridors to a relatively large room deemed the band’s “dressing room”. It was just a white cement-walled room with a few lounges and a bathroom directly across the hall. Clothes and bags were strewn across the room, making it look like they easily made themselves at home. Brad was relaxed on a lounge when we entered, playing around on his phone. He looked up at us for a brief moment, flashing a little smile our way before turning his attention back to his phone. I didn’t really mind, all I wanted to do was be with Sam.

BRAD’s POV
I wasn’t told that Charlotte and Layla would be joining us backstage, so I was surprised when I saw both of them standing in the doorway of our dressing room. I looked up for a moment when I heard Sam’s voice as they entered, and was immediately caught off-guard by Charlotte. She was dressed so inappropriately for the concert, but I had to admit, she looked nice.

I didn’t want to talk to her, so after saying a casual hello, I returned my attention to my phone. I was still a little bitter over her whole thing with Lucas. I knew that it was stupid and immature of me seeing as I had absolutely nothing to do with the girl, but I was somewhat disappointed in her. Why would she subject herself to that kind of guy? The kind that is completely wrong for her and will only end up hurting her again?

After a few moments, Charlotte sat down next to me, smiling at me as she did. I pulled my earphones out, mentally ceasing my bitterness at her.

“I’m so excited to see you guys play tonight. We missed your last show here, but now it’s going to be so much better. Well worth the wait.” she said casually, like nothing was wrong. In reality, nothing was actually wrong. My childish mind just liked to think there was.

“Yeah, and we’re gonna be playing new stuff tonight. I know you’ll love it.” I replied, and she grinned at the thought of new music. It was odd to me that someone who was a friend could be such a big fan of our music - of course all our friends enjoyed our music, but she was really dedicated.

That conversation started a whole bigger conversation, where her and I caught up on the lost time. During our talk, I was regretting being mad at her for that whole time. It had been a few weeks since we met her and Layla, and I really wanted to properly get to know her. It wasn’t even that I liked her, she was just a really cool girl to be around. She was different to the other girls I was friends with, and I felt like I could talk with her for hours.

Our talk only lasted about 40 minutes before I had to go help out with soundcheck. I kept my mind focused on the music and keeping on my cues during soundcheck, but thoughts of her were stuck in the back of my mind. I was super excited to play the show, but even more excited to hang out with her afterwards. I mentally told myself that I was going to perform to the best I could, so that I could impress her. And then, hopefully, she would be thinking about me as much as I was thinking about her.