Status: Finished
Not My Circus
Not My Circus
"Guys, you have no idea how badly I want to go with you, but I promised Jaie that I'd go to the show. It's their last stop in America before they head to Europe."
"You do know how lucky you are to be going to the Nitro show, right?"
"Look, next Friday night, first round is on me alright? And I'm not just going to the show, Darren, he got me a pass. I'll be hanging out with Lyn-Z and Jolene all night."
"Are they single?"
"No, Darren."
"I tried," he mutters with a laugh, "take some pics for me."
"I will, tell the girls I'm sorry."
Dalia looks down at her phone and realizes that she has to leave in five minutes if she wants to make it well before the show starts. She wanted to catch up with Lyn-Z and the rest of the guys on the tour, but she was mostly excited to get to spend some time with Jaie and Aaron. She rushed through her makeup, ran a brush through her long, burgundy hair, and rushed through the house, grabbing keys and wallet on her way to the door.
It took longer than expected to find parking in the garage and she started to wish she had gotten there earlier, but there was nothing that could be done now, she thought to herself as she jogged down the stairs. The lines were crazy around the front, but she knew she wouldn't have to go through there after she got her ticket from the booth.
"How many?"
"I should have one waiting under the name Dalia Summers."
The man behind the glass looks down at the computer and then back at her, "ID please."
After pulling her wallet it out, she passes it through the opening at the bottom of the glass and watches as he squints at it before typing her name into the computer. After a quick check, her ID is passed back through along with her ticket. After exchanging a few quick texts with Jaie, Dalia finds herself waiting outside a door on the side of the building near the valet lot. The door opens and Jaie pokes his head out, looking around before spotting her and giving her a shy smile.
"Hey."
"Hey," he replies quietly, opening the door wider to let her through.
"Thanks for the ticket."
"I wasn't sure if you were coming or not, but I thought I should leave it just in case."
"Jaie, I wouldn't miss this for the world, you know that."
"Yeah, well..." he trails off as they reach a set of big, gray doors.
"Ready?"
"Oh yeah, it's not my circus tonight, so let me in."
Jaie chuckles and opens the door, letting her in before him.
"Dalia!"
After just a few steps in, Jolene nearly knocks her off her feet with a hug, making both the girls, and the surrounding people, laugh. Jolene pulls her away from Jaie, who quietly watches her go, and over to Lyn-Z and Travis.
"So, she still came?"
Jaie looks away from the smiling faces and down to his friend Aaron, "yeah, I didn't think she would."
"I knew she was coming."
Jaie raises an eyebrow as he looks back over to Dalia who now had her arms full with Addy and Bristol, a smile on her face as she listens to Jolene and Lyn-Z.
"Jaie, I need to run something by you."
Jaie rolls his eyes at Aaron's attempt at a joke and looks back down at him, "what?"
"Dalia and I have been talking for a little while now, and I wanted to know if you're cool with that."
Jaie can't hide the frown on his face as the feeling that something is off snakes it's way into every part of him, "since when?"
"Jaie you know I wouldn't do that to you, it's not even like that. She called me, trying to get Jolene while we were at a show because Jolene wasn't answering, I was done for the night and I just listened to her. That's it, we started texting after that and it's just been chill, ya know?"
Jaie looks away from Aaron again and shakes his head, his eyes landing once again on Dalia in time to see Bilko wrapping his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into him and putting his face in her hair.
"I can't watch this," he mumbles, turning around and walking out the doors.
Aaron sighs and wheels himself over to Jolene, grabbing her attention and nodding his head at Dalia and Bilko while raising his eyebrows, to which Jolene only shrugs.
Meanwhile...
"Bilko, get off me."
"Come on Da, let's go out back for a minute."
"I mean it Blake."
"Jaie doesn't care."
Dalia shakes her head softly and pulls away enough to look into his face, "what makes you think this is about Jaie?"
"Because before Jaie," he mutters, leaning towards her again, pressing his lips against her ear, "you loved this."
Dalia feels the heat rush to her face as she pulls away from him, attempting to ignore his thick accent and hot breath, and glares at him, watching as he laughs while walking away. She sighs and turns around, watching as most of the guys head out towards the arena with Travis in the lead. Aaron wheels over to her and pats his lap, "want a ride?" She can't help but to laugh, "no, thanks though Wheelz."
"Come on, Jaie's already out there."
"He saw that, didn't he?"
Aaron shrugs and wheels ahead of her to open the door, giving her a half smile as she walks through it, she notices Jaie standing across the hall, his tattooed arms crossed over his chest and his eyes on the floor. Aaron clears his throat and then rides off down the hall, waving as he goes, leaving Jaie and Dalia alone.
"You going on later tonight?" She asks him quietly, staring down the hall where Aaron had disappeared.
"Why didn't you just ask Bilko for a ticket?"
"Because I wasn't coming to see him."
"You could have asked Jolene, or Lyn-Z, or hell you could have even sent Travis a text."
"Jaie, let's not do this tonight. We're supposed to be having fun."
"It's hard to have fun when you have to watch your ex-girlfriend making out with one of your best friends."
Dalia tries to blink back tears as she finally turns to look at him, the dark look in his eyes startling her, "is that what you think of me? I haven't kissed Blake. Not tonight, not ever. I haven't been with any of your friends Jaie, and in case you forgot, you're the one who broke up with me."
She watches the muscles in his jaw work as he clenches it tightly to keep from saying anything else; her heart pounds as she waits for him to say something, anything. She sniffs, and nods her head before turning around and walking towards the arena in search of Jolene. Jaie watches her go, kicking the wall behind him when she goes around the corner.
"Way to go Jaie."
~~~
"Dalia, what's wrong?"
She looks up to see Jolene walking towards her, quickly dropping her head and dabbing at her eyes to keep from smudging her makeup. Jolene pulls her face up and looks at her through narrowed eyes, "who made you cry?"
"It's nothing Jo, now tell me, are you rocking the pink car tonight?"
"We'll talk about this later Dalia," she replies, ignoring her question.
Aaron rolls up to her and smirks, "you're late, seats are all taken. You can sit here if you'd like."
Dalia laughs and drops into his lap, squealing when he launches forward and takes her around to where Lyn-Z is sitting with the kids. Addy laughs as Aaron pulls his wheelchair into a wheelie, spinning in a quick circle, with Dalia's arms wrapped tightly around him, laughing loudly. Lyn-Z laughs as Addy starts asking for a ride too when Dalia gets off. Aaron waves while heading over to join some of the guys and Dalia grabs one of the folding chairs, sitting down next to Lyn-Z and letting Addy climb into her lap.
~After the Show~
"That was incredible you guys, as always."
"Thanks Dalia, I'm glad you came, Addy had a blast sitting with you," Travis tells her, indicating the sleeping girl on his shoulder.
Dalia laughs, "I had so much fun with her, and Bristol is a ball of joy too! I missed you guys."
"We missed you too," Lyn-Z hints, her eyes darting over to Jaie.
"Well I'm going to go say goodnight, I've got to get home."
Travis and Lyn-Z wave as she walks towards Jolene who gives her a hug and then directs her towards Jaie with a grin. Before Dalia can turn around and head in the opposite direction, Aaron is rolling up to her with a grin on his face, "didn't think you could get away that easy, did you?"
"I thought you left already," she mumbles lamely.
He laughs and shakes his head, "come on."
She follows him as he wheels over to Jaie and Cam, a big smile on his face as he speeds up and runs into Jaie, causing Jaie to trip over him, sending them both to the floor in a heap of tangled limbs and wheels. Cam and Dalia laugh, watching as the pair untangle themselves before Jaie pulls Aaron up and helps him back into his wheelchair.
"So, Aaron, you going back to Woodward after the European tour?" Dalia asks him while trying to avoid looking at Jaie.
"Yeah, but I'm going to stop and see a couple of kids in the hospital first, one of the boys' mom's sent me a message asking if I could go talk to them; her son was just told that he's going to need a wheelchair and he's really bummed."
"That's awesome, he's going to love you, everyone does."
Aaron laughs and shrugs before yawning a huge, fake, yawn, "man I am beat."
"I'm heading out too, work tomorrow, I'll walk with you."
"Oh you're funny," Aaron mutters, chuckling.
"Night, guys, it was good seeing you again," she tells Jaie and Cam before turning to follow Aaron to the doors.
Jaie and Cam watch as she walks away, both of them noticing Bilko lingering by the doors with Todd.
"That was cold," Cam mutters after watching both Todd and Bilko throw their arms around Dalia's shoulders before walking out the doors with her.
"That was my fault," Jaie replies, elbowing Cam before grabbing his bike and heading towards the doors.
"Why, because you broke up with her? What even happened with you two?"
"Because we were leaving for tour, and I didn't want her to have to wait around for me. We were only dating a few months."
"Seriously?"
"I know, alright? It was stupid and she knows it and I know it and we all know it was really because I wasn't sure I wanted to commit."
"So are her and Bilko like..."
"I don't know, but Bilko doesn't seem to have a problem moving in on her."
~~~~~
"It was so good to see you guys again, I'm going to miss you!" Dalia tells the guys outside the door.
"It was good seeing you too Dalia, take care of yourself and hit me up on Facebook some time," Todd tells her, hugging her and heading back through the door.
Aaron rolls up to her, so she leans down and hugs him tightly, "text me later, okay?"
He nods his head and wheels over to the door and waits. Bilko looks over his shoulder and raises an eyebrow, "give us a minute Wheelz?"
"I am."
Dalia bites her lip to keep from laughing before she makes a shooing motion with her hand, "I think I can handle him on my own Aaron, I'll text you."
Aaron rolls his eyes but heads back inside anyways, leaving Dalia alone with Bilko, who quickly takes advantage of being left alone with her and wraps his arms around her waist. Dalia sighs and leans away from him with a frown on her face, "Blake, I can't do this with you."
"Why not?"
"Because I care about Jaie, and I know that it would hurt him to see me with any of you guys."
"What if it makes you happy?"
"Blake, do not do this right now."
"If I had asked you out..."
"But you wouldn't of because you don't do that kind of thing."
"Don't interrupt me Da, if I had asked you out, you and Jaie never would have happened."
Dalia doesn't say anything as Bilko slowly leans closer to her, "if I had asked you out, what would you have said?"
Again she doesn't say anything, her teeth pull her lip between them as she chews on it, her eyes darting to the ground. Bilko pulls her closer until their lower bodies are touching and ducks his head, blocking her view of the ground.
"Da, what would you have said?"
The pleading tone is too much for her as she raises her head and looks him full on in the face.
~~
Jaie catches Aaron waiting in the hall and looks at the door, "she leave yet?"
Aaron shakes his head, "she's out there with Blake."
"Be honest with me Wheelz, how badly did I hurt her?"
"She cared about you a lot Jaie. If you had asked her to stick around for you during the tour, she would have."
"You think Blake would make her happy?"
Aaron shrugs, "he cares about her too."
Jaie blinks and looks down at him, "what?"
"He cares about her."
Jaie looks back at the door and then turns around, "tell her I said bye."
Aaron pulls his phone out and sends Dalia a text before putting his phone away and turning his chair in the same direction Jaie had gone.
~~~
Dalia jumps as her phone dings and vibrates in her pocket, signaling a text from Aaron. Bilko sighs and pulls away from her, running a hand through his hair as she pulls it out.
It's okay.
She smiles softly and puts her phone back in her pocket, looking up to see Bilko watching her.
"I probably have to go before they leave without me, right?"
She shakes her head and walks slowly towards him, watching as he watches her, his eyes locked on hers. Her heart starts to pound as she reaches out and puts her hands on his hips, slowly pulling him closer to her. Bilko lets out a breath as he wraps his arms around her shoulders, pulling her body flush with his.
"What would you have said to me, if Jaie was never in the picture?"
Dalia leans up and presses her lips against his, her eyes sliding shut as Bilko tightens his grip on her and deepens the kiss.
"You do know how lucky you are to be going to the Nitro show, right?"
"Look, next Friday night, first round is on me alright? And I'm not just going to the show, Darren, he got me a pass. I'll be hanging out with Lyn-Z and Jolene all night."
"Are they single?"
"No, Darren."
"I tried," he mutters with a laugh, "take some pics for me."
"I will, tell the girls I'm sorry."
Dalia looks down at her phone and realizes that she has to leave in five minutes if she wants to make it well before the show starts. She wanted to catch up with Lyn-Z and the rest of the guys on the tour, but she was mostly excited to get to spend some time with Jaie and Aaron. She rushed through her makeup, ran a brush through her long, burgundy hair, and rushed through the house, grabbing keys and wallet on her way to the door.
It took longer than expected to find parking in the garage and she started to wish she had gotten there earlier, but there was nothing that could be done now, she thought to herself as she jogged down the stairs. The lines were crazy around the front, but she knew she wouldn't have to go through there after she got her ticket from the booth.
"How many?"
"I should have one waiting under the name Dalia Summers."
The man behind the glass looks down at the computer and then back at her, "ID please."
After pulling her wallet it out, she passes it through the opening at the bottom of the glass and watches as he squints at it before typing her name into the computer. After a quick check, her ID is passed back through along with her ticket. After exchanging a few quick texts with Jaie, Dalia finds herself waiting outside a door on the side of the building near the valet lot. The door opens and Jaie pokes his head out, looking around before spotting her and giving her a shy smile.
"Hey."
"Hey," he replies quietly, opening the door wider to let her through.
"Thanks for the ticket."
"I wasn't sure if you were coming or not, but I thought I should leave it just in case."
"Jaie, I wouldn't miss this for the world, you know that."
"Yeah, well..." he trails off as they reach a set of big, gray doors.
"Ready?"
"Oh yeah, it's not my circus tonight, so let me in."
Jaie chuckles and opens the door, letting her in before him.
"Dalia!"
After just a few steps in, Jolene nearly knocks her off her feet with a hug, making both the girls, and the surrounding people, laugh. Jolene pulls her away from Jaie, who quietly watches her go, and over to Lyn-Z and Travis.
"So, she still came?"
Jaie looks away from the smiling faces and down to his friend Aaron, "yeah, I didn't think she would."
"I knew she was coming."
Jaie raises an eyebrow as he looks back over to Dalia who now had her arms full with Addy and Bristol, a smile on her face as she listens to Jolene and Lyn-Z.
"Jaie, I need to run something by you."
Jaie rolls his eyes at Aaron's attempt at a joke and looks back down at him, "what?"
"Dalia and I have been talking for a little while now, and I wanted to know if you're cool with that."
Jaie can't hide the frown on his face as the feeling that something is off snakes it's way into every part of him, "since when?"
"Jaie you know I wouldn't do that to you, it's not even like that. She called me, trying to get Jolene while we were at a show because Jolene wasn't answering, I was done for the night and I just listened to her. That's it, we started texting after that and it's just been chill, ya know?"
Jaie looks away from Aaron again and shakes his head, his eyes landing once again on Dalia in time to see Bilko wrapping his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into him and putting his face in her hair.
"I can't watch this," he mumbles, turning around and walking out the doors.
Aaron sighs and wheels himself over to Jolene, grabbing her attention and nodding his head at Dalia and Bilko while raising his eyebrows, to which Jolene only shrugs.
Meanwhile...
"Bilko, get off me."
"Come on Da, let's go out back for a minute."
"I mean it Blake."
"Jaie doesn't care."
Dalia shakes her head softly and pulls away enough to look into his face, "what makes you think this is about Jaie?"
"Because before Jaie," he mutters, leaning towards her again, pressing his lips against her ear, "you loved this."
Dalia feels the heat rush to her face as she pulls away from him, attempting to ignore his thick accent and hot breath, and glares at him, watching as he laughs while walking away. She sighs and turns around, watching as most of the guys head out towards the arena with Travis in the lead. Aaron wheels over to her and pats his lap, "want a ride?" She can't help but to laugh, "no, thanks though Wheelz."
"Come on, Jaie's already out there."
"He saw that, didn't he?"
Aaron shrugs and wheels ahead of her to open the door, giving her a half smile as she walks through it, she notices Jaie standing across the hall, his tattooed arms crossed over his chest and his eyes on the floor. Aaron clears his throat and then rides off down the hall, waving as he goes, leaving Jaie and Dalia alone.
"You going on later tonight?" She asks him quietly, staring down the hall where Aaron had disappeared.
"Why didn't you just ask Bilko for a ticket?"
"Because I wasn't coming to see him."
"You could have asked Jolene, or Lyn-Z, or hell you could have even sent Travis a text."
"Jaie, let's not do this tonight. We're supposed to be having fun."
"It's hard to have fun when you have to watch your ex-girlfriend making out with one of your best friends."
Dalia tries to blink back tears as she finally turns to look at him, the dark look in his eyes startling her, "is that what you think of me? I haven't kissed Blake. Not tonight, not ever. I haven't been with any of your friends Jaie, and in case you forgot, you're the one who broke up with me."
She watches the muscles in his jaw work as he clenches it tightly to keep from saying anything else; her heart pounds as she waits for him to say something, anything. She sniffs, and nods her head before turning around and walking towards the arena in search of Jolene. Jaie watches her go, kicking the wall behind him when she goes around the corner.
"Way to go Jaie."
~~~
"Dalia, what's wrong?"
She looks up to see Jolene walking towards her, quickly dropping her head and dabbing at her eyes to keep from smudging her makeup. Jolene pulls her face up and looks at her through narrowed eyes, "who made you cry?"
"It's nothing Jo, now tell me, are you rocking the pink car tonight?"
"We'll talk about this later Dalia," she replies, ignoring her question.
Aaron rolls up to her and smirks, "you're late, seats are all taken. You can sit here if you'd like."
Dalia laughs and drops into his lap, squealing when he launches forward and takes her around to where Lyn-Z is sitting with the kids. Addy laughs as Aaron pulls his wheelchair into a wheelie, spinning in a quick circle, with Dalia's arms wrapped tightly around him, laughing loudly. Lyn-Z laughs as Addy starts asking for a ride too when Dalia gets off. Aaron waves while heading over to join some of the guys and Dalia grabs one of the folding chairs, sitting down next to Lyn-Z and letting Addy climb into her lap.
~After the Show~
"That was incredible you guys, as always."
"Thanks Dalia, I'm glad you came, Addy had a blast sitting with you," Travis tells her, indicating the sleeping girl on his shoulder.
Dalia laughs, "I had so much fun with her, and Bristol is a ball of joy too! I missed you guys."
"We missed you too," Lyn-Z hints, her eyes darting over to Jaie.
"Well I'm going to go say goodnight, I've got to get home."
Travis and Lyn-Z wave as she walks towards Jolene who gives her a hug and then directs her towards Jaie with a grin. Before Dalia can turn around and head in the opposite direction, Aaron is rolling up to her with a grin on his face, "didn't think you could get away that easy, did you?"
"I thought you left already," she mumbles lamely.
He laughs and shakes his head, "come on."
She follows him as he wheels over to Jaie and Cam, a big smile on his face as he speeds up and runs into Jaie, causing Jaie to trip over him, sending them both to the floor in a heap of tangled limbs and wheels. Cam and Dalia laugh, watching as the pair untangle themselves before Jaie pulls Aaron up and helps him back into his wheelchair.
"So, Aaron, you going back to Woodward after the European tour?" Dalia asks him while trying to avoid looking at Jaie.
"Yeah, but I'm going to stop and see a couple of kids in the hospital first, one of the boys' mom's sent me a message asking if I could go talk to them; her son was just told that he's going to need a wheelchair and he's really bummed."
"That's awesome, he's going to love you, everyone does."
Aaron laughs and shrugs before yawning a huge, fake, yawn, "man I am beat."
"I'm heading out too, work tomorrow, I'll walk with you."
"Oh you're funny," Aaron mutters, chuckling.
"Night, guys, it was good seeing you again," she tells Jaie and Cam before turning to follow Aaron to the doors.
Jaie and Cam watch as she walks away, both of them noticing Bilko lingering by the doors with Todd.
"That was cold," Cam mutters after watching both Todd and Bilko throw their arms around Dalia's shoulders before walking out the doors with her.
"That was my fault," Jaie replies, elbowing Cam before grabbing his bike and heading towards the doors.
"Why, because you broke up with her? What even happened with you two?"
"Because we were leaving for tour, and I didn't want her to have to wait around for me. We were only dating a few months."
"Seriously?"
"I know, alright? It was stupid and she knows it and I know it and we all know it was really because I wasn't sure I wanted to commit."
"So are her and Bilko like..."
"I don't know, but Bilko doesn't seem to have a problem moving in on her."
~~~~~
"It was so good to see you guys again, I'm going to miss you!" Dalia tells the guys outside the door.
"It was good seeing you too Dalia, take care of yourself and hit me up on Facebook some time," Todd tells her, hugging her and heading back through the door.
Aaron rolls up to her, so she leans down and hugs him tightly, "text me later, okay?"
He nods his head and wheels over to the door and waits. Bilko looks over his shoulder and raises an eyebrow, "give us a minute Wheelz?"
"I am."
Dalia bites her lip to keep from laughing before she makes a shooing motion with her hand, "I think I can handle him on my own Aaron, I'll text you."
Aaron rolls his eyes but heads back inside anyways, leaving Dalia alone with Bilko, who quickly takes advantage of being left alone with her and wraps his arms around her waist. Dalia sighs and leans away from him with a frown on her face, "Blake, I can't do this with you."
"Why not?"
"Because I care about Jaie, and I know that it would hurt him to see me with any of you guys."
"What if it makes you happy?"
"Blake, do not do this right now."
"If I had asked you out..."
"But you wouldn't of because you don't do that kind of thing."
"Don't interrupt me Da, if I had asked you out, you and Jaie never would have happened."
Dalia doesn't say anything as Bilko slowly leans closer to her, "if I had asked you out, what would you have said?"
Again she doesn't say anything, her teeth pull her lip between them as she chews on it, her eyes darting to the ground. Bilko pulls her closer until their lower bodies are touching and ducks his head, blocking her view of the ground.
"Da, what would you have said?"
The pleading tone is too much for her as she raises her head and looks him full on in the face.
~~
Jaie catches Aaron waiting in the hall and looks at the door, "she leave yet?"
Aaron shakes his head, "she's out there with Blake."
"Be honest with me Wheelz, how badly did I hurt her?"
"She cared about you a lot Jaie. If you had asked her to stick around for you during the tour, she would have."
"You think Blake would make her happy?"
Aaron shrugs, "he cares about her too."
Jaie blinks and looks down at him, "what?"
"He cares about her."
Jaie looks back at the door and then turns around, "tell her I said bye."
Aaron pulls his phone out and sends Dalia a text before putting his phone away and turning his chair in the same direction Jaie had gone.
~~~
Dalia jumps as her phone dings and vibrates in her pocket, signaling a text from Aaron. Bilko sighs and pulls away from her, running a hand through his hair as she pulls it out.
It's okay.
She smiles softly and puts her phone back in her pocket, looking up to see Bilko watching her.
"I probably have to go before they leave without me, right?"
She shakes her head and walks slowly towards him, watching as he watches her, his eyes locked on hers. Her heart starts to pound as she reaches out and puts her hands on his hips, slowly pulling him closer to her. Bilko lets out a breath as he wraps his arms around her shoulders, pulling her body flush with his.
"What would you have said to me, if Jaie was never in the picture?"
Dalia leans up and presses her lips against his, her eyes sliding shut as Bilko tightens his grip on her and deepens the kiss.