Dangerous

"Shan! Showtime in twenty!" Eleanor called into the green room where Shannon was still messing around, smacking his drum sticks off of everything in excitement.

"You gonna tell me what this is all about, crazy?" she asked him, coming to stand behind him and wrapping her arms around him.

"Ah, all in due time, sweet little one. All in due time," he responded, flipping around and lightly tapping the sticks on the top of her head. Normally she'd push him more for information, but they really did only have a few minutes before Mars took the stage.

They had to run through their nightly checklist and make sure everything was done. She outfitted him with the belt that he wore just above his waist to attach his in-ear monitors to, unwinding the always tangled wire of the monitors themselves and placing them around his neck so that they wouldn't fall and get tangled again. She followed him out to the stage that was currently concealed by a giant sheet. Fans screamed just from seeing their silhouettes. Shannon smiled at her, and she couldn't help but smile back. She plugged him into the main monitor that sat on the back of his drum riser. He stuck his in-ears in and listened for a moment and nodded. He spoke into the microphone that led directly to the earpiece in her ear so that he could talk to her easily during the show if he needed her. She nodded when his voice came through loud and clear. She made sure he had water and extra sticks.

He smiled at her again and kissed her when she leaned onto the riser towards him. "I love you, Ellie," he told her, and she smiled back at him.

"I love you too, Shan," she told him, and stood there with him for as long as she possibly could before the show started, then backed up and sat on a box a few feet away from the riser as soon as Shannon started pounding his drums into the beginning of the first song.

Six months had gone by since that day. The day that Eleanor and Shannon had finally confessed their love for each other after so many years of pretending like nothing was going on between them, after so many years of having that undeniable attraction between them, after so many years of ridiculous arguments that had only ever happened because they hadn't known what to do with their feelings for each other.

In those short months, so much had changed. Shannon had "gone public" to Mars fans about their relationship, and much to her surprise, they were met with so much happiness and encouragement. In fact, everyone they'd told seemed to be so happy for them, which just made her that much happier. They'd moved in together and spent almost every waking moment together, which they'd pretty much done before from working together, but it was different somehow, better.

Jared ran past her a minute later, snapping her out of her reverie. He kissed her on the cheek as he passed, a giant smile on his face. She watched the show in silent awe of the man she loved, as she usually did. Watching Shannon play did something very real to her. She'd never loved watching someone perform as much as she did him. It helped, of course, that he liked to frequently turn around and flash her the goofiest grins he could muster.

About halfway through the show, in between songs, Shannon unplugged himself and got up off of his drum stool and disappeared backstage. Tomo shot her a look from the other side of the riser, and she shrugged. It wasn't exactly unheard of for Shannon to have to run backstage to use the restroom between songs. He came back out a few minutes later, and she was surprised when instead of sitting back down behind his kit, he walked out to the front of the stage to stand beside his brother. The crowd went nuts; they didn't usually get to see Shannon out front.

"Alright, now if you lovely folks don't mind, I'd like to hand the mic over to my big brother here for a minute. He's got somethin' real important he's gotta say," Jared told the crowd, and was met with another rush of screams. Elle stood up behind the riser to see what was going on. As she did, Shannon was taking the mic from Jared and directing his attention straight to her.

"First of all, I need my lovely little Ellie out here! You think you guys could welcome her out?" Shannon called, and the crowd erupted with screams. Jared started chanting her name into Tomo's mic, and the crowd chanted with him. She stared at Shannon and could almost feel a deep blush rising in her cheeks. "C'mon, Ellie!" Shan yelled into the mic, and apparently Tomo had had enough of the anticipation, because he ran back to where she was and started gently pushing her up front. The crowd erupted yet again when they saw her. Jared stopped chanting and the crowd quieted as Tomo guided her to Shannon. Jared handed her a mic and gave her an expectant smile. He obviously knew what all this was.

"Hi, Ellie," Shannon said steadily, scattered screams still coming from the crowd.

"Hey, Shan," she replied, and he laughed into his mic.

"For those of you that don't know, this is my Ellie. She's my wonderful, amazing, beautiful girlfriend, and also the reason my drum kit doesn't fall apart back there and the reason I don't sound like shit," he said, and she rolled her eyes. He laughed again. "Well, Ellie, here's the deal. I have a question to ask you," he said, focusing his attention on her and smiling devilishly. Butterflies instantly rose in her stomach and her knees started to shake.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, realizing that her voice was shaky too.

"Yup," he said, reaching in his pocket and dropping down onto a knee. The crowd was absolutely deafening.

"No," she whispered, not even bothering with the mic. He must've seen her lips move, because he nodded slightly. She shot Jared a look and his eyes were filled with tears and he had the biggest smile she'd ever seen on his face. Shannon pulled a small red velvet box out of his pocket and popped it open. The ring inside was, she thought, quite possibly the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

"Ellie," he began, and she absently wondered if the crowd could even hear him over their own screams, "marry me. Please?" he asked the question that she'd known was coming, the one that she'd dreamed about him asking her for as long as she could remember, and instantly she was crying. She couldn't say anything, so she nodded, and then nodded again. She grabbed his elbows and pulled him up so that she could hug him and kiss him.

"Was that a yes?" Jared asked, and she turned to him and nodded again.

"It's a yes!" she yelled into the mic that she'd all but forgotten about in her hand. The crowd was the loudest that it had been yet as she handed off the mic and gave Shannon her hand. He slipped the ring on and it fit perfectly. She kissed him again before taking his hand and leading him back to his drum riser.

"My brother's getting married!" Jared yelled to the crowd, and Shannon kissed her one more time before letting her plug his in-ears back in.

"I fucking love you, Ellie!" he yelled at her over the still-roaring crowd. He was smiling, and she wondered if she'd ever seen anyone look so happy.

"I fucking love you too, Shannon!" she yelled back, not being able to resist kissing him again.