My Angel in Disguise

****

(Teegan's POV)

It was a hot summer day in Texas. I was waiting patiently for my best friends to hit the stage, my anxiety slightly building as the crowd grew larger and larger. I'd been waiting for this for the last six months. I gripped onto my camera tightly, angling it perfectly at the stage. The guys started to appear one by one, smiling and waving to the cheering crowd. I snapped countless pictures, mostly of Zacky as he sauntered by, earning a cheeky grin from him once he noticed it was me down in the pit area. He motioned towards the guys who also grinned at me happily. I cheered loudly as they started to play, making sure to remember that I needed to record some videos as well. I had been the guys part time photographer since we had met in elementary school. I was in first grade when I first met Zacky and the guys, we instantly became two peas in a pod. We used to take all kinds of random pictures with my mom's vintage Polaroid camera, making sure the memories lasted a life time.

But as the band grew bigger, our lives headed in different directions. I stayed in college and eventually graduated with a degree in photography while the guys proceeded to travel the entire world. We stayed in touch almost every day, until it became every week to every month to every whenever they had time for me. I wasn't about to get upset though, I knew that this was what the guys had always wanted in their lives and I'd always support them in their decisions. Occasionally when they had a couple hometown shows or a state or two away, I'd go and see them, making sure to take my camera along with me every time. But when their management had signed them up for their first actual year long tour across the US and some of Europe, I had to wait months until they even came back remotely close to home.

I had never been to Texas before and it was really beautiful despite the dreadful heat and ginormous bugs that attacked me every so often. Zacky had actually insisted that I come out to this date instead of the one in Arizona, for what? I had no idea. He said that it was a surprise he had for me. He said it was a person who I had been dying to meet for the last 7 years. I could only imagine who that could be.I knew there was an unannounced special headliner playing the show as well, but I honestly didn't have a clue of who. I refocused my concentration on the guys and decided to take a video of my favorite song. I whistled and hollered loudly as they played "Unholy Confessions". I remembered the time I got to go with the guys to the studio and hear them record that entire record. They were incredible then and only have gotten better since.

After the set had finished I hightailed it out of the pit area and raced to the backstage. I wanted to be able to catch up with everyone before they went off to go sign merch and meet with the fans. I squealed happily as I felt a pair of strong tattooed arms wrap around my waist. I looked up to see Zacky's smiling face. "Hey beautiful, long time no see." He chuckled as he hugged onto me tightly. I sighed contently. "I missed you too. Where's everyone else?" I peeked over his shoulder, eventually being tackled by surprise by Jimmy, Johnny, Brian and Matt. "We missed you!" They all yelled as they smothered me in sweaty hugs. I couldn't help to laugh uncontrollably, I really have missed them.

"Jesus Tee its been so long." Matt said in between drinks of his water. I shrugged, pressing my lips together. "You don't have to tell me, I've been stuck at home for the past four months. No one needs a photographer I guess." Jimmy slung an arm over my shoulder and rested his head against mine."Don't worry Teegan, I'm sure something will come along." I gave his hand a light squeeze. I was glad to have such great friends like them."Aw, thanks guys. You don't know how much that means." We all embraced each other in a tight group hug until eventually someone had interrupted the moment. My mouth seemed to drop to the floor when I looked didectly into the eyes of the person who appeared beside Zacky. This must have been his surprise he had for me.

"Teegan, this is Chester. Chester, this is my best friend that I've been telling you about. But be cafeful, she tends to freak out when she meets one of her idols." I felt my face turn bright red and my eyes bulge out of their sockets. Part of me wanted to run and choke Zacky for making the last comment while another part of me wanted to kiss him for this amazing 'surprise' he had gotten for me. I had been a long time fan of Linkin Park since I could remember. They sorta blew up around the same time Avenged was making their name known, so the odds that they all knew each other were ddfinitely there. I couldn't seem to bring myself to make any sort of words or sounds to come from out of my mouth so I instead just smiled widely.

"Hello. It's so nice to finally meet you, the guys told me so much. You're a photographer?" Chester's voice was sweet and had a warming tone to it. He held out his hand which I gladly yet nervously shook. "Yeah, I free lance. I can only imagine what those five have told you. I'm not that bad, I promise. I only freak out under dire conditions." I could feel myself start to ramble on, one of my many traits that only occured when I was either extremely nervous or uneasy. As of now I definitely was a good combination of both. "Well I would love to see some of your work, think you'd be willing to come and shoot our set in a few? I have to get back and do some warm ups." Again my eyes seemed to practically explode out of my head and I couldn't seem to make words come out of my mouth.

Luckily Zacky came to my rescue and answered for me, only it wasn't exactly the one that I was thinking of "Of course man she'll be down in the pit waiting. Teegan is a killer shot." Chester nodded his head "Well then, I'll be looking for you." He said with a shy smile before heading off in the direction opposite from us. I whipped around so I was directly in front of Zacky before I proceeded to punch him, hard in the gut. "You ass! How could you say yes?! I can't do it, I won't do it." But despite my many protests and drags of my feet, I ended up back down in the photo pit area waiting for the band to come on. I only hoped that I could exceed Chester's expectations of my work, whatever they may be.

When he eventually appeared in front of me, I snapped at least ten different angles until I finally got the best one. I could see all the guys watching from the side of the stage, Zacky giving me a thumbs up in approval. My eyes seemed to keep their attention fixed on Chester though, as I eventually noticed him staring down at me. He was singing "In The End", his voice so raw and pure, it sent goosebumps up and down my spine. "You're so lucky I'm not the jealous type." I suddenly heard Zacky's voice mumble in my ear. I smirked up at him, patting his hand. "You know I love you, Zee. No one could come in between us."

After Linkin Park finished their set, the guys and I headed backstage to congratulate them on a well done show and so I could show Chester all the photos I had taken for them. "Wow these are really good Teegan. I'm impressed!" He gave me a hug, which was super unexpected but very welcomed at the same time. I chuckled softly, rubbing the back of my neck. "Thank you I'm glad you like them." I wasn't the best at making small talk especially when it was with someone who I had just met, but Chester seemed more than understanding. "Well listen, we've gotta get stuff packed up and ready to head out, but I really would like it if we could keep in touch, you know, so whenever we have another few shows you could be our photographer. Only if you'd like to, that is." I could tell by the look on his face that my cheeks were probably red again and my eyes were most likely pretty big. I have got to stop being so predictable with my reactions.

But before I could even make an attempt to say anything, Brian and Johnny suddenly barged in, handing over a small piece of paper to him. "She'd love to, here's her number." I was completely dumbfounded and ready to kill these two at the next moment. Instead I took in a deep breath and just smiled. "I'll text you sometime." He stuffed the paper in his pocket gracefully. "Sounds good." I said simply. We said our goodbyes to everyone until finally it was just me and the guys left at the venue. I knew they were headed out to Arizona tomorrow and then back to California the next day so it wasn't an issue that I tagged along for the ride home. I stared down at all of them, still in disbelief by the stuff they did. "I am really going to kill you guys." I groaned loudly before throwing myself down onto Zacky's lap. He slid an arm around me and pulled me close.

"It was all in good fun Tee. Don't worry, I think he liked you though." Matt smirked while he wriggled his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes, too exhausted to even answer. "I give it two weeks before they see each other again." Johnny snickered. I gave him a smug look before proceeding to flip him off. I could already tell this was going to be a long next couple of days.