𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 - Ericdoa ⭑

2

    Of course, the next 2 weeks consisted of preparation, mild panic, excitement, anxiousness, and all other frantic emotions you go through when preparing to see your favorite artist on tour. Over all, nothing memorable. The real memories would all be made tomorrow. Well today? It's 2 A.M. and you couldn't sleep. Just a minor block in the road, nothing a little melatonin couldn't fix.

    You slept like a rock, and woke up to many missed calls from Raquel. "Hello?" You answered, still half asleep. "WAKE UP!" She yelled. Her voice blaring through your speakers and jolting you awake almost immediately. "Whaat?" "GET READY GET READY GET READY!" She squealed with excitement. "We have like an hour and a half until we have to leave I just don't want to be late we should be there a little bit early for merch and stuff."

    You groaned and rolled out of bed, hanging up on Raquel with a quick "Ok. See ya." before grabbing some clothes and heading into your bathroom for a much needed, hot shower. All the tension washed away as soon as the water hit your skin. That was probably one of the best showers you've had in ages. You got out, dried off and got dressed before fixing your hair quickly and putting on some chapstick. Not a big makeup girly. You packed a small tote bag with any necessities before grabbing your phone and checking the time once again. 6:30 P.M. You checked outside and sure enough, it was just beginning to get dark. You had no idea you slept that long.

    Moments later, Raquel texted you saying she's outside waiting. You stepped outside, locking the door behind you, and took the elevator to the lobby where Raquel was stood in front of you. She grabbed your hand and led you to the car quickly. As she started the car, she could not stop talking. "I'm so excited but I'm so nervous too." "It's okay I'm nervous too." You told her, laughing.

    20 minutes later, there you were. The line had just started moving, you were right on time. So much for getting merch. You got out and waited until it was your turn to show your tickets, bringing out your phone and showing the guard your digital entry pass. "All good ladies. Congrats on grabbing backstage, those sold out fast." He said before gesturing for you to go ahead. "Backstage?" Raquel said questioningly. "No way I accidentally bought backstage tickets.." You said, checking your phone again. Sure enough, you had bought backstage passes for both you and Raquel. Shrugging it off you continued walking with Raquel into the venue.

     It was already swarming with people. You made your way through to the front of the crowd behind the gate and waited. Raquel grabbed your hand and looked at you, absolutely beaming. She looked so happy, she was jumping up and down and the concert hadn't even started.

~~

     Microphone feedback blared through the speakers and you let go of Raquel's hand to cover your ears as she did the same. "Oops.. sorry" Ash said on stage with a smile. "Hello Arizona!" He grabbed the mic off the stand and walked to the front of the stage to greet everyone. "You all look excited!" He said laughing. "I AM!" Raquel yelled. Ash must have heard her as he looked at her and laughed before saying "Well alright then, no more wasting time!" You looked over at Raquel and she looked like she was about to pass out. You took her hand in yours again and sang along as the first track played.

    3 songs later and the concert really picked up. Ash was now shirtless jumping around with a friend from backstage you didn't recognize. He was significantly shorter than Glaive, with short curly dark hair. Looking closer, you noticed he also had a microphone, and this song was sang by the both of them. You'd never heard it before, but you liked it. You hummed along. Raquel didn't seem to know this song either, but she still looked as happy as ever.

    Just as soon as it started, the last song came to a stop and Ash took a second to catch his breath before speaking into the mic again. "Thank you so much Arizona you guys are amazing! I love the energy." The other guy from before had disappeared backstage quite a few songs ago. "It was so nice performing here, amazing way to start the tour." He continued speaking before pausing. "Oh yeah! If you have a backstage pass theres a door to the left of the stage. Have a good night everyone!" He finished before waving as everyone flooded out of the venue.

    You and Raquel had completely forgot about the accidental backstage passes. You spotted a line flooding into a small door on the left and you rushed Raquel over to it. "Ready? I know we weren't early enough to get t-shirts and stuff but there will probably be exclusive merch back here!" "I hope so." She said.

    The line moved surprisingly fast and before you knew it you were next. Glaive was signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.. and the mystery guy was also here. He was sitting way behind, on a foldable metal chair against the back wall. He had his arms crossed and his hoodie on, looking at his phone, occasionally he would glance up to see how long the line was.

    "Hello?" Ash's voice snapped you out of it. He followed your line of sight back to the guy and looked at you once again. "Ohhhhh." He turned around and addressed him as "Eric" calling him over. "Yo Eric!" The guy looked up, and smiled. He looked kind, at first you thought he was bored or annoyed by his resting face, but he actually looked quite happy to be here. You assumed he just sat back a bit because everyone was focused on Ash. You felt a little bad, he was talented too.

    Eric stood up and Ash turned to look at you again as he walked over. "Want a picture all together?" He asked. Eric walked up to the table and Glaive put an arm around him, fist bumping him. "Hey." Eric said with a smile. "He's my hype man." Ash said. That was his only introduction as he assumed you already knew who he was. You said yes to a picture anyways and asked the person behind you in line if they could take it for you.

    Raquel stood in front of Ash and you stood in front of Eric. Ash posed with two peace signs and Raquel posed with one, closing her eyes and smiling widely. Eric put his hands on your shoulders gently, and rested his chin on your head since you were the perfect height. He and you both smiled and the camera flashed a few times before the person handed your phone back. Eric kept his eyes on you as you and Raquel left shortly after and started the walk back to her car.

    Raquel unlocked the doors and got in but before you could, a very tired and out of breath Eric tapped you on your shoulder before kneeling over to catch his breath. He put a silent hand up before excusing himself. "I.. I'm out of shape." He joked before standing up.

    "Look I wanted to give you this." He handed you a slip of paper and waited for your response. You read it and it was a ticket to his next tour. "Thank you!" You said. He smiled awkwardly. "Oh yeah, here! There's one for your friend too.. I had a lot but you two were the only ones who wanted anything to do with me, everyone was here for Ash, obviously." You felt kind of bad since you were only here for Ash as well, but you accepted the tickets anyways. The song he sang on stage with Ash was good so maybe you'd listen to more of his music when you got home.

    "What's taking you so long?" Raquel said as she got out of the car and froze in her tracks. "You're that guy.." "Yeah.. that's me, I'm that guy." He laughed. "Um anyways sorry to hold you guys up." He gestured to the tickets in your hand. "Hope to see you guys there." He said with a smile before walking away.

    You got in the car with Raquel, still looking at the tickets as she started the car and got on the road. "Awesome, free tickets." You flipped them over in your hand and scanned the back. "These are backstage passes too? No shot.." "REALLY?" Raquel said. "That's amazing! When is his concert?" "This week." You replied. "I guess he's traveling with Ash but on separate tours. They must be close." You put Raquel's ticket in her bag for her before she dropped you off at your complex. "We should go to concerts more often." She said smiling at you before you shut the car door. "We should."