Five Years of Fame [COMPLETE]

41. The Green Room

Summer, Year 4, Month 6

With Gage on her left and Ezra on her right, Reeve bowed in unison with her band as the red curtain fell. It was an actual red theater curtain, heavy and thick, doing it's best to block out the wall of cheers coming from the sold-out venue just feet from the edge of the stage.

Reeve had asked for a red curtain every stop on the tour thus far but this was the first venue that had had been able to provide one. It helped that she was standing on a stage at a real opera house, the red velvet seats, and a glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling there to prove it.

Reeve's heart was pounding in her chest, her arms jittery and tired from the performance, her legs twitching with the excess adrenaline that was racing through her bloodstream as she exited the stage. She was laughing at some joke Ezra made regarding their complete failure on the harmonies for the second verse three songs in when she met Kelly along the sidelines and grabbed the water bottle waiting for her.

Kelly led her through the maze of corridors that led off the stage. There was masking tape on the ground, pointing the way, as Reeve retraced the steps she had made before the show.

"Good show tonight, Reeve, You guys killed it."

Reeve met the high-five of one of her crew and replied "Thanks, Mike" through a blinding smile. Several of the other crew as they passed echoed the same greeting that Reeve returned in kind. Her heart swelled at the knowledge of a job well done. And that she knew these people around, the people she interacted with each day. She knew their names, their stories. They were her friends. She had a make-shift family around her while traveling but a family none the less.

And the crew they had currently was only a fraction of the crew they would have for the big shows. She was excited for what was still to come.

Kelly paused outside one of the many nondescript doors that lined the hallway, hesitating with her hand on the doorknob underneath a piece of masking tape that read Reeve's name.

"Dinner's on its way. We have an hour to eat before we need to head to the buses. I'll send someone to come get you when food's ready. And..."

Kelly paused to give herself a moment before having to say what was coming next.

"Jayden's in your dressing room."

Reeve could see in Kelly's eyes everything she wasn't saying.

That she didn't know he was coming.

That she knew Reeve wouldn't have wanted him simply turned away.

That she hadn't known where else to put him to keep him out of trouble and away from Noah.

That she was sorry, in advance, for whatever was waiting for her on the other side of the door.

"Is he now?"

Reeve grabbed the handle and entered her dressing room without a second thought. There was little that could pull her down from her current high on life and JJ Jones certainly wasn't one of them.

"Jayden."

"Killer."

Reeve smiled at the old familiar nickname and the sight of Jayden completely comfortable and at ease in someone else's dressing room.

She crossed the room in a few quick steps and her approach seemed to catch Jayden off guard as he jumped up from his low lounging seated position.

She paused when she was in touching distance, his hands pinned behind his back and his manner stiff. His eyes were slits as he examined her face, watching her closely to gauge her reaction to his appearance. She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze, the perfect middle ground between a formal handshake and an intimate hug.