The Letdown [Noah Sebastian]

Chapter Six

"Would you invite me in again?
Let me pay for my arrogance?
Won't you show me your weakness?"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Goodnight Manchester!" Noah bowed, stealing a glance at Jolly who had a shit eating grin on his face.

Tour was in full swing, three UK dates down and two more to go before they headed over to Europe. It was intense, their first across the world tour and Noah was beyond proud of himself as he stared down at all those smiling faces singing every lyric. They had worked so hard to get to that point and things were only looking up. They had been teasing a new song during the tour and the fans were eating it up.

He practically skipped off stage, wrapping his arms around Nick and Folio who both cheered at what they felt was the biggest win of their lives. Jolly shook his head in amazement.

"These crowds man, they know how to make a man feel on top of the world." He chuckled as he wiped his sweaty forehead against his shirt, following Noah to the green room.

"Right!" Noah exclaimed as he pushed the door open.

"Hey Noah, can I talk to you for a second?" Tom jogged down the hall towards them, phone clutched in his hand.

"Yeah man, what's up?"

He stopped, catching his breath. "It's about that thing."

Jolly raised an eyebrow at the guitar tech. "What thing?"

Noah shrugged his friend off and started pulling Tom down the corridor. "I'll tell you about it later."

Jolly hated when Noah kept secrets, the four men had been friends for so long by that point that they shared everything good, bad and in between. Still, he huffed and entered the green room.

"So I messaged that tattoo artist and your appointment is booked for 10am on the 9th." Tom explained as Noah lit a cigarette, a dirty habit he had picked up in recent months. "Can I ask why you couldn't do it yourself?"

Noah froze mid inhale, his brain scrambling for a reason. "Uh, you know, I don't want any special treatment."

Tom just hummed, staring up at the taller man trying to read his expression. "Well the tattoo is cool, it will look good."

Noah slid into the bottom bunk of the cramped tour bus later that night, the screen of his phone lighting up the dark space as he opened his camera roll. He scrolled up to the seven months of photos, eyes landing on one image. Her, his Rose, a wild grin between her pink cheeks, green eyes sparkling while her hand reached over the bar to grab his phone from his hands in an attempt to stop him taking pictures of her. He sighed, he hoped to fucking god that he found her.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

They had arrived in Leeds and checked into a hotel for the few nights they had spare before the Scotland leg of the tour. Noah had been practically bouncing off the walls when they made their way through the hotel and everyone was confused. If anything they had expected him to be depressed but all he could think of was the appointment he had planned the next morning.

The day was busy, soundchecks and interviews filling it before showtime. Jolly and Nick managed to corner Noah finally half an hour before showtime, literally cornered him in the bathroom as he washed his hands.