Tethered (Book Two of The Invisible String Series)

Pre-Show Jitters

"Speaking of my fiancée, where is she?"

"Gee, Y/L/N, getting tired of me already?"

Rolling my eyes, I give the blonde my best unimpressed look as I feel my impatience growing. I really want and need to see Lizzie's face. "Yes, now where is she?"

Scarlet groans, throwing her head back to rest against the couch. "For fuck's sake. She's here somewhere. Calm your tits. Lizzie! Come and talk to your girl before she spontaneously combusts!"

Off camera Lizzie's melodious laughter reaches my ears and causes my stomach to flip-flop in the most amazing of ways. God I miss her so much. A few seconds later and my most favorite person in the world appears, leaning on the back of the couch behind Olivia and Scar. The second my eyes meet those dazzling green ones, I feel myself smile, matching the one that Lizzie is wearing. "Hi, baby."

"Hi, my love."

The tiny moment is effectively ruined when Scarlett suddenly (and dramatically)  gags, causing me to tear my eyes away from my beautiful fiancée so that I can send my blonde best friend a glare, one that she simply ignores. "Oh my god, why is it that you two become more nauseatingly gross with every passing day?!"

"I hate you so much."

Scar smiles, recovering from her Oscar-worthy moment to give me a wink. "No you don't. You love me and you know it."

"Not anymore."

Just before Scar can respond with some other smart-ass response, Lizzie smacks the other woman's shoulder. "Okay, children. That's enough."

Much to my amusement, Scarlett sinks further into the couch while visibly pouting, which only earns her another eye roll from Lizzie. "Yes, mother."

I have to hold back a laugh as Scar receives another tap on the back of her head for that comment, and refrain from teasing my best friend about it. Although I do lock it away in my brain for later, because like hell I was going to let Scarlett get away with being scolded like a literal child.

"How was the final soundcheck?"

Letting out a light sigh, I shrug one shoulder, feeling just a bit of my earlier pre-show nerves kicking back in again. "It was mainly fine. We had a few problems with our mics, but they got it all sorted."

Before Lizzie can respond, the door to my dressing room flies open, causing me to jump slightly at the sudden intrusion. I relax a little, though, when I realize who it is and roll my eyes as the blond comes waltzing in like she owns the place.

Charlie, who's joining the band as one of the opening acts of the tour, was immediately one of my first choices for the gig. We'd met very briefly a few years ago when the girl's music career was just beginning to take off, and I instantly liked her style of music. Plus she's just a major sweetheart all around and a pretty good kid. She's managed to keep me and the rest of the band pretty grounded the past day or two. 
"Y/N, have you seen my lucky guitar pick? I think I left it here earlier."

My one-track mind completely forgets that I was on video chat call as I reach forward to pick up the guitar pick in question off the coffee table and toss it in the girl's direction. "Yeah, you're lucky I found it before it got tossed in with the rest of my own."

The blonde takes the pick from my outstretched hand with a sigh, giving me a grateful smile before her eyes lock onto the laptop in front of me. "Thank you. Did I interrupt your call home?"

I wave the blonde off, who takes it upon herself to plop down on the couch next to me with a large smile on her face as she waves at all the faces on the other side. "Hello, family! I apologize for the intrusion, but it's lovely to finally meet you all. Y/N literally talks about you guys all the time!"

After readjusting myself on the couch, I give Lizzie and the others a small apologetic smile for the small interruption.. "Guys, this is Charlie. She's opening for us for the first few shows. Charlie, these are my people."

Everyone greets the younger girl with smiles and waves, and of course Olivia starts to ask the woman a million and one questions about her music and just about everything else. It still amazes me that the kid can become so starstruck with people considering her entire family is made up of celebrities.

Eventually the inquisition is interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on my dressing room door. One of the stagehands pokes her head in, pulling the headset off her ears to hang around her neck.
"Charlie, they want you on stage for your final soundcheck. We have a little under two hours until showtime."

With that, Charlie bids goodbye to everyone back home and dips out. I yell out a quick 'break a leg' after the girl, earning me a very-cheesy finger gun salute just before she closes the door behind her.
I say a quick goodbye to my little make-shift family as well, knowing that I need to head into hair and makeup in a few minutes before I start getting dressed. I'm always early for the show, as I like to watch the opening acts before we go on and I definitely don't want to miss Charlie's set.

Lizzie manages to steal me away for a moment, leaving Liv and Scar to attempt to find the right live-stream for the night, as the brunette ducks into our kitchen. "How are you feeling? You look a little nervous."

I'm not even surprised that the older woman can see right through me. I think Lizzie knows me better than I know myself by this point. "I'm...honestly I am really nervous. I'm always a little tense before live shows. Seeing you guys, though, it's helped a lot."

"I mean, yeah, it's understandable that you're a little nervous. Especially after everything you've been through in the past few months."

I feel my head nodding, lost in thought for a second. Lizzie does have a point. It's my first time performing since the attack, and that adds a whole other level of nervousness that I hadn't even thought of until now.

What if the show isn't safe? What if someone gets hurt? What if–.

"Y/N, baby. Look at me."

Lizzie's voice pulls me out of my internal freak out, my eyes automatically finding her calming green ones.

"Everything is going to be okay. You and everyone else are going to be safe. We added extra security to all the venues, remember?"

I force myself to take a few calming breaths, nodding along with the brunette's words as I repeated them mentally. "Yeah. You're totally right. Everything is gonna be fine. Everything will go off without a hitch. It's gonna be good."

A few moments of silence past as the two of us stare at each other, and I can't fight the lingering ache in my chest at knowing that she's on the other side of a video chat and not here with me. "I really miss you."

There's a hint of sadness in Lizzie's eyes as she smiles softly at me. "I miss you, too, baby. So much. I wish I could be there with you tonight."

"I wish you could be here, too."

"But I will be here cheering for you the whole time."

"I'll make sure to blow you a kiss during the show."

Lizzie gives me a wink. "I'll make sure to catch it. Break a leg, superstar. I love you."

"I love you, too, Liz."