outside

chapter 11

"Are you ready?" Maddie shouted over the extremely loud music, her eyes wide with excitement like a puppy's would be. We were front and center in the audience, and the opening act's last chords rang out in the speakers. The boys would be on soon and I couldn't wait any longer, my heart was beating out of my chest in anxiousness. Luckily, I had taken my pills so nothing would happen, but still. I was excited as hell.

"Hell yeah!" I cheered, throwing my already sweaty arms into the air as I cheered for the band before they left the stage. I quickly turned on my camera, hoping to get a few shots of the boys walking onto the stage.

Soon enough, Bondy appeared out of the right side of the stage, guitar swung over his neck. Maddie of course went wild, and he shot her a wave and wink as he walked over to his mic on the far left side. Bob was next to walk out, I made eye contact with him and shot him a thumbs up and a smile, which he returned before sitting down to his drums. Benji was soon to follow, not having to walk much as his mic was already on the right side. Eventually, Van joined the rest of the boys on stage, running to his middle mic. His eyes were shining brightly and a huge grin was painted on his face.

He was absolutely gorgeous.

Gorgeous may seem too feminine of a term to describe him as, but my God, he was so pretty. The lights hit his eyes just perfectly, so that the bright blueness of them popped out like a flower in a field of weeds. His dark lashes shielded the oceans he had captured, and they were honestly much more voluminous than mine. But I think my favorite thing was the crooked smile that hung just above his chin. It was filled with so much passion for what he did that I could not take my eyes off of him. I quickly snapped a picture.

"Hello, Kansas City! We're Catfish and the Bottlemen, hope yous enjoy the show!" Van called out into the microphone. I cheered loudly with the crowd, throwing my hands into the air to clap as they began to play the chords for Homesick. I belted out the lyrics, not taking my eyes off of Van. The way he closed his eyes and sang out passionately, hitting every note perfectly, made my heart melt. And the way he moved his hips...my God...those hips....

Long story short I wanted to do things to that man.

I snapped more pictures of the lads (although most of them were of Van) as the night continued on. I was having an absolute blast, dancing and shaking my hips to the tunes and belting out the lyrics with Maddie. However, the highlight of the performance was probably when they played Outside. It was my absolute favorite, and the way Van winked at me while seductively pressing his swollen lips against the mic made me feel some type of way. I made sure to take loads of pictures, never wanting to forget that moment.

As they played Tyrants, the last song of the night, I was a little disheartened. I didn't want it to end. Although, the thought of getting to go back to the trailer and hang out with Van afterwards made me perk up quite fast, and I enjoyed the last 5 minutes of the concert.

"KC, you've been a lovely crowd! Thank yous for having us!" Van shouted into the mic once it was finally over, sweat dripping from his hair and face. He licked his lips and caught my eye, smiling at me. I smiled back, proceeding to look towards the ground. People started pouring out of the venue, and it instantly felt about ten degrees cooler in there.

"Let's go get a drink!" Maddie grabbed my wrist, leading me to the small bar in the back of the venue. A drink sounded amazing right about now.

"Six shots, please!" Maddie told the bartender, who nodded. I gave her a funny look.

"What? You can't have beer all the time. We're celebrating the boys' great concert and the fact that we'll get to go home with them afterwards, live a little!" She laughed, nudging me with her shoulder. I sighed, there was no way I was getting out of this.