"When you've got love in your sights,
watch out, love bites."
In which Nina and Joe were surrounded by chaos, but at least had each other.
Joe Elliott x OC || AU
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"Follow me!"
Nina accounted for all five members of Def Leppard in her head before leading them back downstairs to the main stage. She was quite pleased to see Joe once more after their first interaction; this time around he was much more energized and ready to move in his stage clothes. She decided against tuning into their side conversations, as she was solely focused on doing her job right tonight. But shortly before it was time for them to go on, she caught on to a surprising statement.
"And just to think, your bloody 16th birthday was in this building just last year."
"Wait wait wait wait. Who's sixteen?!" Nina whipped her head around and the whole band stopped in their tracks. Before she could look up at Joe and ask him personally, she laid eyes on the drummer, whose cheeks turned bright pink.
"And a half..." He murmured sheepishly.
She snorted. "You are a brave soul..." Nina trailed off, her sarcasm unintended because oh my god, how? She turned back to get a glimpse at the stage, which was just starting to dim.
"Ready Deke?" Nina mumbled over the walkie-talkie. The device crackled and she heard a muffled 'ready' before pulling the curtain open and turning back to the British band.
"Alright boys, have a goo-"
Five pairs of wild eyes were on her, some nervous, one pervasive, and Joe's itching for crazy.
"Show..."
The five of them still stared, fidgeting in place.
"Are you all going to stare some more or are you going to get on with your gig?" Nina put her free hand on her hip, eyes darting between the young drummer and the shorter of the two guitarists.
Joe stammered all of a sudden, realizing what he was doing. "I...Uh- yeah. Yeah! We're getting on with it!"
Nina gestured toward the stage, looking up at Joe with an intrigued smile as the rest of the band collected themselves. "Have a great show then."
Joe returned a grin that was a little more teeth than smile before following behind the rest of his band. Nina silently peered through the curtain as the crowd grew increasingly raucous for the band. Jumping slightly from surprise as the first riff started, Nina's eyes bulged out of her head at the wall of sound that came from the instruments.
"They're legit." She murmured to herself.
What she truly wasn't prepared for was the singing voice that Joe possessed.
"Who's the one to knock me over Who's the one to take me by surprise Who's the one who's out to get me Who will share my fantasy tonight"
Nina's breath caught in her throat at the sound of his voice. Young and rash, yet mature and powerful words left his mouth almost perfectly, complimented by the background vocals from the other band members.
"My god..."
Before she knew it, the first song was already over and she realized that she had been gaping the entire time. As the next song started, she felt another presence come up behind her and peer over her shoulder.
"Pretty good, innit?" Noel Monk's voice sounded in her left ear, though Nina could not tear her gaze away from Joe. She could only nod in response.
A couple more songs in, Nina glanced at her watch. She had to be on the move again. She peered though the curtain one more time as the next song ended, catching a glimpse of the band once more. Her eyes met Joe's briefly, and Nina smiled warmly before darting away in a flash.
--
"Get outta here, baby!" Nina heard David's voice boom, followed by a shrill laugh as she entered a band lounge area for a band meeting. A tall blonde woman slightly taller than Nina stumbled out of the room to another corner of the arena she probably wasn't supposed to be, but allowed anyway. Nina slipped right in just before David could slam the door back shut. He yelped in surprise as she pressed herself back against it to make space.
"How's that pretty nose?" David lifted Nina's chin with his fingertips lightly and examined her face. Nina narrowed her eyes in annoyance. But the genuine concern on his face settled it.
"I'm fine, Dave, I mean it." She gently pushed his hand away and winked up at him. Nina turned to Eddie finishing a bottle of Jack. She sighed in dismay, knowing many more were to be consumed later in the night. Eddie cocked his head brashly back at her, as if he were saying "What are you going to do about it?" With a huff, she strutted to a catering table to get herself a bottle of water. She had not had enough that night, and it would help ward off any unnecessary ailments.
Alex and Michael paraded in soon after, the amount of adrenalized tension in the room doubling. Nina watched them converse erratically as they discussed their last minute decisions for performance antics and their setlist. Nina patiently waited until Noel and a few more crew members began darting into the room and circling them that she rejoined the group. They all instinctively stood in a circle and wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders. Dave and Noel towered over Nina, closest to the door.
"Are we ready?" Eddie asked the circle. He was met with a chorus of 'yes' and 'yeah!', to which he was unsatisfied with.
"I SAID ARE WE READY!?" he asked much louder. The room erupted into a much louder chorus of cheers and hollers. Nina cheered once before shaking her head and calling out to the band.
"C'mon boys!"
--
Nina teetered on her feet in excitement as the four of them took their places on stage. Atop the risers, they waited for the introduction to finish so Alex could send them in to a wild set of music, old and new. As the intro faded away, Nina's heart began to race. Staring down Alex and Dave, she leaned down to press her walkie talkie again.
"Go, Deke."
The spotlight shined on David briefly. "HELP 'EM DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY, AL!"
The rest of the stage lights sprayed the stage in blinding strobes and the crowd began to roar as Alex played the drum intro to Nina's favorite song of theirs, Dance the Night Away. Her emotions surged as Eddie and Michael chimed in, their guitars complimenting each other beautifully as always. In a flash, Michael, David, and Eddie were leaping off the stage as it lit up for all to see. Their flexibility was something to marvel at, even if Nina was just as limber as they were.
Dave's voice filled her with joy as he began singing the song and swinging his hips around the stage. The four of them knew how to work a crowd as a whole unit better than anyone she had ever seen live in concert. No matter how often they made her want to pull her hair out, she thought that she'd never get tired of seeing them dancing through the night, every night.
