Warehouse Live was my absolute favorite venue that I had ever had the pleasure of working in and I was so looking forward to seeing Awsten and the guys back on this stage in particular. We had finally made it back home to Houston after what felt like simultaneously the shortest and the longest tour of my entire life.
Ashton had insisted that I take the Houston date off from work, with the blessing from Lucas of course, so that I could actually enjoy the show instead of just working it. I was grateful as hell and I owed him big time for a lot of different reasons.
It felt like everyone showed up to the venue tonight. Awsten's parents, Gracie, my mom and stepdad, Chloe and Rory, Grace, and a handful of friends. Hometown shows were fun like that.
I was surprised to see everyone in the green room after leaving the merch in Ash's very capable hands. Gracie was the first person to notice me and she left Awsten's side to throw her arms around me like she hadn't seen me in years. I felt a strange sense of deja vu as I gave everyone a hug; it was almost like old times.
Almost.
Since soundcheck was over, the plan was to go to a restaurant nearby and have dinner before everyone headed back to watch the show. Awsten and Travis sat together, talking mostly amongst themselves since they were going on their own super short tour for their podcast together. My parents and Awsten's parents talked like nothing had changed at all, laughing and joking with each other like Awsten and I were still together. I sat between Grace and Chloe, chatting happily with them.
Watching Geoff with Rory made the ache flair in my chest again and I noticed Awsten glance across the table at me only once, catching my eye very briefly before he looked back at Travis again. I wondered if he was hurting, too.
We made small talk and laughed together like old times. It was equally as wonderful as it was painful.
It was time to go back to the venue for VIP soon enough and, after a very quick stop by the green room to meet De'Wayne's mom who was incredibly sweet, Grace and I went back out onto the floor. We loitered around the bar area in the main room, watching the boys do VIP. Houston was where I'd always had the most fan interaction and there was no shortage of hugs and selfies to go around between Grace and myself.
Unlike the other cities on the tour, I had no negative interactions with anyone that had come up to us. It was all overwhelmingly positive, so much so that I thought I was imaging it in some way or not paying attention to snide comments that sounded like praise.
"I thought you said they'd been mean to you," Grace said to me, looking surprised.
"Some of them have been!" I shook my head slowly. "You'd think I'd get the most hate in Houston since I've just been here for so long."
"Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking." Grace smiled at me. "I'm so glad nobody's been rude to you. I would not hesitate to smack any of these kids if they came at you sideways."
"Ferocious and dramatic as always, Grace," I teased her.
"Naturally!" She gave me a silly look and then her eyes traveled to our boys again. "He can't stop staring at you, Lia."
"Who?" I wasn't sure why my first instinct was to play dumb.
She ignored me. "He keeps pretending like he's not, but he keeps glancing over here. And I know he's not looking at me."
I chewed the inside of my cheek. "I don't know why he's bothering. He knows we can't be together right now."
"Why can't you?" Grace asked, her eyebrows raised in surprise.
YOU ARE READING
rainy days in la. （ a. knight ）
Fanfiction❝all i do is miss you; all i do is want you back.❞ Three cheers for five years. Isn't that how the saying goes? Five years was as close to forever as they were going to get it seemed. Awsten's sadness got the better of him, the doubt finally swallow...
