Chapter Four
Demi stayed with Nick and I for a couple weeks. She was quick to find her own apartment and get out of our hair. She wasn't a burden, but sleeping on the couch wasn't exactly ideal for her. She needed time to grieve and heal from the relationship she just walked away from. It was hard for her. She never said anything about it, but her eyes gave it away. They didn't dance quite as much as they did the night I met her. She grew distant for a while and I think it was the kind of heartbreak that never really healed all the way.
I managed to book her and the guys on a California wide tour with a band that had a decent enough following to actually do a small scale tour. They somehow manage to scrape together enough money to buy a van and a trailer. That van would end up being my home for the better part of a year while we traveled the state playing clubs and small theaters. It was terrible and wonderful all at the same time.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out the logistics of four guys and two girls living in a van. There was absolutely no room, no privacy, and no money. My job took a backseat to Nick and his band mates. I wanted to be there and see them succeed. I wanted to be a part of the journey. We barely scraped by selling merch and ep's at the shows. I was their biggest fan and I guess for lack of a better word, their very first groupie.
"Turn it up!" I shouted over the commotion of the overstuffed van. "I love this song."
Joe nodded and cranked the volume. As soon as everyone heard the song, I knew they were going to give me shit. It was Say Something by A Great Big World.
"Seriously?" Demi asked as she lifted her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow.
"Shut up." I mumbled trying to hide a smile.
"Oh Jesus. I'm about to get emotional." Johnny teased.
"Y'all are assholes." I laughed.
"I wrote this song just to depress you.
When this song is done you'll need a tissue." Joe sang very loudly and off key.
"You could've smiled. Didn't want you to. I wrote this song just to depress you." Demi added as they all held up lighters.
"I hate you." I smiled as I shook my head.
"And now...You're starting to bawl.
Bet you wish you were dead. For no reason at all." She finished.
They then proceeded to give me a group hug and they all pretended to cry. I loved every single one of them.
"Can y'all keep it down?" Nick grinned. "I'm trying to drive."
"No one cares." Johnny shrugged before he licked his finger and shoved it into Nicks ear.
"Dude! That's gross." Nick grimaced.
"You don't know where that finger has been." Joe stated with a straight face.
"Thank you. That makes me feel so much better." Nick responded sarcastically.
The three of them continued to argue back and forth and I opted to read one of the many books I had hoped to finish by the time the tour ended. I wasn't doing well at the moment. In fact, I was barely a third of the way through the first one. I barely finished a page before I felt Matt nearly knee me in the face as he traded seats with Demi.
"Hi." She smiled as she settled in next to me.
"Hi." I sighed trying not to smile back. She made me want to grin like an idiot.
"How's your book?" She asked. Her gaze was intense.
"It's...ummm...well actually, I don't know." I said softly. "I haven't really been able to read it."
"In that case, I will leave you to it." She winked as she placed her headphones over her head and drowned out the chaos.
She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. She managed to make an overcrowded van without air conditioning look glamorous. She always looked so beautiful. I typically looked homeless and lost. It was sad really. As we sat there both lost in our own worlds, I'd occasionally hear her singing along to whatever music she was listening to. I liked how soft and melodic her voice was.
After nearly six hours of being crammed in the van, we finally made it to the next venue. Everyone was exhausted. I don't even want to discuss the smell that I almost failed to notice because of my familiarity with it. We all needed to shower, thankfully our dressing room had one. I was relieved to finally wash away all the grime.
By the time I stepped out of the shower, the guys and Demi were already dressed and drinking. Matt and Demi were busy warming up their vocal chords. It always cracked me up because they'd sing songs by boy bands once they made it through their scales. I didn't realize how many songs they actually knew. They were currently singing This I Promise You. Joe joined in from time to time but he was too busy playing beer pong with Johnny and Nick.
"Please don't get too drunk. It's a pretty big crowd." I warned all of them. "You need to play well."
"How big?" Joe smirked.
"My understanding is the venue holds two thousand people and it's sold out. Soooo...yeah." I trailed off.
"No shit?" Johnny smiled. "That's awesome."
"Look at how amazed he is." Demi laughed. "He probably can't even count that high."
"Fuck you." Johnny said as he flipped her off.
They took the stage and as usual I was there to watch them. They all had amazing stage presence. It was hard to focus on just one of them. My eyes always found Demi though. Always. She had this way of pressing her lips against the mic when she'd sing. It was tilted down so she had to lean into it as she played the guitar. Her hair was usually in her face and she'd smirk as she made eye contact with someone in the crowd. It drove me crazy, especially when her eyes would find mine.
She played to the crowd. She's stand on the barricades and during some of the songs she'd crowd surf. I thought she was completely insane, but she loved it. In later years, she would be the cause of the entire security teams stress. She was very difficult for them to manage and made herself as accessible as humanly possible to fans. She'd get arrested three times for creating disturbances in commercial spaces.
Nick was fun to watch. I think he had Demi to thank for that. She was always challenging him to be better. He played with so much energy and focus I'm surprised he didn't collapse. He'd kick the cymbals, twirl his sticks, and occasionally he would jump or stand up while he played. The crowd loved it.
Johnny would typically smoke and flip the crown off. He'd hold his hand up to his ear and demand that they get louder. Joe was pretty much the same, minus the smoking. He'd jump of the amps, stand on the barricades and head bang.
Matt was an entirely different story. He'd crowd surf and run all over the stage without ever missing a single note. I learned his secret shortly after their first couple of shows. He would sing and run on the treadmill in order to build up his endurance. Out of all of them, he took care of his body the most and it would become glaringly apparent later on in their careers.
They played an amazing show and as the headlining band took the stage, the crowd was pumped. They were covered in sweat and grinning from ear to ear as they made their way through the hallway backstage. Demi pored a bottle of water over her head and covered herself with a towel. This would become routine for her as the years went by.
"That was amazing." Demi said as she attempted to catch her breath.
"You're a fucking rock star." Nick said as he pointed at her with his drum stick.
"You too." She grinned.
"That was the one. That was the show." Joe said as he emphasized the word the.
"Hell yeah it was." Johnny said loudly.
"I'm so fucking stoked right now!" Matt said grinning. "Lets fucking party!"
They knew how to party. We ended up selling a large amount of merch that night which meant hotel rooms, food, and of course alcohol. We checked into our rooms and got ready to go out. It was apparently strip club night.
"You sure you're up for this babe?" Nick asked as he dried off.
"Always. Besides, what else am I going to do?" I grinned. "Don't worry I won't cramp your style."
"It ain't even like that." He smiled back.
"It will be fun. You guys played a good show. We've been cramped in that van for weeks."
"I love you. You know that right?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around me.
"I love you too Nick." I leaned against his chest.
"We wouldn't be here without you. We'll pay you back someday." He sighed before planting a kiss on my forehead.
"I know. Now get dressed. We're gonna be late."
We made our way to the lobby where everyone else was waiting.
"It's about fucking time." Demi grumbled. "I'm ready to see some bitches. Lets go!"
We caught a cab and headed for the strip club. Once we arrived, Matt got everyone drinks while the rest of settled in front of the main stage. The first couple of dancers were alright. Nothing too special. There was something about the third one however, that got everyone excited. She was gorgeous and she moved with the type of grace you don't normally associate with strippers.
"Here we go." Johnny grinned as he threw a stack of ones onto the stage.
I glanced over and noticed Demi didn't seem to excited. I left Nick with the guys and made my over to her.
"Not your thing?" I asked.
"Nah. I like darker hair." She explained. I felt her fingers slide through mine. "Like yours." She added.
I nodded as she took a long drink from her beer.
"I like the song though." She smiled. "You don't seem too impressed either."
"Strippers aren't really my thing." I said. I leaned in close so she could hear me.
"Oh really?"
I nodded.
"What exactly is your thing?" She asked.
"Tattooed, rowdy musicians." I answered. I blushed when I realized I had vaguely described her.
She smiled and took another drink of her beer. "I like you." She stated as she watched the stripper slid down from the ceiling.
I glanced over as I saw Nick being led away for a lap dance. The rest of the guys were clapping and cheering.
"Does that bother you?" Demi asked.
"No."
"He's a good guy. You have nothing to worry about." She said for good measure.
"I know." I smiled.
"He's a damn fool if he ever does." She signaled the waitress to bring her another beer.
"Would you tell me? I mean...if he ever did and you found out..."
"Yes." She answered slowly. "Of course I would."
"Thank you." I said softly.
She leaned closer and draped her arm across the back of my seat. "You're too beautiful to be insecure. You've got nothing to worry about. I'd kill for a woman like you."
We both turned our attention back to the stage and watched as various woman writhed and slid around on stage. I liked sitting close to her. She had finally managed to stop smoking so she no longer smelled like stale cigarettes. I could breath her in all day. She was comforting and familiar.
Eventually we left the strip club and hit up a bar. By the end of the night everyone was drunk and to be on the safe side we made our way back to the hotel. I noticed Johnny and Demi talking to some guy on the corner as we loaded up into the taxi. I didn't realize it at the time but that would be the beginning of a drug habit that would be very hard for the two of them to quit. It wasn't just them either. Joe would also struggle.
By the time the tour ended everyone was burnt out and exhausted. Somehow we managed to finish actually making money. It wasn't much, but over the course of our touring we built up our fan base which allowed us to sell more merch and ep's. Our social media sites got thousands of hits a day and by the time the year ended, we had over five hundred thousand twitter followers. It was crazy. The real craziness was about to begin however. I had yet to check my email and there would be an offer that couldn't be refused waiting for me when I did.