29th of January, 8:45 pm
ALANNAH'S POV
We run up the concrete stairs to the back entrance of the venue, through the sea of fans who were waiting there to see if Ruel was going to come outside. I could barely hear Tilly talk next to me with all the chatter that was coming out of everyone's mouths around us. We show the security our passes and then rush past him but move out of the way for 2 girls who were being escorted out by Nate and another security from the venue.
M: 'Wait, Nate, what's happening?'
N: 'Go ask Ruel, he's in the backroom'
We nod and look at each other. Why were those girls being escorted? Why were they backstage in the first place?
We follow Elliot and Grayson through to the back to see Ruel on his phone, his hair pulled into a bun on the top of his head, using y/n's scrunchies.
G: 'What were those girls doing here?'
R: 'What girls?' he looks up from his phone, surprised by our sudden appearance.
A: 'The girls that were getting kicked out by Nate...'
T: 'Yeah, he told us to ask you...'
R: 'Oh right. Yeah, they used me and made me feel like shit' he stood up and pulled his sweaty hair out of the bun.
E: 'Woah, what? What are you talking about..'
R: 'They said they had pictures of y/n last night...' he nods and puts the scrunchie on his wrist, avoiding eye contact with us as if he was embarrassed. 'I shouldn't have believed them...She's probably dead, let's get over it now, huh? I'm going to ask Nate if we can leave, I don't wanna be here anymore' he walks past us and goes back to the side stage and I can feel the mood of the room drop.
A: 'I feel terrible for him...'
E: 'This is exactly what he was afraid of, remember Alannah? He said in the car on the way here, he was scared of people using the event to get to him...'
M: 'Look where it ended...'
T: 'I can't believe that he just admitted that he thinks that she's dead....'
G: 'Kinda sad to see him lose hope like that...'
A: 'Well, we're not. Right? She's out there.'
M: 'I don't know Alannah..'
G: 'No, I agree with Alannah. We have to keep a positive mindset. It's been, what, 3 days?'
M: 'Most abducted people are killed within the first 48 hours...' she says, almost in a whisper
E: 'She's not even a long term missing person right now...Plus, she's getting heaps of publicity'
T: 'Look, Mia, if you wanna think that she's gone, believe that, but don't let Ruel know you think that way...Please' she gives Mia a pleading look as Ruel comes back into the room.
R: 'Wanna head out? Nate gave us the all-clear' he says as he leans against the door frame.
We all nod in response and start to walk towards him
A: 'Hey, do you remember your first show here Ruel?' I chuckle and everyone smiles and nods in response
FLASHBACK- 2 years ago
I click my phone off, slipping it into the side of my yellow skirt as Nate dropped an amp next to Ruel who sat on his wooden stool in the middle of the stage.
M: 'Can you hear my echo?' she yelled as she spun around in a circle.
E: 'No, we really can't' we say as well laugh and I see Ruel grab a microphone.
R: 'Nate, we good?'
I look over to see Nate give a thumbs up and we clap as Beau plays the first chords of Dazed and Confused on his keyboard.
T: 'This is my favourite song!' she yells to me as the drums kicked in
A: 'We know!' I yell back over the music, getting louder and louder.
We scream the lyrics, being Ruel's biggest fans as some of the lights starts up and we hear fans scream from outside and a slight sound of them echoing the lyrics. I see y/n pull out her phone, taking a photo of Ruel as he hung his head low.
G: 'I love you so much Ruel I'm your biggest fan!' he yelled and we laugh as Ruel chuckles into the microphone.
We all sat backstage, sipping at Red Bulls as I throw a grape to Ruel before he catches it in his mouth.
A: 'Ohhhhh, look at youuuu' I laugh
Y/N: 'OK, bets though, it's gonna sell out before he gets on stage'
E: 'It's gonna sell out in, 3, 2, 1...' he points his fingers to the door, awaiting Nate to appear but nothing, just Elliot looking stupid.
M: 'Yeah...No.'
E: '$20, y/n, it happens in the next 15 minutes'
Y/N: 'You know what? No. I have faith in my boy, I win in the next 5 minutes' she pecks Ruel's cheek before shaking Elliot's hand.
G: 'Mia, chuck me a Cheeto, will you?'
R: 'Hey...Those we're mine from a fan...'
M: 'Whatever is yours is ours'
Y/N: 'I'm pretty sure that only runs for girlfriends...' she shakes her head with a smile and I chuckle
N: 'Ruel, sold out. Congrats'
Y/N: 'Gimme' Ruel laughs as she puts her hand out and Elliot slaps the $20 in her hand as he rolls his eyes.
Michelle walks past the door and pokes her head through next to Nate
M: 'Ruel? Photo's in the hallway?'
He nods and gets up after pecking y/n's cheek with a kiss
G: 'Wait, Ruel, give me the look'
He stops at the door, striking a pose as we all laugh and Grayson takes a photo before he continues to walk outside to take photos with Michelle.
He took a sip of his water and stood back to the microphone
R: 'Thank you all for coming out tonight!' he pauses as we all cheer and the crowd in front of us screams, 'I just wanna thank you guys for selling out this show, its amazing. Shout out to my friends in the back, I see you guys, and my beautiful girlfriend, looking amazing' he nervously chuckles and I look over to see y/n blush.
He continues to introduce the next song as the intro played.
PRESENT
We laugh and remember the good times, where everyone was here one big and happy group. We left through the back door where there were fans left, right and centre. We smiled as some called out names, but obviously most were there for Ruel. We got into two separate cars, knowing exactly where we were going next.
RUEL'S POV
I pulled up behind Mia's car on the side of y/n's street, next to a tall brick house, 3 houses down from y/n's home. I grab the rugs from the boot and hand Alannah the basket, filled with food and drinks. I pull the boot of my car door down and see Mia pull out a heavy basket of wood from her car. I quickly hand Elliot the rugs and jog over to Mia, helping her carry the basket
M: 'Thanks' she smiles and I smile back as we share the weight and carry it down the secret dirt pathway that led to the beach behind y/n's beach.
We unpack the pieces of wood and place them on the sand as Tilly pulls out a match, lighting them and creating the warmth as we all sat around the fire. I saw Mia shiver so I pulled off my blue jacket, passing it to her as she sat down next to me
M: 'I'm fine' she chuckles,
R: 'I have a hoodie on, you're cold. Take it' she smiles as she wraps the jacket around her shoulders and I threw the rug, that we share, over her crossed legs.
G: 'Ugh mate, don't even start with me how the first day of school went'
T: 'Yeah, so much for the first day of the best year of our lives... I swear every teacher pulled me or us back after class to make sure we were ok...Obviously we're not but I'm not going to tell them that, you know?'
M: 'That's kinda true...If I wanted to talk to someone about it, I would talk to you guys, I mean, we're all going through the same things, teachers can't exactly relate to their best friend going missing can they?'
A: 'I get they are being nice but I don't need to be reminded every lesson'
E: 'Yeah, it's like as soon as I forgot what was happening in the outside world, y/n would just pop up, I just felt like that's what everyone was talking about...'
G: 'That's so true...I mean, the first day was a trainwreck...'
M: 'Well, I mean, if you didn't punch Bryce, it wouldn't be a problem.'
A: 'What did he say again exactly?'
G: 'Just called her a slut and shit like that...I wasn't going to take him talking crap about my friends. I did it so Ruel didn't have to' he says before I chuckle, so true.
T: 'It was as if the world was against us...'
I open my mouth the say something as everyone grabs food or takes a sip of their drink when we all turn our heads at the sound of police sirens.
R: 'Fire, fire, fire, fire' I whisper as Alannah pours her drink on it, make it sizzle out.
We turn our phone lights off as the beach was shut off for inspection about y/n's case and we weren't supposed to be there. We hear the sirens come closer to us and then past our cars, stopping at y/n's house. I give a confused look to everyone as we jog back to the secret pathway, climbing it halfway and then ducking low in the bushes. We see the blue and red lights flash, lighting up y/n's house as officers come out of the car. We stay dead silent, waiting to hear what they were doing there. My heart beat heart inside my chest as they pounded on y/n's front door and then stood back, waiting for an answer. We heard the screen open squeak open and see two figures appear
M: 'I thought they weren't living together? They're divorced....' she whispers next to me
A: 'Apparently they're back together...' she mumbles as Grayson shushes her and she rolls her eyes
PO: 'Kelvin and Sarah Lewis, you've been placed under arrest for the disappearance of Y/N Lewis'