You and I

Prologue/Author's Note

On the tour bus in Russia; October 2015

Sharon den Adel slipped out of her compartment on the tour bus after having thrown on a Nirvana hoodie and walked the few steps to the kitchen area where the guys were already sitting around the table with bowls of cereal.

"Good morning," Ruud said cheerfully as he topped his bowl of cocoa puffs off with more milk.

"Good morning." She opened the fridge and pulled out a package of fruit and a jar of yogurt and grabbed a bowl from the cabinet.

"I can't believe the tour's almost over," Mike commented.

Sharon turned around, setting her food on the counter. "I know! We have what, two more shows left?"

Mike nodded.

The past few weeks had been a whirlwind, but Sharon had enjoyed every moment of getting to connect with their Russian fans.

"I'm going to miss the energy," Martijn agreed. "The fans have been responding so well to the songs, especially 'Paradise.'"

"I've been thinking about that, actually," Stefan said.

Sharon finished spooning the last of the yogurt into her bowl and sat down in the empty chair between Ruud and Jeroen. "What about it?"

"What if we did a live version with Tarja?" Stefan suggested.

Sharon's heart jumped.

"That's a great idea," Ruud enthused.

"Yeah, the fans would love it!" Mike said.

Jeroen and Martijn voiced their agreement as well, and before Sharon knew it, they had all turned to her, waiting for her approval.

She swallowed. "Sure. That would be great, I mean, if she can. She's probably pretty busy."

"True, but it's worth a shot," Stefan said. "Maybe at one of the festivals next summer."

Everyone agreed again and started talking about the details of how they could make it happen. Sharon put in a word or two every once in a while but otherwise stared out the window at the grey sky and trees whizzing past, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach, her breakfast sitting untouched in front of her.

When they had first recorded "Paradise," she, as well as the others, had felt that there was something missing from the song. It was big and bombastic but lacked the drama that could really take it to another level. Tarja's voice came to mind, but Sharon had had no idea if the other singer would be interested in the collaboration or how it would go if she agreed. She had seen Tarja's face on billboards and had heard her sing both with Nightwish and on her own, but she had no idea what she was like in person.

They had contacted Tarja's agent and sent over the demo, and Tarja had said she loved the song and was very interested. When they had met over that first Skype meeting, Sharon had been pleasantly surprised at how easy it had been to talk to her. They had set up a date and time for the recording and video shoot, and before Sharon knew it, she had been meeting Tarja in person.

Sharon had been nervous all over again, wondering how the dynamics would go with Tarja being the only person there who didn't know everyone. But she had blended right in. She walked into the studio that morning with a slightly shy but wide smile on her face, and her eyes had lit up when she saw Sharon.

"It's so good to finally meet you!" she had said, immediately pulling Sharon in for a hug.

And from that moment on, Sharon had felt unsettled. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, exactly. Tarja was one of the most genuinely nice people she had ever met. She got along well with the guys, laughing at their jokes and even making some of her own as they ate lunch in between takes.

But Sharon had felt off balance somehow when she was near her. During the photo shoot when they had to hold each other's gaze and keep serious expressions on their faces, they kept laughing and had to do multiple takes. When they finally got it right, Sharon hadn't wanted to look away, finding herself lost in the other woman's eyes. And when the assistants had wrapped the long trains of their sheet dresses around them at the end of the shoot, Tarja had fallen into her, and Sharon had found herself disappointed when they managed to untangle themselves.

"Earth to Sharon!"

She snapped back to the present to see Stefan waving his hand in front of her face.

"Sorry, what?"

"We were just saying that we would reach out to her and try to set up a Skype meeting later this week. Does that sound okay?"

Sharon nodded. "Yeah, of course."

She glanced out the window again, wondering where Tarja was and what she was doing at the moment. She was sure it would be fine--the way she had felt around her the first time they met must have just been residual nervousness of some sort and nothing more.

Author's Note:

Idk if anyone is even going to read this but if you're here, welcome to Alina tries to write a multi-chapter fanfiction while finishing a semester of college. I've had this idea in my head for years and just kept adding to it but only recently started actually writing it down. Stay tuned for (hopefully) weekly updates!

Each chapter title is going to be based off of a song lyric, and I'll put what song it was from at the beginning of the chapter. Some of the songs actually go with the chapter but for others, just that specific lyric that goes with that part of the story and not necessarily the whole song.

I will mark the ✨spicy✨ chapters at the beginning.