❛ SUPERMARKET FLOWERS ♪ ❜ - z. herron

sixty-eight: the concert pt. 2

The days leading up to my flight are probably the slowest 192 hours I've ever had to endure. After texting Emerson, I received an ear-piercing scream phone call about how excited she was, which just twisted my stomach more.

God, I've never had my stomach twist so much until I met Zach, and now everything relating to him makes me knot in both good and bad ways.

Not only was the wait up to the flight horrendous, but the flight itself took me out. I was stuck in a middle seat between some sort of startup CEO who is terrible at his job and an "18 month old" child who continued to scream for 4 hours at the top of her lungs. If I decided to tune out the baby, I got stuck with how "more than half the company won't hit quota" and "how HR would have a field day with his relationship with his intern." But the thoughts of all of that fade away the second I hear the first note of Eben's voice as he begins to open the show.

As of right now, I'm standing in the pit with possibly the clammiest hands I've ever had in my life as Emerson links my arm. She's been coming to shows on and off ever since the tour started, but today, she refused to stay backstage and insists on standing with me. The longer Eben's set goes on, the more my body fights the urge to run straight to the door. I know in a few minutes, Zach is going to pop up on the stage, and I'll have to resist trying to not jump up on the stage and kiss him till he's lightheaded.

I shake my thoughts as I start to sing along to one of my closest friend's music. I've always been a fan of E's music; I think I liked his music even more than the band's at one point. Whenever I would come over and cook for the group, he'd sit with me and just sing. Whenever he was contemplating a new song idea, I was the first he'd call. It's weird the amount of distance between us now, with all the boys. I spent every waking moment with them to only get 5 minute long calls because I was scared.

I realized I was spacing again because Emerson tapped me on the shoulder, looking at me, concerned. The crowds buzzing with excitement which means Eben probably got off stage a few minutes ago.

"Are you okay?" She asks, pushing some hair of mine behind my shoulder.

"Fine, just super nervous." I reply, squeezing her forearm.

She breaks out in a grin, "Well, don't pee your pants before we see your future husband-" But she's cut off by the sound of familiar boops at the beginning of one of my favorite songs.

"Oh, she talks so sweet, like sugar, like candy

Makes me wanna be the best man that I can be

I like that she keeps things oh-so simple

Less stress, more uh, if she got the dimples."

And there he is. Zach has that smile that makes my knees almost give out on me from how hard I'm swooning. It feels so close to deja vu, but it's not quite there yet. This song played in my headphones the very first time we met that started this entire mess of what has to come to be Zach and I's relationship. His eyes are closed as he sings into the mic. I'm entranced with everything this boy does, but his stage presence, PHEW.

The song continues, and I sing along. I try to focus on the other boys, but my eyes draw to Zach, just watching him intake the crowd like it's a drug of adrenaline. They play two more songs that I scream too, trying my best to enjoy my time at the concert without letting my intestines tangle anymore.

"HELLOOOO DENVER." Daniel says into his mic, and I can feel the whole arena blush at the mere sight of him.

"We missed y'all. How are you guys feeling?" Corbyn smiles, making the crowd scream in unison.

Corbyn nods, "We feel the same way."

Jonah waits for the crowd to call down before saying his piece. "So, we've been thinking and we want you guys to decide the next song. It's between Be Myself and In Too Deep, but since we love them both equally, why not let you guys choose? So are you ready?"

Emerson leans over and whispers to me, "They didn't know if they could play either of them. So to piss off Randy, they went ahead and did this. They also made Eben set up the tracks, which got him so pissed, Zack had to hide his camera because Eben kept throwing shoes." She giggles. The boys' photographer's thought hiding from Eben is funny enough to get a laugh out of me. I look back up when I hear Jack speak.

"Can we hear it for Be Myself?" Jack yells out, making the arena roared. The boys soak in the sound, sending smiles to each other.

"Alright, can we hear it for In Too Deep?" Jack yells again, but this time the arena shakes in anticipation. I don't partake in the scream contest, but I hoped they would choose this song internally.

Zach smiles at the boys, making my heart melt. "In too deep it is."

I sing along as I hear the boys harmonize to the melody of my all-time favorite song. They've officially won the spot in my heart for my favorite band from this song alone. I watch the stage as they pour emotion into every word they sing. Zach's eyes open up as he looks around the crowd. He scans, and He studies, and right before he put his head back down, our eyes lock, just like the very first time. I feel the same way as I did the very first time.

Fucking impossible.

I try my hardest to look away and try to do anything else. But, I've said it before, and I'll repeat it, Zachary Dean Herron's eyes are addictive. If you maintain eye contact for longer than approximately 0.95 milliseconds, you stay lost in them forever. I can't tear them away no matter how hard I try. He lets go of our eye contact and looks back into the crowd. But I itch for that feeling of them back on mine. As they continue playing the setlist, I catch glances from him every once in a while. He never smiles or smirks, just pure awe that I'm even here.

I guess I'm looking at him the same. I can't help it, but every time I look at him, my heart flutters. He's just so.. Zach. Someone who is so uniquely themself. Someone who will ice skate with me, ask me to take them on a date, and recreate scenes from Disney channel original movies.

He's MY perfect guy.

It sucks that it took me so long to realize it. It took me being mistreated, 2 months of absolute misery, and a random stranger to sit here in the middle of sweaty teenagers to realize that he's the definition of my perfect guy.

*

"Thank you so much for such a rocking show!" Jonah smiles as the show comes to an end.

"We couldn't have been happier to be back." Jack says, looking around at the crowd.

Corbyn wipes off the sweat from his forehead, "I hope you all get home safe and have as good of a night as we did."

"We love you Denver. See you soon!" Daniel says, causing shouts, and I love you's to come from the crowd. Zach sends kisses into the crowd before looking over at me. He gets one good look at me before the lights dim in the venue.

And just like that, I've seen why don't we perform twice.

Em elbows me softly as the band exits the stage. "C'mon." She says, putting a lanyard over my neck.

I pull my hair from under the lanyard, "Where are we going?" I ask. I look down to vaguely make out the words "Backstage pass."

"To go get your prince charming, of course." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

word count: 1383 

don't forget to vote, comment and follow!!

much love,

~ nish