𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐬 | pete davidson

seven: the premiere

above: a visual of the pirouettes dahlia performed the night of the video

~

She walked off the stage, heading straight for the dressing rooms to rest. Her thighs and calves ached as she glided across the slick floor in her ballet slippers. They allowed her the musical guest's room for now, but as she thought about it more and more Dahlia began to wonder if she would have to share the room with Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset.

Releasing her long black hair from its messy bun, she pushed the door open and stepped inside, dropping onto the long couch in exhaustion.

It was the evening of the 25th of September, and Dahlia had been practicing all morning and all that afternoon.

She closed her eyes, feeling her chest rise in rapid succession; as she inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly until there was nothing left in her lungs, she felt her heart rate slow to a soft beat. Running a hand through her hair, she slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes were on the ceiling, lost in her thoughts baked in a concoction of excitement and anxiety. Yet she felt so calm in the moment.

Pulling the beige Longchamp tote onto her lap, she pulled out her phone and noticed it was connected to the Bluetooth speaker on the vanity in her room. She began to play Travis Scott's Astrothunder softly before opening her texts.

Today at 9:41 AM

hey, what time should i expect u? :)
text me, let me know!

Today 2:57 PM

call me when u c this. i saved u a booth seat on the balcony
don't work urself too hard today lol

Today 8:50 PM

hey bonehead, don't tell me u fell asleep at the studio again lol
call me when u get this

She sighed, hearing her phone click when she turned off the screen, laying it on her stomach. Dahlia felt her eyes grow heavy, her eyes still staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't help but think about him, she began to feel the knot in her stomach tighten.

But he wouldn't, she thought to herself. He'd do anything just to see me.

Dahlia let her eyes close all the way and let them stay closed while she thought about what was planned for the night. Right now, it was 9:30. The cast was running through one last dress rehearsal before the actual show at 11:30. She knew when to come in, what skit was right before the first music slot and the second music slot, what songs they would be playing, and where to dance while Migos played their album hits. They had a platform with three microphones aligned specially made so that Dahlia would have enough space to dance the way she wanted to.

Was he still mad about what I said? Is this his way of getting back at me?

The soft tap on the door pulled Dahlia out of her thoughts. She raised her head up slightly to find Pete in her doorway, his tattooed hand still on the knob. "Hey." He spoke softly. She sat herself up slowly, blinking at him through strained eyes. "Hey..." she moaned, trying to stretch inconspicuously. She didn't want him to think she had just fallen asleep.

The song had changed to Silk Sonic's Leave The Door Open while she had her micronap and she hadn't noticed until now.

"Uhh... how are you doing?" He asked her, taking his hand off of the knob and stuffing it into the pocket of his pants. She threw her hair back over her shoulder, sighing. "I'm fine." she lied. "Part of me wants to get tonight over with, if I'm being honest."

"I know you'll be great. Everyone loves you already."

Dahlia smiled softly at him, "Thanks, Pete." He returned the smile, giving her a smile that stretched from ear to ear and nodding so gently that Dahlia did not notice at first. "C-can I come in?" He stammered, giggling as he stuttered to speak. "Yeah, ye-yeah of course! My door's always open." Dahlia grinned, waving him in.

"That is, if I'll even have a room by the time Migos gets here." Pete sat down next to Dahlia as she fixed herself on the couch, sitting on her left leg. Pete's brows furrowed. "That won't happen, Lorne wouldn't let it." Dahlia shrugged in response to Pete. She folded her arms over her chest, slouching slight enough for Pete to notice

Pete could see something was bothering her. He couldn't read into it fully so he thought she was worried she'd lose her room once the show went live. "Hey." She looked up at him. "If you get kicked out of your dressing room --God forbid-- but if you do, you're welcome to bunk with me."

Dahlia tugged the edges of her mouth into a weak grin. "I'd appreciate that a lot, Pete."

He loved hearing her say his name. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to talk to her all night and all day after that, he hoped 11:30 never came.

She faintly giggled, looking down at her thighs. Pete had been smiling like a goof, just staring at her as he thought to himself. You made her feel awkward, dumbass. Look away!

Pete obliged, looking down at his hands. He still sensed that she was upset. He really thought the room was what was bothering her. It was killing him not knowing what it really was. So he decided to straight up ask her, "Am I... making you uncomfortable being here right now?" He turned to look at her, searching for any sort of sign that that wasn't the case.

"Wh--? No, no. I hope you don't think you're intruding." Pete felt a weight lift off of his chest, biting back a smile of relief. "I just don't know if a friend of mine is going to come to the show."

"Oh," Pete chimed. "Yeah, I'm sure she'll show up. The traffic's letting up, I hear... I think... I don't know." He trailed off, making Dahlia chuckle. He laughed too, fixing his position on the couch so he could fully face her with his body. "Well, I hope he doesn't make something up and blame it on the traffic. I'll tell him I know a guy who's got psychic traffic powers." She joked, physically opening herself up to Pete as she moved her arms away from her chest and turned to lean on the armrest in order to face him.

He?

"Miss Coy, have you seen--?" Before Pete could ask who she was referring to, one of the stage hands burst into the room. "What the hell, Pete!? You've got a skit that's been waiting on you, let's go!"

"Fuck!" Pete sprung to his feet, making his way to the door. "I'm so sorry, Dahlia. I--"

"No need. You go do what you need to do." She smiled at him, pulling a part of her hair forward and onto her shoulder. Her voice sounded sensual as she spoke to him, he noticed. Pete's face grew hot as he chuckled again, both hands in his pockets and his eyes to the floor. The irritated stage hand cleared his throat to signal Pete. "Yeah, yeah man. I'm going." He stormed out, leaving Pete in the doorway by himself.

Before Pete could step all the way out the door, he turned to Dahlia and smiled at her softly. "By the way, your snoring's kinda cute."

*

"Ladies and gentleman, Migos."

The round of applause sent chills up Dahlia's spine. She forgot where she was for a moment, thinking she was still 17 years old about to perform unprepared at a competition.

She snapped out of it, she assured herself that things were going to go well. She waited for the crowd's applause to die down and the first beats of Roadrunner to begin.

She felt her heart drop when a completely different song started playing.