Every Night

Chp. 11

The show goes amazingly. I feel so confident sitting there and singing, because every time I put the mic up to my mouth I can see the bracelet on my hand. I crack a few silly jokes to the crowd here and there, and by the time the shows over, it feels like no time has passed at all.

Wayne comes to take my hand to help me to the back of the stage, but as he takes me by the hand, a rude fellow in the front row (who frankly I believe was extremely drunk, and I don't know why security didn't kick him out considering he was cussing the entire show) just leans over the barrier and throws his beer can at us and screams, "GAY!"

I immediately turn around because I want to give him a piece of my mind, but Wayne stops me and says, "leave it, fighting will just make things worse."

We continue to walk and he keeps on shouting and cussing, and finally security removes him. But not before he tells a few more choice words at us.

My insides are shattered, I know it's just one person, but he doesn't understand, he doesn't get anything, why'd he have to attack us. I try to keep my smile as we bow but it's extremely hard and I begin to cry. Wayne helps shuffle me off stage before the crowd noticed. We get backstage and take to the bus immediately, much to the disappointment of the fans waiting outside.

Wayne sits me down on the couch and rubs my back slowly. I'm still crying, a lot. He tells me, "Hey, hey, hey, Dan, it was just one guy, and I think I saw him have like 6 beers during the show, he didn't mean it."

"But.... But...." I say in between sobs, "why attack us? What did we do?"

"We did nothing wrong Dan. He was intoxicated out of mind and was rude the entire show, didn't you hear him cussing and yelling during '30 Lives'?"

"Well, yeah," I stutter out, "but I just sort of tuned it out."

"And that's what you need to do here bud, I know you're a bit vulnerable right now, but I got you, and I'm not going to let them hurt you. Now come on, let's get some rest, you need it, Mr. Baggy Eyes."

"Ha ha very funny." I tell him, giving him a small shove, which he returns back. We stand up and walk over to the bunks. I climb in first, and him right after me. It doesn't seem as tight as it usually does, so we close the curtain, and I put my arms around him, and fall asleep.

I wake up in the morning to find Wayne must of snuck out of the bunk and slid the dragon into my arms. I smile at it, set it down on my pillow and crawl out of my bunk. I walk into the common room balancing myself against the walls. My terrible balance currently combined with the moving bus creates an interesting trip down the hallway. I make it out of the hall and just crawl onto the sofa to make my way over to Wayne. He turns around and sees me scooting my way down the cushions on all fours and just can't help but laugh. I laugh too, because if I'm being completely honest, I look like a goof.

I finally make it down to the cushion next to him and sit myself up. "Where are we?"

Wayne glances out the window just as we pass the sign that says "Welcome to Los Angeles."

He turns back to me and says, "We're here."

"Seriously?! How long was I asleep?"

"About 15 hours buddy, but you definitely needed it. You didn't even stir when I got up a few hours ago."

"Dang," I say with a smug smile on my face, "so what have you been up to then?"

"I finished reading that book, that is an awesome book Dan, great choice."

I smile like an idiot at him, "you're just saying that," I say as I give him a little shove.

"Nope, I mean it bud." He gives one of the smiles that can't be anything but genuine.

I give him a big hug as the bus slows to a stop. "I'm going to wake the others up ." I say.

"Just sit here bud, come on you came crawling out here, I'll get 'em."

I stick my tongue out at him, "Fine."

He walks back in the hall and I hear him yank open the curtains and just say in that goofy sing-songy voice, "Time to get up sleepyheads!!" The both of them groan really loud and follow him out of the hall.

We file off the bus and into the green room. It's nice to be on time today, so we don't have to rush. We go through a few interviews, and we just get asked the normal, standard questions today.

We head out to the stage to soundcheck, and luckily I still have a chair. It's a pretty standard soundcheck, and we have a bit of fun with it. Making weird noises in the microphones and see how they echo. I can see Mac glaring at us and shaking his head. So in response I just blow a raspberry into my mic and we all laugh. It's almost time to be home, and we're all glad.

We head backstage and Wayne has a surprise waiting for him, we walk into the green room and sitting on the couch in there is his wife Lexi and their son River. He looks over to me and I nod and give him a smile. He helps me sit down and then walks over to them, hugging them and playing with River. I couldn't help but smile, it was nice to see him so happy. But it did hurt a bit knowing I don't get to see my family till tomorrow.

I pull out my phone and plays games for a bit to pass the time. Out of the corner of my eye I just glance at the bracelet on my wrist and smile. And I just reassure myself, "tomorrow you'll be home, finally, you can do this, you're almost there."

Wayne walks over to me and smiles and says, "here we go bud, second to last show. We're almost home. You can do it." He tells me with a giant grin.

He helps me up and we head off for the stage. Stepping out into the lights gives me a feeling of relief inside, only one more time stepping into the lights and I'm home. That gives me hope. Hope that had been hiding these past few days, but Wayne helped me slowly build it and show me I still had it. I can't help but go out on the stage with a huge smile.

I feel my happiness radiating out into my singing tonight, no matter what, I was always smiling. And the crowd sings back with such an energy tonight I get chills down my back, but the good kind.

We finish up the show, bow, and head out to the bus for one last time, for tomorrow night, we get to go home, and that just makes me smile, and Wayne can tell as he squeezes my hand as we walk onto the bus. We sit down on the couch, and before I know it, I'm asleep.

Author's Note: The rude drunk guy was loosely based upon a guy I got stuck next to at "Into The Night" last year, he was beyond the point of drunk and cussed through the whole concert.