We are full of stories to be told

Chapter Thirty One - Be Brutal

When we pull up at the venue in our taxi, there are already like a hundred people queuing outside.

"Oh my God, Dan look!" I point at everyone through the window, but he doesn't look.

"Dan?" he glances up at me quickly and smiles weakly.

The taxi pulls round to the back of the building and we hop out.

"Dan?" I say again, quieter this time "Are you okay?" I grab a hold of his hand.

"Yeah, sorry, I was already nervous, seeing all those people didn't help" he sighs and we make our way to the door.

He rings a buzzer and gives his name to the girl who opens the door.

"Hey Mr. Smith! Your band mates are already in there, they're just setting up for sound check" she smiles and hands him an artists pass.

He pauses before entering "This is my girlfriend by the way, Emily James, she's on the list"

The girl looks at her clipboard and scores my name off. "Pleasure to meet you Miss James, if you need anything, let me know, I'm Chrissy. Oh, and here's your pass" she smiles warmly at me and steps aside to allow us in.

"Thanks" I return the smile, "And please, call me Emily" Dan leads me down the long corridor towards the dressing room assigned to the band.

When he pushes the door open, the room is empty. He throws his coat on the sofa and pushes up the sleeves of his grey wolf hoody.

"I should go get started" he mumbles. He's barely lifted his eyes from the floor since we got out of the taxi.

"Dan" I squeeze his hand. "I know you can't help being nervous, but please, believe me, you're going to amazing" I kiss his cheek. "I promise this is going to go amazingly well and we'll be off on tour before you know it for more amazing shows"

He moves his head to the back of my head and kisses my forehead, lingering there for a minute.

"Thank you" he says "I genuinely don't think I would be able to do this without you Ems"

"I'll always be here to help Smith" I grin up at him.

"Right lets go, before Kyle shouts at me for being really late" he chuckles and we make our way to the large room where the gig is being held. We follow a short, narrow corridor which leads directly to the side of the stage.

There's a curved top level balcony, which is all seated and the ground floor of the room is large and empty, obviously the standing area. There's a long bar across the back of the room and a barrier about six feet from the stage to keep the crowd back.

I try to take it all in, "It's beautiful in here" I lift my head and stare at the ceiling, it's all gold and warm browns and carved and just... beautiful.

"Nice t shirt Emily!" shouts Kyle from the other side of the stage.

"Thanks dear! Wore it all special for you" I wink at him and laugh.

"How's it going so far?" I ask Will "Sorry we're late"

"Yeah it's going great! Instruments all checked, just need a quick run through with Dan to make sure the mics are okay."

Dan's already taken up his position at the front of the stage. He's fiddling with the mic wires.

I stroll past him and squeeze his side gently, "Calm, remember" I whisper in his ear.

There are a set of stairs at the side of the stage, I run down them and jump over the barrier at the front of the stage.

"I'll let you know how fabulous you look" I shout and run to the middle of the room and scream "WOOOOO! BASTILLE" I laugh and give them a thumbs up to start playing.