Runnin' with the Devil

Set List

[1355 words]
~
  As your last song was coming to an end you dropped to your knees on the stage. You flung your head back, putting your free arm behind you to keep yourself steady as you screamed out the last lyrics of the night. Your arm that was holding the mic, dropped down to your side as you sat up again, looking into the crowd. You laughed out an exhausted laugh as your sweat ridden torso heaved up and down quickly. The crowd screamed and applauded your performance as you rose to your feet once again.

"Thank you. You guys rock. Come see us again next week, same time same place. Goodnight."

  You announced before waving to the crowd and turning to your band mates. They all had exhausted smiles on their faces as you went and hugged each one of them. You congratulated each other on another successful show and began to pack up your things. As you were packing, some of the crowd lingered, talking amongst themselves, waiting for you to come and greet them as you did after every show.

  Just as you were about to grab your electric guitar to put it into your car, Robin walked up to you and took it from you. She had a proud smile on her face as she did so.

"I got this rockstar. You go talk to your fans."

"Keys are over there."

  You pointed toward the back left corner of the stage where your bag was and Robin nodded before heading off. You then turned around to be greeted by the man you had brought up on stage earlier. You gasped as you didn't expect someone to be right behind when your turned around but quickly laughed it off.

"Nice job out there, as always."

"Thanks. Nice job not freaking out when I pulled you on stage."

  He laughed that same low laugh that you hardly heard when he was up on stage with you. You then noticed him eyeing you up and down as he took off his jacket. He draped the jacket over your shoulders and you took it happily as the air began to cool you more than you were comfortable with.

"Say, I've seen you at all of my shows but I never caught your name."

"Billy...Hargrove."

  He offered up his hand for you to shake and you took it with a soft smile. His name seemed familiar, yet you couldn't quite place it until you realized that Steve had talked about him before. Steve didn't really like the guy from what you had heard. His grip was intense compared to the gentle grip he had on you on stage. As you let go of his hand and dropped your own to your side, you looked around and saw one of your band mates picking up the set list.

"One second."

  You said quickly before hauling off to stop them before they took off with it. Once reaching them you laughed a little and held your hand out to take the set list.

"I'll take that. Gonna give it to one of our adoring fans."

  You explained and they handed it over with a smile. They then gestured you off and you jogged back to Billy. You handed him the slightly crumpled set list and he took it almost instantly.

"A little souvenir for helping with the show."

  He smiled back at you and folded up the list, placing it in his pocket before patting it lightly. Just as he was about to speak again, Argyle came up to you with a dopey smile on his face. You could tell he was proud of you, as he always was after your shows.

"'Sup man. Nice work out there."

"Thanks man. Always appreciate you coming out."

"Always happy to support you bro. Oh, by the way, I'm supposed to tell you that your friend Eddie is waitin' on you with the other dudes."

"Tell him I'll be over in a second. Just talking with my fans."

  You replied with a soft smile that Argyle returned before walking off again. You turned back to Billy to see him still eyeing you up and down with a smirk on his face.

"Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you. I'm gonna go say hi to the group behind you. See you at the next show?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

  He replied and as you began to walk away you remembered you still had his jacket on. You turned back to him as you started to take it off and he simply shook his head.

"Keep it. I'll get it from you next week."

  You nodded and turned back around to greet the group ahead of you. They all seemed very excited to meet you which filled your heart with so much pride as you made your way to them.

~

"It was lovely meeting you guys! I'll see you next week!"

  You called out to the group as you left for your car. Giving them a wave as you walked through the trees, toward the road on the other side. As you were walking up the small incline that lead to the road, you saw Eddie, Argyle, Steve, and a couple other guys you've never met before. The three you knew were too busy talking to each other to notice you coming up to them until one of the guys you didn't know announced your presence.

"Eddie, she's here."

  As soon as he heard those words, Eddie turned his attention away from the conversation and over to you. He took notice of the jacket draped over your shoulders and pushed himself away from the tree he was leaning on, taking his own off. You shot him a sly smile as he walked over to you, his jacket and battle vest laid over his right arm, the other outstretched to you. Once he reached you, he gestured for you to take off the jacket you had on.

"Here."

  He said as he helped you remove the jacket and replace it with his own. He then turned and tossed Billy's jacket to Steve before turning back to you. He placed a hand under the jacket and vest on to the exposed skin of your hip, using it to pull you closer to him. His free hand going moving the hair that was stuck to your face from sweat, away.

"Much better. Now, I'm gonna go drop off those dickheads and then I'm coming over, okay?"

  You noticed the hint of jealousy in his voice as you glanced behind him at the little group of guys to see one of them staring at you in awe. You then quickly turned your attention back to Eddie when you felt his hand on your chin.

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

  You affirmed quickly as your flushed face became red. This seemed to please Eddie as he removed his touch from you and walked off to the group, waving for them to go get in the van. All but one followed behind him as he walked off toward where you assumed his van was. The one that stayed behind was the one that was staring at you moments ago. You walked over to him and shot him a soft smile.

"So, you're the chick that's got Eddie all fucked up. I see why now."

"Well, hello to you too—"

"Gareth."

  He shot in quickly and stuck his hand out for you shake. You simply nodded, a little put off by how he was looking at you earlier but not wanting to seem too rude. He took your nod as indication to put his hand down and he did.

"You should probably go get in the van before Eddie finds out you didn't follow him."

  You said in as soft of a tone as you could muster given your slight discomfort and embarrassment in the moment. Gareth nodded quickly then ran off to go with Eddie. Once he was out of sight, you turned to go to your own car and get back home so you could freshen up before Eddie got there.