The Second Tour of 44West

ch. 1 - emerald eyes

Rion

~ Last Night of Tour 1 - Chicago ~

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I took a look around, trying not to let my emotions get the better of me as I took in what was happening, and the situation I found myself in. After years of touring as a small opener, we were finally concluding our first, stand-alone tour. We had been all over North America, and were finishing it all in Chicago, Illinois.

It had taken a long time to get here. So many long nights, past due bills, and sacrifices were made to reach this point.

I turned around to look at the band, and saw them doing the same thing I was. We had all been down similar paths, and it was a miracle we found each other. I made eye contact with Breaker, my drummer, whom I've known the longest. He just shrugged as he ran his fingers through his hair, blown away by the volume of the crowd and the fact that tonight was the end of a six month long endeavor. I just laughed back and nodded, understanding that we were feeling the same emotions as I faced the crowd again.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" I said into the microphone, adjusting the guitar strap that was slung across my body. "As you all know, this is the final night of the 'Love Again' tour," I paused as the crowd started screaming again and let a huge smile grow over my face. When the noise died down a bit, I continued, "We have a couple more songs for you tonight, and we'd like to go out with a bang. Can you help us with that, Chicago?"

The crowd screamed again as I chuckled in response, ripping a few chords on the guitar as I waited. "That's what I like to hear!" I screamed as the stage manager came and ran out a stool for me to sit on. "This one is a slower one, and the song that kicked off our entire career. It's very personal to me, and was written about my first love that got away from me too soon. If you know it, please sing along as loudly as you possibly can. This is called 'Emerald Eyes."

I waited as the crowd's cheers got quieter before starting the opening vocals. I had always loved this song. It was so personal and so raw, and I wrote it with my brother Evan when we were only teenagers. This song meant so much to me, and I'm so glad the fans took it and made it one of their favorites as well.

"I've been watching you, for some time. Can't stop staring at those emerald eyes. Burning cities, napalm skies. Fifteen flares inside those emerald eyes. Your emerald eyes. No fair. You really know how to make me cry when you give me those emerald eyes. I'm scared. I've never fallen from quite this high, falling into your emerald eyes. Your emerald eyes."

I kept singing, letting the guitar just hang off of my body as I got lost in the lyrics. It's been years, but I couldn't help but think of her when I performed this song. Her blonde hair, her innocent smile, and those damn emerald eyes that sucked me in the moment we met. All of it flashed behind my closed eyelids, and I briefly wondered if I would ever stop thinking about her when I sang this song.

It didn't seem likely, though.

"I've been walking through a world gone blind. Can't stop thinking of your diamond mind."

I opened my eyes and looked out again and found phone flashlights out and swaying in sync. I loved when the crowd did that. Thousands of people all doing the same thing, coming together because of something my brother and I wrote years ago. Now, that's beautiful.

I closed the song with the final lyrics and smiled as I looked out into the crowd. Flashing lights were all around as well as bodies dancing and flailing making me giggle.

I absolutely loved what I did, and I thanked every single broken path that led me to this moment in time. As an openly gay celebrity, there are a few more things I have to worry about than some of my friends. Prejudices, of course, and slurs come my way far more often than I'd like them to, but I've learned to ignore them. After all, the ridicule, rejections, and bullshit all led me right here.

I scanned the fans in the pit, and caught eyes with a young woman, probably mid-twenties, in a very low cut tank top and ripped up shorts. Feeling my interest piquing, I smirked at the woman and sent her a wink, smiling as the blush that filled her cheeks was noticeable even from where I was.

Yeah, I was going to find her after the show.

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A/N: Welcome to The Second Tour of 44West! Keep in mind that I have tweaked some of the lyrics of these songs to fit the story better.

I have already written a large portion of this book, and am so excited with how it's turning out. 

The first few chapters will be fairly short, but will get longer as the story solidifies. 

Thanks for reading!

Ocean Eyes - Billie Eilish