𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓 ✞𝑡𝑜𝑚 𝑘𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑧✞

part four

"This vodka tastes like ass" Georg muttered, pushing his glass further away from him as he smacked his lips together in disgust.

"I'll have it" Bill smiled, flicking his black and white dreadlocks to one side as he reached for the glass. Tom's hand immediately shot out to grab him, his grip fastening around his twin's wrist.

"No. I'm not having you fucked on stage if we win" Tom instructed, releasing his hand and readjusting himself further back into his seat.

"You're one to talk. Don't think I don't see you running to the bathroom every hour for a bump" Bill whispered, his darkened eyes narrowing towards his brother "Bad habit. You know better"

Tom attempted to intervene before a blinding white light fell upon them, invading his delayed vision with white shards of light. Eyes widening, he whipped his head from side to side, seeing how the faces surrounding them were now staring and clapping along with the remaining arena.

"Get up" Gustav barked, nudging Tom "while you two were arguing, we actually won an award" he spoke between gritted teeth, his eyes wide as he pushed Tom in front of him to his feet.

In shock, Tom rose, pulling his baggy jeans upward around his hips before he followed Bill towards the stage.

It was then, that the circumstance sunk in. They had won. They had actually won.

A smile displayed on his lips, he looked around at his band members, seeing how they all smiled and waved as they ascended the stairs to the stage.

Peering out over the crowd, he offered a cocky smirk, seeing all of the other German bands clapping humbly.

The four of the boys lined up to shake the hands of the presenters, Bill going first and collecting the award.

"Tom" Georg whispered from behind him "Look who is it"

As Bill moved to one side to begin his speech into the microphone, Tom froze. His breath hitched as he looked up from the handshake to see who he was receiving it from- Axel Cadance.

Their eye contact was awkward; a series of nods and blinking hesitation. He saw that they both had realised who each other were.

Axel looked like he wanted to kill him.

His mind delayed and in a state of shock, he nodded nonchalantly alongside his brother, nodding his head with an appreciative smile. Weather or not the presenter wanted to kill him, they had still won a really important award.

He chimed in briefly to add to the speech, leaning down into the mic and flicking his gaze upward into the crowds of faces.

Suddenly, the words separated from his thoughts as a familiar face stared right back at him a few rows from the front.

It was Robyn. Here. Three years later.

Her expression was similar to his; a blank state of shock as her eyes just stared back at him. He found her slender eyes in the sea of others, latching onto them like magnets as the area, people and the lights all blurred into a distorted background. Only she was in sharp focus.

She looked the same- better even.

Beneath the harsh lights, he was unable to make out anything other than her eyes, their same glossed stare almost sending him back to 2007.

It was a blur as the audience clapped once more, Gustav and Georg now concluding their short additions to the speech before they all proposed a final waves and quickly descended the stairs, Tom's eyes still firmly locked on Robyn's.

Beside her, he watched as the famous playboy Luca DeRosso tapped her harshly to snap her back to reality. What was she doing here- with him?

~*~

"Rob" Luca's voice sounded from beside her as he  shook her shoulder, the thin strap of her black dress falling and sliding down her arm.

"Rob!" he repeated, seeing how her vacant expression remained fixated on the band.

"Sorry" she whipped her head around to face him, shaking her head slightly and blinking to discard her previous thoughts. She was in shock; seeing him in the flesh made her almost paralysed. 

"You look like you've seen a ghost, you don't strike me as the type to fantasise about boy bands" Luca chuckled, his voice low as he flicked his eyes in the direction of Tom and the band.

Her breathing escalated.

"I'm not, It's- I can't explain" she stuttered, feeling her cheeks flush "Its nothing"

Luca pulled a confused face, his chestnut brows furrowing over the deep wells of his eyes.

"Do you-" he began, but was swiftly cut off as Axel and Lorenzo returned, sliding past the two teens and into the seats accompanying them.

"How was that for an award presentation kids? Just like old times right?" Lorenzo sung, his elated expression turning to face them.

Robyn stared blankly at the empty stage in front of them, he was stood right there.

"Rob, are you okay?" Luca whispered down to her, his gaze flicking between her rapid breaths and her father's angry stare towards the band.

She nodded.

"Over here!" a photographer suddenly exclaimed, crouching in the aisle with his black camera poised for a photograph.

"Big smiles!" Lorenzo instructed turning to face Axel, Robyn and Luca.

"Tell me after" Luca whispered seriously before quickly draping his arm over Robyn's shoulder and pulling her further into him.

This wasn't happening right now.

Weakly, she offered a light smile, adjusting herself between her father and Luca as the bright flash of the camera indicated the photograph had been taken.

She saw spots. Her vision distorted and chaotic as the chatter resumed around them. Hyperventilating, she felt as the room grew more crowded, the bodies and sound all closing in on her.

This wasn't happening.

"I'm gonna get some air" she quickly explained, hurriedly rising from her seat and shaking as she weaved through the bodies. Their protests and questions were quickly drowned out by a static-like ringing in her ears that drummed roughly against her temples as she hurried down the aisle, all of the memories of Tom and the band playing on a loop in her mind.

This wasn't happening.

"Are you alright miss, you look quite pale" a doorman spoke with concern, pausing to look at her before opening the door.

She panted.

"You got a cigarette and a light?" she asked hurriedly, feeling bile rise in her throat. In response the doorman paused and rummaged in his pocket before pulling out a single cigarette and presenting it to her.

"Thank you" she exhaled, slipping the thin roll into her palm as she rushed through the doors he had opened to the rooftop.

Immediately, the air flushed over her skin, melting into the heat of her cheeks and immediately serving as relief.

She continued to breath slowly, lifting the cigarette to her lips and instinctively going to light it before she realised she did not have one.

"Shit!" she cursed, leaning over the edge slightly to see the streams of multicoloured lights and building signs of the city below.

Now knowing she couldn't smoke, Robyn turned to the next best thing- the pills. After a moment of digging around in her small clutch, her fingers brushed over the soft plastic of the bag before pausing suddenly as footsteps sounded from behind her.

"You need a light?" the familiar voice of Tom sounded from behind her, low and raspy.

This couldn't be happening.