Back To You // T.K

Tom

Friday

'Soundcheck, one, two, three', Bill spoke on the microphone, as he gently tapped on it to make sure it was working.

Gustav and Georg had already placed their things on the stage, while I took a moment to look around and appreciate the arena we were about to perform in: the stage was pretty big and it faced a lot of seats, plenty of them actually, - the concert was sold out, which meant we were peforming in front of at least forty thousand people.
Normally it wouldn't have bothered me that much, I was never anxious about any of our shows, - I liked to think of them as if we were peforming for our friends, and I just wanted to enjoy it.
This time around, though, I was sweating and nauseous, - I wasn't sure why, but I had a feeling it had something to do with Pearl coming to see me.
It wasn't the first time she attended one of our shows, but it was the first since we broke up, and for some reason I needed to prove myself to her, to make a good impression, even though she knew me better than anyone else and we were past the point of good first impressions.
Either way, I wanted this show to be perfect, reason why I made everyone wake up at 6 in the morning to rehearse the songs we were playing at least fourteen hours before the actual concert.

'I can't hear myself', Bill complained for what felt like the thousandth time, as he took out his in-ear.

It was noon, and everyone was either tired, sleepy, or starving, - personally, I was all three of them.

'Alright, let's take a break', I suggested and carefully placed my guitar on the floor.

We all stepped out of the stage and walked through the backstage, - a little room with a coffee table, a TV and a couch which provided an incredible view to the actual stage, - and into the kitchen, where we put together a few sandwiches and started eating in silence.

Gustav was the first to break the silence with a loud yawn and, per usual, a complaint, - it seemed like all they were able to do that day was complaining about everything.

'Did we have to wake up that early?', he asked, puffing and taking another bite of his sandwich, 'we've been rehearsing for a whole month before coming here.'

'Yes', I replied, massaging my temples, - I, too, was tired, but it was not like I could sleep anyway.
'I just wanted to make sure that everything is perfect tonight.'

'Why?', Georg asked, 'you have a special guest?'

'Oh, more than special', Bill replied, an amused smile on his lips, 'Pearl is coming.'

'Yeah, I know', Georg said, 'she's coming with Jocy, so what? It's not like it's her first concert.'

Both me and Bill stayed quiet, while Georg shifted his gaze from me to him.
Bill raised his hands in defence and smiled at me, apparently proud of the conversation he started.

'Oh', Georg finally said, speaking directly to me, 'you're the one who asked her to come.'

'Apparently', I replied, shrugging my shoulders and trying to make it a lesser deal than it actually was.

'You know what', he chuckled, taking the last bite of his sandwich, 'I'm not even going to ask you what's going on between you two because I know it'll automatically cause me a headache.'

As he grabbed a bottle of water, he walked closer to me and patted me on my back, like I was a hurt puppy.

'Next time try to figure it out before you wake me up at 6 in the fucking morning', he laughed again as I gave him a dirty look and stole his bottle from his hands.

'I think I'm going to crash for a couple hours', Gustav interrupted our pointless conversation, stretching his arms and yawning again.