Risk & Reward

Two

Shi💕
NFATTNE LA n1 vibes: 🦋💋✨🪩
NFATTNE LA n2 vibes 🥰🩵🌸🌙

Tay🫧
@startingshine I wish I was there with you! I miss you already 😭🩷
@hiortay come back! 24 hours with you wasn't enough 💔

Shonda🪩
@startingshine bet you still look hot though! Enjoy it 5x over for so of us that can't be there with you tonight.
Shi💕
@noshameshonda I'm wearing the tour t-shirt and shorts, my makeup is minimal and I'm sitting on the balcony alone. Last night was better for vibe, but tonight I'm going to live in the music 😂🫶🏻

C🐾
@startingshine two entirely acceptable vibes for a Luke show, enjoy tonight!
@clamsos thanks C! Wish you could have come so we could finally meet 💛

***

Shi tucks her phone away, smiling softly as she looks out over the mass of excited fans below her. She's debated not doing night two, knowing it would leave her to drive home in the dark. Anyone who knows her knows she hates driving in the dark more than almost anything, but there are a few things that can get her to do it. Last night with her friends, driving to the beach to create a memory was one, and getting to hear Luke's music live and alone is another.

She'd come in after the opener tonight, hearing her set end as she'd climbed the stairs to the balcony, so it should only be a few short minutes until Luke takes the stage. She's standing in the back, not wanting to be too close to anyone, wanting tonight to be a personal experience. The room is buzzing with excitement though, and Shi can't help but indulge herself in that, knowing how amazing this show is.

Her heart races slightly as the lights go down, hearing the start of the show again. A Beautiful Dream was and always will be the right way to start the show. Shi didn't expect it to be first again this year after it had been for Fonda, but she was pleasantly surprised. It fits the vibe of the show so perfectly as an opener and she can't help but sing along.

It's not until Diamonds ends that she starts to panic internally. The next run of songs is what she wanted to hear live and alone, but also what terrifies her. Last night Tay had taken her hand and squeezed it, guiding her into these songs and supporting her. But tonight she came to feel them in their entirety, her favorite songs of Luke's solo work, the ones that pull a bit too hard at her chest...

Place in Me stings, but it isn't until the music changes and Benny starts that she feels the real tug. She'd sobbed through Benny the first time she heard it, and every time since basically. It's her favorite, and her least favorite all wrapped into one. It leaves her feeling raw and open, and pulls from the deepest places in her heart. This song was written for her, and she can understand all the fears Luke put into it.

"You know it's not supposed to be a super sad song, right?" She jumps hard, she's been lost in the song and hadn't noticed the person step beside her.

"Depends on your relationship to it." She shrugs, wiping her eyes quickly before turning to look at the stranger. She has to swallow her shock when she realizes the man beside her is none other than Calum Hood.

"I guess that's true." He frowns slightly, "but really, are you good?"

"I will be. Are you enjoying the show?"

"Absolutely. Luke's got an insane voice, and seeing him do his solo stuff makes me stupid proud. Almost proud enough to shed an emotional tear or two." He offers her a wink.

"You could release solo work, we'd all be stupid proud then too. And maybe Luke could cry for you." She laughs.

"Oh, so you know who I am then?" He chuckles, shifting slightly to get more comfortable against the wall.