The Unexpected

I Surrender

"Where are now?" I ask when we get out of the bus at the venue. You'd think I would've just looked up our tour dates on my phone, but where's the fun in that?

"Leicester. Are you going to ask this every time?" Arthur answers. I nod. "We'll just get you a list."

We walked towards the venue. We were the last people to get there, being that our bus driver made a wrong turn. When we got into the venue, Bastille was setting up for their soundcheck.

I caught Dan's eyes as he was setting up his keyboard. He smiled softly and I smiled back. A warmth filled my body as I turned to help Annie with her stuff.

Sometime last night, Annie decided we needed something that could tie us together as a band, so she talked about making us each bracelets. Annie had packed a lot of stuff to keep her busy and among her stuff was a friendship bracelet kit she's had for years. Her cousin had sent it to her for Christmas when we were still in uni.

Annie gathered our band into an intimate circle and sat us on the floor. We looked like a group of kids at share-and-tell. "So, what colors should represent us?" Annie asked, laying out the multicolored thread. "We need at least three colors."

In the middle of the circle laid several different colors. Among the pile of colors were; light blue, green, orange, yellow, red, pink, dark brown, black, grey, and so many other colors of thread.

"We're called Woods, so how about brown, green, and yellow?" Arthur grabbed the colors and tossed them into Annie's lap.

Annie nodded. "Awesome, I like it." She started to wind the strings around each other, creating an intricate braid. It was extremely mesmerizing to watch and I'm sure the entire circle of us looked enthralled in such a small task.

By the time the first bracelet was done, another standing circle had formed around our sitting circle.

"Emma, give me your wrist," Annie told me. I held out my wrist and she knotted the bracelet around it. The colors changed along the bracelet. The colors went from brown to green to yellow, then back to green and brown. In the yellow, the band name was weaved in green.

I marveled the bracelet adoring my wrist. "Thanks Annie! I love it!" I hugged Annie.

A chorus of compliments rang out from the crowd of people. Annie thanked them as she made another bracelet. She got faster with each bracelet, speedily weaving the strings around each other.

Annie was just over halfway done with the bracelets when we were called for our soundcheck. Like last time, it didn't take us long to finish. With two people who knew what they were doing everything went smoothly.

Once we were backstage, Annie finished the last two bracelets and everyone finally dispersed about the room. There was about three hours to spare before the show, so a lot of people were just milling around backstage.

I moved to a quieter spot backstage and grabbed my book. Every noise was blocked out and tunnel vision took over.

"Hey Emma!" Kyle called from across the room, interrupting my reading. "Do you wanna come get something to eat with us?" He motioned to the large group of basically everyone on tour.

I didn't feel hungry but I went with them anyways. Dan walked beside me, but we didn't hold hands or anything else you'd expect from a couple. We walked silently behind our loud group.

Instead of trying to strike up a conversation, I took the time to think. It was day two of the tour and I hadn't had a headache yet, Dan and I had our first fight as a couple and we still weren't exactly on speaking terms, and I still hadn't opened the cigarette case.

Mentally, I high-fived myself. I was slightly proud of myself and also kinda mad. I was supposed to forget everything and have fun but so far it's been less than swell.

"Let's go here," Kyle said, leading everyone into a cafe.

As everyone ordered, I found a few tables that were close enough that everyone could talk and we wouldn't have to move tables. I sat silently watching the people outside and once a few people were seated I got up to order a coffee.

When I got back, everyone was mingling. Will, Annie, and Finn graced my table. I chatted with them as I sipped at my coffee.

"You are performing These Streets with us tonight, right?" Will asked me. "We completely forgot last night, but Dick found a stage note about it this morning."

"I'll have to talk to Dan about it first. I'm not even sure about performing Pompeii with you guys yet," I said, "I almost didn't last night."

Will shook his head. "Don't let Dan keep you from doing anything. It wouldn't be right having everyone but you up there." He leaned back in his chair and looked over his shoulder at Dan, who was just a few chairs behind us. "Hey Dan."

Dan turned towards Will, looking curious. "What's up?"

"Is it cool if Emma performs These Streets with us tonight?" Will asked.

Dan looked at me for a minute, then back to Will. "Uh, yea. I don't know why not."

"Cool, thanks," Will said before leaning back to our table. "You guys sounded amazing last nigh, by the way," he told Annie and Finn.

"Thank you!" Annie giggled. "You guys were even better, though," she gushed.

Finn nodded in agreement. "It's really awesome of you guys to let us come with."

"Yes, of course. I think this tours gonna be great with all of you."

When everyone finished, we walked back to the venue. On our way in, a few fans stopped us and took pictures with the guys before heading on their way.

It was unanimously decided that we'd take a photo at every gig. Much like last time, I stood by Kyle and Will. And unlike last time, this picture was posted on Instagram and Twitter. As I liked the pictures, I noticed the comments. Most comments were from concerned Stormers about Dan and I standing so far apart.

I felt bad. I kinda felt like I was letting all these people down just because I wasn't standing by Dan. Maybe if I talk to Dan again tonight I'll feel better about it. Or I could post a picture of us tonight. Perhaps I could actually interact with him onstage tonight instead of standing by Will.

Then again, I'd be doing all of that to make other people feel better. People I don't even know.

Somehow, thinking that made me feel worse.

"Woods! You're up!" A stage manager yelled at us.

We walked towards the stage and again it was decided I would announce. "Hey guys! We're Woods!"

Once our set was over, we ran off stage. The screams were fainter as we walked backstage.

"Emma, These Streets is coming up. You'll be on the lower part of the keyboard, if I remember correctly," Dick told me.

I was a bundle of nerves. I was scared to perform that close to Dan after the past couple days. My heart was racing as I thought of what could go wrong.

We were going to do my version, but what if the fans didn't like it? What if Dan and I didn't mesh like usual? What if I forgot all of the chords and just messed up completely? I don't even think Dan wants to do this with me anymore.

When it was time for my to go on, my head was throbbing. I prayed that I could hold out until the end of the song before my headache turned into a migraine.

A/N

Sorry if this sucks, I'm writing on my phone and I can't tell if it looks good. Also it feels slow. Is it slow? Well sorry, again, if it's slow.

By this point, I'm sure all of you have read my one-shot, but if you haven't, check out They Turned To Dust.

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