Standing By - Avi Kaplan

f i f t e e n

 "Thank you, Virginia!" I heard Scott's voice ring through the monitor as the crowd cheer. We had just finished our second to last concert in the United States, and this was one of the biggest shows we'd played.

"Wow, not bad," I heard a voice behind me and spun around, startled.

"Ben?"

Ben smiled at me. "Ha, nice to know you still remember my name." He sat down on the couch, dropping his feet on the table. "So, how've you been?"

I shrugged, glaring at him. "I've been just fine. Why are you here?"

He laughed. "I work here. I'm part of the tech crew. Just thought I'd stop by and say hi."

A frown formed on my face as I turned away from him. "Ben, just do me a huge favour and leave me alone. I don't really want to think about you right now."

Ben laughed. "Weren't you the one who tried to make this whole 'relationship' thing work?"

I bit my lip, trying to stay calm. "What's your point?"

"My point is, maybe we should try again." He reached over to me, his icy palm resting on my cheek. I froze in fear and tried to move away as Ben stepped closer to me, playing with my hair. "What do you say, girlie?"

As I opened my mouth to reply, Ben went flying backwards, screaming in pain. I turned to see Avi, enraged. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" His deep voice reverberated off the walls. "Honestly. People like you are the scum of the earth! You broke up with her, leave her alone. Get out of here!"

Ben scrambled to his feet and ran out as fast as he could, leaving me alone with Avi. "Thank you," I whispered, walking over to the couch and sitting down. I felt my cheek, which still felt cold from his touch.

Avi smiled and sat next to me, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay? Did that creep do anything to you?"

I shook my head. "I mean, he scared me pretty badly, but that's about it." I sighed, leaning my head back. I felt tears roll down my cheeks, and sighed when I realised that they wouldn't stop.

"Hey, look at me." Avi gently tilted my face so that my eyes met his. "You're safe from him now. He's in Virginia, and we'll be in Florida tomorrow evening. You're okay. Alright?"

I felt his thumbs wipe the tears on my cheeks, and I sighed, reaching my hand up to his cheek. "His hands were so cold."

He placed his hand on top of mine, and closed his eyes. "Your hand is warm." He opened his eyes again and smiled at me.

"Is that a compliment?"

Avi shrugged, smiling. "If you want it to be."

I smiled back at him, sniffling lightly. "I want it to be."

He nodded, "Then your wish is my command, ma'am."

I felt my cheeks getting hotter, and butterflies overtook my stomach. "Thank you, good sir."

Avi smiled, and began to lean in. I smiled, following him.

"Uh..." I jumped, turning to see the face in the doorway. "Sorry. I'll come back later."

I looked at Avi, who had stood up and walked over to the door. "I'm tired, I think I'm going to go to sleep, actually. Uh...good night, I guess."

I was left to sit by myself, alone in the room. I pulled out my phone and found a new text from Kirstie. 'I'm so sorry,' she wrote, along with a sad-face emoji. 'I didn't mean to interrupt anything.'

'It's alright. Nothing happened. Nothing was going to happen, anyways.'

I turned off my phone and joined everyone in the tour bus. Tomorrow was the big day, the day that we'd be performing for the president. I decided to just close my eyes and fall asleep, and hope that everything would work itself out by the show.