Somewhere in the Middle

If You Are

They were half an hour out, and Jamie's nerves were all over the place—they always were so close to showtime. But this time was different, not because his mind wasn't filled with crap, but the crap he couldn't seem to stop thinking about was revolving around a particular person.

The last person he wanted it to be.

"Alright," Greg said as he stood, his hands stilling, silencing the beat he was playing out on the tops of his legs. "I'm gonna drop a load."

Lucas laughed. "You don't have to announce it, dude. We know."

Even Jamie was fighting a smile. Greg always took a dump before they went on stage.

"You mean you don't appreciate the reminder?" Greg asked, smirking at Lucas.

"Just light a candle when you're done," Lucas said, smiling as he tossed a towel at Greg, which Greg caught.

Greg disappeared into the bathroom, and Lucas stood up, stretching his arms up over his head and holding the position. His silence only gave Jamie more time to think, to consider, to wonder what she was doing, even though he already knew.

She was standing at the merch table, rounding that green gaze on everyone she came face to face with across the expanse of it. Smiling at each of them, thanking them in turn before giving the next person her attention. She was talking to each of them, not in the biting tone she usually reserved for Jamie, and maybe not even in the way she talked to Luke or Greg, but certainly in a way that would make whoever they were feel like they were the only person she could possibly be thinking about.

He was on his feet before he could consider it any further.

"Where you going?"

He turned to find Lucas staring at him, his body tilted sideways as he stretched his right side, arm over his head.

"Just have to take care of something."

Jamie didn't wait for any more questions, just headed out down the hall, propelled by something inside him he hadn't felt in a while. Something that felt as foreign to him now as smiling. And it didn't ease up when he made it out front where the opener was playing. Didn't ease with the noise of the crowd to his left, and the looks and stares and shrieks that came as he walked past all of them, his eye on the line in front of her, the people who weren't looking at her, who didn't know or realize who it was standing in front of them.

He worked his way past them until he was standing behind the table beside her, watching as her hands deftly counted out change, hearing the whispered murmurs of his name, and the more obvious shrills that told him he hadn't arrived unnoticed.

It had only been a couple of hours since she'd roused him, only a couple of hours since he'd seen those eyes looking back at him, challenging him as they always did. But when she noticed him, when she finally looked up, it felt like it had been much longer.

She surprised him by pausing, turning her back to the line, not giving her attention to the next person, but giving it to him instead.

"What is it?" she asked, her gaze full with worry. "What's wrong?"

Jamie felt his brow furrow. "What?"

Evie rolled her eyes before glancing at the line behind her and back at him. "Is there a reason you're out here causing a scene twenty minutes before showtime?"

Yes, there was. But standing in front of her now, Jamie seemed to have forgotten what it was.

"Need help?" he asked instead, feeling stupid as soon as the words were past his lips.