Jordan.

Soundcheck

Spoiler alert: Jordan left England.

Another spoiler alert: So did Rose.

They went together.

Jordan had been offered a record deal with D2R2 records and before he knew it, he was on the road - touring as a support act to Californian band "the tide". Turns out Rose's song did so much more for him than he ever thought it could - and he wanted her to be part of it. When they asked him if he had any terms & conditions for going on a world tour, all he wrote on his contract was "her." So she came, and it seemed like they had finally found their happy ever after.

Until the soundcheck where it all went wrong.

Madison Square Garden - New York - 11am

Curious, Rose wandered into the arena. The room was completely empty but she could feel the atmosphere from the stage, a single spotlight illuminating it in the otherwise dark room. The piano was set up, waiting patiently on the far left. Same as always, almost comforting in a way. She walked over, footsteps echoing across the rows and rows of empty seats.
She played a note, then two, then three. A beautiful harmony sang out from the piano. She sat, positioning her feet on the cold brass peddles. She started playing the introduction to a song: Jordan's favourite. And looking around to check she was still alone, began to sing.

"Don't panic - Coldplay "
the lyrics said somethings to her, something only a song could describe.
She let her voice fly, dancing beautifully over the gentle hum of the piano. She could feel the electricity surging through her and somewhere deep inside, she knew she sounded magical, but aware time was moving on, she stopped abruptly  after the chorus - ending on a broken triad, stretched out over the length of the keyboard.
As she lifted her foot from the sustain peddle, she heard applause.

"Levi!" She span around. "You scared me."
"Oh. I'm sorry. It was really good. I didn't mean to.." The lean boy, standing centre stage, said sounding slightly hurt.
"It's my fault." Rose replied. "I thought soundcheck was in an hour."
"You would be right."
"But..."
"I never told you to stop."
"Then why are you here so early?"
"You can never get too much practice." He said positioning himself in front of a microphone.

Rose stood up, ready to leave, but he continued the conversation as he adjusted the height of the stand.
"Did Jordan teach you that? I'm sure he plays it differently. "
"He does... I kinda figured it out on my own."
"Wow. It was amazing. Honestly. "
"It's not my song." Rose said, embarrassed.
"Yeah,"he replied. "But it's your voice." Butterflies began to stir in the pit of her stomach. Shit. Jordan. Shit. She should leave. Now. Quickly.
"You should show some more of your stuff to the boys." He continued.
"They've heard me sing L. I sing all the time."
"Not like that."
"I didn't think anyone was listening."
"I'll tell you what you need." He encouraged, looking up at her with his deep, sincere eyes. "A little more confidence. "
He suddenly sprang into action, grabbing the Mic stand and placing it centre stage.
"Who's that for?" Rose asked, dubious.
"You. "
"Levi! I'm not singing to an empty arena!"
"Would you sing to a full one?"
"No! I'd be way to nervo..."
"Exactly." He cut her off, steering her backwards towards the stand, hands placed gently on her waist.
She should've stopped him. She knew she should've stopped him. They were getting to close, but it had been so long since she had last spent time with Jordan - properly at least. She hardly ever saw him now. Tour life wasn't quite how they'd imagined. He was always so busy.

"I don't want to sing Lev.."
He placed a finger over her lips, spinning her around to face the audience of empty chairs.
"I wouldn't know what to sing anyway." Rose said, in protest.
"Sing anything." Levi reasoned.
"Fine." She gave in. "Only if you sing with me."
"Fine." He agreed, picking up his guitar.

As they played, Rose closed her eyes and immersed herself in the beautiful melody.
And when she opened them again, heard a collection of hands colliding in applause.
Rose and Levi whipped around simultaneously  to see the audience that had formed.
Shit.
The whole band was there.
Rose turned back to Levi and buried her face in his shoulder to hide her embarrassment. He wrapped his arms around her frame laughing gently.

She struggled free a few seconds later, and after seeing Levi's face, confused and somewhat upset by her last action, looked down to the floor, suddenly fascinated by the threads on the hole of her knee cut jeans. She was blushing all ready. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.
Time to make her escape.

Unable to think of a reasonable excuse Rose mumbled something along the lines of "thanks so much" and "I should go now. "

As she tried to stumble off on shaky legs she tripped over the lace of her timberland that she never bothered to tie and suddenly the floor was rushing towards her face...
Levi stopped her fall, catching her just before she collided with the ground and lifting her up so that their eyes were level.

"That could have been embarrassing." He said.
"It still was." Rose countered. "But it could have been worse."
He smiled.
Their eyes met and held contact for a few seconds until they both began to look around awkwardly. It took Levi a few seconds to realise he was holding Rose up, her feet half a foot off the ground. He put her down gently and ran his hand through his hair embarrassed and highly aware the boys from the band were still watching the both.
"I should..." He motioned over his shoulder to the rack of guitars.
"Yeah... Yeah. Me too. Well not the guitar but... You know what I mean... Go."

Rose turned and fled, headed for the safety of the tour bus. Once inside she dived onto the large leather sofa, held a pillow to her face and screamed into it. Was it out of fear or frustration? She didn't know. But it could have been something else entirely...

Only seconds after she composed herself Austin, the Tide's lead singer, sashayed in and slid onto the sofa beside her.
"So, Levi Jones huh?"
She just looked at him.
He laughed, mimicking the guitarist as he rushed to catch her from her fall. Soon Rose was laughing too, but underneath the pretence, they both knew this was no joke.
All she could think was "what about Jordan?"
It was obvious Austin didn't know about her relationship with his support act - but that meant Levi didn't either.