Roadie: A Summer Set FanFic

Chapter 14: Revelations

Tess's POV:
"Hey, guys! It's Mikey V, here with special guests, The Summer Set!" The perky web show host's voice was high pitched and bordering on annoying, but I kept a straight face as I sat on an ottoman behind the camera and watched the interview.
"Why don't you introduce yourselves?" Mikey V prompted.
"Hi, I'm Brian and I sing."
"Hey, guys, I'm Jess and I play the drums."
"I'm John and I play the maracas."
I stifled a laugh at that one. I remembered old TSS interviews where John and Stephen said random instruments instead of what they really play.
"Stephen, and I play the glockenspiel."
"Uh, I'm Josh and I can't think of a more interesting instrument to say, so I play the guitar."
Mikey V was laughing throughout their answers. He sat in the middle of a red loveseat with Stephen on one side and Josh on the other. Sitting on the top of the back of the couch were Brian, Jess, and John, respectively.
"So, The Summer Set is on a US tour right now, after just finishing up a long European tour," Mikey V continued. "You guys have been go-go-go for awhile now. How do you feel?"
"Well, we had a few days off between tours, and we all slept a lot in those few days," Brian said.
"Yeah, those few days were just sleeping, eating, and laundry," Jess agreed.
John started laughing. "We basically just dumped out suitcases into washing machines, and then when the clothes were dry, we'd put them all right back into our suitcases."
Mikey V laughed rather dramatically. "Well, are you guys tired yet?"
"It's starting to kick in," Jess murmured. "We managed to sleep off some of the tour exhaustion in those few days, but now we're starting to feel it again."
"So, I asked my twitter followers to submit some questions for you guys with the hashtag, 'TSSonMikeyV.' Let's get to it." He scrolled through his phone and began reading off some questions. "What is your favorite US venue to play at?"
Before he even finished the question, my phone dinged. I froze. I mouthed a quick apology to Mikey V and left the room. I walked into the nearest bathroom and pulled out my phone. I had a new email from Max. The subject line read, "Marcus's article."
Oh yeah, I'd all but forgotten about Marcus the photographer. I clicked on the link in the email and it brought me to the Phoenix City website. Marcus's article was titled, "The Summer Set Returns During US Tour." The article was short and featured mostly pictures. There were a few from the show, and even one of me and Stephen when I met Marcus. Beneath that photo was the caption, "Stephen Gomez and Tess Hampton (Junior Roadie) head out to the city." I smiled as I looked at the picture. Stephen's arm around me, his forearm pressed to the curve between my neck and shoulder.
At the bottom of the article, smaller font read, "For more on Stephen and Tess, click here." The text was a link. My eyes widened. What the hell? Why would there be a separate page just about me and Stephen?? I clicked on the link and the new tab was Marcus's blog. With a pastel background and white-bordered posts, the blog had a simple aesthetic appeal. The title of this page was, "Tess and Stephen." Beneath the title was a quick description: "During The Summer Set's two days in their hometown of Phoenix, AZ, bassist Stephen Gomez spent some quality time with the band's new Junior Roadie, Tess Hampton. When asked about her friendships with the band members, Tess replied, "Yeah, I've gotten pretty close to them." Stephen then murmured, "Some more than others." That comment combined with the pictures taken of them is enough for many fans to raise questions about a possible relationship forming. Though nothing has been confirmed, it's safe to say that Stephen and Tess have formed a close friendship in the short time that Tess has been working for the band's label, Rapscallion Records."
I bit my lip, trying to contain the flurry of emotions that surged through me. What pictures have been taken of us?! I mean, I didn't really care if people were questioning the existence of our relationship, but are there pictures of us out there that I don't know about?
I scrolled down the page, where there was a column of photos with short captions beside them. The first picture was one that Marcus had taken of us. Before he reached us on the street, Stephen had been carrying me over one shoulder, and Marcus had gotten a really clear shot of that. Thank god my shorts weren't too short. The next picture was taken when Marcus asked us for a shot. Stephen had his arm around me and I around him, and I had looked up at Stephen to see what face he was making. I guess that could look kind of couple-y. Beside both of those pictures were the caption, "Taken by Marcus Damien."
The next picture made a blush cross my face. Stephen and I, standing outside the Chinese place, very close together, Stephen leaning in slightly as if he were about to kiss me. The caption was, "Stephen and Tess get close in public. Picture by Alexis A.," with a twitter name. I guess Alexis had tweeted the picture. The photo beneath that had been taken from behind us, when we were walking up the street, holding hands. Honestly, it was a really cute picture. I looked tan. Smiling to myself, I saved the picture to my phone.
I jumped as the door swung open behind me. I turned, and Stephen walked in, one hand over his eyes.
"Not looking," he said through a smile.
"I'm not naked," I clarified, giggling.
He took his hand off his face and stepped forward. He took my face in his hands and gently kissed me. I all but dropped my phone as my head clouded with nothing but thoughts of his lips on mine. He smiled as he pulled back.
"Everything okay?" he asked me.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, confused. Stephen nodded at my phone. "Oh. Max emailed me the link to Marcus's article on the city web page."
"Oh cool, he must've sent it to me, too," he replied. "My phone vibrated during the interview."
"How did it go?"
"I'll tell you about it later," he murmured, pulling me out of the bathroom. "Thanks again, man," he said to Mikey V.
"No, thank you," Mikey insisted.
We left the hotel room, where the others were waiting. Josh started to open his mouth, but Jess cut him off. "Elevator."
Once we were in the elevator with the doors safely closed, everyone began complaining about the host of the web show.
"God, he's so caddy!"
"His voice irritates me."
"I swear, he's never listened to a single song of ours. He did the bare minimum amount of research for this."
"Did he really refer to our album as, 'Everyone's Fine'?"
I didn't say anything as they got all their grievances off their chests. They were done by the time we reached the lobby of the hotel. We were heading outside when my phone beeped. It was a text from Max.
"Got tied up with reservation problems, can you take charge? Get taxis to venue and make sure band gets to their dressing room at least an hour before doors open. Help Connor whenever you can. Bus will get there with others. I'll be there ASAP."
My stomach twisted. I'd never taken charge of anything before. Max sent a second text with the address of the venue.
I sighed and replied, "Sure thing!" even though I was silently panicking. I was just a roadie! I didn't know how to do Max's job! 'Relax,' I told myself. 'One thing at a time.'
First, I had to focus on getting to the venue. We still had a couple hours before we absolutely had to be inside, so that calmed me down.
"Okay, someone help me get a taxi," I commanded.
"Max didn't send one up here already?" Josh asked.
"Max is tied up with some manager duties," I explained. "I'm in charge. We need to get a taxi or two and get to the venue."
Jess stepped over the curb and began flagging down cabs. I watched, awestruck, as two cabs immediately pulled up, screeching to a halt.
"What the hell," I mumbled.
"Perks of being a hot Asian," John said with a laugh. We got into the taxis, me, Stephen, and John in one, and Jess, Brian, and Josh in the other. I texted the address to Jess and then gave it to the driver.
"You guys are basically dressed, right?" I asked them.
"Yup."
"Yeah."
"Good. You need to be in your dressing room an hour before doors open. Until then, what are you guys going to do?"
"Uh, I guess we could go outside and meet some fans," John suggested.
"Good," I agreed. "All the merch tables will be outside of the venue until the doors open. I'll be with Connor at the table until the bus gets there, and then I'll be unloading. Any of you want to help me unload the bus?"
"I will," Stephen volunteered immediately, slipping his fingers through mine. I smiled up at him.
"Perfect."
A few minutes later, we pulled up to the venue, where there was already a line of people at each merch table. We got out of the taxis and fans immediately recognized us and began screaming. Eyes wide, I walked past them and up the where Connor looked frantic as he tried to get orders straight.
"Need some help?" I asked with a grin.
"Please!"
I laughed and got behind the table with him. He had everything set up per the usual arrangement, so I fell back into easy routine when each fan requested any specific item. After a few minutes, some fans began to recognize me.
"Are you Tess?" one small redhead asked.
"Yup," I answered with a smile, putting her order into a calculator.
"You're picture with Stephen is on Instagram is adorable!" she squealed. "Are you guys dating?"
As I handed her a bag of her merch, I winked at her, putting one finger to my lips in a secretive gesture. She grinned excitedly, probably thrilled to be sharing such a secret, before leaving the table.
A few fans later, I noticed Connor was being awfully quiet.
"You okay?" I asked him, refolding a t-shirt.
"Yup."
I pursed my lips. "You sure about that? You look kind of mad."
"I'm fine, Tess," he snapped.
I flinched, stung by his unusually sharp tone. "Okay, I'm sorry."
He didn't reply. We silently went back to supplying merchandise for fans, for about ten minutes. Then, Connor spoke up again, his voice still sort of harsh.
"Isn't Stephen a little old for you?"
I stopped what I was doing and looked at him, caught off-guard. "What?"
He didn't reply, staring at me as he clearly waited for an answer.
"Uh...he's only a couple years older than me, Con."
"You're only eighteen."
"Yeah, so?" I was starting to get annoyed. "Your total is $15.74," I told a fan.
I caught Connor rolling his eyes.
"Connor, why do you even care?" I asked. "We're both legal adults, it's only a couple years of a difference, and, to be perfectly honest, it's not really any of your concern."
I could see his entire body tense, the muscles in his arms flex and tighten. His jaw was taught, eyebrows furrowed.
Bewildered, I asked, "Why do you even care?"
"Because," he spat. "Chloe was a couple years younger than Stephen, and we all know how that ended..."
"I really don't think age had anything to do with that," I interrupted, angry that he'd bring her up.
"...I saw what he became after her, and I'm not about to let that happen to him again."
My jaw dropped, my face flushed with fury, and it was all I could do not to scream. I took a deep breath and said, "Excuse us for one second please," to the fan in line, before dragging Connor away from the table by his shirt.
Once we were inside the venue with the door shut behind us, I forcefully released his shirt with a push of his shoulder. "What the hell is the matter with you?!" I growled. "Not only is Chloe completely irrelevant in whatever the hell argument this is, but it is the last thing to be bringing up in front of the fans. I am not Chloe. I will never be her. We might both be younger than Stephen, but that does not mean that I'd even think about hurting Stephen the way she did. How dare you!" My voice was no longer a growl, but an almost-shrill scream. "I can't believe you'd accuse me of that! What have I done to make you think that I would do that?!"
"It's not what you do," he spat. "It's who you are."
"What?"
"Do you really think I don't know you?" Connor asked with a slightly curled lip. "Because I do. Teen girl, fresh out of high school, total fangirl over pop bands. She's able to strum a few chords and gets accepted into this program, and instead of doing her job, she's just doing the band."
Horror and rage filled my body and I screamed. "WHAT?!?" My fingers curled and I wanted to hit something. No, I wanted to him. But I didn't. Slapping Connor, as satisfying as it might be, would not help things. I flattened my hands to my legs and glared up at him. "You think I'm some kind of groupie?! That is NOT what I'm here for!! You don't know me at all!!"
Tears of anger and hurt filled my eyes. Connor didn't reply. We stared at each other, mirroring the rage on each other's faces. A moment later, the door next to us opened and Jess appeared.
"Connor, you're supposed to be working," she said sternly. "Tess, the bus is here." When we didn't move, she seemed to realize that something wasn't right. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Connor whispered, before turning and pushing past Jess.
Once he was gone, Jess hut the door behind her and turned me to face her. "Tess, what happened?"
I bit down on my lip, fighting tears. "Connor basically accused me of being a groupie."
"What?!" she exclaimed. "No way, Connor wouldn't do that."
"Well, he did," I insisted, wiping a tear from my cheek.
"What exactly did he say?"
"Uh, it started out with, 'Isn't Stephen a little old for you?' And it ended with something along the lines of, 'Fangirl can strum a few chords to get into this program, but instead of doing her job, she's doing to band.'"
Jess's face was horror-stricken. "I swear to god, I'm going to kill him."
"No, Jess, it doesn't matter," I said quickly, not wanting drama to break out. "It's fine. I'm not a groupie. He's just being dumb for whatever reason. Actually, it sounded like he thought I was going to hurt Stephen. He clearly doesn't want us together."
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Jess denied, shaking her head. "Why would he care about you two?"
I shrugged. I wiped my eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm okay. And I have work to do." I checked the time. "You guys have to get to your dressing room and I have a bus to unload."
"Oh, yeah, and Stephen's helping you?"
"Yeah."
"Are you going to tell him?"
I sighed. "I don't want to, but I'm sure he'll ask. I don't know."
Jess gave me a quick hug. "I'm sorry about Connor."
"Don't be."
"I'll talk to him tomorrow."
"Okay. Thanks, Jess"
Jess went back outside to get the others. I took a deep breath and headed toward backstage, where I found the backdoor that the busses were parked. Stephen was already there.
"Hey, babe," he said cheerfully, letting go of the handle on the bus and walking over to me. I smiled back and wrapped my eyes around his waist.
"Don't think me clingy," he said. "But I missed you out there."
I laughed and pulled away from his embrace, standing up on my toes to give him a quick kiss. When I pulled back, he frowned.
"Are you okay?"
"Uh-huh," I answered, a bit too cheerfully.
"Your eyes are kind of red," he noted. "Have you been crying?"
I looked away. "We need to get to work."
"Tess, what happened?" His brown eyes were wide with concern.
"It's nothing," I tried to assure him, twisting away from him. "I just got into an argument with someone."
"Who?" Stephen asked, not letting me out of his arms.
"Can we do this later?"
"No."
I stared at him with let out a sigh. "Connor."
"I swear to god-"
"No killing him!" I exclaimed. "It's not a big deal. I'm fine."
"He made you cry," Stephen said incredulously. "That's not okay."
"Aren't you even curious as to what the argument was about?" I asked.
"Punch now, ask questions later," he explained. "That's like guy code."
I burst into laughter. "That's not the best system, you know."
"Yeah, probably not," he agreed, chuckling. "Okay, fine. Will you tell me what happened?"
I sighed. "He just doesn't trust me being with you," I summed up. "He thinks I'm sleeping with you for fame or whatever. Which is kind of ridiculous considering we're not doing it."
I sighed again. My raw fury at Connor was fading, but what he had said still hurt me.
Stephen looked pissed, though. Eyes blazing, he started to pull away from me, probably to go punch Connor.
"No no no no," I said quickly, pulling him back toward me. "No punching. Just let it go for right now. You have a show to put on. Play off any anger or whatever, and if you're still mad afterwards, you can talk to him. Talk, not hit. Okay?"
I wasn't sure why I was trying to protect Connor. I realized then that I wasn't. I just didn't want any more drama to involve me. And I really didn't want Stephen getting into any fights. Especially not over me.
"Okay, fine," Stephen agreed with a sigh. He kissed me gently. "But you're okay?"
"Yeah," I said. "I'm still mad and hurt, but I'm okay. Now, we're running late. Let's get the equipment out."
I pulled him over to the bus and we got to work carrying the stuff inside.
"Have you heard from Max?" Stephen asked. "I haven't seen him since before the interview."
"Not lately," I answered. "He said he got tied up with some manager stuff and I've been in charge ever since. But he needs to get here soon because the closer to show-time we get, the more useless I become."
As if summoned by the sound of his name, Max appeared.
"Hey, guys, sorry about the delay."
"Wow," Stephen said. "Talk about, 'speak of the devil.'"
I laughed. "Is everything okay?"
"Well, there were some hotel and money issues with the bank accounts being used for everything and we ended up losing a lot of our hotel reservations."
"Shit," Stephen murmured.
"Luckily, we still have at least one room at every city we'll be at," Max continued. "So the bands will take turns using them. Everyone will have to shorten their showers."
"Well, that's not too much of a sacrifice," I said.
"You say that now," Stephen countered. "But wait until we're all up till 4 in the morning in line for the showers."
I frowned with worry.
"But, right now let's just focus on the show. Has everything gone okay, Tess?"
"Pretty much," I answered. "No major problems to report."
"Great, thank you. I knew I could count on you!"
I smiled back at him. Stephen kissed me on the cheek before heading to the dressing room. Max and I finished getting the equipment inside. Everything was going okay up until right before The Summer Set went on. Connor was backstage for some reason, and I saw him hand Stephen his bass. I could tell he was trying to act normal, but Stephen was trying to contain his evident anger and snatched the guitar from Connor's hands. As he went onstage, Stephen smoothed out his face into a blank expression, and when he caught my eye, I mouthed, 'Relax.' He took a deep breath and nodded.
I met eyes with Connor from across the stage. He stared at me. I stared back. This went on for a few seconds until Stephen stepped into my line of sight. 'Relax,' he mouthed. I scoff-laughed and nodded back at him. When I glanced back at the stage wing opposite of me, Connor was nowhere to be found.