I was so nervous to be meeting the bandmates, I could feel myself starting to sweat, so I opened the window. I couldn’t help but try to plan my introduction… ‘Hi I’m Stephanie and I’m a huge fan.’ hmm… no, no fangirling! ‘Hi, I’m Stephanie! Nice to meet you!’ Okay, that’s getting better. I figured I would just wing it because thinking about it made me even more nervous. I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes.
* * *
“Steph, wake up!” I heard Nate say, nudging me, “Damn, you fall asleep a lot.”
“Sorry,” I smiled, “I’m tired after last night,” I said with a wink.
“Fair enough, let’s go, we’re here.”
“Do I look okay?”
“Of course you do. Even with all your cuts and bruises, you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.” I could feel my face heat up as I blushed.
“Awh, thank you Nate!” He got out of the car and I followed him to an apartment building, but this one was far nicer than mine, it even had an elevator!
“Woah, this is the coolest apartment place I’ve ever seen! Do you live here?”
“Well yeah, we all have an apartment here. Emily has her own, Jack and Andrew share one, and Nattie and Noon share one. I used to share with Jack and Andrew, but I started renting my own, mostly because it was easier to write when I was alone, and in that apartment I was never alone.”
“Oh my god, I can’t wait to see! If it’s half as beautiful as this lobby I’ll be impressed. This makes my apartment building look like a dump.” I was in awe. Nate just laughed and continued to walk to the elevator. When we got to the top floor, to my surprise, Nate took my hand and laced his fingers with mine. I looked up at him and smiled, and he smiled back, and it was the happiest feeling. We didn’t walk far until we found Andrew and Jacks apartment, Nate didn’t knock though, he just walked in.
“Nate, finally!” shouted Jack. I stood at the doorway frozen. I forgot how to move let alone introduce myself. All of them were there… Emily, Nattie, Will, Andrew, and Jack. I felt dizzy, and Nate noticed, so he winged it.
“Hey guys, this is Stephanie!”
“She looks a lot better than she did when we saw her,” joked Andrew. I didn’t find it funny, but I knew he was just trying to be friendly, so I laughed nervously.
“Yeah, I’m feeling so much better now,” Did I just talk?
“Come sit!” Emily patted an empty seat next to her. I shuffled over to her and sat down uncomfortably, and Nate went into the kitchen, “So you know our band well?” Emily asked. Oh god.
“Know? Oh god, I live for your band! Fun. is my all time favorite band, I’m so glad to be sitting here with you all!” Okay, stop fangirling now, be normal. Be normal.
“Wow, a real hardcore fan!” Jack blurted out, “Let’s play a game.”
“A game?” I was confused.
“Like a guessing game, I’ll start to sing a part of one of our songs and you name the song.”
“Oh alright, easy. Try me.” I knew I’d nail this. Andrew started to sing,
“Let your lungs fill up with smoke! Forgive everyo-”
“Take your time coming home!” Then Emily started to sing,
“I don’t need to be reminded that this is how it was, I moved on, I passed a-”
“Barlights!”
“She’s good,” Noon said, he seemed stoned, then he started singing, kind of slurred, “Just spend an evening with me, just a lazy evening, then you could be leaving-”
“Light A Roman Candle With Me!” Everyone started laughing out how fast I knew the names. Then behind me I felt a touch, and then a voice began to sing.
“I swear when I grow up, I won't just buy you a rose,” Nate walked around to the front of me, and just looked at me, “I will buy the flower shop, and you will never be lonely-”
“The Gambler!” But Nate didn’t stop, he sat next to me and kept looking at me,
“For even if the sun stops waking up over the fields, I will not leave, I will not leave 'til it's our time. So just take my hand, you know that I will never leave your side” The whole room went silent, and Nate just continued to stare at me, and then he finally cracked a smile and grabbed my hand. I could feel my heart overflow with butterflies and fly away, but Nate changed subjects fast, “So should we all watch a movie or what?”
“Hell yeah,” Emily agreed, and everyone else followed with “yea”s and “mhm”s. They let me pick out the movie since I was the “guest” although I didn’t feel like a guest, I felt completely at home. Something I’ve never felt, not even at my own home. I picked out a horror film, because everyone here seemed to be into it, and I LOVE horror films. We all got real close on the two sofas they had in the apartment. I was on the end, and Nate was near the middle, but that didn’t last long. He got up, picked me up, and sat me next to him in the middle and told everyone to scootch down, and it was adorable. Nattie seemed to be the most scared throughout the movie out of all of us. Scary movies didn’t scare me, but I really didn’t like the gross parts, so when I few gory parts would come, I would hide my face in Nates chest, but otherwise, the movie was great.
After the movie, Nattie and Noon went back to their apartment, so for awhile it was Jack, Andrew, Nate, Emily, and I. Emily took to me very quickly, she was very sweet and kind. She was really touchy and huggy, and it was a nice, I felt so welcomed. We had talked for hours, and then at dinner we all ordered a pizza, and then talked for another few hours! It was so easy to talk to all of them, we just all shared stories and experiences, and it felt good to have people I trusted. Eventually we realized that it was about midnight, so we left. Once we were in the hall Nate looked down at me, “Do you want me to bring you home now?”
“Not at all,” I smiled. He picked me up and carried me to his apartment.
