Willow

15 - Concert II

I stepped out from the truck, waiting patiently for Finch and the rest of the guys to leave the truck. I had to pick up a new dress for tomorrow's concert, and I was actually excited to play for once. I didn't chose the same old boring songs, I chose ones I really loved. I even got someone to come in and play a Vivaldi melody with me. The guys could see how excited I was, in turn, causing them to grow happy and excited.

Finch was just plain excited to go shopping honestly. These past few weeks he's been in the mall and online more than I have in my entire life. He kept talking about getting the house ready for the fall and winter, how it needed to be 'fashion forward' or something. I honestly couldn't care what our home looked like, as long as it was clean and warm, but I let Finch indulge in whatever he wanted.

Ronan has been worrying about his father more and more, even waking up a few nights with nightmares of him. He hasn't cried to me yet, but I'm worried that he isn't. He just bottled up every emotion that had been running through him and not letting me see any of it. While it's the same exact thing I do, I know first hand it isn't healthy, and eventually he'll just break.

"Willow, come on." I felt a tug on my hand as Finch pulled me forward, his eyes set on the huge mall we drove an hour from our home for.

I blew out a breath and stuck my tongue out to Theo and Ronan, who were chuckling behind me. Finch eventually tugged me through the main door, opting to bring me into a bra store. It was a locally owned one, with balcony walls and blood red accents. Bras and other assortments of lingerie hung from the walls, with tables covered in underwear.

Theo and Ronan surprisingly had blush covering their cheeks, all the while Finch practically danced around the store, grabbing assorted bras and underwater I knew I needed. I grinned and let him, instead leaning against the wall in between Ronan and Theo. They shuffled closer, snuggling me between their warmth as I let out an audible sigh of content.

I finally wander a bit around the entrance, looking across the big open floor when a dress inside a window catches my eye. It's a silver off the shoulder dress with floral appliqués, with a long enough train to trail behind me. It's tight enough to cling to the curve of my body, but not so tight I wouldn't be able to move or sit in. I know almost immediately, this is my dress.

I grin and look back to the three that were now at the register with Finch, before slipping from the store. I send them a text saying I was going to the restroom before dashing across the room to the dark boutique, my eyes wandering over every little detail of the dress. I pull my size and try it on with the hell of an associate, and grin at how I look. Oh, those guys have no idea what's going to hit them.

-

I stare at myself in my mirror of the dressing room in the back of the theatre; my hairs been pulled up into a messy but elegant updo, with minimal makeup on my face. I'm free of any marks from my mother, so I can finally show off some skin beside my hands and face. I made the guys sit in the crowd, I wanted to surprise them just as much as I wanted to surprise the tightwad crowd I was about to preform for. This was going to be my last concert for a while, I may as well go out with a bang.

I walk out of my room and down the hallway with a smile on my face, a true smile, and watch as the violinist I paid for opened for me. Her name was Alexa, and she was only thirteen. While most of the patrons here probably wouldn't be happy to listen to her since she wasn't playing insanely hard pieces, the look on her face when I asked her was enough for me. I even talked her into playing a rendition of Vivaldi's Summer as well as Winter with me.

I clapped when she finished and smiled back at her when she left the stage, waiting till the crowd died down completely before trailing across the floor. It was dead silent as I walked, the sound of my bare feet slapping across the hardwood floor the only noise my sensitive ears could pick up.

I settled into the seat, began playing without any indication the crowd was ready. I played something I had written myself, one night when it was four am and I couldn't sleep. I had spent close to an hour or so just watching the guys chest rise and fall, the way they moved while sleeping and the little noises they made.

Call me stupid, but they were such beautiful men I didn't quite understand why they ever wanted me. I wasn't special, plain and a broken shell that my mother created.

I continued playing the entire concert, playing music that made my heart race and actually made me smile. I finished my last piece and stood, walking to the edge of the stage when they began to applaud. I smiled and took a bow, looking out into the crowd for the three men I had written most of those songs for.

But I didn't see them at first, my eyes instead met with the eyes of my mother. She was seething, that much I could tell, but was hidden beneath a cold exterior as she clapped like everyone else. She stood next to a man that looked to much like Ronan to be accidental, the same ice blue eyes and broad shoulders. I felt fear creeping into my chest and squeezing painfully, because I knew those two together would be bad.

I quickly spun and went back to my dressing room, changing as quick as possible into leggings and a sweatshirt. A knock sounded at my door, sending fear straight into my heart again as I gripped a case and inched over to the door. I opened it slowly, letting out a sigh and dropping the base when I saw a flower delivery and a acne ridden teen holding the vase.

I thanked him and took the blood red roses, sniffing them gently before placing it down on the table in front of me. I lifted the card, expecting to see it from my guys, but was met with only a few words, and no return name.

Make your way to Court of Roses in Cedar-wood Park tomorrow, or your family will no longer be safe. Tell no one.

This was bad. This was bad this was bad this was bad.

I could feel the imposing panic attack wanting to find its way into my body as I thought about all of the people that would send this. My mother. Ronan's father. Anyone my mother could piss off, either way, I did have to protect them. They were my family, and I would do whatever I could do to protect them until I understood exactly what we were up against.