Cradle Broken Glass

Chapter Forty Two

"And, uh, this one is for all the runaways in the crowd." Eddie said into the microphone, before Dave started to pound out a drum beat, and Jeff's bassline soon joined in.

Why Go.

Layla stood at the side of the stage, looking at them all as they performed, their energy completely unmatched. She couldn't get over how dynamic the shows were every single night, and the crowd matched it completely. Even when the shows turned into jams and drunken messes, they were still amazing experiences that she would never forget. She barely even noticed that this was a job anymore, and she couldn't believe she was getting paid to see live music every night.

The band was getting more and more coverage, and the shows were starting to get bigger and bigger. And Eddie was getting more noticed in public as well. They had both gone to a restaurant the week before and the whole-time people were coming up to him and asking for autographs and wanting to talk about the album. Layla thought it was amazing that the band was taking off, but he didn't seem to share that same thought. He hated doing interviews and he didn't seem to understand why people wanted to talk to him and seemed to be obsessed with finding out everything possible about him. Yet all his negativity seemed to fall away as soon as he observed the people in front of him, singing along to lyrics that he had scrawled in various notebooks, never thinking that anyone would ever pay attention to them.

They finished up the song and he turned around to look at Layla from her position sitting on an amp, and in view for the crowd to see if they peered towards the stage curtain.

"I would like everyone to say hello to Layla McKenna. Hi Layla." He said with a shy wave towards her and the audience repeated the phrase back to him, some of them looking her way as they realised who he was talking to. She raised her hands up to her cheeks, half covering her face in embarrassment as Eddie pointed her out to everyone.

"She's uh, a really important person to this band, and a really important person to me. Cause without her, I'm kind of a nobody." He said with a shy smile and the crowd started to get louder. Layla wished he would get to the point so that everyone would stop looking at her intently, but a small part of her found the whole thing amazing. He was publicly pointing her out, and wasn't ashamed of her, like she always felt people were.

"So, I wanted to dedicate this song to her, since I kinda wrote it about her. But now, she's, uhh, not making my heart ache as much." He said again and laughed lowly as the crowd started to prepare for the song. He turned towards Layla and sent her a wink which made her blush profusely, even more than she already was. Stone started to strum on his guitar and she immediately recognised the song.

Black.

She had a flashback to the first Mookie show she had been to, and the first time she had heard that song. It was the night she had finally started to accept her feelings for him. And it had pained her to hear him sing it, and to listen to the lyrics. It still pained her. But she knew it was coming from a place of love, and acceptance that they had finally gotten over what she had put them through and were happy with each other finally.

The song came to a close, and Eddie walked around the stage, not looking at anyone too intensely as he tried to get himself out of the head space he had put himself in. He looked towards the side of the stage and Layla made eye contact with him, blowing him a kiss, which seemed to knock him out of his reverie and get back into his hyperactivity which always came out on stage.

Layla started cheering with the rest of the crowd as the band started Porch. She was so glad to finally watch a show in its entirety, since she had always had to leave since the tour started, before the last couple of songs to get backstage ready and make sure people weren't sneaking into the VIP section. But since Kelly had given her the night off, she was ecstatic to finally see their set completely. Eddie finished singing and Mike started his guitar solo. However, it got to the point where the guys weren't playing the original solo, and were just jamming on stage, with Eddie jumping around like crazy.

Everything changed, however, when he started to make his way to where she was standing. She was confused for a minute, until he gave her a wink and then climbed up on the stage rafters, hoisting himself up. Layla moved to where she could see him, and her hand came up to her mouth in shock as she saw his climb up poles and balconies.

What the fuck was he doing?

Did he want to get himself killed?

She watched intently, still unable to fully comprehend what was going on, as he climbed to the top of the venue and looked down at the crowd, holding himself up by one arm as he dangled in the air. She felt sick even looking at him. He moved from a railing to a ledge where he could stand, quickly drew his shirt over his head and threw it in the direction of the stage, leaving him shirtless, and then, in a blink of an eye, Layla saw his body fall.

She screamed and raised her hands to her face once again in complete shock from what had just happened. He had jumped off. Yet before she could have an even bigger heart attack, she saw a flash of brown hair illuminated in the stage lights and looked out to the crowd to find him being carried by what seemed like hundred of hands. He was rolling around on top of everyone's heads and being pulled in the direction of the stage at the same time. As she realised that he wasn't, in fact, dead, Layla lowered her hands from her face and tried to calm her beating heart. But something caught her attention as she heard laughing coming from behind her. Layla turned her body around to find Kelly standing behind her, bent over at the knees hysterically laughing. He managed to calm himself briefly as he addressed her.

"Maybe I should have mentioned that Eddie's a sucker for an adrenaline rush. But you should have seen your face!" He said and then burst into laughter again, and she smacked him on the arm, before she turned back just in time to see Eddie get back on stage thanks to the security guards and finish the rest of the song. By the time they finished their set, she was still sweating with anxiety. Kelly took her backstage to make sure everything went okay when the band got back. She was sorting out some drinks when she felt someone's hands come around her waist and push her up against their body.

"Well hello there." Eddie whispered into her ear. She turned around in his arms and smacked him on the chest straight away.

"Hey, what was that for?" He asked between laughs as he took in her less than happy expression.

"What was that for? That was for scaring the living shit out of me. Do you want to get yourself killed!?" Layla said with exasperation and Eddie looked down at the ground sheepishly.

"Oh, you saw that." He said, and Layla had to stop herself from smacking him again.

"Yes, I saw that, you fucking idiot." She replied and bit her tongue to stop the smile that was threatening to explode on her face.

"Well, in all fairness, I didn't die." He said and then pulled her closer to his body by the waist, pouting his lips gently as stared down at her.

"Thank the heavens for it. God knows what I would do without you."