Limelight

Roz: A Fan

(I tried to get this one done last night but then I fell asleep at the laptop again :/ Which means two one-shots today! There should be a Chanzie one coming very soon~ And then Zebelle tomorrow!)

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"Roz?"

Their head snapped up, "What?"

Zephyr gave them a worried look, "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You're awake," he said flatly and raised an eyebrow, "Rehearsal's over, there's, like, a whole hour until the zombie mash, and you're awake."

Roz shrugged, refusing to meet his eyes, "So what?"

"So, you're nervous. You don't get nervous before gigs, Roz."

"Sure I do."

"No, you don't. Normally, you're so chill about it you take a nap once rehearsal ends and then you're out cold till we're about to go onstage. So, what's up?"

"Just..." Roz waved a hand vaguely, "Y'know, there's humans here this time..."

After the success of the block party last week, the zombie teens had agreed to let some of their new human friends come to a zombie mash. But Roz was getting along with a lot of them now, why would that make them nervous...?

"You..." a knowing smirk spread its way across Zephyr's face, "Invited Keira...!"

Roz closed their eyes, silently begging for him to stop before he had even begun, "Yeah, and I'm already starting to regret it."

"What?" Zephyr laughed a little, putting an arm around Roz's shoulders and shaking them slightly, "Dude, come on, this is your chance to show her how cool you are."

They opened their eyes again and shook their head before looking up at him, "I really don't feel cool, Zeph."

"You're in a band!"

"Didn't you think starting a band was a stupid idea when Al first came up with it?"

"Shut up."

They both laughed but it didn't do much for Roz's confidence levels, "We're a cover band. For a group almost no-one in Seabrook knows. It's not that cool."

"Keira knows them, right? You said she was a fan."

"Yeah..."

"And she did say she was coming?"

"Yeah."

"Because you asked her," he nudged their arm playfully, "'Cause she thinks your cool."

– LIMELIGHT –

People were starting to arrive and each group of zombies that appeared were joined by a couple of humans. Every single time the elevator doors opened, Roz was craning their neck to get a good look at who was there, but when there was no sign of Keira, she sighed and turned back to the guys, her shoulders sagging.

"Just be patient, she'll be here," Zach assured her, "There's plenty of time."

He, Alonzo and Zephyr watched as Roz whipped round again.

Al shook his head, "Aaaand she's not listening."

Keira still hadn't shown up yet, though, and Roz huffed as they dropped their head into their hand. After a brief moment of thought, she frowned up at Zephyr, "D'you think she was just trying to be nice at the block party?"

He rolled his eyes, even exaggeratedly tipping his head back, "She'll be here...!" He was getting a little tired of this by now. He glanced off to the side for a second but then did a double take and smiled. Roz hadn't noticed, but now Alonzo and Zach were both holding back grins. Zephyr looked back down at them, "Hey, Roz?"

"What?"

Without a word, Zephyr prodded her cheek with one finger and pushed her head round to look at the elevator. Standing there with Mackenzie and Mitzi, eyes scanning the room, was Keira. The three boys all shared a knowing look as Roz stared. Then Keira finally spotted her and when their eyes met, she beamed.

Roz suddenly heard Al's singing right by her ear, "S-s-s-saw you in December...!" and immediately smacked him away.

"It's not December yet."

He just laughed, "Close enough! That's your song now."

"A little early for picking a song, there, Al," Roz tried to sound casual but they couldn't hide it – their voice was getting higher than usual and they wouldn't stop smiling. They brought a hand to their chest and their face dropped, "Was that a heartbeat?"

The boys all replied in unison, "Probably."

She hesitated for a moment before Zephyr lightly punched her arm and nodded towards Keira, who was just waving goodbye to Kenzie and Mitzi as they walked away, "Go on. Go for it."

He winked at her and gave her a push. Roz shot him an annoyed look which quickly turned grateful. She'd never work up the courage to do this without him. Taking a breath, she approached Keira.

"Roz!" she cheered and threw her arms around them, making them blush just a little bit as they returned the hug.

"Hey, I was almost thinking you weren't gonna make it...!" they admitted as they stepped back, brushing a stray lock of hair from their eyes, and Keira shook her head with a soft laugh. Roz could have melted at the sound.

"No way! I am not missing this. Besides, I need to hear your band play, I have been waiting for this all week!"

"You have?"

"Mm-hmm, I even dug up some of my old Bowling For Soup CDs. I'm so ready for this...!" she clapped her hands together and Roz could really tell just how excited she was. No pressure... "And the whole zombie mash thing in general! You know, just... really getting to know you..." her eyes widened, "Y-you guys...!" she added and smiled just a bit awkwardly.

"Right..." Roz just nodded and smiled dumbly.

They talked a little longer then Roz cast a quick glance back at Zephyr, Al and Zach. Zeph gestured for them to go and they took the opportunity to ask Keira to dance – Bonzo would have the floor for another ten or fifteen minutes or so before BFZ's set. When Roz finally tore themself away from Keira to join the band by the stage, they found the guys all staring eagerly at them.

"... What?"

Zephyr spoke first, "You talked to her?"

"Yeah?"

Then Zach, "And you danced with her?"

"Yeah."

And Alonzo, grinning slyly, "And you're all set to show her your skills?"

Roz returned the grin, "Hell yeah."

Zach wiped a fake tear from his eye and pulled Roz into a hug, "Look at you, the baby of the band, all grown up...!"

They groaned in protest, "Zach, you're still single."

He shoved her away, in the most dramatic way possible, "Well, at least I'm not the only one...!"

Zephyr and Alonzo shared a look then, Al smirking and Zeph nervously biting his lip.

"Uh, you... kind of are, actually..." Zephyr smiled at Zach, half apologetic, half smug.

"Wait, seriously?" Roz gaped.

"Since when?"

"Since, like," Zephyr shrugged, Al wrapping an arm around him, "... Yesterday?"

There was silence. Roz and Zach turned from them to each other, then suddenly Roz snapped her fingers and held out her hand to him.

"Pay up!"