A Burning Thing {Avi Kaplan fanfic}

-15-

The late morning sun was creeping across our pillows by the time we opened our eyes the next morning. Between some serious talk, a few bouts of tears, and the hotly anticipated makeup sex, it was nearly dawn before we managed to fall asleep. Neither of us was in much shape to get up and meet our afternoon flight, but we were both looking forward to getting back on familiar ground.

Our European vacation had revealed a lot about our relationship that we hadn't given much thought to before, but it also had us feeling stronger as a couple and more confident that we could weather what came at us.

We flew from Paris to Georgia to visit Ellie's family and see Home Free in concert. No doubt thanks to Ellie, the guys learned that I would be attending their performance and they hatched a plan to surprise the audience by having me join them to sing the final song in their set, which would be ‘Ring of Fire’.

Ellie and I watched the performance from backstage so that we wouldn't give the surprise away. Tim sang the opening line, then I emerged from the shadows to bring in the second bass voice. I'm not sure the audience heard too much after that because they erupted into cheers and screams. No matter how many times that had happened, it always felt amazing to have that kind of effect on an audience.

After the concert we found ourselves mobbed by fans, and we spent close to an hour signing autographs and taking pictures with people. As things were winding down, I was talking with a pretty but slightly loud and aggressive brunette who wanted me to sign her arm when I saw Ellie come storming up with a terrifying look on her face. Suddenly her expression changed from fury to sadness and she turned and ran out the door. It was another 15 minutes before the crowd dispersed enough that I could set off to look for her.

I found her sitting outside the auditorium by a fountain, shredding a daisy from a nearby flowerbed and throwing the pieces into the water.

"I don't know what that flower did to piss you off, but I'm really glad I'm not in its place," I said, hoping that she wasn't planning to tear into me next.

She looked up with sad eyes. "It's not really the flower's fault. It's not yours either, it's the stupid situation."

I sat down and put an arm around her shoulders, tilting her chin up to look me in the eyes. "Ellie what's wrong? You looked so angry and then you just disappeared. Is it because I was writing on that girl's arm? I mean, I hate to say it, but it's not the first body part I've signed."

"No. Well, yes. Not exactly." She took a deep breath. "It's just a dumb coincidence really. I happen to know that girl, and she's been a pain in my ass my entire life. She's thrown herself at every guy I've ever liked and more than once she's succeeded. I was about to tear a strip off of her for flirting with my boyfriend when I suddenly realized I couldn't because nobody's supposed to know about us." A tear slowly ran down her cheek.

My jaw dropped slightly. What the ...? "Hey, I never said nobody could know about us." I hugged her tighter.

"I know you've never explicitly said it, but I figured it was kind of expected," she looked down sadly and scuffed her toe on the ground. "Mitch and Scott are pretty private about their relationships, and I think we all know it's better for Pentatonix if you maintain the façade of being single. Your fans don't want to hear that you're taken."

I looked at her sternly. "Listen, El, if the fans can't be happy for me then – as my mother would say – they're not real fans. Seriously, I have met thousands and thousands of fans and they've all been really amazing people who love us and our music. Kirstie is public with Jeremy and I don't think it's hurt the group at all. I'm not going to hide you away for the sake of the people who like me better when I'm single."