I never thought that giving Oli Sykes a plastic rose at my first BMTH show would lead to this...
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Two friends; Willow & Cassidy, travel cross-country following their favourite band, Bring Me The Horizon on to...
I woke up with a headache, but nothing dramatically worse than if I'd been drinking the night before. Cassidy fussed, but I guess it was sweet that she was worried about me. "Cass, I really don't want tonight to be our last show." I admitted as I sat there in bed in my pajamas. "Would it be crazy for us to change our flight tomorrow and keep following them?" I asked. I wasn't even joking. "I could probably fake illness for a couple of days..." she replied. I just looked at her thoughtfully. "But... I won't hate you if you want to keep going with them. I mean, you have something going on with Oli." she said selflessly.
After speaking with her and nudging her a little, we decided to extend our trip by two days so we could follow them up to Kansas. It was only a couple of extra days and we could change our flight home without a fee, so we decided to do it. Honestly, I'd probably try and convince her to keep going after that show as well because I really didn't want this adventure to ever end. "Willow..." Cassidy said to me seriously as she came and sat on the end of my bed. "Just don't fall in love with him, OK?" she said seriously. I laughed it off, but I knew what she was saying... I knew she was just trying to protect me. Whatever was happening between Oli and I was just like a summer fling, and it wasn't ever going to be anything more, so getting attached wasn't a good idea. "I know you don't let guys in easily, but when you do, you fall hard... and I just don't want to see you get hurt." she added. "I know it's just sex." I told her with an eye roll, though if I was honest, saying that was kind of a lie. I knew it was just sex to him, but I had started to get some feelings... it was impossible not to, even though I knew I shouldn't.
We packed up and left at 10am for the long drive up to Denver. The scenery was beautiful, but I slept at least half of the way there. Oli messaged me around lunch time and asked how I was feeling which was really sweet. I said it kind of felt like a hangover and he laughed. He also asked where we were staying which was strange, and I felt kind of embarrassed telling him the name of the crappy motel we'd booked a room at, but he didn't comment when I told him.
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Mmm... is tonight her last show? I'm so conflicted. I guess I kind of don't want her to leave... I mean, I'm not going to find anyone better for frequent casual sex. I also don't want her catching fucking feelings though and if I drag her along for too long it's bound to happen... but I'm not done with her yet.
We finally arrived at our motel at 5:30pm, and we were both really sick of being stuck in the car. We were ready to get dressed and head out for another show, even though I knew I'd have to take it easy. When we checked in, the lady at reception said there was a delivery waiting in the room for us, so we went straight to the room to find out what it was. What the hell could have been delivered? Neither of us had ordered anything. As Cassidy pushed the door open I saw a huge bunch of red roses on the desk beside the TV, and I immediately knew exactly who had sent them. "Oh my God." Cassidy said seriously, probably also guessing who was behind the gift. "Oli Sykes sent you fucking flowers?!" she asked. I blushed as I picked up the card and read it out loud.
'Sorry about last night. I hope you're feeling better'
"Holy shit." Cassidy said. I felt the same. I didn't really know what to think. It was a lovely gesture but sending flowers was not something I would ever expect from him, or from any guy - especially one who I was just messing around with. I was utterly speechless, and Cassidy just kept saying 'Oh my God' and 'Holy Shit' as we both stood there looking at them. I snapped a photo of them and posted it to instagram with heart emojis and nothing else - I didn't want to tag Oli and look like I was bragging, so I just hoped Oli would see it, but I would thank him in person later anyway just in case he didn't. It was such a surprise and such a sweet thing for him to do. How the hell was I supposed to not get feelings for this guy?!
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We had a couple of hours to get ready and eat before heading to the venue for our VIP access to tonight's show. I purposely dressed in something sexier than I would if I were in the mosh pit... a short faux leather skirt, boots, and a Bring Me The Horizon shirt; tied at the waist so it was cropped and showing a little skin. Nothing too over the top, just not shorts or jeans like I usually wore. I didn't want to be 'that' fan with her boobs hanging out... though after Oli's reaction to the photos from my pool day in Vegas, maybe I should have. "Wills, I don't know what to think about these roses..." Cassidy said as we got ready. "I mean, guys don't generally send flowers to casual hookups." she added. I didn't really know what to make of it either, but I couldn't stop smiling about it. I guess he was just being nice and probably felt bad about my injury last night.
I really do feel bad about her getting hurt since I was provoking the crowd more than usual, I just hope she doesn't get the wrong idea. I hope she doesn't think it means something... I guess I didn't really think about that... Shit.
We took a taxi to the venue – even though it wasn't that far away, and we asked the driver to drop us off at the loading area as Oli had instructed. It was 7:40pm so everyone who had queued was already inside, but there was a steady stream of people still going in the front door. The guys weren't due to go on until 9:30pm, so we weren't sure what we were going to do for the next 2 or so hours, but we were pretty excited. A security guy approached the car as we pulled up at the gates behind the venue and a wave of fear hit me as he did – imagine if Oli hadn't put us on the list like he said he would! He asked for our names and I said "Willow and Cassidy", followed quickly by "Or it could be under Roses." He spoke to someone on a walkie talkie and then told us to go on through. A flood of relief washed over me as he beckoned us through and I grabbed Cassidy's arm in excitement. Here we were; backstage at a Bring Me The Horizon show like we'd always dreamed about. I could barely believe it.
We paid our taxi driver and walked in the back door to the venue. We had no idea where we were going so just wandered down the hallway until someone stopped us. "You must be Roses?" a man wearing a headset asked. "Yeah, that's me." I replied wondering who he was. "OK cool. Follow me." he said, now turning and walking down the hall. I looked at Cassidy and shrugged and we followed him. The loud, muffled music from the support act playing out on the stage filled the hallways and I noticed everyone backstage sported laminates with the famous umbrella logo from Bring Me The Horizon's current album. It made me feel giddy - I'd dreamed about being there, but I'd never been backstage anywhere before so it was ridiculously exciting. The guy with us stopped and put laminates on us that had the umbrella logo and said 'Crew' and I looked over at Cassidy with the most excited, wide-eyed expression. This was a dream come true.
