after meeting ruel at a concert, will brynne be able to lower her guard and get to know him? or will she over-think everything and allow her anxiety to prevent her from opening up?
HIGHEST RANK #7 in Ruel
i sit on the train on my way to circular quay, filling the time by going on my phone. i am wearing a blue angel mesh crop with a white bralette underneath and white jeans with a thick diamante belt.
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eventually the train pulls up to the station and i head over to the opera house. the sun has long been down and the city is overflowing with sparkling lights. despite being pretty cold out, sydney is overflowing with people and as i walk past the restaurants that line circular quay i can feel the warmth from heat lamps. eventually i reach the steps to the opera house. the butterflies in my stomach start circling. i don't know what to expect from his fans. they've been posting about me and abusing my social media for the past two months. i shake off my fears, climb the stairs and walk through the front door. two security people are waiting at a table to check bags, i open my purse and show them as i walk through.
there's no one at the venue because it's at least two hours before the show is starting. i turn left and head up the red-carpeted stairs i see coco standing in a yellow ruel hoodie with a grey-haired man ready to scan tickets. she smiles when she sees me walking towards her.
"she's with me" she says to the man as she grabs my hand and takes me backstage. it's so surreal being backstage at the opera house. i hear ruel's obnoxious laugh in the distance. coco takes me to the room that he's in. i walk in to see ruel, his manager nate, chelsea and michelle.
"bryyyyyyne!" ruel yells, runs over and hugs me. "i'm so exciteddddd"
"me tooooo!" i try my hardest to match his enthusiasm. he pulls back, his hands still holding my arms.
"so this is the girl huh?" michelle says. "it's nice to finally meet you brynne" she smiles. chelsea walks over to me and gives me a brisk hug. nate shakes my hand.
"sound check is in 5 minutes" he says. "go with coco and sit in the front seats" he adds. i nod as coco and i walk out of the room.
we take our seats and the lights go dark.
"they're just running all the lights and stuff," coco tells me. "they need to make sure they're actually gonna work during the show" she laughs. our conversation is interrupted by ruel over the sound system.
"testing, testing, 1, 2, 3" he says.
"we can hear you" coco yells back. we both start laughing.
"can the show start already?" i yell.
"shut up brynne" ruel replies. coco and i laugh even harder. finally he walks slowly out on stage.
"this is don't tell me" he smiles at me. coco and i start clapping as the music starts. ruel starts singing and oh my god; his voice is breath taking. this is the first time i've head him sing properly. and he's insane.
he runs through the remainder of his songs and before we know it, it's time to open the doors for the audience to start coming in and for ruel to start doing meet and greets. coco and i go outside and walk around for a bit. she takes me to the merch stand.
"want anything?" she asks me. "the hoodies are really comfy."
"the black painkiller one looks cool" i say. she grabs a large one from the back of the stand.
"here have this one" she chucks it at me. "i'm wearing a large one too, i think it's better oversized"
"oh wow," i gasp, "that's $80 though" i say.
"it's on the house" she laughs.
"thanks" i say gratefully as i lift it over my head. the jumper literally envelopes me in what feels like a hug. "it's so soft!" i gush.
"see," coco says. "what did i say" she tells me as we walk away from the merch stand towards the backstage entrance. before we are able to walk 5 metres we're stopped by a couple of young girls.
"oh my god," the girl on the left says. "you're ruel's sister!" she says to coco. coco smiles kindly and nods. the girl turns to me and her eyes widen even more. "you're his girlfriend!" i blush and look down.
"i'm not-" i say quietly.
"you guys are so gorgeous" the girl on the right says. "can we get a photo with both of you?" she asks us.
"of course" coco says. the girls take it in turns to pose with us. this is so surreal. i thought his fans were going to be horrible. turns out, most of them are so sweet.
"thank you!" the girls chorus as they walk off. coco smiles at me.
"you're his giiiirlfriend" she teases. i laugh and poke her in the ribs. we're interrupted by a bell sound which is signalling for the audience to take their seats.
"the opera house is so fancy" i say to coco.
"i know right" she laughs as we head backstage. we sit down on the left hand side of the stage as several men in hazmat suits walk ruel's equipment out to the insanely loud screams of his fans. finally ruel comes out, he's dressed in a hazmat suit as well, although he hasn't zipped his head up yet.
"good luck!" i tell him. he wraps me up in his arms, picks me up and spins me around.
"thank youuuuu" he choruses.
"you'll kill it" i say, as several stagehands fit him with his earpiece. he zips up his hazmat suit and salutes me army style as the band starts playing and he walks out onto the stage behind an illuminated curtain, so the audience are only able to see his silhouette. i can understand why so many girls are obsessed with him. his stage presence is unbelievable. he looks as if he's been performing for his entire life, not just the past few years.
during one of the slower songs, coco nudges me.
"are you coming to his other sydney show?" she asks me.
"no" i reply.
"what the fuck?" she exclaims "you have to come." she tells me. "actually, fuck that. come on the remainder of the tour"
"i have school," i tell her.
"you can miss a couple of weeks," she says. "plus, you can work with ruel's tutor. so technically you won't miss anything!"
"that actually might work to persuade my mum" i say.
"perfect!" coco says.
finally ruel finishes his concert with painkiller. coco and i are both dancing backstage. the song comes to an end, ruel thanks the crowd and comes running offstage. straight toward me. coco and i are both screaming and cheering. ruel picks me up and spins me around again. he's panting from all of his shitty dancing. he puts me down.
"did you like it?" he asks me.
"ruel," i exclaim "you're amazing!" he hugs me again. we all walk into the backstage rooms. everyone is cheering him and he jumps around like he's on crack.
"that was INSANE" he yells. everyone laughs, cheers and pats him on the back. i stand in the corner of the room, the hugest smile is plastered across my face.
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shit is gonna start getting ~good~ now. i'm actually so excited for the plans i have in store for this fanfic.
thank you all so much for reading, please comment if you liked it and vote. your support means the world.
