Steal the Show •On Hold•

Chapter Five

City: London, England 

Song: Holding On To You by Twenty One Pilots and Counting Stars by OneRepublic

HOLY... 2015 WORDS?!

Wally hurried to the area backstage where Artemis and the rest of the band were waiting. Artemis' concussion had healed enough to come to the concert, which was a relief. They were in London, ready to start the second concert of the tour. Just 24 more to go after this. Every city had two weeks spent there, with the exception of Orlando, but that was only because the tour technically fell a few days short of a year.

Wally looked at Artemis. She was wearing one of her two signature concert outfits: a loose, long sleeved gray shirt, black leggings, gray high top converse, a black knit cap, and black cat earrings, the tail of the cat being the part that kept the earring from falling out. She looked beautiful as always. But something seemed off. He studied her for a minute, then noticed what it was. She was scraping her nails along her arm, turning the skin red.

Wally smacked her hand away. "No," He whispered harshly. "I thought we broke this habit last year."

"We did, but I started again a few months ago. I'm sorry, it just makes my anxiety feel better than anything else I've done."

Wally was mad. "I assume that you're clawing the sides of your neck again, too?"

Artemis reluctantly nodded. "I'm sorry... it just... makes me feel better."

"I don't care, you're hurting yourself and that needs to stop now."

It was suddenly time to go onstage. Artemis sat on a crate that was already waiting for her, she felt more comfortable sitting down. Dick started up the music on his turntable.

Artemis tensed up for a second. This song was one of hers. She'd know it was first, but still. It felt weird to sing it. But maybe it would help her. She took a deep breath and started to sing.

Song: Holding On to You by Twenty One Pilots

"I'm taking over my body back, control no more shotty. I bet a lot of me was lost, Ts uncrossed and Is undotted. I've thought it a lot, and it seems a lot flesh is all I got, not anymore, flesh out the door, swat.

You must've forgot, you can't trust me. I'm open a moment and closed when you show it, before you know it, I'm lost at sea. And now that I write and think about it and the story unfolds, you should take my life, you should take my soul."

Wally looked at her. She really had an amazing voice. It was a sad song though, at least to him. But music was her way to express herself and her feelings.

"You are surrounding all my surroundings. Sounding down the mountain range of my left side brain. You are surrounding all my surroundings. Twisting the kaleidoscope behind both of my eyes.

And I'll be holding on to you!

And I'll be holding on to you!

Remember the moment. You know exactly where you're going cuz the next moment time is frozen still and the window sill looks really nice, right?"Artemis stood up. "You think twice about your life, it probably happens at night, right? Fight it. Take the pain, ignite it. Tie a noose around your mind, loose enough to breathe fine and tie it to a tree, tell it 'you belong to me. This ain't a noose, this is a leash and I have news for you, you must obey me!'"