Till Next Time | completed | currently under re-edit

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The very first thing that hits us is the moment we make a right turn onto E. Balbo Drive and without even being spared the time to realize it, we suddenly find ourselves stuck in traffic, with the non-stop honking of impatient mothers en route to drop off their middle schoolers to a music festival.
Thankfully, we had anticipated it and left in good time.

I check my watch and relief floods me on seeing we have enough time left. But then I look back up on the road ahead of us and the giddy excitement deflates upon realization of where that time will be going.

Anastasia spends that time gasping over the lineup.
"Dude, Childish Gambino is opening. They have Death Cab For Cutie, NF and Alec Benjamin lined up today!"
"I never thought you would be into Death Cab For Cutie and NF," I say, surprised.
"Amazing verses devoid of curse words, blood curdling delivery and dark aesthetic? Sign me up please."
I chuckle. "But Death Cab For Cutie and NF. Both branch from absolutely different genres of music."
She rolls her eyes. "Yes, I am multifaceted. I get it."

Grant Park was teeming with people.
A team was waiting at the entrance for us, to give us instant access with our armbands and I swagger past the jealous crowd of teenagers with my chest puffed up. One mom points at us and yells at a volunteer for showing favouritism, but Andrew, our assigned volunteer tells us to ignore her and ushers us inside through the ginormous entrance.

The smell of alcohol inside a non-alcohol festival turns out to be the second thing to hit me.

I see a teen, hardly a day over sixteen, walk in through the door and produce a hip flash from under his hoodie, wave it teasingly to his friends stuck behind with a security personnel seizing their whole bottle of dark malt-ish liquor.

Andrew turns to me and speaks over the music. "I need the list of acts you are interested in, so we can relocate you to those stages."

There are about three stages scattered about the venue, dividing their time between different acts.

I name over the artists to him.
"Great, you'll be between Stage 2 and 3 today."
I fidget a little and then gather enough humility to ask him. "I also need to see Will. He's working backstage and wanted me to come visit him."
Andrew nods, smiling, and motions me to come along.

The backstage too is bustling with a buzzing energy, just an entirely different kind and for an entirely different cause.
The people here do not care if you are here for the music or not, but if the display glitches, the mic cuts off amidst a song or the lights don't go up upon command, there is a curse waiting to be chucked at you.
Organized chaos.

When the guards stop us at the entrance to the backstage, our armbands in his plain sight, Andrew intervenes. "They are with Will."

Anastasia raises her eyebrows at me when I hand over to her her backstage pass.
"What is happening?"
I smirk. "We'll see."
Andrew leans closer to my ear and whispers, "I hope you both are NF fans."

Even amid the hustle of the backstage, no one seems to be bothered to have to swerve around one clueless teenager and another on a wheelchair roaming about in an unauthorized area. Or maybe we are of as much significance to them as the random wires I trip on every second step I take are to me.
Or maybe it is pity.

Word must have reached Will. He was waiting outside his station when I see him. He waves at me.
"Hi. I didn't tell you last night that I would bring a friend," I tell him.
"That's fine." He shrugs it off.
"Anastasia, this is Will. I met him last day after a little issue." He laughs.
"Will, this is Anastasia, my friend."
"Nice to meet you!" He shakes her hand. "You want to meet NF? He's waiting for his act to begin."
Anastasia face tenses up. I cover my mouth with my hand to keep from laughing out.
"No," she says, "You are punking me."
Will holds the door open for her. "Come on in then."

An hour later, NF is almost ready to take the stage.
Will is in-charge of the lights, so he lets us be backstage with him.
Anastasia, after an exhaustive hour of anxiety ridden subtle fangirling, leans back on her chair and whispers over and over again, "He said I'm cool."
I laugh, hoping she did not notice my little moment there.

Will takes the reins of his little booth with two other people of his team, his Bluetooth headset set in place.
He helps set us up in a small corner beside his booth and I cannot help but feel a little awkward.
I ask, "Are you sure this won't be a problem?"
"You are with the crew now." He winks at me.

An emcee steps out onto the stage, screaming into a microphone to hype the crowd up.
The lights drop and a countdown rises through the thumping air.
Will signals for the lasers and the baby blue sky is split into halves by red and green.
My heart clenches inside my chest, like a fist squeezing it. But it feels pleasant. An anticipation, an inkling of something good to come.

I take Anastasia's hand, lying limp by her side, cold and unmoving.
I had to stop the tingling in my empty palms.
The crowd erupts into mad cheer as NF runs into the stag and all the lights go up at once.
I look up at Anastasia, her jaw hanging open in awe, a little smile tugging at her lips and her eyes glazing.
I smile, my chest suddenly feeling full.
A little teardrop sneaks past and rolls down her sunken cheeks.
I press a kiss on top of her knuckles.
She doesn't even flinch, probably does not even realize it.
I hold her hand against my cheek, my warmth sizzling against her chill.
It makes me feel human, it makes me feel happy.
It takes my breath away and does not make me regret losing it.

I stare at her, listening to every single sound that falls on my ears, the screaming, the beat dropping, Will shouting once in a while, and feel every possible thing I can feel to keep it etched in memory, never to forget and never to lose.

This here is worth living for.

A/N: The ending got me a little overwhelmed if you couldn't tell already.
Update. Till Next Time has crossed 1.42K views, 500 votes.
I feel so full, it is indescribable.
Thank you for everything. ❤️