It Started that Night

Part 8

8pm arrived, Dex downed several shots of whisky in a row as he waited to go on stage

"Hey, slow down, man!" said Zach. "You'll forget the words!" he added.

"Or fall off the stage!" laughed Jesse. Dex had done that before...twice. "You alright man?" asked Jesse as Dex downed his seventh shot.

"Yeah," he replied, avoiding eye contact with Jesse. He didn't want to talk. Jesse and Zach looked at each other. Something was up again but now wasn't the time to get it out of him. His moods seemed to be getting worse and worse, did he not want to do this anymore? Was he on drugs? They knew he had dabbled a bit in the past but they were sure he had been clean for a few years now. All kinds of scenarios ran through the other guys' minds.

They were introduced to the stage and Dex flipped his showman switch, from depressed Dex drowning his sorrows in alcohol to clean-cut, full of energy, wholesome Dex Rose. The crowds went absolutely wild as Craze took to the stage. The song started and Dex began to sing, he looked around the crowd of the huge open air venue. There must have been over 50,000 people there, one of their biggest gigs yet. The atmosphere was amazing, it was just beginning to get dark and Dex could see the city lights beyond the crowd, it was a beautiful night. He looked back down at the front row at his feet, hundreds of gorgeous girls all shouting for him, all falling over each other to touch him, but all he could think of was that girl. Where was she? His mind was elsewhere tonight, but the crowd would never have known. He faked a good show, but Zach and Jesse knew something wasn't right.

The show continued as usual. Dex was amazing, he was born a showman and he had an incredible voice, probably one of the best male singers currently in the charts.

As he came off stage he knew he'd smashed it despite his mood. He was the kind of person who didn't let people down so no matter what was going on in his own life, no matter what his mood he was going to give 110% every single time he stepped out on stage. Something his mother had instilled in him. He walked down the steps off the back of the stage, a stagehand handed him a towel, and he wiped his sweaty hair from his face and made his way to the tour bus. He needed some space. Zach followed him.

"Hey, man," Zach said, poking his head around the tour bus door. Dex was lying on his bunk.

"Hey," he replied, not even looking up from his phone.

"Ya alright?" Zach didn't want to push too much, Dex wasn't the kind of guy to share his feelings. If he wanted to talk, he would. Zach wasn't going to ask questions but knew something was wrong and felt like perhaps if he stayed with him he might open up. He climbed up into the bus and laid down next to Dex, trying to think of something funny to say to ease the atmosphere.

"Got any whisky left?" asked Dex.

"Yeah," Zach replied as he got up to get the bottle.

Dex knew drinking wasn't going to fix anything but he needed to escape his own head for a while. He couldn't stop thinking about the girl but knew he wouldn't see her again. He had no way of finding her now. Fate had given him chances and he'd blown them all. He knew he had to finish things with Lucie but he had no idea how to go about that. He didn't know when he would see her again with her schedule being so hectic and he knew he couldn't do it over the phone.

Jesse climbed up onto the bus carrying a magazine. "Have you seen this, dude?" he asked Dex, handing him the magazine.

Dex looked at the cover. A huge photo of him and Lucie walking into the hotel in Germany graced the entire front cover, his arm was around her with the headline Dexter Rose beds pop princess Lucie Goldham! "Awesome," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.