Melodies & Madness

Soul Love

David's POV

The UK leg of the tour was now over which meant a long weekend off as we head over to the states. As tradition, on the last night in the UK we always have a bit of a party to celebrate the end of the leg. Tonight was no exception. We had monopolised the green room at the arena, all the crew were here along with some mates including Louisa and Frank. I had quickly changed from my sassy stage outfit and opted for a comfier, low key option, jeans and a t shirt and I couldn't be bothered with shoes. I was in my own little world, watching the people mill about when I was pulled back to reality.

"Coming for a ciggy ?" I felt Frank tap my shoulder as he passed me by, shortly followed by Louisa and Violet.

"Yeah" I responded immediately and followed after them. We found a few stage boxes outside the fire door and figured it'd be a comfy place to sit.

"So, hows touring life Vi?" Louisa asked, lighting up a cigarette.

"Good yeah, I'm really comfy with it all now" Violet grinned, tucking her legs underneath her. I sat adjacent to her, but my legs dangled down the front of the box, grazing her right knee slightly.

"Oh yeah, she just saunters around now like she owns the place" I joked, placing a cigarette between my lips and flicking the lighter.

"I bet she does" everyone chuckled.

"No, I like it, we're like a family" she added in a slightly more serious tone. Like a family? I'll take that as a compliment I guess. The conversation died into a comfortable silence, all that could be heard was the slight thumping of music and the odd puff on a cigarette.

"Drag?" I asked Violet, offering her the cig. She nodded and shyly took it from my hand.

"Thanks" she smiled sweetly before taking in a small drag and relaxing slightly.

"Do you usually smoke much?" I pondered as I watched her take another slightly deeper drag.

"Socially" she replied, handing it back to me.

"Same" Frank chuckled, lighting up his second.

"As if" Louisa scoffed, finishing hers off and rolling her eyes. We continued to joke about and smoke for another 5/10 minutes when I noticed that my legs were now also tucked up and were overlapping with Violet's. I wonder if she'd noticed? I certainly hope it didn't make her feel uncomfortable. "Right, I'm gonna head back in and get another drink before I sober up" Louisa slid off of the make shift seating along with Frank.

"Yeah I can feel myself getting boring already" he butted out his cig and followed.

"We'll be in in a sec" I called, noticing Violet not following them. I placed a hand on her knee, I don't know why, it just felt like the right thing to do. "Want to finish this?" my other hand clasped the cig between my lips.

"No its ok, it's yours" she smiled, glancing down at the floor shyly.

"Come here" I leant towards her, I wanted her to finish it. She leaned closer to me with a slightly confused expression. I carefully held the cigarette up to her mouth, her icy blue eyes fixing themselves onto mine. "You can have it" I added softly as I held the cig to her mouth and she delicately took a drag. We paused for a moment, I appreciating the golden silence. As we came back to reality, I realised her hand had rested on my thigh for stability, I broke our gaze to glance down at it and smiled. Immediately she blushed and pulled her hand away. She needn't have felt embarrassed or shy, I liked it. I gently took hold of her hand and replaced it on my thigh. I watched her face for her reaction and just as I imagined, she laughed. "Why stop?" I questioned, testing her. She didn't respond, she just got into a comfier position, inching closer to me and sliding a leg over mine, her hand still resting on my thigh.

"We should go back" Violet announced after savouring another moment.

"Mmm" I considered it but I liked the progress we were making here.

"They'll start to wonder" she reasoned, fiddling with the seam on my jeans.

"Let them wonder" I smiled, still watching her face, her skin was flawless. It goes without saying Violet persuaded me to head back to the party and we dispersed to socialise with everyone else and catch up with our drinking. I gave Violet some space and let her chat to the others, I pretend to be engaging in conversations when really I'm just watching her from afar.

A little while later and a good few gin martinis later, I'm cranking the stereo up and we had some good classic Motown blasting. Initially I started dancing about with Frank but it wasn't long before everyone else was joining in. Everyone but Violet. I set my sights to her. I wait for her to clock me as I prowl across in her direction. She's looking down into her drink. Just as I approached her she glanced up, her eyes meeting mine. I smirked and she realized what was about to happen.
"Come on!" I cocked my head to the makeshift dance floor.
"I don't dance" she rolled her eyes and didn't move an inch.
"Yes you do, remember" I groaned, grabbing her hand. She pulled back slightly.
"I was drunk" she tried to reason, staying put.
"Well down that" I indicated to her half glass of what I assumed was vodka lemonade, "and come on". She sighed and did exactly that. I pulled her by the hand again and this time I was successful. I pulled her close to me and guided her other hand to rest on my shoulder as we moved about to the music.
"I do like a bit of Motown" I heard Violet speak, she had to lean up slightly for me to hear her properly.
"Aren't you a bit young for Motown?" I pondered.
"No! I love Smokey Robinson" she admitted, sounding offended.
"I see, that's the older man thing again is it?" I chuckled, waiting for her response. She pulled her head back to look at me in horror, "or is it just me?" I dared. Immediately she blushed and switched her gaze down to my chest. She didn't answer so I didn't want to push my luck, the silence was all I needed. The next track was in fact Smokey so we focused on the music and danced a little more, savoring the closeness. She smelt of lavender and strawberries with a hint of tobacco, it was intoxicating. Her delicate hands slipped softly into mine, occasionally one hand would wander gently around my back or onto my shoulder leaving my hand to rest on the small of her back.

A few songs later we take a break to top up our alcohol levels and got distracted with other people's antics. I ended up watching one of the guitar techs give Cal a smiley face tattoo on his thumb and so after that spectacle I decided to see what else was going on before I was roped into having something done. I wandered down the corridor and I saw a small gaggle of people, including Vince and Violet. I puffed on a cigarette, trying to figure out what they were up to. As I got closer it appeared that something shifty was going on.
"Hows it going people?" I took a drag on my cig as I reached them. They all looked surprised. "Alright?" I asked, confused as to what was going on.