delicate | ethma

5

Emma

I loved watching Ethan perform, but seeing it from back stage was a whole new world.

Seeing him under the lights with his guitar, just pouring his heart and soul into the music as the band played. He was so happy, and that's what made it so fun to watch.

You could tell how much fun he has while playing.

It was only dress rehearsal, but it was fun to stand back stage and watch. I was already on photography duty, so I tried to capture the best moments of each band member.

At one point during their rehearsal, they took a ten minute break, so I showed Ethan some of the pictures I took.

I enjoyed how easy it was for us to simply be close to each other. I could feel his body heat radiating from him as he stood behind me, looking over my shoulder as I looked through the photos.

"Those are really good, Emma," he said.

I looked up to smile at him, but he was already smiling at me.

In that moment it felt like the rest of the world shifted into slow motion, and I felt like we were the only people in the world.

He had a way of making me feel like that just from looking at me.

"Ethan, breaks over," Enzo said as the guys all went back to the stage.

I sat in the audience with Olivia, but once they started playing their music, I started taking more pictures from the audience.

Once in a while, Ethan would look up from his guitar, and right at me. Then he would smile as he looked back down to his guitar.

I couldn't help but smile too. He's special to me, and I think he knows.

I'm pretty sure it's mutual though. I mean, would he have invited me to Portland to stay with them if it wasn't? I also doubt he would've said yes to me bringing Olivia along.

The next night, we went to the venue around 5 o'clock for sound check, and so the boys could get ready.

Sound check was only three songs long, so they would have enough time to get ready.

Olivia and I were backstage, and there were a ton of people. Whether it was crew from the tour, or people that worked at the venue, there was quite a few people.

Luckily the backstage area was huge.

I felt my phone buzz, so I took it out.

"Ethan wants me to come see him for a few minutes," I told Olivia after I read the text.

"Okay. I'll be here,"

I gave her a small smile before I walked out the door and into the hallway, then down the hall to Ethan's dressing room.

I knocked on the door, and he opened it a couple of seconds later.

"Come on in, cutie," he flirted, stepping aside before I walked in.

I sat on the counter as he shut the door. "Are you nervous?"

"Ready, but a little nervous," Ethan said, walking over to where I was sitting. He put his hands on the counter, both of them next to each side of me.

I smiled at him as he looked at me, and I think he both felt glad that we had a few minutes of alone time.

"You're gonna do great tonight," I said.

"I'm hoping so. There's this really cute photographer we just hired, and I'm kind of hoping to impress her tonight."

"Yeah? Well, she thinks you're really hot," I flirted back. Ethan chuckled before bringing his lips to mine.

It quickly became a heated kiss, Ethan's hands on my lower back, and our tongues slowly dancing together.

Ethan gently pulled away, leaning towards my ear and kissing my jaw. "There will be more where that come from later," he whispered.

I glanced at the clock, and realized that he had two minutes until he had to be backstage.

"Hey, another one for good luck?" I asked.

Ethan chuckled before giving me a long but chaste kiss on the lips. "You're my good luck charm."

I smiled. "I'll see you during intermission. I'll be backstage for the second set, but I'm taking pictures from the front for the first set."

"Good. I can look for you when I sing Delicate."

"I'll try to stand near the part of the stage you'll be playing on."

"Okay. I gotta go."

"Good luck," I said. Just in time, Enzo came in as Ethan opened the door, to make sure he was ready.

I found Olivia and we made our way to the elevator, down one floor, and then through the backstage tunnel that led to the audience.

The band came onstage, the crowd roared, and I got some great shots of the opener. It was one of their most popular songs called On My Way to You.

They were still a newer band, so they only had an album worth of original songs, but they were famous for their cover songs.

They always changed them up or added little touches to the song that made it their own.

I was really happy when Ethan glanced over and saw me right before he switched places with Ted, and sang Delicate.

Ted was usually the main singer on most of the songs, but once in a while Ethan or Enzo would sing lead on a song or two.

Ethan's voice was smooth, and almost relaxing to listen to. The best part was that he was up there singing that song just for me.

Every girl dreams of someone like Ethan singing a song like this about them, and most fans would tell themselves that it was about them even if they never met the singer.

But I knew he truly was singing it for me, and that made me feel so good about myself. It made me so happy.

I could tell he was happy singing it too.

That was the last song of the set before intermission, so Olivia and I went back through the tunnel, and then security to get backstage.

Ethan was talking to a group of people including Ted and Enzo, but as soon as he saw me and Olivia walking towards them, he left them to come give me a hug.

"That was so good," I told him as he lifted me up in a hug and spun around.

"It's going so well tonight. You really are my good luck charm," he said, putting me back down.

And for the first time ever, we kissed without caring that everybody around us could see.