That Moment I First Saw You (TFF Fanfic)

Chapter 6: Change

       Over the next two days of driving, Delilah's encounters with the band were a mixture of bitter-sweet events.  While she grew closer with Ian and Manny, Roland became even more disillusioned and aloof toward her. At the same time, Nicky had toned down her glares, even nearly smiled at her once, while Curt had become more and more bothered by Roland's moodiness.
       At every chance she got, Delilah would analyze every little thing she had done in order to find out why Roland was so badly offended. Was it something I said the day we met? she thought one morning placing her head in her hand while watching the world pass by outside of the bus. No, that can't be. He seemed...fine then.
       Thinking for a second longer, the memory of her telling him that she was going to stay with them crossed her mind. After that, she remembered the face he had tried to hide from her which contained an emotion that she couldn't quite place. Wincing, Delilah bit her lip and shook her head. Of course, that must be it. To that, she pressed her palm up against her forehead and pursed her lips. Nobody has ever wanted me around, why would that change now? Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about me liking him or him liking me if that's the case. She shrugged, trying not to care. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized how much she did.
                                  ...
       Sitting on a couch in the back of the bus, Roland stared down at his beautiful guitar deep in thought. For the past few days, he felt like he had been seeing life through a tunnel. He had had no motivation to do much of anything but just stare down at his instrument and think about Delilah.  
      He just didn't understand why he couldn't stop thinking about her but whenever he pondered talking to her, he shriveled inside. She was the only woman that had ever scared him, but yet again he had no idea why. With Roland still deep in thought about his hangups, he did not even notice Curt as he walked in and began staring at him.
       "Roland, we need to talk about what's been bothering you lately." Looking up in surprise at his stealthy entrance, Roland could feel irritation already radiating off of Curt.
       "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about. Nothing has been bothering me." Curt's amber eyes shimmered in disbelief at the blatant lie.
       "Oh really. Because I seem to remember everyone walking on eggshells around you for the past three days. Especially Delilah." In response, Roland's head flew up but he quickly schooled his anxious expression.
       "Hmmm, that's strange. Why would you think that?" he asked feigning innocence. But he should have known that he could never fool his best friend since the age of thirteen.
       "I don't know. Maybe because she's been asking about you non-stop and you two have been dancing around each other like birds during a mating ritual." Arching an eyebrow in anticipation of Roland's answer, Curt placed his hands on his hips just as another thought came to him. "Unless...something happened between you two and you didn't tell me about it." Startled by Curt's accusation, Roland tried to hide his emotions by looking preoccupied with tuning his guitar, but he knew that his best friend could see right through him.
"If there's something wrong...I'd like to know." At that Roland sighed, pushed his guitar aside and then stood to his feet looking Curt right in the eyes.
       "It's not that there's necessarily anything wrong." Curt looked at him curiously while watching him struggle to get his words out. "It's actually that everything is...right." At that, Curt's eyes widened to twice their original size and a small smile began to dance on his lips.
       "Roland...are you saying that you have feelings-". Right at that moment, the sudden halting of the bus interrupted Curt's thoughts and Nicky came bursting through the door.
       "Guys, we're here. Nigel is waiting for us outside." She then bounded back out of the room and Curt looked sternly at Roland.
       "We'll finish this conversation later and don't you dare expect me to forget about it."
                                 ...
       The building in which they entered was amazing in all of it's entirety. Looking up in admiration, Delilah gawked at the high arched ceilings, the large oak bookshelves and the loft which hung above the main room. Grinning, she felt at home in this library which looked almost identical to the one she used as a safe place, except this one had more character. The thought of home turned her attentions away from the library and made her slightly anxious. Could her parents even tell that she was gone or were they stuck in that one moment in time after she left? She didn't know. All she could hope was that they weren't worried about her.
       It was only while she still stood there in the doorway that Roland entered wearing a blue sweater and stood so close that she could smell his cologne. This made her nervous so she discreetly stepped a half a step away and was dazzled when he followed her lead.
       "Is there something you want to say to me?" Delilah blurted becoming annoyed at Roland's sudden want to be close to her when he had been consistently avoiding her for three days straight. Despite her anger though, she instantly regretted what she had said once he looked at her with a calm expression rather than the same tortured and confused one she'd been seeing on his face all week.
       "Nope," he pushed his hands into his pockets and bounced on his toes somewhat anxiously. "Just trying to get a better look." At that he quickly raised his eyebrows at her and his face got a little too close for a friendly smile but she didn't mind. Despite feeling a little confused of his quick turn around, she was glad he was talking to her again.
       Experiencing a brief case of butterflies, Delilah smiled but then cleared her throat and shoved them away. No, no butterflies. You do not have butterflies. Good for her, an irritated voice interrupted her thoughts about Roland's closeness and her feelings.
         "What do you mean that she isn't coming?" Whipping their heads around to where the voice came from, Delilah and Roland watched as Nigel Dick, the band's producer, started yelling into a landline in the other room. "We booked her as being part of this video weeks ago, how could this have fallen through?" No one dared to speak as he listened in agitation to the person on the other line. "Can we get anyone else then? Ok, fine, that's fine. Thanks for nothing." He slammed down the receiver and covered his face with one hand letting silence fill the room for a good three minutes.
       "Nigel, what's wrong?" asked Curt being the first one brave enough to speak to him.
       "The whole video that's what's wrong!" He threw his hands up in the air angrily and responded, "The actress who was supposed to be the librarian for the video got double booked at the agency and now she's halfway around the world doing a photo shoot." He growled menacingly and bit his finger. "Now who are we going to find to do this video on such short notice?" An awkward silence filled the room for another significant amount of time before Curt spoke up again.
       "Well...how about Delilah?" The whole room looked at him like he had gone crazy, but Nigel jumped at the suggestion.
       "Delilah? Who's Delilah? Now remember that it can't be anyone in the band."
       "No, she's not. She's just someone that we've been driving around with for a few days and I think that she'd be a great person to play the role of the librarian." As Curt pointed her out, everyone turned to stare at her which made Delilah very uncomfortable.
       "Me? But-but I can't act, or sing. And I'm not good in front of crowds-".
       "You won't be in front of a crowd!" Nigel interrupted excitedly. "Just me, the band and a small film crew. Besides, you don't have to act or sing to be in this video. All you have to do is just give Roland the most annoyed glare of your life. Do you think you can do that?"
       Smirking at the thought of it, she answered,"Well yeah I guess. But-".
        "It's settled then. You just go to the makeup room and they'll know what to do with you to get you ready." Before she could even argue, Nigel whirled around on one heel and marched off yelling," Let's roll guys!"
       With that, Delilah looked at the band gaining an excited smile from Curt, an angry glare from Nicky, two contemplative faces from Manny and Ian and one scared expression from Roland.
        "Well guys, it looks like I'm going to be in the music video. Now, what is the name of the song it's for again?"