That Thing You Do! (Multiband Fan Fic)

Chapter 30 - One Down... A Lifetime More To Go

Katie's P.O.V

We got back to the house and all fell to the ground, in the living room.
I looked at my band mates and we all started laughing. Laughing from the adrenaline, how powerful we felt, how happy we were...

"They're back!" I heard Liv Tyler.
"Liv!" I sat up, lying by the TV.
Liv, Roman, Tony, Billie, and Joe all rushed in looking at us. The guys had yet to meet my brothers and Liv.
Stevie was in love her...

"How was it?!" Roman helped me off the floor, smiling brightly at me.
"Oh, my God... Vikki, help!" I turned to Vikki, Roman keeping me held up steady.
"So, they walk up on the stage! Stevie spits out his water, straight up in the air, like-"
"I didn' hav a dark ligh, so I spat!" Stevie raised his right hand up, lying in front of the TV, on his stomach.
"That venue is on a low budget. If you want it, pay for it yourself." I pointed out.
"We need to go shopping!" Dylan grumbled, from somewhere.
"And then they all come out on the stage! Katie goes for an open note-"
"My amp wasn't working!" I snickered, looking at Joe.
"So, it's silence and we all look at each other, laughing!" Eddie sat up, his back against the couch.
"We're all laughing, so Captain Kirk, over here, comes up on stage and fixes it." Dylan again speaks from where I can't see him...

Vikki went on to tell them all about it, and one by one, me and the guys found places to sit and lie down, falling asleep.

. . .

I woke up on the couch, with my duvet over me and one of Kirk's comics on the coffee table, next to me. I felt rather honoured by that, as Kirk never left his comics lying around for just anyone to grab.
I sat up, my hair a mess, wearing yesterdays clothes. My hat was next to Kirk's comic, so I grabbed it and plonked it on my head, looking around the room.

Very quiet.

I looked to the back door, seeing the boys out there, with Kirk and Maria.
"Your mates are a laugh." Roman smiled, walking into the living room.
"Yeah. They're great." I smiled, tiredly.
"Sorry, we missed your show, Katie. We just got here, last night." Roman sat next to me, all up and dressed, with a coffee in his hands.
"Nah, it's fine. We kicked ass." I smiled at my brother-not-brother.

It was a joke we shared, as I was only adopted by Joe. Roman's my brother by that, but not my brother by blood. Someone once asked me if I have ever just felt like a guest in the house. I never did, as this place is my home.
Joe isn't my dad, but he is my family.

"So, any more gigs coming up?" Roman asked me.
"Uh... I don't know... I hope so..." I looked at him. The high was over. It was like waking up after going to a concert. Suddenly, everything is quiet. You don't really know what to do with yourself. You're like a zombie... Just wondering, on and on...

The back door opened and Dylan walked in, smiling as he saw me awake.
"Morning, sleeping beauty. Uh, Liv Tyler may be getting a restraining order on Stevie. What's up with him and Lord Of The Rings? Not healthy. Oh, and 'That Thing You Do!' Apparently his most favourite film..." Dylan jumped to it.
"How long have you been awake?" I asked him.
He rolled up his jacket sleeve, revealing a watch. Not just any watch, though! Eddie's watch!
"Two hours and nine minutes! This watch has an alarm on it, and it scared the life out of me. I broke it, so Eddie said I can keep it!" Dylan sat on the couch with me.

"I didn't hear it!" I laughed at his story.
"You're a deep sleeper, and you snore!" Dylan smiled at me, as I pretty much lay back, snuggling up to him.
"Sorry." I wasn't going to fight it.
"Nah, don't be." Dylan lay his right arm over me. "It was quite soothing."
I smiled. "Hey, where do we go from here?" I asked him.
"With the band, or us, 'cause if me holding you like this, is wrecking your chances with Ki-"
"Nothing! Nothing is going on there!" I sat up, looking at him.
He held his hands up, surrendering, with a snicker. "Alright! Well, we need to do more gigs. The more, the merrier. I say every two to three days, lets just go all in, but it's up to you guys. Majority agreement."
"Sounds good. I can do that. I'm thinking of Stevie, when I say this, how about every three days?" I asked. "The marijuana, the munchies, a proper sleeping schedule... It's best we ease him into it." I suggested.
"Sounds good. I'm in! You want some breakfast?" Dylan asked me.
"Yes." I nodded and we both go up.

. . .

In the run up to our second show, we did a lot of shopping. Different colours.
Yellow, red, blue, green, purple, black, white, orange. No pink! Can't stand the colour.
Eddie's mum sent him some money, when he told her all about the gig, so we invested it into our band. Dylan and I even made a deal with Joe, renting his amps, so they were bigger, and we were louder.
Stevie got himself a contact for marijuana, and we made a promise to each other, he would never, ever! go out alone, as none of us knew the guy. So far, so good. Eddie went with him the most.
Kirk was helping out by taking pictures of us, so we could sell ourselves more.
We were getting phone calls, from a couple of venues, asking for us to come play, which really pushed us for the gold. How often does this happen to new bands starting out? Some kids just over heard us, and now we were on demand.

We kept up to pace with one show every three days. The two days in between, were dedicated to rehearsing. We were using the basement a lot, at this point.
We have a gig booked on Stevie's birthday. It's at the Ribbon factory, in Salem, Massachusetts.
We're all super stoked, but Todd doesn't seem to be as excited as we all are. It's pretty concerning, but he's not given any impression that he wants to leave the band. Maybe he's going through something at home? I don't know...