Chapter Text
MAY 2007
“THANK YOU, NEW YORK!”
Your smile was blindingly bright, and you felt your heart thump in your chest as you took a few seconds to take in just how big the theatre actually was.
A crowd of around two thousand people were all jumping up and cheering in unison, waving handmade signs they had made for this one event.
You bowed, feeling the instruments on stage being lugged around — your backing band pretty much all ready to go after having been performing your setlist for around 3 hours. You wiped a bead of sweat off of your forehead with your hand, watching the theatre slowly begin to empty out.
After a good half hour of cleaning up the space and getting everything together, you and your crew stepped out through the backdoor of the venue, admiring the cool glow of the nighttime moon.
As expected, the streets stunk like hell, an unthinkable mix of piss and other unidentifiable substances.
Who the hell left all their garbage outside right by the door? You didn’t have the answer, but all you wanted to do was go back to the hotel.
“WE LOVE YOU, Y/N!”
You jumped, having now been startled by a group of girls all decked out in your merch and extremely flashy makeup. They had to be preteens, as they all looked slightly younger than you.
“Can you please sign my shirt? Everyone’s gonna be so jealous when they see that I got an autograph from THE Y/N L/N!” The most seemingly outgoing girl out of the bunch said, practically pressing herself into you.
“Of course,” You replied, pulling out a pen from your bag. “I’m glad you could make it to the show today, I love all my fans.”
“I’m like a HARDCORE fan, you know! I was there when people could only access your songs through MySpace!”
Your eyes widened. “Woah, so you’re a REAL og.”
“Mhm!” She hummed, with a slight giggle.
“Stop hogging them, I wanna talk,” The girls’ friend cut in, furrowing her eyebrows. “Wait! Before you go, Y/N, when’s the next tour?”
“That’s for me to plan and for you to find out.”
Before any more fans could bombard you with questions, you took the hand of one of your bodyguards and slipped into your van alongside your manager and your crew.
The car almost immediately drove off — the driver basically stepping on the gas before you could close the door — and you poked your head out of the window, gazing at the insane amount of fanboys and fangirls who were either screaming or trying to follow the vehicle down the road.
You pretty much lost them by the time you turned down the block, though.
You let out a loud sigh, leaning your head against the carseat. You could hear your manager chuckling to your side as your crew softly chatted amongst each other in the back.
“Tired?”
“What do you think, Mister?”
Your manager’s name obviously wasn’t Mister, but it was an inside joke that you made up at some point during your time together, and now that’s all you’d refer to him by.
“Well, I think you could go for three more shows and a pop up performance.”
“Fuck off.”
He chuckled again, this time it came out more like a genuine laugh.
“For what it’s worth, I think tonight was your best show out of all of them.”
“Well, it’s the last show,” You said, kicking your feet up. “You gotta go out with a bang since this is the one people will remember the most, you know?”
Mister crossed his arms, shaking his head.
“I think you should take it easy, kid. These past few years have been a lot for you, you know? From the whole emancipation thing, moving away, rehearsing and all that.. You need some pork fried rice and a long nap.”
Your eyes lit up at the mention of food. It was only now you realized how hungry you were.
“That.. Sounds nice.”
That night, you and Mister spent most of the early morning eating shitty Chinese takeout together in the comfort of his suite. He had walked you back to your room once everything was finished and planned to speak to you in the morning.
As soon as you locked your door, you flopped down hard on the memory foam mattress, sinking into it as if you were diving into the Atlantic Ocean. You were so exhausted you didn’t even bother to take off your outside clothes or your sneakers.
Many many nights of touring, performing at venues big and small all around the East and West Coast. You never would’ve imagined you would get this big, at least here in America.
But it was all worth it, you got to see places you’ve never seen before, made some bucks, and now your biggest problem would be coming up with songs for your next album.
That thought seemed to comfort you as you slowly drifted off into dream-land.
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