A/N: Okay, so I promise to stop starting new stories until I've finished some. Happy? Anyways, this one came to me at like 3am a couple months ago and I've had it sitting here waiting for a title and a little editing before I finally decided to upload it.
I can't see it being longer than a few chapters, so don't worry about it getting in the way of Take My Hand, Paralyzed and Streaks of Dawn if you read those. If you don't read those, as soon as you finish this you definitely should check out my other fics!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Jonas Brothers, any of their band or any member of their family. Story title credit goes to All Time Low.
I've Got Your Picture
Nick's eyes searched the crowd at Birmingham NEC arena. The band was about to go on, supporting Avril Lavigne on the UK portion of her European tour. He was looking for one certain person. His gaze landed on every girl possible, but he couldn't find her. He began to worry that once again, she wasn't at this show at all. Someone patted him on the upper arm to tell him to get ready, grab his guitar and prepare to go on stage. All he could think about, however, was that maybe she was at this show, maybe she was one of the eight thousand people out there and he'd miss his chance to finally meet her; or that she'd already been to one of the concerts on the tour and that he'd already missed her.
A firm hand closed around Nick's wrist and pulled him away from the side of the stage.
"I really don't know how none of them see you standing there," Joe hissed. "You know our fans have eyes like hawks."
Nick didn't reply, he wasn't going to give up looking for her, Joe knew this.
"Just let it go, dude, you'll never find her. Move on."
"No," Nick's eyes narrowed as he picked up a mahogany brown guitar and slipped the strap over his neck and behind his right arm. Girls started to scream, meaning the lights must have all gone out. It was the same thing every time.
He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer to God, asking that he perform his very best that night and that if she was there, he'd finally find the girl he was looking for. The whole crew and all of the musicians stood in a large circle back stage. At first, he'd felt sort of disgusted that Avril Lavigne was joining in on their pre-show ritual. He'd never been a fan and the band had practically been forced to warm the crowds up for her by their management. He knew it was good for publicity and they really wanted to become better known in England but he also knew that a smaller UK tour of their own in undersized venues could have worked just as well; whatever fans they did have over the pond would have had a better chance of getting tickets. Not to mention, they'd have been more intimate gigs with a greater possibility of meeting the English girls that already knew about them.
"Livin' the dream!" they all shouted and then dispersed back to their posts. Avril went off to her dressing room, equipped with dancers trailing her everywhere she went. Joe and the rest of their band, Garbo, Jack, John Taylor and Ryan walked over to stage left and prepared to hopefully wow the swarm of Avril Lavigne fans, as well as the few of their own. Nick stepped forward towards them but Kevin, his eldest brother, intercepted.
"Dude, listen," Nick looked up at the twenty year old brother and felt sorry for being so distant the past couple of months. "Don't take any notice of Joe, he's just sore because he thinks you've been ignoring him; ignoring us. Don't give up, keep faith and you'll find her. Just don't lose yourself if it doesn't happen soon, alright?"
A smile crept to Nick's face, it had been a while since he'd let anyone see one. "Thanks Kev, you know what that means to me."
Kevin nodded and simply walked next to him over to the side of the stage and they waited for the go ahead. Joe looked confusedly from one to the other, wondering what Kevin had done to make Nick look a little like his old self again.
After only a minute Brian, their stage assistant joined them. He held a hand to the earpiece he was wearing and winked at them. Apparently, someone was saying something on the other end. He held up his hand, fingers outstretched, as though they were about to be on a live news broadcast or something. He lowered one finger at a time and then waved.
"Okay guys, you're on."
They strolled onto the stage casually. It was completely dark but they'd rehearsed this countless times. The wires were shiny and guided Nick to his place, stage right. The fans, sure enough, saw them in the shadows and screamed. His stomach did a complete flip, full of butterflies; maybe she was screaming too.
Almost all the way through That's Just the Way We Roll, Nick had surveyed as many faces on his side of the stage as he could and was already prepared to switch with Joe to try the rest like they'd been doing since the tour began. One girl at the very front had a professional-looking camera raised in front of her face. He wondered how she'd got that past security and was surprised she hadn't had it taken off her already, he didn't care personally â it was the venue's rules and regulations that any camera like hers needed a photo pass. He watched as she lifted the camera's strap from around her neck and handed it to an older girl on her right, she was grinning. Her head turned to shout something in the girl's ear and then faced the stage again, singing along with the lyrics.
His heart almost stopped, he felt his breath catch and was glad his brother was singing, otherwise someone would have noticed. He gaped at her for a few seconds, though she didn't realise; as the song drew to a close he stumbled over to where Jack Lawless was drumming at the back of the stage. He grabbed what they liked to call the secret mic that sent messages to everyone's ear pieces â the band, the crew, and sometimes even their parents if they decided to wear them.
"Guys," he choked. "It's her, I found her."
Joe, Kevin and the band all lifted their heads and turned them towards him. Backstage, everyone became even more alert than they had been; the technicians shook off the shock and surprise and went back to their jobs.
"Someone just go get her, get her up here for Hello Beautiful or something. She's on my side, just hurry."
It looked like the set list was being changed quickly, though they'd prepared for it. Before even the first concert, Nick had made sure everyone would be ready to play Hello Beautiful at the drop of a hat so that if he found her, it could be the next song they played. Kevin began to talk to the crowd as Nick returned to his microphone; the oldest brother was stalling as much as he could so there was time to get her on stage. The fifteen year old saw one of their crew members as he rushed into the photo pit. He reached her and grabbed an outstretched hand.
The girl was confused, Nick knew it. He watched as Dan, the guy retrieving her for him, shouted something they'd all practiced countless times with the seventy different members of their own tour staff and Avril's. "C'mon, Nick wants you up there for Hello Beautiful."
The girl clearly knew them well, they never serenaded girls with Hello Beautiful on stage anymore, it just got too rowdy and others became jealous. It was harder to make work these days but Nick didn't care, it was all he could do for her. Bewildered, she looked up at Nick and their eyes connected, he nodded to her and she smiled.
She said something to Dan, who then gripped her at her elbows and raised her expertly over the barrier at the front. Dan was a pretty strong guy. Joe had taken over for his brother trying to distract the now restless crowd. Nick realised that they wouldn't have the time, she still had to get backstage and he wanted to talk to her before she came on.
He cleared his throat and Joe stopped talking. "So how about we play S.O.S., hey guys?" Grinning at the six other people on stage, he began to play the first notes of the song on his guitar. A minute into the song Nick noticed that she was standing at the side of the stage, watching him with great interest. She looked nervous and scared. As S.O.S. finally finished, after what seemed like a lifetime to Nick, he walked towards her and Kevin began to explain that they were going to sing to a girl, which they hadn't done in a while.
When he reached her, he started to absentmindedly play a song on his guitar. He did it often enough between songs.
"How do you know my name?" He heard her voice for the first time; too bad what she said wasn't making any sense. "You're playing Dear Maria, Count Me In by All Time Low. I'm called Maria," she licked the front of her teeth self-consciously; he was watching her lips carefully as she spoke.
"Erm, I didn'tâĤ know. You like All Time Low?" He laughed, feeling strangely comfortable around her already.
"I love them, actually," she giggled uneasily.
"Same," he grinned. "You were at the London show in April, I saw you there."
The breath caught in her throat, "Uhm, yeah. It was pretty much the best day of my life."
She'd been right in front of Nick for the whole show; they had made eye contact all night; at the time Maria thought it was nothing and that it was the same for everyone.
"Glad to hear it; though â there were pictures taken after the concert. You didn't look very happy, in fact, you were crying." He furrowed his eyebrows concernedly; this had troubled him since that night.
"Yeah, I uhm, lost something important," she said quietly, remembering.
"So if everyone's ready," Kevin's voice rang out of the massive speakers and Nick instinctively grabbed her hand. He tugged her on stage without another word and right to the centre where Joe had placed a high stool. As she sat down he let her hand fall and then took something small out of his pocket, ran it between his fingers and pressed it into her empty palm.
Nick passed his guitar to a guy in all black, standing near the edge of the stage. He pulled his microphone out of its stand, returned to Maria's side and began to sing. At the end of the song, he subtly whispered in her ear "Stay backstage," and a man led her off, carrying the stool effortlessly in his left hand.
The man put the stool where she could still see the boys perform, but from the side, and told her she could sit down. Maria did, barely able to stand up much longer, and started wringing the ends of her sleeves, twisting them around her fingers. After one song, she started to get lonely, there were dozens of people about but nobody said anything to her. Then she spotted the same man who had helped her over the barrier, Dan he'd said his name was.
"D-Dan, could you get my sister for me? Nick s-said to stay here and I rea-really want her with me."
"O' course, what's she wearin'?" He was cheerful. Actually, everyone backstage seemed elevated; Maria wondered if it was always like that or if something special had happened.
"Erm, a black Sesame Street t-shirt." Dan laughed. "I know she's crazy, right? Her name's Sophie and she might be in the same place I was, or she might have moved or something."
"No worries, I'll get her for yer'," he winked and walked out to the crowd the way they'd come in. Minutes later, he returned with an average height brunette, she was almost twenty.
Maria hugged her sister tightly, as though they'd been separated for years. "Thanks Dan!" she called as he walked away and stepped away from Sophie. They contained their excitement for a few seconds before screaming a little. Maria's sister was sort of a fan; Maria had fallen in love with the Jonas Brothers music years before she tried to expose Sophie to it. The elder of the two had resisted whole-heartedly, claiming she hated them. One fateful day, however, she gave in and actually listened to the self titled album then went home and got the rest of their music, quickly falling for it too.
"Maria, you've had the biggest crush on Nick for forever, this is immense," Maria blushed, she didn't want any to who knew him to hear about how much of a fangirl she actually was. She'd toned it all down, didn't make a poster, didn't wear any merchandise, didn't accost Nick the moment she saw him. She wasn't going to scream that she loved him, because she didn't. She knew that she didn't love him; she didn't even know him, though she was dying to. The music was always the most important thing for her. As much as she enjoyed talking about each specific brother, it was simply special, listening to it made her forget everything else. That was what she loved.
"Yeah, well you know what else is immense?" Sophie looked confused until her younger sister placed in her hand what Nick had put into hers. Her mouth rounded into an 'O' before she grinned, squealing.
A/N: Please review if you read. Whether it's a couple words or an essay. Whether you loved it or hated it. I'd really appreciate any input. +Alerts and +faves make me happy as well. :) Thank you so much for reading!