New message from Ronan.

Adam's phone blinked at him. He smiled and swiped to open the message. He had messaged Ronan on a whim a couple years ago and they had hit it off. Adam had tried a lot to broaden his horizons when he got to college and finding an internet pen pal became them. He'd never figured out what exactly Ronan did because they had never moved forward from messaging one another. Ronan never seemed to be in one place. Every time they were talking he was in a different time zone or he was working, or not sleeping at normal times. The fact that he messaged first must mean he wanted to talk really bad.

"I know this is kind of last minute but Dream Thief is playing near you next week. I have an extra ticket that I don't know what else to do with it. We can meet up."

Adam quickly typed out a reply.

"Please tell me you're not just a fan because the lead singer has the same name as you?"

"No. Do you want the ticket or not. I need to get it in the mail before the end of the day if it's going to get there in time." Ronan was like that sometimes. He would be nice one second and a complete ass the next but it was kind of endearing to be completely honest.

"Of course I want it. I love Dream Thief. We've been talking for years and we've never bothered to even try and meet up. I'm excited to finally meet you in person. You've got my address, just make sure to express ship it."

"Obviously. It will be there Monday. Don't lose it before the concert." Ronan replied. Adam smiled.

Work the following week seemed tedious and boring but Adam threw himself into it knowing he was going to finally meet Ronan in a few days. He had taken Friday off so he could stay out late if Ronan wanted to. Not to mention Dream Thief was notorious for running late into the night and Adam would rather take the day off than try to work with just a few hours of sleep. His coworkers could tell something was up but they didn't pry too much. In the three years Adam had been working there he had never once taken a day off of work. Something strange must have been happening but they never approached him to ask.

When Thursday finally arrived Adam did his best to stay focused at work but by three he was ready to get out of there and get ready. Near him happened to be the event center on the other side of town. Twenty minutes drive from his little apartment. Adam punched out at exact five and was pulling out of the parking lot ten minutes later. The concert started at eight so Adam texted Ronan he was on the way at seven fifteen and climbed into his car. Traffic was going to be ridiculous so Adam wanted to be early.

By the time he managed to park he only had fifteen minutes to find his seat and Ronan. The ticket was for the floor seats near the front of the crowd. How Ronan had managed to afford two tickets for down here Adam didn't want to know. There were two empty seats in the row near the isle so Adam grabbed one and waited.

People continued to file in and find seats but Ronan never appeared to take the empty seat.

"Hey man, where are you? The concert is going to start without you." Adam sent a quick text to Ronan and waited some more. The lights dimmed and the tour manager of Dream Thief, Richard Gansey, came out.

"Before the festivities start I want to thank everyone for coming tonight. This year has been tough with shifting tour dates around so much and we appreciate it all very much. A lot of work goes into putting on these shows, Henry wants you to know how hard he works to impress you guys and hopes you enjoy it all. Have a wonderful time everyone." He said. The crowd cheered as the lights dimmed and the fancy laser lights came up. Still no text from Ronan though.

"It's starting man, are you coming or not?" Adam texted. He didn't want to enjoy the first set as Dream Thief started playing with Ronan still not being there. By the end of it he was starting to get into it even if he was still pissed that Ronan hadn't shown up yet. A smaller band came on to perform in the middle while they reset some things for the finale. Ronan was two hours late at this point. Adam knew he wasn't coming but he still slipped out to call him in the hallway.

"Hey Ronan, It's Adam. I'm not sure what happened but it would have been nice to know that you had decided to bail on me. I'm still waiting if you want to come, the last set hasn't started yet. I doubt you'll be here but I can at least try." Adam left the message in Ronan's voicemail hoping he saw it in the morning and felt bad for ditching Adam here. He headed back to his seat and was surprised to find a girl waiting near his seat.

"Are you seat 162?" She asked looking up at him. Man this girl was short.

"What if I am?" Adam asked.

"My name is Blue and I'm a Roadie for Dream Thief. You were our random draw for dinner with Ronan Lynch tomorrow while he's still in town. He doesn't meet fans after the show so you would be one of the few who is meeting him on this tour. If you don't want to come it's up to you but I have to give you this and tell you that it's up to you what you want to do." She said handing him an envelope with his seat number on it.

"Thanks but no promises. I'm a busy man."

"I understand." Blue said and then she headed back towards the stage.

The last set started and Ronan never showed but Adam didn't give up hope until the last song started. Dream Thief always ended with their song Remembered. One of the guitarist's, Noah, sang most of that with Ronan backing him up. It was by far one of Dream Thief's most popular songs.

"Listen man, I don't know what the plan was tonight but it's not cool to stand up somebody like that. I don't know what you thought was going to happen but common courtesy is to tell someone if your plans fall through." Adam texted Ronan before driving home. It was close to two AM by the time he finally crawled into bed and he was forever grateful he had taken the day off of work. After sending one more angry text to Ronan he fell asleep.

"How was the concert?" Adam couldn't believe it. Not even an apology or an explanation for what had happened, just a simple question.

"you tell me. You were supposed to be there." Adam replied.

"I was. It was good. Remembered still gives me the chills."

"Why didn't you answer any of my texts then? Or at least tell me that we didn't have seats next to one another?"

Ronan didn't reply to that. Adam shook his head and stuck his phone on the charger before cooking something for a quick lunch. He'd slept late and decided an early lunch made more sense than breakfast today. His phone buzzed a couple times while he cooked and ate but he ignored it. He had the day off work so nobody else was messaging him. By the time he finished eating he had seven new text messages and an email from Ronan.

"As terrible as this sounds, I didn't have my phone on me most of the night. The one time I had it I didn't get a chance to reply."

"I know that's a shitty excuse but it's all I have for you."

"I'm sorry. Is that what you want to hear?"

"Adam, please?"

"Here, I'll make it up to you. I emailed you one of the new songs that technically hasn't been released yet. Don't share it with anyone else."

"I don't know what else to do."

"Adam?"

Adam shook his head as he opened his email. It was blank aside from an attached mp3 file labeled Foil. Turning up the volume he clicked play to hear the voice of Ronan Lynch.

"This is probably the worst way to tell you this but it's the best way I can think of so here goes. These past few years messaging you have been amazing Adam, and I want to meet you so bad but the tour schedule is killing me. I'll figure out some way to meet you I'm sure. Anyway, this song is for you. I'll probably record it for the next album but you can know that it's for you." Adam scrambled to pause it. The Ronan he had been talking to for the last few years was The Ronan Lynch. Lead singer of the headlining band Dream Thief. With hands shaking he pressed play and listened.

At first I walked alone,

I treaded waters unknown,

I had a path laid out for me

A plan for everything.

But some things have changed,

That path has moved again,

The only factor,

The only thing that's changed,

Is you,

My foil….

The song had been playing on repeat for the last hour. As soon as it had ended Adam had rewound it to the beginning again. He had searched through all the forums about Dream Thief's new album. There was supposed to be fourteen songs on the one that just came out but one had gotten cut and the other had just disappeared a couple weeks before the release.

Adam wasn't paying attention and the last little piece of the file started playing as the song ended.

"that should do it. Track thirteen is a wrap. Keep this one under wraps. I'm going to release this one maybe a touch later. It's for Ad-, someone special." The voice said on the recording. Adam looked up sharply when they had stumbled over their words there at the end. It had almost sounded like he had said a name there, his name.

He thought for a second, staring at the phone before grabbing it and doing the one thing he had wanted to do for three years.

He called Ronan.

They had been talking for almost six years now and never once had they had a conversation that didn't involve their screens. They had gotten comfortable with the text messaging and the occasional random photo of not each other. They had no idea what each other looked like aside from the basic descriptions. He'd never even heard Ronan's voice until now.

"Hello?"

"Are you still in town?" Adam asked before he could lose his nerve and hang up.

"Maybe, depends on who's asking?" The voice on the other end replied sounding a bit defensive.

"Shit sorry, It's Adam. Are you still in town?"

"Adam? Really? It's been six goddamn years and you finally got the nerve to call me." Ronan laughed. "Yea, I'm in town still. You want to meet up somewhere?"

"There's a pizza place on 42nd. It's not very well known but it's pretty good. Closest thing I could find to the pizza place from my hometown. I'll send you the address and I'll meet you there in an hour." Adam said as he mentally ran through what he had for clean clothes right now.

"I'll be there."

"Ask for a spot near the front windows. It's fun to watch the people go by on the street. I'll see you in an hour." Adam replied.

"See you in an hour." Ronan said then hung up.

Adam's hands were shaking as he pulled his phone away from his ear. He was actually going to meet Ronan. For real this time. He texted the address to Ronan before opening his closet to find something to wear. The place they were headed was fairly casual so he settled on a faded Coke t-shirt and a nice pair of jeans with a nice black jacket. With one last check in the mirror he grabbed his keys and headed downtown to meet Ronan.

It was almost seven by the time he got there and the dinner crowds were starting to thin out already. Two of the tables by the window were free already. Adam checked his phone quickly to see a message from Ronan.

"Tell them you are Adam. I said I was waiting for you."

Ronan was already here. He was in one of the seats by the window. Adam hurried inside.

"How many for you?" The lady at the courtesy table asked.

"My name's Adam. Someone should be waiting for me." He said. She smiled and grabbed a menu before heading for the last table by the window. Ronan was sitting with his back to the door so Adam couldn't see his face till the lady set down his menu and walked off again.

"I take it you liked the song?" Ronan asked. Adam just stared in awe for a second. Ronan, his internet friend of six years, was Ronan Lynch, the lead singer of Dream Thief.

"It was great. Why didn't you release it?" Adam finally replied.

"I wrote it after that night I stayed up texting you until almost five. You were the only thing between me and making some very bad decisions. I wanted you to hear it before the general public heard it. Originally I wasn't even planning on recording it but Noah found the lyrics and brought them to one of our sessions. Everybody else seemed to like it even if they didn't know what it meant."

"Why did you never tell me though? I thought you decided I wasn't worth meeting when you didn't show last night."

"I was afraid of what you would say. People sometimes change how they act when they find out they are talking to a celebrity. I liked our basically anonymous relations." Ronan said.

They chatted over dinner before heading to the park nearby to talk while the sun set. It was dark by the time they made it back to Adam's car.

"I'm glad I finally got to meet you." Adam said with a smile. Ronan grinned.

"Same here. Next time, you're coming on tour with me so we can do this all over the world." Ronan replied. With a soft kiss on Adam's cheek Ronan turned and headed towards his car on the other side of the parking lot.

(One year later)

"Get your lazy ass out of bed. We need to load the bus." Ronan shouted smacking Adam with a pillow.

"I'm entitled to at least a few hours of sleep in a real bed before four months on the road." Adam groaned holding the pillow to him.

"You haven't seen our bus yet. We have a real bed this time." Ronan said.

"And Chainsaw is a dog now. There is no way you convinced Gansey to redo the bus just for us." Chainsaw cawed from her cage in the corner where Ronan had started moving their bags.

"I told him to can it and then paid for it myself."

"Fine. Where did you put my stuff?" Adam said getting out of bed.

"It's on the chair where you left it. I'm taking a load of stuff out. Best get moving before Blue comes to yell at you." Ronan said. Adam smiled and gave Ronan a quick kiss before jumping in the shower.

Dream Thief's Chosen tour started in a week and Adam was going with. After all, it would look bad if Ronan Lynch's new boyfriend didn't make an appearance.