•Rose•
His hair was too long, almost covering his eyes and he had to flick it back every couple of minutes. He smiled the lazy grin that covered the posters. Everywhere. The audience cheered as the stage went dark. I knew I shouldn't be here, I knew that, I should have forgotten him like he had obviously forgotten me. And yet, here I was, first row, quiet in the middle of the cheering crowd. He wouldn't see me, I assured myself half-heartedly. He never saw me anymore. Meg had taken care of that with her long brown hair. And even though my brother Indigo had managed to send me a note, telling me that that they were now broken up, there were still plenty of pretty girls in the audience, shrieking every time he turned towards their part of the crowd. And I was "just not cute anymore" so he wouldn't see me tonight. And I was happy about that, right?
"And the devil took my sole but not my dreams.."
Toms voice was low,hoarse and just plain devastating as the song, with a last whooping crash of the drums, came to an end.
"on-core!" "on-core!" "on-core!" the screams were all around me. Tom laughed softly and bent back saying something to the drummer before plugging his guitar back into the amplifier. I couldn't take this anymore. I started pushing my way through the crowd, ignoring the annoyed groans and yells just focusing on the exit-sign. I knew i had to get out of here before I started crying. Suddenly I noticed the silence from the stage. Not a built-up silence, but a quick break, so sudden I felt like I'd gone deaf. And then my name. In the speakers. Just my name. My full name. I never let anyone call me by my full name. Not anyone but Tom. And that had been long ago. "Permanent Rose"
I turned towards the stage,and there he was, staring at me looking dumbstruck. I gulped before I started dodging through the crowd, tears flowing down my cheeks.
•Tom•
I felt so high-strung. This was the life. Playing music made me happy in a way nothing else did.
Almost nothing, the annoyingly honest voice in my head chirped in (what was that anyway? my subconscious? my conscience?) you were this happy when you were with ...- I cut the thought clear off, forcing myself back to reality.
The crowds screamed on-core, cheering like mad.
"You up for it?" I turned to Kyle, my drummer, almost having to scream just to get heard. He flashed me a wicked grin. Jeremy, my sidekick at the guitar nodded in approval. I laughed and turned back, seizing the crowd as I plugged my guitar back in. Something caught my eye. A flash of bright pink, bobbing away at my left. A streak in some girls hair, in the middle of a messy ponytail. She glanced over her shoulder, and for a second I caught her face, blue eyes looking terrified as she pushed her way through the crowd. Rose. The memories flowed over me, so quickly and so completely the stage seemed to melt away. The only thing I could see was her. Her smile, her laughing in front of me, her big blue eyes. I felt dizzy. "Permanent Rose" I said, almost dropping my guitar. She glanced towards the stage and met my eyes. It was her. She looked at me for just a second, and nothing else seemed to exist. Then she tried to make a run for it, fiercely jabbing the crowd. "ROSE" I yelled into the microphone and threw my guitar at Jeremy who, amazingly enough, seemed to catch it. I jumped of the stage but my security was all around me. "Let me through" I hissed desperately "Rose!" but she had already made her way through the crowd, and was dashing quickly towards the exit. I ignored my security guards and ran after her, not caring about the fans pulling my hair and tugging on my T-shirt. I ran as fast as I could, out of the club, down the deserted street. "ROSE" I wailed. But she was gone. Nothing answered me except the wind. She had gotten away from me again. "SHIT!" I screamed at the empty street "FUCKING SHIT" my voice seemed lonely as it echoed through the city. I kicked a dustbin as hard as I could as I continued cursing at the top of my voice. Then all the fight and anger vanished, and I felt empty. The emptiness I had been denying for all this time grew rapidly inside me. I had lost Rose again, and I knew now what I hadn't known all those years ago, I knew Rose was my one-shot at true happiness. I think a part of me had always known I needed Rose, known it since before I first met her. But I had blocked that part of me out with Meg and music. Now I felt like no music could be loud enough to block out the empty heart-wrenching coldness inside me. I finally admitted it to myself. Without Rose, I was broken. I sunk down by a wall, unable to keep on my feet. "No,no,no no" I moaned, face in my hands.
•Rose•
I heard him, heard him just outside my hiding place, behind these trash cans. He screamed at the street, before sinking down just a few inches away. He was moaning, he sounded devastated. Something in me broke. After everything he had done to me, everything he had said, I still couldn't bear to see him like this. Not him. So my body stood up and I walked up to him, stood in front of him. I kicked his foot, gently. He didn't look up.
"Hey Tom" I said, my voice almost broke, speaking the name I had forbidden it to say for years.
He looked up and saw me standing there. He pulled me down into his arms, and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back, desperate to be near him, however much it would hurt later on. We sat like that for a while, him burying his face in my hair. It started to rain, and I could hear people yelling his name as they ran through the streets. But Tom didn't look up and neither did I. We just sat there. For the time being,there in his arms, I felt as if I had never been broken.
