So.. I told Jess (crazy-prune) I'd write a new L/R fic, and here it (finally) is! It's not that interesting, just yet, but I had to establish the scene and surroundings.

For Jess, the other half of our J2 :) Hope you read it before you leave for your holiday!

Returning Home Tour of '08

She knew she shouldn't be doing this, Lily van der Woodsen-Bass was a happily married woman with a very busy schedule. She didn't take road trips that lasted the entire weekend just to see a band perform.

Not anymore anyway.

But on this weekend in June she found herself on the road, away from New York. She did not know what convinced her to get into this car and drive off to see him again. She'd had that feeling before and she never used to give into it. But now, things were different, or so she told herself. When she got the call from her husband, telling her that he'd be gone for the next three days she'd decided on an impulse to drive off to Hartford.

Lily turned on the radio, trying to find anything to calm her nerves.

After a few classical and jazzy tunes she finally settled on a song by Jane's Addiction. She supposed she should be glad, with her luck it just as well could've been Lincoln Hawk on every other station. Now, she drifted off to different memories, back to the time she didn't even know Rufus.

--

18 year old Lily Rhodes slammed the door shut. Angrily she turned up the volume of her radio.

"Come back here young lady, we haven't finished our conversation just yet."

Lily glared at the door, or more specific, at the woman behind it.

Ever since she could remember her mother had been controlling her life, making decisions for her, not letting her be a teenager. Modelling her to become the perfect society wife. Finally, Lily had had enough.

For the first time in her life she'd stood by her own ideas. She didn't' want to study history or English and marry right out of college, she wanted to make something of herself, doing the thing she loved the most. Photography.

Needless to say, her mother hadn't liked her idea and they was the reason why the woman was screaming outside the door this exact moment.

Lily turned the volume a notch. It was just enough to block her mother's voice out, but not enough to permanently damage her eardrums.

She sat down on her bed, looking at the camera on her desk. Maybe her mother did have a point, how would she be able to support herself with her photographs? Her trust fund didn't kick in until she was 25 and if her mother had her way, she wouldn't get it at all if she didn't follow The Plan. There had to be a way to make enough money with her photographs.

"And that was Jane's Addiction with their latest song. The band is performing in New York tonight, there are still a few tickets available, so if you want to go, you better hurry!"

If real life was a comic, there would've been a light bulb on above her head. It was the perfect plan, magazines paid for pictures of bands and other celebrities, maybe she could work for one. But no one would hire a teenage, she just had to prove that she was good enough. It was her ticket to freedom, and she wasn't going to miss this opportunity.

--

Oh how naïve she'd been back then, thinking that everything would just fall in to place. Especially at the beginning, she'd never felt more alone, but after a few performances, she'd wondered off backstage and made friends with the crew, and later, the bands. Sometimes she tagged along to a few gigs, but most of the time she'd just went to see another band. In the second half of 1987 she'd made many friends, in many different places. More than she could ever imagine. One of those friends had been Rufus, he'd been one of the few men that turned from friend to lover. And to be honest, he was the only one that had stolen her heart.

And bam, he'd sneaked his way back into her mind again, she was glad she'd finally arrived at the hotel, because after tonight's Lincoln Hawk show, she'd leave and never think about Rufus ever again. All she had to do was wait, she settled herself in her hotel room, and headed for the hotel bar right after. There was only one way she'd be able to get through this night, Dutch courage.

Slightly intoxicated she walked into the darkened room, on stage the roadies were doing a last sound check, and she knew from experience that he was doing the very same thing with his own guitar.

He never trusted anyone else to do the last check.

She hid herself in the darkest and furthest corner of the room, tonight, she didn't even have her camera to hide behind. She just had to make sure he wouldn't find her in the crowd. But looking at the number of people that were walking though the double doors, that wouldn't be a problem. She hoped.

Her thoughts were interrupted when all the lights went out and the announcer took the stage.

"This New York based band was in the top 10 of forgotten bands of the 90s. Lets show them that we haven't forgotten about them. Give it up for Lincoln Hawk!"

The enthusiastic cheers of the crowd brought a smile to her face, one that didn't leave her face when she recognised the first song they played.

Rosewood, even after all these years he still opened their concerts with the song. It was the last song he ever wrote for her. Sometime after she left. He'd sent a tape of it to her house, and she'd kept it playing all day long for the next three weeks. This was actually the first time that she heard him play it in person, and somehow that made her listen and watch even more intensely.

Her eyes never left his face, she could've burned holes in his head by now. His eyes travelled over the crowd. She turned her head slightly so that her face was hidden in the shadows. The singing stopped for a moment, a guitar solo filled the room. Lily couldn't help but take a small peak over her shoulder, just to check if he really hadn't noticed her.

"What are you doing here?"