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*REBECCA'S P.O.V.*
My alarm buzzed in my ear like a thousand thirsty mosquitos. I ninja-kicked the covers off of me and slipped off of my comfy bed, a little more enthusiastically than usual. But who could have blamed me? An absolutley adorable Nate Gray was waiting for me at the Asteria Hotel. I smiled to myself and clawed through my closet, searching for an outfit that said "notice me" but wasn't too...out there. My fingers came across a pair of striped blue and white jean shorts from pacsun and a grey polo, so I settled for that.
"Rebecca, coffee's on the counter." Cullen shouted from across the apartment, assuming I had already gotten up.
"Thanks!" I replied, brushing my tangles away.
I sauntered through the apartment and to the bus stop, picking up my coffee from the kitchen on the way. Through the entire bus ride all I could think of was Nate, as usual.
For the past few days since the Grand Annual Celebration at the hotel, we had been hanging out constantly. At work, when I was off work, even at my apartment. Don't worry, nothing like that. Nothing like that at all. AT ALL.
Who was I to think anything would ever become of...us? I mean, he's Nate freaking Grey. He can have ANY girl he wants. Any girl. Why would he give a crap about some random chick from Texas?
As the bus arrived at the hotel I tried to put on my best smile and straightened out my polo, making sure I looked presentable. Nate was standing at the front desk holding his arms open for me to be enveloped in a warm hug. Yeah, he was hugging me now. No big, it's whatever. HA, not. :)
"Jason and Shane are waiting upstairs. My dad talked to Mr. Donovan, and you have today off!" He grinned with his shiny, white teeth, making me blush.
"Really?! Thanks, Nate!" I exclaimed. "Wait..why?"
"We wanna go and hang out today. Just have fun."
"B-but...I'm not ready. I thought I was just going to be working. I don't have something to wear-" I rambled on looking myself up and down searching for any possible way it would pass as okay to wear out.
"What you have on is perfect, Beck. I promise. You look good." He said assuringly, and I nodded. What else was I supposed to do? He said I looked good!
"So...where are we going then?" I asked innocently as we rode up the elevator to his hotel room to meet Jason and Shane.
"I don't know. See a movie, shop, have some lunch later."
"Oh, crap. I don't have any money..." I searched through my bag for some spare change.
"Oh. Well that's no good...we were hoping you would pay." He sighed dramatically.
"Uh-huh, right, right. So that's all I'm good for now?" I giggled and nudged his shoulder.
"I'm just kidding, I'm joking." He chuckled. "But it's cool, we'll pay."
"Nate, i-it's fine. I'm not that hungry anyways."
"It's only 9:30. You will be at lunchtime. Now give me some coffee." He grabbed the cup out of my hand and took a long swig, then sighed, satisfied. "You make good coffee, Rebecca."
"Actually, my brother made it. Cullen." I hung my head, ashamed I couldn't take the credit.
"Oh. I need to meet him." He said as we entered his hotel room.
"Well..he'll be at home later. We could stop by..and you could meet him. If you want, I mean." I realized I was babbling and looked at my feet.
"Sure. That'd be cool." He smiled.
"Meet who?" Shane asked as he wound his arms around me in a big hug.
"Beck's brother, Cullen." Nick replied.
"Oh, sounds good." Jason agreed. "Well, we're off to...drum roll pleeeease!" Shane took the liberty to beat his hands on the bedside table near him while Nate and I exchanged glances and chuckled a bit. "Reliant Stadium!"
"Yaaaay." Nick mumbled sarcastically.
"What? Oh my gosh, COOL! Why?!" I was nearly bouncing off the walls. "I-I mean, ya know, that's cool, I guess. The usual. I'm used to this stuff."
Nate rolled his eyes and poked my arm then said, "Well, we have a concert tomorrow, so it's a sound check."
"You guys have a concert tomorrow? That's great. I had no clue!"
"Yeah, we wanted you to come and see what it's like. Maybe after soundcheck we'll grab some lunch and a movie, head back here, and just chill."
"Sounds perfect." I smiled.
As the boys grabbed their jackets and headed for the door behind me, I heard Shane whisper to Nate, "Have you asked her yet?"
"No..not yet. I will today." He replied.
My insides flipped around and upside down as the thought of him asking me to be his girlfriend fluttered into my mind.
We arrived at Reliant Stadium and walked to the center of the enormous arena. I had been there before, but in the stands. The nose bleed section, to be really specific. From the center, it just felt...amazing. I wanted to just grab a microphone, a guitar, and sing my heart out right then and there. I smiled as the cool air of the room softly touched my skin.
"Rebecca." I whirled around, startled, to find a confused looking Nate staring right back at me. "Can I talk to you about something?"
"O-of course." I smiled nervously. We walked over to some stadium seats and took a seat.
"So, Beck."
"So, Nate."
"How many songs have you written, exactly?"
"Hmm.." I thought. "In total, probably 11. Well, there's more, but they aren't that good. Well, it's not that they aren't good, they just aren't my favorites. So I guess if you count like all of them, maybe 20."
"Okay. That's great. Well, Rebecca, oh dear friend of mine..." he began.
"Oh gosh, Nate wants
something." I rolled my eyes.
"Well, actually...I just
need a favor. An incredibly huge favor." He looked deep into my
eyes with a pout that I couldn't say no to. And he hadn't even asked
me for anything yet! "It's just that-"
"Nate, just wanted to let you know that Jason and Shane are ready to run the opening to the show which would be before Burnin Up' and directly after the opening act. Be at the stage in 5 minutes tops." Big Bob said before heading back where he had come from.
"Ooh, the opening act. Who's that gonna be anyway?" I asked.
"Well...that's what I wanted to talk to you about...it's um, Tess Tyler, actually." He studdered out.
"Oh. That's cool. She's...talented!" I smiled supportively.
"Well..yeah. But, there's a problem. She won't be here tomorrow." Oh no. I already knew where this was going. "And..your super talented. Like, even more talented than her. And you have atleast 10 songs, which is more than even need to be performed. And we have a costume rack that Tess was going to use anyways, a make-up chair, voice coach for warm ups tomorrow, a background band, even a dressing room. Rebecca, I'm asking you to be our opening act tomorrow." He finally breathed out.
"Oh..."
"Yeah..."
After a long silence that felt lasted about 3 minutes, I breathed heavily. "O..kay. Okay."
"Okay?!"
"Okay. I'll do it."
"You will? Oh that's great! Thank you so much, Rebecca!" He picked me up and swung me around, holding me close. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Your welcome." I squeezed out, still trying to wrap my head around the idea of myself performing in front of a sold out stadium to millions IN ONE DAY.
I suppose Nate could see the worry and fear in my eyes, so he grabbed my hand.
"Beck, your gonna be amazing." he smiled. I looked down at our clasped hands and he instantly let go. "Sorry." he chuckle-sighed. I grinned back saying that it was all good.
"Well, we need to go rehearse, right?" I asked.
"Yep. Let's go!"WE hopped up and raced eachother to the stage.
"Sorry-we're-late." Nate and I appologized, half through our incesant laughter, half completley out of breath from running.
"For a rockstar, your out of shape, Gray." I poked.
"Hey! All that room service catches up with me!" He argued jokingly.
Rehearsal was phenominal! I had never been on such ana amazing stage, let alone a stage in 4 years. The lights, the speakers, the effects just the vastness of it all shocked me! The boys did great, as expected. Who knew Shane was such a great dancer?
I wouldn't say I was 100% "up to par", but I did alright. I was nervous, freaking nervous, okay?!
After a great, thorough run-through of the entire concert, we stopped by 5 Guys Burgers & Fries for some food. We were all so exhausted that we were nearly falling asleep in the booth, which worried me. Jason was my ride home!
I thought the boys would have forgotten, but Nate mentioned meeting Cullen. So, we took a stop by my apartment.
"Cullen, I want you to meet some friends!" I called out to the dark kitchen, walking over to the fridge to grab some cokes. I noticed a note on the counter.
Beck-
Catering in Dallas. Sorry, short notice!
Food in the fridge - call me for anything.
See ya Wednesday, sis!
-Cullen
"Great." I sighed.
"What?" Shane asked, slamming the door behind him.
"Cullen's in Dallas. He won't be back til' Wednesday. Sorry guys!" I pouted.
"So you'll be here alone? You can't. It's not safe. Stay at the hotel with us." Jason commanded, going into protective-father mode.
"Oh, no, no, no. I'm fine. Don't worry! I stay home alone all the time."
"You sure??"
"Positive." I nodded with a half-smile.
"Atleast watch a movie with us." Nate insisted.
"Aw, aren't you guys getting sick of being around me?" I giggled.
"Of course not!" Jason smiled.
"Well..okay. I guess." I rolled my eyes. Those convincing Grays! Nate's face lit up and I smiled. We went to the kithchen and made popcorn while Jason and Shane went to ClockBuster to rent a movie.
"You did great today. I'm really proud of you, Rebecca. I mean it." He said sincerely.
"Thanks, Nate." I replied with a quick hug. As I pulled away, his arms lingered freely in the air for a moment, then snapped to his sides. I giggled and through a bag of popcorn at him. "Put this in." I ordered, pointing to the microwave.
He obeyed and proceeded to cooly lean against the granite counters. "Are you excited?"
"Excited..." I repeated the word to myself. "Nervous."
"Don't be. You'll do awesome. I promise!"
I nodded and poured the freshly buttered popcorn into a plastic green bowl.
Our timing was impecable, seeing as how Nate and I entered the living room as Shane & Jason burst through the door holding A Haunting In Connecticut.
"Oooooh!" Shane sang. "We're ghostiessss!"
Nate and I chuckled quietly while Shane put in the movie.
A Haunting In Connecticut? Yikes. This was going to be interesting...
*NATE'S P.O.V.*
Rebecca twirled her blonde hair and shuffled in her seat uneasily, making her fear incredibly obvious.
"Hey," I whispered. "It's just a movie."
"It's a true story!" She snapped, causing Jason and Shane to create a contajun of "shushes" towards us. "I'm scared." She quietly sunk back into her seat.
Rebecca managed her fears throughout the entire thrilling flick, however, not needing a bit of help from me.
"Well, tomorrows the big day!" I smiled while carrying the popcorn bowl to the kitchen.
She half-smiled and grabbed her nervous stomach with her shaky hands. "Yup..."
"Don't be nervous. Your gonna be on fi-yahhh!" Shane sang.
She chuckled and followed us to the door. "Well, I'll be up bright and early. I doubt I'll even get any sleep!"
"Please try." I hugged her goodbye after Shane and Jason, waved, and was out the door.
Tomorrow was going to be incredible.
