Just a quick thank you to everyone for sticking with me. The suspense is almost over, I promise!

BPOV

I never knew exhaustion before this tour.

From Seattle we went to Olympia, then Portland and then on to Salem. Each show was better and easier than the one before it, but that didn't stop me from feeling drained.

The guys and I had one day off to relax and recharge before hitting the road again, but traveling with four rowdy and completely ridiculous boys is definitely not for the faint of heart. No amount of whining or complaining about my need for "beauty sleep" would deter them from dragging me kicking and screaming into the quickly warming air of late spring. I have to admit, I'd hardly seen the light of day since we left Seattle and a healthy dose of vitamin D on my already freakishly pale skin would probably feel nice.

Their idea of a fun day out was spending the afternoon at a little theme park called Enchanted Forest. After my initial protests, the idea of going to a theme park did sound pretty fun; if nothing else it would at least get some fresh air into my lungs. That is until we pulled the van up in front of what can only be described as one step above a stationary carnival, mixed with Grimm's fairytales and sprinkled with a healthy dose of LSD.

It was seriously trippy shit. I thought I had fallen into some weird, Lewis Carroll inspired nightmare. Not to mention the fact that nothing in the park seemed to have been built for anyone over four feet tall. Of course, that didn't stop Emmett and Jake, the two largest among us, from cramming their massiveness into every kiddie ride and log flume they could find. They took pictures with every poor, unsuspecting fairytale character that came meandering unknowingly down the walkways, and ate cotton candy and funnel cakes until they were bouncing off the proverbial walls on a sugar high from hell. I even had to warn a few children to keep their distance. I said, "Be careful, you're head is right at elbow level. They'll knock you down and never think twice about it," only to see said children's eyes grow to the size of Frisbees and go running for their parents.

Though I enjoyed myself thoroughly and laughed harder than I can ever remember laughing before, I couldn't stop thinking about Edward. Our first meeting was quickly approaching and I was torn between feeling ridiculously excited and overwhelmingly nervous. What if somehow I wasn't what he expected? What if I turned into a stammering fool and blew what little time we had together? What if I choked on stage in front of him? Oh god, I would just drop dead on the spot if that happened.

We still talked every day. I told him about each show and he seemed to be getting just as amped up for my arrival as I was. All the while I was getting closer than I ever thought possible with the guys, including Jake. We'd only just met but he fit in with everyone so well it was almost like he'd been with us all along. It seemed almost strange to see him waiting in the wings instead of joining us on stage every night.

Jake had managed to get the label to spring for a tour bus instead of making us schlep it from city to city in a caravan of vans and station wagons, which was nice; nice for me at least, seeing as though I was really the only one of average height among us. The boys were crammed into their bunks every night and it wasn't uncommon for Emmet and Jake to play rock-paper-scissors to see who got to sleep on the couch so their feet could hang off the end rather than having to fold themselves into the tiny bunk.

Edward knew that Jake was with us, and he knew that Jake seemed to be crushing on me pretty hard. Though he wasn't exactly excited about his "competition" being on such constant close proximity, he was understanding about the fact that Jake was, after all, our manager. The fact that he trusted me made me want to skip the rest of the shows we had booked and go straight to San Diego just to get to him faster.

EPOV

"I've been meaning to ask you, why is it that you love Heineken so much?" I asked Bella over the phone as I unloaded groceries from my car one night.

"This is going to sound absolutely ridiculous. You can't laugh, ok?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Ok so right before our first show in Seattle I freaked. And I mean really freaked out; I couldn't think straight, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move. It was bad, Edward. They pushed me out onto the stage and all I could think about was how I had to get out of there, how I had to run and run and never look back. I was so scared, everything went black. But I could still hear the crowd and… it made me think of you… God, I can't believe I'm telling you this… I thought about how you believed in me and things started to come back into focus a little at a time. In the back of the club near the bar was this glowing red and green sign and it reminded me of you; your eyes mostly, and it made me feel like I could do it. "

I stood silently in my kitchen for a minute absorbing what she'd just told me.

"Edward?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Bella that's… that's awesome. I'm glad I could help you get through it."

"Yeah me too," she laughed. "Otherwise things would have been pretty fucked up if I couldn't perform."

"Have you had to deal with any more nerves?" I asked, waving to Mike as he came through the front door after getting a drink with some of his coworkers.

"No. Well, not really. Not as bad as that first night anyway. A few butterflies are healthy, don't you think?"

"Yeah, definitely. When you lose the rush, what's the point?"

We chatted on about the shows she'd played so far and a trip she'd made with her band mates to an amusement park. She told me that, that guy Jake was traveling with them and it struck me as odd. I mean, I know managers sometimes take a really hands on approach with the acts that they're in charge of but he was making himself pretty cozy with Bella and her friends. It just seemed a little… above and beyond, you know? And maybe I was just feeling jealous because this guy got to spend every waking second of every day with my girl. Sure. That was a definite possibility, but I'd never heard of a manger being quite as involved as Jake seemed to be. At face value, of course it looked like he was just doing his job thoroughly and making sure the band was taken care of. But I'd be willing to put money on the fact that if you were to look just a little bit deeper into the kid, you'd definitely find an ulterior motive. That motive, of course, being Bella.

I knew about that little moment they had together a few weeks back, and it was enough to make me drop everything I had and go to her just to mark my territory. But I couldn't do that; not only because Bella wouldn't want me to give up my life but because I didn't want to come across as the jealous type. I needed Bella to know that I trusted her, and I honestly did; it was the horny teenager I didn't trust. He had already made is pretty clear that he was into Bella, and that's fine because, let's be honest here, she's beautiful and a guy would have to be a complete moron to not notice. But the fact that he was into her and he was always around in a capacity that was out of the ordinary for normal band management, made me go a little caveman and want to stake claim to what was mine.

Then again, what was mine exactly, anyway? Thinking in circles like that was enough to make my brain hurt. All that really mattered was that she was more mine than she was his. At least that's what I convinced myself to help me sleep at night knowing she was with him.

The night she told me the Heineken story she also told me the exact day that she'd be in San Diego. In one week she'd be standing in front of me. I'd get to see her in the flesh, hold her, kiss her, and hopefully be with her in every way I'd been imagining for god knows how long.

"How's your girl?" Mike asked, after I'd hung up with Bella.

"She's good, she'll be in California day after tomorrow."

"Nice, man. Where is she at now?"

"I think she said she's playing a show in Eugene Oregon tomorrow, then a day on the road to get to Sacramento, then San Jose, Fresno, Bakersfield, then here."

"Excited?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I am. Which means you're going to have to clear your schedule that night, I need you to play wingman."

"Dude, you don't need me to wingman for you; you've already got that shit on lock."

"Yeah, maybe. But still—"

"Yeah yeah, I'll be there. We should get Tyler and Rose to go too; she'll have her posse and so will you. It'll be a nice team building exercise."

"You've been drinking out of the corporate water cooler for too long, Mikey," I said with a laugh.

"Take me away from it, fearless leader. I don't want to drink the kool-aid anymore. I'm dying for a life on the road."

"Working on it!" I shouted down the hall as I took my dinner to my room and turned on the TV to pass the time until she arrived. I had a feeling this was going to be the longest week of my life.

I was right, it was the longest week of my life. Work dragged on and on and I was having a hard time keeping focused on anything. Even Eric noticed how weird I was acting and said my fidgeting was making him nervous. I had to make up menial tasks for myself just to get through the day.

Then at band practice I was no good to anyone. I couldn't keep my mind from wandering and wondering what Bella was doing, where she was, who she was with, was the thinking about me? It was so stupid. I could barely function. It was only when Rose gave me a hard slap to the back of the head the night before Bella's show that I even realized that I'd been pretty much in a fog the past few days.

"I'd kick your ass out of here if it wasn't your damn house," she said with a scowl.

"Sorry, Rose. You know why I'm distracted, don't you?" I offered apologetically.

"Yeah yeah, Yoko's almost to town. I heard." She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall of our studio.

I had to laugh because as tough and hard as Rose made herself out to be, I knew she was quite the opposite. I knew that she had become pretty protective of me, Mike and Tyler since we'd known her and I couldn't blame her for getting a little territorial when it came to an unknown girl. Of course I knew full well that Rose's defensiveness of me was purely platonic.

"Aww, come on Rosie, you know nobody is going to steal me away from you guys."

"Bullshit. You've already got your head in the clouds and she isn't even here yet."

"Need I remind you that you were the one that encouraged me to go after her, huh?"

"Whatever. I guess hind sight really is twenty-twenty," she frowned, picking at her nails.

"Don't be like that," I said, pulling her into a hug that she vehemently resisted. "One day you'll find a guy that all of us will want to beat to a bloody stump too."

"I hope I don't have to beat her to a bloody stump," she laughed, relaxing into my arms.

"Yeah me too," I joked back, happy to have my little enforcer back on my side.

"So tomorrow's the big night, huh?" she asked, her big blue eyes looking up at me.

"It is."

"You'll be fine. If she doesn't like you, she's an idiot," she said with a snort as she wiggled out of my embrace and back against the wall.

"Jesus Christ, I'm beginning to think we're cursed," Bella huffed over the phone. "There was a huge pileup on the freeway that put us behind by almost 3 fucking hours. Can you believe that?"

"That's California for you," I chuckled, rubbing my hand over the back of my neck. She was right, I was beginning to think we were cursed too; somewhere, someone in the universe didn't want us to meet and they were getting their way.

Bella and I had made plans to meet at her hotel before the show. I was going to ride over to the venue with her and her guys, watch sound check then meet up with Rose, Tyler, and Mike out front for the show. But of course nothing can ever be simple, she was delayed and wouldn't be getting in until much later and wouldn't even be stopping at her hotel before heading to the club. She asked me if I still wanted to meet her there for sound check and though I wanted to more than anything in the world, I told her that it would probably be for the best if I didn't. I didn't want her to get nervous or distracted with only seeing me in the club while they sound checked. I had originally thought that seeing her at her hotel, just the two of us would be easier; we could break the ice and maybe get some of the awkwardness out of the way before she'd have to hit the stage. But now we weren't going to be able to do that, so I made the executive decision to postpone our meeting by a few more hours. After all, how she and the guys played at this show was important. San Diego had a big and loyal music following and if they could make an impression here, they could pretty much do well anywhere. I couldn't risk derailing her.

So I waited.

Mike, Tyler, Rose and I got there a little early and were let in with no problem because Bella had made sure that all of our names were on the list with the door man. It was strange being the first ones through the door at the Belly Up. I'd been to tons of shows there, but I'd never had the pleasure of playing there myself but I knew that the staff here worked their asses off to promote shows and make everybody happy to keep them coming back.

It was also strange to see posters with Bella's beautiful face all over town in the week leading up to the show. There she was, in every restaurant, ever coffee shop, on every telephone pole downtown, those deep, dark eyes watched me. It had been torture.

As I stood at the bar and ordered a round of drinks, my stomach surged with anticipation to the point that I was afraid I was going to be sick.

"Edward, are you ok?" Mike asked, clapping me on the shoulder.

I swallowed thickly. "Yeah, fine."

"It'll be fine, don't worry," Tyler added encouragingly.

"Easier said than done," I replied with a nervous smile and downed my entire bourbon drink in one large gulp.

People filed in and filled the club, far more people that I ever would have expected to show up for a band that was just making a name for themselves. The four of us found a place about 20 feet back from the stage, dead in the center so that we could see everything and everyone clearly. Tyler and Mike chatted up a few nearby girls, while Rose rebuffed the advances of nearly every guy that walked by and I shifted nervously from foot to foot, trying my damnedest to act like I wasn't scared out of my mind.

And then the lights went down and the world stopped turning.

The crowd cheered and whistled but I hardly noticed; I was too busy focusing on the silhouette of a woman making her way through the darkness to the front of the stage.

First, cutting through the din of the crowd, was her voice, clear and strong and so much more powerful and beautiful than any recording could have ever done justice to. As the lights came up I saw her standing there bathed in the spotlight that she so rightfully deserved.

The guitars picked up and began chugging out a gritty riff as the lights flashed and Bella swayed her hips seductively to the rhythm. Her hands grasped the microphone and drew it close to her lips forming words I could barely comprehend.

Her hair hung loose and smooth and brushed her shoulders as she moved across the stage. She wore a thin, form fitting camisole in black and white prisoner stripes, a pair of well worn jeans that hung low enough to expose a thin line of the creamy flesh of her abdomen and lower back, and a pair of knee high, heeled leather boots. She was, in a word, stunning.

The music chugged along, slowing down and speeding up as the songs changed. I'd heard most of them all before but yet I was still blown away by how good they were and how much chemistry the four of them seemed to have together. But truth be told, I hardly noticed the other three people on the stage with her until a few songs in and Rose bumped into me on one side, jarring me from my Bella induced haze.

"Holy shit," Rose muttered, staring wide eyed at the stage.

"Jesus, Edward. That's your internet girl?" Mike asked from my other side and all I could do was smile. "Lucky son of a bitch."

After a few more songs, Bella stood at the mic and addressed the crowd.

"Thank you guys so much for coming out tonight," she said breathlessly. "You have no idea how much it means to us, a little band out of Seattle, that you, the fantastic people of San Diego would spend your night with us. You guys rock!" She threw her fist into the air to a myriad of shouts, cheers, and whistles. "This is our first time down here and uh, it has been quite a ride. Every show we've played has been great but this one is sort of special because… well… because there's a very good friend of mine here tonight." She smiled shyly and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Without him, I probably wouldn't be here with all of you tonight. You know who you are, and wherever you are out there… thank you."

She was talking about me and it all felt like a dream. She nodded to her guitarist to her left and they launched into another song full of energy and grit. A few moments later the song came to an abrupt and powerful end and the lights went black.

"Thank you, everybody. Good night!" she said as the crowd screamed for more. The two blonde guys at the front of the stage threw their picks out into the crowd and the drummer flipped his sticks to two hysterical girls in the first row.

The assembly of people started to disperse and spill out into the warm night but we stayed where we were.

"So," Rose said, clearing her throat. "What's the deal with the guys? What's their story?"

"The guys? Umm… I don't really know much about them. I know that the drummer and guitarist have been friends of Bella's for a while. The bassist was a later addition. Why?"

"No reason," she said, attempting to take a sip out of an empty cup.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I quickly retrieved it with clumsy fingers.

- Come to the stage door whenever you're ready. Security knows to let you in.

My heart beat wildly in my chest as I read the words I'd been waiting for over and over again.

"So what now?" Tyler asked.

"She wants me to come backstage," I said through a lump in my throat.

"So what are you waiting for?" he grinned back at me. "Go get her!"

"Yeah, and bring the others back out here with you when you're done having your little romantic moment," Rose quipped as she slinked over to the bar to get another drink.

Mustering every ounce of courage I had in me I pried my feet from the floor and made my way to the door to the side of the stage. Tyler and Mike both flashed me encouraging smiles when I looked back.

Snap out of it! It's just Bella. You know her. Nothing is going to change just because you're finally getting to see her in person.

I tried to give myself a mental pep talk which seemed to work until the security guard asked for my name and my voice was nowhere to be found.

Clearing my throat with unnecessary force, "Ed-Edward Cullen. I'm supposed to see-"

"Yeah, Bella's friend. Go on in. Last door on the right."

The large man stood aside and let me go through the black door which lead down a long corridor that was teeming with people; roadies wheeling broken down equipment out to the waiting bus, club employees milling about, reporters and photographers looking for a story.

I kept close to the wall as I made my way to the end. I passed an open door where the three other members of the band were sitting on a couch drinking beers and answering questions from members of the local media. The biggest of the three of them, the drummer, noticed me peeking in the door and nudged the muscular blonde guy on his left. Both of them looked up and gave me warning looks and I immediately moved on to the only door that was left.

Of course it was closed.

With a deep breath and a silent prayer I raised my hand to knock on the door. Just as I was about to knock the door seemed to open on its own and I was standing face to face with my dream girl, in the flesh.

So sorry for the little cliffhanger, but I really wanted their first meeting to be from Bella's perspective. The next chapter with their first face to face interaction will be up very soon.

Please review, and let me know what you think!

Also as a side note, I will be publishing a new story within the next few days. It is a continuation of my one-shot, The One that got Away and will pick up right where that one left off. I hope you will read the one-shot and join me with the new fic.