Dave hardly talked to me all day! Why did that make me feel so...bad? It wasn't until we reached the venue three hours later that Bro pulled me to the side.

"Hey kid. Don feel bad bout Dave. He's just gettin in the zone. If he don do it, he gets real nervous." He leaned closer to me. "I know he acts tough, but lil man's got a huge case a stage fright."

"Oh." I huffed. He could have just told me that! Now I feel like a jerk because I was getting upset over him ignoring me. Bro patted my shoulder as we all headed into the venue, Dave's headphones back around his neck now.

Dad and I had to wait in the hall for about twenty minutes while they changed. When we were finally able to come in, I wasn't too sure as to what I was seeing. Everyone looked totally different.

Lee, who had been looking so cute earlier, was suddenly a guy! Bro was wearing a tight tank top and tight, tight pants and orange shoes. Dave was wearing a hooded black vest, baggy shorts, and his red converse, the opposite of how he usually dressed, aside from his shoes.

I looked over to see his glasses on a table not far from us. He was going out without them on? "So yeah." He said. "I'm D Stri, that's EL and D-Rick." I didn't have much time to think on that, because there was a sudden knock on the door that made me jump.

It was a lady who asked Bro a couple quick questions and led them out of the room. Dave grabbed a huge bag and my hand, pulling me out of the room last. As we walked through the dimly lit hall way, I studied Dave.

In the vest, I could see his the muscles in his arms clearly. He looked like he could kill someone! Especialy with the scars that, if you didn't know what they were, would look like brands in his skin.

His shoulders were squared as he walked, something that I knew from just yesterday rarely happened. Dave prided himself in looking like a slacker when he walked. Suddenly I was blinded by a bright light.

I blinked into it, my eyes focusing on a huge stage that had lights moving around on it. Dave squeezed my hand before he let it go, heading over to a long booth in the center of the stage.

He sat his bag on the booth and opened it. I watched as he started to take various high tech things out of it and lined the booth. "Can I get a sound check?" He called to the lady who'd gotten us after he played around with the tech for a few minutes.

She gave him a thumbs up and cleared us all off the stage. The lights turned off, leaving the room pitch black. From the floor in front of the stage, I couldn't even hear what Dave was doing.

There was a soft crackling sound and a couple creaking sounds, followed by what sounded like a vaccum turning off. Music filled the room, so soft I barely heard it.

It gradually got louder and a few lights darted out from the stage, lighting Dave for a brief second until the lights started to match to the music. The song had a beat that was nice and seemed easy to dance too, but it didn't really have a presence.

Just as I thought that, the bass rumbled the floor, making me feel hollow as it trembled through me. The bass matched the beat and the music grew even louder and I felt like I was at a club in a movie.

Suddenly it stopped and the house lights came on. "Thanks!" Dave called to us, leaving his tech booth for the first time since he reached it. We all went back onto the stage just as Dave sat down on the floor.

I went over to him, leaving Dad with Bro and Lee. "Hey." Dave said as I sat next to him.

"Hey." I smiled. "Can you see?" I asked, waving my hand in front of his eyes. He smirked and nodded. "That's cool. How do you keep your hood on?" I asked, moving to flip it up.

He caught my hand. "Well that's a bit of a secret." He grinned at me. "Feel like helping me stretch?" He asked.

"Stretch?" I blinked. "For what?" I asked. He laughed.

"Well that was just a sound check. Bro and Lee are gonna do one too. Then I get to do what I'm best at. So I need to stretch so I don't hurt myself." I frowned at his vague answer but nodded.

He had me sit directly across from him, our feet pressed together. "Okay." He said, reaching for my hands. "Now pull me toward you. I'll let go if it starts to hurt, okay?" I nodded and started to lean backwards, pulling Dave with me as I went back.

I was shocked when my back was touching the floor and his hands hadn't left mine. That would mean that his chest was pressing against his legs like he was folded in half! He started to pull me back up, much stronger than I'd expected after beind folded in half.

"Thanks man. Bro won't help with that one anymore since I got so tall." He sighed and moved, opening his legs. I watched as he bent his body, his forhead touching his shin and did the same with the other side. "You excited for this weeked?" He asked as he stretched?

"I'm not sure what to expect." I said honestly. He nodded. "But I mean I guess I am? I've never been to a live concert before, so this is all kinda new." I shrugged.

"It's not that crazy when ya get used to it." Dave said a second before he twisted at his waist, keeping his legs in place as he planted his hands behind him, doing the same thing the other way. "And you'll be here with us, so that makes it even cooler." He grinned at me.

"Besides, aren't we going to see the whole show today?" I asked, frowning when he laughed. "What?" I huffed.

"Oh man, you have no idea." He sighed. "You guys are gonna see about one thousandth of the show. We're only gonna be here to make sure our set lists are programed into the lighting system and to get a feel for the stage. I mean Jake isn't even here! He's the eye candy of the show." He said softly. "Sorry for laughing." He patted my hand before he hopped up.

He moved a couple feet away and started to swing and strech his arms. I moved out of the way just as Bro and Lee took the stage, standing closer to Dave. Their music started and the lights flared to life again.

They danced for a minute in a way that I felt like I shouldn't have watched. My face was bright red by the time they were done. "This is a nice stage." Dave said softly. "We've played here before, but they redid the stage last winter for Spring Break." Dave tapped his heel on the floor. "They even installed a retractable light system so the clean up will be easy between sets."

"You know a lot about this." I said, almost in awe of him. He shrugged.

"Well I mean it's my main job. I still do comics online." He grinned as I laughed, remembering his comic Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. "But I've always had a boner for stuff like this. So it makes sense that I know a lot about it."

Though he shrugged it off, he souded so...passionate about it. I stood next to him and took his hand, making him look down at me.

But he didn't complain. His hand tightened around mine slightly and I looked up to see his soft smile.