Through the Lens

Around 10:30, the show ended. After using almost a whole memory card for pictures of one show, I was satisfied. I sat in the room back stage on the tacky couch again going through the pictures I had taken.

Out of nowhere, Jaime ran up. He jumped onto the couch next to me. "Hey!" He cheered, sticking his face next to mine and looked at the photos along with me. His eyes were wide with amazement.

"Wow, Rax. These are freaking awesome."

"Thanks. I took almost a whole memory card worth of pictures, so I figured a few of them had to be good." I chuckled and scrolled through a few more and stopped on one of Jaime making the classic 'Jaime face' while playing his bass.

Vic showed up, extremely hyper. More so than usual. "Did you get some awesome shots?"

I nodded and Jaime waved Vic over still having his eyes fixated on the screen on my camera. Vic sat on the other side of me and looked as I continued to scroll through the photos. Vic smiled widely.

Someone had called Vic and Jaime over after looking through a few of the pictures. I still hadn't seen Tony. I got up from the couch and left my camera on the table in front of me. I began to wander back stage to see if I could find him. We still hadn't talked about the situation from the previous night. I was nervous about approaching him but it had to be done at one point or another.

I heard the distinct laugh which was Tony's a little further down the area behind the stage. I also heard the sound of a few girls giggling. I took a few more steps and realized I was at the other side of the stage now. I stopped and looked around the corner where I could hear the sounds and chatter coming from.

Tony stood there with his back turned towards me, surrounded by 3 girls who must have been fans. They were talking and laughing back and forth. The girls were cute, probably about my age. Two were blonde and one had fire red hair and was covered in tattoos. Tony referred to the girl with the red hair as Marie.

Tony's hand reached for Marie's arm and gently caressed her tattooed skin for a moment and the look they shared made my heart sink into my stomach.

I took a step back and felt my foot knock something over, making it fall to the ground, making a clattering noise.

Tony turned his attention to me as he looked over his shoulder to see me with a look of sadness and betrayal on my face. "Rax-" He started to say, but I shook my head and ran off crying. I didn't want to hear it.

I ran out of the venue as fast as I could, having no clue where I was going in the dark... or at all, for that matter. I ran through a puddle of water that soaked my shoes which finally made me realize that it was raining. It wasn't raining earlier. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky earlier. Damn you and your weather, England.

Finally when I realized I didn't know my way back to the venue, I stopped. I found a small space under an overhang in front of a building that was somewhat dry. I leaned against the brick wall and cried. My eyes stung a bit as I could feel my eye makeup begin to smear and run with my tears.

I knew Tony didn't care. I should have just trusted my gut and not begin to fall for him like that. He was famous, had so many adoring fans and some of them were so much prettier and more interesting than I was.

I wasn't sure how long I stood there crying, not even bothering to wipe my tears away from my face. In the distance I could hear someone yelling something over and over again above the sound of the pouring rain. It got closer and soon I heard someone stomping through the rain running towards where I was.

"Rax?" A voice said timidly from a few feet away from me.

I slowly looked up to my side to see Tony there, soaked from the rain and out of breath.

"Oh, Rax..." He whispered as he took a few steps towards me, his hand reaching out to touch my cold and wet arm. I hadn't bothered to grab a jacket when running out of the venue in tears.

I looked away from him, ashamed to let him see me crying like this, my makeup a mess and all over under my eyes.

His hand still held onto my arm, not giving up. He took another step closer and threw his arms over my shoulders with a sweater in his hands, draping it over me and holding me close to his warmth.

My eyes widened in shock but then slowly closed to cry into his chest as I choked back tears. I felt one of his hands reach up and begin to pet the back of head, lightly combing his fingers through my wet hair.

"Tony, why did you... run after me?" I whimpered into his chest.

This made him hold me closer. "Because... I couldn't leave someone I care about so much out here in this weather..." He whispered.

"But... you and that girl-" I began to say, but he cut me off as his lips met mine for a passionate and... wet kiss.

We held the kiss, not wanting to let go of each other in that moment. Our lips parted and my eyes stared into his. I could see them glisten from the street lamps near us.

"Rax... you're the only one who has my attention now..." Tony whispered. His hands moved to caress my face and keeping his eyes locked onto mine. "Those girls were just fans. I've gotten to know you the passed few days and I've never felt more happy around someone. You make me smile and laugh, and I can't help but to think about you all the time..." I noticed his own eyes began to tear up.

"Tony..." I sighed.

Before I could say anything else, his lips were pressed against mine as we shared another kiss. My eyes closed once again as I accepted the kiss, my arms beginning to wrap around his waist, pulling him closer.

Tony slowly pulled our lips apart as our eyes looked at each other's. He was smiling a bit which confused me.

"What?" I questioned.

He continued to smile. "That was the first time I've ever kissed someone in the rain."

I blushed. Me? His first kiss in the rain? I smiled and realized it was the first time I had ever kissed someone in the rain too. It had always sat in the back of my head as something I wanted to happen, but who knew it'd be with Tony.

"It's... my first kiss in the rain too... I think it's something that all girls have on their check list at one point or another." I admitted.

He chuckled a bit at what I had said. "Hey, some guys do too... like me."

For a while, we just stared into each other's eyes. He was seriously perfect. How did I get so lucky for all of this to happen to me? Just the other day things were normal in San Diego and now I was half way around the world with my favorite band... and here right now with Tony.

Tony moved his hand once again to caress my cheek. "Rax, will you... be mine? I mean... be my girlfriend?" He blurted out. He was nervous. It was a rare sight but an adorable one.

I smiled and nodded. "Only if you'll be mine..."

Tony had the biggest and cheesiest grin on his face as I said yes to him. He hugged me tightly and kissed my face all over. I giggled under his kisses. It actually tickled. We hugged each other tightly and I kissed his cheek softly.

That was it. The icing on the cake. He asked me to be his. My heart was pounding in my chest and my stomach was doing somersaults.

"We should get back to the venue. Everyone's probably wondering where we are." Tony said.

I nodded a bit as I pulled the sweater he had put over my shoulders around myself more. The rain had turned into a drizzle, but the air was still cold. We walked back to the venue holding hands, talking the entire way and laughing. It felt amazing being like this with him. I wanted to be like this forever.

Notes

Kind of an adorable and cheesy chapter! <3