NO STRINGS ATTACHED #Jiminfanfic (COMPLETED)

CHAPTER11.

Jimin pov:

Leia went back to the section where the waiting performers gathered. She was fourth up. Clutching her guitar, she kept looking over at us pleadingly, as if we could somehow magically take away the butterflies that must have been swarming in her stomach. Em started to get up as the first little boy began playing his cello.

I put my hand on her thigh. "Let me get this. Trust me?"

She turned from her daughter to me and there was a pause before she nodded. I slipped from my seat as unobtrusively as possible. When I got up to her, Leia grabbed my forearm. She'd done this before and it was sort of odd. Most kids grabbed your hand.

"Hey, kiddo. A little nervous?"

"No, I'm okay."

Her voice was shaking.

"Good. Just what I wanted to hear. That being the case, you probably won't need it, but I have a surprise for you."

"Really?"

"Really. You know how you've been playing some songs with Uncle Namjoon?" She nodded her head again. "Well, he's right over there."

Namjoon was standing between a large sign listing the times for the performers and the stage. Unless you were actually behind him or on the stage, he couldn't be seen.

*So, we've played everything you're going to play a million times at the studio, right? Same thing. You know you can do it, because you've already done it. But, if you get a little nervous, Uncle Namjoon is going to be right there and he's going to be playing along with you on his guitar. Every note of every song, just like you do at home. If you need to, just look over at him. He'll be right there with you the whole way through."

Leia launched herself at me and wrapped her arms around my waist. I awkwardly just stood there for a minute before reaching down and patting her back.

"Okay, I gotta get back to my seat. You gonna be okay? Just look at me or your mom or at Uncle Namjoon. We've got you."

She nodded and when I turned to walk away, she grabbed my forearm again. "Thank you, Mr. Jimin."

"You're very welcome, sweetie."

I tried to be as quiet as possible as I went back and took my seat. The other little kid, Leia's friend, stared at me the whole time as if I had stolen her candy. I had no idea what I'd done to piss her off. Earlier she'd called me "the guitar teacher" as if it was slightly worse than Gestapo leader. She'd insisted on singing Taylor Swift songs at me until the first performer started. And I do mean 'at me'. Like she was proving a point or something. Kids are weird.

They had chairs set up to the left of the stage that were mostly out of view of the audience. The waiting performers sat there or milled about. We'd see Leia pop into view every once in a while. Em was a wreck. When the third performer left the stage with her violin, Em grabbed my hand in a death grip. Leia was next.

She leaned over and whispered. "I'm a damned wreck."

"Looks like you picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue."

Em chuckled and mock-punched my arm. She used her left and continued holding my hand with her right.

I wasn't exactly friends with the organizer, but we had a good working relationship. He took the stairs up the stage two at a time, clapped his hands together once and walked briskly to the mic.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce our next performer. She's a guest with us today and represents Afterglow Studios. She'll be playing the guitar for your enjoyment. Let's give a warm welcome to Leia kim!"