I know your pain

Midnight strikes

Chris' pov

As we walked onto the stage, I could feel the familiar rush of adrenaline surging through my veins. The crowd was roaring with excitement as they eagerly awaited the performances of the night. Both Ice Nine Kills and In This Moment had amazing sets, as they always do, and it was wonderful to see them catch up with Rowan after what happened.

Just before we started playing, I grabbed the mic and addressed the audience. "Before we begin, I would love to welcome our sweet girl back on stage! Rowan, get your butt out here!" I exclaimed, scanning the corner for her. I noticed her nervously making her way towards us as the fans gasped and cheered for her welcome back. Ricky pulled her into a side hug, and I couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"Okay, let's get this party started! This one is called Black Damask!" I announced, feeling the energy from the crowd pulsing through me. Rowan quickly moved out of the way and sat next to Vinny and his drums, ready to join in the excitement of the night's performance.

Rowan's pov

As I sat there watching the set, my nerves were slowly calming down. The crowd was energetic and sang along with the lyrics, and the atmosphere was electric. Suddenly, Chris announced, "This next one is called Devils Night!" My body froze in shock. I felt Ricky's gaze on me, and I knew he was concerned. During that song, Leo took me away, and ever since then, I've been struggling to get the nightmare out of my head. Despite my fear, I tried to enjoy the music, and I felt my body moving involuntarily to the beat.

Ricky noticed my movements and ran over to Vinny's drum set, adding to the energy of the performance. "Ooo, we have some movement going on here! I like it!" Chris exclaimed into the mic before the beats started going off. During the song, Ricky kept looking down at me, making sure everything was okay. My body was still a little shaky, but with the band around me, I knew I would be okay.

As the show progressed and the band played on, I started to feel more comfortable. However, as the night wore on, a wave of tiredness and sickness washed over me. Despite this, I was determined to make it through the meet and greet after the set was over.

"We are down to our last two songs! Sing along if you know it, if not sing along anyway! This is immaculate misconception!" Chris shouted, getting the crowd pumped up. The music started to play and I sat there watching the fans going wild. However, to my horror, I noticed that some of them had gotten injured during the set, making my stomach turn.

Suddenly, Vinny broke his drumstick and handed it to me to give to the crowd. Nervously, I got up and walked towards the front of the stage. As I leaned down to hand the drumstick over, I felt a hand reach out and grab my wrist tightly, digging its nails into my skin. I quickly dropped the drumstick and tried to pull myself back up, but the grip was too strong.

"Guys be friendly with Rowan!" Chris shouted as he pulled me up on stage. My voice was shaky as I looked at my wrist, which was throbbing with pain. I couldn't believe that someone would hurt me like that, especially when I was just trying to share in the moment with the band and the fans.

"Sorry guys, we don't have time for another song," Chris said, looking apologetic. "We lost track of time, but if you have meet and greet tickets, you know where to find us!"

Ricky quickly rushed over to me and gently grabbed my wrist. My hand shook as I brought it out to him. He looked at the nail marks and said, "Rowan, babe, you're bleeding." He immediately took me backstage to attend to my wound.

"I'm so sorry, Rowan," Vinny said, looking guilty. "If I knew that fan was going to do that, I wouldn't have made you give them the drumstick."

"It's okay, Vin. I wanted to do it," I said, trying to reassure him. Ricky wrapped my wound in a paper towel and made sure it was secure.

"We have to get to the room!" Chris said, looking stressed out. He led the way to the meet and greet area, and we quickly followed him.

Ricky's pov

As we entered the meet and greet room, I could sense Rowan's unease. Suddenly, she clutched the back of my shirt tightly, her anxiety palpable. Just then, a fan shouted out, "Hey, look who it is! The attention seeker! I bet she faked the whole thing just to get with Ricky!" The cruel comment elicited laughter from the surrounding crowd, but it was clear that Rowan was hurt by the accusation.

"Babe, don't listen to them. They don't know the truth like we do," I murmured softly, trying to soothe her. I pulled her closer to me and wrapped my arms around her, hoping to comfort her.

Meanwhile, Chris looked around the room with a scowl on his face, clearly frustrated by the negative energy in the air. "I love our fans, but let's just get this over with," he grumbled under his breath, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Ricky... I don't think I should be here, maybe I should go back to the tour bus." Her face was contorted with pain and hurt that was hard to miss. I tried to console her by saying, "No, sweetheart, stay here. Don't worry about them. They don't know your story." I wiped away some of her tears and held her hand as I looked around. Fans had started to gather around us, and I was relieved to see that everyone was being friendly to us. Some had even approached us and given Rowan hugs, which seemed to have lifted her mood a bit.

As the meet and greet went on, I could see that Rowan was slowly beginning to feel better. However, the peace was short-lived when Vinny said, "Hey Ricky, here comes not the nice ones..." I looked up to see a group of teenage girls approaching us. Rowan's eyes widened in panic as she saw them coming towards us.

The group of girls stood in front of Rowan and me, their eyes wide with excitement. They began to fan-girl at first, but then something shifted. They started to look Rowan up and down, and their expressions turned from excitement to disgust. "So this is your 'Wife'? Woah, that's disappointing," one of them said in a sneering voice.

I was taken aback by her words and felt a wave of protectiveness wash over me. "I'm sorry? She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, I wouldn't want anyone else," I said firmly, pulling Rowan into a protective hug.

But the girls weren't satisfied with my response. "But she's broken, a broken arm, and a made-up story!" one of them exclaimed, her voice dripping with disdain.

I could feel Rowan's body shaking against mine, and I knew she was close to tears. I held her tighter, trying to shield her from the hurtful comments. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Chris said, his tone laced with anger. "You are making everyone uncomfortable. She's not lying about anything, so leave before our buddy kicks you out!"

The girls looked taken aback by Chris's words and quickly gathered their things, muttering under their breath as they left. I held onto Rowan a little longer before the next fans come up.

As the night went on, we found ourselves down to our last few fans at the event. We had already interacted with a lot of people, and it had been a mix of pleasant and unpleasant experiences. But luckily, we didn't receive any more rude comments from anyone. However, Rowan, one of the members of our group, had become quite tired and had decided to step out and hide in the back for some time.

Just as we were about to wrap up for the night, a little boy approached us with a big smile on his face. He asked if Rowan was coming back out to meet him, and I immediately took it upon myself to go check. I walked behind the banner where Rowan was resting and asked if she would like to come out and meet this little fan.

As soon as I mentioned it, Rowan's face lit up, and she immediately agreed to come out. She walked out from behind the banner and stood next to everyone, and I followed behind her and stood next to her and the little kid.

We all took normal pictures and funny pictures with our last fan for the night. It was a heartwarming moment, and seeing the joy on the little boy's face was priceless. After we were done, it was time to wrap up and head to our next stop.

"Goodbye Pittsburgh we love you!" Chris shouted as we left the venue.