Unexpected (Avi Kaplan)

Run To You

Ivy's POV

With the help of Kevin and Scott, I tried my best to convince Avi to just cancel the show we had tonight. "Come on man. It takes more than 24 hours to get over that kind of news and no offense but you've been quieter in that amount of time than when you got mad that I took your food last year," Kevin said while Scott nodded in agreement.

"For the last time, I'm fine performing. I don't want to let the fans down. They paid their own money for this concert. We can't just cancel it."

I let out a sigh and shrugged a bit. "If you say so," I finally said. Once we arrived at the venue, we walked around, soon finding our way to the front as we watched the technicians make sure everything worked properly.

I took note of the fact that Avi was holding my hand tighter than normal, but I really didn't mind. All I really cared about was that he was actually okay to preform.

Soundcheck went better than I expected. I sat in a chair while they went through their choreography and helped the sound guy balance their mics. Avi seemed to get lost in the music, which was a good thing for the time being as long as he didn't get too into the music.

Once we finished up, I walked with Kirstie to our dressing room while the guys went to theirs. I still found it funny how the four of them had to share one space. We walked in and sat down in order to get our hair and makeup done.

"I know you're worried about him, but are you okay enough to perform?" Kirstie finally asked, taking a brief moment to look at me before looking ahead once again.

I didn't know how to answer that. I didn't feel ready, but I had done this enough times to not worry. "I don't know. I hope so," I finally said, closing my eyes to allow the makeup artist to do her job.

"I wasn't expecting him to take it so hard. I mean you've known each other for eight months and two of those you couldn't stand each other," she said with sadness in her voice. "Like, yeah, he gets completely invested in this kind of thing, but I wasn't expecting this," she added.

I simply nodded and opened my eyes with a small sigh. A heavy silence took over us, both of us left to our own thoughts as we finished up and changed. We walked out and met the guys next to the stage entrance. We said our usual prayers and I picked up my guitar, carefully putting the over my shoulder and positioning it on my back.

Avi pulled me to the side, wrapping his arms around me tightly, a hug which I gladly returned. "I'll be fine," I finally said before I pulled away and pecked his cheek quickly.

"I know. That was because I needed it," He said, earning a sad smile from me just as the lights dimmed.

"That's my cue," I said, reluctantly turning and hurrying out on the stage.

"Good luck sweetie," I heard Esther say through my monitors as I sat down and set my guitar on my lap. I took a silent breath and looked down, beginning to play my heart out.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you," I said into the microphone before walking off stage just in time to catch the group before they set up.

"You got a little something..." Mitch motioned to his own eye, causing me to laugh and carefully wipe away what was left of a tear.

I walked over to Avi and gave him a quick hug. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"I'm sure. I've already told you I'm not changing my mind."

I nodded slightly and walked over to Esther so I could watch the show without straining.

I was surprised when the first half of the show went well. Everyone seemed to be putting their emotions to the side in order to put on a great show. "Okay so this crowd is out of control," Kevin said into the mic with a laugh. So we were thinking, we have all these new songs that we sing for you guys, why don't we have a small rewind moment and take it way back?"