His Smile Will Keep You Safe - Ryan Seaman x Reader

Chapter Thirteen

Warnings: angst, anxiety, harassment, violence, alcohol
Word Count: 3 340
A/N: Please don't kill me (yet) (wait until the Octorber 26th, 8pm GMT)

The last concert of tour was about to kick off.

The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and happiness, and Ryan even smiled at you a couple of times, giving you hope that everything might just turn out fine in the end. Unluckily you did not get the chance to speak to either Ryan or Lars one on one, so by the time the show started, you still had no proof for your theory that it had been Lars who had told Ryan to stay away from you.

The "Three Beats" were playing louder, and harder, and better, and with more force and energy than ever before. While usually the opening bands always had problems igniting excitement in the crowd, tonight it raged through the audience like a wildfire.

The enthusiasm was addicting, and you felt your heart vibrate not only in beat to the drums but also in sync to the band's heart.

You were high on endorphins, and felt like you could take on the world.

When the band had finished playing, you ran to the merch stand, and sold merch to the excited fans. This night, the hype did not fade during the break; instead it got amplified with every passing minute, making it feel like the air was alive, and the venue vibrating in harmony with the universe.

The "Three Beats" had created an atmosphere you had never experienced before, simply by their relief and happiness to have their singer back, and if you were not mistaken, iDKHOW would only top this.

When they got on stage, the venue was shaking from the shouts and cheers of the crowd. Dallon was unable to keep his cool mask on, and instead beamed like the sun itself when he walked up.

But, unnoticed by most people, because they were solemnly focused on Dallon, Ryan was outshining the bassist by miles. His eyes were all squeezed together, so hard was he smiling, and even though it seemed impossible, it only increased when he spotted you by the side of the stage, snapping picture after picture of him.

You hurried to get the ones done which Lucas had requested, knowing that by now you had taken so many of Dallon, that for this last night it was acceptable to focus on Ryan. It felt like you had taken thousands of pictures of Ryan, his smile never faltering, his goofiness on stage worse than ever, and you felt like you were in trance, simply capturing the beauty of this man, doing what he loved, with so much passion that you felt like your heart would tear in two, just by watching him.

His eyes met yours again, and he let out a laugh, so free did he feel in that moment. You smiled at him, no, beamed, and you knew that he could tell, from your eyes alone, how much you had missed this interaction, this energy, this connection while he was playing, how much you loved this. And for the first time in two weeks it felt like he was playing only for you.

But when he looked up again, his eyes wandering over the crowd, his smile suddenly died down, and he almost forgot to drum for a second. None of the members of the audience seemed to notice his almost slip up, but you did, after having seen him play so many shows.

Why had he stopped smiling?

When he looked back towards you, he looked sad. You wanted him to smile again, wanted to see his face scrunching up because of how happy he was, but instead he looked away, and started head banging. You furrowed your brows, and felt your heart sink, before you turned to see what he had looked at before he had stopped smiling. The lighting console, where Lars was clicking around on his laptop.

Rage bubbled up in your chest, and the world around you stepped into the background as you fought yourself through the dancing fans, towards where the technician was working. Not hesitating for a second you climbed over the fence, around the rostrum, and poked your ex-boyfriend in the shoulder.