Be With Me

Chapter 82

As the time of the show arrived, Rafaela approached the side of the stage to have a full view of the whole gig. The time was arriving, and she could see how the crowd was a little disquieted already, eyes on the stage. The lights dimmed and the first notes of Ecstasy of Gold blasted on the speakers. A sea of hands appeared, voices were heard in ecstasy and the sound of hands clapping was also heard. A choir of loud voices singing along the melody. That moment, and seeing about 40.000 hands up in the air, it hit her how far James had reached. The stadium was packed, they had sold out every gig. As long as she was proud of him and she was, for all that he had accomplished for himself, by himself, and after some time for her and Liam, she couldn't but think if that success was going to tear them apart somehow. Rafaela shook her head, no... nothing would tear them apart, they were more united than ever.

Next, the band hit the stage and the lights went up as they did so. The crowd cheered loud and began to jump in joy. Their heroes and idols were right there, in front of their eyes. Rafaela leaned against one of the iron pillars and crossed her arms around her chest, watching James incarnate another character. Her lips opened a smile as she acknowledged so, but she loved him that way. That was, exactly, the man that she fell in love with. The one that was crazy and savage on stage, and then a lovely and careful boyfriend and a wonderful father. He could be different like that and she loved every bit of him.

They kicked off with Creeping Death, and though she didn't like Metal, she liked Metallica and she sang long, unable to be quiet. They were energetic, contagious, there was no way she could be quiet while watching them. There were a lot of beers in front of Lars' drums, they used to go there and grab one in between songs. James didn't, but she was worried, she knew it must have been hard for him, still he was amazing that night. Even the way he held the guitar, so confident, so possessed by his own music, it was amazing to watch him. He owned that crowd. He owned every single person in that immense audience. She cheered them as much as any member of the crowd, and James now and then acknowledged her doing so, smiling at the corner she was in. He loved the fact that she supported him like that. He could be noticed in his eyes the joy he was feeling from having her there watching him doing his thing.

The Snakepit, that was another thing... even if cute as a stage, she didn't like it not even one bit. James had warned her about it. In fact, the Snakepit had been his idea, as he missed being close to the crowd, and there they were close enough. So close that she saw hands flying up their legs whenever one of the band members went there. Whenever James went there, she cursed him for coming up with such idea, hands flew up his legs and her stomach churned and her heart missed a beat, that was too much, so she decided to close her eyes sometimes when he went there, so she couldn't see it, but she also couldn't ignore the fact that whenever he felt a hand on him, he'd step back. The jealousy.... that she couldn't avoid. He was hers...

As the goodbyes were said and the band left the stage, James grabbed her hand and kissed her lips.

"Loved to see you all pumped up." He told her.

"It couldn't be any different. It's my boyfriend and friends up there." She said.

They walked hand in hand down the hallway until the dressing room. There James kicked his boots off and took his shirt off too, unbuttoning his jeans right after. Rafaela threw him a towel and he cleaned his face on it.

"I need a shower." He told her feeling his skin so sticky from all the perspiration during the show.

"I'll wait." She reassured, then she grabbed his bag and threw it at him, so he could take his clean clothes off of it.

"Don't you want to come with me?" He suggested. "We can talk while I shower."

"Ok." Rafaela agreed.