The evenings proceedings began the instant the four of them took their seats.. Bobbi caught the faintest hint of a content smirk grace Alex's stoic expression as the lights in the large, ornate concert hall dimmed. Just in time, too. Bobbi's date had leaned in to start to whisper something in her ear the minute the host walked out onto the large stage and the room burst with applause. Bobbi sent him a half attempt at a half smile and shrugged. She had only said hello to him thus far in the evening and had a limited amount of determination at keeping it that way.

But he presented himself to be more resolute than Bobbi had anticipated and managed to capture her attention for a brief few seconds to compliment her dress during the first commercial break. She then had to snuggle up against him, leaning in on his arm rest and smiling up at him three times within the first half hour due to the cameras revolving around them, setting lens in their direction. His cologne was making her nose inch so she kept her face turned towards where Alfie, Theo and Sam whenever she could.

Almost two hours in and her date had managed to offer her his name and a brief synopsis of what he did for a living. All in brief increments of time through out the ceremony. Alex had of course given her all this information before he had climbed into the limo at the start of the evening. Bobbi had even tried to remember it on their way to the theatre. His name was Aaron, he was a model of some sort and had something to do with social media. That was all she was able to retain from Alex's debriefing. The sight of the large crowds, the flashing cameras and Theo's outrageous shirt set her endeavor aside and she focused on more important things.

When their first award of the night was finally being presented, Bobbi made sure to catch a glance over in Alex's direction. Her stomach had remained relatively calm, enough that her legs twitched the minimal amount but she found she had to allow herself the nervous habit of twirling the band set on her left ring finger. Alex's small nod of affirmation at her unspoken inquiry helped calm her nerves and she prepared herself.

The cameras once again moved her way and turned their lens on her and her companion as the presenters read out the nominees. the smile forced upon her face due to her proximity to Aaron and the feeling of several eyes turned her way turned genuine when their name was read out and the crowd seated in the balcony above erupted in screams.

"And the winner, for record of the year, is..."

Bobbi found her lungs had suddenly refused to stop working. Her brain did its best to reassure their body of its lack of need to freeze or panic but to no avail. She simply made sure she had the train of her skirt in hand and her feet planted firmly on the ground.

"The Wild Wallflowers! For 'Only You'!"

The room again erupted in cries, this time the audience surrounding the band joined in with the enthusiasm of the fans above.

Bobbi, Alfie, Sam and Theo all stood from their seats at the same time and Theo led the pack, headed for the stage. Bobbi paused the briefest of seconds to flash a smile up at Aaron and even allowed him to plant a quick kiss on her cheek.

Sam hung behind and was waiting for Bobbi at the end of row, removing Aaron's peck with one of his own, a tight hug accompanied along with it. He offered his arm and led Bobbi up the stairs. Her focus remained on her precarious attempt to not step on her dress with her heels as Theo stepped forward and accepted the award and a quick kiss from the supermodel presenter.

The cries from the balcony continued, even as the audience below had dwindled down. Only one person out in the crowd before them still cheered and Bobbi laughed at the sight of a head of red hair attempting to whistle in between her screams of excitement.

Theo passed Sam the small golden record player and he stepped up to the microphone. All four of their sights floated upwards as they fell inline, side by side. The room finally grew silent as Sam started to speak.

"There is only one group responsible for this. And only one group we could ever thank for getting us here."

He paused and glanced back down at the trophy held tightly in his hand. With a deep breath, his looked up towards the balcony, past the bright spotlights and above the heads of all their peers and competitors.

He raised the award high above his head, pointed in the same direction.

"You know who you are. Thank you."

Bobbi was greeted backstage with a small army of makeup artists, flocking to her once she stepped offstage to fix the dark makeup surrounding her eyes. Alex also appeared, holding a box of tissues. Bobbi took several and saw Alfie and Theo both take their own. Once deemed presentable, Alex shooed away any unnecessary personnel and signaled the band to follow her.

"Bobbi, you're wardrobe change in this way." She talked over her shoulder as she led them through a short maze of hallways crammed with people. She hit a gray door set in the wall to indicate Bobbi's stop but kept moving as she spoke to the boys.

"Alfie, they're setting up your drums as we speak. Alfie and Theo, your instruments are this way."

Bobbi's feet sighed at the sight of an old pair of converse set out among her wardrobe change. The rest of her body finally relaxed for the first time all evening once she was dressed in something more comfortable, the black leather pants a welcome alternative to her long silk dress.

Alex was of course waiting for her outside the dressing room. She started moving the minute Bobbi's door opened again. She even smiled when she only had to glanced at her watch once as they walked back towards the stage. The boys stood prepped and ready to go and Theo passed Bobbi a water bottle the second she joined their small semi-circle. He sent her a wink as she downed half the bottle and her return smile was interrupted as Alex called for their attention.

The lights in the room started to dim again as the commercial break came to an end.

"Alright, Wild Wallflowers. Let's rock."

The four of the nodded and spoke in unison. Alfie even sent a salute.

"Ay, ay, captain."

**********

"So I was thinking..."

"Were you really?"

Bobbi exhaled a long sigh but kept her eyes on her menu. While the photo of waffles and what looked like motor oil engaged her attention, her table companion set his own sticky laminated menu aside. His chair squeaked as he leaned back in his seat and Bobbi could physically feel his smirk shining her way..

"Some people might consider this little set up we've got here a first date."

Bobbi's eyes flicked up, in any direction other than his, the fading and slowly peeling peach wallpaper catching her attention first. The old leather booths with rips plaguing every seat and the vision dirt along the window sills sent a wince of disgust over her face and the grumble in her stomach forced her to return her attention to the task at hand.

Theo's light laugh flew her way.

"I'm serious. Me, you, at a restaurant, getting food. That's a date my friend. Count it."

The image of his slouched position, his smug expression, all she had expected to see when she put down her menu came to life. His eyes only grew brighter when her own expression came into view. The fact that it contrasted his own drastically did nothing to sway his confidence.

"You think this is a date?"

Theo nodded.

"You would actually bring one of your girls here, for a date?"

Theo shrugged.

"Why not? This place got's character. I like it."

Bobbi did another glance around the aging diner and when she turned her face towards the kitchen, the readily-available scent of frying grease became overwhelming.

Theo let out another laugh as Bobbi shook her head to loosen her grimace of disgust she was sure was prevalent on her face.

Only Alfie glanced their way at the sound, Sam and Alex engaged in a quiet conversation.

"I guess if I were you, I would take my dates here too. Gets the girls running without having to do any emotional damage, allowing you to keep your pretty reputation in tact."

Theo's smile faltered for the briefest of seconds, allowing Bobbi her turn to smirk.

"So you admit we're on a date?"

His ready made smile made its comeback and Bobbi returned her attention back to her menu.

It was turn for another laugh to dominate the airways and the sound of Jay and Tommy's floated their way from down the row of tables.

"We're in the oldest diner known to man, somewhere in the middle of West Virginia, with 15 other people, ordering breakfast. Is this really were you wanna have our first date?"

"Not really. But hey, it's something."

Bobbi found his eyes just as bright as ever, surely at the sight of the slight pink she had yet to keep from rising into her cheeks each time. His laugh then fell into his menu as he returned attention to ordering breakfast. Finally.

Bobbi's customary eye roll was interrupted when Alex called both of their names, sending their attention in her direction instead of each other.

"Sam and I are heading out to run a few errands. Tommy and his crew will take you guys back to the venue."

She was somehow already finishing her breakfast and Bobbi glanced around to make sure she hadn't somehow missed the waitress. Her investigation was cut short when Alex continued to speak and her tone dared anyone not to listen.

"Got that?"

She was staring straight at Bobbi, her eyes wide and her eyebrows high. Bobbi maxed the sound of her hard swallow with a sound of agreement and a nod of submission.

"Yeah. Got it." She saw a quick lapse in activity as Alex grabbed her things and spoke before she lost the nerve she felt she needed. "When you get back, we're running out of merch and cd's. We just need to order more. I can show you-"

"Done. That's what we're going to pick up now."

Alex was now standing and looking down at Bobbi.

"How did-"

"Called the company you guys used last time. Calculated how much we'll need for the rest of tour based off the numbers we've already been able to sell, plus a margin of extra as you gain attention and traction as we go."

Alfie let out a low whistle and glanced back at Bobbi, his eyes wide and his smile wider.

Bobbi fought against the scowl she wanted to smack him with.

"Oh. Great. Thanks"

"Of course. Sam?"

Sam took one last sip of his customary morning green tea before getting up to follow Alex out.

Alfie was still smiling as he looked back down at his menu.

"What?" Bobbi said. His smug expression was distracting her from ordering her breakfast. And doing a great job suppressing her appetite.

"Dude. Alex gets stuff done! We're actually organized and on top of things. Imagine that."

"Seriously. She's intense but definitely knows what she's doing."

With Theo's own declaration of praise, Bobbi swallowed the rise she felt Alfie trying to get out of her. With a quick nod and a vague, "Uh, yeah. Totally", she focused her sudden wave of energy on trying to find something resembling edible among the options.

Their sudden lose in numbers among their small cliche brought to light the separation between the two groups. Once food was served, Alfie immediately filled in the gap and moved down a chair to join in a conversation with some of the crew.

Glancing over her cup of coffee, Bobbi caught a pair of eyes seeming around her own age staring at her among the others. There was a quick shock at the sight of another entourage member resembling her own age, the rest reigning at least 7-10 years her senior. And just when she just had started to feel like she was getting everyone's names straight. She fell into a brief staring contest with his dark brown eyes, her attention momentarily frozen at the sight of his locked on hers.

She finally turned her attention away once Theo nudged her shoulder. Immediately her thoughts were wrapped up in her table companion once again. Only after a long breakfast that seemed to have flown by, did Bobbi noticed the same guy staring at her as she climbed into one of the band vans. He was smirking this time and she sent back her own expression of self-imposed arrogance. He was shaking his head and laughing a bit when she lost sight, smirking herself as she took her seat next to Theo.

********

Despite Theo's easy company during breakfast, Bobbi soon found herself trying to stow away the early hints of a fowl mood building inside her brain. And it seemed the rest of her day was actively working against her endeavor to maintain some sort of sunny disposition.

She was the first one out of the car once it pulled into the parking lot behind the concert hall. Theo followed her out and Alfie fell in line with both of them as they made their way towards where their own van was parked.

"Got a new song idea for ya, Bob."

"Yeah?"

Bobbi squinted as she looked up at Alfie, the sun shining high in the sky right past his head. The thought of a creative endeavor shone as a glimmer of hope.

"What do you have so far?"

"Few lyrics and a basic melody. Came up with last night trying to fall asleep. Meant to tell you earlier. You interested?"

Bobbi stopped her head nodding right before it became too emphatic. "Definitely."

Alex already had a tight grip on prepping for the show by the time they reached the van. She had Sam running in their new boxes of merchandise and a few venue crew members carrying in their instruments from the back of the car.

She stood in deep conversation with the 7 Ships tour manager and only looked their way as they approached the assembly line.

"Glad you three could finally make it."

Her words lacked any hint of condemnation or sarcasm and her sunglasses kept her expression a blank canvas. This side of Alex had become her dominant personality since the first night of tour and a week and a half in, it had yet to break or falter in the slightest. Business was as usual all the time with her and it helped whip their ragtag endeavor into a well oiled machine.

Alex had even gone the extra length to assign duties to every member of the band, each responsible for a certain part of their enterprise and expected to carry it out. Set up was a free for all, all hands on deck, and every night they rotated who was in charge of manning the merchandise table after their performance.

And every day, Bobbi arrived ready to go only to find her responsibilities shrinking, one by one.

Alex was giving out orders for them before they had even greeted her properly and every one set out on their individual tasks. Bobbi had not heard her own name called among the jobs but approached the van to grab one of the boxes holding new merch anyway. After two attempts, each time met with a larger crew member waiting to carry the box in for her, Bobbi found herself officially in the way.

When she barely dodged out of the path of a large man reaching into the grab Sam's drum kit, Alex appeared at her side.

"Did Alfie tells you he's got a new idea for a song?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah. He just told me. I was gonna work on it tonight and convince Sam to take over the merch table."

Bobbi saw the smallest hints of a disagreeing shake as Alex's head turned to glance over the clipboard she always kept clutched in her hand.

"No need. Alfie said he'd do it for you. You're out of the merch rotation."

"What? Why-"

"There's no need for you to spend you time there. You've got better things you can be doing. As for right now," Alex kept talking and eliminated any opportunity for Bobbi to protest. "I've got a computer and your keyboard set up in the green room. Dave can show you."

The 7 Ships tour manager appeared through the back door of the venue and by Alex's side just as she finished talking. He looked down at Bobbi and smiled, nodding back in the direction he had just come.

"It's this way."

Bobbi slammed her jaw shut and clenched it to keep it that way, instead sending Dave a small smile, hoping he could see it from where he stood, towering at least a foot above Bobbi's small frame. Her smile turned more towards a grimace as she looked back at Alex and nodded. She had already moved on to something else, directing someone else around and left Bobbi to follow Dave inside.

The concert hall was bustling with energy the minute she stepped inside. It resembled the rest they had already visited so far in the tour, the biggest comparison lying in it's basic layout, two balconies hovering over an open floor. But it was still one of the biggest venues Bobbi had ever found herself playing in.

The dark walls shunned all natural light from making its way in from the outside. But the bright lights over head and the rafters of spotlights being raised above the stage helped keep the room illuminated.

Bobbi's eyes naturally wandered up to the ceiling, her body turning around as she kept following behind Dave's large frame. Her awe didn't seem able to keep itself from filling her chest at the sight thus far. But the bustle and hurrying masses of people running around her as she meandered her way through excitement did their best to suppress it.

She found her hands clenched tight by her sides by the time Dave reached a steel door located somewhere behind the stage. She could feel her insides starting to shake and she was sure her legs would have been jumping if she wasn't making sure she kept her pace even with Dave's. She of course let none of this show as Dave leaned forward to open the door for her and instead sent him a tight lipped smile. He returned it with a genuine one and a nod before shutting the door.

The noise outside died down but the volume inside the room made up for it, keeping itself a contender in the competition.

Jay sat in the corner of the room, banging on a set of electric drums. The sheer forced of his drumsticks against the pads created a vivid image of the level of sound pumping into his headphones while he practiced. He didn't notice Bobbi had entered, even when she took a step further into the room.

Tommy, however, did and looked up from his spot on one of the several couches placed through out the room.

"Hey, kid! What's up?" He even got up from his seat and took the three steps in her direction to greet her properly. "Come to hang out with the 'talent'?"

His choice of emphasis put the quotations around the word as she was sure he meant it to. The laughing tone in which he spoke unclenched Bobbi's jaw and she found herself joining in with a chuckle out of a polite obligation.

"Uh, yeah. I guess so."

"Yeah, were not allowed to help set up either. But hey! Welcome to the green room!We've got lots of food, if you're hungry. Drums, if you want to make a ridiculous amount of noise. But hang with Issac long enough and you'll get used to it. You kind of have to, since he never stops."

Bobbi found her shoulders dropping slightly and her smile fading into the realm of genuine as Tommy spoke.

"And lots of guitars if you wanna write. This is where I tend to write when I've got an idea, so I open the space for your muse as well. Both are welcome here."

He gave a small bow and Bobbi laughed.

"Thanks." She spotted her laptop and keyboard set out on the only table space not covered in snacks, placed in front of a long row of mirrors. In the corner nearby, she even found all their luggage, already neatly packed up and out of the hotel room, just waiting for them. Alex's uncanny ability to have seemingly everything under control was still a surprise to Bobbi but she was getting tired of it. Taking a deep breath, she threw out all thoughts and expectations she had of Alex's role in her life now and gave in further to the control she held.

Tommy gave her a quick pat on the shoulder and returned to his seat. Bobbi felt the impulse to take a seat at the spot set up for her and complied.

The sound of Jay's drumming only rose in volume as she sat parallel. Within the next ten minutes, both Joe's and Issac's significant others, along with several other friends and family members, had joined them in the green room. Jay eventually stopped playing but the sound was then replaced with the loud chitchat of the rest of the rooms occupants.

Bobbi didn't even open the laptop and had no chance to notice a familiar pair of brown eyes before she slipped out of room before becoming an inconvenience there too.

The hall still buzzed with energy and Bobbi made her way along dark hallways encircling around of the center of activity. At the back of the house, she found a dark set of stairs and didn't stop climbing until they did.

She found herself at the back of the tallest balcony. Walking down the steep aisle along the rows of seats, a railing kept her from falling the two stories down to the open floor. From there she could see everything. Taking a seat in one of the spots closest to the railing, she sat back and kicked her feet up. Letting the sound of the hustle and bustle happening beneath her fill her ears, she let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding and sunk deeper into her seat. The energy filling the air around her did an excellent job helping keep all thoughts at the back of her mind. She kept her focus trained on the massive production happening beneath her. She could feel them there, their small nags and bites, all her insecurities and worries, waiting to overwhelm her. She did her best to keep them out but felt it was a losing battle.