FicWad

A/N - Well bugger me chapter 7 at last! As I said before I had written half of it but the 2nd half proved to be a big bastard which is why it's taken so long. Plus I've had uber evil uni assignments to do which have consumed my winter hols. But anyway...yes here at last is chapter 7! Enjoy! XX

Chapter 7 - Almost Full Circle


O god.

It's her.

Same wild auburn hair cascading around her freckled, heart shaped face. Those same eyes that had looked at me with such compassion, the eyes I'd written songs about. She was here, at Leeds. O God.

I couldn't stop staring at her. I literally couldn't move. My hand was frozen over the strings of my bass; the music had been muted to a distant humming in the back of my mind, nothing else mattered except her. It was like being in the movies; time seemed to have stopped.

Our eyes were locked over the crowds, unblinking and unwavering. She was staring back at me with a look of such utter panic and confusion that I almost didn't know what to think. I mean she must have come looking for me right?

I felt a spark of something shoot through me at that realisation; it wasn't just me who felt something that night. I had to speak to her......

Suddenly I found myself jolted sharply out of my trance, all eye contact harshly broken. Joe had shoved himself into me with such force that it felt as if my bones were rattling. I staggered, grabbing hold of a nearby micstand until I managed to find my balance again.

"Snap out of it man the fans are starting to notice. Music now, Ollie later." Joe hissed at me as he strode back across the stage.

Realising suddenly that I was infact standing in the middle of a stage surrounded by thousands of people I quickly began to play, my fingers moving backwards and forwards quickly over the strings.

Flicking a desperate glance over to where Ollie had been I discovered in horror that she was gone. Scanning the crowds I looked around frantically searching for her.

Shit.

X

I knew before she did that she was going to run. Unfortunately realisation came just that split second too late. So as I reached out to grab her I was met with thin air as she sped off in a whirl of emotion.

"Ollie?!" I yelled as I strode after her retreating figure. For someone who hated sports in Secondary school she could move damn fast when she wanted too.

"Ollie! Come back here!" I said desperately as I struggled to keep up with her. She ignored me once again and I growled in annoyance. Why the hell was she running? Didn't she see it? Didn't she notice the look of absolute adoration in Pete's eyes?

Silly girl, of course she didn't.

Flicking a quick look behind me at the stage I saw Patrick looking at me in confusion and Pete wandering absentmindedly around the stage, his eyes fixated on the crowds as he searched for her.

Looks like I'm going to have to fix things. Again. What would everyone do without me seriously?

Swinging my head back round I opened my mouth to call out to Ollie again but instead let out a yelp of horror as I found myself just about to run into one of the large metal barriers that helped to separate the crowds. Yanking my body round I dug my feet in and tried to stop the impending crash, unfortunately the heavy wear of endless feet on grass, split drinks and food had made the ground slippery and instead of coming to a sharp halt my feet slipped out from under me and I hit the barrier with a dull thud.

The black consumed me.

X

As soon as Pete broke eye contact I was gone; hair streaming behind me in a silken wave as I legged it through the crowds.

"Ollie?!"

I heard Logan yell through the din but ignored him. Side stepping people sitting casually on the grass I broke into a run as soon as I saw a clear path out of the main stage area.

"Ollie! Come back here!"

Logan faded away as the main stage disappeared behind me and new noise from the other stages absorbed his voice. Twisting and turning I ran, dodging people as if my life depended on it. Reaching the gates I sped through them and ran down the hill towards Pirate Camp. Skidding round the corner I leapt over the guy ropes and finally came to a halt in front of the newly hung pirate flag. It was flapping gently making dark ripples as the wind caught it.

My chest was heaving; my breath coming in sharp pants as I struggled to calm down. Dropping to the floor I let my head sag into my hands and groaned loudly.

I really am an idiot.

Why the hell did I run? O god what must Pete think of me?

I felt a deep blush of embarrassment consume my face as familiar feelings of mortification arose. Getting up I walked over to my tent and unzipped the flaps. Getting in I flopped down and shut the flaps behind me. A musty darkness enveloped me as I sat there kicking myself.

Do you believe in love? I didn't, not for a long time and it's just so stupid that half an hour in a cold, empty car park could just change that; could just wipe clean nearly 4 years worth of damage. I'm not saying that I'm in love with Pete, for gods sake I barely know the guy. But I can't ignore that feeling, the one that's struggling for dominance behind the layers of panic and confusion.

It's been about 2 hours now since I ran away like the moron I am.

I know I said I wouldn't drink it again. I think I may have swore on it infact. Just goes to prove that I'm a big fat liar. With an apparent drink problem.

But then what am I supposed to do? It's not my fault if Allie just leaves beer lying around the camp is it? If it's lying there then I'm bound to drink it. It's got nothing to do with the fact that I have no self control and a desperate need to drink away all my problems.

Opening a small gap in the tent flaps I lobbed the now empty beer can out into the middle of the camp. It landed with a tinny ring amongst the growing pile of other empty cans and general litter. Reaching behind me I grabbed another can and popped it open, taking a deep swig of the foul tasting liquid I quickly shut the flap again and returned to my new hobby: sitting in the dark alone, drinking Carling.

If it wasn't for the fact that I was pretty pissed, and that Logan had the car keys I probably would've been halfway back to Grantham now. Never had I wanted to be home so badly. I wanted Grantham, I wanted The Den and I wanted to return to the way things had been. They way they were before Leeds and before Pete.

Actually I guess that's another lie. I don't want things to be that way again. This whole Pete thing probably hasn't made me any easier to live with but I think it has changed me, well I mean I know it's changed me. How exactly I'm not quite sure, I just know that it has; for the good.

I froze suddenly as footsteps entered the camp and watched suspiciously as 2 dark figures passed by my tent. The figures carried on past though and there was a loud unzipping noise as the tent next to me was opened and then closed again. Relaxing I carried on drinking in silence until a few minutes later when I heard an unmistakeable sound.

What?! Is this for real? Is the whole world having sex except me? I mean I kind of thought so baring in mind that I haven't had sex in a good 2 years but come on, is it really fair to rub it in my face? To have sex right next to me, in a god damn tent?

Getting up and quickly grabbing my phone, I stumbled out of the tent and into the evening. Throwing my now 5th empty can at the offending tent; I ignored the indignant yelps of surprise and walked out of camp.

X

It's amazing the people you meet on trains isn't it?

I was on my way back home from London. I study music at The London Academy and was on my way home for the weekend as usual for band practise and work. Purely by chance I found myself seated next to someone nice, funny, and coincidentally also from Grantham, my home town.

It certainly made a change from the weirdoes I usually end up seated next to. It's mainly old ladies wanting to share their life stories or drunken idiots jabbering on about their favourite football team.

Turns out that the newly introduced Harry Spencer and I have a lot in common. I could tell just by looking at him that he was going to be a keeper. I don't think I have ever met anyone before who could pull off the preppy school boy look quite aswel as he did. He had it all; the khakis, the corduroy blazer and the soft leather slip on's, on anyone else I'm sure it would've looked hideously old fashioned but on Harry's lanky frame it suited him.

He played the guitar; a skill which instantly got us started on a long winded and much debated conversation about music, instruments and what bands we both liked. He also had a keen interest in computers and technology; I felt an instant kinship with him and reached, if possible, a whole new level of geekiness as we chatted for ages about new upgrades and gadgets that were coming out.

40 minutes outside Grantham, my phone rang interrupting our conversation. Looking at the caller ID I grinned and looked back up at Harry with an apologetic smile.

"It's a friend from back home," I explained, "I'm going to have to take this."

"Sure," Harry replied nodding, his shaggy ginger hair flopping in front of his eyes, "I'm sure I can find something to occupy myself."

Flipping open my phone I answered it expectantly.

"Clay what did he say? Did he like it?"

"Well hello to you too Link." He replied cheekily.

"Just tell me!" I whined, "You're killing me here!"

"Fine, he liked what he heard but suggests we take some time off to tour and get some more stage experience before he signs us. He suggested maybe to come back in a year and try again."

I paused momentarily to take in what Clay had just said. Under the table Harry nudged me with his foot and when I looked up at him he raised a questioning eyebrow. I waved his concerns off and turned my attention back to the phone.

"I'm not sure whether that's good news or not," I said slowly, "He liked what he heard but won't sign us?"

"Well I for one recon that its good news, Jeb does too," He replied positively, "Think about it Link. Most bands get straight out rejected from tonnes of record companies, we got a come back later; that's got to be a good thing."

"Yeah I guess you're right," I said warming to the idea, "It is better than a no."

"Totally," Clay said enthusiastically, "O yeah and he suggested that we find ourselves a manager...."

I could tell by Clay's voice that he had someone in mind. However I did too and was pretty positive that the person I had in mind would do an ace job of looking after us.

"I know someone who would be perfect at managing us." I said.

"Yeah I know who you have in mind and I definitely agree so does Jeb." Clay replied his voice tinged with laughter.

"O" I said slightly deflated, "I guess I'd better ask then."

"Yes," Clay was outright laughing at me now, "I guess you'd better had."

X

How the hell I made it through the performance I'll never know. We were pretty damn good though, not that I really cared. As soon as the finale, Dance, Dance finished and the roaring of the crowd finally slowed to a faint murmur I was gone, running off the stage and dumping my bass into someone's waiting hands.

"Pete! Wait!" I heard called out behind me. I turned to face Patrick and fixed him with an accusing glare.

"You knew," I snapped jabbing him furiously in the chest with my finger, "You God damn knew. How the hell did you know she was here?"

Joe and Andy cautiously walked up behind Patrick and stood awkwardly watching our exchange.

"Her friend Logan told us she was here." He said matter of factly as he swatted my accusing finger away.

I dropped my hand to my side and looked up at them all bewildered. Since when was I so out of the loop?

"What the hell is going on here? Who is Logan? I asked desperately.

I didn't like this feeling of being the last one to know. There'd obviously been some sort of plotting going on here that I didn't know about. And here's me thinking that I was the one keeping secrets.

"Logan is Ollie's best friend," Patrick explained, "He came to the signing this morning and mentioned Ollie. I just put 2 and 2 together. Pretty lucky coincidence I guess."

I walked over to a nearby amp and slumped down. I needed to absorb this; I needed to make sense of what Trick was saying. Except I couldn't concentrate, the image of Ollie standing there in the midst of the crowds, frozen to the spot was stuck in my mind. The soft curls that framed her face being gently swept back by the breeze.

What was I doing sitting here? I need to see her, to speak to her. Standing up abruptly I walked over to Patrick.

"Where is she?" I asked urgently.

Patrick looked over at Joe and Andy and then back to me; their expressions were blank.

"I don't think it would be such a good idea for you to go out there dude," Andy said speaking up, "Think of the chaos it would cause."

"Screw that," I snapped loudly, running a frustrated hand through my hair, "I need to see her, you don't understand."

Patrick snorted and stared at me in disbelief.

"Don't understand?" He barked, "Don't understand? Don't be so self obsessed Pete."

I looked at Patrick, alarmed at what he had said. Was I really being self obsessed? If the cool anger in Trick's eyes was anything to go by then I guess the answer was yes.

"I'm sorry," I muttered under my breath not meeting his eyes.

I heard him sigh but didn't look up. How could I have been so stupid? I had become obsessed with the idea of someone. Was an idea really worth losing my friends or my band over? No....yes....maybe.....

"Don't apologise," Patrick said finally after what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence, "Just do what you have to do. Here you'd better take this."

Looking up I saw that Trick had taken off his hat and was now holding it out to me. I smiled at the grand gesture. His dirty blonde hair lay plastered flat against his head and he ran a hand through it self consciously.

Muttering a grateful 'thank you', I took the hat off of him and shoved it on my head. Checking I still had my all access pass I pulled my hood up over Tricks hat and ran off stage.

It didn't take me too long to get away from the crowds; I kept my head down and walked quickly through a large set of metal gates. I found myself standing on top of a large grassy hill.

Ah. Right. Perhaps a slight problem.

Why do I always do it? Run off without properly thinking things through I mean. I was so caught up in the idea of finding Ollie that I didn't even think to ask where I might actually find her.

I guess they do say that love is blind; apparently what they don't tell you is that it's often stupid and impulsive too.

There were so many tents. From my position on the hill all I could see in front of me was a sea of multicoloured tents; thousands of them. I had no idea where to even start. I looked behind me, the flashing lights of the bars and different tents seemed more appealing than the maze of nylon at the bottom of the hill. So making a decision I turned and headed over to the bright lights of the festival, I would start looking there.

2 hours later darkness had fallen and I walked slowly down the hill I had started on, my spirits low. As I probably should have expected I hadn't found her in amongst the stalls and bars. Who was I kidding though, this place was massive, and I was never going to find her. I could walk around in circles for days and still never catch a glimpse. For some reason though I didn't want to give up hope, I wanted to keep searching that way even if I didn't find her I could at least say I tried.

Reaching the bottom of the hill I stood for a moment by the side of a large hedge and debated whether or not it would be worth looking for Ollie here. Why didn't I ask Trick where she was camping before I ran off like a lovesick fool?

I let out a low frustrated groan but carried on walking round the hedge anyway. So it was dark and I had no idea where I was going; Ollie was worth it.

X

You know something; Leeds Festival is really big. It covers a hell of a lot of ground most of which seems to be taken over by tents. Bloody hundreds of the buggers. Who knew that so many people would have pirate flags up? And here I was thinking that Pirate Camp was unique.

Yeah I was lost.

Well not lost exactly....I like to think of it more as being on an adventure..... actually who am I kidding? I have no idea where the hell I am. Being slightly drunk doesn't help either. The whole 'shit I'm lost in a huge campsite surrounded by drunk people and stoners' hasn't kicked in yet, perhaps it will when I sober up but for now I'm actually finding the whole experience funny. Well funny in a tragic sort of way.

I walked past yet another pirate flag and ignored the inebriated slurs that a group of people round a small camp fire yelled pointedly in my direction. I was trying to find my way back to the main stage. Not because I wanted to find Pete but because the idea of getting lost in the rave tent was at this moment in time highly appealing.

The thumping beat, the gyrating bodies and a nice fuzzy state of drunkenness; just what I needed right now. Yeah I was in denial.

I picked up the pace as I finally spotted flashing lights in the distance. Stepping round another tent I stuck to the well worn path and followed the lights.

A few minutes later my walking was interrupted by my phone ringing. 'Silence is golden but so is the truth' rang out breaking through the low hum of noise that I'd become accustomed to. It was one of Link's songs; I snorted aloud at the irony of it.

Routing round my pocket I found my phone and flipped it open.

"What?" I asked abruptly.

"Ollie?" A small voice said cautiously.

"Well who else would it be?" I said trying to keep the faint slur out of my voice. I don't think it worked though as the word 'else' came out sounding more like 'elsch'. Though did I really care if Link found out I was drunk? No.

"Are you pissed?" She asked suspiciously.

"No" I said just that little bit too quickly. Okay so maybe I did care what Link thought. But believe me you would too if you'd seen her in one of her rages. Fucking scary that's for sure.

"You are aren't you?" She said sharply, "I knew Logan would mess this up. What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I said firmly hoping that she'd get the hint. For some reason the fact that she seemed to know exactly what had been going on didn't surprise me.

She sighed and I heard her mutter something under her breath. I suddenly noticed the background noise through the line, a low constant thrum. She muttered something again and I realised that she was talking to someone else, someone who was with her on her end of the phone.

"Who are you talking to?" I questioned slightly miffed. Couldn't she tell that I was having a crisis here? Okay so I had pretty much just told her to butt out of it but that's not the point.

"Someone on the train, I'm on my way back to Grantham." She explained absentmindedly before returning her attention back to me, "What's happened Ollie? Have you spoken to Pete?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I repeated. I sounded like a whiny 5 year old and probably looked like one too as I stomped along the dirt path towards the main goings on of the festival.

"Well that's just great Ollie," Link snapped, "Bottle it all up again, start taking it out on your friends and family just like you used to. Eventually you'll make everyone as miserable as you are; either that or you'll just drive everyone away. Is that what you want, to be alone? I refuse to believe that and yet if you won't talk about it, if you won't except help from your friends then what the point in us even trying?"

I came to a sudden halt and listened in shock as Link's out of character tirade continued.

"You need to realise that the world doesn't revolve around you Ollie; just grow up."

She didn't even wait for a reply. After her furious rant ended she abruptly hung up leaving me standing there dumbstruck with only a dial tone for company.

Did that just happen?

I put my phone back in my pocket and slowly carried on walking. She told me to grow up; she's 4 years my junior and she actually said that to me.

I wanted to be mad, I wanted to ring her back and lay into her just as she had done to me. Except that everything she said held a certain amount of truth to it. I didn't want to be alone, but after Riley it just seemed like the easiest option and I had threw Logan's attempts to help me back in his face hadn't I? Running away, avoiding the problem, and acting like a spoilt little girl.

I know that the world doesn't revolve around me, but for a long time now my friends worlds probably had. I was making everyone miserable and the realisation of that shocked me to the core.

I finally located the right Pirate camp but passed it still too lost in my own thoughts. Instead I carried on walking wanting to find a quiet place to think. I would make it up to my friends somehow, I had to.

Still dwelling on what Link had just said I walked briskly round the corner of the hedge. I wasn't really looking where I was going and yet was still taken by surprise as I collided full on with someone also moving at a fast pace.

The impact of the collision made my whole body shudder and I gasped as the breath was knocked out of me. Unfortunately being on a slope didn't help the situation, we both fell over in a tangle of limbs and rolled unceremoniously down what was left of the hill, landing in a heap at the bottom.

When the world finally stopped spinning and the feeling of intense motion sickness mixed with far too much alcohol passed I struggled briefly to get up but found myself pinned to the floor by the other person's body weight.

"Gerroff me," I panted as I struggled to free my arms which had gotten wedged between the hedge we had rolled into and the other persons chest.

I couldn't actually see who was lying on top of me; my hair had tangled over my face and eyes during the pile up. But from the startled yelp I had heard when we first crashed into each other I presumed it was a man, that and the fact that his chest was smushed into my own and I could feel a set of well defined muscles.

"O man this is gunna hurt in the morning." The stranger replied breathily.

Finally freeing the arm that had been crushed up against the hedge I hastily brushed my hair out of my face ready to yell rape if need be to get this weirdo off of me. Instead all words failed me as I found myself looking up into a familiar pair of dark brown eyes.

The eyes widened in shock as stunned recognition flickered through them.

"Pete?" I said the same time as he said my own name in the same astonished voice.

"I can't believe it's you," he said finally, his warm eyes staring deeply into mine, "I finally found you."

"You were looking for me?" I asked surprised. He nodded, his eyes crinkling as he smiled.

I found myself becoming acquainted with his features again. The way his dark hair fell softly over one eye, the streaks of red glinting as the moon hit them. The flecks of amber and hazel in his gaze, the contours of his mouth as it twitched upwards into that endearing half smile. I'd missed his face I realised as he gently moved a hand up to trace the line of my jaw. Seeing the look in his eyes it occurred to me that he was doing the same as I had just been, memorising the way I looked and storing it away.

"I've been thinking about you," He said softly as his fingers moved upwards with feather light touches to my forehead. My whole skin was tingling, my nerves on fire. All my doubts and fears had disappeared as soon as I had seen the look in his eyes. How could I have been so stupid, how could I have almost let Pete slip through my fingers. Shaking away the negative thoughts I concentrated on keeping my composure.

"I've been thinking about you too," I whispered, throughing all caution to the wind. Reaching up I took hold of his hand and clasped it tightly with my own. He grinned, the delight on his face clear.

Leaning down he gently brushed his lips against mine, I felt the hesitancy in the kiss and yanked my other hand out from under him tangling it in his hair trying to rid him of that uncertainty. Pulling him closer to me, surprised by my own brashness, I felt him smile into the kiss. He nipped gently at my bottom lip and I parted my mouth slightly allowing him entrance. Deeping the kiss his tongue caressed my own leaving me dizzy from lack of oxygen and a hazy fug of lust.

There were twigs sticking into my back and I had lost all feeling in my left leg but for now none of it mattered. We were practically lying in a ditch which was littered with old beer cans and other bits of crap but I didn't care.

The details of how we had found each other I was unsure of all that I cared about was the fact that we had.