Categories > Celebrities > Panic! At The Disco > Just For the Attention
a/n- so it’s been awhile right? A little less space this time I hope. The end of the season was just a little crazy, and inspiration really grabbed me on the trip we just took to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl. It gave me traveling stories to share, so look out for those, one’s actually told in this chapter. As soon as I got home, my hand was itching to write, and I ended up with a shift holding down the U-scan fort at work, so here ya go. This is shorter than other chapters because the Nikol scene I started to write would have drug this on forever, and I kinda wanted her to have her own chapter/moment in the spotlight. There’s no scene break in this chapter because of that, which is the first time that’s every happened in my writing so good for me. Also, there’s lots of dialogue, which I’m not great at, but I think it turned out okay, so let me know what you think
Reviews will have a nap taken in their honour. No really, work is wearing me thin.
*
About a week before the tour had hit the road, one of the dancers had pulled them aside and warned them that the trip they were about to take off on wasn’t going to be all they expected. That somewhere along the line (and it would probably be sooner than later) the cities and shows would bled into each other, and everything would become more redundant as the excitement wore off.
Unfortunately, this happened within the first two weeks. It had been extremely exciting to begin with. The first day they had been interviewed by some magazine (at this point there were at least five identical interviews floating around in the public, it was hard to keep track) and had gotten ready for their first show, which was in Vegas, the boys deciding to both start and finish at their homestead. Then it was westward bound the next day for a show in LA, then San Diego, and then it was a couple days before the next show in San Francisco.
They had enjoyed getting into costume and makeup every night, but soon enough they lost their bearings of where they were, and the newness of everything faded and they began to see the whole thing as less of an adventure and more of – well, like a job. They weren’t jaded, just realistic that each night was going to be very similar to the night before. It was this realization that gave them the idea to take advantage of their night off.
They were stopped somewhere between Wyoming and Utah, in a smaller out of the way town. The group of newcomers to the tour had declared a night out and led the way to the small bowling alley that was to be their source for food, fun and drinks for the night.
They had rented out three lanes, one for the band, one for the “talent” (as they had been dubbed by the press) and one for the small collection of dancers that had come along. After a coupled of drinks – for the legal ones – and a few frames later, a friendly but fierce competition between the band and the performers had been started.
The performers managed to take the first game due to the fact that Dani was somewhat of a talented bowler, but during the second game, her natural ferocity died down, and she started to giddily play the game. Thus began an onslaught of granny bowling, sliding down the lanes, crossing over lanes, and whatever else they could get away with because of the extensive amount of money they had paid to play. It was more money than the owner was used to, so as long as no one got hurt, he was okay with letting them have their fun.
After three games of goofing off, Danielle decided to sit one out, and nurse a drink. So after taking her name off the list and grabbing a daiquiri, she sat down near the end of the lane, but the balls, and watched her newly acquired friends make fools of themselves.
When Brendon saw her do this, he quickly excused himself from the gang too, and after much hassling from his bandmates, he went back to sit by Dani.
Now it was no secret (except to each other) that both Danielle and Brendon seemed to have a thing for the other. After their dinner at the O.G., the two seemed keen to spend their spare time getting to know each other better. Danielle had been trying to ignore the elation this created. It wasn’t because he was famous, but more because it had been awhile sense anyone she really liked paid her any sort of attention. She’d had a very chequered past, be it romantic or platonic. Having Nikol as a friend was a godsend, and the thought of just that with Brendon made her smile.
He was standing over her before she was even aware of his presence.
“Got lazy, I take it?” he said as a greeting.
Dani jumped slightly in shock, looking up at the intruder, even though she knew the voice.
“Thirsty is more like,” she said, accentuating the statement with a long sip from her daiquiri.
“Ah yes, I was wondering when you were going to run your age in my face again.”
She laughed, “Oh come on, I’m not that much older…just old enough. You want a sip?” she offered the drink out to him.
“Nah, not a fan of so-called girly drinks, but thanks. Just wanted to sit one out.”
“That wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that practically everyone here is annihilating your ass, is it?”
“Hey! My ass has not been annihilated. It is very much in tact, and feeling slightly defeated at the moment.”
“Aww…” she said with mocking sympathy, “I feel absolutely no pity for you.”
“That’s only because you’re kicking all our asses out there.”
“Yeah, well, there’s just no limit to my amazing abilities you’ll soon find out.”
“Okay, wow, I think I just choked on your ego a little bit there.”
She burst out laughing, “Alright, I’m going to let you know right now that I am one of the most self-conscious people, and my ego is so minimal it’s unhealthy.”
“Uh huh, excuses, excuses.”
“No really. Plus, I’m overly shy.”
“Well you can’t tell. You’ve been acting like you own that stage every time you’re on it.”
“Well, I learned to front that stuff really early into my twirling career. It really only happens when I’m comfortable, and baton’s my element so there ya go.”
“Interesting. So it’s all an act? I see.”
“Yup. Which is completely different from how you guys play happy to the press at the time,” she said, lacing each word with playful sarcasm.
He laughed, “Okay so you got me there. But while we’re vaguely on the topic, how are you enjoying the tour so far?”
“It reminds me of college band trips to be honest. Long bus rides, continuously repetitive performances, and idiot boys.”
“What? You didn’t enjoy our epic sock puppet play?”
“Oh no, I found it plenty amusing my phone on the other hand…” she drifted off as she fiddled with her phone. A moment later she held it up, showing him how his text spam had overflowed her inbox.
He shook with silent laughter, “Well, you have unlimited texts don’t you?”
“Yeah, well.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“It ended with the sock puppets somehow managing graphic sex, and I was under the impression they were asexual. It was mildly disturbing at best.”
“They acted of their own accord. Horny little socks.”
Dani laughed so hard at this that comment that all further sarcastic remarks were forced into submission. They sat in silence for a few moments while Danielle regained her composure by watching her best friend shyly flirt with Ryan unbeknownst to her.
Brendon took this opportunity to study Danielle’s face. She seemed calm in the moment, which wasn’t something she had seemed at all over the last couple months. His careful study had shown her to be a very intense person, sucked into everything she did with complete dedication. He supposed this was part of the reason he was drawn to her, since his own passion for music had brought him on this crazy adventure.
She looked worn out, but he knew from experience that the first week of tour was the most rigorous, and she seemed to be recuperating just fine.
He couldn’t exactly figure out why he was so attracted to one of their performers, dating the talent had always been a taboo thing. Messy break ups led to awkward moments on stage. They knew this, not from experience, but from horror stories from people who hated dated anyone from the roadies to their tour manager. This girl seemed somehow different from everyone else. She seemed more down to earth, which was probably due to his speculation that she had grown up in a modest home. She was also incredibly unique, obviously what with choosing baton as her passion.
His casual observance was the disrupted by he sudden glimpse towards him, catching his stare. Her face was decorated with amusement at her friend’s antics, and the delicate look in her eyes overtook his practical senses.
He leaned across the space between them, reaching toward her half empty glass. He carefully set the glass on the small table that sat slightly backwards between them.
The action caught her by surprise and her heart jumped into her throat, unable to comprehend what was happening or what might happen next. The idea that this multi-talented, sweet and adorable boy might actually like her was unfathomable, but she chose to ignore the part of her that insisted she was crazy, and live in the moment. This ironically was precisely the moment that Brendon chose to secure his lips over hers. His hand weaved its way into her hair, and hers locked behind his neck. The details of the rest she decided not to focus on and completely gave in to what she would soon view as the dumbest move she had made.
Reviews will have a nap taken in their honour. No really, work is wearing me thin.
*
About a week before the tour had hit the road, one of the dancers had pulled them aside and warned them that the trip they were about to take off on wasn’t going to be all they expected. That somewhere along the line (and it would probably be sooner than later) the cities and shows would bled into each other, and everything would become more redundant as the excitement wore off.
Unfortunately, this happened within the first two weeks. It had been extremely exciting to begin with. The first day they had been interviewed by some magazine (at this point there were at least five identical interviews floating around in the public, it was hard to keep track) and had gotten ready for their first show, which was in Vegas, the boys deciding to both start and finish at their homestead. Then it was westward bound the next day for a show in LA, then San Diego, and then it was a couple days before the next show in San Francisco.
They had enjoyed getting into costume and makeup every night, but soon enough they lost their bearings of where they were, and the newness of everything faded and they began to see the whole thing as less of an adventure and more of – well, like a job. They weren’t jaded, just realistic that each night was going to be very similar to the night before. It was this realization that gave them the idea to take advantage of their night off.
They were stopped somewhere between Wyoming and Utah, in a smaller out of the way town. The group of newcomers to the tour had declared a night out and led the way to the small bowling alley that was to be their source for food, fun and drinks for the night.
They had rented out three lanes, one for the band, one for the “talent” (as they had been dubbed by the press) and one for the small collection of dancers that had come along. After a coupled of drinks – for the legal ones – and a few frames later, a friendly but fierce competition between the band and the performers had been started.
The performers managed to take the first game due to the fact that Dani was somewhat of a talented bowler, but during the second game, her natural ferocity died down, and she started to giddily play the game. Thus began an onslaught of granny bowling, sliding down the lanes, crossing over lanes, and whatever else they could get away with because of the extensive amount of money they had paid to play. It was more money than the owner was used to, so as long as no one got hurt, he was okay with letting them have their fun.
After three games of goofing off, Danielle decided to sit one out, and nurse a drink. So after taking her name off the list and grabbing a daiquiri, she sat down near the end of the lane, but the balls, and watched her newly acquired friends make fools of themselves.
When Brendon saw her do this, he quickly excused himself from the gang too, and after much hassling from his bandmates, he went back to sit by Dani.
Now it was no secret (except to each other) that both Danielle and Brendon seemed to have a thing for the other. After their dinner at the O.G., the two seemed keen to spend their spare time getting to know each other better. Danielle had been trying to ignore the elation this created. It wasn’t because he was famous, but more because it had been awhile sense anyone she really liked paid her any sort of attention. She’d had a very chequered past, be it romantic or platonic. Having Nikol as a friend was a godsend, and the thought of just that with Brendon made her smile.
He was standing over her before she was even aware of his presence.
“Got lazy, I take it?” he said as a greeting.
Dani jumped slightly in shock, looking up at the intruder, even though she knew the voice.
“Thirsty is more like,” she said, accentuating the statement with a long sip from her daiquiri.
“Ah yes, I was wondering when you were going to run your age in my face again.”
She laughed, “Oh come on, I’m not that much older…just old enough. You want a sip?” she offered the drink out to him.
“Nah, not a fan of so-called girly drinks, but thanks. Just wanted to sit one out.”
“That wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that practically everyone here is annihilating your ass, is it?”
“Hey! My ass has not been annihilated. It is very much in tact, and feeling slightly defeated at the moment.”
“Aww…” she said with mocking sympathy, “I feel absolutely no pity for you.”
“That’s only because you’re kicking all our asses out there.”
“Yeah, well, there’s just no limit to my amazing abilities you’ll soon find out.”
“Okay, wow, I think I just choked on your ego a little bit there.”
She burst out laughing, “Alright, I’m going to let you know right now that I am one of the most self-conscious people, and my ego is so minimal it’s unhealthy.”
“Uh huh, excuses, excuses.”
“No really. Plus, I’m overly shy.”
“Well you can’t tell. You’ve been acting like you own that stage every time you’re on it.”
“Well, I learned to front that stuff really early into my twirling career. It really only happens when I’m comfortable, and baton’s my element so there ya go.”
“Interesting. So it’s all an act? I see.”
“Yup. Which is completely different from how you guys play happy to the press at the time,” she said, lacing each word with playful sarcasm.
He laughed, “Okay so you got me there. But while we’re vaguely on the topic, how are you enjoying the tour so far?”
“It reminds me of college band trips to be honest. Long bus rides, continuously repetitive performances, and idiot boys.”
“What? You didn’t enjoy our epic sock puppet play?”
“Oh no, I found it plenty amusing my phone on the other hand…” she drifted off as she fiddled with her phone. A moment later she held it up, showing him how his text spam had overflowed her inbox.
He shook with silent laughter, “Well, you have unlimited texts don’t you?”
“Yeah, well.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“It ended with the sock puppets somehow managing graphic sex, and I was under the impression they were asexual. It was mildly disturbing at best.”
“They acted of their own accord. Horny little socks.”
Dani laughed so hard at this that comment that all further sarcastic remarks were forced into submission. They sat in silence for a few moments while Danielle regained her composure by watching her best friend shyly flirt with Ryan unbeknownst to her.
Brendon took this opportunity to study Danielle’s face. She seemed calm in the moment, which wasn’t something she had seemed at all over the last couple months. His careful study had shown her to be a very intense person, sucked into everything she did with complete dedication. He supposed this was part of the reason he was drawn to her, since his own passion for music had brought him on this crazy adventure.
She looked worn out, but he knew from experience that the first week of tour was the most rigorous, and she seemed to be recuperating just fine.
He couldn’t exactly figure out why he was so attracted to one of their performers, dating the talent had always been a taboo thing. Messy break ups led to awkward moments on stage. They knew this, not from experience, but from horror stories from people who hated dated anyone from the roadies to their tour manager. This girl seemed somehow different from everyone else. She seemed more down to earth, which was probably due to his speculation that she had grown up in a modest home. She was also incredibly unique, obviously what with choosing baton as her passion.
His casual observance was the disrupted by he sudden glimpse towards him, catching his stare. Her face was decorated with amusement at her friend’s antics, and the delicate look in her eyes overtook his practical senses.
He leaned across the space between them, reaching toward her half empty glass. He carefully set the glass on the small table that sat slightly backwards between them.
The action caught her by surprise and her heart jumped into her throat, unable to comprehend what was happening or what might happen next. The idea that this multi-talented, sweet and adorable boy might actually like her was unfathomable, but she chose to ignore the part of her that insisted she was crazy, and live in the moment. This ironically was precisely the moment that Brendon chose to secure his lips over hers. His hand weaved its way into her hair, and hers locked behind his neck. The details of the rest she decided not to focus on and completely gave in to what she would soon view as the dumbest move she had made.
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