FicWad

They received a rude wake up call at about 4 in the morning to start sound check and all that jazz for the show that night. Jade walked out of her room, clearlyhaving a good nights sleep, the peppiest. Joe glared at her when she greeted them so happily. She shrugged it off, smiling. She was so happy to be on tour. The tour buses, loaded down with their bags, drove them to the venue where they would be playing that night. Jade stepped inside and looked around. She had been to concerts in venues like this before, but she had never been on the other side of the baracade. They all walked backstage, bustling around. Mike bumped hard into Jade.

"Crap, sorry, Jade," he said. She smiled up at him nervously. He looked at her.

"I'm so sorry," he muttered, "I completely forgot that you have no idea what's going on here." She gave him an uneasy look.

"Yeah," she chuckled. He stopped moving around so quickly and decided to help her with everything. He hooked her up to an in-ear monitor, handed her a microphone, and told her to get out on the stage to do a sound check. She nodded and walked brisquely onto the stage. He talked to her over a microphone in the sound booth in the back of the room.

"Okay," he said, and it echoed through the room. He was talking directly to Jade's band then. "Start playing." They dove right into "Black Roses." "Just start singing, Jade," he muttered, "I'll get your sound right." She nodded and started to sing the words to the song. Mike messed with the sound levels a bunch, making her voice get louder and softer, until it was at the right level. He talked to her again.

"Jade, is your in-ear monitor too loud?" he asked.

"Not really," she told him. He nodded. He had everything set. "Okay, just run through your set, then," he said, and came down from the booth. They ran through Jade's entire setlist, playing some of the songs more than 4 times, in order to get it right. Soon after, they were kicked off the stage to get the guys of Linkin Park some time of their own. By the time everything was finished, they were about 45 minutes out from the show. Jade hurried around backstage, changing her clothes, and getting her hair and make-up done. Once she had her appearance finished, she stood by the stage door, waiting. Mike met her by the door. She looked positively ill. He smiled at her.

"You okay?" he asked. She sighed and nodded, holding her microphone in her hand. He smiled again, and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You'll be fine," he muttered into the top of her head. She sniffed. He could tell she was crying. He held her face in his hands.

"Look at me," he said. She glanced up from the floor, into his eyes. There were fresh tears waiting to fall there. "You're going to be great. Okay?" She nodded. "Good," he smiled and hugged her again. She looked back out at the stage and watched Chester walk out. He riled the crowd. They screamed and yelled.

"Before we play our show tonight," Chester said loudly over a microphone, "The other guys of Linkin Park and I have a little treat for you. Ladies and gentlemen please help me welcome, in her first concert appearance, our friend Jade Jewell." Though the crowd had no idea who she was, the fact that Chester Bennington considered her a friend must make her a great person. They went crazy. Jade smiled at Mike and then walked forward out into the light. She smiled at Chester, and waved enthusiastically at the crowd.

"Thanks, Chester," she grinned, speaking into the microphone. Chester smiled, squeezed her shoulder, and walked off the stage. Jade smiled and looked back at her band.

"Hit it!" she said loudly, and the band broke right into 'Room 308.' She sang with everything she had, dancing around the stage. Chester stepped through the stage door and punched Mike playfully in the arm.

"Come on, let's go finish that card game," he said. Mike shook his head, and watched Jade closely. Chester looked at him.

"She's fine, dude," he said. Mike laughed.

"She's one song in, Chester," he muttered. He was biting his thumb nail. He was so worried that the crowd was going to take horribly to her. Thus far, they seemed to be doing okay, but he was worried. Chester shook his head and walked off. And Mike didn't leave for Jade's entire performance. After her last song, Jade smiled and threw her arm into the air, waving again.

"Thank you very much, you guys have been great!" she called, and turned to walk off the stage. Mike met her right at the door.

"That was amazing!" he smiled at her. She laughed, out of breath, taking a swig of water.

"That was the most awesome thing I've ever done in my life!" she cried. He laughed and followed her backstage, his hands in his pockets. He only had a few moments of down time before Linkin Park had to make their appearance on the stage. Jade bid them all goodbye and kicked back to calm down a bit after her first show. After a while, she decided to go and watch the Linkin Park show from the stage door. She smiled, watching them work the crowd.

"How many old school Linkin Park fans do we have in the house?" Mike asked them all. The crowd cheered loudly. "This shit is for you guys then." The beginning of their popular song "Papercut" began to play. Jade chuckled as Mike walked over to the side of the stage to grab a water bottle and winked at her. He walked back over to the side of the stage. The intro of the song hit its climax, and Mike rushed to the front of the stage.

"Let's go!" he bellowed into his microphone, and started to headbang with the heavy music that the band started to play. Jade watched as the sang through their songs. Finally, they made it to their last song and the climax of the show.

"Thank you guys very much, this is our last song," Mike said to them, and they started to play "One Step Closer." They played through the song with more energy than the entire show combined. Finally, it ended, and they took their bows, waved, and left the stage.

"Great job, guys!" Jade smiled. The all smiled a 'thank you' to her. Mike grabbed a water bottle, and walked past her to collapse onto the couch. She laughed at him, crossing her arms, and leaning against the wall. He smiled at her, wiping sweat from his face. Mark walked into the room.

"Alright, guys, pack it up, we gotta get going," he said loudly, clapping his hands. Mike stood back up, and walked toward the door.

"Come on," he sighed to Jade. They walked outside to load themselves onto the 3 tour buses that they now had. The crew on one, Linkin Park on one, and Jade on the last. They were on the road until they reached their next city, where they had a sound check, a show, and then another bus ride to another town. And this is how it went for a month straight. They would get a day off every few weekends. It was on one of these rare Saturdays, at around midnight, that Jade found herself on the Linkin Park tour bus, sitting at the small bus table, playing cards with Mike, Joe, Phoenix, and Brad, while Chester and Rob looked on.

"Okay, that's BULLSHIT," Joe yelled loudly. "How has she won 5 hands in a row?" The rest of the guys laughed at him.

"Shut up, ho, you're just mad because you suck at poker," Jade laughed. The entire room roared with laughter.

"Did you just call me 'ho'?" Joe bellowed. Jade cracked up, and hung her head.

"Yeah, I did," she grinned, looking at him. Mike laughed and looked over at Joe.

"Poor Joe," he smirked, whacking Joe hard on the back. Joe shook his head and smiled. Phoenix stretched his arms far above his head, groaning.

"Okay, guys, one more hand and then I'm heading to bed," he yawned. Brad looked over at him.

"Too weak to stay up with the big dogs, Phi?" he asked. Phoenix looked at him, chuckling.

"You weren't up at 5 am, BRAD," he snapped. Mike laughed.

"Deal 'em out, Joe," he muttered.

"Who says I want to play again, hmm?" Joe blurted out. Jade glared at him.

"Afraid I'll beat you again?" she smiled sweetly. Joe looked over at her.

"Hell, no, Bitch," he growled. Mike glared at him and kicked him hard in the shin. "Ow, Mike, damn!" Joe yelled and dealt the cards out. Jade made a very serious face, looking from face to face. She was only kidding, but this was how she made everyone scared of her hand. Mike smirked and looked at her. They played poker a lot, but it never got old to see her beat Joe's ass. He chuckled, and shook his head, biting his lip. Brad looked over at him. He'd noticed Mike looking at Jade a lot like that lately. It was starting to bother him.

Mike folded his hand, and leaned over to see Jade's hand, smiling at Joe. Joe shook his head.

"That's how she fucking wins, you know that?" he muttered. Mike laughed.

"I folded, Joe, how the Hell do I help her?" he asked. "I suck at poker." Joe sighed.

"Yeah, you're right, you do," Joe smiled sarcastically at him. Mike scoffed at him.

"Alright, what do you got, Jade?" Joe asked. Jade laid her hand down.

"A pair of 9s," she smiled.

"Yes! Fucking right!" Joe exclaimed, "Royal flush!" he slammed his hand down on the table, making cards fly everywhere. Jade laughed and shook her head.

"Looks like you finally beat me, Mr. Hahn," she smiled. Joe grinned and picked up the cards. Phoenix laughed.

"I'm going to bed," he said. He stood up from the table.

"Night, Phi-Phi," Jade smiled. He grinned back at her.

"Night, Jadie," he laughed. Jade sniggered and watched the others get up to go. They all laid down in their bunks. Phoenix immediately jerked his certain closed and they heard him snoring in seconds. Jade laughed at him. Mike looked over at her.

"You want to watch a movie?" he asked. She stretched.

"Sure," she smiled. Mike grabbed the remote and flopped down onto the couch. He hit the power button, but the TV didn't turn on. He smacked the remote on his palm and tried again. He sighed.

"Hmm, batteries must be dead," he shrugged and got up to turn the TV on by hand. It still didn't work. He looked at the wiring. Nothing seemed out of place. He stood there for a moment.

"Chester!" he yelled.

"What?" came a reply from Chester's bunk.

"The fuck did you do to the TV?" he asked. Chester could be heard laughing. Mike rolled his eyes. Jade smirked.

"TV hasn't been working since yesterday," Chester yelled back. Mike groaned.

"How am I supposed to watch a movie then?" he asked.

"How the Hell am I supposed to know? Watch it on the TV in your bunk, damn," Chester muttered, jerked his curtain closed and then rolled over to go to sleep. Mike glared at the place where Chester's face had just been. He sighed then.

"You mind laying in my bunk to watch it?" he asked. Jade shrugged, taking a drink of water. He shrugged as well and motioned for her to follow him. She went with him. He let her get in first and climbed in after her, turning on the TV, putting in a DVD, and laying down.

"Have you seen this movie?" he asked. She looked over at him.

"What movie is it?" she asked him.

"The Last Kiss," he told her. She nodded.

"Yeah, it's good," she smiled. He laughed.

"Well, don't tell me what happens, okay?" he said. She laughed and nodded. He put his arms behind his head, and propped himself up. She laid back on his pillows, glancing downward at the TV. Mike huffed.

"Freaking glare," he said angrilly, and yanked his curtain closed enough to block out the glare. Mike laughed before the movie even properly started. She glanced over at him.

"I can tell this movie is going to be sad already," he laughed. She smiled and looked back at the TV.

"Hang on a sec," Mike muttered, "I'm going to pause it really fast. I gotta pee," he smiled. Jade laughed and watched him go after pausing the movie. She sighed and laid back on the pillows. They smelled like Mike. Pretty much everything in the bunk smelled like him, to be honest. She heard him coming back and moved over a little more for him to have more room. He laid back down and looked over at her.

"Have fun?" she asked, grinning. He laughed.

"Oh, yes, loads," he smirked. She chuckled and looked at his blanket. He stared at her for a moment. A thousand things started running through his mind as he watched her. Her hair was a perfect shade of blondish-brown. She had the most piercing and sparkling blue eyes. Her tiny hands were beautiful, the way they messed with the fringe on his blanket. He didn't know exactly what he was feeling or why. It just struck him hard, and his heart started to pound. He sighed, and she looked up at him again, the luster in her eyes still there. But the usual, knowing grin wasn't on his face then. In its place was a longing stare that penetrated her thoughts. Her lips parted slightly, as if she was going to say something. Before she even had a chance, he leaned into her, holding her face, almost roughly, and kissed her. He kissed her with everything he had, his eyes closed, hands holding her face, and body cocked to the side. Her eyes rolled shut, and she held one of his hands, leaning into the kiss just as much. Unbeknownst to either of them, there was a gap between the curtain and bunk wall now, and looking in on them through the tiny gap, was a bushy haired Brad who had been reading a book, and not sleeping as they'd thought. Brad stared for a moment and then sighed, pulling his curtain closed, and rolling over.