"Where is Mikael?" Tyler asked, looking over the quiet green room before a rustling from behind the curtains caught the attention of Tyler Ren
"I think Mikael's talking with security, but he told us he will be back to take us back to the hotel," one of the instrument technicians says from behind the curtains.
"Right... Well, I want you guys to meet Natty– Uh," he was looking at her before she looked at them and chuckled a bit.
"Natalie Miller, that's my name, and I think you've met my friend there –"gesturing to the person who waves her hand – "it was nice meeting you all."
Everyone was quiet, and Natalie was about to cower back before the room erupted with a bunch of welcome and hello's. Natalie was smiling at their warm welcome, and Tyler Ren was relieved.
"TY, is this the girl you've been looking for?" A tall man looks at her. He gave her a charming smile before looking at his brother's back. He looks like a puppy, Natalie thought.
But before Tyler Ren could answer, Natalie was gently dragged by someone as they put their arms at her taking her away from Tyler.
"You are pretty lucky here; did you know he spent the whole concert trying to find you? He was more afraid of your well-being and –" Hansel was tackled by Tyler, telling him not to blow his cover. The oldest was struggling in his brother's hold.
"You should ignore Hansel –"
"I have never felt so violated!" Hansel cursed around, still struggling, Natalie was still in shock and sceptical as she paid no mind to those two. She became more relaxed as she thought about how he was not where to be found.
"Uh… Tyler, it's nice knowing you, but I need to go and –"
"What, you're leaving?" Hansel had perked up, stopping to struggle in Tyler's hold, both focusing on the girl now.
"Uh… yes?"
"What! No!" Hansel stood in front of Natalie, "Please stay! We've never interacted with a fan. Did you regret being our fan? Is that it? Well, please don't regret we're not usually like this," Natalie, who was surprised by their sudden outburst, then shakes her head.
"No! You are great people, but I need to go. Really, it was nice meeting you all, Jiwon!" Natalie looked at her friend, who was still laughing with Eric—that girl.
Natalie taps on Jiwon, signalling her to go. But Jiwon has other plans, this was the Foreign Swaggers, her favourite band. Missing a chance to get to talk to them was between a line of zero to one.
"Natty, please, can we stay for a while and –"but before Jiwon could finish, the door opened, causing everyone to look at the person who had just entered.
"Guys, Mikael said we will be heading back to the hotel in thirty more minutes. Sorry, I was late I was looking for –" but before the person could say anything else, his eyes were directed to the person in front of him, the person who had made him late coming back backstage, because he went to look for her.
There she stood in front of him in all of her glory, Natalie Miller, the girl he had waited so long to see. He then proceeds to smile as he steps in front of her. The whole place was quiet, watching what was happening to their brother's behaviour.
"Natty," was the first word Jonathan Hills had said. It had caused Tyler Ren to perk up in interest in how he had known Natalie - let alone call her by her nickname. Tyler begins to recall the few times Jonathan ever mentioned a girl, which he hasn't. Out of all the boys, Jonathan was the quietest when they had a topic about a girlfriend or any relationship.
"Natty, I've been looking everywhere for you! Did you enjoy the concert?" Jonathan beams at her as Natalie is still frozen he steps a lot closer, but what surprises him is her stepping back. He suddenly frowns as he tries to step forward, but her hands halt him.
"Don't get any closer." The girl begins to step back away from the person who had haunted her days, "and it's Natalie, even for you."
Like knives as pierce through his heart, the word shock was written all over Jonathan's face. The boys, who were now quiet watching everything unfold, were getting uneasy.
"Natty? I was just asking how –" he began to step forward, but a sound resonated through the room, and multiple gasps erupted.
Natalie had slapped Jonathan. The slap resonated throughout the whole room. Jiwon stood up from her seat and looked at her best friend. She looked at Natalie, who looked agitated, while Jonathan looked blankly at her, a little bit in disbelief.
She tries to understand the situation until she looks at her best friend, understanding what is happening. This is the 'he' Natalie was talking about; her friend's ex-lover was Jonathan Hills of the Foreign Swagger.
Now Jonathan was shocked, he was expecting a warm welcome from Natalie. He was the one who had sent the tickets to their concert after he had tried contacting Kwon Seoyeon, asking her to give Natalie the tickets because he would be performing in L.A.
He knew how Seoyeon had warned him that she wouldn't come if she knew that he would be there. Jonathan had begged Seoyeon just to try and send her the tickets as a birthday present, and the rest of what happened will be in his hands.
He had prayed that Natalie would come, he was looking for her, and he couldn't find her somehow. He couldn't find the bubbly-looking girl. He had expected her to at least jump throughout the concert. He remembered how she liked listening to music and would enjoy skipping throughout high school. He was looking for the old Natalie Miller but couldn't find her. He had concluded that she had not come, and he had tried enjoying the concert. Even though the feeling of bitterness was there, he was still going to give a great concert.
Nearing the end of the concert, he was still hoping she was there; he went closer to greet the fans as the encore was happening, and there she was, sitting down with a phone, trying to capture the moment. His heart was beating every second. He had found her.
Trying too hard to find her after the concert ended, he had thought he wouldn't ever get a chance to see Natalie ever again, that is until a certain girl was standing in front of her. He was ready to jump and give her a hug before a slap landed in his checks and the person, he was looking for ran through the door.