Legs pumping, Eric wove and dodged his way through the surprisingly crowded streets of NYC for ten blocks. Running for it seemed like a good idea at the time he left the stage, but the city blocks were a lot bigger than he remembered. Sweat pouring down his face, Eric rounded the final corner’s block to Madison Square Garden. He’d played there once before and ran around the side of the building to get to the performer's entrance. The squadron of shuttles, buses and huge equipment cases, not to mention security, had Eric dodging his way through the flurry of activity to get to Keira.

He knew the concert had finished only a little bit before his performance. Was Keira still there? Had she left already? Had she even seen his performance? A bunch of dancers came pouring out of one of the backstage doors headed for the shuttle bus. He intercepted them. Taking a deep breath, hunched over with his hands on his knees he held up his finger trying to get some air back in his lungs.

“Are you okay?” someone said, placing their hand on his shoulder.

“Keira,” he wheezed out. “Is Keira still here?” he said, panting.

“The photographer?”

“Yes,” he said, glancing up. His heart back up in his throat, he nodded. “Yes, Keira the photographer.”

“I think so, she’s usually in the dressing rooms until the last shuttle.”

“Great!” he said, moving to the back entrance, when the dancer grabbed his arm. “Are you Eric Newcastle?”

“Yeah.”

“I love your new single! Do you think you’ll add any dancers to your tour?”

“I really need to get in there.”

“Okay, well to do that you’ll need this,” she said, pulling her laminate from over her head. “They won’t let you in without one.” She held it out to him and he took it from her hand, slipping it over his head.

“Thanks,” he said, pulling the door open and being immediately confronted by two huge hulking masses of security. He flashed his laminate and continued walking. A few puzzled looks and more turns than he could count and he was outside one of the dressing room doors. He knocked, opened it, and froze at the sheer number of people packed in there.

“Is Keira here!?” he shouted over the roaring laughter.

“The photographer?”

“Yeah.”

“No, I think she’s in dressing room D.”

“Okay, thanks,” he said closing the door. Wandering around he found the door he was looking for. Standing in the hallway, he could barely breathe as he thought about what he would say. Shit! He’d been working on the song for so long he hadn’t come up with what he would say to her when he saw her next.

* * *

“Hi,” he said, sweat pouring off him.

“Hi,” she said, shyly. The dressing room door behind her was wrenched open and she could feel everyone’s eyes glued to them. “You wrote a song for me,” she said, staring at him, unable to break the connection between them.

“I had to get it out. I had to get it out in the world and let everyone know how I felt.”

“Felt, do you not still feel that way,” she said, feeling really shy around him.

“I wouldn’t have run ten of the longest city blocks in existence if I didn’t still feel that way, Keira,” he said, stepping forward and running his knuckles along her jaw. “The question is, do you still feel the same way about me?”

“I wouldn’t have been running out of here to come meet you, if I didn’t still love you,” she said, laughing, happy tears springing to her eyes.

“It seems like we’re both on the same page,” he said, with what looked suspiciously like tears in his eyes. They stood there frozen for a long time, just soaking one another in.

“Kiss her already,” came a chorus of voices from behind them and the both laughed as she glanced behind her to see the doorway packed with more bodies than she thought possible. They were all nuts, but they were pretty awesome.

“I’ve never been one to let an audience down,” he said, threading his fingers into her hair and laying a kiss on her that curled her toes and made her knees weak. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him. They broke apart breathless and panting. Someone slipped something into her back pocket. She glanced over her shoulder and it was Matty.

“You two can have my suite tonight,” she said, winking.

“Thanks, Matty, but I think we’re going to stick to Eric’s bus tonight,” she said, handing back her card. “We need to hit the road and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

“We sure do,” Eric said, swaying her back and forth to a rhythm his fingers played along her back. Matty broke out in her new hit ballad and the backup singers chimed in. Eric took her hand in his and joined in, serenading her in front of pretty much everyone tour as they crammed into the hall to watch the impromptu show.