Welcome back, everyone! Sorry about the long wait, but here it is! This is a rare chapter with no music in it, but I hope you enjoy it all the same.

Chapter 8

Meeting The Fans

I almost thought that our part of the concert ended when the music stopped. But, as the girls and I walked backstage where Glynda was waiting for us, I turned out to be wrong.

"Great show as always, girls." Glynda said, not even taking her eyes off the tablet in her hands. "I trust you all know your way to the signing booth when the time comes, yes?"

The girls and I looked at each other. I could tell quickly that no one knew where the hell the signing booth was.

"Uh...Glynda?" Ruby said. "No one showed us where the damn thing is."

Glynda sighed and looked up from her tablet. "Confound this wretched staff." she mumbled under her breath. She then turned towards Junior, who had been sitting on a large crate and writing something on a clipboard.

"Junior!" she barked, startling the poor man so bad that the pen he'd been writing with flew out of his hand. "Could you please show the ladies where the booth is BEFORE I have you written up?"

"Uh, yes, ma'am!" he said, setting down his clipboard and hopping down from his crate. He gestured for us to follow him as he walked down a hallway.

As we walked behind him, I noticed that there were a good amount of people hanging around the outside of the concert hall. I would've thought mostly everyone would still be in the hall, watching the closing band.

I reached forward and tapped Ruby on the shoulder. She looked back at me with a small "hm?" her eyebrows raised in question.

"Why are there a lot of people out here?" I asked. "Shouldn't they still be in the concert hall? The closing band's still playing."

Ruby shrugged. "Most people just come to see the band they wanted to see and leave." she said, shaking her head a little. "Waste of money, if you ask me. If you pay fifty lien for a goddamn ticket, you should stick around for the entire show."

I chuckled a little. "At least they got to see their favorite band?"

Ruby smiled. "Yeah, I guess. But, some of the other bands are just as good."

It took a minute or two more for Junior to show us to the signing booth. We weren't allowed to go over a sit down just yet, for the concert wasn't over. But, even so, there was still a shit ton of people lining up in front of the stand. Some of them had CDs, posters, T-shirts, and an assortment of other stuff that they mostly likely want us to sign.

Wanted me to sign...

Holy fuck...

I felt my nervousness creep up on me and I stopped dead in my tracks as Junior escorted us behind a cover next to the booth, causing Weiss to slam into my back. As you could probably tell, I wasn't really good at social interaction. The most I ever got was the small talk with the patrons at the bar or talks with what little friends I had. In a situation like this, me having to interact with a large amount of people, would most likely leave me as useless as a tampon in the desert.

...ignore the fact that I just said that.

The girls must have sensed my minor freak out moment, mainly because of the short yelp Weiss emitted as she bumped into me, because they turned around to face me.

"You okay there, Blake?" asked Yang.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Weiss grumbled as she walked out from behind me, rubbing her forehead.

I took a deep breath and sighed. 'I'm, uh...I'm alright." I said, unconvincingly.

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Cause it seemed like you were fine up until we got to the...oh." Her eyes flashed with realization and I looked towards the ground.

God, was I that easy to read?

"What?" asked Yang. "Are you socially awkward?"

I shot her a glance. "Yeah..." I said. "Just a little."

Ruby only rolled her eyes and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You'll be alright. I mean, come on. You completely killed it while we were playing and that was your first time playing in front of at least five-hundred people."

"If you can handle that," Yang punched my shoulder playfully, nearly hitting Ruby's fingers. The small redhead quickly moved her hand out of the way and stuck her tongue out at her sister, but Yang ignored her. "I think you can handle talking with a couple of people who absolutely loved what you did." she continued.

I couldn't help but smile and blush a bit. I mean, here they were, experts in their craft, praising me on my talents. I couldn't have been prouder of myself.

Well, yes I could, but let's save that for later. Way later.

Anyway, I sat down on the floor with the girls and we chilled out for a bit. I also apologized to Weiss about being a human roadblock, but she just waved me off. Forgive and forget, I guess. Either that, or she just didn't care.

It took a while, but we finally heard the music of the closing band die off and the crowd erupt into only slightly muffled cheering. I swallowed thickly as me and the girls got up from the floor.

"Well," Ruby started, bending backwards to crack her back. "y'all ready meet the people?"

Weiss smirked and nodded, Yang threw up horns and stuck her tongue out, and I only nodded slightly. Junior then came out from in front of the cover and gave us a thumbs up.

"Go get 'em, girls."

I gotta say, if I thought a crowd was only a little intimidating during an adrenaline rush, imagine what I felt as I saw the long as fuck line right in front of our booth.

Jesus. Fucking. Lord.

"How in the hell do people stand in lines like this?!" was the one question running rampant in my mind. Seriously, the line looked like it was at least a mile long. Taking a seat at the table next to Ruby and Weiss, I was hit with sudden realization.

I was going to have to interact with so many people back to back in a long amount of time.

Someone end me.

One of the three security guards that was standing in front of our table started speaking to the line of people, but I was too focused on staring down at my hands on the table in my attempt to calm myself to care about what he was saying. It was then that a slightly pale and surprisingly warm hand reached over from my right and laid upon mine. I followed the hand to Ruby's worried looking face.

"Are you sure you're okay, Blake?" she asked quietly, genuine concern in her eyes.

I gave a short sigh and nodded. "I'll be alright." I said. "Just preparing myself."

Ruby smiled. "You got nothing to worry about. These guys are just normal people, just like us."

I smiled back and nodded again, but as I was turning my head to face forward, I felt her hand leave mine and brush a strand of my hair behind my ear. I instinctively jerked my head away and looked over at her, both of us looking surprised.

"Jesus." Ruby said, chuckling with her hands out in front of her. "Sorry. That one little strand of hair was bothering me."

I felt a slight blush creep onto my face and chuckled. "You scared the shit out of me." I said. "Warn a bitch first."

Ruby only laughed and looked forward towards the crowd. I looked forward as well, just in time to see the first person walk up towards the table, clutching a CD case in his hand

"Here we go." I thought to myself.

"You guys were amazing tonight!" The boy looked older than he really was, but I could tell from his voice than he had to be at least 15 or 16.

Ruby smiled at him. "I'm glad you liked it!" she said. She then gestured over to me. "So, how'd you like our new guitarist?" she asked.

The boy looked at me and I swear, I could see the excitement in his eyes. "You were awesome!' he said. "I honestly wish I could play as well as you can."

A smile crept onto my face. I immediately liked this kid.

"I'm flattered. Thank you." I said. "Just practice hard enough and you'll be an expert in no time."

The boy's smile broadened. "I've got a schedule for myself. I play for at least two hours every day after I get home from school."

My eyes widened a bit. Damn, this boy was committed.

"Very nice!" Weiss said, giving the boy a fist pound. "How long have you been playing?"

"I'm going on a year now!" The boy said just as the guard told him to have us sign his CD and move along.

"Oh, right!" he placed the CD case down in front of Yang. "Could you all sign this for me?" he asked.

"Sure can!" Yang said, uncapping the marker in front of her. She quickly scribbled her signature on the object before passing down to the rest of us.

When it came Ruby, she signed her name next to mine and Weiss' and asked, "So, who should we make this out to?"

"Richard!" The boy all but shouted his name. Ruby gave him a wink and wrote 'To Richard' on the CD case before handing it back to him. Richard's smile broadened as he said his thanks and walked away, staring at his signed CD.

Ruby chuckled and leaned towards me. "And you were worried you were gonna choke in front of him." she said with a smirk on her face.

I playfully elbowed her in the arm. "Shut up, you." I said with a smile on my face as our next fan walked up to the table.

The rest of the signing went by like a blur and I gotta say, I have no idea why I was nervous. Most of the people I talked to were amateur musicians or people who just really liked our music. They were fun to interact with and the girls and I were happy to sign whatever they had to take photos with them.

Everyone was a blast to talk to, but I have to say I had a favorite that night.

She was at the very end of the line. We had just gotten done taking a group photo with a couple of teens when she walked up with her friend. Her appearance kinda took me by surprise, seeing that you don't usually see people with one half of their hair dyed pink and the other half brown, which I assumed was her natural hair color. Her clothing kinda matched with her white and pink hoodie and dark colored pants. Appearances aside, she seemed like a cheerful person. Her companion, however, looked more like a mob boss than anything. At least, the white trench coat and bowler hat made it seem like it.

When they made their way over to the booth, one of the security guards had stopped the man as the girl went ahead. I couldn't hear the conversation they were having, but the girl walked over and smiled at us.

But, she didn't say anything.

I saw Ruby smile at the girl and stick her hand out of the girl to shake. "Hi!" she greeted her. "Did you like the show?"

The girl's broadened and she shook Ruby's hand, nodding vigorously. But, still, she said nothing. I found it a bit unsettling at first, since we were just kinda staring at each other for a few seconds. The girl gave a look at her friend, who was just now getting past security. She motioned her hand for him to hurry up, to which he just waved her off as he made his towards.

"Sorry for the wait, Neo." he said to the girl. The girl nodded and began talking with not her words, but with her hands.

"Your show was awesome tonight." her friend said, obviously translating what she was signing. "My name is Natalie, but my friends call me Neo."

I was a bit taken aback by this. I've never encounter someone who couldn't speak verbally. The girls, on the other hand, weren't exactly as surprised as I was.

"We're glad you liked it, Neo." Weiss said, smiling at the girl. "Who's your friend?"

Neo gestured to the man, to which he tipped his hat at us. "My name is Roman Torchwick, ladies." he said. "Miss Natalie was born with a strange defect, causing her to become mute. So, her family hired me as her sign language teacher and translator."

Neo rolled her eyes and began signing towards Roman. I couldn't tell what she was saying, but from her annoyed face and Roman muttering an apology afterward, I could tell she was getting on him for over-sharing.

Neo then turned towards us and began signing again. "Anyway," Roman translated. "I'm glad I finally got to see you guys in concert. I've been a fan ever since Fallout."

Ruby whistled. "Damn." she said. "Fallout's our second album. You've been a fan a long time."

Neo smiled. "I love your music." she said. "The way you guys play and the messages you portray in your music is captivating to me."

(A/N: I know it's Roman translating, but I was getting tired of saying "Roman translated" every time she said something.)

Ruby smiled and gestured over to me. "What'd you think about our new guitarist?" she asked.

Neo looked over at me, her pink and brown eyes deep in thought. "You played very well." she said. "Much better than the last guitarist." I was about to smile and nod, hearing this for the good amount of an hour, when she continued.

"Although, I could tell that you were a bit nervous when you were on stage." she said. "Was this the first concert you participated in?"

My smile faltered a little. "Uh...yeah." I said. "Ruby kinda just brought me in off the streets."

Neo cocked her head. "Like, right before the concert?" she asked.

I chuckled. "Nah, a few days before. I'm not that good."

"Bullshit!" Yang shouted, who had been surprisingly quiet this entire time. "You're amazing!"

Weiss glared over at her. "Please don't shout." she said. "That was right in my ear." Yang smiled wryly and shrugged and everyone chuckled while Weiss just rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," Neo said, turning back to me. "Despite your nervousness, you played very well. From what I've seen in past concerts, these girls like to let loose. Don't be afraid to do the same."

I smiled and nodded. "I'll be sure to do that." I said. "You just keep listening, ok?"

Neo smiled sweetly. "Can't do much else." she said. I didn't know if she meant that as a joke or not, so I just kept smiling.

Neo then reached into the pocket of her hoodie and pulled out her phone, handing it to Roman. Roman nodded and we took the hint and and into position to take a photo. I stood next to Ruby on the right side of Neo while Yang and Weiss stood on her left. All of us flashing smiles, a thing it seemed we couldn't stop doing, as the flash from her phone fell on us. The moment now captured, Neo skipped over to Roman to check out the photo. Seeming satisfied, she smiled at us and waved goodbye, her eyes still glued to her phone as she walked away.

And that's where I'm gonna end it for right now, everyone. I hoped you enjoyed reading this chapter as I did writing it. This time, a song request isn't necessary. But, if you do feel like requesting one, go ahead. I've been getting a lot of them and they seem pretty good. Be sure to follow and favorite if you're new and leave your thoughts and questions in the review section. As always, see you on the flip side, my fellow readers! Peace!