Somebody I Don't Know : Book 1 of the Teeth Series

5

The roar of the crowd was practically deafening as Fallon jumped from her left foot to her right and back again, trying her best to psych herself up and get ready to give the best performance she was capable of in front of the Ohio crowd. Beside her, Chayse, Wesley, and Erin were mimicking her actions, each of them full of first show jitters and dying of anticipation until their cue from the stage manager came and they took the stage to a raucous crowd cheering them on.

They didn't give the fans any further delay, starting things off with a few fan favorites and a cover of Dancing with a Stranger before they took a few minutes break to address the crowd. Their cover had been at Fallon's request. A subtle dig after the 5SOS boys had done it for a radio station and stirred up rumors about when she and Calum had broken up, that she was the one responsible. She might be partially responsible, but he was the one who had left and she was fucking tired of taking all the blame.

"How are we feeling out there tonight O-HI-O?" Erin yelled into her microphone and the crowd responded in a mass of sound. Fallon stepped to the side of the stage and grabbed a bottle of water off the amplifier, taking a large gulp and a moment to clear her head before they moved on to their next song. The song she had written almost two years prior, the song that everyone knew was about Calum.

She had begged the rest of the band to remove it from the set list, pleading with them that this tour was hard enough as it is without having to play the song that hurt the most. Unfortunately for Fallon she was overruled. The Only Exception was their biggest hit to date and so that meant that no matter how uncomfortable it made her to sing the song she had written about her ex, cutting it from the set wasn't really an option.

A guitar technician brought out an acoustic guitar for both Erin and Chayse who moved back a bit as Fallon's spot on stage was illuminated by a spotlight. Her bandmates shot her nervous glances that did nothing to help boost her confidence as she took a cleansing breath and stared out into the crowd, trying to turn off her brain that was daring to wash her away with a wave of memories. She tried to pretend the words were just words, like they didn't mean anything but they did. She'd written the song during one of the happiest times in her life, now she was at quite possibly her lowest moment and the words that had once seemed so infallible were now just the cherry on top of the shit sundae that was this tour.

She made it through the first verse fine. Her voice warbly but not giving up, pushing through to the next one.

Maybe I know somewhere deep in my soul
That love never lasts.
And we've got to find other ways to make it alone.
Or keep a straight face.

And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable distance.
And up until now I have sworn to myself
That I'm content with loneliness.

Because none of it was ever worth the risk.

Well you are the only exception.
You are the only exception.
You are the only exception.
You are the only exception.

I've got a tight grip on reality,
But I can't let go of what's in front of me here.
I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up.
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream.

You are the only exception.
You are the only exception.
And I'm on my way to believing.
Oh, and I'm on my way to believing.

By the time she had finished singing her eyes were glassy and her bottom lip quivered. She turned her back to the crowd and looked up, hoping to blink back the tears daring to spill out and calm down her shaking hands that she would need to finish out their set. At least all the other songs she sang on, it was only a verse or two. That song had been too personal to let Erin sing, though now she wished she would have never pushed to be the one to take lead vocal on it.

Erin caught her eye and seemed to realize that she needed a second so instead of Fallon speaking into the mic like they had planned for Erin stepped forward and spoke to the crowd.

"Ohio you look and sound beautiful out there. We are so excited to be blessed with the opportunity to play for you tonight and right now I want to take a moment to introduce you to the members of Revelry! My name is Erin Harding, to my right we have on lead guitar the beautiful Chayse Connell."

Erin paused for a minute to let Chayse play a riff and enjoy the spotlight for a moment before moving on to Wes.

"In the back on drums we have Miss Wesley Grant."

Wesley, ever the show off, burst into an over the top drum solo that had Fallon laughing watching her friends intense facial expressions. The girl loved what she did.

"And to my left we have my annoying, but lovable, little sister, Fallon Harding!"

Fallon waved to the crowd and then played a quick bass riff trying to ignore the voice in her head reminding her of who exactly had taught her that specific riff.

She couldn't help it, she spent the rest of the show lost in thoughts of Calum and knowing good and well the sadness was easily viewed on her face. Social media was sure to have a field day with that but fans were the least of her worries at that moment. Fallon wanted nothing more than to get back to the dressing room and far away from backstage. If Calum wasn't there already he would be soon and she wanted to avoid seeing him if at all possible, especially if he had heard the songs off their new album. He'd know how many of them were about him and she was nowhere near ready for him to address that yet.

As the girls came off stage, Fallon shoved her bass into the waiting hands of her tech moving quickly towards the hall that led to their green room. She heard the girls calling out to her from backstage but she ignored them, shoving through the metal door and straight into something hard and solid.

It took her a moment to register that the something was actually a someone and, because the universe hated her, of course it was Calum. By the time she had realized what had happened he had already prevented her from falling, his fingers laced around her wrists and his calloused palms rubbing against her soft skin as he righted her on her feet.

He didn't release his grip on her right away, both of them needing a moment to recover from the unexpected encounter and to try and form words. Fallon seemed to have forgotten the entirety of the English language as Calum's brown eyes stared at her but she finally forced out, "your hair's blue."

Fallon wanted to facepalm. Could she have been any more embarrassing?

"Yours is pink." He said back, his expression was unreadable and flat.

"It suits you." God, could someone shut her up. Not that her statement wasn't true, the blue really did suit him, though she doubted she would ever love any hairstyle as much as she had loved it when they'd first met. The curls on top and shaved sides, really any hair styles he'd had involving his curls were her favorites and she had been disappointed to find out he'd cut his hair short for their new era.

"Yours as well. I, um, I gotta go." He nodded in the direction to the stage and she seemed to suddenly remember where they were, stepping aside to let him pass her as he made his way to the side stage steps and grabbed his bass from their tech.

Retreating back to the green room had lost all of its appeal so instead Fallon took a spot standing next to her sister as the boys played through their set. They were so talented it wasn't fair and they had helped her and the other girls out so much with advice and insight the last time they had shared a tour. Fallon doubted that dynamic would be present this time though, since she and Calum could barely stand to look at each other.

Half way through the set Luke called for Erin to join them onstage. Fallon hadn't known her sister was dueting with them but then again she had pretty much dealt with the lead up to the tour by blocking out anything that was said about it. Even just standing and listening proved to be too much and when Erin returned back offstage Fallon quietly told her that she was heading back to the bus.

An: this is FINALLY my main story now so updates will be every other day beginning on Tuesday! I can't wait to share Calum & Fallon's full story with you. I hope you love them as much as I do already.

Ily,
Sav 🖤