21. Dylan
21
DYLAN
T he last day of the festival wasn’t looking much more sunny. Mumbles of complaints sounded all around, but I didn’t pay attention. The rain was nice. We were out in nature, anyway. Who were we to complain about the elements? It was like someone coming into your house and complaining about how you arranged your spices. Not cool.
“Are you guys staying in the tent?” Brad asked, looking around at everyone as we huddled under the cover of the rain.
Not my decision, of course.
Shane sighed. “I don’t know. You can hear from here.”
“Nah, I’m going out. It’s cool, a little rain never hurt,” Theo said with a shrug. Charlie just nodded along beside him.
Whether he agreed, Charlie would probably go along with wherever Theo was going. Like hell he wanted to be cooped up with Shane and Alex all day long. Who could blame him? They might have enjoyed each other’s company, but they could make our lives hell with all their arguing.
“I can’t get enough,” I said, smiling a little. “I’ll be sad to leave…sad when it’s over.”
Brad looked at me in this sort of unidentifiable way. Like he wanted to say something, or maybe like a thought was on the tip of his tongue.
“And we all know Brad goes where Dylan goes,” Jason cut in, grinning like an idiot as usual.
“Shut up.” Brad laughed. The tips of his ears turned a slight shade of pink, like he was embarrassed.
“Half tempted to go to a hotel…” Alex said, humming.
We all knew it wasn’t for his own sake. Alex didn’t care about things like that — he was happy to go along for the ride. He was trying to keep Shane happy, trying to find a solution everyone might enjoy.
“Y’all figure it out. I’m gonna go hang.” I swallowed the last bite of my apple and took off out of the tent. It was way too crowded in there, anyway.
They could spend forever just bickering over random shit, or trying to figure out their plans. We were at a rock festival. How much more of a plan did you need? Maybe they just needed something to fill the silence, needed to make things busy and keep things moving. It didn’t matter what they did. If they left and went to explore the rest of Berlin, cool. I was here, and that was more than enough.
There were still so many cool bands to see and so many things I wanted to hear. All these seasoned musicians playing and being just so into their music, it was infectious. Just being in their presence felt like I could absorb even a small dose of their talent. Or at least their enthusiasm. I couldn’t do all that much with their talent. It didn’t even matter what stage I ended up at, there was this air of incredible energy.
I didn’t even need to look behind me to know that Brad was following. Maybe some people laughed at that and thought it was like a puppy, that he was lost without me, but I knew better. Brad could handle himself — he just wanted to spend time with me. He wasn’t obligated.
The rain fell in a hazy mist more than actual drops, but it made everything all damp and my hair kept sticking to my face. As I walked closer to the stages, the sight of a familiar face greeted me. Long hair, a few faint, worn lines on his face, sharp jawline, and this aura of something I could only describe as presence around him.
Holy shit. One of my favorite drummers of all time halted me in my tracks.
“Brad…holy shit, do you know who that is?” I asked, probably staring rudely.
But when I turned, Brad wasn’t there.
I blinked, looking around for a moment, like maybe something had just held him up for a moment, but no sign of Brad. He hadn’t come with.
A lump formed in my throat. Why had I even assumed he would, anyway? That was stupid. I’d been taking it for granted that he did so often.
Even as I recognized it, however, a strange sense of loss crept in. Maybe I needed to get used to it.
Turning back, shaking off the disappointment, I approached the drummer. “Hey…uh, I’m a big fan. Looking forward to seeing you play.” Normally, I didn’t get star struck. I was used to LA, used to sometimes catching sight of famous people — or at least moderately known people. None of that bothered me, not unless it was someone who I’d admired for this long.
He smiled at me, this blinding smile that made my heart pound. “Well, thank you. I’m looking forward to having you see us,” he winked. There was something about an English accent.
I couldn’t help but smile, staring after him in complete wonder as he walked off.
Holy shit.
Did that just happen?
“What’s up? You look…strange,” Brad said, appearing a couple of hours later.
My stomach knotted. What had kept him? “Stranger than usual?”
His lips twitched in amusement. “No trick questions….just strange.”
“Doesn’t narrow it down much, then. You know who I met?” I couldn’t hold it in. It wasn’t my place to ask where he’d been, because then it implied I expected him to just be there all the time. By my side. Maybe he had something to do, maybe he wasn’t feeling great. Some things were maybe better left unsaid.
I told him about the encounter, recounting it with a more vivid memory than I had in any of my midterms. Brad’s smile faltered only once, when I mentioned how hot the drummer was, but then he laughed and it was a little too loud.
“Dude, congrats. You’ve met your idol. And he knows you exist!” He clapped me on the shoulder again.
I laughed. “I know. Come on, I want to be in a good place to see the stage.”
Without thinking about it, I took his hand. It was warm, and this soothing sensation flowed through me as I led him through the crowd, weaving my way through raindrops and bodies to make it closer to the stage. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Theo and Charlie, but they didn’t look like they were in a hurry to get anywhere.
We found ourselves near a speaker, and Brad crowded in beside me. From where we stood, it felt weirdly hidden, but it was kind of nice.
A sudden clap of thunder jolted us in our spots. Was it a good idea to be standing so close to the stage and speaker in the middle of a thunderstorm? Then again, dying in the middle of a rock concert in a storm? Couldn’t get much cooler than that.
The clouds burst open, and the rain suddenly poured down, taking over from the misty dampness from before. I shivered, and a laugh bubbled out of my throat before I could help it. Instantly I was drenched, and Brad looked at the sky like it betrayed him. I closed my eyes, the cool drops of water and a chill wind slipping through the crowd.
This felt like life.
Brad’s arms circled around my waist, and he pulled me close. His lips pressed against mine, warm despite the rain. I could taste the salt on him, and I clutched his shirt desperately as he kissed me. I leaned into it, savoring the way it felt to have him pressed so close.
Had he been wanting to do that for a while? I’d been thinking of everything else, but somewhere in the back of my mind, it felt so right to stand there kissing him. Even with the rain threatening to drown us, even with the threat of thunder as it crashed overhead. Everything just felt so perfectly right.
Plus, I could mark off being kissed in the rain from my bucket list.