All it takes is the right lighting, or in Katie's case the right lighting guy... behind-the-scenes concert romance - complete fluff - One Shot

The Right Lighting

"Eat up guys!" Ruth called above the conversation. "Doors open in 27 minutes."

"Whoohoo." Kate grabbed her paper plate and glanced at the guy who was tearing the lids off of pizza boxes. She felt an odd tremble run through her body as she recognized him immediately, but she shook it off. She had to pretend indifference. Had to be casual. Pretend that she remembered him vaguely and that she liked what she remembered, but not that she had recited every line of their conversations and day dreamed about his blue eyes and the way they had shown when he talked about something he was passionate about, like his lights and his nephew and how much he enjoyed doing crazy things. She had to remember to act like he didn't intrigue her, like she hadn't thought of him nearly every day in the month since she'd met him.

She grabbed a slice of pepperoni pie and a soda before she hurried back to her seat. The room was crowded with musicians, sound techs, radio station volunteers and more people like herself who worked for the production company. She always marveled at how so many people who didn't know each other could work together so effectively to put together a concert of this magnitude. They did build relationships over time. She knew all of the regular volunteers by name and she'd even spent enough time with a few of the artists to warrant a phone call now and then and a card for Christmas. But it was amazing as well how one person could be hidden in the crowd. She hadn't know Jackson existed until he'd needed extra hands on stage while he climbed the catwalks and lowered the ropes which she had hooked onto the motors that suspended the two ton lighting system. They hadn't talked much while they were working, but as the night wore down they had both ended up in the lounge. He'd been napping in the corner when she ducked in to make a phone call. They talked undisturbed until a crush of crew arrived and it was time to tear down the set, then he had run one way and she another and that was the last...

"Hey."

"Katie jumped.

"You alright?" Jackson set his plate next to hers and perched on a cooler that he tugged up to the table.

"Yeah." She smiled. "Just startled me, that's all."

"How's your day job?" He took a sloppy bite of pizza.

"Fine." Katie swallowed her soda trying to hide her delight. He remembered! "How about your nephew?"

His smile softened. His sister had died in a car crash several years before and left behind a young son. "Awesome. Got Halloween pictures!" He stood and retrieved his wallet from his back pocket. "Little Harry Potter."

Katie grinned. "He's awfully cute." Jackson nodded.

"That's Joseph?" A woman across the table questioned.

"Yeah." He handed the photo to her.

"Oh, he's grown!"

"Katie, I need you out front." Ruth tapped her shoulder. "We had a couple of no shows on merch girls and I need you to cover table three."

"Alright." Jackson was busy in conversation with several volunteers. She dumped her trash in the black bag taped to the end of the table and dug her staff pass from her pocket before she left the backstage circled the outer edge of the arena until she found her table. Five minutes later the doors flew opened and the crowd came swarming inside bringing with them the noise and adrenaline to fuel the evening.

- -

"Whatcha doing?"

Katie felt Jackson's newly familiar voice pull her from her own thoughts. "Hey." She smiled up at him as he crossed the lobby and approached her.

"Hi." He stuffed his hands in his pockets then stood watching her fold t-shirts.

Katie observed him out of the corner of her eye for a few minutes. He rocked a bit on his feet but otherwise didn't move. "You having a good night?" She asked finally.

"Yeah." He twisted his arms a bit. "Tired. We won't get out of here until 1 or 2."

"The lights are beautiful." Katie gave him a full grin.

"Wanna see something cool?" He was suddenly ready to move.

"Huh?" She smoothed another t-shirt.

"Come on. I wanna show you something."

"Okay?" She felt a bit confused, she'd been stuck behind the merchandise table without a single customer for the past forty-five minutes since the concert started.

"Lynn?" Jackson called to the woman behind the next table. "Can you watch this booth for a couple minutes?" When she nodded he took off.

"Stay close now." He instructed Katie just before they entered the stadium through a side door. She followed in his wake as Jackson pushed through the crowd. They wound their way up the steps, snaking around people who hadn't bothered to find seats. The music was loud and pulsing, until he pulled her inside a door that was marked off limits. She was glad for a minute to catch her breath when they paused at the landing of another steep flight of stairs. He pulled a radio off of his belt. "I'm coming up, Dean."

The radio crackled its' response.

"Yup." Jackson slipped it back onto his belt. He started climbing again and Katie followed him in the dusky light from a few lamps built into the floor until his found his flashlight and they climbed faster. The door at the top opened onto a small balcony that overlooked the whole arena.

"Wow." Katie took a step back letting the sight overwhelm her for a moment before she moved up to the rail and watched the thousands of people writhing below them. Colors, sounds and lights all swirled in front of her in a crazy kaleidoscope that made her heart pound and her eyes swim.

Jackson grinned. "You haven't seen anything yet." He rested his hand on her arm and lead her to a gate on far side of the balcony which she hadn't initially noticed. The next thing she knew she was standing on a metal grate hundreds of feet above the screaming crowd. Her stomach lurched and she felt his grip tighten on her arm. "You alright?"

"Yeah." She took a breath calming herself and taking another step onto the catwalk.

"Hold onto the rail if you want to." He spoke close to her ear.

"Okay." She felt much better but she wasn't sure if it came from touching solid steel or from the warmth of his hand on her arm. They stopped in the center letting the darkness surrounded them when he stuffed his flashlight in his pocket. The living organism below them continued to move, growing and receding with the music. Katie glanced at Jackson taking in his shadowy profile. He turned to her but looked away quickly when he found her watching him. "The lights are beautiful. I can see why you love it so much." She was standing on a foot wide bridge across an expanse of nothing but air and light and in that moment nothing existed outside of air and light except for the two of them. She gently peeled his fingers from her arm noting the disappointment on his face before she slipped her hand into his, wrapping her fingers around his hand as they sat down, swinging their feet through the railing. The lights hung on the trusses below them turned and blinked with expert timing. "I can't believe you climb around up here all the time.

"They brought a guy to run them this time." Jackson explained. "We just had to set them up according to specifications."

"That's not easy is it?" She really was interested but she had a feeling that she could have listened to anything he said and still would not be able to remember it later.

He shrugged. "I've been doing it all my life."

She watched the display below them for a moment, the artist on the stage so far away and the circle of milling bodies piled directly in front of it. Then she turned to watch him as he blurted out.

"You know you're not supposed to kiss on the first date?"

"Yeah." Katie laughed and glanced away. "I've heard that."

"I was thinking maybe we could pretend this is the second date?"

Katie felt her head snap back upright. She could feel her face flushing. "Second date?"

"Yeah." He sounded as nervous as she felt.

"Does that mean you're asking me on a third?" Both of their hands were tense as they lay between them still looped together.

"Yeah." He nodded.

Katie couldn't keep the smile from her face as she watched the kids below them whirling glow sticks in circles. "Yeah." She looked up in time to catch a grin that sent shivers straight to her gut. Everything seemed to be stuck in slow motion. The metal grating dug into her legs. The lights turned from purple to green. She felt like her insides were flipping somersaults until he took both of her hands and she felt his lips brush softly against hers. In the middle of a thousand deafening screams the only sound she could hear was the whisper of his breath in her ear.

Author's Notes:

Yes, I am still lurking around FP. I hope to update my profile soon as very little of the information on it is relevant anymore. Writing has become very difficult for me. My job is requiring a lot of energy and attention and that leaves very little left over to fuel creative process. I was very happy that this little piece just happened to come about! There is hope for my writer's soul!

I have been struggling to start a new project titled The Good Girls' Guide to Bad Boys. I have written and re-written the first chapter and plotline at least a dozen times. It's a brilliant idea and I want the work to be worthy of it! It may or may not be posted in the next few months.

Hope you are well! Happy reading.

kree