"Thank you, Los Angeles! Goodnight!" I exclaimed into the microphone as the lights started to dim down and Charlie's guitar still faded off. Charlie and Adam started throwing the remainder of their guitar picks at the crowd and Ashley threw both of her drum sticks. I smiled as they joined me for a bow in the middle of the large stage. The crowd was going wild, screaming and jumping at our feet. 

   We all filed off into the dim backstage. I could still hear the cheering and chanting for one more song, but that was it. That was our encore we just performed. They couldn't really expect us to perform all night, could they? Well, I would if my manager would allow it. But apparently sleep is  kind of important.

   "Good show, good show," we heard the crew say around us, patting us on our sweaty backs and clapping. 

   "Thanks, thank you," I replied back, still beaming from my performance high. My voice was a little raspy, I would have to make some hot tea when we get inside the bus. But first, we help roadies.

   "Get that amp, man." Charlie told Adam, pointing to one of the large amps a roadie had set off to the side. 

   "I can't carry that all by myself, dude! A little help, Sammy?" Adam turned to me with a pleading look.

   I sighed, slinging my guitar case over my back. "Alright, lift on three. One, two,"

   "Three!" Adam used all of his strength to lift the thing off the ground so I could get my hands underneath. 

   All four of us lent a hand to pack all the equipment up with the roadies. Even though we were rock stars, we wanted to help with everything we could. Plus, it helped speed the process along. It only took about an hour to get the last of it packed up, and before we knew it we were back on the road.

   "How's your throat, Sammy?" Charlie asked, handing me my tea from the microwave.

   I took the mug and set it on the tabletop. "A little scratchy, but I'm sure it'll be fine by morning. Thanks," I said with a weak smile.

   Ashley took a seat next to me, already in her pajamas, and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "Well, it's a good thing that was our last concert for our tour, huh?" she gave me one of her signature bright smiles. Ash is always so positive. She could perk us all up even on our worst days.

   "So, Samantha, what are you going to do for your Christmas break?" Adam yelled from the bathroom.

   "Adam, what did we say about trying to talk to us from the bathroom? We don't want to make conversation with someone taking a dump!" Ash exclaimed right back at him.

   "I'm not taking a , Ash! Jeez," we suddenly heard the toilet flush and the door opened. "If I was I'd be making a bunch of constipated noises to gross you guys out."

   "Sick! That's so gross, Adam." I said, taking a sip from my tea.

   Charlie slid into the booth across from me. "So what are you doing for our break?" he asked.

   I shrugged, taking another drink. "I was thinking about spending it in Korea."

   All three of them raised an eyebrow at me. "Seriously, Sam?" Adam said.

   "Why do you want to spend it alone so far away? You know you're always welcome at my place for Christmas, my family loves you." Charlie said with a soft expression, clearly worried about me being far away.

   "No, no, no, I don't want to burden you and your family like that. Besides, I want to visit my mom's grave, put some garland and other Christmas-y stuff around it. She would like that." I said, looking down at my mug.

   Ash squeezed me closer to her. "Want me to go with you? I would need to come back for the holidays, but I'll stay with you until then."

   I gave our little blonde drummer a smile. "No, I think I'll fly solo on this one, thanks Ash. Besides, I have friends there that I want to say hi to that I haven't seen in a long time."

   Ashley gave me a small smile and nodded. "Ok, but if you need us for anything, we'll be on the first flight out there." the other two boys nodded in agreement.

   "When are you going?" Adam asked.

   I checked the calendar on my phone. "I guess sometime next week. I'll have Manager Gavin book my flight and hotel room tomorrow." 

   Charlie nodded and took my hand in his. "We'll miss our little princess."

   I snatched my hand away. "Yeah right! You'll all be enjoying your time at home in Washington back at the cabin, enjoying some nice spiked cider and eggnog, bundled up next to the fire watching Home Alone, while I'm all alone in freezing South Korea in my hotel suite!" I stuck my tongue out at them.

   Adam mussed up my hair and laughed. "You know we will!" 

   "We'll get one of Adam's blow up dolls and put a brown wig on it and call it Samantha!" Ashley teased.

   "I wouldn't touch my blow up dolls if I were you." Adam warned.

   Ash, Charlie, and I all groaned in disgust and made puking sounds, pushing Adam away from us.

                                                                                       ~~~

   "I'm fine, Charlie," I said through the phone as I made my way to the other side of the room. I drew back the curtains of the large window and took in the scene before me. How long has it been since I'd seen Seoul like this?

   "I'm just making sure you touched down safely and that you made it to the hotel safely-"

   "I'm perfectly safe! Charlie, would you please calm your ? It's just South Korea, not North Korea with all the supposed nukes and communism. I'm in my nice, safe, warm suite." I walked away from the window and plopped myself down on the king sized bed. The sheets felt silky under my touch. I can't wait to fall asleep tonight.

   "Okay, okay, you can't blame me for worrying! It's my job as eldest of the group to watch out for all the members. Especially the lead singer."

   I sighed and fell back against the pillows. God, they were so fluffy and inviting. I shut my eyes and listened to him. "Mhmm."

   "And be careful of being seen out in public. Watch for paparazzi and crazy fans."

   "Mhmm,"

   "Sam?"

   "Mhmm,"

   "Samantha, are you even listening to me?"

   I groaned and sat up. "Charlie, are you even listening to yourself? Paparazzi? Crazy fans? I'm not in the U, S, of A, we don't have that many international fans yet. Palindrome has only been famous for a couple of years. Until we're gone on a world tour, I'm not going to worry about it."

   I heard Charlie sigh on the other line. "Alright then, you're right. Just...be-"

   "Safe, I know. I will be."

   "Good..." Charlie paused, then asked, "So what are you doing for the rest of the day?"

   I leaned back against the pillows again. "Hmm, not sure. I might go downtown, do a little shopping, get a bite to eat,  then go to bed early. Nothing too exciting, if that pleases you."

   Charlie chuckled. "It pleases me if it pleases you, Princess. When are you going to see those friends of yours you said you had?"

   "Tomorrow, probably. I really do miss them. They helped me a lot to get where I am now. I owe them a lot." I smiled to myself, remembering the good times I had with my boys.

   "Well have fun. I'm sure Adam will get around to calling you sometime with some comments, and I'm sure Ashley has been texting you all day."

   "Yep, the plane ride was my only time of peace and quiet from her."

   "She misses you. You two are like sisters."

   I smiled, thinking of mine and Ash's adventures together as the females in the group. Stopping the bus during a tour for tampons, getting our own dressing room, driving the two guys crazy by insisting that if we have to wear eye make up for a photo shoot they do too. "We are, aren't we?"

   "Well, Charles, I'll be letting you go now, I'm going to unpack a few things to make my stay a bit more comfortable." I said, rolling off the bed and ping one of my suitcases.

   "Okay, call me if you need anything."

   "Will do." We hung up and I went on to unpacking.

                                                                                          ~~~

   I learned that Block B moved out of their old dorm and into a newer, better one, so visiting the place we used to stay would be pointless. Maybe I should call Junhyung-oppa, I thought, taking out my cellphone and looking for his number.

   "Yoboseyo?" Junhyung answered.

   "Junhyung-oppa!" I exclaimed into the phone excitedly.

   "Sam, how are you? I haven't seen you in, what? Two years? How's your career?" he asked.

   "I'm fine, and my band and I just finished our tour. I'm staying here for the rest of our Holiday break." I paused, trying to think of a way to bring up the boys.

   "Well, you know the guys just came out with a new album not too long ago."

   I raised my eyebrows. "Really? I didn't know that. I guess I've just been busy with my own music that I haven't really been caught up with the K-pop scene..." I paused again. "So, how are they?"

   "They're fine. They've been pretty busy, what with the new album and filming Match Up again. They've actually been having a hard time since you left with the media. They had this misunderstanding in Thailand..."

   I groaned. "Seriously? Poor guys. I guess they really are a wreak without me, huh?"

   Junhyung chuckled. "I guess so. Hey, you should come into the studio and see them. They'll be working on dance today so you can come in and teach them a thing or two."

   I let out a sneer. "Yeah right, I have as much rhythm as a Silverback Gorilla. But I would love to swing by and say hi. To tell you the truth, that's all I really want."

   "I'm sure they'll be excited to see you."

   And with that, we said our goodbyes and hung up. I smiled to myself, overly excited to see my boys once again.

                                                                                  ~~~

   I strolled into the Stardom building and was automatically recognized by the woman at the front desk. 

   "Samantha! What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in forever." she said with a smile as she stood to greet me.   

   I smiled back at her and waved. "I came to visit. Is that okay? Is Block B here yet?"

   She nodded enthusiastically and showed me the way to the dance studio. I graciously thanked her and ducked into the room. I tip toed in, watching the boys slave over the dance floor, moving in synch. I took a seat on one of the benches, looking over to the choreographer. He glanced at me, smiling, then looking away. I guess he was too busy observing.

   I watched all of them. They all looked different. Kyung now had flaming red hair like U-Kwon used to have, U-Kwon now had dark brown hair (as well as B-Bomb), Jaehyo's hair had grown longer and he had it in a ponytail, Zico's and P.O.'s hair was both strikingly blonde, and Taeil's hair was all curly with a bandana wrapped around his head.

   I suppose I had changed some too. The last time they saw me I was this mousy teenage girl with long brown hair that was always in a messy bun that wore sneakers and shorts and yoga pants everywhere. But now my hair was chopped messily to my shoulders and a thick fringe, a had a few tattoos now (I'm sure Jaehyo and Taeil would love that), but my wardrobe sure hadn't changed. No one could take away my love of sneakers and t-shirts.

   "Alright guys, take a break," I heard the choreographer say right as the music cut off.

   The guys all groaned out of exhaustion, a few of them collapsing on the floor and just lying there. I watched as they dispersed their separate ways, gushing water and panting.

   I stood and walked onto the center of the floor where U-Kwon had collapsed and stayed there. I sat down next his head. His eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily. I blew on his face, seeing if he would open his eyes, but all he did was make an annoyed sound and cringe. I tried flicking his nose, but he just swatted my hand away.

   "Stop it," he stated, sounding very tired and cranky.

   "Oh, someone's a bit cranky, aren't we?" I said to him and ruffled his sweaty hair.

   U-Kwon's eyes snapped open and he bolted up to sitting. He stared wide eyed at me, like he had seen a ghost or something. I guess that ghost was me. "S-Sam?!" he exclaimed, quite astonished.

   Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to us. Before anyone could say or do anything, U-Kwon flashed his bright, ear to ear smile and tackled me, throwing me onto my back.

   "Sam! You're back! I thought you left us forever," he exclaimed, still holding me tightly.

   "Jeez, Kwonnie, you act like I've been gone for a lifetime. It's only been a couple of years." I said, patting his back, trying to get him to let me go.

   "But it seems like a lifetime!" Zico said, him and the others bounding towards me.

   "Dog pile on Sam!" Jaehyo exclaimed, and suddenly I'm surrounded by all of them. A sweaty, stinky, man pile. 

   "Get off of me! You're crushing me, and you're all sweaty and gross!" I squealed from underneath Kyung.

   "Hey look, I knew someday you'd be under me." Kyung smirked.

   I threw him a nasty glare. "Ha-ha," I said very dryly. "Get the hell off of me before I go Hulk on all of you!"

   They all rolled off of me and I straightened myself out. We all sat in a circle as I began my tales of my life in a rock band and my life on the road with the recent tour. "It was pretty hectic. We played over a hundred shows in one year. It was crazy." I said, taking a few pictures from my satchel to show. "These are my bandmates. Gather around me, I'll tell you what's happening in each one."

   They all gathered around me, pressing up against me like eager preschoolers. "Ok," I flipped to the first one. "This is us at our first show in Seattle. We all live there so we decided to kick off our tour there." The picture depicted Charlie, Adam, Ashley, and me all posing crazily in front of our tour bus. "That's Charlie, our lead guitarist,"  I pointed to the tattooed guitarist, his brown hair all mussed and spiky, his beard just starting to grow in. "He's older than all of us, being twenty-nine. He's like the older brother of the band.

   "That's Ashley, but we just call her Ash; she's our drummer," I pointed to the short little blonde, her pixie cut hair was practically glowing in the dusk light. "We're the same age and the only girls, so we're the closest."

   "And that douchebag is Adam, our bassist," I pointed to Adam, who had jumped in the air just in time for the snapshot, middle finger raised high in the air and tongue hanging out of his mouth. He had finally perfected his mohawk that day and he was very proud of it, considering he took about two hours on it. "He thinks he's so badass and hot , but he's really just an idiot." I said with a smirk. "He's the second oldest and thinks he's invincible. During one of our shows he put down his bass and nose dived from the stage into the crowd. He sprained his wrist but he was okay to continue the rest of the show."

   I felt someone start to play with my hair, so I turned and saw Jihoon kneeling behind me, looking over my shoulder at the pictures. "Hey, you," I said with a smile.

   "You're different," P.O. said suddenly. "Not just your physical appearance, but...I don't know what."

   I furrowed my brow. "I don't know what you mean."

   P.O. shook his head. "Nevermind, maybe it's because I haven't seen you in so long."

   I shrugged. "Maybe..." Suddenly he smiled at me. It wasn't some awkward little smile that you give people you look at out of acknowledgement, but a heartfelt one. It's like our past together didn't even happen, it's like we had started over again. It felt nice. I smiled back, and in that moment I knew that we were on good terms.

   I heard footsteps walk heavily into the room . I looked up to see Taeil standing there, mouth hung open in awe. I suddenly realized that he had not been in the room this entire time. My heart jumped inside my chest at first sight of him. Our eyes met. My stomach flapped with a thousand butterflies.

   "Taeil hyung! Our Sammie is back!" Jihoon said excitedly behind me.

   Taeil moved slowly to our group in the center of the floor. "What's going on?" he asked suspiciously.

   "Sam's showing us pictures of her band. Come look," Zico said, holding up a picture of Adam mooning the camera, his pressed against one of the window from inside the bus. 

   "When did you get here?" Taeil asked me.

   I swallowed the huge lump that had formed in my throat. "Just a few minutes ago." We continued to stare at each other for a few seconds, until he decided to take a seat next to Jaehyo and take interest in my pictures. "Why are there so many of this guy's ?"

   I chuckled. "That's Adam, he has an obsession with his . I think it's because he is one." Everyone laughed at my remark, but I wasn't too focused on everyone. All I could see and hear from that moment was Taeil. 

   After ten minutes of laughing and reminiscing and telling stories, the boys had to get back to work. I gathered my things and went to the door. "I'll see you guys tonight! One of you text me later to see where we're going to eat." They nodded and I made my way out.

   I wasn't even halfway down the hallway when I heard the door open and close again. I turned to see Taeil coming towards me. "Taeil? What are you doing?"

   He didn't respond to me. He walked right up to me, placed his hand on the nape of my neck, and pressed his lips against mine.

   I gasped against his lips, my eyes wide with surprise. My heart skipped a beat, and forget butterflies, the whole mother ing zoo was in my stomach. My eyelids fluttered shut as I embraced his affection. 

   He pulled away, looking down at me, his brow furrowed. "Why would you do this to me?" he asked somewhat painfully.

   I looked at him, confusion in my eyes. "Do what?"

   "Just leave for so long and then suddenly come back like this."

   "I'm sorry. My band is taking some time off for the holidays so I thought I'd come visit you guys. I miss my boys." I gave him a little smile. "I'm guessing you missed me too by that little kiss you just gave me..." I bit my bottom lip and looked down.

   He sighed and wrapped his arms around me. "Well duh."

   I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him back.

   And after all this time, we were still into each other.

Do you like my little Paramore reference at the end there? ;) I love that song.

Anyways, please comment and subscribe! I love, love, love getting feedback!!!!! PLEASE D: