Chapter 15: Show Time

We were finally in New York and BTS would be performing at Citi Field. It was such a huge milestone for them to have a stadium show, a sold out one at that. Much to my excitement and chagrin, Namjoon asked for me to join them during this concert. I was a nervous wreck even though I had practiced everything a million times. I would sing "Euphoria" with Jungkook just like we had at the beach, but I was keeping my solo song a secret. I wanted the boys to hear it for the first time on that stage, the same time as their fans.

For the time being, Taehyung and I had gone back to acting normal around each other but I knew our feelings would have to be addressed sooner or later. At the moment I was in a separate practice room from the boys, getting a few last run-through's of my solo song in before the concert tomorrow night. I wanted it to be absolutely perfect. I finished my practice, feeling mostly satisfied and headed to the practice room next door. I popped in the room as they were still practicing the choreography for "Anpanman" and sat on the floor, watching.

They finished practicing and Jungkook came and sat next to me, drinking from his water bottle. "So, are you ready for tomorrow?" He asked with a grin. "As ready as I can be." I responded, feeling like I'd done all I could to prepare. Namjoon came up to us and said, "We are going to go out to a really nice dinner since we are here in New York." "Oh! Well, I guess we should all go and get rid of this sweat then." Jungkook said. I smiled and asked, "Where are we going?" "Balthazar." Namjoon answered. "Yummy!" I exclaimed and got up to head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

Back in my room, I was pulling out the nice skirt I had in my suitcase and then was weighing my options when it came to tops. I had three different ones out on my bed, deciding which would go best. At that moment, Yoongi walked past and I called out to him. "Hey, Yoongi. I trust your fashion sense, which top do you think goes best with this skirt?" He walked into my room, looking at my options. "That one." He said, pointing to a denim button down. "Hmm, okay. Thanks." I said, putting the others away. He nodded and left the room while I headed to go take a shower.

After making sure my subtle makeup looked nice, I waited on the couch in the main room for the rest of the boys. Taehyung came out first and I hated to admit how attractive he looked in a plaid button down shirt and nice black pants. I hid my smile, hoping he wouldn't notice I was eyeing him. The rest of BTS was dressed similarly, in nice shirts and pants. They all looked very handsome. "You look nice, Noona." Jungkook complimented me. "Thanks, Kookie." I replied. We were all soon ready to go and headed out in the company van, driving to Balthazar.

The restaurant was teeming with noise and delicious food smells. Everything we ordered was almost too pretty to eat, but I loved food so of course I ate it. When it came to dessert, I was having a hard time choosing because it all sounded so good. "I can't choose." I whined. Taehyung, who was seated next to me laughed and said, "Try to narrow it down to two. I'll order one and you order the other, then we can share." I grinned with delight and said "Okay!" I ordered the Apple Tart and told Tae to order the Blueberry Lemon Mille-Feuille.

We shared both plates of dessert, me finishing them easily. "How can you do that? You were so full earlier." Namjoon asked. "I have a separate stomach for dessert!" I stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The entire table laughed at me, Jin just shaking his head at my childishness. After everyone was finished with dessert, we paid for dinner and went for a walk since we were in SoHo. There was a garden nearby that Jimin mentioned checking out. The garden was nice and it had a bit of a relaxing effect since I was still nervous about performing with the boys tomorrow. After about an hour, we all were feeling calmer and we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.

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The morning of the concert came too quickly and I was hyped up on a ton of coffee that I drank out of nervousness that morning. I was bouncing around the dressing room like a crazy ball of energy. Jungkook was laughing but said, "Relax, Fay noona. The performance will be awesome." Namjoon looked at me like I was crazy and with sort of the same expression he has when dealing with Taehyung and Jimin. I sat down on the couch, trying to keep still but failing when my legs kept swinging back and forth. Jin sat next to me, grinning and putting his arms on my legs to hold them still. "Sorry." I said, pulling my legs under me to stop them from moving.

A few hours later, it was time to get dressed and have my makeup done. The makeup artist kept it simple like usual but added hints of silver and dark eyeliner to make more of a smokey eye look. I was wearing a classic black dress and the fact that I wasn't wearing anything showy calmed me down a slight bit. I didn't need to have anything fancy. The boys were all set and we headed to the backstage area. They gathered in a circle to do their pre-concert cheer. "You too, Fay." Namjoon said, pulling me softly into the group. At that moment, I knew for sure that I had chosen the right song for my solo performance.

"Hana, Dul, Set...BTS!" We all shouted, pulling our hands up. The boys all went on stage while I waited backstage until it was time for Jungkook and I to sing "Euphoria." I was trying to do some calming breathing as my nerves came back when PD Bang walked by. "Fay?" He asked, seeing my version of hyperventilating. "Hi." I said, blowing out a breath. "You know, you'll do great. I wouldn't have have agreed to let you perform if I didn't think you could pull it off." He said, then proceeded to leave. My eyes were wide but then I grinned. Having PD Bang say that boosted my confidence. Jungkook came backstage while Jimin was performing "Serendipity" and said, "Ready, noona?"

I slowly followed Jungkook on stage as Namjoon announced me. "We have a surprise for you all. She started out as an ARMY, just like you. We discovered her talent and wanted to share that with the world. So, please welcome our friend, Fay Ellis!" He said. I took a deep breath as Kookie started singing the first part of the song and then I joined in with the English part. By the end of the song, I was beaming. I didn't think I would enjoy being on the stage so much. The song finished and the crowd roared. I couldn't stop smiling as I stepped backstage again while the boys continued. They did a few more songs and then it was time for me to close out the show with my solo song.

I walked on the stage by myself but when the spotlight hit me, I spoke into the microphone and said, "I'd like BTS to come back out and stand on stage with me." All the boys came back out, with slightly confused faces. "I decided to perform this song after Jin told me I should sing a song that means something to me. You all mean something to me, after everything we've been through together. You are my family, my flashlights." I said with a watery smile and started singing. ARMY started waving their bombs when I got to the chorus. "I got all I need when I've got you and I. I look around me and I see a sweet life. I'm stuck in the dark but your my flashlight. You getting me, getting me through the night."

I looked at my BTS family, smiling at me and I knew every single one of them would continue to be my flashlights. As I looked at Taehyung beaming at me, I thought perhaps one flashlight shined a bit brighter than the rest.

THE END!