Chapter 18
Episode 18
It is an hour before the concert so Luna goes in her room to get dressed and comes out and the boys were watching her and as they were leaving the hotel room everyone else comes and now they are all on the bus and heading to the stage where they are performing
The air in Luna’s hotel room crackled with a nervous energy, a stark contrast to the comfortable intimacy she’d shared with Max just hours before. It was an hour until showtime, and the weight of her impending coronation, the looming threat of Malik, and the sheer exhilaration of her music pressed down on her. She smoothed the fabric of her stage outfit, a sleek, midnight-blue ensemble that shimmered under the hotel room lights. A final glance in the mirror, a deep breath, and she was ready. Stepping out, she found Max, Dylan, and Jordan already there, their eyes following her with a mixture of admiration and something harder to decipher. Then, as if summoned by her presence, the door swung open wider, revealing Jack, Ben, and Noah, their faces a mix of anticipation and forced nonchalance. A ripple went through the group, the unspoken tension thickening the air. With a collective sigh, they gathered their things, the unspoken understanding that this was it, the moment they’d been working towards. The blue tour bus, their temporary home for the past few months, awaited them. As they boarded, the familiar rumble of the engine vibrated through the floor, a prelude to the roar of the crowd. Luna found her usual seat, the one near the front, with Max beside her. Jordan and Andrew settled in the back with their instruments, while Mike and Brian, ever the professionals, were already reviewing setlists. The bus pulled away from the opulent hotel, a gilded cage they were eager to escape, and headed towards the arena, towards the blinding lights and the thunderous applause that awaited them.