Paul yawned and grimaced when he heard his jaw crack. Premiere was exhausted. They had been kept at the arena until late the night before, and now they were expected for an early rehearsal time. He was standing backstage with Damon, Sandy, Howie and AJ. They were making idle conversation, until Lilia joined them.

Silence seemed to descend over them as they noticed her red and puffy eyes. From her jumpy appearance, it was obvious that she had been crying.

"Hey everyone! Paul, what time did they release you last night?" she asked cheerfully. The tension eased with her sunny demeanor, but the was an air of curiosity between them. They were all wondering what had made her cry.

"Pretty late last night. What did you guys do?" he asked. He was hoping that the conversation would resume normally.

"Just went dancing again. Such slaves to routine, aren't you guys?" Lilia asked.

"I would have thought that you'd have a major hang over," Howie commented. Lilia looked baffled.

"Why would I?"

"Don't even, Lilia. You got trashed last night! AJ had to coax you to go back to your hotel room and even then, he had to wrestle you into the hotel room," Howie reminded her

"Oh, that. Yeah, I guess I should have one, but my head's fine. I didn't do anything stupid, did I?" she asked, her face ready to burn if they confirmed what sketchy memories she had from the night before.

"Yes. Don't worry, we all do really crazy shit when we're 'under the influence'. You did, however, reveal stuff that would have been better kept under wraps," AJ said.

"Uh oh. Like what?" Lilia demanded, eyes widening.

"I cannot say. Consider it between us. And D, but he'll keep quiet, won't you?" AJ asked, giving a threatening glare in Howie's direction.

"But of course."

"So, you guys excited? Opening night, your first tour. And you guys go on first. Wow, you gotta be nervous as hell right now," Lilia commented.

"We're too tired to be even think about being nervous. Late nights and early mornings weren't part of the contract," Paul answered gloomily.

"Then I'll do all your worrying for you guys. Even though you have no need to be nervous, you got me in your corner!" she promised.

"Lilia, normally, I'd make a comment about your dissipating modesty, but intelligence fails me at this moment," Paul commented.

"Premiere! You're up! And I'd better see some improvements from yesterday, otherwise we'll have a repeat of last night's practice, and you'll do it until you drop!" Jordan called out, from where he was pacing back and forth in front of the stage. Sighing despairingly, the three members of Premiere trudged slowly towards the stage, meeting Jacki, who was already in position.

"Can he really make them do this? I mean, look at them! How in hell are they supposed to kick ass tonight, if they're exhausted? If you ask me, they don't need rehearsal, they need sleep!" Lilia was outraged.

"Yes, he can. That's the problem when you're just starting out. Are you going to go watch them? They could sure use some encouragement," AJ asked. Lilia nodded, and made her way out to support her best friends.

* * * *

After a week of watching the rehearsals, there was no difference tonight. They had every cue, every note, everything down perfect. They had the togetherness, the bond back. Letting by-gones be by-gones, they had accepted Jacki back into the mix, and they were performing as one. A unit. A band. Premiere.

The only difference was the screaming, the deafening scream of the crowd. They paid them their proper dues, even though it was obvious that who they really wanted to see. But just as they were about to exit the stage, they performed their hit single, the song that had gotten them their spot on the tour. And the crowd cheered.

Lilia felt nothing but pride and happiness for her friends, her extended family. They were where they had longed to be all their life. This night made everything worth while, all the work, the sacrifices they had made through out the years, all paying off once and for all. This one night, everything came into perspective for them. They had made it.

As they said their farewell to the crowd, Lilia added her voice to the ones cheering them on. They smiled and waved in her direction, then made their way offstage, their job done.

* * * *

Elation. Relief. Excitement. They were backstage, hugging and celebrating the successful completion of their first arena show.

After the commotion settled down, Damon realized that a member was missing. Feeling bad about shunning her from the group, Damon went looking for Jacki, thinking that she should be taking part in this. He found her in one of the dressing rooms. She had her head in her hands, and her shoulders were shaking with effort to control her sobs.

"Jacki? What's wrong?" he asked, sitting beside her, putting his arms around her. She pushed him away and turn in the other direction.

"Oh, go away Damon," she answered. Stubbornly Damon knelt down in front of her.

"Not until you tell me why you're crying on the biggest night of our lives."

"That's just it! It's supposed to be the biggest night of our lives, and you're all mad at me! God dammit, I've done everything that I possibly could to fit in with you guys, but all I ever hear is 'Lilia would do this', and "No, Lilia wouldn't do that'. I'm not Lilia," she yelled.

"We never said you were. Jacki, we don't want you to be Lilia. We want you to be yourself, but you haven't let us see who you are. The reason that you don't fit with us is because you try so hard to be this image, this hard person without emotions, and do you know how hard it is to be close to someone like that?" he asked her, brushing stray hair away from her face.

"Well, excuse me for being rejected, but it's hard to come into a band that's been playing together for 9 years, when their precious youngest member leaves. It hasn't been easy for me, you know," she answered.

"That's because you hide from us. But we can see through it, when you sing. We can see the real you. And we all like that person. But as soon as the music is over, you become someone else. I like the other one better," he said solemnly, looking into her eyes.

"You do?" she asked uncertainly.

"You have a vulnerability. And we've seen through it from the start. It's okay to be human, you know. We like humans. They're easier to deal with than psycho-bitches," Damon said.

"Was I a psycho-bitch?" Jacki asked.

"Yes. Yes you were. But you don't have to be, trust me, we won't mind it at all if you dropped the attitude."

"I felt horrible for what I said to Lilia, you know that right? Absolutely terrible. I didn't sleep at all that night. It was the worst thing that I have ever done," Jacki said, tears of regret overflowing her eyes. Damon hugged her to him, and she cried on his shoulder.

After a few minutes, she felt cleansed. She pulled back from his shoulder and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Damon handed her a Kleenex, and she put it to use. After wiping her eyes, she noticed that Damon was staring at her.

"What?" she asked, smiling a little through her tears. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment.

"You're absolutely beautiful," he answered. He took the tissue out of her hands, and dried her tears himself. She caught his hand as it pulled back. Softly caressing it with her finger tips, their eyes met. Wordlessly, she lowered her lips to his.