Interference Patterns

**NICO:** (sighs, doesn’t move) I know. I just… one more breath. Okay?

**GEMMA:** Okay.

(another pause, just breathing)

**NICO:** (pulls back slightly, looks into her eyes) One day… Gem. One day… no more closets. No more hiding.

**GEMMA:** (meets his gaze) Promise?

**NICO:** (nods slowly) Promise.

**GEMMA:** Okay.

**NICO:** Okay. Now… back to the madness.

**GEMMA:** Right. The madness.

(recording stops)

(recording starts)

**GEMMA:** (whispering) Amsterdam. Or… what’s left of it. 2:48 AM. Tour bus. Again. Can’t sleep. Again. Big surprise. The hum of the engine… usually it’s white noise. Soothing. Tonight… it’s mocking me. Every revolution of the tires… a reminder. Of how close we came. How close…

(pause)

**GEMMA:** The show… Melkweg. Packed. Hot. Sweat dripping off the ceiling, felt like. Crowd was… hungry. For the music. For him. You could feel it. Like a physical thing. Pressing against the stage. Against the soundboard. Against… me.

(pause)

**GEMMA:** Sound was… tricky. Room’s got weird acoustics. Old factory or something. Lots of hard surfaces. Took me half the set to get the mix right. To tame the reflections. Nico… he was patient. Shot me a look during “Static Charge” when the monitors were feeding back… just a raised eyebrow. *Fix it*, that look said. So I did. Like always.

(pause)

**GEMMA:** After… the usual. Crowd roaring. Encore. More roaring. Then… the slow unwind. The adrenaline crash. For them. For the band. For me… it’s different. The crash comes later. When the last case is packed. When the last cable is coiled. When the bus is rolling out… and I’m alone. With my thoughts. And this recorder.

(pause)

**GEMMA:** Tonight… though. Tonight was different. After the show. Backstage. The Green Room was… chaos. More than usual. Local press. Bloggers. Fans who’d won meet-and-greets. Management flitting around like nervous birds. Smiling too wide. Laughing too loud.

**GEMMA:** I was packing up my laptop. At the soundboard. Taking my time. Letting the crew clear the big stuff first. Headphones on. Not playing anything. Just… a barrier. Against the noise. Against the… everything.

**GEMMA:** I felt him. Before I saw him. That… prickle on the back of my neck. Like my body knows when he’s close. Always has. I looked up… and there he was. Leaning against the wall. Just outside the Green Room door. Watching me. A small smile playing on his lips. Tired. But… present. *There*.

**GEMMA:** He jerked his head. Slightly. Towards the loading dock doors. The unspoken question. *Outside?* I nodded. Once. Heart already starting to thud against my ribs. Stupid. Ridiculous. We’re adults. Supposedly.

**GEMMA:** I finished packing. Took my time. Casual. Like my pulse wasn’t trying to escape my throat. Then… followed. Out the heavy metal door. Into the cool Amsterdam night.

**GEMMA:** The dock was… quiet. Finally. Just the distant thump of music from somewhere. Another club. Another show. The smell of the canal nearby… damp and green. The bus engines idling. Ready to roll out.

**GEMMA:** He was there. Leaning against the brick wall. Half in shadow. The security light above the door catching the planes of his face. The line of his shoulder. He looked… relieved. To be out. To be away from the noise.

**GEMMA:** I walked over. Slowly. My boots crunching on the gritty pavement. Stopped. An arm’s length away. Always that distance. That careful, calculated space.

**NICO:** (quietly) Hey.

**GEMMA:** Hey yourself. Good show.

**NICO:** (nods) Yeah. Crowd was… wild. Felt good. Mostly. Once you tamed the feedback beast.

**GEMMA:** (smiles faintly) That’s my job.

**NICO:** (pushes off the wall, takes a half-step closer) You’re good at your job. Really good.

**GEMMA:** I know.

**NICO:** (chuckles softly) Confident. I like it.

**GEMMA:** You should. It’s what keeps you sounding… like you. Instead of a screeching mess.

**NICO:** (takes another half-step) Couldn’t do it without you. Any of it.

(pause)

**GEMMA:** The air… changed. Got thicker. Charged. Like before a storm. He was so close. I could see the faint smudge of exhaustion under his eyes. The way his hair was slightly damp at the temples. Smell that familiar scent of leather and warm skin and… him.

**NICO:** Gem…

**GEMMA:** (meets his eyes) Yeah?

**NICO:** I… I miss you. When we’re not… when we can’t…

**GEMMA:** I know. Me too.

**NICO:** It’s just… harder lately. Pretending. All the time. Every minute. Every damn day.

**GEMMA:** I know.

**NICO:** (reaches out, slowly. Hesitantly. Like I might bolt) Gem…

**GEMMA:** (whispering) Yeah?

**NICO:** Can I… can I just…

(he doesn’t finish the sentence. Doesn’t need to. His hand finds mine. Fingers lacing through mine. Warm. Calloused from the guitar strings. Right.)

**GEMMA:** His other hand… comes up. Brushes my cheek. So gently. Like I’m fragile. Breakable. His thumb traces the line of my jaw. So slowly. My breath… hitches. Stupid. Ridiculous. We’re adults. Supposedly.

**GEMMA:** He leans in. Slowly. So slowly. Giving me time. To pull away. To say no. To… pretend. But I don’t. I can’t. Not tonight. Not after… everything. His breath ghosts over my lips. Warm. Smelling faintly of the whiskey he’d had after the show. And… him. Just him.

**GEMMA:** My eyes flutter closed. Waiting. Heart pounding so loud I’m sure he can hear it. Over the idling engines. Over the distant thump of bass. Over… everything.

**GEMMA:** And then… a click.

**GEMMA:** (sharp inhale) Shit.

**GEMMA:** We flew apart. Like we’d been burned. My back hit the brick wall. Hard. Nico stumbled back a step. Two. Hand already coming up to rub the back of his neck. A nervous habit. One I know too well.

**GEMMA:** And there… just inside the loading dock door. Half-hidden in the shadows… Daphne. The tour photographer. Camera lowered now. But the strap still around her neck. A knowing look on her face. Not smug. Not judgmental. Just… aware.

**GEMMA:** My blood… turned to ice. Frozen. In my veins. That look… it said everything. *I saw*. *I know*. *Your secret… isn’t*. Nico… he recovered faster. Smoothed his expression. Nodded at Daphne. Casual. Like she’d just caught us… discussing the weather.

**NICO:** (voice carefully neutral) Daphne. Hey. Didn’t see you there.

**DAPHNE:** (calmly, softly) Didn’t mean to startle you. Just… getting some atmosphere shots. You know. Behind the scenes. The… real tour.

**GEMMA:** (swallows hard) Right. Atmosphere. Great.

**DAPHNE:** (glances between us, a small, enigmatic smile playing on her lips) It’s… a good story. The unseen moments. The… connections. Between the noise.

**GEMMA:** My heart… was trying to escape my chest. Pounding. Against my ribs. Like a trapped bird. Nico… he just looked at me. A flicker of… something… in his eyes. Worry? Fear? Apology? I couldn’t tell. Didn’t have time to decipher it.

**NICO:** (to Daphne, voice still casual, but tighter now) Well… I think we’re about wrapped here. Bus is probably getting ready to roll. Long drive to… wherever’s next.

**DAPHNE:** (nods slowly) Right. Cologne. Long drive. Don’t let me keep you. I’ve got what I needed. For tonight.

**GEMMA:** The emphasis… on *for tonight*… it wasn’t lost on me. Not even a little. It felt… like a warning. Or a promise. Or… both.

**GEMMA:** Daphne… she just smiled again. That same small, knowing smile. Then turned. And disappeared back into the venue. Quiet as a ghost.

**GEMMA:** Silence. Thick. Heavy. Broken only by the idling engines. The distant city sounds. Nico… he looked at me. Finally. Really looked. His expression… guarded. But worried. Definitely worried.

**NICO:** (quietly) Gem… I…

**GEMMA:** (shakes her head sharply) Don’t. Just… don’t. Not here. Not now.

**NICO:** (runs a hand through his hair, frustrated) Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t… I wasn’t thinking…

**GEMMA:** (cuts him off, voice low, urgent) It’s fine. It’s… it’ll be fine. She… she won’t say anything. Probably. Hopefully.

**NICO:** (looks unconvinced) Daphne’s… discreet. Usually. But… this is… this is different.

**GEMMA:** I know. Believe me, I know. But… we can’t… we can’t panic. Not yet. We just… we have to be more careful. Even more careful. No more… loading docks. No more… almost-kisses in the dark.

**NICO:** (his jaw tightens) So… what? Back to closets that smell like bleach? Back to… pretending we’re strangers? Even when… even when it’s killing me?

**GEMMA:** (voice cracks, just a little) What choice do we have? Until… until we figure out what to do. Until we decide… what this is. What we want it to be. Publicly.

**NICO:** (looks away, stares out at the dark canal) I know what *I* want, Gem.

**GEMMA:** (softly) I know. Me too. But… wanting it doesn’t make it simple. Doesn’t make the band… management… the whole damn world… just disappear.

**NICO:** (sighs, heavy, defeated) Yeah. I know.

**GEMMA:** (takes a step towards him, then stops) We should… we should get on the bus. Before someone else comes looking.

**NICO:** (nods, still not looking at me) Yeah. Right. The bus.

**GEMMA:** (hesitates) Nico…

**NICO:** (finally looks at me, his eyes shadowed) Yeah?

**GEMMA:** It… it’ll be okay. We’ll… figure it out. Together. Right?

**NICO:** (reaches out, like he wants to touch me, then lets his hand fall) Right. Together. Always.