rowley finished typing his response to ava and shut his laptop off before tucking it away in the case. had he not been backstage surrounded by his crew, he would've insisted upon lugging the thing with him to tnr's merch tent, but because he knew and trusted them to watch it he left it at the table. today's show had been incredible, to say the least. the way the kids in the crowd took the music and threw it back at them with such passion that it often shocked him every time he witnessed it. to be honest, there was nothing that rowley enjoyed more than those sacred moments upon the stage, just him and the band and the fans. except for maybe spending time with tnr's merch girl, ava fox.

the two met when the new regrets & luna went on a tour together before. she was adorable, funny, and tons of fun to hang out with, so it went without saying that the two of them became pretty tight. that's why when luna signed on for the byo north american tour, he was stoked to find out tnr would be there. not just for ava, but because the whole group was pretty awesome. definitely talented and they knew how to handle him when he would throw a bus party, which he tended to do from time to time. the tall, lanky guitarist made his way through the crowds of fans casually, trying not to draw too much attention to himself.

as much as he loved his fans, he really wanted to get there. of course he wouldn't mind taking a photo or two and signing a poster or a cd, but if he could avoid it until he got there... he intended to. as the merch booth came into view, he sped up, taking long strides toward it. fruit cup in hand, his lips curled into a huge, dorky grin when his eyes found ava selling someone a t shirt. "guess what?" he inquired, plopping down in her chair and looking up at her, "i brought you my strawberries."

he knew she probably would kick him out of the chair, but he didn't mind. the only real reason he took it was to get attention, and perhaps a little bit because it was an attempt to hit on her. the boy hadn't told anyone yet, but he was beginning to grow rather fond of the platinum blonde merch saleslady. it was probably more than obvious when it came to his actions and the way he would always seem to seek her out amongst everyone, but he hadn't confided in anyone, not even peyton. truth be told, he felt if he was going to tell someone, it'd be her. there was no point in dragging a friend of theirs into the mix, because if things didn't work out in his favor, he wouldn't want someone lurking around him trying to tell him stupid things like, "it's okay," and "there's more fish in the sea." he wasn't dumb, he knew all of these things. it would just bug him to hear it from somebody else. "look, i'm gonna eat 'em if you don't hurry up!"