A bit disheartened Candace was as it seemed two of the cutest girls in this venue had just up and left so abruptly and without a single "bye" or "see ya Candy" or even the more anticipated words of "you wanna hang at my place" which Candy assumed would lead to....well...yeah. But damn...so much for her lucky night she guessed, shrugging her shoulders and sighing briefly with indifference as she lugged her heavy Line 6 amps off the stage and out to the parking lot, into the backseat of her 71 Camaro, or rather...her brother Ryan's Camaro she was borrowing while he was overseas. It took alot of convincing her dad though to hand over the keys to her bro's car, but it was every bit worth it. The girl could see clear as day why Ryan loved and cherished it, the motherfucker had war horses under its metal hood. Looking back at the golden yellow shade of the paint with a bit of a satisfied smirk, Candace returned to the stage to get the rest of her crap and maybe say goodnight to any of her band chums still left, since Lucy was nowhere to be found and Jack was already off to his chauffeur with a [i]Sexy Party[/i] in tow behind him. [i]Pfft! Fuckin' lady killer![/i] Candace thought of the lucky bastard with a grin, bending over to grab the last of her amps. 

She didn't know it, but at that particular time....someone was slowly approaching behind her. Well...she did hear the clopping of their footsteps coming closer to her, but she figured it was one of her bandmates trying to spook her or something, but....when she heard that voice...the male voice she knew all too well....she damn near dropped her amp on her foot, [b]"Jesus Candy! If dad sees you dressed like that, he'll shit a brick!"[/b] Quickly Candace whirled around after setting down the amp, and.....she couldn't believe it. Before her very eyes wide with absolute astonishment stood a young man, maybe a bit older than her, clad in Marine desert BDUs and an officer's cap. "Holy shit.....Ryan!!" Instantly she threw her arms around her brother's neck and hugged him tight, the Marine hugging her as well with a jovial chuckle. "Aww man! I missed you, bro! I didn't think you'd ever come back." One of her greatest fears it was, losing her brother to the terrors of war. The life of a soldier was never a pretty one, that she certainly knew, and many a time most had gone off to fight, alot of them....never made it back. Thank God gratefully that Ryan did return home. [b]"Psh! Thanks for the optimism, sis."[/b] Ryan joked ruffling his sister's hair like any older sibling would playing around. [b]"So I...guess I missed your gig. Sorry Candy."[/b]

"Yeaah you did...." Candy replied. "But fuck it. I'm just happy you made it back. So did you already drop by Mom and Dad and tell them too? Also, how the hell'd you know I had a gig today?" Ryan nodded in return, [b]"I asked 'em where you were, and they said you were here at the concert hall, so I figured you were at a gig. Still sucks I missed it."[/b] 

"Yeah but..." Candace answered to her brother, "There might be more down the road." She sure as hoped there would be. Yeah this gig was their biggest in the band's history so far, but no way Thin Air was just gonna up and quit after this. No way in Hell, not after all that hard work!