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The next evening came around eventually and it was after 10 when I left my apartment to head for the Convention Center.

I quickly checked my pockets for my wallet, keys, phone and the note with the phone number Marc had given me yesterday. When I felt everything was there, I locked the door and was on my way to meet up with my new acquaintances.

By the time I arrived, furs were literally pouring out of the huge complex, everybody still being excited after the great show they had just seen and groups of furs standing together and debating over which of the songs they liked best and who of the band members was the better one.

I smiled to myself, remembering to have had most of the thoughts myself the night before after I came out of the building and hummed the melodies of some of my favorite songs.

I made my way around the building to the loading bays and saw some security standing there near the tour bus and trucks for the equipment, watching anyone who tried to come too close to the vehicles or tried to get to the back entrances.

'Damn, I really hope they weren't full of shit yesterday...' I thought when I came a bit closer and noticed that most of these guys were really huge, most of them well over 6' tall and almost as buff. 'I soo don't wanna mess with any of these guys...'

I decided it would be be better to get back to the front but when I wanted to turn around and walk back, I felt a heavy paw on my shoulder.

"What the...?!"

I spun around and bumped muzzle first into this mountain of a Doberman. Looking up to meet his eyes, he easily was 7' tall. And to top that off, big boy was at least 250 pounds of solid muscle, his dark eyes watching me with amusement.

"My, my what do we have here? Another College kid trying to sneak in backstage." he said with mock astonishment in his voice.

"Well, take one last look around and then make yourself scarce. Got that, kid?" With that said, he positioned himself between me and the vehicles so I had to bend to the side and look around him to catch another glimpse of the area.

"Listen," I said, "I'm not a kid anymore and besides, I was told to meet someone here tonight. Let me call them and clear up this little tiff, OK Mister?"

I reached for my phone and the note and placed a call - only to hear the voicemail. OK, let's try something different then...

"Listen Mister, I was told to meet some guys from the bands road crew here but I can't reach them. You might know them, their names are Tim, Ben and Marc, they're about my age and they told me to show up here tonight so they could show me something."

I've been brought up that you get the furthest with telling the truth. Unfortunately, big boy didn't seem to buy any of it.

"Look, this really is a great story you are telling me, but still, this starts to get old, you know? Every night someone tries to sneak their way in and when we catch them they start telling us they know one of the guys and they wanted to meet them and blah, blah." he gestured over his little speech, probably given it a million of times. "Now please, be a good pup and get you gone."

I didn't even really register the last sentences of what he told me as I just saw Marc pushing a huge case out of the loading area entrance.

"Hey Marc, over here!" I yelled.

Big boy had a stunned look on his face as he turned around and I saw Marc looking around, then finally spotting me behind that giant of a security guy.

"Hey Bruce, let him pass, he's a friend! It's alright!"

Big boy, aehm, Bruce looked back at me and his face turned from surprise to amusement again. "A friend, huh? Well, if he says so..."

"Thank you!" I smiled and made my way past him.

Marc already stuck his head back in through the door and yelled something to someone inside the building. Then he came over to me and placed both his paws on my shoulders, shaking me slightly. "See, told ya so!"

"Uuhm, yea, wow, I don't really know what to say. I-I'm sorry for not believing you. It just sounded like it was to good to be true what you guys told me yesterday. I thought you just wanted to aggrandize yourselves like all the rest. I..."

He cut me off and gave me another light shove. "Nah, it's OK. If we didn't knew better we would think the same if someone came up with a story like ours. Now come on in, the others are inside helping to break the stage back down. If you want to, you could even lend a hand. Of course I will ask one of the band if it was alright, but to be honest we could use some more paws to get this done faster... - Hey Tony, do you have some gloves for my friend over here?" Marc asked another roadie standing close by, a lanky Fox Terrier about my height.

"Fuck off Marc! You know damn well where to find some so go get them yourself! Who the bloody hell do you take me for?! Your very own personal go-for?!" Tony spat back and looked like he was going to lash into Marc any second.

"What is it with you lately?" Marc shot back, clearly pissed off over that outburst.

"Any particular reason you're so testy? Or didn't you still get over that bitch in Houston? I didn't know you had an eye on her as well! I told you I was sorry!"

"What is it again with all the hollering?" I heard a deep voice ask. I turned towards where the voice came from and froze.

A few yards away stood a middle-aged Doberman, towel in one paw and a water bottle in the other, his sweat-soaked shirt still on after the strenous 3-hour show they just pulled off and looked over to us.

I couldn't believe my luck! That was Greg! My jaw must have dropped all the way to the ground from astonishment. I just stood there and stared at him.

From behind Greg, Ben made his way from where I figured the stage must have been, carrying parts of the suspension equipment. Damn! They really seemed to waste no time. "What's happening Greg? Did I miss out on some fun again?"

"Don't know. Marc and Tony are at each other's throats again, so..." the Doberman started before the Terrier cut him off "I-I can explain, Greg! Marc started it! He was bossing me around again to fetch him some gloves and..."

"Dude, I only asked if you had a freakin' pair of gloves and you start making a scene and...!" Marc started, when...

"Enough of this!"

A familiar voice behind us boomed through the hallway. We spun around and saw Bruce lean in the doorway frame.

"Tony, what did I tell you last time? I'm tired of this bullcrap! We had enough of your outbursts over that shit! You know what? Let someone else struggle with that temper of yours. You're out!"

"Bruce, you can't throw me out just like that!" Tony whined at the giant. "I'll better myself, I promise! Please man!"

Now it was Ben who spoke up again. "Yeah, just like last week. Or the week before. Or when you kicked him in the balls in Houston after that chick was gone... It's not his fault she liked him better! Why can't you take it like a man, Tony? He told you that he was sorry for that - but what about you? You still act up like a bitch!"

He barked out the last sentence, almost dropping the things he was carrying. Two more furs appeared from the stage area, both holding a bottle of beer in their paws. Kevin put his empty paw on Ben's shoulder, making him jump a little. "OK, now let's all calm down again, shall we? Bruce, what's the matter here?"

"It's Tony again, Kevin. I was just about to sack him before another shouting match started."

Tony looked between Bruce and Kevin, whining again "Please, Bruce, don't do this to me! You can't do this!"

Dexter cleared his throat. "Maybe he can't..." and continued and gave Tony a stern glance, then looking at Kevin, Greg and Marc "But one of us here definitely can. There's no room among us for someone who constantly has these kinds of emotional outbursts and causes trouble among the crew every other night. We've seen enough of this. Go get your stuff from the bus, Tony. That's it for you. Greg, pay him for the last two weeks." and looking at the rest of us "And everybody else: Move it! It's getting late and we want to get this wrapped up so we can get on our way home!"

Tony stood there, speechless, his face bore a shocked expression and his eyes watered up as Greg made his way over to him. The older Doberman fumbled at his back pocket and produced his wallet. "You screwed up." he said and handed the Terrier a wad of notes.

"Bruce, take him out and meet me in the back afterwards, OK?" With that he wandered off.

"Come on Ben, Marc! There's too much to do in there to stand around." Dexter mentioned to the inside of the arena. "Plus, we're one man short now." Kevin added and then scrutinized me intently.

I felt chills run up and down my back when I felt his eyes on me. That stare of his made me feel really uneasy.

"Marc, who's that guy?" "Uuhmm" I started, rubbing the back of my head, trying my best to avoid his stare. Why was he making me so nervous?

"He's a friend of mine, Kevin." Marc hastily said before I could blurt out anything stupid. "Well, actually the three of us, you know?"

"What did we tell you guys about bringing in 'friends' Marc?" Dexter asked, a slight tenseness swinging in the question

"Uhh, yeah, well..." Marc writhed a bit, his ears dropped and his head hung before he brought up his grit and looked at them. "I don't know, I can't remember." He said in a low voice.

I looked back and forth between Marc and the two older canines, mentally tearing myself apart for causing my new friends trouble with the furs I admired so much. My tail and ears dropped and I hoped Marc wouldn't meet the same fate as Tony earlier for bringing me here. What had happened a few minutes ago was still stirring me up a bit and I blamed myself somewhat for Tony being fired. If it hadn't been for me showing up, Marc would have never asked him for something and possibly wouldn't have had another argument over what happened. My eyes still wandered between the three of them, anxiously waiting for what would happen now.

"Neither do we!" Kevin barked out and started laughing. "Relax, Marc! We're just putting you on, man!"

A wave of relief washed over me when they started laughing. 'Oouuffff! That was close!' I forced a smile, but it disappeared when Marc spoke up again.

"Hey, I know that this might not be the best moment to ask, but would you guys mind if he pitched in and helped us wrap it up tonight? We could really use some more paws right now - especially after, well, you know."

I couldn't believe he really did that. Why was he so keen on having me there?

Thoughts of last night popped up in my mind again, Ben's remark about Tim replaying in my mind... 'Someone at this table starts to take a liking for you...' my mind started to wander but immediately bounced back, when I realized that the Husky came closer to us.

"I don't see a problem if he wants to help out. What about you?" he asked the Collie, who came closer as well. "Fine by me. So, tell us who is your friend?" he asked with a smirk on his muzzle.

"Uh, my name is Chris Pawson, sir. It's a pleasure meeting you. W-wow, I-I would have never even dreamed about this to happen." I extended a paw and the Collie shook it firmly.

"Hmm, hear that Bryan? A fan who actually has some manners." he said and turning back to me "Well Chris Pawson, I don't really think that introducing ourselves is relevant, but anyway... I'm Kevin, this is Bryan and you will meet Greg and Pete in a short while. C'mon, let's show you what there is to do and after you guys are done we can sit down and have a beer and chat a bit, alright?"

"Yes sir! I-I mean, Kevin." I managed to get out. I was staggered at how relaxed they were, as I expected furs that famous to be a bit more reserved when it came to deal with complete strangers showing up. I still couldn't really buy into being here and them being so nice to me and allowing me to stay and help made it seem somewhat surreal. But then again, these furs have been around for almost 19 years and I figured they became jaded enough over the years and didn't let things like that bother them too much.

Marc smiled and pulled me along with them as we made our way to the stage, where Pete and Greg were packing up the instruments, while some stagehands were dismounting speakers and amplifiers.

"Hey guys, guess what!" Dexter, uh, Bryan announced to the other two. It was strange to think of the Husky as Bryan as his alias Dexter was more common with me. Of course, as a true fan I knew what his real name was, but still, it was odd to think of him as Bryan... 'Mental note to not call him Dexter' I thought to myself as I saw the two furs look up from the cases.

"Did we give out backstage passes again?" Pete asked jokingly, "I thought we would wait letting the fans in until after we were done here?"

"Nope, not this time, Pete. He's actually a friend of Marc's and the others. Chris, this is Pete and the sullen looking gentleman here" mentioning to the Doberman "Is Greg. Guys, say Hello to Chris. He will help us out with the disassembling and stuff."

We said our hello's and Pete asked me right away to help him pack up the drums. Ben came back from the trucks and started to roll up cables which were laying around and in the way.

The next two hours were a blur of packing, carrying, lifting, pushing and pulling stuff all around backstage, of panting, sweating and occasional cursing and the fact that is was well past midnight didn't make work any easier, especially after being on my feet the whole day.

Still I didn't want to show anyone how weary I was. I didn't want to look weak in front of my new friends and especially in front of the band, that I adored so much. I wouldn't allow myself to show any weaknesses now, so I kept pushing through the fatigue and only after the last case was loaded onto the truck I leaned back against a wall, catching a breather.

Strangely enough I realized I hadn't seen Tim the whole evening. I started wondering what the reason for that could be. Was he avoiding me for some reason? Did I do anything to piss him off last night? I tilted my head back and looked into the nighttime sky and went over the previous night when I heard Ben call out for me.

"Coming!" I yelled and made my way back inside.

Ben was standing on the now empty stage, talking to Greg and Bryan, while Kevin stood a bit off with Bruce, Marc and Pete, lit himself a cigarette and mentioned to the others with his head to come over to us.

"Well Chris, we did a bit of talking and thinking while you guys were working out there. From what I could see, you are no stranger to physical labor, right?" Kevin asked, after taking a deep drag from the cigarette.

I was taken aback by the question a bit but told him that, indeed, I didn't mind to dig into work and get my paws dirty. After all working hard was what I had gotten used to while in College, were it studying hard to pass my exams or off Campus to earn some money to pay for my education.

It was Greg who spoke up next, and what he had to say nearly made me faint with joy and excitement.

"You've witnessed earlier that night that we are one man short now. You proved to be someone who can work and the others seem to like you. That is exactly what we were missing in Tony for the last couple of weeks and you seem to fit in quite well from what the others mentioned around us tonight. Now it's all up to you, if you want to take up Tonys position and join our road crew."

"Uh, yes, YES! I'd love to!" I did my best not to leap at him and hug him. Again, I couldn't believe what was happening here. The members of my most favorite band on the planet had just asked me to join their road crew!

'Please do not wake up now!' I begged myself, 'This is unbelievable! This can't be happening!'

"This is really happening, Chris. Don't worry about that, man!" Pete smiled at me.

I shock my head and looked at him. How did he know that? Again he startled me.

"I felt just the same as you do now when they asked me to join them as the new drummer." he told me and when I looked around at the others, everyone was smiling at me.

My tail by now must have been nearly invisible, that fast it was wagging. 'This is for real! Whhooohhooo!'

I was about to go and hug Greg, when I felt my tail brush against something behind me. When I spun around the sight of the canine that sneaked up on me caught me completely off-guard.

This charming, mesmerizing smile... How had I missed it over tonight...

He didn't seem to care about the others around us as he pulled me into a light hug.

His muzzle was close to my ear and I thought my heart would stop beating when he whispered the words.

"Congratulations, Chris. Welcome to the family."