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The applause was Shiloh's favorite part. Not because she was self-centered or anything, but because it meant their fans loved their stuff as much as they did. It was the best feeling in the world after finishing a song, kinda breathless, to hear people excited about the stuff you so lovingly created and performed.
The applause at the very end of each show was the best, when The Raelo Hoppers stood together as a proud family and waved goodnight to their fans.
Judah had brought a t-shirt launcher tonight. He'd literally sat everyone down before the show and made them sign a bunch of shirts, even Daniel and Michelle, who only their truly dedicated fans even knew about.
And now, at the end of the show, Judah was laughing like a maniac, shooting t-shirts at the unsuspecting, but eager, crowd of fans.
Shiloh wasn't sure who was enjoying it more: the fans, or Judah himself.
She couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
Judah? Now he definitely enjoyed the fame of it all.
It was endearing, though.
After the chaos had calmed down a bit, Shiloh spoke into her microphone again.
“Thank you, Verdonia! We've had a blast performing for you tonight! Goodnight!”
Her brothers cheered along with the audience as the lights went down.
Daniel and Michelle were waiting backstage for them.
“Woo hoo!” Daniel, the band's manager, cheered, giving a high five to each of his siblings in turn, “Great job tonight!”
“Thanks!” Judah exclaimed, “That was a fun audience!”
“And we got to play some new songs too,” Elijah added.
Michelle made her way to Micah and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You did great, babe. But, you always do great.” She then turned to everyone, “You all always do great.”
Micah, despite having dated the girl for a while, had gone red as a tomato. “...Thanks, Michelle.”
“You should've played with us tonight!” Josiah exclaimed, drumsticks still in his hands.
Michelle shrugged, “I didn't have any time to practice. It's alright. I'll join you guys sometime again soon.”
She played the guitar like Elijah, Judah, and Micah did, and played with the band sometimes.
“The t-shirt shooter idea seemed to go well,” she teased.
Judah grinned, “Yeah, it did! We should start doing that every show!”
“‘Every show?’” Elijah repeated, eyes wide, "It's kinda… crazy.”
“Hey, it's better than him crowdsurfing,” Shiloh chimed in, chuckling.
It was another thing Judah desperately wanted to do, but his siblings wouldn't allow him to.
“Yeah, I say let's save the t-shirt launcher for special occasions,” Daniel concluded.
And he was the manager, and the oldest, so whatever he said was the final say.
***
“Who's ready to be crammed in a bus for fifteen hours!?” Judah asked, way too optimistically.
“It's not fifteen hours straight,” Elijah clarified, “It's fifteen all together. We're gonna stop to perform.”
“It's still fifteen hours,” Micah sighed as the group made their way across Elijah's lawn to the bus.
“Yeah, but it's fifteen hours with us!” Judah grinned.
Micah rolled his eyes.
“That's the nature of going on tour, guys,” Shiloh cut in, “You've done it before.”
“It'll be worth it,” Josiah spoke up, “It always is.”
Micah shrugged, “Yeah, I suppose so.”
“Plus,” Michelle suddenly added, taking hold of his arm, “I'm coming along this time!”
Micah smiled down at her, “Yeah, that helps.”
They loaded their equipment into the bus, got settled, and were finally off.
“Judah, are those star-shaped sunglasses?” Shiloh asked from across from him.
Judah lowered said glasses to give his sister a look, before putting them back on. “Yep! Got them specifically for the tour! The fans'll love them!”
“Yeah, I'm sure Mia will,” Josiah suddenly teased, popping up from behind Judah's seat and resting his hands on top of it.
Judah made a face, “Ugh. She better not be there.”
“She somehow gets front row seats to practically every one of our shows, Judah,” Elijah chimed in, “We're bound to see her at least once.”
“How does she do that!?” Judah exclaimed, “And she's not even there for the whole band! She's just there for me!”
“Most of our fans have their favorite member,” Micah chuckled, arm around Michelle in the seat next to him.
“Yes,” Judah agreed, “And team Judah is superior, but this is just too much!”
He leaned back in his seat, then sat up again, as if he got an idea.
“Hey, wait. Can't we just like ban her or something!?”
Shiloh nodded, “Yeah, we should probably do that…”
“THEN WHY HAVEN'T WE!?”
***
They drove a while longer, had all sorts of random conversations and played all sorts of random games, when there was a sudden, sharp jerk. The bus slowed down… then stopped.
“What was that!?” Michelle exclaimed.
Daniel, who'd been driving, got out of the car.
A moment later, he poked his head back in, “Yeah, I don't know what's going on.”
Josiah sighed as he stood and wiped his hands together. “OK, I'll take a look at it.”
He was their drummer, but pretty much also their mechanic. Some of the other siblings had a bit of knowledge on the subject, but Josiah definitely knew the most.
“It was probably Mia 'cause we were talking about banning her,” Judah concluded.
“What?” Shiloh raised an eyebrow, “How could she have known about this?”
Judah shrugged, “She always seems to find me somehow.”
Another while went by before Josiah and Daniel opened the door again.
“Yeah, looks like we might be here for a while,” Josiah admitted, almost immediately getting back to work.
“What?” Elijah stood up, concerned, “But, we have a schedule!”
Daniel shrugged, “I don't know what to tell you. There's not much we can do until Josiah figures out what's wrong.”
“And who knows how long it'll be until he actually fixes it,” Micah added.
“It'll be OK, guys!” Shiloh said, forcing a smile, though she was worried herself, “We'll call the venue. We'll figure it out.”
“I'm gonna go see how I can help Joe,” Daniel said, closing the door again.
The band sat in stunned silence for a moment.
Then, Judah spoke up, “Well, at least I don't have to deal with Mia.”
***
It had become a full production.
Eventually, the band left the bus because they couldn't turn on the AC and outside was cooler than inside.
Josiah was still under the bus (literally), with Daniel helping any way he could.
Elijah was pacing. He'd already called the venue, but Shiloh knew how much he cared about things going according to plan. Shiloh understood. She was the same way.
Michelle was leaning against the van, arms crossed. Shiloh honestly couldn’t tell if she was mad or not.
Shiloh was sitting on a rock next to Micah and Judah, who were playing I Spy. It wasn't annoying until about the twentieth object.
“I spy… something clear,” Judah said finally.
Micah blinked at him, “'Clear?' What's clear?”
“Is it the air?” Shiloh casually asked, her earlier enthusiasm faded.
“WHAT!? How'd you get that!?” Judah exclaimed.
“Better question:” Micah chimed in, “‘The air!?’ What kind of object is that!?”
Judah waved his hands around, “We've done everything else!”
“How about we do something else?” Shiloh asked, breaking up the argument, and thankfully, the game.
Then, she started to sing softly.
This finally got Elijah to stop pacing. He turned to look at her.
Josiah poked his head out from under the bus.
Shiloh could feel their eyes on her, but instead of singing quieter, she sang louder.
Elijah smiled, before running to the bus.
Shiloh stopped for a minute, a little confused.
“No, no, don’t stop,” Elijah exclaimed, poking his head back out of the van, guitar now in hand.
Seeming to get the memo, the rest of the band, beside Josiah still under the bus, rushed to grab their instruments too.
“If we can’t make it in time for our performance, we’ll make our own!” Elijah grinned, beginning to tune his guitar.
Shiloh smiled, finally understanding what he was planning.
She continued singing, Elijah quietly starting to sing the harmony along with her.
The rest of them came out of the bus with their own instruments.
Josiah even started gently tapping his wrench on the edge of the bus to the beat.
They finished the song.
“Hey, that actually sounded pretty good,” Judah admitted.
“...Reminds me of how we started,” Micah said quietly, “Just playing in mom’s garage. No schedule, no crazy lights or effects.”
“No Mia,” Judah added.
Micah nodded with a laugh, “No Mia.”
“It’s why I started talking to you guys when I first moved in,” Michelle added, “I heard you guys practicing and needed to see what was going on.”
Shiloh laughed, “Mom loved when we’d spend time together like that…”
The group went quiet for a moment.
“...Do you think she’s still there for our performances…?” Elijah finally asked, “Somehow?”
“...I think so,” Shiloh nodded.
“Yeah, me too,” Judah added.
“How’s the bus going?” Micah called to Josiah.
Josiah grunted, “Not great. I think I’m figuring it out, but it’s still gonna be a bit.”
Instead of being upset, Micah turned back to the rest of his siblings with a grin.
They played another song. Then another.
A car honked at them as it passed. Another rolled down their window and cheered.
Yeah, Shiloh liked the applause. She loved performing. But, maybe it wasn’t her favorite part. That was playing with her family. On a stage, in an old garage, or even on the side of the road. As long as she played with them, she loved every minute of it.