This was requested by iguessthatsdejavu. S/O to her for being my first request lol. Also, December 2nd was Rick Savage's birthday! Happy late birthday Rick, rock on!

~ Post-Concert Shenanigans ~

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, trying to stand comfortably. (Y/F/N) cheered next to me, throwing up a hand showing devil horns. I felt anticipation and impatience creeping out from the corners of my mind. I could feel the excitement radiating around us.

We were at a Def Leppard concert. My friend had managed to score tickets for good seats, and so here we were.

"Come on, (Y/N)! Cheer, or something!" (Y/F/N) yelled, shaking my shoulder.

I rolled my eyes, then grinned. I put my fingers to my mouth and gave a long, sharp whistle. A few seconds later, the band emerged from backstage, and the crowd went wild. I whistled again and whooped. (Y/F/N) was going ballistic next to me.

The lights went out, save for the ones shining on the stage. A loud "gunter, glieben, glauten, globen" sounded around the place, and the crowd went mad. (Y/F/N) and I practically screamed out the lyrics to "Rock Of Ages."

Joe laughed at the end and called out to the roaring crowd. "Thank you! Welcome to our show! Everyone doin' alright out there?"

Everyone went nuts again, even me. I yelled out a wild "hell yeah!" which I'm sure no one but (Y/F/N) heard.

"Alright, that's what I like to hear!" Joe yelled. "This next one goes out to those who might want to be in the company of someone... who they've only got a photograph of."

The people cheered as the first chords of "Photograph" tore through the hall. We sang along, song after song, keeping time with the band. Before I could even believe it, the show was over.

"Man," (Y/F/N) sighed as we exited the hall, "that was amazing."

"Yeah," I nodded. "So, do you have to go?"

"Sadly, yes," (Y/F/N) replied. "We'll talk tomorrow?"

I nodded and we hugged goodbye. (Y/F/N) left then, and I was alone. I decided to head around the back of the place for some fresh air and space from the crowd rushing to leave. I leaned against the wall, taking a long gulp of air in.

"Hey," I heard a too-familiar voice say from next to me, "mind if I join you?"

I turned, mildly horror-struck. There was Joe Elliott, standing there in all his Joe Elliott glory, smiling in his Joe Elliott way, asking to join me in his Joe Elliott voice.

I was about to stammer out a stuttering reply, but I took a quick breath and calmly replied, "sure."

He nodded and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms. "So, I'm Joe. Joe Elliott."

"Yeah, uh, I know. I know who you are."

He grinned. "Were you at the show?"

"Yes," I looked down at my Def Leppard shirt. "If that wasn't, you know, apparent."

He laughed heartily. "What did you think?"

"Oh, you guys are great. My favorite band by far. The show was amazing."

"Yeah?" His grin met his eyes, then he looked down and kicked at the ground in what seemed like embarrassment. "Thanks."

"You deserve it! You have such a great singing voice, it's so unique."

Joe smiled and kicked at the ground again, putting his foot behind him and lifting and dropping the toe of his boot several times.

"Thanks," he said again, quieter this time. "Listen, uh, would you like to go and get some food with me?"

I blinked, surprised. The Joe Elliott was asking me to get food with him. No matter what happened, I knew that years and years later, I'd remember this, and I'd probably hate myself if I didn't go.

"Yeah, sure," I said, and his eyes shone.

"Aha-lright," he said in a laugh, "come on."

Joe led me toward a fast-food restaurant nearby, asking me questions along the way. He seemed to genuinely want to know my answers to things, not like those guys that ask questions just so they can give their own answers. In fact, he didn't seem to want to talk about himself, which I found almost off for a rockstar.

Every so often, I would look over to him, wondering if I was hallucinating. Where was the rest of the band? Did they know where he was? Was I on something, was he really even there?

Only one way to confirm it. During a short silence, I reached out and gently grabbed his arm. He stopped walking and turned his eyes on me, looking slightly alarmed. I shook my head slightly and looked back and forth from his left to right eye, finally deciding he really was there.

"What?" He asked, puzzled.

"Nothing," I said, letting go of him and starting to walk again.

"No, what was that all about?"

"Nothing," I repeated. "Come on."

His eyes narrowed but he nodded, then continued as we had been before. We made it to the restaurant and he rushed ahead to open the door and hold it open for me. I giggled when he made a sweeping bow as I walked in.

We each had a cheeseburger and he insisted on paying for my meal. I ended up letting him, mostly because he said he'd go and jump in the nearest lake if I didn't.

"Thanks," I said afterward, adding a soft "loser".

Joe laughed. "Hey, I invited you. That means I have to cover it. It's the rules."

"Whose rules?" I asked in a demanding tone, lightly punching his arm.

"First of all, ow," he said, and I rolled my eyes, knowing that could not have hurt. "And second, my rules. Problem with that?"

"No," I said, noting the way his eyebrow rose in what was a clear challenge. "None whatsoever."

It was now nearly midnight. We passed a small group of guys smoking a joint and I noticed them all looking me up and down. I felt a weight across my shoulders and realized Joe had put his arm around me, somehow shielding me from the men.

"Thanks," I said when we had passed them. He looked down at me and grinned. I waited for him to take his arm away, but he didn't. Instead, he pulled me closer to him and settled it comfortably. I laughed a little and we walked on.

We had taken a detour, but had now arrived at the spot where we had met in the first place. We walked inside the arena, finding people taking down and packing away the equipment.

"Are you going to help?" I asked.

"No," Joe responded. "To tell you the truth, I have no idea how any of that works. I'd make a big mess out of things."

I shook my head and laughed at him. He laughed as well and shook his hair back, but when he put his head forward it fell into his eyes again. So he ran a hand through it, and I noticed how soft it looked. It was cute.

His eyes moved and met mine, and I blushed at having been caught staring. He gave a little grin and shook his hair back again.

I saw someone approaching and nudged Joe. He turned and happily greeted his band-mate Steve Clark as I tried not to fangirl.

"Well?" Steve looked toward me after a few seconds of talking about the show. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Right," Joe said, turning to me. "Steve, (Y/N). (Y/N), Steve."

Steve smiled and held out a hand, which I took in mine and gave a hearty shake. He looked at what I was wearing and said, "nice shirt."

"Thanks," I grinned. "And you're a great guitarist. I really like your work."

"Thank you," he said, looking down a little in the same way Joe had when I'd complimented his singing. "Well, I'll see you, Joe. I'm gonna go pack up my stuff. Pleasure meeting you, (Y/N), maybe I'll see you again sometime."

"Nice meeting you as well," I said. He nodded and walked off toward a rack full of guitars.

"He seems nice," I said.

"Yeah," Joe agreed. "Nice bloke. Anyway, have you got anywhere you need to be?"

"Not at all," I replied, looking around. "Why?"

"No reason," he shrugged. "Well, now what?"

"I dunno. What do you usually do after concerts?"

"Go back to the bus and unwind, usually."

"Huh," I said, not quite believing it. "I thought you were going to say you went out to party or something."

"Oh, yes, on occasion," he laughed, running a hand through his hair. "Not always, though. Honestly, I prefer staying in the bus. Concerts can be kind of tiring, so it's nice to relax for a bit afterward."

"Yeah, I get that," I said, "and here I thought you were the hard partying sort."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I like parties. But sometimes all I want is a space of time to gather myself, ya know, even just five minutes."

"Would you like some time alone, then?"

He looked at me and his eyebrows rose. "No, not at all. I'm having a good time talking with you."

"Aw," I put a hand on his shoulder and patted it semi-awkwardly. "Me too."

He laughed at my less-than-cool behavior and pointed with his thumb. "Wanna get out of here?"

"Sure."

We left, getting back on the sidewalk lit by streetlights and open shops. It was nice walking next to him, now that I had gotten to know him a bit. We walked around for what must have been hours, talking about whatever: our childhoods, our goals, funny stories, and everything in between.

He put his arm around me again, making me feel warm and weird inside. Eventually, we reached a park, and, deciding we were both tired of walking around, entered it to find a bench or something to sit on.

"(Y/N)," Joe said softly after another anecdote from me, "I have to tell you something."

"Yeah?" I turned to face him. He grabbed my hand and lifted it.

"I know we only met today, but I feel like I've known you for so much longer than just the last few hours. I don't know... God, I don't know what it is... but you're special. We've been talking for a while, and I think I've heard enough to be able to say I've never met anyone like you. I don't really know where I'm going with this, but I just thought I should let you know-- I feel something for you. I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I thought you should know..." he trailed off.

I blinked and asked, "you understand if I don't feel the same way?"

He dropped my hand and his eyes lowered. "Yes," he nearly whispered.

I internally kicked myself. He'd misunderstood. I looked at his face-- his eyes were shifting from left to right around the ground, and his cheeks were a light pink. I felt such a rush of emotions then that I wasn't quite sure what to do... except what felt right.

I grabbed his collar and pulled him down to my level, pressing his lips to mine. I felt his surprise in his kiss. He stiffened a little, then relaxed and wrapped his arms around me. I ran a hand through his hair, noting that I had been right-- it was really soft.

I moved back and said, "you'd have to be a little slow to not realize I do."

He laughed and leaned down to kiss me again.

***

(A/N): Sorry this update took so long to post, but I wasn't too sure how I wanted it to end. Anyway, thanks for reading!