Hello! This is the first fanfiction I've written in a long time, so I apologise in advance if it takes a while to get into the swing of things. I've had the first part of this written for a few months, and I'm planning on writing the newer chapters as and when they come to mind, hopefully no longer than a couple of days apart. I hope you enjoy reading, comments and criticisms are always welcome!

Note: The beginning is set at Download festival, loosely based on this year's lineup (2013). I've taken a bit of leeway with the night Rammstein played, as having them play on the Sunday as they actually did, wouldn't allow enough time for a few other parts to happen believably :)

Sky x

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Chapter 1

"I've had enough of this rain, I'm soaked." I complained to my sister Emily.

"I did tell you to bring something waterproof..." She remarked, eying my drenched t-shirt and jeans. My previously neat and tidy hair hung damp and lifeless to my shoulders.

"Yeah well...I'm going back to camp to get changed, I'll be back in time for Five Finger Death Punch!" She nodded and turned to Kurt, one of our friends who we were camping with again this year. We were at Download festival, held annually at Donington Park in England. It was the second day of band performances - our fourth day there since we had arrived as early as possible to ensure a good camping spot. Until that morning, the weather had held fair, now however, it seemed that the beautiful June weather was on a rapid down turn, with dark clouds and rain showers.

I walked around the race track that served as a connection between the arena and the camping ground, and picked my way gingerly though the more well travelled areas where the grass had been worn down to a sticky, muddy mess that was intent on claiming as many shoes as it could. Five minutes later I arrived at the tent that Emily and I were sharing. The communal area that we had set up, essentially a circle of grass surrounded by tents facing inwards, cluttered with camping chairs and discarded alcohol bottles, was mostly empty, since everyone had at least one band on the line-up that they planned on seeing that day. Usually after the last headliner played, or the last band we were interested in seeing, we started to filter back to have a few drinks and socialise. The festival mentality was one that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I looked forward to my brief escapes from the drudgery of "real life" every year. Our "festival group" had grown through the years, now we numbered 14 give or take, people from all over the UK who came together for this too short five days.

I unzipped the tent, climbed inside and zipped it back up behind me, gratefully kicking off my soggy Vans as I did so. I sighed as I put them into a carrier bag and shoved them to the corner of the tent - there would be no chance of them drying off any time soon. I wriggled out of my wet clothes, and dug around in my bag for a servicable replacement. A clean t-shirt with the Halestorm logo went on first, followed by fishnet tights then a pair of dark denim shorts. To complete the look, I put on my Dr. Marten's boots, clearly a better choice for the current weather. After a brief look in my hand mirror, my makeup was fine as it was but my hair was unsavable. I ran a brush quickly through it and pulled it into a loose ponytail, letting a few tendrils escape to frame my face. A light waterproof parka that folded itself into a small bag was the last addition to my bag, and I was ready to go back. As I stepped back out of the tent, the one facing ours also opened up and our friend David came out, pulling on his hooded jacket .

"Hey sweet," he smiled. "Get a bit wet in the arena?"

"Yeah, you can say you told me so!" I grinned back. The same age as me, David was like a brother. Which was good, since he had more than a little interest in Emily. I was just glad that she had the attention of a decent guy, and that she wouldn't overlook him for the so-called bad boy types that she had a tendancy to gravitate towards.

"Would I say that?" His blue eyes sparkled with mischief. I shook my head at him and changed the subject.

"So are you joining me for Rammstein later tonight?" I knew the answer, it was as easy as breathing. Most of the group were fans or at least would listen to them, but David, Emily, another friend Billy and I, we were the diehards.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. You might be lucky and get boosted up on my shoulders, so you can see your Richard all the better!" He teased, My crush on the lead guitarist was also a well known fact, and they all liked to have a dig now and again.

"I'll hold you to that." I promised, and after saying goodbye, started my walk back to the arena. Rammstein wouldn't be playing until much later that night, but there were a few other bands I wanted to see beforehand, and of course we fully intended on getting a good spot in the crowd.

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"Why do people never stay in the place they say they will?" I wondered to myself as I passed the area I had left Emily, Kurt and our other friends. Rather than waste time looking for them, I opted to do a little stall browsing, maybe get something to eat, then wait at the spot for them to come back. It was our unofficial meeting area, though normally there was more than one person there at any one time! It was an ideal place to watch bands on the main stage from: you weren't squashed up in the crowd, it was slighly elevated so there wasn't the problem of tall people blocking your view, and it gave you a clear view of the whole stage as well as the two screens at either side.

Weaving my way through the crowds of people, I looked through the various stalls and vans that sold food, merchandise, jewellery and just about anything else you could imagine buying at a festival. A piercing and tattoo tent caught my attention, but I didn't give into the temptation to add to my collections. A dirty field was no place to look after a new piercing or tattoo, I told myself sternly. I moved away, to a noodle bar and ordered something to eat and drink. I paid, then crammed the bottle of juice and my purse into my bag, leaving my hands free to eat my noodles. The next stall along was selling official Download 2013 merchandise, and I figured it would be a good idea to get a t-shirt with the lineup listed on the back before they sold out.

While I was considering which design to choose, a group of guys stopped behind me, presumably to look at the gear on display as well. Glancing back at them I realised that they were more than a little worse for wear. I had no problem with people using their festival freedom to drink all day, but being outnumbered and alone it made me feel a little bit nervous. I subtly shuffled forward a couple of steps, catching the eye of one of the guys selling and pointing out the design I had chosen, telling him the size I needed. As he turned away to fetch my purchase from the neatly stacked piles at the back of the tent, an argument broke out amongst the group behind me. The merch guy handed me my shirt, took my money and gave back the change, and just as I was closing my bag back up, I heard an exclamation behind me. Before I was able to turn around and see what was going on, a heavy object, most likely human, barrelled into my back, sending my sprawling forwards. I put my hands - and the remains of my noodles! - out in front of me to stop my fall, but not quickly enough and my forehead collided with the metal railing separating the stall from the customers. For a few seconds I was dazed. Shaking my head to clear my vision, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?" Then louder, and in another direction, "Get lost you lot, I've told you before, go and sleep it off, eh?"

Looking up - slowly and carefully - I recognised the merch guy. Now that I was closer, and his lanyard was pretty much right in front of my face, I read his name - Jack. He helped me to my feet and I automatically started to brush myself off, only to realise that my noodles were now smeared all down my front and over my hands. And I had just got changed, too! "Fuck." I muttered to myself, trying vainly to remove some of the mess.

"Come on round here for some privacy." Jack said, holding my upper arm to support me. "Good job you just bought a clean t-shirt, else I'd have had to give you one for free!" He joked as he led me through between the stalls around the back to where there were a few benches set out, ahead of which there were vans which I guessed contained more merchandise for the various stalls. Keeping a steadying hand on my back, he lowered me down onto a bench and putting my bag, which I hadn't even noticed he had carried for me, down beside me.

"Can I see?" He motioned to my forehead, which started to sting as soon as he brought my attention back to it. I nodded. He moved my hair back out of the way and winced. "I'm hoping it looks worse than it actually is, being a head wound and all, but I'm going to go and fetch someone from the medical tent, just in case."

"Thanks." I smiled weakly as he rose and hurried away. I lifted my fingers to my head to check the damage for myself and winced as they came away bloody. "Arseholes!" I exclaimed loudly, possibly louder than I had intended to, as it caused a small lull in the conversations going on at the beer tent garden nearby.

"Excuse me?" I heard someone say in mock-affront, not far behind me.

"Sorry, sorry, not you..." I apologised, turning around too fast, and putting my hand out to the bench to steady myself. Only to find that the bench was in fact shorter than I had estimated and my hand was flying through thin air, again.

"Oops, careful!" The voice said again, closer this time and out of nowhere his hand caught mine and he was steadying me. I put my hand on his arm to push myself upright again, glad that I had been saved from falling for the second time in less than twenty minutes. As I looked up at him I nearly did fall over again, out of shock this time.

"Th..thanks." I stuttered, my heard pounding in my chest as the realisation of who my second saviour of the day was.

"You're very welcome." He gave me a bemused grin and look a draw of the cigarette I hadn't even noticed he was holding. Even without the stage clothes and makeup on, and wearing a beanie hat to cover his trademark black spiky hair, I recognised him immediately as the one and only Richard Kruspe. "Are you alright?" He asked, his eyes flicking up to my injury then back to meet mine.

"I'm fine, I just had an unexpected encounter with a metal pole." I joked. "I hit my head...and sacrificed my noodles..." I gestured towards the mess all down my front.

"Shouldn't you see a doctor?" He asked, cocking his head to one side slightly in a way that made my pulse speed up in a way that probably wasn't appropriate for the current situation.

"Oh, the guy from the merch tent behind me brought me round here and went off to get someone to see to me." I explained, embarassed at the fuss I'd caused.

"I see. Well. would you mind if I sat with you, until they arrive back? You may have a concussion." He winked, and sat down at the other side of me, a comfortable distance between us.

"Of course not, thank you!" I was touched by his concern, why should my wellbeing matter in the slightest to him?

"No problem at all. I'm Richard, by the way." He held out his hand.

"I know," I grinned foolishly. "I'm Rebekah." I accepted his handshake, glad that I'd subconsciously wiped my hands on my tights, nervously. His hand grip was firm but gentle, the skin smooth apart from a line of calluses I assumed were a product of his guitar playing. He smiled warmly at me again, sending my pulse once again into an unsteady dance. I hadn't counted on him being quite so attractive in the flesh.

"Nice to meet you, Rebekah." I enjoyed the way his accent changed the pronunciation of my name slightly. "Are you enjoying the festival so far?" He took another draw of his cigarette. How does someone make such a habit look so good?

"Most parts." I replied. "Other than the drunken idiots and the bad weather, it's been a good time!" He laughed at my answer, and I smiled along with him.

"We play tonight. I hope the crowd responds well." He commented.

"Some of the bands here, and the crowd members, could do with a good lesson from Rammstein as to how to put on a good show." I remarked, thinking of some of the acts I'd watched - or maybe endured would be a better word? - that weekend already.

"So you're a fan?" He asked, looking at me again. Normally I would find such a direct stare and such attentiveness intimidating, certainly if he had been anyone else I would have automatically found the ground much more interesting. It was very easy to meet his gaze, though.

"I am." I answered simply.

"I see." He smiled again to himself. "Well, I hope you enjoy tonight's show. You seem to have an idea of what you should expect from us." He stood up and I noticed Jack was returning, with a guy in a high-vis jacket and a medical case in tow. "I better give you some space. Take care." He gave me small wave and a smile, then sauntered back towards the beer tent, and the group of people who had been subtly watching our entire exchance, none of whom I recognised.

Five minutes later I was cleaned up, with a small butterfly bandage covering the cut, which was really quite tiny and not worth the fuss at all. Jack and the medical guy let me have some privacy to change out of my horrible tshirt and into my new clean one, and saying my goodbyes and thankyous to both of them, I walked back into the arena, slightly in shock that all of that had just happened, and glad to know that, at least from my very brief encounter with him, Richard Kruspe seemed like a genuinely nice person, despite all the diva/rockstar reports that surrounded his reputation. Meeting him had truly been the silver lining to a so far horrible day!

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I've stopped there, as it was getting a bit too long and I don't want to bore people! I have a little bit more ready to go up, which I'll add tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed! x