Hope you've all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year, guys! :3 This chapter is a bit longer than the previous ones, purely because there's been such a wait. Enjoy!

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The next week at work dragged in the unfortunate way that time seems to do when you're especially looking forward to something. That particular something was Wacken Open Air festival, which was the final festival that Rammstein would be playing at that summer. Having researched how to get there, we had decided that the easiest way would be for me to be picked up at the airport in Hamburg, and driven to the festival grounds.

I had endured a million questions at work since I had arrived back on the Monday, everyone was incredibly interested in Richard and how he had flown to Scotland to randomly visit me. They had decided that he was a romantic and definitely a keeper, and were very impressed that we were "moving in together" already. Thankfully, I was now free from work and on my way to the airport to begin my journey.

Arriving in Hamburg a couple of hours later, I retrieved my hand luggage from the compartment and left the plane, making sure that I had remembered to pick up everything from my seat - it wouldn't have been the first set of earphones I had lost to an airline! I walked along the tunnel connecting the plane to the airport and into the arrivals area, looking around for a familiar face. Eventually I found two! Paul and Schneider had come to collect me. Schneider noticed me first, and started to walk towards me, but Paul noticed soon after and shoved past him, grinning wickedly at me and I stopped dead, laughing as I tried to guess what he was up to.

"Hi Paul!" I squeaked, as he caught me by the waist and threw me over his shoulder, my bag dropping to the ground.

"You're here!" He cheered, and turned to walk out of the airport entrance with me still over his shoulder, me still squealing as he tickled my sides. I'm sure we attracted more than a couple of strange glances, but I barely had time to notice as I was carried outside. Schneider followed us at a more sedate pace, he had retrieved my bag from the ground and had thoughtfully brought it with him. Paul put me down on my feet and I pinched his cheek jokingly, making him poke his tongue out at me. I laughed and turned to greet Schneider with a hug, and thanked him as he passed my bag back to me. I put it over my shoulder, and he left to collect the car from where it was parked, leaving me alone with Paul. He slung his arm around my shoulder and kissed me cheek, more than a little bit hyper.

"Who gave you Red Bull? I'm going to kill them!" I laughed, wiping at my cheek where his kiss had landed rather wetly.

"No one, I'm just excited." He insisted. "One more show, then some well earned time off!"

"Where's Richard?" I asked. I had half expected him to be the one to collect me, and while I was happy to see Paul and Schneider I missed him.

"He and Flake drew the short straws." He explained. "They are doing radio and phone interviews for most of the afternoon."

"I see." I replied. I knew that none of the band particularly liked giving interviews, and they tried to take it in turns as much as was possible. Anyway, I would be seeing him before the day was done and that was enough for me!

Schneider drove up shortly after in a black SUV, Paul let me ride up front and he sat in the back. We chatted and caught up on our lives since Download, Richard had told me most of the big news but it was nice to hear the smaller details of the boys lives. Schneider proudly showed me pictures on his phone of his baby son, and as far as babies go he was definitely one of the cutest! Schneider promised that I would get to meet him during the weekend, as they were driving back to Berlin the next day. The car journey went by surprisingly quickly, and in no time we were parking up beside a large tour bus, surrounded by the familiar black trucks that carried all their stage equipment. There were already loads of people milling around setting things up and working hard. Again, I was impressed at how efficient the whole stage set up was. Grabbing my bag from the back of the car, I followed Paul and Schneider onto the tour bus, where I was greeted by Ollie and Till, who seemed to just be chilling out and recharging their batteries before the show. I hugged them both, and after sitting with them for an hour or so, they told me that it was time for their pre show meet and greet. I went with them, for a lack of anything else to do, I didn't want to spend the evening on their bus by myself!

The meet and greet was being held in a gazebo type tent behind a barrier separating the band's area and the main festival field, similar to the set up I had seen at Download. There was already a crowd of people waiting, and the excitement level increased as we approached. It was a much more informal setting than I had seen previously, the band and the fans would be able to mingle freely without tables or barriers separating them. There were a few security guys hanging around, just in case, but it didn't look like any sort of trouble was likely. I spotted Mark, who had been part of their security team in England and waved, getting a smile and a wave in return. I hovered by the sidelines while the four Rammstein members wandered around, smiling and talking with their fans. Mark came over to stand with me, and suggested that I had out some backstage passes in the form of pink wristbands to some of the fans.

"Thanks for the distraction!" I said, grateful that I had something to do. "How long do I have?"

"No more than an hour..." He handed me the passes and held up a finger in warning. "Your boyfriend will have my head if I've sent you away and you're not back before they go on stage!"

"Why don't you come with me, then?" I suggested. At least then I wouldn't lose track of time and get him into trouble. He looked around as if to ascertain how much he would actually be needed or missed, then nodded and we left through a side entrance, passing security then into the freedom of the arena grounds. "How do you normally do this?" I asked. There were ten pink bands to be handed out, and probably thousands of people who would love to be involved in the after party.

"There's no knack to it really." He shrugged. "Look out for some Rammstein fans, either by what they're wearing, visible tattoos, anything...have a quick chat with them, if they seem like the kind of people you'd hang out with then invite them along, if not, wish them a fun night and carry on."

"Okay...lets give it a try." I grinned, pointing out a group of people, two of which were wearing Rammstein hoodies. Half an hour later we only had two left, and I wanted to be quite choosy with them. Eventually we found two girls who were standing away from the crowd, keeping to themselves. They were both wearing Rammstein tshirts so it was safe enough to assume that they were fans. One was smoking a cigarette, and she threw it to the ground as we approached. "Hi!" I greeted them in English, as had been my routine so far. My German was more than passable, but I still preferred to speak my native tongue.

"Hi there." The smoker replied in an American accent. The other girl smiled shyly and nodded at us. "Can I help you?" the first girl asked.

"We don't want to bother you guys, but we noticed you were fans of Rammstein." I began. They both nodded, looking unsure of where the conversation was headed. "Are you here just for them?"

"It's my birthday present." The shy girl replied, looking pleased. "From Marie...my sister." She indicated the other girl. "I'm Amy." She extended her hand to me, and I took it.

"Rebekah." I smiled. "And this is Mark." He waved, but allowed me to direct the conversation. "So, you're birthday...what would you say if I could make it just that little bit better? For both of you, of course."

"What do you mean by better?" Marie asked. Silently I handed them their passes.

"These will get you in for the after party." I told them.

"Wow, seriously?!" Amy looked like all of her Christmases had come at once.

"Seriously." I grinned. "And you know what, fuck it, I'll do one better. Mark? Could you get them a couple of these?" I indicated my access-all-areas wristband and he nodded. "Awesome. How would you like to hang out with me during the show and see their soundcheck? I'll be side stage and by myself so..." The excited squeals and hugs I got were answer enough. "Come on, then." I laughed. "We'll be expected back."

The four of us wandered back to the backstage area, and Mark started to rake around for more passes. I told the girls to meet me inside, and went ahead on my own hoping to see Richard before Amy and Marie caught up with me. The gazebo where the meet and greet had been held was empty, so I continued on to the tour bus. I was in luck, Ollie and Paul were kicking a football around and Richard was leaning against the side of the bus, smoking and watching them. When he saw me approaching, he stubbed out his cigarette and walked towards me, enveloping me in a hug and pressing his lips to mine. He smelled and tasted of smoke but unusually it didn't bother me, since I was starting to associate it with him rather than the bad habit. The kiss ended and he softly said, "Hey."

"Hey yourself." I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder, enjoying being back with him again. I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye and then a second set of arms was wrapped around us, not so surprisingly Paul had decided to join in. "Paul, you're ruining a perfect moment!" I laughed, swatting him away. He chuckled and let us go, though it was probably more due to the glower that Richard aimed at him than anything I could have said. He looked down at me, a mixed expression of happiness and tiredness on his face. "You look exhausted." I remarked, holding my hand to his cheek.

"I'm fine." He said. "One more show then a week of packing...then some unpacking into our new home!"

"The unpacking can wait until you've had a good nights sleep." I swatted his nose playfully as he released his hold on my waist.

"Pff, sleep." He scoffed. "I've not slept properly since I met you...apart from the three nights we have spent together."

"Lucky for you we'll be spending much more time together from now on then, isn't it." I winked. Till, Flake and Schneider had emerged from the bus and looked ready to go. "By the way guys." I said as Ollie skillfully kicked the football onto the bus as the door was closing. They looked at me expectantly. "I hope you don't mind, but there'll be a couple of others joining for your soundcheck and hanging out with me during the show. Till raised his eyebrow questioningly so I explained. "Mark and I were handing out afterparty tickets, and there's two American girls who are here just to see you lot. And it's one of their birthdays, so I invited them along...I hope you don't mind..." I ended lamely, realising that I probably should have at least asked them first. Thankfully they were all fine with it, though Till poked fun at my nervousness before putting one of his massive arms around my shoulders and pulling me into a half hug.

"We had better start the souncheck. Bring the girls and meet us there?" Flake suggested and I nodded. They started to walk away, Richard kissed me on the cheek as he passed, Paul following suit jokingly, earning him a smack on the head from Richard. I shook my head at them and turned back the way I came. I met Marie and Amy a couple of moments later, Mark had finally found them some wristbands and they were excited to experience backstage life.

"Hey." I greeted them, falling into step beside them. "They've gone ahead to start their sound check. It's not exactly what you'd expect, their roadies do most of their instruments, this is mostly testing their in-ear mics and things like that. Going over pyro timing, that's an important one!" I laughed. "I told them it's your birthday." I said to Amy. "They're looking forward to meeting you." They grinned at me nervously, and I tried to remember if I had felt as anxious before I met them for the first time. I didn't think so.

"So, how do you know them, then? You're not German, so..." Marie asked.

"I met them at Download festival in the UK, I've stayed in touch and came out to see them this weekend." I said. "And you're right, I'm not German, I'm Scottish. I do speak some German though, enough to get by, though Paul likes to confuse me." I grinned.

"Are you and Paul, like, together?" Amy asked. I chuckled and shook my head.

"Nope, Paul is married, though I've not met the lucky lady yet. Paul is quickly becoming my annoying older brother. I'm actually with Richard." I shrugged. "It was him I first met at Download, and he pulled some strings for my friends and I to get backstage. We've been together since."

"Wow...Richard." Marie mused.

"Wow indeed." I laughed. "Still can't believe it most of the time myself."

"I can imagine." She agreed.

We turned a corner and in front of us was a small stage area, where the boys were standing or sitting around and having their earpieces fitted. Paul bounced over to us with Flake on his heels and they introduced themselves to the girls. Their familiarity put Amy and Marie at ease, and they were chatting happily as the rest of the band made their way over one by one. I took a group picture of them all, and after a few more minutes of hanging out it was time for the band to get ready to go on stage. We said goodbye to them, and made our way to where Mark would be waiting to position us at the side of the stage. We were on Richard's side again, and we sat down on empty equipment boxes to wait for the show to start. We could see the crowd from where we were, though they probably couldn't see us, and it seemed like the lines of people went on forever. Soon the lights went down and the crowd started to cheer, and Amy and Marie were gripping my hands in excitement. They opened with Ich tu dir weh, and continued smoothly into Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen? then after a brief pause, they played Keine Lust. We danced and sang along, and I felt so happy that I had been able to make Amy's birthday present an extra bit special. After a few more songs, they slowed down a bit to play Ohne Dich. As he sang, Till walked over to the side of the stage and beckoned Amy and Marie over to him. They looked at me nervously and I made a "go ahead" motion.

Both of them trotted over to Till and he took Amy's hand, still singing. He led them back to the center of the stage, and paused to announce to the crowd that it was her special day. The crowd cheered and clapped, and I joined in with them, along with Paul, Ollie and Richard. Flake and Schneider were still playing, keeping the song on a loop until they returned to it. Till finished the song with the girls on either side of him, and when it was finished, each of them got a hug and a kiss on top of their heads before they hurried back to where I was standing. Marie was grinning widely and Amy could hardly breathe.

"That was amazing!" Marie yelled.

"I can't believe that just happened!" Amy said breathlessly with her hand on her heart as if to calm it.

"It'll be a birthday you'll never forget." I winked at her, and I was rewarded with a tight hug and an emotional thank you.

"Guys honestly, it was my pleasure to do this." I said sincerely. "I'm only passing on whatever karma it was that hit me in June when I met them. I was looking at Richard as I said the last part, and he caught my eye and smiled.

Almost too soon, the show was over, and the band were taking their final stage bow of the year. Amy, Marie and I were cheering as loudly as any member of the crowd. Feeling a hand on my shoulder I turned round, and Mark was standing with a tray carrying six glasses of champagne.

"To celebrate their last show." He explained, handing it to me and giving me a gentle shove onto the stage. I straightened my back and walked out towards the band with a smile on my face, offering them each a glass when they stood up from their kneeling positions. Richard was last to rise, and after taking a mouthful from his glass he offered it to me. I shrugged and took a mouthful too, before passing it back to him to finish it. He drained the glass and threw it over his shoulder as the rest of them had done, then slung his arm around my shoulders and we walked off the stage, Richard still waving to his fans.

Everyone met up around the back of the stage, and we grabbed whatever chairs and things to sit on we could find, and grouped them all together in front of the tour bus. Mark and a couple other security guys arrived with a couple of crates of beer each and put them down in the middle of our gathering. Marie, Amy and I found a picnic blanket that had seen better days and spread it on the ground, sitting down together in a group. Till left to take a quick shower, and Flake went to get changed out of his sparkly suit. I pulled a pack of face wipes out of my bag and offered them to Ollie and Paul, who took them gratefully and started wiping the paint off their faces. Richard sat down beside us and took a couple as well, then when his face was clean he rummaged around in my bag himself for my mirror and eyeliner.

"Help yourself!" I laughed, earning a cheeky grin in return. He expertly applied eyeliner and neatly put everything back where he found it.

"True love is...using your girlfriend's eyeliner and not getting a smack in the face." Ollie joked, folding himself into a deck chair that was far too small for his long frame. Richard just chuckled and pulled me in for a cuddle. I settled myself on his knee and reached for a beer, shivering as his hand ran across my bare stomach under my tshirt. He bent his face to my hair and inhaled, then nuzzled his way to behind my ear, landing a few faint kisses in the spot where my jaw and neck met. I relaxed back into him, making a small sound of contentment as he repositioned his arms to wrap tightly around my front, his hands clasped around my stomach.

"So when are the rest of the after party people arriving?" Marie asked, grabbing a beer from the crate and throwing it to Amy before taking one for herself.

"Around 11:30." I replied, taking a mouthful of beer.

"So...now." Amy said, checking her watch.

"Yeah, Mark will be meeting them and bringing them over." I said.

It was a warm night, and soon the air was full of the sounds of a party, the beer was flowing and someone had put some music on. Each and every person who Mark and I had given bands to thanked us, which was awesome. Rammstein fans were definitely some of the best people in the world. Richard had moved from his spot behind me to socialise, and I was soon joined by Flake, who sat quietly beside me after he had done his usual round of greetings. Some people gave him a hard time about being "antisocial", but as far as I was concerned he was just like me: a little bit reclusive and preferred the company of himself and his friends as opposed to huge social gatherings. Till was charming Amy and Marie, and the rest of the boys were chatting and drinking with the fans. It was nice to see them end the festival summer in such high spirits. After a while, the beer was taking its toll and I quietly excused myself to visit the bathroom on the tour bus. On the way back I stopped at the bunk that Richard and I would be sharing and pulled my Emigrate hoodie out of my bag. Warm as it was, it would be getting colder the later it got.