Chapter 74

The desert air was still warm when Katseye took the stage, the last of the sunset bleeding orange and purple behind the Mojave tent. You watched from the crowd, pressed between bodies and breath, phone raised to capture Dani’s opening stance – thigh-high boots, bikini top, mesh skirt that sat low on her hips. She caught your eye from the stage, just for a second, and grinned, wicked and sure.

They performed ‘Pinky Up’ and ‘Gnarly’ and a cover of ‘Golden’ that had the crowd screaming back the lyrics. Dani hit every mark, every hair flip, every hip roll, and you felt it in her chest – that particular pride that came from watching her become something larger than herself, something that belonged to thousands but came home to you.

When they finished, breathless and glowing, you sent her a text you knew she’d feel before she read it.

Y/N: ‘you were everything. come find me after’

She found you twenty minutes later, still in stage makeup, still buzzing, crashing into your arms outside the VIP tent. She smelled like sweat and dry shampoo and the coconut sunscreen you’d made her wear.

“Did you see the spin?” she demanded, pulling back just enough to search your face. “The one at the bridge? I almost died.”

“I saw.” You brushed a smudge of glitter from her cheekbone. “You looked like you were born to do it.”

“I was born to do it.” She grinned, unrepentant, and kissed you hard, right there in the crowd, stage makeup transferring to your chin. “Now feed me. I’m starving.”

*

They changed in the artist trailers, shedding stage gear for something lighter – Dani in denim shorts and an oversized vintage tee you’d never seen before, probably stolen from Megan’s bag. The girls emerged in a cluster, still high on adrenaline, bickering about setlists and sound bleed and whether Lara had actually hit that high note or if the track had carried her.

“You hit it,” Megan said, defensive.

“I definitely didn’t,” Lara replied, scrolling her phone. “But the crowd didn’t notice, so.”

“Girl be so fucking for real.”

“It’s true.”

The main stage was already swelling for Justin Bieber. They’d caught the end of The Strokes, the crowd dense and shifting, everyone migrating toward the headliner. You found a spot toward the back, far enough to breathe, close enough to feel the bass in your ribs. The girls formed a loose circle around you – Sophia and Manon sharing a blanket on the grass, Yoonchae and Lara debating whether to get drinks, Megan sprawled against a backpack, half-asleep already.

Dani stood pressed against your side, her arm locked around your waist, her chin on your shoulder. She’d been texting you all day – before the set and after – but now she was here, solid and warm, and you felt the last of your solo anxiety melt away.

“You’re quiet,” she murmured against your ear.

“Watching you watch the stage.”

“I’m watching you.”

“Then we’re both distracted.”

“Obviously.” She bit your earlobe, gentle, and you yelped laughing, pushing her away. She pulled you right back, tighter, her hand sliding to your hip.

The lights dropped. The crowd roared. Justin Bieber emerged in an oversized pink hoodie and baggy shorts, alone on the vast stage, and the night shifted into something else – nostalgia and spectacle and the particular magic of a comeback.

He ran through his new stuff first, the SWAG tracks that Dani nodded along to, hips moving in small circles against yours. Then he sat down with a laptop, and the screen behind him exploded with old YouTube videos – grainy, teenage Justin, singing in living rooms and empty auditoriums.

“Oh my god,” Sophia gasped. “Is he doing karaoke to himself?”

“He’s doing karaoke to himself,” Lara confirmed, delighted.

The first notes of ‘Baby’ hit, and the crowd became one voice – thousands of people who’d memorised these lyrics in bedrooms and cars and middle school dances, screaming them back at the man who’s lived them. Dani sang along, loud and terrible, her hand in yours, jumping up and down like she was sixteen again.

‘One Time’ came next, then ‘Favourite Girl’, then ‘Never Say Never.’ The girls danced together, a tangle of limbs and laughter, Megan pulling Yoonchae into a spin, Lara and Sophia doing some choreographed thing they’d clearly practised. Manon swayed with her eyes closed, smiling.

You danced with Dani, her back to your chest, your arms around her waist, moving together in the dark. She fit against you perfectly, always had, her head tipping back to rest on your shoulder, her hair ticking your jaw. You kissed her temple, tasted sweat and dry shampoo, and she reached back to cup your neck, holding you there.

“Having fun?” you asked.

“Having you,” she corrected, and turned in your arms to kiss you, messy and quick, grinning against your mouth.

The set shifted. The laptop closed. He stood, moving into slower territory, and the first chords of ‘That Should Be Me’ drifted over the crowd.

Dani froze. She looked at you, eyes suddenly wide, something playful and reckless sparking there.

“What?” you asked, wary.

“Get down.”

“What?”

She was already moving, hands on your shoulders, pressing. “Bend down. Now.”

“Dani-“

“Trust me.”

You bent, confused, and she swung one leg over, then the other, settling on your shoulders with a laugh, her thighs bracketing your neck, her hands gripping your head for balance. She weighed almost nothing – lean muscle and adrenaline – and you straightened slowly, hands finding her halves, holding her steady.

“Dani!” you laughed, staggered by the sudden height, the crowd around you turning, grinning.

“Shh,” she said, fingers threading into your hair, tugging just enough to make you look up. “Look at me.”

You looked. She was silhouetted against the stage lights, the huge screen behind Justin Bieber painting her in blue and gold, her face flushed, her eyes bright, her smile unguarded and yours. She swayed with the music, singing along, soft and off-key, her thumb brushing your cheekbone.

“That should be me,” she sang, looking at you like you were the only person in the field, like the forty thousand people around you had faded to nothing. “Holding your hand. That should be me.”

You stared up at her, heart hammering, the desert night warm around you, her legs warm against your neck, her voice warm against your ear. She was ridiculous. She was loud. She was yours.

“You maniac,” you said, but you were smiling, helpless, in love.

“Your maniac,” she corrected, and leaned down, bending at the waist, her hair falling around you like a curtain. She kissed you, upside down and messy, the world tilted on its axis, the music swelling around you both. Her lips were soft, smiling, and you felt her laughter vibrate through you, through her thighs against your shoulders, through her hands in your hair.

When she pulled back, she was still singing, soft, just for you. “That should be me. That should be me.”

“You are,” you said, loud enough to carry over the crowd, over the music, over everything. “It’s always you.”

She stared at you for a second, something soft breaking through the playful chaos. Then she grinned, wicked again, and tugged your hair. “Dance with me.”

“I’m holding you up!”

“Then sway!” She rolled her hips, laughing, and you laughed too, moving with her, the two of you ridiculous and visible and completely unbothered. The girls had spotted you – Sophia was filming, Lara was cheering, Megan was shaking her head with a smile.

“Get a room!” Yoonchae yelled.

“No rooms in the desert!” Dani shot back, and kept swaying, kept singing, kept her eyes on yours.

The song ended. You lowered her slowly, her body sliding down yours until her feet hit the ground, until her arms wrapped around your neck, until her forehead pressed to yours. She was breathing hard, grinning, flushed with heat and happiness.

“Hi,” she breathed.

“Hi.”

She kissed you again, slower this time, deep and deliberate, her hands framing your jaw. You felt it everywhere – the press of her, the taste of her, the certainty that this was what you’d waited for, what you’d found, what you’d keep.

“You’re insane,” you murmured against her mouth.

“And you love it,” she whispered back, sure as sunrise.

You did. You pulled her closer, tangling your fingers in her hair, and let the next song swell around you, let the crowd shift and surge, let the night stretch long and warm. The girls crowded in eventually, Sophia showing you the video she’d taken – Dani on your shoulders, kissing you upside down, the stage lights painting you both in gold.

“We’re posting this,” Lara announced.

“Don’t you dare,” Dani said, not looking away from you.

“Already did,” Megan replied, not looking up from her phone. “It’s already at ten thousand likes.”

Dani groaned, but she was laughing, and you were laughing, and the night was warm, and the music was loud, and she was yours – insane, ridiculous, loud and yours.

“Let’s go home,” she said eventually, pressing her face into your neck, her arms tight around your waist.

“We’re in the desert.”

“Your trailer then. You blanket. Your arms.” She pulled back, eyes dark and wanting. “I want to fall asleep with you and wake up and do this all again.”

You kissed her forehead, her nose, her mouth. “That can be arranged.”

She whooped, loud and triumphant, and pulled you through the crows, through the girls, through the warm desert night. Behind you, Justin Bieber kept singing, the crows kept roaring, the festival lights kept spinning – but you had everything you needed, right here, right now, her hand in yours and her laughter in your ear and the promise of morning, bright and sure and hers.

———-

The amount of FOMO i had with Coachella this year was honestly just embarrassing…

ALSO – i do NOT wanna speak about this Manon hiatus…

am i delusional to think she’s coming back soon.. probably… but will i still hold out hope anyway… absolutely i shall 🙂 

ALL of my chapters where the other girls are involved WILL include ALL MEMBERS. all SIX members.

because… say it with me… Katseye IS and forever WILL BE… SIX <3