Nick hadn't been alone in a crowd this size without a bodyguard in a while. A long while. Maybe not ever.
In mid-afternoon, when it was just Nick, the volunteers, the crafters, the tech crew and a small trickle of people, it was exciting, a liberating experience. People began to really stream into Britannia Park as dinnertime approached. Nick put on his bucket hat and stuck to the edges of the crowd, paying attention to the tents selling instruments.
As 7:00 rolled around, he decided he'd better find somewhere to sit. For the first time, he took a good look at the crowd. He swallowed hard. The familiar panic of claustrophobia edged its way into his mind as he stood and stared. The seating area "in front" of the mainstage was easily a couple of football fields long. The Friday night crowd should have been one of the smallest - yet blankets and people stretched out beyond the speaker tower in the middle of the field.
Nick stood frozen, not sure where to run. Whose brilliant idea was this again? He was sure to get mauled.
"Hey Nick." A friendly, casual voice broke throught he haze of his fear. "You look a little lost. Looking for someone?"
Recognized already.
"I..." he croaked. He managed to turn and look at the person who'd addressed him. It was a woman, a girl a little older than him, in a rose-coloured, ankle length sundress. She peered at him from behind a pair of wire-rimmed sunglasses, balancing a cardboard box containing a couple of lemonades and a box of fries on her hip.
Nick had plenty of experience sizing up fans over the years - this one radiated harmlessness. She didn't even have a camera. He calmed down a little.
"I guess I'm kinda lost," he admitted.
"What do they look like?" she asked, scanning the crowd. "Sometimes all it takes is another pair of eyes."
He bit his lip. "I'm here alone."
She turned back to him with a wide stare. "That's.... you've got guts."
"Thanks, I think?"
"If you want company, there's room on our blanket," she gestured at an area somewhere closer to the stage. "No one will freak, most of 'em wouldn't recognize you anyway. Come on over if you feel like it."
When he didn't answer immediately, she nodded. "See you round."
Nick watched her pick her way through the crowd for a few moments. The he tugged his hat down a little and followed her.