Forget Your Mistakes // Jamie Follese

Chapter 24: This Fire is Alive in Your Eyes

-Nash-

Jamie and Ryan were right. I have to tell Cady how I feel. So what if she doesn't feel the same? Sure, I'll be a little hurt, but at least I'll get it off my chest, and if Jamie got Alex, I can certainly try to get Cady. I don't know how to tell her, but I'm going to do it the next time I see her.

-Jamie-

The band and I were all getting ready for our concert when Alex and Rebekah walked out from the back of the bus.

"Nice bracelets," I said, poking Alex in the stomach.

She smirked, "Jealous?"

"Oh, yes. I'm overcome with a terrible amount of jealousy!" I yelled dramatically.

"Well, when HCR starts making bracelets, I'll start wearing them," she winked at me and walked off the bus.

"Guys, we've gotta start making bracelets," I sighed.

Ian laughed and pushed me off the bus, "Yeah, yeah. We'll get right on that, lover boy."

~

When the concert started, everything was going great. Everyone laughed when Ryan's mic went out in the middle of Honestly, but the fans were screaming every word, so we still knew where we were in the song before the crew got a new mic to him. I noticed Alex and Rebekah taking pictures from the front, so I would occasionally make faces at them. They took several more of crew and equipment and whatnot, making for what I'm sure was the 200th picture of the night.

The set was over and we all were about to walk off stage after thanking the audience, but they didn't seem too happy about it.

"I'm sorry, what? You want another song?" Ryan laughed. The audience cheered and he said, "If we were to play another song, what would it be?"

A few people yelled various songs we didn't play that night, but nearly 3/4 of them screamed Keep You With Me.

"Oh, I don't know about that one," Ryan joked.

I grabbed his mic, "Yeah. I mean, I would love to play it for you, but Alex may need more convincing."

The crowd started screaming for Alex to come on stage, and when she walked on from backstage carrying a guitar, their screams got louder.

Alex rolled her eyes, "I should have expected this." She handed me the guitar and hugged Ryan, Nash, and Ian as they left the stage. "Let's get this over with, Follese," she said.

I turned toward the crowd and said, "Now, I don't know how many of you are aware of Alex's ability to sing, but I think you should all find out, yeah?"

They screamed as Alex laughed sarcastically, "I don't think so."

"Come on, Alex," I whined.

"Yeah, come on, Alex!" the crowd copied.

She sighed, "Fine, but don't expect this every time!"

They cheered and I whispered in her ear, "Good luck with that."

I started playing. When I got to the chorus, Alex started to sing with me. The audience stopped singing along when Alex started. I could tell they were shocked. Alex was a pretty small girl, so she didn't look like she had the voice she does.

We sang through the rest of the song, and when I stopped playing, Alex pointed at the audience, "You guys better not stop singing next time."

They cheered at the slight hint that she would be singing with me again.

"Oh, Alex," I said, "You just indirectly told them you would be singing this again."

She shrugged, "Just don't expect it every concert."

"Thanks again, guys. You were a great audience!" I picked Alex up and ran off stage with her.

We saw Ryan and Rebekah sitting on the couch with her camera.

"Rebekah, that is really fucking awesome!" we heard Ryan exclaim as we walked over.

"What's 'really fucking awesome'?" I asked. Rebekah smiled and turned the camera toward us. I saw Alex's jaw drop and she covered her mouth. She took Rebekah's camera, handed it to me, then tackled Rebekah.

"Rebekah! Oh my god!" she yelled.

"Does this mean you like it?" Rebekah laughed.

"I fucking love it!" Alex yelled again.

I couldn't help but smile when I saw the picture. I knew this was going to help them graduate college.

-Nash-

When I got off stage, I noticed Cady standing there.

"It's now or never, Nash. Just man the fuck up and tell her," I thought.

I walked up to her, "Cady! What are you doing here?"

"Uh, duh! I wanted to watch you guys perform!" she laughed.

"Right, of course. You should have told me you were coming. We could have hung out before the show or something."

"If I told you I was coming, it wouldn't be a surprise, silly. Besides, if I told you, you probably wouldn't be able to think clearly," she joked.

I laughed nervously, "So, um...." She grabbed my hand and dragged me outside.

"Something's wrong. Tell me," she said when the door closed behind us.

"Nothing's wrong..." I tried to play it cool when I realized she was still holding my hand, but it wasn't really working for me.

"You're lying. I know we haven't really seen each other since 8th grade, but that doesn't mean you can't trust me. I'm still the same person as I was back then, I just look hotter," she smiled.

Breathing deeply and thinking of Jamie's advice, I mumbled, "I like you."

"Huh?" she asked.

"I like you, Cady."

She giggled, "I like you too, Nash."

I sighed, "No, I mean, I like you. I really like you."

She smirked, "I know what you meant."

She stood on her toes, grabbing my shoulders for support, and her lips hit mine.

~

This is what I imagined Rebekah's photo looking like, except Jamie would be playing guitar and him and Alex would be singing: http://favim.com/image/73548/

Outfits:
Alex: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=49551635
Rebekah: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=49550404