it had been one month since hellboy's release. tonight gus was playing his first show for the album, it wasn't a tour but he had a few random concerts booked. i was excited for him, everyone deserved a chance to hear his music. he really was a pioneer of his genre.
"how do you feel?" i asked him, as he nervously paced backstage. "like it's not my first time singing in front of people but this is like my album like the album. i can't fuck up. i'm nervous. what if they hate it?" he sputtered. "you're gonna do great and everyone will love it. i'll be right here the whole time" i told him. "thank you isla, like seriously i couldn't do this without you" he said.
"i love you, go be great" i said, gesturing him towards his eagerly awaiting audience. i decided to tell him after the show that i'd decided to drop out and move to la full time with hun. even if the show goes bad, it's something to cheer him up. he looked right at home on the stage, he sang and connected with his crowd as if he'd been playing stadiums for years. he was good and he knew it.
dylan came up from behind me, startling me. "oh hey" i said, turning away from watching gus. "isn't he great?" i asked. "incredible" he responded. "i'm just so proud of him" i said, feeling an awful lot like a proud mom. "so when are you leaving us to head back to school in zona?" dylan asked.
"well, i haven't told gus yet but i was going to tonight so don't say anything but, i was talking to him and i've actually decided university isn't the right path for me so i'm dropping out and moving to california full time with him, well all of you i suppose" i told him. i was excited to share the news so i'm sure telling dylan wouldn't hurt.
"really? i mean that's great and it'll be super fun. i'm just surprised because gus always goes on about how like smart and responsible you are and how surprised he is that you'd be with a guy like him" dylan told me. "aw. i'm actually a lot more like him then anyone realizes, even more so then gus and i realized at first" i said. "you know what, ever since you showed up in his life he's been hitting non stop w's so just keep doing whatever you're doing to keep my best friend happy" dylan told me. "of course. that's all i want for him too" i said.
"anyways, he's only got one song left so im gonna go meet him off stage. nice to see you, talk later" i told dylan, walking away to meet gus. i watched him sing his heart out on his last song, just true raw emotion. we caught each other's gaze from across the stage. gus paused and smiled widely at me, then continuing on with his song.
the beat cut off, letting him know the show was over. gus gave his fans a little thank you and appreciation speech for the support and walked off stage straight to me. "that was incredible" i told him, "it felt good did it sound good? look good?" he asked. "so good. stop worrying it was perfect" i said.
gus got bombarded by his friends and team all congratulating him. i went to go get him a water and gatorade while he was occupied. "here" i said pushing my way back through the herd of people, passing him the bottles. "thank you love" he said, taking them from me and going back to his conversation with a guy i didn't recognize.
once people had scattered off i went to retrieve him to head home. "babe i've got something to tell you" i said. "is it bad?" he looked at me, confused. "no i think you're really gonna like it actually" i said. "okay, get on with it then" he said inpatient. "i've thought about it, i made my choice. i'm dropping out and i'm moving here full time with you" i said, cutting to the chase.
he raised his eyebrows at me, but his face still lit up behind the disbelief. "really? are you serious?" he asked. "really. of course i'm serious" i said. "you showed me what happiness really was, and my life in arizona wasn't that. i have all i need here with you" i added. gus grabbed me by the waist, picking me up and spinning me around. "that's the best news ever. i can't believe you agreed. i honestly never thought you'd actually do it. everything is gonna be so perfect this is so exciting. i love you!" he rambled.
"i love you too. it's gonna be amazing, i know it. are we ubering home?" i asked. "we can. or grab dylan. he's usually sober at shows" gus informed me. "okay let's go find him" i said. we walked back into the building, "i see him" gus said, making a beeline in his direction. "hey man, can you give us a ride home?" gus asked. "yeah of course" dylan said. "have you told him?" he not so subtly whispered to me. "yeah he knows" i said.
"her moving here?" gus confirmed. "yeah! that's so exciting for you two. i love you guys together so it makes me super happy" dylan told us. "i never thought i'd see the day but honestly my life is just complete at this point" gus spoke to dylan. i smiled to myself as gus and dylan both went on about how great they thought i was with gus.
"we should get going home" i remided dylan of what we'd come over here for. "oh yeah. for sure let's go" he said, pulling his keys out of his pocket. "tonight really can't get any better than this" gus said, taking in everything that had gone right for him tonight.
