Dance Alone To The Beat of Your Heart

Chapter 32

       Chicago. I love it. It's the city that changed our lives. We wouldn't have made it this far without the Lake Effect City. It's the perfect city to open our world tour. 

  "Morning." Pete kisses me. 

  "Morning. You are way too chipper for how early it is." I say. 

  "Its day one of tour. Of course I am." He says. 

  "I am too. Still too early to be up." I state. 

  "How can I make it up to you?" He asks me. 

  "I can name a few ways. Get us breakfast and make tea?" I ask him. 

  "I can do that. Anything specific?" He asks. 

  I tell him what I want and he disappears to go get us breakfast. I am excited for tonight at Wrigley. It means a lot to be playing a sold out show there. It's a dream come in every way. I know its going to be magical. 

  Tonight means everything to us. This will be an important one for us. It will be healing. I can't wait to play songs that we love tonight. 

   We head to our linner together. Its one of the traditions we do for opening night. It helps us bond before playing onstage. Having that connection makes it easier. We have been doing this for two decades now. We know how to perform as a team and support each other. It's important to be ourselves up there. 

  We have our meal and go back to the venue. We get into our dressing room to see jerseys for us. It has our last names and the number 23 on the back. It has the band's current symbol on the front. 

  "These are cool." I say. 

  "You going to wear it?" Pete asks me. 

  "Yes I will. Its really cool that they did this." I say as I start my routine. 

  "It is. I'm looking forward to this night. It's going to be a whole other energy." He says as he watches me. 

  "Chicago energy which is the best kind." I say as I start my warm-ups. 

  "I do agree with that." he kisses me on the cheek. 

  "What was that for?" I ask him as I continue. 

  "For you being you. You'll be incredible tonight, like always." He says. 

 "Thank you. That means a lot." i kiss him. 

  "You're welcome." He kisses me back. 

  "You being by my side up there helps." I say. I wouldn't have been able to do what I do if it wasn't for Pete. He has really been my partner since the beginning of FOB. Our lives have always been intertwined. It took us too long to realize we were in love and meant to be. 

  "I've got your back." He kisses me on the cheek. 

  "I love you." I play with my wedding band. 

  "I love you too." He squeezes my leg. I know hes comforting me. I'm a bit nervous about tonight. I shouldn't be though. 

  "I'm looking forward to the show." I state. 

  "But you're also nervous." He says. 

  "A little." I answer him. He knows me so well. 

  "You've got this. If you need to calm down your nerves up there, just look at me." He squeezes my hands. 

  "You'll guide me through it." I kiss him. 

  "Yes I will." He kisses me back. 

   We're told to go backstage. Pete and I get up and go to join Joe and Andy. 

  "Ready to kill it?" Joe asks. 

  "Yes I am." Pete says. 

  "I'm ready to up there and perform my heart out." I say. 

  "That's good because so am I." Andy says. 

  "Its going to be amazing night." Pete agrees. 

  We do our high fives and do our show circle. Joe gives a pep talk. It was really good. I know that we're going to enjoy every moment of this. I plan on supporting each other during this set list. 

  "I love you." Pete whispers to me as he grabs his bass. 

  "I love you too." I peck him on the lips as I grab my guitar. 

  "Lets do this." Joe says. 

   We go onstage. We kill it. We all did amazing tonight. I'm lucky to have them as my band mates. They are a huge reason why I was able to get more confident in myself. I'm proud of myself.