Gone Forever (Adam Gontier #2)

Chapter 7

Adam's POV

Holding Rhia close to my chest as she grips her small hands tightly around my neck, I stare up at Lara as she sings clearly and perfectly into the microphone, just a few feet away on the stage. With Jason sat beside her strumming his guitar from a chair, and who I assume is Greg with a cajon on her other side, I hear my music playing out of the speakers as the crowd cheers, noticing the song. She'd always been good with music, but I'd had no idea she was actually this good at it. She's just got such a great stage personality. "Mom's good, huh, Rhia?" I ask, and she grins, nodding.

"She's been singer forever an' ever an' ever. Before I got here."

I nod. That would actually make sense for her to be told that; Lara had been performing on stage with us before Rhia was born, and she had probably gotten her job here pretty soon after getting home. I'm glad she got herself a good job so quickly, or rather two jobs from what I've seen, but then she'd always been so charismatic and easy to be around - she'd have easily been given any job. I'm genuinely surprised she hasn't gotten herself a boyfriend in this time. That Jason is clearly infatuated by her. I grab a chair and sit down, holding Rhia on my lap. I never want to let her go; I've been without her for three years now and that's just too much. I can't give this up.

"I feel so, much better, now that you're gone forever. I tell myself that I don't miss you at all...I'm not lying, denying, that I feel so much better, now...that you're gone forever," Lara sings into the mic, clearly. I smile, I'm surprised the song fits so well as an acoustic.

"And now you're gone forever," she trails off as Jason picks the ending tabs. I grin - Lara is pretty much in her own band now. That's awesome.

"Right, guys. Now we've got a special treat. Next is Riot, with the band's very own bassist, Brad Walst!" she calls out, and Brad slings the spare bass over himself, walking out with her as Jason switches with an electric guitar and passes Lara the acoustic. Greg slinks behind the drum kit and sits down as Jason stands and starts the intro to the song. I frown, why is Lara still sat down? She could easily create a huge atmosphere with this song. Rhia starts to pull off my lap, and I hold her back.

"Rhia, your Mom's working, you've got to stay here."

"No, Daddy, I help with some!" she argues, pulling away and running over to Lara, standing behind the fretboard of the guitar Lara's holding on her lap.

She takes the pick off of Lara and sits on her lap, the guitar leaning across them both. As the cue for the rhythm guitar steps in, Lara singing loudly into the mic, Rhia strums at the right speed at strumming pattern as Lara makes the chord changes with her working hand. Holy fuck, that's incredible.

"If you feel, so filthy, so dirty, so fucked up. If you feel, so walked on, so painful, so pissed off. You're not the only one refusing to go down. You're not the only one, so get up!"

With those words, the crowd starts jumping around - despite Lara still being sat down, she's created an atmosphere that the crowd respond to. That takes true skill.

Jason steps into the guitar solo, causing an impressed look to play on Barry's face. It had taken even him a long time to write those notes, the speed even getting to him. It's seriously impressive that Jason has got the hang of it so quickly, especially seeing as the album hasn't even been out that long.

Greg leans up to a mic hanging in his face, but not a backing mic, like Neil often uses - a full-volume mic. He sings and pulls his voice into the scream as Lara sings on top of him, his drum line still being played to perfection. How the fuck do these guys do so fucking well at all of this? As the song comes to an end, Rhia pulls the guitar off of Lara and, to her great difficulty, drags it over to me, Neil and Barry, dropping it with a crash beside us. Barry groans at the sound, cringing, and I laugh - she's cute.