"I can't believe I'm doing this".
Johnny gave her a hug. "You're going to be great out there. Just pretend you're singing to yourself or to me".
Jayde took a deep breath then looked back one more and she saw Johnny giving her a thumbs up. Alice Cooper was on stage and he introduced her. "I have a very special guest. She has never performed live so, be nice to her. Everyone welcome Jayde".
She walked on stage to cheers. Alice gave her a hug. "I love you".
There was a guitar by the microphone so she picked it up. The backup band started playing an acoustic version of Titanium. The audience sang along with her and it made her smile. When the song was over, they cheered. She put her hands over her mouth. "Oh my god". The band started playing the next song. "Oh, shit. Can we start over?" Everyone laughed.
She started to sing I Don't Want To Miss A Thing by Aerosmith. Again, the audience sang along with her. She looked out at everyone and she noticed the squad watching her. "Go Jayde! We love you!" She looked at them and gave them the rock 'n roll horns. They laughed.
When the song was over, she looked at over Alice Cooper, Johnny and Joe Perry. "Since Johnny is making me do this and because I love embarrassing him, the next song I'm going to do is We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together".
Johnny came out and he looked at the band. "You guys know that song?"
"We can do that!"
Jayde laughed as they started playing. The audience sang along with her. "We are never ever ever getting back together, We are never ever ever getting back together, You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me but we are never ever ever ever getting back together".
Johnny, Alice and Joe came out laughing after the song was over. They took turns giving her a hug. "We love you, J".
"Jayde Ramirez, everyone!"
She laughed then walked out. After the concert, the squad came over to her. "That was awesome", Sonny told her.
A security guard came over and asked if they had passes. Joe saw this and allowed them in. "Who's idea was it to do Taylor Swift", Fin asked.
"Mine. He didn't know I was going to do it. I wanted to embarrass him".
Rafael came over and gave her a hug. "That was amazing!"
Jayde laughed.
The guys came over to congratulate Jayde. "How'd you like that little Taylor Swift thing", Sonny asked him.
Johnny laughed. "That was all her. I guess I'm the only one who didn't know". He put his arm around her shoulder. "I thought she was going to do something completely different".
"That's because we planned on something different but I talked to the band right before and we snuck it in".
He laughed. "Well it was a great idea, doll".
"What song were you supposed to do?" Fin looked at her.
"Stitches by Shawn Mendes".
"I bet this is going to be on the internet by tomorrow", Amanda told her.
"Probably. It's the internet. I could have done more Aerosmith".
"What was the song called that you did", Olivia asked.
"I Don't Want To Miss A Thing".
"You should do another song", Joe told her.
"Can I do that?"
"I'm sure you can".
The audience had left so the arena was empty except for the squad. Jayde and Joe walked out to the stage with Alice and Johnny followed behind her. She put her guitar back on. "What song are you going to do", Fin shouted at her.
"Lets do Stitches".
She looked back at the guys who nodded. "Let's do it, J!"
"I thought that I've been hurt before but no one's ever left me quite this sore. Your words cut deeper than a knife. Now I need someone to breathe me back to life".
The squad cheered her when she was done. "Now what? Who should I embarrass next?" The guys laughed. "Lets see, we have Aerosmith and Alice Cooper here".
Jayde started playing Walk This Way and Joe laughed as he joined her. "Backstroke lover always hidin' 'neath the cover. 'Till I talked to my daddy he say. He said, you ain't seen noting 'til you're down on a muffin. Then you're sure to be a-changin' your ways".
The squad cheered them on. When the song was over, Joe came over and took the microphone from Jayde. "The next Steven Tyler right here, ladies and gentlemen!"
So happy that I got to rock with Joe Perry, Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper and their band. This will be a night I will never forget, especially if videos of me rocking out end up on the internet. Either way, #rockon. Tonight was a night of rocking out, embarrassing Joe and Johnny and laughing our asses off. Thank you to the Vampires for inviting me to sing during their concert.
Rafael came over to her after the squad left. He put his arm around her shoulder. She smiled at him and he kissed her. "This is probably one of the best nights I've ever had".
She smiled. "Good. I'm happy you and the squad came".
"Were you nervous?"
"Yeah. That's why I totally missed the introduction to the second song".
He laughed. "Well nobody could tell. Besides, even if you made a mistake, nobody would judge you. I don't think I could have done that".
"You're not going to quit your job and become a rockstar?"
He laughed. "Nah. I think the city of Manhattan would miss me anyway".
"There's a million rockstars, but only one Rafael Barba".
They continued walking around outside. They could see the guys taking a smoke break. Jayde smiled looking over at them. Rafael smiled and kissed her cheek. "Hey, get a room", Joe yelled to them. Jayde turned around and saw him. "Anthony. The other Anthony".
"The other Anthony, huh?"
"Oh my god, you don't even know. For real. Ok, so sometimes when I'm talking to you, everyone assumed I was talking to my ex, Anthony".
He smiled. "I see how it is Jayde. How are the kids doing?"
"They're doing great! Steven is in basketball, Kiera is a total girl, RJ and Lucia are homebodies and Santana's favorite word is No".
"How old is she?"
"15 months. You guys going to visit us?"
"I have to check with everyone. We might be able to go out for pizza or something".
"Oh, shit. I'm being rude. This is Rafael".
Rafael laughed. "Nice to see you again".
"Nice to see you, too. Jayde has told us what you've been doing for her. You know, helping her with her parents and everything".
"Really? Wow. Yeah I'm lucky to have her, even through everything".
Jayde smiled as Joe nodded. "Whatever happened with your parents?"
Rafael looked at her. "It's ok, Rafi. I got a restraining order against them then I confronted them. I told them everything I should have told them years ago and then I told them to never contact me, Rafael or the squad ever again".
"Wow. Well congratulations on standing up for yourself. John told us that what they did was considered abuse".
"Legally, yeah. I didn't know it was abuse until Rafi explained that it was".
"She didn't even think of it that way until I talked to Johnny and he sent me a list of everything he witnessed".
"Wow".
Jayde nodded. "But they're gone forever and I unofficially changed my name from Ramirez to Jayde Lucy Furnier Perrier Tallarico".
Joe pulled her into a hug. "I'm so honored to name yourself after us, doll. You've always been a daughter to us".
Jayde smiled as she hugged him back. "You guys have been the only family I've ever had".
At the end of the night, they said goodbye to everyone and went home. They had fun but they were exhausted. They collapsed on top of their bed and Jayde snuggled up to him. He looked at her and smiled. He wrapped his arms around her and they fell asleep.
