Watching up as my brother Tino and his band mates own the stage, I can’t help but hate myself. The frontman, Austin, was my fiance at one point. Everything was perfect.
But I ruined it. I let my own problems get in the way of our relationship. I pushed him away to the point where he had an emotional breakdown and just up and left.
Tino and I are really close, he’s my best friend. We live together as well. When he’s on tour I stay home and watch the house for him. Except for today. They were doing a local show and I wanted to watch them play.
It’s only been a few months since everything went downhill, but I can tell it’s still hurting him. Tino helped me get better. I was in rehab for a few weeks. I’ve been clean for a month now. I threw everything out and eliminated everything from my life that may trigger the bad times.
My life was back on track, the only thing missing now was Austin. Putting all of my attention back on the band, I focus in on Austin and the words coming out of his mouth.
"And now I sing for everything that I’ve lost. And now I scream for everything that I’ve loved. Everything."
Watching as he falls to his knees, I can see that he was crying. “I want to tell you all something important right now.” he says as he regains his ability to speak.
"If you love someone who doesn’t love themselves… Don’t leave you. You stay right there with them and prove to them that you love them. Prove to them that they should love themselves. Because they will get better. They will believe you. Don’t ever leave the person you love if they need you to be there most. Okay?"
I couldn’t take it anymore. I just broke down, right there. Collapsing to the ground, the people around me begin to worry and panic. “Hey, what’s going on back there?” Austin’s voice pounds through the speakers.
"It’s Tino’s sister!" Someone calls, causing Austin and Tino to both jump off the stage and run over to me. Bawling my eyes out in front of hundreds of people, I feel arms wrap around me.
"I think she heard your speech." Tino chimes in as he and Austin help me up off the ground. "Come on." They say as we all walk backstage. "Finish your set, then we can talk." I speak up.
Looking at each other then back at me, they nod their head and run back out on stage. Watching as they finish up their last two songs, Austin thanks the crowd for being awesome, tells them that he loves them, and rushes off stage towards me.
Without saying anything, he pulls me into him tight. “I’m so sorry (Y/N). I should have stayed with you. I had no right to leave. You needed me most and I wasn’t there.”
"Stop blaming yourself Austin." I manage to choke out being letting him go. "I got better you know. I’ve been clean for a month now. Did Tino tell you any of that?"
Shaking his head, he tells me Tino hadn’t said a thing. “I always asked him about you. He never told me much. I guess that was for my own sake.”
"I don’t want to pick up where we left off." I blurt out, he must have taken it the wrong way because I could see the sadness in his eyes. "I want to start over again. Let’s fix what we broke."
Smiling, he hugs me again. “I’ve missed you, you know? I’ve missed you a lot.” he says as he pulls away and looks into my eyes. “I’ve missed you too.”
Leaning in, he kisses me softly, earning an encore of “ew’s” from the guys behind us. “Are you two good?” Alan asks us both. Nodding my head I turn to face them all.
Locking eyes with Tino, I can see the happiness on his face. “Thank god.” he mouths to me, causing me to laugh to myself. Smiling back at him, I turn towards Austin again.
"Sooo, when tour is over I’ll be seeing you, right?"
