I'll Be

Epilogue: This is How It Ends

“Balls.” I heard on the walkie-talkie in my pocket, “Does anyone copy, balls.”

            I clicked the button, “Right-o. Liv, where are you?”

            “Under the fucking tent.” She laughed, “Where are you?”

            “Watching my badass boyfriend.” I smiled, looking around. New National was crazy this year; I saw Aiden Rothschild and Blue Ione in the same day.

            The radio beeped again, “Check it out, Adrian hooked that stage up nicely.”

            Adrian Lovitz knew exactly what e.p. needed; he always did. That’s the wonder of owning your own record label and management team. When he asked e.p. to come out for the summer, it was nearly impossible to turn them away.

            I stood in the crowd, seeing Sawyer’s guitar glitter under the Pamona sun. We didn’t go live until tomorrow. I closed my eyes, recalling the conversation we’d had that morning.

            “Adrian said we’ve got a big year ahead.” Sawyer explained, his hands carefully playing with my hair as we sprawled out in the back of the tour bus.

            I looked up, “Yeah? He said the same thing to me and Liv yesterday.”

            “I know.” He smiled, “He said that we’re headed out for a European tour in the spring. London, Dublin, Glasgow…couple other places. He said…”

            Sawyer fell silent for a minute, smiling in spite of himself. God, he was such a tease.

            “What?”

            He kissed my forehead, and murmured “He said we got Wembley. And Brixton.”

            I shot up, “No fucking way.”

            “Tickets start selling in two and a half months.” He grinned. I rolled on to the floor, jumping up and down in excitement.

            “You’re going to Wembly!” I yelled in a singsong voice, “You’re going to Wembly!” He opened up his arms, and I jumped back into his lap. My lips smothered his, my giggling and shaking becoming too much to handle.

            He nodded, “Yes, my little canary. And do you want to know the best part?”

            “What?” I asked, looping my arms around his neck.

            “Well, seeing as Adrian’s trying to push his new label for everyone to see,” He said, voice breezy and far too chill, “He wanted to bring another band from the management along with us.”

            My heart jumped into my throat. I couldn’t breathe.

            “No.”

            He grinned like a jack-o-lantern “Come to London with me, Teddy. You and the band, open for us at Wembly. And Brixton. And the Hydro. Come to Europe with me.”

            I closed my eyes, to excited to speak. I kissed him, feeling his smile radiate through my entire body.

            We were here. We survived. We had all the time in the world.

            This is where we needed to be.