Bittersweet Serendipity

Chapter 4 - Songs and Snogs

To my surprise, Jay chooses me to be his Heart Vacancy Girl. When I get onto the stage, Jay hugs me and spins me in the air. It is very much embarrassing because I am crying again. He chuckles at me, letting me bury my face into his chest. "Haha, look, you're crying again!" he mockingly whispers at me and I shoot him a death glare. Max is singing his part so Jay takes time to wipe the tears off my face with his thumbs and talk to me. "Never expected this, did you?" I shake my head. "Why?" he asks.

"I don't like you," I say, watching Sadie get picked by Nathan across the stage. Oh my God, she mouths to me as Nathan hugs her. A huge grin pulls across my face. And almost forgetting what I am about to say earlier, I look back to a startled Jay, mouth hanging a bit. "Oh, no, I didn't mean that. I mean..." I sigh. "You're about to sing," I remind him.

He chuckles and gets down on bended knee, both of us singing. His blue eyes pierce my brown ones, staring at me with passion and sincerity. There's this ever-present twinkle in his eyes that manages to heat my insides. He takes my hand, holding it tightly but gently, and brushes his lips over my fingers and winking at me. What a manwhore. Fucking tease. He gets up as he sings the, "Don't you fret should you get," part with Tom and glides his long, thin fingers on the side of my face, tucking loose locks of hair behind my ear. He hugs me again and twirls me onstage. It's the most magical feeling in the world.

While Max sings, "In your heart, in your heart, in your heart," Jay kisses me on the forehead, multiple times, one after another, just small pecks. I swear to God, my heart rate isn't normal anymore. The spots where Jay's fingertips touched my face are still tingling and lingering, and I don't want the feeling to go away. My heartbeat sounds even louder in my ears, pulsating. "When I talk to you on the phone and listen close," he croons, looking straightforwardly into my eyes, melting me inside-out, and I swear on that high note, the angels were singing and coming down from heaven to the world in the form of that perfect pitch and a disrespecting man called Jay McGuiness.

I kiss his cheek as he lifts me up again after singing his solo, and before the song ends, I say, "Later, second meet-and-greet, I'll tell you why I don't like you." My arms wrap around him tight and I squeeze even tighter. And the next thing I know, they're peeling me away from him, but I don't want them to. I don't want to leave him.

When Sadie and I get back to our spots, we hug each other like we've never hugged each other before. Some nice fans around us are congratulating us and are kind enough to make friends with us, but I see some, from the corner of my eyes, who snicker and roll their eyes at us just because they're jealous. But we don't care. This is our night and no one can destroy it. We also scream profanities, but we don't care. We take out our Frankie Sandford banner, the boys singing Replace Your Heart, and when Jay looks in our direction for the umpteenth time, he looks humiliated and the other lads seem to have seen it. Jay points at me, the other lads laughing at him, and he glares playfully, pushing a giggle out of me. Sadie holds the Lost Children Meeting Place banner and screams at Nathan, and Nathan narrows his eyes at her too, then winks.

They sing All Time Low next, and we all sob like proud mums watching their sons perform and become famous. And maybe we are like proud mums because maybe we really are proud watching our "babies" grow up for the past year. Then they have Behind Bars as their finale, of course high-lighting the whole theme of the Concert Tour. Nathan's voice, and vocal adlibs and riffs are pure eargasm, and I keep screaming the loudest I could. Pure talent right in front of me.

"Good night, everyone! Thanks for an amazing night!" they scream for their final goodbye, and they are soon engulfed in the darkness of the backstage. The minute we are called again for the second meet-and-greet, Sadie and I tush to be the first ones there, and successfully, we are.