𝑪𝑶𝑴𝑴𝑶𝑵 𝑺𝑬𝑵𝑺𝑬, cmb ✓

- 𝟑𝟖 -

C M B

"Ooh, and I can feel you
Even though I haven't touched you
Yeah, that's what love is"
That's What Love Is - Justin Bieber

Salt Lake City, Utah

"WHY DON'T WE! WHY DON'T WE! WHY DON'T WE!"  I hear the crowd scream our name as we prepare to go on. It's our 5th show so far, and the tour has been nothing but an adventure. I've been keeping in touch with Lara; FaceTime, texting, Netflix Parties, you already know the deal. And don't get me wrong, I love touring, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss her. I just wish she could come to one more show if it meant seeing her. 

The 5 of us walk on the stage as the introduction to Trust Fund Baby plays. The audience screams louder as we step on and take our places. Daniel sings his verse, starting the whole show and setting off the energy for the rest of the concert. One thing I'm proud to say is that the energy at concerts never change - they're always the best places to be.

A couple songs pass and it's time for an outfit change. We rush out the stage to quickly go into our next outfits before performing the next group of songs. I wonder what it would be like if Lara was here...Would I be looking for her face in the crowd? Would I be distracted the whole time looking for her? She wasn't in the front row last concert, but I wonder what it would be like if she was. Although, I guess we'll never know now...

We get on stage after changing and sit down on the stage to talk to the fans. Jonah begins to talk about how awesome Salt Lake City is, the rest of us agreeing with him. Stage crew helps Daniel set up his DJ station for our mashup while Jack and Zach entertain the crowd. I look out into the crowd and see two girls in the 3rd row. They hold up a poster that says "WE LOVE YOU CORBYN!!!" with a cartoon drawing of me on the bottom. I can tell they know I'm looking at them, 'cause they got these smiles on their faces that most fans have when we look at them a certain way.

"Hey can I see that?" I ask through the mic. One of the girls point to themselves, while the other has a confused yet shocked look on her face. I nod my head at them and laugh as the poster gets sent over through the crowd. It eventually comes it way onto the stage and I take it, looking at the cartoon version of me. 

"Yoo this is really dope." I say into the mic. "Can I get a pic of this?" Screams flood the room as I get my phone from one of the crew and I take a picture of the poster as well as a selfie with the audience. I also sign the poster before handing it back into the crowd. Daniel and the crew finish setting up his DJ stand and we're ready to go. "Alright let's roll." I say as the mashup begins.

~ ~ ~

"What am IIIII, what am IIIII...Ooh what am IIIII, what am I...What am IIII..." Daniel plays the last notes on his cello before I strum the last chord and sing the last line. "What am...III" 

The crowd cheers as the boys and I take our bows. We walk off the stage, saying goodbye to everyone, concluding another concert. One less show off the tour list. We get changed back into normal clothes before heading back out to the tour bus. I help carry some equipment out and put my guitar case on my back.

I walk out to see tons of fans waiting outside the bus. I see the two girls with the poster from before and walk over to them, meeting them by the barricade. I put some equipment down and reach over to give each of them a hug. "Hey I really loved that drawing y'all did." I say.

They both say thank you, clearly too nervous to say much. "What are your guys' names? I wanna give you credit when I post the poster tonight." 

"I'm Kira." the girl holding the poster says. "I'm Natalia." the other girl next to her says. I open my phone to notes and hand it to them, "Here, put in your Instagrams or Twitter handles and I'll tag ya'll tonight."

Kira takes my phone and then hands it to Natalia, who hands it back to me. There's a man behind them who looks like a dad, I just don't know who's. "Hi I'm Miles, Natalia's dad, big fan." he says, shaking my hand. Well would ya look at that...a Limelight dad.

"Hi sir, it's nice meeting you too. How'd you like the show?" 

"It was great, you boys never disappoint us." he says with a laugh. Suddenly his name sounds so familiar. I glance at Natalia's social media handles to see her last name is Howard - just like Lara's first last name.

I look up at Miles to see if I remember his face from any of the photos Lara showed me, but it's all blurry for me. If I ask him, it'd be a long shot if it were really him. If it's not him, it'd be very awkward, but it's worth a try right?

"You don't happen to know Lara Carpenter by any chance do you?" I ask. The girls' faces light up, unlike Miles, who's expression changes to a sad one. "Yes, yes I do. Why do you ask?"

So he is her father. I knew it. I don't wanna cause a scene, especially in front of the other fans. Although most of them are distracted by Daniel and Jonah who also came to hang out for a while. "Nothing, just wanted to let you know she's a great girl. She's amazing. And who knows maybe one day I'll be back here again to ask for your blessing, but other than that, I wish you the best." I tell him. He looks at me speechless, just like the two teen girls in front of him. This sure will be a good story to tell my kids one day.

Whoa buddy, you thinking ahead aren't you?

Yes. Yes I am. Because I know what I want now. I know what my future looks like, and it's with one girl and one girl only. And that girl is almost 700 miles away from me right now.

I hear Jon yell my name to get to the bus and that's when I know it's my cue to leave."It was amazing meeting you two, get home safe!" I say before running off with equipment in each hand.

I go into my bunk and scroll through my phone for the pic I took tonight. I find it and go on Twitter to post it. I make sure to tag Kira and Natalia like I promised before scrolling through the rest of my socials. 

After liking a bunch of posts from the concert, I go ahead and text Lara, seeing what she's up to. If there's anything I'm certain of...it's her. And I can't wait to go back and tell her in person just how much she means to me, even if she knows; I will keep on reminding her and reminding her because she's worth it. She'll always be worth it.

. . .