“Alright boys, that’s a wrap!” We all high-fived each other before loading our equipment back into our cars. We had successfully completed our last practice before the block party tomorrow. It was our first real performance and we were getting paid too. It was a huge step for us since we’d only been official for a year.

“Is it safe to come in?” I turned with a smile as I watched Vic and Mike walk into the garage. I waved him over to me as I finished talking to Nick.

“So we should get there at about 6 to set up and after that see where it goes. Sound good?”

“Sure thing. I’ll talk to Gabe and see what he’s doing. Maybe we can at least get the kit set up before it starts getting too crowded.” I nodded.

“I’ll just put it in the group chat tonight and we’ll work from there.”

“Done deal.” We said our goodbyes and I turned to Vic.

“Hello beautiful.”

“Who? Me?” he asked while batting his eyelashes. I laughed.

“Give me a sec and I’ll get out of you guys’ hair.”

“It’s cool, Tone and Jaime aren’t here anyway.” He pulled me by my hand and soon our lips were on each other. Because of our agreement not to listen to the other’s rehearsals Vic and I hadn’t really spent much time together. Yes we live together but it’s hard to make time for each other when we’re both practicing with our bands at all hours of the day. At the moment, that kiss was the best thing that had happened to me in the last four weeks.

“You guys are fucking gross.” Vic and I parted as Jaime walked into the garage with his bass in hand. Vic flipped him off.

“You’re just jealous but it’s okay, there’s enough to go around.” I shot Vic a playful look and he laughed. “Relax Kell, Jaime can just join us. You know I can’t give you up that easily.” Now it was Jaime’s turn to laugh.

“You guys are stupid. I love it.”

“We try,” I replied. Vic kissed my cheek.

“Is Tony here?”

“Yeah, he pulled in behind me.” My boyfriend turned to me with a slight pout.

“This is where we part.” I returned the expression.

“Until we meet again, my love,” I said dramatically, putting a hand over my heart. By this time Mike, Jaime, and Tony were staring and holding in laughs.

“I’ll never forget those beautiful eyes.”

“And I’ll never forget that hair!”

“My love!”

“My heart!”

“My God, shut up!” Vic and I turned to Mike. “Y’all are gay.”

“Really little brother? What gave it away?” I laughed at Vic’s comment before giving him a quick kiss.

“I’ll see you guys later. Have a good practice.”

“Thanks Kellin,” Tony answered. I waved as I made my way out of the garage and to my car.

I really hated having to leave and not being able to hear anything. Since we and PTV were sharing the same rehearsal space the nine of us agreed that whichever band was using the space first had to clear out completely before the second band was able to start practice. That meant that we all had to be at least down the block and out of sight before any sounds were allowed to be made. Honestly, this agreement was getting to be a little too serious.

I shook it off and drove, still feeling Vic’s lips on mine. Just have to make it through tomorrow.

***



“If you don’t stop moving I’m gonna puke. You’re giving me motion sickness.” He stopped for a brief second to give me the finger then continued to pace. I sighed.

My boyfriend was nervous as hell. Today was Sleeping With Sirens’ first ever live performance and saying that Kellin was afraid that it wouldn’t go well was the biggest understatement of the millennia. He woke me up in the middle of the night to try to calm him down. It took about two hours of cuddling and playing with his hair to get him to fall asleep.

“Kellin please, you’re gonna be fine.”

“What if I’m not Vic?” he asked while still pacing. “What if I start the wrong song? What if I sing the wrong words? What if no one likes us?” His voice dropped when he asked the last question. I got up from my seat and pulled him to me.

“Who wouldn’t like you guys? You’ve got that cute face and that angelic voice. What’s not to love?” He smiled a little which made me smile. It was the first time since last night that I’d seen his face relax. “You’re gonna do great. I’ll be right here. If you feel like you’re about to start freaking out just look at me and remember what I said.” He nodded.

“Thanks Vic. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Fall through the hole you’d make in the floor and drown in a pool of your sweat.” He shoved me playfully.

“Whatever Victor.” He gave me a quick kiss. “I think I should start to go out there.” I nodded. Kellin and his band were on at 8:30, ten minutes from the current time. My band wasn’t on until 10 so we had time to watch everyone else perform. There was this folk music/country group who went on at 7:00 then some heavy rock group half an hour later. A rapper was on before Kellin.

“Knock ‘em dead babe.” He smiled and gave me another quick kiss before joining his band. I stood off to the side and watched them do their little pregame chant. I could see that Kell was nervous but he put on a brave face for his boys.

The boys ran out to the faint cheers. Kellin stepped up to the mic as Nick, Jack, and Justin got their pedals adjusted.

“Hi guys, my name is Kellin and we are Sleeping With Sirens.” The crowd cheered louder than before which put a smile on Kell’s face. “Thank you. We’re a new band and this is our first gig so we hope you like it. This it ‘With Ears to See, and Eyes to Hear’.” I along with the crowd were confused by that name but as soon as the guitars and drums went on all that faded away. Kellin’s voice flowed through the mic and captivated all of us. It was unbelievable. I’d heard Kellin sing before but this was different. He was so into it and for the first time all day I knew he was calm.

Next came “The Bomb Dot Com V2.0,” “Don’t Fall Asleep at the Helm,” “You Kill Me (In a Good Way),” and “The Left Side of Everywhere”. I really needed to ask Kellin about those titles. Regardless, he was in his element and the audience was enjoying it. It was so cute to watch him bounce around on stage and interact with his boys. All his nerves were gone and he was really enjoying himself. He even swung the mic around a few times, almost hitting Justin in the face. Justin didn’t seem to mind though but it was still funny to watch.

After “The Left Side of Everywhere” Kellin put the mic back on the stand. “So how are you guys liking this so far?” The crowd cheered so loudly I swear the people who lived in the neighborhoods could hear them. Kellin smiled back at his band then at the crowd. “Well hey, thank you so much! We’ve got four more songs to go and then we’ll be out of your hair. Thanks for being so great to us. This next one’s called ‘Captain Tyin Knots vs Mr. Walkway’.” Seriously Kells?

Despite the title the song was good. They played another one called “In Case of Emergency, Dial 411” before Kell got back on the mic. “Okay guys, these last two are really special to me. I wrote them for someone so important to me.” He looked off in my direction which caused me to blush. He wrote songs about me? He smiled at me before talking.

“This song is about my special someone but feel free to apply it to your love lives. This one’s called ‘If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn’.” I laughed hard at the name, not because it was funny but because I knew what he was referring to. I once mentioned to Kell that he had the swagger of James Dean, to which he laughed right in my face. I guess he finally decided to believe me.

I listened to song with eager ears, noticing some of the lyrics I had read the night after the shooting. I smiled. He had finally finished that song.

Once “James Dean” finished Kellin got back on the mic as Jack and Justin went off stage. “Alright, this is our last one. Thank you guys again for listening to us. Feel free to tell your friends about our band and support us at future shows.” The crowd cheered in response. “Thanks guys. This last one means a lot to me and I’m hoping it’ll mean more to the person this is for. This is called ‘Let Love Bleed Red’. We hope you enjoy.”

Jack and Justin came back out with acoustic guitars and stools. Soon after they got situated and tuned a sweet melody came forth and Kellin’s intoxicating voice flowed through the mic. There was so much emotion in his voice as he sang about love and giving the one he loves his all. I swear, I almost started crying. This beautiful man had written this song about me. I was his comfort, as was evident by the lyrics. He loved me.

Kellin loved me.

We’d never said those words to each other because it was too early in the relationship but obviously he loved me. A tear rolled down my cheek. Is this what love is supposed to feel like? I’d never been in love before. Yes I’d dated before but I wasn’t in love with those girls. Kellin was the first guy I’d dated and honestly, it was the first time I’d ever felt this way.

I loved Kellin.

Kellin loved me.

I listened to the rest of the song while I let my tears fall. There was no reason to try to hide it. I was in love with the man singing to and about me.

Notes

I just wanna say thank you to those who commented and rated. It means so much to me. You guys are wonderful!