Long Live Us
Forty-Four
Back on the road.. This was like home to me now, so it felt good to be back, but that didn't mean that my heart wasn't aching for Isabelle. This big, new tour bus was great, but I missed hearing my daughter cry in the middle of the night. I miss her tiny fingers wrapping around my thumb and I miss the way she smiled at me. I just freakin' miss her. The up side? I get to do what I love and spend time with my girlfriend while Isabelle was safe at home with both her grandma's. We were with our daughter constantly for three months, a break is nice, I just hope it doesn't last too long.
As for the new bus, I loved it. I loved that I didn't have to drive, I loved that I had room to sprawl out at night and I loved being able to stay up late and goof off with my friends. Now I understood why dad loved touring as much as he did, also why his bus was constantly getting repaired. Boredom strikes easily here. Another flaw: There's always a lack of privacy. I've heard Aubs and Tom get it on at least three times now, when they think we're all asleep. Nate is constantly in the lounge or eating and Stell spends most of her time writing or talking to her mom about Isabelle. I rarely got the chance to talk to her alone. Which is why I was taking advantage of my time alone with her now.
"Stella," I caught her arm just as she left the bathroom. We were running late for sound check, which is why everyone else had taken off already. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"You can talk to me later," she said in a rushed voice. "We have to go. Now!"
Sound check. Always a pain in my ass. At least it went by pretty quick. Next on the agenda, relax before the show. Maybe I'd get some time alone with her then. We exited the venue pretty quickly, what we didn't expect were for kids to be lined up outside of the door already. The four of us stopped dead in our tracks, they were screaming for our attention.
Damnit, Nate. Where are you when we need you to rush us along?
"Jack, will you take a picture with me?!"
"Stella, I loved all your songs on the last album!"
Just like that, we were pulled in. Stella loved talking about her music with fans and how her lyrics spoke to their heart, so I knew she'd probably be busy with that until it was time to go on, so with nothing better to do, I posed for pictures and let the fan girls flirt my head off. It's funny, no matter how many of them told me I was cute with Stell, they still tried to get my number. Chicks are crazy.
Finally, Aubree pulled us away from the fans saying that she needed to touch up her make-up and that she wanted to change her shirt. We ventured back into the venue and Aubree made her way into the back, where Stella followed in suit. I was starting to grow impatient. Now, the only time I'd get a chance to be alone with Stella would be when we crawled into the bunks tonight, but I knew she'd fall right asleep on me.
Another hour passed and Tom rounded us up to rush us on stage. We did our usual routine and watched Aub take the stage first. Next was Nate, then me and finally, Stell. She greeted the crowd with her beautiful smile and got them excited for the show tonight. I swear, when I watch old videos of Alex warming up the crowd, it's like seeing Stella as the female version of him.
We played our first song, which went amazingly. The kids were screaming the lyrics back to us and jumping around the floor like it was lava. I chuckled to myself as the song ended and watched Stella take a breather. With this, I decided to talk to her before she could cut me off. I pulled my mic down and took a step closer to her, grinning wider as a confused look fell over her face.
"So guys, as most of you know, Stella and I had a daughter recently."
At this, she rose an eyebrow, as the crowd cooed over the simple idea of Isabelle.
"We've been away from the music scene for a while and its put a lot of things into perspective for me. Like, how much I love Stella and how much I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Sorry, ladies."
The crowd let out a laugh, which made Stella smile awkwardly. She had no idea what I was doing. This wasn't how we got the crowd excited. I sloppily kissed her cheek and walked away from her long enough to put my mic back on its stand, earning a disapproving look from Tom. I was wasting time.
"Stell, I've been trying to get your attention all day. I know we agreed that we wanted to be married but we've already done everything out of order. We got together, we got signed, we had a baby.. You deserve one thing done by the books. You deserve to be surprised and swooned. So," I got down on one knee and pulled the ring box from my tight jeans, making Stella take a step back and gasp loud enough for the closer fans to hear. "Stella, you're the most amazing girl I've ever met. There's not a doubt in my mind that I want to fall asleep with you every night and wake up with you every morning. Words couldn't possibly describe the way I feel about you. Just know this, I love you, baby, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
The crowd had gone silent. Everyone was waiting to see what Stella would say. Her doe eyes stared straight into my own dark orbs, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Will you marry me?"
With tears flooding over her heads, she mumbled a 'yes' and nodded her head so quickly I was afraid she'd snap it. But that didn't stop me from smiling like a fool. I grabbed her left hand and slid the ring on, the diamond glowing under the stage lights. In one swift motion, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her like she'd never been kissed before. She was crying happily in my arms, and I felt like I could have stayed there forever, until the crowd went crazy with screams.
"We have a show to play," I yelled into Stella's mic, which apparently she took as a chance to run back to Aubree and quickly flash her the ring. Girls, I swear. "But after that, you've got a wedding to plan, future Mrs. Barakat!"
As we came back together and started our next song, I could feel Stella's eyes on me as she sung. My heart was jumping for joy. This was, hands down, the second best day of my life.
As for the new bus, I loved it. I loved that I didn't have to drive, I loved that I had room to sprawl out at night and I loved being able to stay up late and goof off with my friends. Now I understood why dad loved touring as much as he did, also why his bus was constantly getting repaired. Boredom strikes easily here. Another flaw: There's always a lack of privacy. I've heard Aubs and Tom get it on at least three times now, when they think we're all asleep. Nate is constantly in the lounge or eating and Stell spends most of her time writing or talking to her mom about Isabelle. I rarely got the chance to talk to her alone. Which is why I was taking advantage of my time alone with her now.
"Stella," I caught her arm just as she left the bathroom. We were running late for sound check, which is why everyone else had taken off already. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"You can talk to me later," she said in a rushed voice. "We have to go. Now!"
Sound check. Always a pain in my ass. At least it went by pretty quick. Next on the agenda, relax before the show. Maybe I'd get some time alone with her then. We exited the venue pretty quickly, what we didn't expect were for kids to be lined up outside of the door already. The four of us stopped dead in our tracks, they were screaming for our attention.
Damnit, Nate. Where are you when we need you to rush us along?
"Jack, will you take a picture with me?!"
"Stella, I loved all your songs on the last album!"
Just like that, we were pulled in. Stella loved talking about her music with fans and how her lyrics spoke to their heart, so I knew she'd probably be busy with that until it was time to go on, so with nothing better to do, I posed for pictures and let the fan girls flirt my head off. It's funny, no matter how many of them told me I was cute with Stell, they still tried to get my number. Chicks are crazy.
Finally, Aubree pulled us away from the fans saying that she needed to touch up her make-up and that she wanted to change her shirt. We ventured back into the venue and Aubree made her way into the back, where Stella followed in suit. I was starting to grow impatient. Now, the only time I'd get a chance to be alone with Stella would be when we crawled into the bunks tonight, but I knew she'd fall right asleep on me.
Another hour passed and Tom rounded us up to rush us on stage. We did our usual routine and watched Aub take the stage first. Next was Nate, then me and finally, Stell. She greeted the crowd with her beautiful smile and got them excited for the show tonight. I swear, when I watch old videos of Alex warming up the crowd, it's like seeing Stella as the female version of him.
We played our first song, which went amazingly. The kids were screaming the lyrics back to us and jumping around the floor like it was lava. I chuckled to myself as the song ended and watched Stella take a breather. With this, I decided to talk to her before she could cut me off. I pulled my mic down and took a step closer to her, grinning wider as a confused look fell over her face.
"So guys, as most of you know, Stella and I had a daughter recently."
At this, she rose an eyebrow, as the crowd cooed over the simple idea of Isabelle.
"We've been away from the music scene for a while and its put a lot of things into perspective for me. Like, how much I love Stella and how much I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Sorry, ladies."
The crowd let out a laugh, which made Stella smile awkwardly. She had no idea what I was doing. This wasn't how we got the crowd excited. I sloppily kissed her cheek and walked away from her long enough to put my mic back on its stand, earning a disapproving look from Tom. I was wasting time.
"Stell, I've been trying to get your attention all day. I know we agreed that we wanted to be married but we've already done everything out of order. We got together, we got signed, we had a baby.. You deserve one thing done by the books. You deserve to be surprised and swooned. So," I got down on one knee and pulled the ring box from my tight jeans, making Stella take a step back and gasp loud enough for the closer fans to hear. "Stella, you're the most amazing girl I've ever met. There's not a doubt in my mind that I want to fall asleep with you every night and wake up with you every morning. Words couldn't possibly describe the way I feel about you. Just know this, I love you, baby, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
The crowd had gone silent. Everyone was waiting to see what Stella would say. Her doe eyes stared straight into my own dark orbs, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Will you marry me?"
With tears flooding over her heads, she mumbled a 'yes' and nodded her head so quickly I was afraid she'd snap it. But that didn't stop me from smiling like a fool. I grabbed her left hand and slid the ring on, the diamond glowing under the stage lights. In one swift motion, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her like she'd never been kissed before. She was crying happily in my arms, and I felt like I could have stayed there forever, until the crowd went crazy with screams.
"We have a show to play," I yelled into Stella's mic, which apparently she took as a chance to run back to Aubree and quickly flash her the ring. Girls, I swear. "But after that, you've got a wedding to plan, future Mrs. Barakat!"
As we came back together and started our next song, I could feel Stella's eyes on me as she sung. My heart was jumping for joy. This was, hands down, the second best day of my life.
11/4/13