“Wait…” Rylee leans forward, squinting at me through the mirror. “Youknow!”
“She definitely knows,” Johanna smirks. “She saidnot yet, notnever.She knew he’d try again.”
I turn to face them, my brow raises. “He’s been acting like the sky is falling for days. You’re all beingweirdlysupportive—more than when I got home from the hospital. Eric tried tohugme earlier. Jake keeps winking at everyone. Brandon and Tony offered to clean my camera gear. I’m not blind.”
“Damn,” Rylee mutters. “We really thought we were being smooth about this.”
“Not even close,” I say with a true laugh. “It’s okay. I love you for trying.”
“There was anoutline!It was so well planned!” Rylee cries, flopping dramatically onto the couch.
Johanna stands and walks over to me, smoothing a nonexistent wrinkle on my top.
“It’s kind of wild,” she says quietly, a small, rare smile tugging at her mouth. “How far you’ve come. Did you ever think this is where you’d be—loving my annoying brother and living out all those daydreams from when you were a kid?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “Little stalker Mia never pictured this.”
Rylee joins us and leans her head against my shoulder, careful not to mess up my hair.
“We’ve got you,” she says, warm and certain. “Stalker tendencies and all. No matter what happens tonight. Proposal or not. Show or not. Band drama or—God help us—another surprise Tony tattoo… we’ve got you.”
“I’m not nervous because I’m unsure,” I say, barely above a whisper. “I’ve waited my whole life for someone to love me the way he does. I was starting to think I’d never find it. Now I have and it’s… kind of overwhelming. You know?”
Johanna squeezes my shoulder. “In the best way, babe. You’re one of us now.”
Before I can say anything back, a soft knock lands at the door and Jake peeks in, clipboard in hand, wink already loaded.
“Mia, they’re ready to mic you up.”
Rylee looks at me knowingly. “Ready?”
I nod once, heart steady for the first time in days. “Let’s go break the internet—again.”
With that, we rise—the unlikely trio we’ve somehow become—and I step into the darkened hallway, ready for my forever.
Chapter fifty-two
"Anyone" - American Avenue
Grayson
The final notes ofCollapse Into Youring out into the crowd like the universe has finally aligned. We’re all still catching our breath, but I know I only have about ten seconds before the next wave of chaos hits. I step back from the mic, heart hammering, hands sweating, the ring box burning a hole in my jacket pocket.
The lights drop right as the last chord rings out.
The only thing I can hear is the quiet, confused murmurs of the crowd.
Then—one spotlight.
Center stage.
And there’s Mia.
She looks unreal, the light wrapping around her like it’s been waiting just for her. She’s soft, strong, and breathtaking—and for a second, I can’t move. Everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve survived… all of it has led to this.
I walk toward her, and the second our eyes lock, I know what I need to say.
I close the distance between us and hold her hands in mine.
