Tens of thousands of people are filing into the arena, ready to scream our songs at the top of their lungs with us.
Everything I’ve wanted since I was eighteen when I started this whole thing with Eric, Brandon, and Tony is staring me right in the face—and I can’t fucking breathe.
“Five minutes,” Jake calls out, sticking his head through the door. “Make it count, Harris.”
The door slams shut behind him.
Fuck, I want to enjoy this moment. I want to feel the adrenaline, the anticipation, the need to go out there and play the best show of my life.
I should be riding the most insurmountable high, but instead, I feel like I’m going to be sick. I sink into the couch, elbows on my knees, trying to calm the storm inside my head.
“Hi.”
Mia’s voice breaks through the haze—soft, simple, but steady.
“Hey,” I say, the relief that comes with her presence washing over me.
She leans against the wall in her ripped black jeans and a thin, lacy black top that leaves very little to the imagination. Her headset hangs around her neck, hair looking a little wild from the humidity, but she looks like home. Even here.
“You’re going to crush this,” she says, as if she’s reading my mind. “You’re going to go out there and play your heart out, and nothing else matters. Not tonight.”
My eyes meet hers effortlessly.
“It’s not the show,” I admit. “I talked to Joey earlier. It’s Mom. We haven’t gotten an update in awhile, and I just can’t shake the feeling that the other shoe is about to drop.”
She crosses the room in a beat and kneels in front of me, placing her hands on my thighs. Her touch is always a reminder that I’m still here. Still real.
“I know it’s impossible,” she says gently. “But you have to try not to think about that right now, and I don’t think your mom would want you to be. Just be here, in this moment where all your dreams are about to come true as you step out on stage to play your first sold-out stadium show. Be here with me.”
I nod, trying my best to do as she says because I know she’s right. My hand wraps around her wrist and I hold on as if I’d lose my grip on reality if I let her go.
“You look unreal, by the way,” I murmur, trying to chase away the heaviness in the room with a thread of the truth. “It’s criminal how good you look in black lace.”
Mia smiles and lets out a soft laugh. “I thought you might need a distraction. Just helping.”
“You help more than you know, sweetheart.”
I stand and pull her up with me, cupping her face in both hands and kissing her—not with urgency, but with everything I don’t have words for.
Thank you.
I love you.
I need you.
I finally pull away and rest my forehead against hers.
“Go light it up,” she whispers. “I’ll be in the wings.”
There’s another knock on the door—Jake again, impatience building in his voice. “Harris!Let’s go!”
I take one more deep breath before Mia and I make the walk towards the stage so I can get mic'd up. The guys are already hyped, finishing off their game-time chant.
Tony: “What are we?”
“A goddamn disaster!”
Eric: “What do we do?”
