Page 34 of Songs for Libby

I arrived at the bar and realized that another upside of him being in town was that this wasn’t where the reporters hung out. I went straight up to where he sat and leaned against the bar right next to him. I tried not to scowl out of habit. If someone was going to take photos, I didn’t want them to be of me glaring at the rockstar. “It’s time to go, Sean.”

He focused on me and then closed his eyes, like he was upset. “They weren’t supposed to call you.”

I held my hands out in a shrug. “And yet, they did. So will you please just get up and walk with me to the car?”

“Why do they always call you?”

I breathed through my nose to push down my anger. “Because you won’t leave unless I drag my butt out of bed to fetch you,” I said through stiff lips. “And the last time they didn’t call me, you ended up in the hospital. Please, Sean. Can we please just leave?”

The desperate begging of my tone must have gotten through to him. “Fine.” He got up, but not before throwing back one more shot.

His poor liver.

I put my arm around his back and tried to look like we were just a couple, walking out of a bar. We went out the front and climbed into a car, which got us to his house in fifteen minutes. Will followed behind in my car.

Once I’d seen him dumped into his bed, I got my keys from Will and headed out. “You’re not staying?” he asked.

“He’s sleeping. You guys don’t need me for this part.” I resented the question. The implication that I would stay and baby him. I wasn’t his mom. His mom hadn’t been around for a long time.

♪♫♪

Jonas took me out the next weekend and the weekend after that.

I for one would have been happy to see him multiple times a week, but I had the sense that he was holding back on purpose, not willing to jump in all the way with me. I hated it. I craved more time with him. I saw in him a line of music that seemed the perfect complement to my own. And if our notes could just line up on the same page, the harmony would be breathtaking.

But I also knew I’d hurt him. I’d broken his trust and earning it back would take time. So I did my best to be patient.