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“Really happy to see you,” he says. “Jax will be, too. He’s been a mess without you.”
“Harry, I have news. This has all been a setup. It’s not true.”
“I know. Jax told me. But how do you know already?”
“Wait, Jax knows? What do you mean, how do I know?” He looks at me quizzically.
Suddenly, I’m confused. I thought I had all the pieces of this story. But maybe I’m missing something. I don’t even care at this point. All that matters is that Jax and I both know the truth. And I am here for him. My feelings are even declared on my shirt.
Someone comes and pulls Harry away. I don’t want to waste any more time. I want Jax to know I’m here. Obviously, that’s a bit of a challenge being that he’s on stage. But, there is something I can do.
I push back the curtain and walk onto the side of the stage like I’ve done many other times on tour. Jax is at the part of the show where he’s about to transition into the 5 Leo Hearts melody. That’s when he turns to the side of the stage, and sees me. Jax pauses mid-sentence and takes a second to compose himself.
Then he does something unscripted. He walks over to the band and whispers something to Chris, who then walks off stage, followed by the others. A stage tech walks out with the acoustic guitar Jax plays on the bus.
“This is usually the part of the show where I bring up a fan and serenade her with a 5 Leo Hearts song,” Jax tells the audience. “But tonight, we’re going to change things up.”
I wonder what he’s going to do and if seeing me had anything to do with this change of set list.
Jax continues, “When I signed on to do a solo album, I wrote a ton of songs. But none of them were hits according to my label. Sure, I was writing songs about my life and journey, but I guess they lacked that big emotion. It took me falling in love, true love, for the first time on this tour, and then abruptly losing it all because of a lie. It took that pain, that hunger to get it back, to write the most honest song I’ve ever written. And that song, I recently recorded and will be released as a single.”
The crowd cheers and breaks out in thunderous screams. Jax gives his fans a minute to calm down before he resumes. “That song was inspired by a woman who is here tonight. And I’m going to sing it to her for the first time, right now.”
Jax looks at me. Oh my gosh. I’m already crying by the time he walks over and takes my hand, leading me out to the center of the stage. He places his microphone in its stand and picks up his acoustic guitar. A tech quickly brings out a chair for me to sit in for my serenade. I am secretly praying that fans record this and post it online because it’s the most romantic moment of my life.
Jax looks me in the eye with every word he sings. There may be a few thousand people in the room, but it’s like Jax and I are the only two people who exist right now. All the time we spent together, this is the first time he’s singing a song to me. My heart might burst.
On paper, the song reads poetically. The verses basically highlight our relationship. The chorus echoes his feelings for me. This is our love, between the lyrics. I’m still a blubbering mess by the time the song ends and Jax kisses my cheek. With the microphone out of range, he whispers in my ear, “I love you, Cailin.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper back. Jax draws me into his arms and the crowd breaks out in applause and a bunch of “aws.” Everyone backstage begins to cheer. I wish I could explain everything to Jax right now. But he’s still in the middle of his show, so I glide through the air, and off stage.
* * *
JAX
The rest of the show can’t go by fast enough. I considered cutting out a few songs to make the time go faster, but I can’t deny my fans the experience they expect. The important thing is that Cailin is here. She knows how I feel, and she feels the same. On top of all that, the crowd loved my new song. I’m ending this tour on a high note.
After my encore, I take my final bow on the tour. In that moment, I’m filled with emotion. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and feel blessed to be able to live this life. While living my dream, I met the woman of my dreams and she helped give me confidence for my future. I know I can navigate life in the public eye and that she’ll be three hand squeezes away.
I thank everyone and say good-night. Before I walk off stage, I turn and take one last look. The fans are gathering their belongings and walking out. Anyone else in this room would see crowds of people pushing their way out of the exit doors. This scene means more to me, though. I see joy, friendship, and a supportive community who has my back. This is confirmation that I am indeed, not an imposter. I am worthy of all of this. Now, to show Cailin that I am worthy of her love.
I find her waiting for me by the stage door. Everyone quickly scurries off to give us space. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you right now.” I motion to say more, but Cailin silences me by placing her finger over my lips.
“Jax, I’m so sorry for rushing to conclusions. I should never have stopped believing in you or what we have. I let you down. All for a lie. I know it’s a lie. I know who is behind this.”
Cailin doesn’t know that I thought there might actually be a pregnancy scare, so I’m eager to hear what she knows that I don’t. “What do you mean?”
Cailin sighs. “It’s a long story that I will fill you in completely on later. For now, I’ll just say that someone in my life was jealous of my relationship with you and set this whole thing in motion. I was shocked, but they admitted it to my face when I went back home.”
“Wow.” I shouldn’t be surprised as people make up lies about me all the time. But I never suspected the lies would come from someone in Cailin’s circle. “The truth is out and that’s all that matters,” I say.
“I agree. But I do want to discuss this all in-depth later,” Cailin says.
I plan on telling her everything as well. This new slate will begin with complete honesty. “Does that mean you’re sticking around?” I ask after I lock our fingers together.
“I never plan on leaving you again. That is, if you’ll have me.”
“I’ll never let you go,” I tell her before I grab her neck, press our bodies together, and reunite our lips. I missed her vanilla-flavored lips and the tiny bits of sparkle they always leave behind on mine.
