He did come tonight, which for some reason made me feel safer about returning to the scene of our crime.
Nadia’s been clammy-handed and jittery since we got here, but there’s also a lightness to her that I haven’t felt before. Like she truly did find freedom. Or maybe it’s because we’re officially a couple. I’d love to believe it’s that.
Which is why I want to give her this gift tonight.
In the time between Cadence showing me the real issue between me and Nadia and ending the guy from her nightmares, I finished her song.
It became my answer to her worries.
My response to the idea she had that I was playing rescuer.
Because the opposite was true. She rescued me–wholly and truly.
I haven’t had a chance to run it with the band yet, but they know the music already–the words shouldn’t change anything.
Lake and I fist-bumped when he arrived, and I thought I sensed a bit of an apology over the whole Cadence debacle, not that any of it was his fault. We both got tangled in her weird web.
Nadia heads out into the audience, and I call to the band. “You guys–come here.”
We huddle up together. I missed the last rehearsal, so I still need the setlist, but I want to make a change.
“I’m going to sing Nadia’s song tonight. I finished the lyrics. Are you cool?”
They all nod. It’s just that easy with them. We have history and love and mad talent. This band is everything to me. I can’t believe I wasn’t giving it my all before.
“When do you want to go?” Story asks.
“You tell me. I missed rehearsal, so I don’t know the plan.”
Story thinks for a moment. “We’ll put it as the fourth song, ahead of ‘Remember’. We’re doing all originals tonight. No covers at all. That’s just what feels right.”
“I trust your instincts.” I put my curled hand in the center of the circle, and everyone bops it and does sparkle fingers out. “Let’s do this.”
We jog out on stage, and the crowd screams. My fangirls are there, screaming my name, but the crowd actually feels more diverse tonight. Like we’ve gained the attention of older patrons, too, not just the barely-legal fans my age.
I see middle-aged guys standing in the back, sipping their beers and watching. Then I see my dad. He’s beaming at us from the back, and he gives me a thumbs up when I lift my chin.
Story does her thing–introducing us, getting the crowd lively. We sing our first three songs, building to a nice crescendo.
“Some of you have been following our Tiktok live streams,” Story says. She points toward Nadia in the front. “You have Flynn’s girlfriend, Nadia, to thank for those. That’s right, girls, he’s taken.”
There are a few boos, but also cheers, not that I’m paying attention. All I can focus on is the beaming face of Nadia, my gorgeous girlfriend.
Yep, girlfriend. Officially.
“You may have caught our first rehearsal of this new song a couple weeks ago. Tonight we’re going to give it a debut. Flynn, take it away.”
Story and I switch positions, and I take the lead mic. “I wrote this song for Nadia. And you can tell everybody, this is your song,” I sing in my best Elton John voice.
The crowd laughs.
“All right, here it goes.” I adjust my guitar strap and start the riff, singing the words that have been playing in my head on loop all day long.
Chained in the dark with the devil
He tried to eat you whole
You think you might need to settle
I know you’ll have it all.
Cuz, you don’t need saving, you don’t need saving, you don’t need anything.
You’re perfect in the sunlight. You’re perfect in the rain.
Girl, when I find you falling, it’s always me you catch.
You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you–saved me
Yeah, you, you, you, you, you, you, you saved me from myself
You, you rescued, you rescued, you rescued me-e-e, yeah
You’ve been to bed with a monster
Woke up with your heart intact
Your love is mine to foster
I know that for a fact
But, you don’t need saving, you don’t need saving, you don’t need anything.
You’re perfect in the sunlight. You’re perfect in the rain.
Girl, when I find you falling, it’s always me you catch.
You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you–saved me
Yeah, you, you, you, you, you, you, you saved me from myself
You, you rescued, you rescued, you rescued me-e-e, yeah
I sing the song directly to Nadia, and she beams back at me the whole time, a few tears leaking from the outer corners of her eyes, but total pleasure in her stance and body.
When I finish, Nadia and her friends from the Kremlin cheer, bouncing up and down with their hands in the air. I hold her gaze an extra moment before I back up to my usual position.