Accordance (27 page)

The parking lot didn’t have many people in it because it just opened. I shielded my mind from everything before we went in. Once again there was no hassle with the doorman and we went in, getting an “I‘m with the band” wristband in the process. As I stepped in, I looked around. The carpet was red and the walls gray with neon dragons and flames, shining under the black lights. The stage was short and shallow against the back wall with an open area in front for a mosh pit.

Caleb was using one of their basses in the show so he didn’t have to bring anything with him. There was one band going on before them and he needed to head in to the backroom to warm up as the opening band was about to go on already.

“You’re gonna be so great,” I told him and straightened invisible wrinkles on his shirt front. I could feel his unease about this. “I don’t know why you’re so worried. Remember when I went to see you practice?” He nodded and sucked his lip in and out. “Remember that look on my face that you love so much?” He nodded again and smiled a little. “Well, I’m gonna have that look on my face all night, because not only do I love you, but you are awesome on that bass. And you could tell if I was lying.”

He chuckled deep in his throat, his gratefulness sweeping over me. He looked at me, his eyes roaming my face with adoration. He pressed our faces together, noses touching, cheeks touching and spoke to me.

Thank you
.
I love you, Maggie. I couldn‘t live without you, you know that?

Ditto.

He smiled against my cheek and blew a steadying breath before straightening and looking around.

“Stay where I can see you, ok?” he said, back to being the tyrant for my safety.

“Sure,” I answered and Kyle came up beside us.

“You don’t have to set up and all, man?” he asked.

“I do. I need to go but…”

Caleb was backing out. He hadn’t thought all this through and felt like an idiot for not thinking about what he was gonna do with me during the show. He couldn’t leave me alone, not with people after us.

“I’ll stay with Maggie, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Kyle chimed in opportunity.

I figured a fight was coming but Caleb was relieved.

“Thanks, man, I appreciate it.”

“No sweat,” Kyle said and shrugged. “I’ll get us a soda.”

“Ok,” Caleb turned back to me. “You ok with this?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Ok. Come see the guys before they start warming up.”

As we made our way through the hall and I caught Kyle’s eye and pointed to show him where I was going so he wouldn’t look for me. He nodded and turned to Beck and Ralph as they hopped on the stools by him.

Block them out, remember?

I nodded to Caleb just as we went through the back room door.

“Maggie!” I heard and looked around Caleb’s arm to see Spence, grinning and beating his drumsticks on his leg. “Hello, my little Tennessee muffin.”

“Uh, hi?” I said or asked or something.

I wasn’t sure what to say and they laughed, making me flush.

“Caleb, what are you wearing, man? I thought we said-”

“
You
said. Number one, I don’t own any leather,” Caleb explained with the fingers he was naming and pointing at Zeke. “Number two, you’ll never get me in any.”

“He looks fine,” Spence said and pointed to his own KISS shirt with a drumstick. “Vintage T-shirts are the way to go, man. Leather is out.”

“Bollocks,” Zeke muttered under his breath. “We need to get started.”

“Ok, you alright?” Caleb asked me in a low voice.

“Where’s my honey tea?” I heard Zeke say behind us. “Someone swiped my honey tea!”

“Yeah,” I said as we laughed at him.

“I never thought I’d say this but, stay with Kyle,” he said sternly.

“Caleb, stop worrying.”

“I can’t stop. My veins are about to boil right now. This was dumb. It’s so dumb to leave you unprotected so I can play some stupid show.”

“It’s not dumb. We have to live. We can’t just leave everything behind and forget what we want. I’m not letting them do that to you or me. And besides, I’m not a little human anymore, remember? I can take care of myself.”

“I know you think that-“

“Caleb, I’m the Visionary,” I said a little harder to drive my point in. “I’m ascended and I’ll be right here in front of you the whole time.”

He sighed and I heard him thinking that he had actually almost forgotten that; who I was and what I was. It almost made me smile.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He raised his hand. “Tyrant, remember?”

“Yes,” I laughed. “Don’t worry about me so much, babe, I’ll be fine. I’ll stay with someone at all times. There’s no way they’d try to take me with all these people here. And I’ll be the one cheering very loudly in front,” I said in a sugar sweet playful voice.

“OK,” he laughed.

He held my chin between his fingers as he bent his head to kiss me. I could feel my heartbeat flutter under my palm on his chest within just a second of his lips on mine. Zeke made a noise to get our attention and we looked over at him.

“Come on then,” he insisted as he waved his hand. “Groupies and wives hang outside while we prepare.”

Caleb scoffed at Zeke and smiled at me as we listened to Spence start to bang a beat on the drums.

“I’ll see you after.”

I nodded and he took me to the door. His gaze combed the bar until he found Kyle. He nodded to him, then kissed my temple as he turned me and pushed me with his hands on my back.

Stay with Kyle, please.

Yep. Have fun.

I’ll try.

I had to push through people to get to Kyle, who was waiting patiently in the back. The bar was filling up now, people’s thoughts projecting that they were excited about the show. I smiled thinking about Caleb being so nervous for no reason. He was so good and the band already had quite a following.

“Hey,” Kyle said and grabbed my hand to pull me through a couple who wouldn’t move. He spoke into my ear. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

“They warming up back there?”

“Yep.”

“Here.“ He handed me a cup and smiled. “I got you a drink.”

“Thanks.”

“So, are you excited?” I nodded. “There‘s gonna be lots of girls here pawing all over him after the show, ya know.”

“Yes, I’m excited. And I’m not worried about girls, Kyle,” I laughed. “But thanks for trying.”

He had a devilish grin and chucked my chin.

“You got it.”

“Where’s Beck and Ralph?”

“I’m afraid to wonder.” I scrunched up my nose, shaking my head at them, “And Amber’s MIA. I haven’t seen her in a couple days and when I went to pick her up for the show, no one answered the door. She won’t answer my calls either. Guess that’s over.”

“I’m sure she had good reason,” I mused over the music.

“What? I thought you hated Amber?”

“I don’t
hate
anyone,” I rebutted.

“You know what I mean. I know for a fact she wasn’t on your favorite people list.”

“True, but that doesn’t mean anything. We’re about to go home anyway. It’s probably good it ended now, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” he said quietly and nodded. “Bish and Jen are pretty obvious, huh?”

“You noticed that, too?” I asked but knew he was right about them being obvious.

“Everyone noticed. It sucks for them. Especially when we go home and he meets all my uncles. All those Jacobson’s together won’t stand for our Jen being pursued by some commoner.”

“Commoner?”

“Not Ace.”

“It’s because they aren’t imprinted not because he’s human. Your family’s not that petty, I think I‘m proof of that.”

“Still, Bish better watch his back. He puts those googly eyes on her in front of Uncle Ben, he’s sure gonna wish he hadn’t.”

Ok, subject change needed.

“So what’s the reunification like? Caleb told me some about it.”

“It’s basically a week long indoor picnic with drawn out speeches from the council and games and dances and stuff. Girls following the guys around like kittens, hoping and praying they’ll imprint before everyone goes home.”

“Sad.”

“It didn’t used to be, Mom said it used to wild and fun. There wasn’t all the strain and desperation there is now. People enjoyed it and if they imprinted, they imprinted. No biggie,” he scoffed and smiled sadly, “it was gonna happen one day anyway and people were happy.”

“I’m sorry, Kyle.”

He looked at me sharply.

“Why are you sorry? It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do this on purpose.”

I felt my eyes go wide and my mouth open.

“Wow. That’s quite a change from what you usually say to me,” I said softly, leaning in so he could hear me.

He shrugged one shoulder and smiled a small sad crooked smile.

“It’s not your fault, I was just mad. But I realized something in the pool that day.” I gave him a look said not to bring that up. “Just listen.” He grabbed my upper arms gently. “I know you and Caleb are meant to be together. I do. And if it was me instead of him, he’d be happy for me.” He bit his lip and looked a bit pained but pressed on. “I am still in love with you.” My breath caught. “That hasn’t changed and I don’t see a change coming anytime soon. But it’s ok. I can love you and still be your friend. I can love you and be your family.”

I looked up into his eyes. His mind was so wide open and honest and he was waiting for me to tell him that it was ok, that this was an arrangement that we could both deal with; him in love with me from afar and me knowing it but loving Caleb.

“It sounds like torture to me,” I whispered but somehow he heard me.

“I want it this way. I’d rather be with you as friend than not at all.”

“Maybe…I should go home to Tennessee…and you stay.” He started to interrupt but I stopped him. “Kyle,” I sighed. “It doesn’t make me feel good to see you like this. To know what’s in your head and not be able to…I don’t like it,” I said shaking my head and trying to move backwards but he wasn’t giving me any leeway.

“I do. I didn’t tell you this so you’d run off without me. I told you this so you’d know I was going to back off and let you be. I’m not gonna…be inappropriate with you anymore.”

“But you’re miserable,” I said in truth not vanity. His face was a clear picture of it even if I wasn’t in his mind. He was miserable, inside and out. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“And I don’t want you to hide from me. We’re friends. That’s all. I can deal with it.”

“By moping around and hardly speaking to anyone,” I replied.

“I didn’t have anything to say,” he muttered lamely.

“Kyle,” I protested.

I looked around us, at the growing crowd and found Beck and Ralph still at the bar, trying to coax the bartender into giving them drinks, who was internally debating kicking them out. I turned back to Kyle and looked at us. His big lean hands were still wrapped around my upper arms gently and intimately. We were so close, our legs were touching and sometime I’d placed my hands on his chest, probably when I had been trying to retreat. Kyle was working overtime to remove the want to kiss me from his mind so I wouldn’t see it. He just wanted to kiss me once, he thought. If he could kiss me once, then he’d be able to control himself around me, just one kiss.

That idea was ludicrous but, in his mind, it was sound logic.

“Kyle, I hate that you’re so upset about this. I wish I could take it from you somehow-”

“I wouldn’t want that. I want to feel what I feel,” he said gruffly.

“But I don’t want you to.” His face fell further. His mind said something about me being disgusted by him. “I’m not disgusted, I’m sad. You’re my friend, you’ve been my friend for years and I don’t ever want you to not be happy, especially because of me. If there was a way for me to snap my fingers and make a girl appear right now that you could imprint with and live happily ever after I would. I’d give a lot to make that happen, so you wouldn’t hurt anymore.”

He smiled and slowly traced my cheekbone with his thumb.

“One more reason that I love you.”
Before I could say anything a group of college kids came piling through the door and knocked me into Kyle. His arms went around me to keep me from falling, his feelings smashing into me as well. He wanted to pull me to him and press my face into his neck, keep me there. I pushed away quickly, my hand feeling his fast heartbeat under my palm, but not before Kyle’s lips brushed against my temple in a soft kiss that he hoped I thought was accidental.

I leaned on the wall, to move out of the group’s way and also to get some space from Kyle but he followed me. He was trapping me to the wall with his cage of arms as his palms went to the space near my head.