Live Today (Live Today #1) (21 page)

“I know what you’re thinking. And I know you’re wrong.” I turn away from him but he grabs my hand. “Sit.” I glare at him. He narrow’s his eyes and sternly repeats. “I said sit.”

With a deep sigh, we both sit and lean against the hall wall. “Now it’s my turn.”

“Matty, I really don’t need this right now.” I argue.

“For once in your life Jenna Munson, will you shut your pretty little mouth and listen to me?” My chin feels like it hits the floor with his words. I cross my arms over my knees and stare directly at the wall before me. “Stop the attitude too. Now, don’t speak until I’m done. You know I’m shit at this ‘Big Brother’ bullshit.” I begin to smile, but try to hide it. “You’re wrong Jenna. It’s not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault that he died. No one but the drunken asshole that hit him. It’s his fault. I believe everything happens for a reason. As sad as it is, if someone wanted to take any of us, it’s just a matter of time before they do. It’s what we do in the time being that makes life worth it. Don’t get me wrong. I wish it didn’t happen either. But it happened, Jenna. There’s nothing we can do about it. Nothing, but learn, and remember what he gave us.”

With a deep sigh he continues. “He gave us Drew, Jenna. And as much as Will was a part of this band, Drew has been a huge asset to us. And you found him Jems. You did. You wouldn’t have if it weren’t for the accident and for the promise. Did you think about that?” Letting his words sink in, I look over at him and shake my head. “Last night, you sang for Gabe. Yeah, yeah, I may not always look like I pay attention, but I do.” He shoves my shoulder with his. I rest my head on his shoulder. “I want you to promise me something now.” He rests his head on mine.

“I want you to promise me that you will go out there and sing for Will. Sing your heart out Jems. Because I know Will is here watching all of us.” He points up to the sky. “And I don’t know about you, but I want to make him damn proud.” I wipe a tear away from my cheek and nod in reply. We sit like this for about fifteen minutes longer until we’re found.

“There you two are.” Brennan says. “It’s time.”

Matt rests his hand on mine and whispers. “You ready?” Biting my bottom lip and taking a deep breath I answer. “Yeah.” Once we’ve risen, we walk towards Brennan hand in hand who stops me in passing. He places his hands on my shoulders.

“Everything alright?” He asks with worry in his eyes.

I place my hands on his shoulders matching his gesture. “Everything’s perfect.” I hug him tightly. “Let’s nail this.”

“That’s my girl.” He says and we walk towards the stage with playful pushing like we use to do. Gabe who has a worried look on his face makes eye contact with me. His brows are bunched up tightly. “He’s kind of been a wreck worrying about you.” Brennan says. “But he didn’t want to bother you and Matty.” He finishes placing his arm around my shoulder before giving me a half hug.

I make my way over to Gabe, take his face in my hands and kiss him deeply. “Hey, we got this.” I say smiling. “Let’s do this for Will.” My breath hitches when I say his name.

Drew walks up and takes my hand, and then Gabe’s. “You all know that I don’t push religion in any way, but I think right now is the perfect time to say a prayer if you don’t mind.” We all look at each other and nod in agreement.

“Drew, that’s a great idea.” I say. Brennan and Matt come to stand by us, and we all stand in a circle hand in hand. And Drew begins.

“Lord, we ask you to bless us tonight as we move forward in our lives without a very dear loved one. We believe Will is with you right now watching over us and Lord, we pray that you guide him into his new life with you and guide us as we embark in the challenges of life down here, without him. We ask that you bless everyone who is suffering with the loss of a loved one and is trying to push forward and is making the choice to live for not just tomorrow, but to live for today. In your name, Amen.” We all follow.

“That was beautiful Drew.” I say with happy tears in my eyes. He grins at me and shrugs. We all draw into a huddle, just like the football players do. “I love you guys.” I say smiling. They all look around each other and as the announcer begins to announce us and the cheers begin, “Tonight’s set is for Will. I know he wants this, so we are going out there and nailing it.”

“For Will.” Drew says.

“For Will.” Gabe follows.

“Rockin’ it for Will.” Matt replies.

We all look over to Brennan who has a tear brimming. “Let’s do this. For Will.” He says. We jump up and down and chant “For Will” Over and over again. We continue for about a minute until the crowd’s chants “LTDT” become louder than ours.

Once we break, Matt takes the lead like he usually does and walks across the stage with his sticks in his hands. The crowd goes wild. Who knew that our band is this big out here? Drew follows and shyly waves at the crowd as he simply walks to his place on stage. Brennan and Gabe both look at me before running on stage in unison. Of course, the crowd is in hysterics. I still don’t know who they love more since they always walk out together. I think they like to argue about it. But tonight, I think they are all giving a little something more for Gabe, since it’s his night after all. Suddenly he runs off stage towards me. “Gabe, what are you doing?” I ask in shock. He never runs off stage.

He stops in front of me, takes my face in his hands and kisses me deeply with enough emotion that leaves me with goose bumps and the urge to forget about the concert all together and disappear. “Just wanted to do that.” He says grinning. “I love you Angel. And I’m so proud of you.” He kisses me once more before letting go and running back on stage. The crowd hollers again when he presents himself and straps the guitar over his shoulder as I work on calming my rapid heartbeat from his kiss. After he gets all hooked up, he glances my way and winks followed by his secret sexy smile he saves for me.

Brennan cue’s Matt who begins tapping his sticks in the air. As rehearsed, with Matt hitting the bass, Gabe takes his guitar and stands in the center of the stage. He is such a natural at what he does its unreal. I watch from behind and look at the audience. I see his mother and father with his sisters standing in the front row. The looks on their faces is priceless. They are so proud of their son and his accomplishments. And now finally actually seeing his hard work put into place makes it so much more rewarding. Brennan steps up behind him and as Gabe’s solo ends, the song begins.

I grab the microphone on the stand and squeeze it tightly. They decided to begin with my favorite song as our first song, which also happens to also be our first single. Matt begins his set and gives me the usual look and grins. I look up into the sky and smile up at Will. “This is for you Will. I love you” I whisper before running on stage.

We finish the set without a hitch. Everything went better than planned. Of course we were applauded back onstage when we all decided to give them one song from the new album we were working on before we had to leave. This was the song Drew had written while we were in rehab. It was a slower song. And it was a perfect way to end the evening. Gabe and Drew brought three stools up to center stage.

Seated on either side of me, Gabe smiles over to Drew and winks at me. He gives the nod to Matty. He begins with a soft beat and a slow guitar solo begins. As the crowd quiets to the unfamiliar song, the drums slow start to pick up. My eyes trail their way to Gabriel’s parents and they are nothing more than happy. I smile and wink at them just before I bring the mic to my lips and sing.

How do you let go of what never was?

Of what you’ve never had.

Without even knowing, you held my hand.

You helped me see the light.

Through the shadows of the dark, you made my world so bright.

When you walked through the door, you stepped into my heart.

You took up space that wasn’t yours, but it felt right even from the start.

You played with my emotions like a puppet on a string.

When you looked the other way, I knew you would break my heart.

Please walk away and let me go. I’m not sure how to feel.

This love’s forbidden from the start, Give me some time to heal.

Please walk away and let me go, I’m not sure how to feel.

This love’s forbidden from the start. Give me some time to heal.

After we’ve finished putting our personal things in the SUV, we meet Gabe’s parents at the front of the stage. Tears sting my eyes once again when I notice all the love shared between them. Brennan who was holding Ashley under his arm walks over to me and gives me a supportive hug.

“I’m damn proud of you Jenna.” He glances to Gabe and his family. “Hey.” He draws my attention his way. “You don’t need support from a parent to feel the love you feel from them.” He kisses my forehead. “You’ve got me, Gabe, Drew and Matty. Let alone the support and love from their families as well. Sis, we may not have what they have, but we have much, much more.”

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I reply. “We have so much more. We have the best family don’t we. Because we got to pick our family.” he smiles and nods.

“We sure do. And I wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.” He says releasing me as I’m being called over by Gabe. Slowly making my way to him, I take his offering hand and smile up into his eyes. He is so happy right now it melts my insides.

“Jenna that was an amazing job, Tony and I are so very proud of you for going out there and doing that for us. We don’t know what would have happened if you wouldn’t have agreed to it.”

“Thank you Maria. It was necessary.” Her brows scrunch up a bit in confusion so I continue. “It was important for me to have you and Tony see Gabriel’s accomplishments.” She hugs her husband and her smile grows. “He has worked so hard not only to prove his worthiness to you, but for himself as well.” His eyes glisten as they remain looking down, he listens silently.

“No, thank you dear.” Tony says. “You have brought our family back together. That alone… I can’t thank you enough.”

My throat knots up. “There’s no need to thank me. Even though Brennan and I have been on our own, family means the world to us. And my promise to you, is that Gabriel will come and visit as often as he can.” His mom begins to cry as she pulls me into her arms. I hug her back and notice Tony has taken Gabe into his embrace. They hug and kiss us all before calling it a night. We promised them we wouldn’t be out all night since we were to report to church in the morning. Brennan and I chuckle at the thought of church.

We finish up with the fair and meet up at a local bar. It’s an older tavern that feels like home. The guys’ buy a round of shots and we all say cheers to an awesome set. Ashley and I are challenged to a game of pool between Gabe and Brennan as Matt and Drew blow up the jukebox and head over to play a round of darts.

Because we are ladies, we get to break first. Ashley reassures me that I don’t need to worry about her because she is a frequent player. I grin in victory knowing Brennan sucks at pool. She breaks knocking three solid balls in. “Dude, how good is she?” Brennan asks Gabe who laughs and shrugs. “You asshole. She’s good isn’t she?” He turn to look at her. “Oh don’t look so innocent missy. You played me didn’t you?”

She laughs just before knocking another solid in. “You only asked me if I played, I said occasionally.” She winks at him. He takes her in his arms.

“How occasionally is occasionally?” he asks.

Laughing as he takes a drink of his beer. Gabe answers for her. “Dude, she used to be in a league.” He says as I rest between his legs.

“Well Fuck.” Brennan whines.

“C’mon big brother. You aren’t going to be bitter being beaten by some girls?” I laugh.

“You, no. I know how good you are. Her?” he kisses her cheek, she flushes and Gabe tenses before I run my hand over his thigh causing him to relax a bit. “She’s a hustler. Yeah, I’m going to whine.” He says. Then he gets hit in the back of his head with a French fry. “What the fuck man?” he turns to ask Matt.

“Dude, stop being a pussy and play already. You know you’re gonna lose, so suck it up.” He says laughing giving knuckles to Drew. We all laugh and finish the game. The music changes and before I know it, Gabe has me in his arms in the middle of the small dance floor. It’s a familiar song that we danced to back to back at Fires in Washington. Sara Bareilles Gravity.

“This time, we don’t have to hide in a crowd of people.” He says kissing me softly.

I drag my fingers through his hair and remind him. “This time you won’t be waking up alone again either.” His eyes glow as the sexiest smile appears on his face. We haven’t done “it” since the first time a few days ago. But we have been sleeping next to each other.

He growls into my neck. “Are you sure?” he asks. I kiss him deeper than we should in public and he moans. “Keep this up and we’re leaving now.” I giggle and kiss him again and he holds me tighter and we slow dance until the song ends. I excuse myself to the restroom again, this time Ashley accompanies me.

“I’ve never seen Gabe this happy. You two make the perfect couple. Not like Carmen. All she did was bring him down.”

Not really wanting to know about his past, but curious to find out. I asked her. “What did she do?” She goes silent.