“What are you doing?” I ask her, just as Maggie comes out in the purple shirt. “Definitely that shirt. It’s perfect.”
“Maggie,” Bridgette says, still looking at herself in the mirror. “When you said my ass looked like two Pringles hugging, was that a compliment?”
Maggie laughs. “Have you seen your ass? Of course it was.”
“I don’t see it.” Bridgette pulls another Pringle out of the can and holds both chips back to back so that they’re curved away from each other. “This is not attractive.”
Maggie walks over and grabs the two Pringles, turning them inward. “Like this.”
Bridgette stares at the chips and nods, like it finally clicks. “Oh. Yeah, it kind of does look like that.”
•••
Ridge and Warren have been at the venue helping the band set up for the show, so Maggie and I rode with Bridgette. Ridge isn’t playing tonight, though. He said sometimes he just likes being a spectator.
Maggie has a smile on her face as we get out of the car, but I can tell it’s strained. She pauses as she looks up at the building. “I wish Jake could have made it,” she says quietly.
I grab her hand. “He can come to the next one. Just try to have fun.”
I’m anxious to get inside, so I pull her after me and text Ridge to let him know we’re at the back door. A moment later, the door opens and Ridge walks out. He’s followed by Warren. I feel bad because Ridge is giving me a hug, and Warren is giving Bridgette a hug, and Maggie is just standing there, awkward and alone.
It won’t last long though.
Just when the door slams shut, it’s pushed open from the inside. Jake walks out.
It’s been hell keeping it from her, but he really wanted to surprise her. He was able to switch his on-call weekends, but he didn’t want her to know. He’s planning on staying with her until Monday morning.
As soon as she realizes he’s actually here and she’s not seeing things, she lights up all over and runs at him. She jumps on him and wraps herself around him like a spider monkey, her feet locked around his back, her wrists locked behind his neck. He’s holding her with little effort, and it makes me envious that I can’t jump on Ridge like that. I mean, I guess I could. But I’m not as tiny as Maggie. We’d need to plan it. We’d need a spotter. And a mattress for when we fell.
They’re so in love. It’s so adorable.
Ridge leans into my ear and says, “You look beautiful.”
His comment gets him a kiss. We’re so adorable.
Warren opens the back door and holds it for everyone as we all shuffle inside. I feel my phone vibrate, so I look back at Ridge and he indicates he just texted me something.
Ridge: I gave Jake the ring.
Me: You did? Did it freak him out? Or did he seem appreciative?
Ridge: He thanked me like five times and kept staring at it on the drive over. I doubt he waits long.
That makes me smile. I know marriage wasn’t an item on Maggie’s bucket list, but I think she’s at a point in her life where she wants to add more to the list. And Jake isn’t going anywhere. I can see that just by the way they look at each other.
The room is packed when we get out to the floor. Luckily, one of the crew members saved an area up front for us. Perks of writing music for the band.
Jake and Maggie stand next to us. He’s standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her. When Brennan and the band walk on stage, Maggie separates herself from him and starts clapping and jumping. I have no idea how long it’s been since she’s seen them play, but she’s genuinely stoked to hear them. It makes me think about everyone’s dynamic and how she’s been a part of these people’s lives since right after they started the band. I’m sure Brennan and everyone on stage mean more to her than I ever realized.
It makes me appreciate what we had to go through to get here even more. Had we all not figured out a way to coexist, she would have had to give up huge pieces of her life. I never would have felt right about that.
I look over at Warren and Bridgette, and even she’s smiling and clapping as Brennan introduces the band to the audience. Warren has his hands cupped around his mouth as he yells for the band. Then he drops his arm and wraps it around Bridgette’s waist. She looks up at him and he smiles down at her, then gives her a quick kiss. It’s so odd to see them in moments like this, but when I do get glimpses of it, it’s beautiful. They love each other, even if they do it differently from everyone else.
That’s the beauty of love, isn’t it? It comes in so many different forms, shapes, sizes, textures. And it’s ever changing. Like the love Ridge held for Maggie. It’s still there… It’s just a different form. And that’s what I love the most about him. He never stopped loving her. He never stopped caring for her. And now that she’s one of my closest friends, I can’t help but love that for her, because she deserves it. She deserved his love then as his girlfriend, and she deserves his love now as one of his best friends.
Ridge moves closer behind me and wraps his arms around me, lifting one hand to my chest. He rests his palm at the base of my throat and presses his head to the side of mine. He wants to hear the concert through me, so I start singing along to the music. And I don’t realize it until halfway through the song, but I’m crying.
I don’t even know why.
I just love him so much. And I love being here with him. And I love his friends.
I just…love.
She knows every word to every song. I’m not sure when she learned all the songs that were written before I met her, but it makes me wonder if she learned them for me. For these moments when we’re watching the band on stage, so she can sing them to me.
When the song ends and she starts clapping, I notice tears are falling down her cheeks. I wipe one of them away and then lean in and kiss her briefly before walking away. She tries to grasp at my shirt, but I disappear into the crowd before making my way on stage. Brennan told me to come up after the first song to perform the one I wrote for her, but I didn’t tell Sydney I wrote a new song for her.
When I get up on the stage, I can feel the excitement of the room, even though I can’t hear it. The looks on their faces, the people in the front few rows jumping up and down, the heat from the lights, the smile on Sydney’s face when I finally find her in the crowd. I lean in to the microphone and sign while I tell her out loud why I wrote the song.
“Sydney.” She’s grinning so wide right now, it makes me smile. “I wrote a happy song for you this time. Because…well…you make me happy. No matter what happens or where we go…we’re in it together. And that makes me so fucking happy.”
She laughs and wipes at a tear, then signs, You make me happy, too.
I take the guitar Brennan hands me and wait for his cue. Then I close my eyes and start playing the chords, repeating the lyrics quietly in my head while Brennan uses his voice to sing them out loud.
Well maybe we can be
Somewhere where the land and the water meet
Somewhere where the worry just can’t be
Only got enough room for you and me
Well maybe the sun will rise
And peek through the pulled down bamboo blinds
Shine across your slept on perfect hair
And we won’t care
No, we won’t care
Cuz we got everything, everything we need right here
The world can try to make it all disappear
But let me tell you something that I happen to know
It’s gonna feel like this wherever we go
Wherever we go
Well what if all we saw
Was the rain dancing off the roof as it falls
Swaying in the leaves at the top of the tree
Water washing sand right from our feet
Well what if all we knew
Was right from wrong with no point of view
The day can go off the tracks up in the air
And we won’t care
No,
we won’t care
Cuz we got everything, everything we need right here
The world can try and make it all disappear
But let me tell you something that I happen to know
It’s gonna feel like this wherever we go
Wherever we go
You know we’ll be here for a while
I think we better do it with a little style
So we make the most of every day like it’s faded away
We’ll be alright
Cuz we got everything, everything we need right here
The world can try and make it all disappear
But let me tell you something that I happen to know
It’s gonna feel like this wherever we go
Wherever we go
When the song is over, I hand the guitar to Brennan and make my way back down to the floor. I find Warren and Bridgette. I see Maggie and Jake. I spin around, but there’s no Sydney. I look at Maggie and sign, “Where did she go?”
Maggie points to the stage.
I spin around and look at where I was just sitting. Why is Sydney on stage?