I'd Kiss You Goodbye If I Thought It Would Make You Stay

"Oh, say, wouldn't it be nice to know right now that we'll be, someday holding hands in the end, all our broken plans will have been...I will kiss you soft so you know, it is love from the first time I pressed my lips against yours, thinking, "Oh, is it love?" - HelloGoodbye

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

“Hurry up!” Suzie exclaims impatiently. The three of them have been particularly jumpy tonight; it’s really throwing me off and I can’t figure out why they’re acting like this.

“Alright already, calm-” I don’t get to finish; she’s dragging me off to the car, where Seb and Jude are already waiting. Seb even honks the horn a few times for emphasis.

We drive to the venue at what Jude would consider a normal speed and make it there fairly quickly, parking a few blocks away.

We meet up with the guys backstage, and they all enthusiastically wish me a happy birthday. Everyone looks exceptionally excited for this particular show, especially Michael, although I can’t understand why.

I try to ask him about everyone’s strange behavior, but he doesn’t give me a straight answer and changes the subject instead. Soon, they take the stage without me getting my answers.

I wait side stage for William to introduce me; I’ve agreed to help him sing a song tonight.

“You all know my cousin Rae, right?” William asks into the mic, pulling me into a hug as I approach him on stage. He smiles, keeping an arm around my shoulders as the crowd replies. I wave at them, and an “I love you!” shout comes from somewhere in the crowd. I’m not sure if it’s aimed at me or William, but I laugh a little either way. “Well, she’s going to help me sing this next song, but first we have a little birthday surprise for her, so if we can all keep it down…” he says, shushing the crowd.

I glance at him curiously; he didn’t tell me anything about a surprise, which makes sense, I suppose.

I notice that William’s stepped back, the room’s gone silent, and everyone on stage and side stage is watching in anticipation as Michael slowly approaches me, slipping off his guitar and handing it to William to hold. I give him a questioning look, waiting for an explanation, but he just grins crookedly and stops right in front of me.

I gasp in shock and feel my eyes starts to water when he kneels down in front of me and reaches into the pocket of his black jacket.

It all makes sense now; Suzie and the guys acting suspicious, them begging me to stay for the weekend that just so happened to be the day the guys were in town, and everyone’s overly giddy mood and excitement tonight.

There’s no way I could have even remotely expected that he would propose like this, especially tonight; Michael’s never been one to make a scene, and we’d always been a pretty private couple.

“Rachel,” he says softly, catching my full attention now. I can almost sense the room straining to hear him; he’s speaking quietly, looking into my eyes, making me feel as if I’m the only one in the world besides him. He’s able to make it a private moment regardless of the fact that everyone’s watching. “I made the mistake of letting you go once, but I love you and I have no intention of doing it ever again. Will you marry me?” he asks, looking up at me hopefully.

I nod vigorously, afraid that if I speak, I’ll start crying and I won’t be able to stop.

He grins, standing up and sliding the pretty ring onto my finger. Perfect fit.

I lock my arms around his neck and press my lips against his fiercely because I can’t describe my happiness in words, not caring in the least that we’re on stage and all those catcalls are aimed at us.

“Alright, save it for the honeymoon,” William interrupts jokingly, even though we’re sharing a considerably innocent kiss. “So who thinks Mrs. Chislett should help us out with this next song?”

I blush at that, even though I’m used to having attention focused on me. William hands me a mic and gives Michael back his guitar, grinning at me and giving me a congratulatory hug before starting off with Summer Hair.

“I’ll never let you go…”

“Let’s congratulate them one more time, huh?” he adds, after we sing the last few lines.

Suzie, Seb, Jude, Tony, and Jack are waiting for me when I leave the stage. Suzie gets to me first, and then she’s practically suffocating me with a hug, tears streaming down her cheeks. Seeing her crying makes me cry, and now I understand her strange request that I wear water-proof eyeliner tonight.

“I’m so happy for you!” she exclaims in my ear. She lets me go as I’m about to tell her I can’t breathe, but then Seb and Jude are giving me bone-crushing hugs as well. “You don’t know how hard it was for these two idiots to keep their mouths closed,” she says, shaking her head in laughter while wiping her eyes on her shirtsleeve.

“Congratulations,” the two of them tell me. They each kiss me on the cheek and then I finally hug Jack and Tony, who congratulate me as well.

I’m almost tackled by Butcher and Sisky when they run straight to me as soon as the set’s done. Mike embraces me and then William gives me yet another hug.

I’m suddenly pulled away from William and into another pair of arms.

“I love you. Happy birthday,” he says, catching my lips with his in a sweet kiss.

I kiss back, ignoring our friends’ comments, because we’re the only two people in the universe again.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I make my way through the crowd of well-wishers, being stopped every few seconds to be congratulated and told happy birthday to by various friends and band and crew members.

I open the back patio door for some air and a break from the craziness going on inside Jude’s house.

I hear the click of the door opening and closing again and I smile to myself, feeling his familiar kisses at my neck. He leads me over to a nearby chair, sitting down and gently pulling me onto his lap by the waist.

“I finally have you alone,” I tease, pushing his hair off of his forehead and leaning in to kiss him. He abruptly pulls away after a minute or so and begins to reach for the inside pocket of his jacket as I watch on questioningly.

“Your birthday present,” he explains, pulling out an envelope and holding it out to me.

“I thought the ring was my present,” I say, but I take it anyway, out of curiosity, and he watches in expectancy as I open it to retrieve what’s inside. “Oh my God,” I murmur, staring down at the plane tickets in my hands. Plane tickets to Australia.

“We’ll go in September, when we’re both on break. After you get back from Warped,” he informs me, as I stuff them back into the envelope and then in my purse for safekeeping. I wrap my arms around his neck in a tight hug.

“Thank you. You’re amazing,” I whisper in his ear before kissing his cheek.

“We’ll stay in Sydney, near my parents,” he continues. “My mum’s been dying to catch up with you,” he adds, grinning. “And Nicola wants to get to know you, too.”

I had met his parents before on their visit to Chicago when the two of us were living together, and he had obviously told me all about his younger siblings, but I had only met Nicola so far (if you could call it that), since I’d never been to Australia.

I can’t wait to tell my parents either; they love Michael. Hell, my mom’s been asking when we were getting married since the day she met him. She might have a heart attack when I get back to Chicago with my ring.

“I can’t wait to bring you home,” he smiles.

I lean forward again and crash my mouth to his in excitement, feeling him smile into my eager lips.

“Hey!” we hear from the doorway. We pull away to see William and Suzie. “No ditching your own party!” she scolds me. They march over to us, Suzie pulling me off his lap and William urging Michael out of the chair to drag us both back inside.

We’re immediately handed glasses of wine and I notice everyone else is already holding their own glasses. Suzie smiles at me from where she’s standing next to Mike.

Somehow, I still think something’s going on there, but only time will tell.

My thoughts are interrupted by William calling for a toast.

Michael wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer and kissing my cheek.

Everyone takes a drink once William finishes talking and congratulating us once again. I take a few drinks as well. The flavor on my tongue isn’t as appealing as it was over six months ago and I hand it off to Jude after another sip or two.

After all, I don’t need it anymore.

I’ve got Michael.

It’s all I’ll ever need.