You Can't Fight Fate

Stevvie and I walked hand in hand around our property, enjoying the silence. Every now and then, one of us would glance at each other and smile. I held back from kissing her, even though I really wanted to. It wasn’t the right time and I didn’t want to start any drama. Everything was perfect in my eyes.

<->

I let Nick get very comfortable until I made my move, though I came to apologize first, I wasn’t the only one who needed to. I finally stopped and turned to him with a sly smile on my face. I looked at his adorable little face, raised my hand, aimed, and slapped him as hard as I could. After I did, he turned to me with a shocked look on his face as he held his left cheek. His jaw was dropped as he gasped for air.

“W-why did you just slap me!” he exclaimed.

I narrowed my eyes at him as I crossed my arms; my head was cocked to its side.

“That was for lying to me,” I sneered.

Blood rushed to his cheek, exposing my hand print. Nick tried to rub it to soothe the stinging he probably felt. I’ll admit, I hit him a little harder than I intended. Yet, I couldn’t feel sorry for something he deserved.

“I haven’t lied to you about anything!” Nick defended.

“Oh really?” I asked monotone,”Rachael Bowlag ring a bell?”

Nick shook his head in confusion.

“So…I dated her…big deal? It was for like one day, I never lied to you.”

“Oh baby, you did more than date her…and longer than one day. It may not have been
recently, but you did. Maybe you forgot the fact that you two have known each other for like….ever!” I exclaimed.

Nick’s eyes widened at my statement as he held his cheek. He groaned and rubbed his face, muttering incoherent words. (Though I swore he muttered damn under his breath..)
“Of course she told you!”

“Yeah, she did,” I scoffed, “after all the shit you put me through, I find out you’ve been lying way longer than I had.”

I watched his expression melt into a sorry pout as the wind whipped around his hair.

“Baby please, I’m sorry. I can’t explain!’ he began to say.

I scoffed once again and rolled my eyes. “Don’t baby me Nicholas, I’m not your baby. I’m not going to fall for it either.”

I walked away from Nick, forcing him to chase after me.

“Stevvie, please…just let me explain,” he begged.

I rolled my eyes once and again finally turned to him.

“I don’t want an explanation Nicholas,” I explained to him, “I just want the truth from now on, just like you do.”

“You’re right and I can do that,” he realized, “…look the only reason why I didn’t tell you we knew each other was because I knew you didn’t like her, and I didn’t want that fact to get in the way of our friendship.”

I nodded, understanding him. “I wouldn’t have been mad or anything…I’m only extremely jealous because she beat me at getting you. I bet you made-out with her didn’t you?”

Nick guilty looked away, giving me an answer I didn’t want to know.

“Damn...please tell me she didn’t try anything else because you know her…how far did you guys go…wait I don’t want to know. Did you like it? What did she say? No, I don’t what to know. Wait! Okay, tell me.”

Nick groaned. “Do you want me to tell you what you want to hear or the truth?”

I contemplated on my decision, though I really wanted to know. I didn’t know if I could handle my jealousy.

“The truth,” I finally decided, “Just…leave out the…icky details…”

Nick chuckled, causing me to get confused. “Icky details?”

“I shouldn’t the only one worried about icky things, if you screwed around with her then you obviously didn’t believe when we said she was the class whore,” I pointed out.

“That just doesn’t settle well in my stomach…” he stated, “we didn’t do anything ‘icky’ Stevvie, just…fooled around a couple times.”

“A couple as in….” I urged him to continue.

He sighed. “A few times…”

“As in…”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you mean you don’t know as in you did so many times that you lost count or you trying not to tell me the truth?”

“The first one…maybe. Look do we have to talk about this?”

I groaned and nodded. “Yes! I want to know what happened. Now tell me.”

“Okay, we made-out. That’s it, I promise. Besides that one time she tried to…”

My eyes widened. “Tried to what?”

“Sleep with me…emphasis on the try…nothing happened. You know me.”

“That floozy…”I muttered.

I regretted making Nick tell me what happened because I as instantly jealous. Images of Rachael’s tan, lean body hovering over Nick ran through my mind, making me uncomfortable. The fact that they hooked up more times than Nick could remember (which meant Nick enjoyed it) made it even worse. I was incredibly jealous at the fact that she made out with my man.

“Stevvie,” I heard Nick murmur. He gently took my hands into mine. “Just because of what I did, doesn’t mean that I like you any less. In fact, I like you more than ever now.”

My heart fluttered at his sweet words, causing me to let out an involuntary giggle.

“Good. Now, tell me…if you rated Rachael’s kisses on a scale of one to ten, one being the worst and ten being the best, honestly…what would it be?”

"Ooh, honestly…um, about a six maybe…”

I smirked. “Well, that sucks…you definitely deserve higher…”

Nick smiled slyly.

“What are you trying to say Stevvie…?”

“Oh nothing…I guess you’ll just have to see. It’s cold, let’s go inside.” I replied flirtatiously.

<->

Stevvie snuggled into my side as I stroked her hair. Both of our families sat in the den, lazily, listening to Todd’s tour stories. We all enjoyed the company of each other. Dani and Kevin were always attached at the hip and recently it seemed like Joe and Jessica were also. We were actually surprised how into planning a wedding they were. Joe was never the type to settle down for long and definitely not the type to want to marry young. He always complained about how Kevin and Dani were “such a married couple” and never wanted to go out anymore. However, he was right, Kevin and Dani preferred to stay home rather than party and hang out with friends. Unlike them, Joseph and Jessica loved to hang out with the array of friends in L.A. I think that was why he finally popped the question, Jessica allowed him to have his space and boy time and he did the same. Nothing was complicated or too intense with them, they were simply in love. It was beautiful in my opinion. Stevvie’s parents were a lot like my parents I noticed. Though they had very different lives, they still had the same love story. They both fell in love at a very young age and were still madly in love to this day.

“Nicholas, I was exceptionally impressed with your cover of Stephanie’s song,” Todd said.

Stevvie shifted at the sound of her name and sighed in content.

“Umm…what’s Stevvie’s song?” I asked, unsure.

“Lullaby,” Mrs. Jameson answered, “Stevvie never told you I guess.”

I looked down at her, smiling and then back up at her parents.

“No way, that’s my favorite song of you guys,” I gushed.

“Why don’t you tell them the story,” Johnny suggested.

A wide grin appeared on Todd face as he rubbed his clean-shaven face.

“I don’t think they’re ready,” he stated.

“I want to know!” Joe exclaimed.

“Yeah, we can handle it!” Jessica chimed in.

“Maybe Stevvie should tell them…” Jennifer recommended.

Everyone looked at Stevvie as she widened her eyes and shook her head at her parents quickly. Se turned suddenly shy, confusing me.

“Well…darling, they’re going to know eventually and they are big fans….they deserve it,” Todd argued.

“Yeah…I want to see their reactions!” Gregg added.

“You can’t fight fate….you should know this by now Stevster,” Julian decided, “tell ‘em Todd.”

Stevvie groaned and leaned back on the couch. Something told me she didn’t like “the story”.

“Alright so, you all know the rumors of Chasing Fate broke up?” he began.

“Yeah, one was that you guys walked out on the CEO because you didn’t want to change your sound,” Kevin stated.

“Yeah, or that Todd thought the fame would get to your heads,” Joe added.

I watched as Gregg, Johnny, Julian, Todd, and Jennifer chuckle at our growing list of rumors. They could barely contain their laughter after awhile, causing all of us to laugh. We all were curious to know what the real story was. The reason why Chasing Fate broke up was one of the biggest mysteries in rock and roll history. What confused me was Stevvie’s demeanor. She merely chuckled at a couple outrageous stories but just continued to look down at her lap.

“Wow, they’ve changed drastically over the years haven’t they boys?” Todd commented to his band mates.

“So, what’s the story then?” I asked.

“Easy, the simple story is that I walked out,” he stated,” actually, it was an old record company around here back in the 90s. They’re no longer around…what was it called again guys?”

“Blue moon records!” Johnny remembered.

“Right, right…”Todd approved, “…old Mr. Goldberg.”

“The meanest man in the business, I swear,” Gregg reminisced.

“Yeah, he had a couple stiff bones in him,” Todd agreed, “Anyway, so here we were in Dallas, I had I think, 200 dollars to my name and one audition with Goldberg. We had sent in tape after tape to this guy, but he refused to sign us because we were so young. I had just turned eighteen and Jen was seventeen.”

“You guys toured alone in those conditions?” my mom asked, “what about your parents?”

“My parents hated Todd in the first place, so just imagine how they felt when thy found out I had ran away with him at sixteen and then on top of that getting pregnant. The things we did for love right?” Jennifer replied, “Todd’s parents refused to support them financially but let them go. Todd and Julian would have found someway to leave anyway.”

“My parents were reformed hippies.” Todd informed us, “even though they were working stiffs, they still had that laid–back vibe.”

Stevvie face grew more and more serious as they continued.

“Wow, you guys must have had it tough, what happened at the audition?” Joe asked.

“Well, after Goldberg finally gave in, he said we had one chance and that was it,” Julian continued.

“We thought we had it in the bag,” Johnny added.

“But, Jennifer and Stevvie had different plans,” Todd stated with a laugh.

“What did you do Stevvie?” Maya asked.

Stevvie looked to her mother and didn’t answer Maya.

Once he revealed this fact, it all made since. My eyes widened as I processed everything.

“Wait! I got it!” I exclaimed, “Mr. Jameson you walked out because Mrs. Jameson was in labor with Stevvie, and you wrote Lullaby for Stevvie.”

Todd face formed into a big smile. “Ah, I knew you’d be the one to get it! Yes, actually Jennifer went into labor earlier that day but she wanted to wait out the audition.”

“Stevvie decided to come a month early from her due date,” Jennifer revealed, “I was eight months pregnant with her at the time.”

“Wow, good call dude,” Joe replied.

“Stevvie was definitely a surprise…we hadn’t even picked out a name yet,” Todd stated fondly.

“Let alone prepared for a baby,” Jennifer added.

“This was why I had to get the record deal, to support a baby. But, I never imagined Jen to go into labor the very day of the audition.”

“Wow, I couldn’t imagine how you managed to carry a baby and still travel,” Daniele gushed as she rubbed her large belly, “I couldn’t stand traveling at 24 weeks, and I can barely move now.”

“Oh gosh, I don’t even know, I was only seventeen! “ Jennifer giggled.

“Going in to the audition, we could already tell Todd’s heart wasn’t in it,” Julian stated.

“So, half way through ‘Hey Soul Sister”, we let him go,” Johnny added.

“Five minutes after I got to the hospital, Stevvie was born.” Todd finished, “I was there to witness my child being born…I’m telling all of you boys as an old and boring dude now…one of the greatest days of your life will be the day your child comes into this world, and missing it will be the biggest regret of your life.”

“Todd always says it was the best decision of his life, and I couldn’t agree more,” Jennifer said with a smile.

“That’s amazing,” my mom gushed, wiping tears from her eyes. Jennifer, Dani and even Maya were dabbing tears from their eyes.

“Wow…” I commented, “That’s an amazing story.”

“Yes, and Todd wrote ‘Lullaby” right there at the hospital for Stevvie,” Jennifer added, “she would play it every night before she went to bed for the longest time.”

I watched in awe of Jennifer and Todd’s love for their daughter. But what confused me was Stevvie still unhappy demeanor.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.

Instead of getting an answer, she hopped out of my arms and fled to my room, causing everyone to look at me.

“She’s probably still upset at this whole thing, you guys know her,” Johnny stated.

Todd sighed, ran his hands through his hair, and nodded in agreement.

“I didn’t think she would still be getting upset of it,” Jennifer sighed.

My concern grew as the conversation bounced between the band members.

“When we told Stevvie how she was born…she wasn’t exactly excited to find out it was the reason why the band broke up,” Todd explained.

“Let me talk to her…” I interjected.

“No, I think I should Nicholas,” Jennifer replied.

“Actually, I think I can help…please?” I insisted.

Todd and Jennifer looked at each other warily and then back at me.

“I suppose...we’ve all tried…maybe you could…but Nicholas, this is a very sensitive subject for Stephanie,” he warned.