Happy Endings Are for Optimists

I wasn’t even moving. I was standing there, at the back of the crowd, looking all the way to the stage to see that unforgettable figure prancing his way around the stage.

“Why is..” I tried to speak, but I was at a loss for words.

Cam finally just picked me up and carried me to the tent, which was, unfortunately, settled only a few away from that stage.

When he finally put me down, I had sorted my thoughts.

“Why the FUCK didn’t you tell me that they were going to be here?!” I yelled at Cam. He flinched, but stayed looking at the ground.

“Because I knew you wouldn’t come” He mumbled, looking like a child that had been scolded.

“Hell no I wouldn’t have!” I yelled again. I paced around the tent for a few moments before sitting in a chair.

“It’s okay, I promise. He won’t even see you hardly, and if he does, one of the four of us will be with you. He won’t hurt you” Cam promised me.

I looked at him again, a little more hurt than angry. “You still didn’t tell me..” I said. He hugged me and said he was sorry.

I took a deep breath before smiling. “It’s alright. I have you here, so nothing will happen.”

He agreed before standing and showing me how things work around the tent. He told me that during their sets, one of the crew members will take over so I can come see it. I was really happy about that.

Then Cam pulled out his phone and cursed to himself. “Actually our set is about to go on. I should be going to sound check now” He spoke before dialing a number and telling whoever it was to come to the tent.

A few minutes later, a guy showed up as we left, heading back to the stage Oli had been on.

“Wait, you play on that stage too?” I asked. He nodded, but kept pulling me with him.

He came up behind the stage and flashed out passes to the guards and continued up. Jamie, Stephen, and Mason were already there, with Mark over talking to someone else.

“Well finally!” Mason all but yelled. I hardly noticed though, since I could still hear Oli’s band playing.

I finally heard him say good bye as Matt, Vegan, Jona, and Lee came off the stage. None of them except for Jona noticed me. His eyes widened and he stared at me, but then he nodded and walked away with them.

Jona was always the only one on my side. Since he was straight edge and never did drugs, and was the only one that noticed what Oli did, he understood. He was probably the only one who wasn’t shocked about me running away.

Then Oli walked off, and I tried to quickly turn so he wouldn’t see me, but I didn’t manage it.

“Kyle?” I heard him say, but turned as he was being ushered away by guards, Jona standing close by. He looked desperate to get back to me, but I just turned my back and talked to Jamie.

She gave me a look, wanting to know how I knew him, but I just stayed quiet.

I looked out in front of the stage and saw just as many people standing there for Cameron and them.

Finally, they headed out. Mason walked to the drums, already wearing no shirt. Jamie was holding a guitar, and Stephen had a bass. Cameron went on last, also holding a guitar. He stood in front of the mic, speaking more animated than ever had before.

“Goooood afternoon, Texas. We are The Capulets, and this is Kaleigh” There was a deafening roar as Jamie started a riff and Cameron went into singing.

I never actually knew he could sing, so this was surprising.

They played a few more songs before I saw Cameron turn and look at me a bit.

“So, we have someone new working Merch for this year’s Warped Tour. She’s my best friend Kyle, come out and say hi, Kyle” He spoke turning to me.

I turned red before walking out to stand next to him. There were wolf whistles, which made me laugh.

“Hey! None of that, she’s mine” Jamie spoke from another mic. There were more whistles then.

“Make sure to go see this pretty lady at the tent after, you got that?” There were more cheers and I headed off the stage.

“This will be our last song. It’s called If Not for you and it goes a little like this” He said quietly before he started a soft guitar riff.

“I’m only here today because I chased you away. I got what I wanted, in one way or another.” He slowly sang. I felt my throat tighten as I realized what this song was about.

“I made a mistake, maybe you’ll forgive me. I wanted you to stay, but I knew you wouldn’t be. I’m sorry for my ways, maybe you’ll forgive me because if not for you, I wouldn’t be here.” His singing was strong, and everyone could tell it was filled with emotion. I looked into the crowd and saw kid crying and singing along. Then I realized I was crying myself, as was Cameron.

“I’m sorry for my ways, maybe you’ll forgive me…” He slowly trailed off, letting Jamie play the ending off the riff before the even louder roars reached my ears.

This time Cameron was the first one off, and Jamie quickly spoke into the mic, “We’re The Capulets, and we’ll see you next time Texas.”

As she spoke, Cameron all but threw his guitar to one of the tech people before throwing himself at me. I was crying, I could feel him making my shirt wet. I just held him and we stood there.

“I forgive you.”