Chapter 29 Melanie
MELANIE
NOW
Josh didn’t turn off his ringer last night and the annoying sound of a phone call wakes us up promptly at eight a.m. Sunday morning.
I’m not thrilled since we were both out late last night—Josh playing at Fin’s and me closing down the bar.
I’m off today, and my only plans are to sleep in and record “Every Song” with Josh.
Josh lets out a muffled groan, reaching behind him for his phone on the nightstand.
“Who is it?” I roll over to find him squinting at his screen.
“It’s Gary.” Josh frowns, tapping his screen. “Gary, it’s eight a.m., this better be good.”
“Oh, it’s good all right, Joshy,” Gary bellows through the phone. He’s so loud, if I didn’t know better, I’d say Josh had us on speaker.
“What is it?” Josh growls. There’s a hint of agitation in his voice telling me that maybe what Gary thinks is good, isn’t actually good.
“Are you sitting down?” Gary deflects.
“I’m in bed, Gary, so yes. Spit it out.”
“You. Are. Viral.” Gary enunciates and then pauses for effect.
At this, I sit up, a sense of panic building and heat racing through my veins. Viral? How would Josh be viral? I wrack my brain. Fin’s maybe? Maybe someone filmed him there.
“Viral?” Josh sits up too, gesturing for me to hand him my phone. “Viral where?”
“TikTok, of course, where else?” Gary scoffs, like it should be obvious.
TikTok.
I hand Josh my phone. He taps his screen to put Gary on speaker and opens TikTok on mine.
He doesn’t even have to look for it. The color drains from my face and bile rises in my throat as I see it.
The first video on my For You page is me.
And Josh. Playing our song—our very personal song for the world to see.
I reach for my water bottle on my nightstand and take a long pull from it.
“Holy shit,” Josh mutters.
“Isn’t this great? When did you do this? Did you do it on purpose?” Gary is firing questions a mile a minute.
“No…” Josh shakes his head, blinking rapidly. “We didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Well, you stepped in shit that’s for sure. Five million views overnight and people are going crazy for Josh and Melanie!” Gary is downright gleeful. My pulse skips. This is too much, too fast.
“How—how did this happen?” I squeak, my voice barely above a whisper. Just as I’m getting comfortable performing publicly, we go viral. Naturally.
“Apparently, the girl who posted it is some kind of lifestyle influencer? You made her whole bachelorette weekend.” Gary claps from the other end of the line. “Well done, my friends.”
“I’m going to be sick,” I mutter, falling back on the pillow.
“Josh, tell her how great this is,” Gary urges. “You two make a great team.”
Josh glances at me, patting my leg. “It’ll be okay,” he murmurs, and I’m not sure who he is trying to reassure, me or himself. “Gary, I’ll call you later,” he says, hanging up before Gary replies.
Josh turns to me, watching me carefully. “So…I’ve never been viral before.” He cracks a grin.
I cover my face with my forearm and moan. “I have never wanted to be viral before.”
Josh lays down next to me, propping up on his elbow. “Come on, you mean to tell me my music-loving Mel wouldn’t have wanted the world to see and hear her back in 1999?” His lips twitch teasingly. “I don’t believe that for a second.”
I sigh, knowing he’s right. “I’ve just… retreated into myself the past twenty years or so. This feels foreign.” I bite my lip, exhaling as my reluctance slips away. “What are they saying?”
Josh chuckles. “That’s my girl.” He picks up my phone and starts to scroll through the comments, reading them aloud.
“Wait… Why is this actually a BOP? ”
“THE COMEBACK WE DIDN’T KNOW WE NEEDED. ”
“Not me adding this to my breakup playlist immediately.”
“This man took a two-year nap and came back with the hit of the year and a hot girlfriend? Fire duo. ” He smirks at this. “Nap?”
“Hot girlfriend? Let me see that.” I snatch the phone from Josh’s hands, my eyes skimming the comments. “There’s so many…” We scroll together, our heads tipped together as we slowly read.
“Bet he was washed-up to y’all till this hit 1M views overnight ”
“Country radio better clear a lane…HE’S BACK! ”
“2 years off and he comes back with THIS? Music industry take note.”
“He really said ‘miss me?’ and dropped a heater. ”
“It’s giving ‘took a step back and found the sound again’ and I am HERE FOR IT.”
“Y’all were calling him washed but he was just marinating. ”
Most of the comments are about Josh, rightfully so, but as I scroll through, there are a few that mention me.
Instead of sending me into a spiral, something blossoms inside me.
Something that may just convince me that this is really within reach.
When I get to the first one that mentions me, I read it aloud.
“Okay, but who is she and where has she been hiding? ” I giggle. “They put a hot emoji.”
“That’s because you’re hot,” Josh says, kissing my temple.
I make a pshh sound and keep reading. “She’s not just harmonizing, she’s healing souls. ”
“I came here for him but I’m staying for HER. ”
“SOMEONE SIGN HER ALREADY. ”
“Not the vocals aging like a fine wine. ”
“She’s the reason this man remembered how to write a love song. ”
I look over at Josh, but he isn’t looking at the phone—he’s looking at me.
“That one’s true,” he rasps.
A chill runs up my spine and I suck in a breath, telling myself I’ll only read five more comments and then I’ll forget about this silly little TikTok.
“I smell a CMA comeback performance,” Josh reads with a snort. “I doubt that.”
“Okay but this better be on Spotify by Friday or I’ll riot (respectfully).” I laugh. “That one’s funny.”
I scroll down once more. “This is giving, ‘we broke up but still did the duet at church’ energy.”
“Oh my gosh, people are wild.” Josh chuckles. “But look at this one…” he points to the comment at the bottom of the screen and reads: “This feels like sitting on a porch swing with someone you love and a secret you’re not ready to share yet.”
I feel Josh’s gaze on me, and I turn to meet it.
I lick my lips. “Well, damn.”
* * *
The only thing on our agenda today is to get “Every Song” recorded and sent over to Mark.
Josh and I spend another hour in bed proving just how well we harmonize offstage before we finally decide we’d better get to it.
“Got to give the people what they want,” he mutters with a sigh, climbing over me to get out of my large bed in this tiny bedroom.
“How about I make us a fruit smoothie and we get started?”
I yawn, covering my mouth. “Sure, sounds good.” I roll to my side. “I’ll just be another minute behind you.”
“Take your time.” Josh plants a kiss on my lips.
I want nothing more than to pull him back into bed with me, but he’s motivated, and I can’t crush that.
A moment later, he’s in the kitchen and I hear the blender.
I pick up my phone again, my thumb hovering over TikTok.
I can see where these comments provide content creators and artists alike with a dopamine hit.
I already want to see if there are more—more about me.
I have so many complicated emotions running through me.
A couple of months ago, Josh showing up here was the last thing I expected.
I never thought I’d get to see him again—to love him again.
Now, I’ll be sharing the stage with him after all these years and that’s a dream I’d let go of a long time ago.
On top of all that, there are still things I haven’t told him. Things he deserves to know. I push them out of my head, day after day, because I’m terrified of wrecking this, of tainting it. This is our second chance. What if I tell him everything and I ruin it all?
“Babe, smoothie!” Josh calls from the kitchen.
I sigh, tossing my phone aside. If I keep looking at the TikTok comments, I’ll get my hopes up. And the higher up they go, the less likely I am to tell Josh the truth.
I throw the covers off me and slip into some pants. Josh and I have taken to sleeping in nothing—or next to nothing. Another reminder of how close we’re becoming.
I head to the bathroom to freshen up and brush my teeth, and by the time I come out, Josh has set our smoothies on the table and is working to set up some recording equipment.
“This will be pretty grassroots,” he says, without looking up from his MacBook.
“I’ve got some mics and GarageBand. And some very basic software.
But since it’s quiet here, I think we’ll be okay to at least get something down for Mark and the guys at SoundShift.
” He clicks something on his screen and then looks up at me. “You okay?”
I smile, this time not bothering to push my hope aside. Josh is excited. He’s excited about going viral, he’s excited about his blossoming career, he’s excited about making music again—maybe he’s even excited about me.
“I’m good,” I say, taking a sip of my smoothie. “So good.”
Josh moves to me then, pulling me close. “The TikTok thing didn’t freak you out?” His voice is soft, lips hovering just over mine.
“Surprisingly, no.” I shake my head. “I think I’m really ready to do this with you.”
“Woo!” Josh cheers, pulling back to look at me, as if checking my face for seriousness. “It’s about damn time!”
We spend the entire morning recording—not because we couldn’t get it right the first time, but because we want it to be perfect.
Finally, after about seven tries, Josh hits the play back button and our voices fill my apartment.
Crisp and clear, hauntingly beautiful as they meld together in harmony.
I blink back tears when the song finishes and when I look at Josh, an unidentifiable emotion is clouding his expression too.
“I think we did it,” he says, reaching for my hand.
“I think so too.” I lick my lips. “It’s beautiful.”