Chapter 35 Miles
It’s been a week since the fire, and a lot has happened.
The police reviewed the security footage, and of course that fucking idiot was on there.
He didn’t even try to hide his face or the fact he was setting my girl’s place on fire.
A part of me wonders if he isn’t a little unhinged or something because it’s almost like he wanted to get caught, or at least let us know it was him.
Either way, he’s now been arrested and charged with arson. The cops said they might even go after him for attempted murder, which is fucking huge. It also means neither Daze nor I will be seeing Isaac again for a very long time.
Of course, with this much evidence against him, not only is he going to jail, but the insurance company came through quickly. This means Daisy’s opening date only has to be pushed back a week or so, especially if my plan for today works out.
“You ready?” I ask, walking into the kitchen where she stands at the island, going over the list of things she wrote herself to do.
“Yeah,” she replies, nodding. “Just gotta get through this, and then it will be as good as new.”
I hook my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as I drop a kiss to the top of her head. “Better than new,” I say, dropping a kiss to her lips when she looks up at me.
“Hmmm,” she says, smiling against my mouth. “And you? Are you nervous for tonight?”
I laugh, pulling her closer as she wraps her arms around my waist. “Yes and no,” I say, Daze looking up at me as she waits for me to continue. “I’m not nervous about playing again,” I tell her.
“What are you nervous about then?” she asks.
I blow out a breath, shrugging as I say, “I don’t know. The band being back together, what’s gonna happen, if we can really do this.”
“And us?” Daze asks with a smirk, because she knows what I’m really trying to say.
“Yeah,” I admit, exhaling. “Of course, I worry about what this is going to do to us,” I tell her. “It’s hard, babe. The band tore us apart, and that nearly killed me. I don’t want it to happen again.”
“It won’t,” she says with certainty. “We’re good, Miles. Really good. Nothing’s going to come between us. Not this time and not ever, okay?”
I tilt my head, a smile on my face as I take in her words.
“What?” she asks with a laugh.
“I like this version of you,” I say.
“Well, good, because you’re kinda stuck with me, Miles Olsen. I hope you’re okay with that.”
Chuckling, I close the distance, kissing her deeply. “Fuck yeah I am,” I murmur, my lips brushing against hers. “Now how about we go tackle some of this list before tonight?”
Daisy smiles, kissing me once more before we head outside to go over to her shop. I hear her gasp of surprise as we cross the road and she sees all of our friends working on the mess around her shop.
“Oh my god, what are you guys doing?” she asks, a hand over her mouth.
Kai, who is pulling down the ruined garland, laughs as he says, “Daze, seriously? What does it look like we’re doing?”
I glance down to see her eyes filled with tears as she takes in the scene. I know she was worried about the delay to her opening date, but with everyone chipping in to help, it’s only going to push things back by a week.
“You okay, babe?” I ask.
She turns to look up at me. “You organized this, didn’t you?”
Chuckling, I shrug. “I mean maybe, sorta. Everybody wants to help,” I tell her, just as Eli walks over.
“So, good news, Daze. Called in a favor through someone at the station. Dude took a look at the structure this morning and it’s definitely all good,” he says, handing Daisy a sheet of paper.
“Means it’s all just cosmetic stuff, which I think we should be able to knock out in a couple of days,” he adds, grinning.
“Thank you, Eli,” Daisy says, throwing her arms around him.
Eli shoots me a grin as he wraps his arms around her, lifting her off the ground briefly. I roll my eyes at him, even though I know he’s just being a smartass.
“So, we good to start repainting then?” I ask when he puts Daisy back down, leaving his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
“Yep, sure are,” he says, laughing when I pull Daisy toward me. “You wanna get started?”
We all spend the better part of the day doing what we can to turn Daisy’s shop back to what it was a week ago.
Eli and Owen both work on replacing the back door that got damaged when they were trying to put the fire out, while Nate, Kai, Flynn and I all get to work painting.
The girls are inside working on the rest of the shop, Sloane painting Daisy a temporary sign until her reordered one arrives.
By the time the sun is getting low in the sky, Kai wanders over to where I am rinsing my brush. “Nearly time, isn’t it?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I say with a nod.
“Go take a shower, dude, we’ve got this,” he says, giving me a nudge. “And take your girl with you.”
With a laugh, I head inside to grab Daisy, the two of us going home to shower and get ready. When I’m dressed, I grab my guitar and Daisy’s hand as I say, “Ready?”
“Yep,” she says with a smile.
Lisa’s bar is packed by the time we get there, every chair and spare inch of space seemingly filled with people who want to see us play again.
“Oh my god, this is so good,” Daisy says, clapping her hands together.
Chuckling, I drop a kiss to the top of her head. “I gotta go set up. You good here?” I ask.
She nods, smiling as she presses up to kiss me. “You’ve got this, Miles. I can’t wait to see you guys play again.”
I lean in, my mouth by her ear as I whisper, “I know, it’s always turned you on, hasn’t it?” Pulling back, I laugh at the look on her face, giving her a wink before I head over to the stage, where the others are already setting up their gear.
“Hey,” I say, stepping up. “You guys good?”
“Yep,” Dean replies as he moves an amp into position. “How’d it go today?” he asks, tipping his chin to where Daisy stands by the bar, Nate, Sage, Alana and Flynn now with her.
“Yeah, all good. Got a lot of stuff done,” I say as Owen, Sloane, Kai and Eli walk in.
“That’s awesome, man,” Dean says, clapping me on the shoulder.
“We ready for this?” Sutton asks, a huge grin on his face that tells me he’s more than ready.
I laugh, shaking my head as Lacey joins us, Jonah hanging by himself on the side of the stage. “I don’t know, are we?” I ask, half-joking, half-serious.
Sutton chuckles, resting his elbow on Dean’s shoulder. “I think I might actually be more nervous about tonight than I was about opening for The Provocation,” he admits.
Lacey scoffs, punching him in the stomach as she says, “Pussy.”
Sutton hooks his other arm around Lacey’s shoulders, pulling her into him. I see Jonah clock the move, but he barely reacts, even as she reaches for my hand at the same time, pulling the four of us into a tight huddle on the stage.
“I just wanna say,” Sutton starts, his smile disappearing as he gets uncharacteristically serious, “that I’m really glad we’re doing this. It fucking sucked when we broke up and well...shit man, I love you guys and I really fucking love this band.”
Lacey, Dean and I all fall silent. I look around at each of them, knowing my feelings mirror Sutton’s, just like I’m sure Lacey and Dean’s do too.
Breaking up wasn’t something any of us wanted, and even though I wish we could undo all the shit that happened, I am glad we’ve found our way back to each other.
I open my mouth to tell them that, but before I can speak, Lacey lets out another laugh as she says, “Jesus, total pussy.”
Sutton growls, pulling her close as he presses a kiss to her temple. “Whateves, Lace,” he says affectionately. “I was trying to have a moment.”
She smiles up at him, kissing him on the cheek as she says, “Love you too, Sutton. Love all of you guys,” she adds, turning to look at each of us in turn. “And I want you know that what happened wasn’t anyone’s fault. I think we probably needed it, to be honest, especially me.”
“Lace,” Dean murmurs, as I squeeze her hand in mine.
“No, shut up,” she says, hitting us all with a hard glare. “I know what you’re all thinking, and trust me, I’ve had enough...well, I just know.”
“Alright, well, now we’ve all had a moment, how about we fucking slay this joint,” Sutton says, grinning.
“Shit, yeah,” Dean adds, and we all laugh.
We finish getting our stuff set up before I finally turn back to the room, taking in all the people who have filled the bar. My group of friends have managed to get themselves a table, one I’m sure Lisa reserved specifically for them.
My grin widens when I see Mom and Dad with them, Daisy’s mom and sister also close by, everyone here to support us as we give this whole band thing another go. It’s our second chance, our do-over, and this time, there isn’t a chance in hell we’re going to fuck it up.
My eyes meet Daisy’s. She’s smiling up at me, her smile turning to a laugh when I blow her a kiss, which she quickly returns. With a wink, I turn back to my bandmates. “We good?” I ask.
The three of them all nod, Lacey twirling one of her drumsticks as she grins at me from behind her kit. With a laugh, I nod at her, our go-to signal for her to count us in, as I turn back to the microphone and get ready to play.
We open with some of our biggest songs, the ones that made us when we were first starting out. I don’t speak to the audience at all, always preferring to play a couple of songs first. And holy shit, does it feel like slipping back into something that’s incredibly familiar.
Like home, almost.
When our third song ends, I let go of the neck of my guitar, tilting it down a little as I step back up to the mic and say, “Hey, how y’all doin’ tonight?”
This earns me a loud cheer, not just because this was how I always greeted our fans when we first spoke. I see my brother Kai stick his fingers in his mouth, his whistle loud, even above the yells. Laughing, I shake my head at him before continuing.
“So, in case you didn’t know, we’re Silent Daydream and—” the rest of my words are cut off by another loud cheer, because of course, everyone here knows who we are.
This is where we first played, where we got our big break.
“Okay, okay,” I say with a laugh, trying to get them to quiet down.
“So yeah, we know it’s been a while, but if you’re okay with it, we thought we might play you a few songs tonight. ”
Another cheer erupts, this one even louder, as beside me, Sutton leans into his mic and says, “Hell yeah!”
Kai whistles again, the rest of my family and friends all clapping wildly. I can’t wipe the grin off my face. Everything about this moment is so unbelievably perfect.
“We’re gonna play you a lot of our old stuff,” I continue, knowing that’s what they want to hear. “But we might have one or two new songs too,” I add, my eyes locking with Daisy’s.
I watch as her mouth falls open, her eyes widening as she looks up at me.
I know she’s wondering if I’m talking about the song I played for her in the quietness of our bedroom.
But that’s not the song I’m talking about because that’s a song I wrote when I was trying to write through my anger and grief at everything we had lost.
And that’s not where we are anymore.
So instead, I give her a wink as I say, “This next song is a new one. A song I wrote for my girl. I think you all know who she is, right?” I add, pointing to Daze.
“Give it up for Daisy Carmichael,” I say, laughing when she blushes, covering her face with her hands.
“Her bakery opens next week, folks, and you’re definitely gonna want to go there. ”
“Damn straight,” Sutton adds. “Those red velvet cupcakes are insane, Daze!”
Laughing, I glance over at him before turning back to the audience. “They definitely are. And so are you, babe. This one’s for you.”
And then I begin to play, the words that fell from my heart onto the page only weeks ago, now falling from my mouth as I sing her this song.
You crawled into my head.
And into my heart.
Never stood a chance with you.
You were always gonna tear me apart.
But a love like ours isn’t one you can fight.
And despite all we faced, we got through the night.
I’ve always been yours, babe.
And you’ll always be mine.
Because a love like ours will last to the end of time.