6. Bailey
bailey
. . .
The tour had taken on a life of its own.
Venues are selling out faster than projected.
Cities that were meant to be one-night stops are asking for second dates.
The buzz feels different this time, not just hype, but momentum.
Like people are finally hearing me the way I’ve always wanted them to.
It should feel like winning. Instead, it feels like standing on top of a moving train, trying not to lose my balance.
I sit with my team in a quiet conference room off the venue, tea gone cold in front of me, my fingers drumming against the table while Rachel flips through schedules and numbers.
“This tour has grown so much, we need to lock an opening act,” she says. “If we’re adding dates, we can’t wait much longer. What we had planned isn’t going to cut it anymore.”
“I know,” I say. “Just... don’t offer it to anyone yet.”
Rachel looks up, a look on her face that I don't want to see. “Bailey...”
“Please,” I say softly. “Just give me a day.”
She studies my face, then nods. “Okay. One day.”
I don’t tell her why, she already knows.
I wait until later, until the venue is quiet and the adrenaline from the show has faded.
Luke is in the green room, tuning his guitar absently, his band scattered around the space.
Noah looks up when I step inside, something like hope flickering across his face.
They played in the city at a festival last night and came to watch my show before we headed to our next stop.
Luke smiles when he sees me. “Hey, Sunshine,” he says. “You killed it tonight.”
I sit beside him on the couch, close enough that our knees touch. “Can we talk?”
His smile dims, just slightly. “Sure.”
I take a breath and go for it, “This tour is expanding,” I say. “More dates and potentially bigger spaces.”
“I figured,” he says. “People are losing their minds out there.”
I nod. “We need an opening act.”
He waits and I see his band members perk up around us.
“I asked my team to hold off,” I continued. “Because I wanted to talk to you first.”
His brow furrows. “Me?”
“You and the band.”
Silence stretches between us, thick with possibility.
“They are letting me decide,” I say quickly, before doubt can creep in. “I think my audience would love you guys. We could play some of our old duets. And...” I stop myself, force my voice steady. “We’d be together.”
Luke leans back, arms crossing over his chest.
“We’d travel together,” I go on. “It would be like how we always envisioned it. We could write again, play in each other's sets... Finish something side by side instead of passing each other in cities like strangers.”
His jaw tightens. "You get to decide? So that's the only reason it would be me?"
“This is a partnership. This is what we always talked about.” I plead.
He lets out a short laugh, sharp and humourless. “Is that what this is?”
I blink, feeling the weight of everyone's eyes on me. “What do you mean?”
“Are you offering to drag me along?” he asks. “Let everyone think I only got here because of you?”
“That’s not... Luke, no one would think that.”
He stands, pacing now. “Are you kidding me? That’s exactly what they’d think.”
My hands shake in my lap. I want to reach for him. I want him to comfort me, but he is the one causing this discomfort.
“That’s your pride talking,” I say quietly.
His head snaps up. “And that’s you not understanding what I’m trying to do.”
“I understand perfectly,” I say, standing too.
My voice shakes despite my effort. I can feel Noah's eyes on me, like he wants to jump in and defend me to his little brother. But he can't help me with this. “You want to make it on your own. You’ve made that very clear. But what I don’t understand is why that has to mean losing us.”
He stops pacing, looks at me like I’ve said something unforgivable.
“I’m working on my own thing,” he says. “I don’t need your charity.”
The word hits me like a slap.
“Charity?” I repeat. “Luke, this isn’t charity. This is me asking my husband to stand beside me. Be with me, instead of constantly pushing me away.”
“You want me opening for you,” he snaps. “Every night. Under your name. Your lights. Your crowd.”
“Why is that so bad?” I ask. “You headline your own tour someday? Great. I’ll be there too.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t get it.”
“Then explain it to me,” I say, my chest burning. “Because from where I’m standing, this fixes everything.”
He scoffs. “Fixes it for you.”
“For us,” I insist.
Noah stands, "Luke..."
But I hold my hand up as I step closer to Luke, my voice dropping, raw now. “We could be together. We could finish the tour. Maybe we’d finally have enough to go home.”
The words hang between us. The dream, spoken out loud. For a split second, I see it hit him... the orchard, the land, the promise we made under that ink-black sky, me and him forever.
A memory flashes through me.
Luke’s voice, younger, certain: Nothing will ever be more important than you. Not music. Not money. Not fame. It's me and you forever Sunshine.
The boy who said that feels very far away.
“I can’t,” he says finally. “I won’t.”
Something inside me fractures.
“Why can't you choose us?” I croak. “Why is the idea of touring with me so horrible to you?”
“I’m choosing myself,” he fires back.
“And what am I supposed to do?” I ask. “Keep waiting?”
He doesn’t answer, so I press on, “I’m offering you everything you say you’re working toward,” I whisper. “Time. Exposure. Stability. Us.”
He looks away.
“I don’t need you to save me,” he says.
I stare at him, heart breaking in slow motion.
“I never tried to,” I say. “I just wanted to love you, for you to love me enough not to break every promise you ever made me.”
The silence that follows is devastating.
“I’m not opening for you,” he says again, harder this time. “End of discussion.”
I nod because there’s nothing else to do.
I can't look at Noah or any of the other band members.
So I keep my eyes on the floor and walk away without another word.
The door closes behind me, and it takes everything in me to stay upright, to keep walking when it feels like my heart is in shreds on the floor of my green room with the boy who promised me forever but lied.
I flinch when I hear the first crash, when I hear the first shout. I keep walking until I am in my waiting car with Rachel at my side, telling her she can let the label pick an opening act.
My phone won't stop buzzing, but I can’t look at it. Rachel takes it from my trembling hand and silences it, promising to let me know if anything requires my attention.
I close my eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted and hoping my dreams bring me back to a time when I believed Luke and I could withstand anything.