Chapter Twenty Four Glory
We walked up to the venue and I felt my heart begin to race.
It had been all well and good while I was driving, thinking about a beautiful romantic reunion with Collin where all was explained and forgiven, but now that I had finally reached my destination I wondered what I was going to say to him and if he would even want to see me at all.
“Hey,” Piper said, interrupting my thoughts, “after you confess your love to Collin and make out in front of hundreds of cheering fans, can I meet the band?”
I snickered. “I highly doubt it’s going to happen like that. But if everything goes well, then sure, I don’t see why not. Why?”
“Well, Collin is clearly unavailable, but the drummer is pretty cute. I’d really like to meet him.”
“Okay, I’ll just make sure to let him know that he’s your second choice.”
Piper shoved me playfully, but by this time we’d reached the doors and I was in no mood for joking around anymore.
We scanned our tickets and went into the theater, which was a lot bigger than I had expected.
There were probably 700 people in there.
We were a little late because I had had to take care of some things at work before I left, and they were in the middle of playing some song about running in the rain.
I looked up at Collin and I felt warmth spread throughout my entire body, which was a completely different sensation from the last time I had seen him. What a difference one letter makes, I thought. They finished the song to loud cheers, and I heard several people call out: “play Glorious Mess!”
The band members shared uncomfortable looks, and then Collin spoke.
“We’re not going to play Glorious Mess tonight,” he announced.
There were numerous shouts of dismay from the crowd.
“I’ve recently realized that song is insensitive, and we’re reworking it.
But, we do have a new song that we’re going to play right now.
It’s about...” his voice started to shake, so he cleared his throat and blew out a breath.
“It’s about a girl that I started writing letters to when I was in fourth grade.
We wrote to each other for years, and I fell in love with her.
Two weeks ago, I finally met that girl, and she was amazing.
But I made a huge mistake, and I’m afraid I’ve lost her forever. ”
A sympathetic chorus of “aw” resounded through the theater, and a few girls shouted: “We love you Collin!” Which made me feel a twinge of jealousy.
“Anyway,” Collin continued, “I wrote this song for her, hoping that maybe some day she’ll hear it and forgive me.”
I heard Piper sniffing next to me, and I glanced sideways at her.
“It’s just so sweet!” She exclaimed. “How are you not crying?”
I looked back at her hopelessly. Honestly, I didn’t know what to feel. I was stunned that he was being so candid, so vulnerable, and that he was saying and doing all of these things for me.
The band started the new song, and I kept my eyes glued to Collin, hanging on every word that he was singing.
Your words were all I needed
To make me feel whole
With your words, you have succeeded
In capturing my heart and soul
But all the letters in the world wouldn’t be enough
To convince you you have all of my love
Glory, you make me wanna sing hallelujah!
Glory, just ask for anything, I’ll give it to ya
Glory, you don’t know what you’re doing to me, do ya?
Glory, you make me wanna sing hallelujah!
(*Listen to this song here.)
I couldn’t concentrate on the rest of the song because I was so overwhelmed. It was surprisingly upbeat and catchy, but I could tell that Collin was struggling through it. When they finished, he had to wipe away tears from his eyes. I reached up to my face and discovered that I was crying too.
Piper grabbed my arm. “Would you just go up there and put the poor guy out of his misery already?”
I didn’t need her to tell me twice. I started making my way to the stage, not even knowing how I was going to get up there.
“Collin!” I yelled. “Collin!” A security guard stopped me, but I kept shouting his name, along with about a dozen other girls around me. “Collin! It’s me! It’s Glory!” I shouted frantically.
Just as the security guard was starting to restrain me, Collin looked down and our eyes met.
“Glory?” He mouthed with a shocked expression. Then he addressed the security guard. “Please, let her up here.”
The guard helped me through the melee and Collin set down his guitar and reached down to help me climb onto the stage.
And then I was facing him and he was looking at me expectantly, a bewildered smile stretching across his face.
The crowd grew quiet, probably from trying to figure out what was going on.
“What are you doing here?” He asked.
Words failed me. I tried to form a coherent sentence, but my mind was blank. I realized there was really only one appropriate thing to do in this situation.
I grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled him to me, and kissed him.
He stiffened in surprise at first, but then he responded eagerly, lifting me off the ground while I wrapped my legs around him.
I got lost in the feel of him, in the way his lips moved across mine.
I was so consumed by his nearness that I almost didn’t hear the audience cheering wildly.
Collin set me down slowly, and I reluctantly pulled away.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Glory Parker!” Announced the drummer.
The crown erupted into another round of cheering, and Collin turned to the keyboardist.
“Can I please talk to her really quick?” He asked.
The keyboardist looked slightly annoyed, but he smiled. “You have three minutes.” Then he spoke into the microphone. “We’re going to take a quick break!”
Collin took my hand and pulled me offstage. “Glory, I am so glad that you’re here, and I’m especially glad that you kissed me,” he added with a sly grin. “I think I could kiss you for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. But I have some things to explain...”
I stopped him. “No, I need to explain,” I said. “I finally got your last letter.”
His eyes widened. “What? What do you mean?”
I pulled the letter from my pocket. “Back when you sent this, I had just moved out of that apartment. My roommate’s cousin found it and gave it to me yesterday.”
Collin clapped his hand to his forehead. “Glory, I am so sorry! I didn’t even think of that! I should have sent it earlier! I didn’t know...”
“Please stop apologizing!” I exclaimed, squeezing his painfully sexy arms. “Now I know why you didn’t tell me who you were. I probably would have done the same thing in that situation.”
“Still, I shouldn’t have lied...”
“Collin! You came and found me! You did what I was never brave or optimistic enough to do! I can definitely forgive you for being dishonest because you’ve shown me that you never gave up on me. Collin Finlay, I love you.”
His smile was so big and his eyes were so bright that I was afraid he was going to explode with joy. He gathered me up in his arms and kissed me again.
“Collin, I hate to break this up, but we’ve really got to get back out there.”
I looked over and saw the rest of the band watching us. The drummer stepped forward and shook my hand.
“Glory Parker, I am so happy to finally meet you! I’ve been hearing about you for years!”
Collin ducked his head in embarrassment. “Ah, Glory, this is Logan, my roommate from college.
I gasped. “Logan? I remember you!”
Logan put his hand over his heart. “He wrote about me? I am so touched. I feel like I’m famous or something.”
I heard a noise and turned to see Piper walking toward us.
“Piper! How did you get up here?”
She smiled. “I just told that security guard I was with you and he helped me right up.” She turned to the band. “You guys are amazing! I am such a huge fan!” She gushed.
Logan cleared his throat. “Um, Glory Parker, are you going to introduce us to your very attractive friend?”
I could practically see Piper squirming with delight. “Of course!” I exclaimed. “This is my amazing roommate, Piper Lee, and she was just telling me today how hot she thinks this band’s drummer is.”
Piper pinched me, but Logan’s face lit up. “We’ll have to talk more about that after the show,” he said with a wink.
“Okay, kids, all this love and flirting is making me feel like I’m in middle school,” the keyboardist complained. “Let’s go finish the show already!”
“I’ll be right out,” Collin promised as the rest of the band headed back to the stage.
“Don’t worry,” the bass player said to Collin as he passed,” I’ll do some improvising. It’ll buy you at least another couple minutes, and it’ll make Jeremy so mad!” He added gleefully.
Collin turned back to me and pulled me close. “In case it wasn’t glaringly obvious, I love you too, Glory Parker.”
I laughed. “I figured, but it’s always nice to hear.”
“So, what now? Do you want to join us for the rest of the tour?” He asked hopefully.
I put my arms around him. “I can spend the next few days with you, but then I have to get back to work in Phoenix.”
Collin nodded. “Okay, then after that I will call you every day and text you multiple times a day... or, I could always write you letters,” he said with a mischievous grin.
I gave him a quick kiss, wondering if I would ever get my lady parts to shut up now that they had been fully awakened. “I think maybe it’s time for us to graduate to e-mail,” I joked.
He lifted me off my feet again and kissed me until I couldn’t think straight. At that moment I was extremely grateful that there hadn’t been enough girls in Collin Finlay’s fourth grade class.