All eyes were on us. Even the owner had stopped restocking drinks and was now leaning against the bar, listening.

  Nora stared, frozen, her phone still raised in her hand, pointed at us. “This was…” She looked at Drake and Raul. “Where did that come from?” A tear rolled down her cheek. “Damn. I’ve got goosebumps all over. If you weren’t gay and in a relationship, I’d be throwing my underwear onstage right now.”

  Drake and Raul burst out laughing, and it quickly spread throughout the room.

  There was no way we weren’t going to play it after a reaction like this.

  The rest of the afternoon was a race. We had dinner three hours early so it wouldn’t interfere with the concert. We briefly met with my parents and sister, who had also flown in the day before, but had to limit it to five minutes of small talk. Even though they knew Alex and I wouldn’t have much time to spend with them, they still wanted to be there to support us.

  By seven, the venue was filling up more and more until they eventually couldn’t let anyone else in. Nora’s efforts had definitely paid off.

  In the last hour before the concert, Alex and I retreated to a small backstage room reserved for musicians. It felt strange to be called that again, but the strangest thing was that, this time, I didn’t feel any different than I had a week ago. I was still Sebastian, a hospitality major waiting for my final exam results, about to present a project I had worked on with my boyfriend. I wasn’t doing this to become famous. I was doing it because it was fun—and I was excited as hell.

  The backstage room had a couch, two armchairs, and a small fridge stocked with free nonalcoholic drinks, but most of the space was taken up by around fifty crates of bottles and kegs for the bar. A sign in bold letters warned us not to touch them.

  At first, Nora stayed with us to take some more photos, but she left about half an hour before we were scheduled to start, which gave us a final moment to breathe.

  As soon as the door closed behind her, I put my arm around Alex. “Man, I couldn’t wait to get a few minutes alone with you.” I leaned in to kiss him. My chest had been fluttering more than I would’ve liked for the past hour, but feeling his warmth helped keep me from freaking out.

  Alex parted his lips, letting me in. His left hand found my chest and gripped my shirt. Leaning back into the cushions, he pulled me onto his lap.

  I chuckled. “As much as I want to, we shouldn’t… get too carried away here.”

  “That’s not my goal right now,” he whispered, pulling me in for another kiss.

  My left hand sought balance on his shoulders, and when I touched him, I finally noticed the tremor in his body. It came in short bursts as if he was freezing, but it was obvious why his body was reacting that way.

  “Are you excited?” I asked.

  “Terrified.”

  “Same.” My fingers brushed over his chin. “But you know we’ll give them everything.”

  “I don’t care about them. I don’t want to disappoint you.”

  “Alex,” I said, sitting up. “I love you. That won’t change no matter what happens out there. I’ll be right there with you. Even if we have to stop the concert halfway through if things go south.”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  “But if it did, I wouldn’t care. If you’re not comfortable, then this will be the last concert we ever play. I want you to be happy.”

  He hugged me closer. “Same here.”

  After that, we held each other, not saying or doing anything else. It was just us, together, existing. Alex’s breaths were quick at first, but they slowed the longer we sat.

  Eventually, a knock on the door made us both look up. It squeaked open, and Nora poked her head through the gap, pausing when she saw me sitting on Alex’s lap. “It’s time.”

  Excitement swept over me, making me grin. I turned to Alex and pressed one last peck to his lips. “Let’s knock them off their feet.”

  He grinned back, his eyes sweeping over my face, and after taking me in for a few seconds, he said in the calmest voice, “We will.”

  Throughout the concert, I was in a trancelike state—both far away in a place where only our music existed, and hyper-present, noticing everything that happened. I was aware of every rhythmic tap of a foot, every pair of eyes on us, and every burst of applause after we finished a song.

  We played through our set as if we had done it a million times. For the first three songs, the audience listened with interest, but they remained somewhat reserved. From my previous attempts at a music career, I knew a set lived or died by the fourth song. That was the make-or-break moment to get people on their feet, especially with an audience that didn’t know our music well yet. We put the track that started our whole journey in that spot, and just as it had for me over six months ago, it got them moving.

  Besides singing, Alex only used his mic at the end to thank the audience. Although he stayed mostly in the background, we kept stealing glances, making sure we both knew we were in this together. The applause after each song was encouraging, and grew more intense the further we went.

  Before we knew it, it was over.

  After our tenth song—the official end of our setlist—the cheers were so loud that I worried about Alex for a moment. Just as I turned my head to check on him, he slung his arm around my shoulders and pulled us into a bow. Sweat streamed down his neck, but he was smiling wider than I had ever seen. We bowed twice more. The cheers only died down when I took the opportunity to ask the audience to donate to help bring our music to all the apps. Nora held out a metal bucket in front of the stage, and people fumbled bills out of their pockets. As she moved through the crowd, calls for an encore quickly filled the room.

  I brought my mouth to Alex’s ear so he could hear me over the roar of the crowd. “You still think we should play our newest song?”

  “They won’t know what hit ‘em,” he said with a wink, then turned back to his keyboard.

  “Okay, okay,” I said into the microphone. “We have one more, but you have to be nice. This one is special. We only wrote it this morning.” I glanced over my shoulder at Alex. He nodded, and then the click in my ear kicked in.

  As I sang my own lyrics, the room went silent. Usually, an amped-up audience stays at least somewhat vocal, especially this late in the set. But for a moment, it was just my voice—until Alex’s orchestra joined me with full force.

  The audience stayed mostly quiet as our song washed over them, but as soon as it ended, they erupted again, twice as loud as before. The applause went on so long that we could still hear it as we made our way offstage.

  The moment we were out of sight, I couldn’t have cared less about any of it. Alex’s arms were instantly around me, his mouth all over my face. “This was insane,” he said in between kisses. “I want to do that again. That was so much fun.”

  I couldn’t have agreed more. With him, everything was fun. As successful as this had been, I didn’t care if we ever made it big. As long as he was there with me, I was happy.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  THE SONG OF US

  ALEX

  For years, the best part of spring for me was watching the cherry tree behind the Draper house bloom. Like so many others, I loved watching the light pink petals sway in the wind and eventually drift to the ground. What I loved most about it, though, was that the tree reminded me that everything changes. I wasn’t here to see it this year—because Sebastian and I had been so busy that the family moved the reunion from mid-February to the end of March so we could attend—but I knew that just four weeks ago, the tree had still been bare and dormant. Without any leaves, it was nothing but a skeleton, barely hinting at the beauty it would one day reveal.

  It was just like me.

  The first time I came to Seastone, I was freezing. It was already April, but it was still snowing. “Nothing too uncommon in the mountains,” Dany told me back then, but it felt unnatural. It was as if the cold I felt inside me after losing all ties to my family was so strong that nature had no choice but to mirror it.

  Dark thoughts haunted me back then. Everything around me seemed bleak, as if I were close to the end and would never see a good day again. But eventually spring came—and with it the warmth. The tree blossomed, and so did I.

  The room that both Sebastian and I once called home (albeit at different times) looked as it always had. The bed, the walk-in closet, and the nightstand were all still there. Only my instruments were missing. Still, the room felt empty somehow, stripped of the energy it once held.

  Perhaps this was how Sebastian felt when he came back after three years and found me occupying his old space.

  I poked my head out the window and took in the majestic, pink glow of the cherry tree in the spring sunlight. A pair of hands snuck around my hips, soon followed by a head seeking comfort between my shoulder blades.

  “I’m already so tired,” Seb groaned, the vibration of his voice rippling through my body. He clung to me as if I were a battery he could recharge from. “All these people. All these questions. It’s too much.”

  “That’s why I came up here.”

  I didn’t mind talking to any of the Drapers, but when we arrived—and thanks to Sebastian finding every possible way to be late, we were the last to join—there were so many conversations happening at the same time that my ears got overwhelmed, and I had no choice but to step away.

  “Because you’re the smart one.”

  “Says the person with a bachelor’s degree to the college dropout.”

  “It’s not like you dropped out because you were a bad student.”

  “True. But I wasn’t exactly a great student, either. If I could skip class to make music, I would.”

  My time in college felt like a distant memory, almost as if it hadn’t really happened, but belonged to another life I had lived in a dream. Back then, I had so many visions of what my future might look like, but I never would’ve guessed it would turn out like this. Things were pretty damn good, despite the sad reality that I still hadn’t heard from my mom. Around Christmas, I had tried to reach out to her again. So much had changed and happened that I wanted to share it with her. Sebastian had encouraged me to try, and he had been there with me when the message I wrote was read but left unanswered.

  “Let’s not talk about that,” I said, realizing how far this small thought had pulled me back down the rabbit hole. I had a new family now, one that loved me more than I could have ever wished for.

  Below us, the door connecting the kitchen to the backyard opened. Dany, Laura, Mila, Darcy, and several other relatives stepped outside. They were still chatting and laughing as they made their way past the cherry tree toward the old barn, now a party room. Dany reached the glass door first and turned to hold it open for the others, but then he spotted us. He raised his arm, motioning for us to join them. Laura paused beside him and started waving too the moment she saw us. I waved back, then pulled my head inside and closed the window.

  Sebastian let out a disgruntled sigh. “I don’t want to go down there again.” When I turned around, he stayed close, not letting go of our embrace. “Can’t we hide up here and make out?”

  “You know, I’d love that, but⁠—”

  “No. If you love it, then there’s no ‘but.’ Becoming famous can’t just mean working all the time. There has to be sex involved. That’s what the movies and books have always promised.” He stood straighter, hovering his mouth in front of mine. “Wouldn’t you agree that a few minutes to ourselves wouldn’t hurt?” His breath tickled my lips as he leaned closer, stopping just short, waiting for me to close the distance.

  The thought of doing it with him sent a thrill through me. Even though we were always together, we rarely had time alone, and when we did, we were usually too exhausted for anything more.

  “How about a preview now, and after dinner, we sneak away?” I suggested. “Just like in the good old days.”

  “Sorry, but a preview won’t cut it.” He closed the distance and kissed me with a newfound energy. His right hand slid to the back of my neck as he opened his mouth and invited me in. His left hand rushed to my bulge, kneading my dick through the fabric of my jeans.

  His fingers were practiced enough by now to unzip my jeans with just one hand. He pulled the zipper down, felt up my dick through my briefs, then tugged them down, too. “I want your cum. Now. I haven’t tasted it in too long.”

  “It’s been two days.”

  “Too long.” He squatted down, opened his mouth, licked along my shaft, and wrapped his lips around my glans. His right hand slid under my shirt and fondled my pecs. His thumb and index finger searched for my left nipple, and when they found it, they pinched it just right, sending little jolts through my chest.

  His head bobbed up and down, his tongue working my shaft as he made sure the tip of my dick brushed the back of his throat. I brought my hands to his head and ran them through his hair, as I surrendered to the sensation. By now, he had as much practice with my dick as with his guitar and knew exactly what strings to pull to make me give in to his wishes.

  I rested my head against the wall behind me, closed my eyes, and let out a moan. Getting head from Sebastian was something we both deeply enjoyed. While he still loved surrendering his ass to me, there were times when he wanted nothing more than to look up from between my legs and watch my body shake under his control. He had admitted as much back when we were long-distance, and ever since then, I had been more than happy to play along.

  “You like that, don’t you?” I whispered, brushing my fingers over his cheek.

  “Mhm,” he replied, his sparkling eyes meeting mine. He pulled his head back and replaced his tongue with his right hand. Instead of jerking me off, he slapped my dick against his face. “This just… hits the spot.”

  “Not just for you.” I reached for my cock, ready to stroke it and give him the sweet release he craved, but he smacked my hand away.

  “Nuh-uh. That’s my job.”

  He wrapped his lips around me again and sucked my dick as if it were the only thing he wanted in the world. The warmth of his mouth, the softness of his tongue—everything worked together to push me closer to the point of no return. After a few minutes, I was getting close, but I couldn’t quite get there. He switched to jerking me off and licked my balls. That made my legs shake, but it still wasn’t enough—until his tongue moved lower, sliding beneath my balls, all the way to my taint.

  That unexpected shift tipped me over the edge. Everything rushed through my body, and I barely managed to gasp, “Oh, fuck I’m cumming,” before the first spurt shot out.

  Sebastian quickly wrapped his lips around my dick, catching everything from the first to the last drop. Four spurts landed right in his mouth. My knees buckled, and I arched my back, holding his head as I unloaded. I panted. Cumming was one thing, cumming inside the guy that I loved was on a totally different level. We held this position while I caught my breath until he finally pulled his head back and swallowed it all. He pressed his thumb against my shaft and dragged it toward the head, coaxing out one last drop of cum.

  “There’s always more,” he grinned, licking it up and swallowing it, too. “This was a nice preview.”

  “I thought a preview wouldn’t suffice.”

  “Let’s just say that after getting a first taste, I’m hooked.” He pushed himself to his feet and walked to the door. While I stayed where I was, still leaning against the wall, my hard dick hanging out of my pants as I caught my breath, he wrapped his hand around the knob, then turned when he noticed I wasn’t right behind him. His eyes roamed up and down my body. “Well, that’s a sight to behold.”

  “It won’t be the last time you get to see it,” I said, finally finding the energy to push myself off the wall.

  “Tonight?”

  “And every night until we die.”

  As soon as we walked into the party room, all eyes were on us again. The room was as festively decorated as last year, except that instead of white candles, Laura had chosen blue ones.

  Sebastian’s great-aunt Darcy pushed her way through the crowd, trying to reach us before anyone else.

  “If it isn’t Devin and his partner in crime!” she exclaimed, loudly enough to make everyone else scatter. No one dared come between Darcy and whomever she wanted to talk to. “I’ve been dying to get in touch with you for months now.” She pinched Sebastian’s arm. “I wanted to ask when I’d finally get a signed copy of your album, Devin. It’s not like someone in the family becomes famous every day.”

  I glanced at him. She had used his first name twice now, yet he was still smiling at her. He leaned in, lowering his voice. “You have to keep that to yourself… we brought copies for everyone. But Mom asked us not to hand them out until later.”

  Her eyes lit up. Her mouth tightened so much that her smile was nearly invisible. “Oh, I won’t.” She pressed her hand to her chest. “Scout’s honor.”

  Sebastian winked at me, probably thinking the same thing as I was: everyone would know within fifteen minutes.

  I understood why she was so excited, though. In the last six months, things had moved so quickly that I could barely keep up.

  After our concert, Drake, the sound engineer, came up to us. He said he had really enjoyed the concert and told us he had connections to a studio in L.A., where he was interning. He was looking for musicians who would let him hone his skills, as he had recently earned a degree in sound engineering and needed references to find better jobs than working as “the sound guy” at a bar. More importantly—and he mentioned this twice—he genuinely liked our music. We kept talking, and, as it turned out, the studio where he interned was the same one we had booked with funds from the crowdfunding campaign.

  The following week, we met him again at the studio. It was small and right next to a graveyard, but affordable and well-equipped enough to get the job done. We actually ended up recording with Drake under his mentor’s supervision, and he did a great job.