Heaven Help Us

Saviours

Another week passed, very slowly.

“It’s my birthday tomorrow!” Jepha said excitedly. “I turn six!”

I smiled at him. “That’s awesome, buddy!” He gave me a hi-five.

“Will you be here?”

“Yeah, I will.”

“Good. Now more of the story!”

“Alright. Andrew left early the next morning-”

“Why?”

“You remember his tattoos for Juliet that I told you about?”

“Yeah.”

“He went to get the first one removed. It was on his hand. He knew it in his heart that he was done with her. Done with her lies, her jealousy…everything. He left the girl a note, telling her that he’d be back soon. And before he left, he cleaned up the bathroom. She texted him when he was on his way back, telling him that he didn’t have to clean up, but he told her that he wanted to. Which he did. When he reached her door, she opened it and hugged him tightly, thanking him. She took notice of the bandage on his hand, but he wouldn’t tell her what he had done. He knew he had to leave when she hugged him again, because he had the strongest urge to kiss her and tell her that he thought he might be in love with her. But he didn’t want to cheat on Juliet, though he felt that he was falling out of love with her. That night before the show, he went to visit her again. She was re-packing her bags because they were headed to a different city after the show. He was curious as to why she wasn’t dressed for the show. She told him that she didn’t want to be harassed by any more of Juliet’s fans. Andrew got pretty angry at Juliet in that moment. He could see what people were saying to the girl, and he didn’t like it. He started to take out his phone to dial Juliet’s number and talk to her about her fans, but the girl stopped him, telling him that she could handle it. He told her that he didn’t want to lose her.”

“Was he in love with her?”

“If he wasn’t then, then he eventually did fall completely in love with her. She really thought that she was what was coming between Andrew and Juliet. He ended up telling her that he wished that they’d met at a different time in life. She had, almost angrily, asked him if they had he would what? Be her Saviour? Her ray of light in the dark?”

“I think he was her Saviour. And her ray of light.” Jeph commented.

I smiled. “She told him that, too. She told him that he and his band mates were already her saviours, and that she had to go through her pain alone. Andrew disagreed strongly. No matter what, he always wanted to be there for her. If she was going to hurt, then he wanted to be there to take it on, too. He told her so, but she said that he couldn’t be there anytime she needed him because she needed him all the time. He wanted to be there all the time…Eventually, the subject was changed. She stayed on the bus that night, and Andrew was reluctant to leave her there. He never wanted to leave her side again. After the show and the signing, the band got back onto the bus and went to sleep. Andrew stayed awake and went to visit the girl while she slept. When he sat down, she woke up. It felt so intimate, sitting there in the dark with her, whispering so that they wouldn’t wake up the band. In a moment of silence, she reached out her hand and played with his hair for a bit. He watched her as she did so, his heart beating madly and his love for her overtaking everything else. After a few minutes, she pulled away and apologized. Andrew’s voice was so soft from nervousness and love when he spoke and said that she shouldn’t be sorry. He felt bad for waking her up, so he moved so that he was leaning against the wall, and motioned for her to relax with him. She grabbed her pillow and put it in his lap and then lay down. He told her how he had dedicated one of their songs to her. They stayed there in silence for a few moments, and then he sang her to sleep. They woke up the next morning curled up next to each other. Andrew thought to himself that he really needed to stop doing that, because word would eventually get back to Juliet. He had called Juliet the night before and she had lied to him repeatedly. But this time, when he woke up curled up next to the girl, he made no effort to move. When they were in hotels, Andrew would watch the clock until it turned to 12:59 p.m., when he would sit next to the door that connected his and the girl’s rooms, and when they were on the bus, he’d wake up at 2:59 in the morning and go sit next to the back room of the bus, and listen to her sing. Andrew fully intended to make all of her dreams come true, starting with the first: to get her recognized as a talented artist. He was waiting for the right time to do this, though. The opportunity came around late one day, when he walked onto the tour bus and heard her singing one of their songs. She sang it perfectly. Andrew walked in and sang with her, showing for the first time that he was listening. He decided that that night was the night that he would call her out onto the stage to sing with him and his band. And that’s exactly what he did. He made sure his band still knew the chords and beat to the song she had sung with him earlier, and then around the middle of their set, he called her out to sing with him. Together, they finished off the set. It was one of the best sets of their entire career. For the last week of the tour, she performed with them every night. Towards the end of tour, Andrew invited her to stay with him for a couple of days, since Juliet wouldn’t be back for two days after the tour ended. They finally reached their last show of the tour, which was in LA. They played it, and then they all parted way, except for Andrew and the girl. They went to Andrew’s house. I'll tell you more next week, okay? You've got to be well rested for your party tomorrow!" I smiled at him.

"Okay. Love you, Daddy. Goodnight."

"Love you too, kiddo."

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