That Voice

Chapter 21

Luke’s P.O.V.

We finished our set flawlessly a few hours later and said goodnight to the crowd, bowing and running off the stage.  

Sage sprinted off the stage, still energetic from her adrenaline high to where her brother Elliot was crouched down waiting for her with his arms spread wide for her.

She flew into his arms and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, closing his eyes and breathing out a proud sigh.  The way they hugged each other spoke measures of how strong their sibling bond was and it warmed my heart.

I found myself missing my brothers, and looked to my right to see Ash and Cal looking at them longingly too.  We all missed our family members.  Well, all of us except Mikey, who probably just missed his PlayStation back on the bus.

When Elliot and Sage broke away, Elliot had proud tears in his eyes.  He looked at Sage more like a proud father than a brother.  He probably felt more like it too since he had to step up and take care of Sage when they lost their parents.  She was beaming at him, and asked him something, which I couldn’t hear because we were giving them space.  He sniffed, wiped away some tears and pulled her into another tight embrace, whispering something into her ear that made her smile grow wider.

While he was facing me, Sage’s back was turned, so he grinned at me sadly.  He didn’t want to leave her either.  Then, he opened his mouth, and mouthed to me, “Take care of her.” I nodded and mouthed back an, “Of course.” He looked at me gratefully, then went back to squeezing the life out of Sage.

After a few moments, they pulled away reluctantly and Elliot kissed her on the cheek turning to leave.  He said something that looked like, “I love you, bubba.  I’ll see you later, okay?”  She took a deep breath, lightly frowning, and said, “Bye, Ellie. Love you too see ya later.”  And waved to him as he disappeared into the crowd.

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She flipped around suddenly and notice me watching her.  Her eyes started glowing again and I held out my arms for her to run in to.  She let out a little squeal and jumped into me, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck, my chin resting on her shoulder, arms laced around her waist tightly as her feet left the floor.

Her legs were kicking in excitement and I was laughing into her hair as the vibrations from her laughing tickled my neck.   

Sage was still a few feet off the ground enclosed in my arms when Ash tapped my shoulder and smiled at us knowingly saying, “We’re really sorry to break up your moment guys, but we have to go soon. So let’s go clean up and get on the bus, yeah?”

I reluctantly let Sage down, her adrenaline not close to dying down as Ashton gave her a high-five and pulled her into a warm hug whispering something into her ear that made her eyes soften.  Mike lifted her into a big bear hug as she squeaked in surprise and gave her a loud, sloppy kiss on the cheek.  Cal picked her up spinning her around and plastering her face with little kisses while she grinned and tried to push his head away with no success.  When he put her down she looked up at him pursing her lips, but he just smiled and hooked an arm around her neck, “How’s my little buddy doing, huh?”