Believe It Or Not (An Eddie Munson Story)

The Hideout

Eddie's POV:

My stomach is in knots as I tune my guitar backstage at The Hideout. My knee bounces slightly as I try to take deep, even breaths to help with my nerves. I peek out into the bar area and I see a number of people already filing inside; one of which is Arabella, my ex flame and the girl Ripley caught me kissing out in the alleyway. She catches my eye and waves eagerly in my direction and I fall back, rolling my eyes in exasperation. I had told her the last time I had seen her that I'm in a relationship, but she doesn't seem to care. I'm just glad Steve decided to come tonight so he can help keep tabs on the situation while we play and until I can get to Ripley myself.

Gareth and Jeff shoot me concerned looks as they move about, setting up equipment and getting ready themselves, but they don't say anything. I'm thankful for their silence as my mind reels, worried about tonight.

Before I know it, it's time to go on stage and we move into place. The familiar jittery feeling that comes with performing is there and I close my eyes for a moment, breathing in and forcing my joints to relax with each inhale and exhale. Once I reopen my eyes, I turn back to the band and nod before we signal for our introduction. The bar owner nods before climbing up onto the stage and addressing the crowd with a smile. I barely hear him as I look out and my eyes finally land on Ripley. She's in the crowd close to the bar and Steve has thankfully found her and is talking happily down at her. I still feel a slight pang of jealousy at the sight of them so close and happy together, but it is nowhere near as bad as it once was. The crowd cheers loudly, pulling me from my thoughts and Gareth jostles me forward. I grip my guitar in my hand tightly as we climb the steps and I grin out at the crowd. I survey the room, trying to keep from staring at Ripley the entire night, but I'm finding it hard. She looks absolutely stunning as always and I've missed her. We have a show to put on, though, so I put on my best face and say a few witty lines before diving into our set.

We play a few covers and mix in a few originals to keep the crowd on their toes. The room comes alive underneath us and I smile as I see people bob their heads and hold their drinks over their heads as they lose themselves to the music. Sweat trickles down my forehead and back as I play the guitar, my arms working as I move my hands over the strings. My eyes continue to dart to Ripley and I watch as she sways to the beat, her hips hypnotizing me as I play. I smile and breath heavily as we finish our current song, the crowd cheering and clapping throughout the bar. I turn to the boys and they nod reassuringly towards me as I move back up to the mic, running a hand nervously through my hair.

"This next song," I say, my voice still labored. "Is for a very special girl."

My eyes meet Ripley's and I gaze at her with a small smile. Her hands fall to her sides and she looks up at me with a serious expression. I can see the glisten in her blue eyes even from here and I hope that it's just from the lights and I'm not making her cry.

"This girl has been by my side for as long as I can remember and sometimes I take that for granted. Sometimes I don't tell her enough how much she means to me or how I really feel. So I wrote a song about it in the hopes that maybe it will help. I know we usually rock out, but this one is a slow one so you may want to grab a partner if you have one, folks."

I blow Ripley a kiss, not caring if I look cheesy and her hand comes up to her chest to cover her heart. My fingers move back to my guitar and I start to strum the rhythm I wrote over the last few days, the song coming to life around me. I lean forward, my lips mere inches from the mic and I let the words fall from my mouth.

When we were just two kids
Barely old enough to kiss
All I could dream of were your lips
And of all the things I didn't want to miss