Lost Innocence

Chapter Fifteen

POV Paul

I went up to Christine's room with Joe with a cold towel in my hands. When we got up to her room Christine smiled weakly. I went up to her and placed the towel on her head. we sat down with her and talked about her being a part of the band. The moment Joe mentioned it her eyes lit up. Christine smiled and then looked at me.
"Is it true?" 
"It sure is." I said with a smile. 
"I-I would love to." 

Christine agreed and we officially had two new members in our band. I took a sip of my water and stayed up with Joe and Christine. I looked at Joe for a minute and saw an expression on his face. "Are you okay man?" 
"Yeah...I'm just thinking about if my parents would be proud of me if they were still around." 
"I'm sure they would be extremely proud of you... Yours too Paul." Christine said holding his hand and giving him a soft smile before giving me a smile. 
She was always able to put a smile on our faces. "You guys are doing great things."
"You think so?" Joe asked. 
"I know so." 
"You're so amazing." 
Christine smiled at him. "I have my moments." 

The next couple of days we kept visiting her and she was getting better and better everyday. By Friday she was almost completely recovered. She hadn't showed up to school but she was out of bed and walking around just like before. We were told that she'd probably be back in school by Monday. It made me happy that she agreed to join the band, she was talented and with her and Emily we'd definitely go places. Their talent was beyond words. On Friday morning I walked into the auditorium. When I wanted to clear my head and relax I would sit on the stage of the auditorium and just breathe. I kept replayed moments of Christine and I in my mind. Good times and bad ones. I thought about the time in the club where she sang a song at the piano and I walked out kicking over a trash can, that memory always haunts me for some reason. I looked over at the wings and remembered our first kiss. Full of lust and passion. I walked over to the piano that was sitting casually on the stage. I played a couple of the keys and came out with a soft ballad. I wrote it down. The words would come later but I wanted to make sure I didn't forget what I played. When the bell rang I put my paper in a binder and walked to my class. 

When the school day was over I made my way to Christine's house. I didn't pay much attention to anything that was said in class. I mostly focused on writing lyrics to the new song. I turned it into a duet between me and Christine. I had been the first one to show up at her place that day. She opened the door and greeted me with a hug. I smiled and hugged her back. I told her about the new song and we walked over to her piano. I started playing it and motioned to her to start because it started with her singing first. I joined in on the chorus and sang for the second verse. Christine joined in again for the chorus and we sang a harmony during the bridge and harmonized the last chorus. I looked at her after we sang and we both had smiles on our faces. Whenever Christine smiled it warmed my heart. 
"It's beautiful Paul." 
I got up and smiled at her as I kissed her forehead. 
"Thank you for singing it with me, I can't wait to perform it with you."
Christine placed a hand on my cheek and smiled. "Anytime." I wanted to kiss her in that moment. To grab her and pull her into my arms and keep her there forever. Maybe now wasn't the right time but somehow I knew in my heart that one day we'd be together. 
"How are things with Joe?" 
"Good." 
"That's good...I may be completely in love with you and slightly jealous but as long as your happy that's all that matters to me." 
"Thanks."
"You never have to thank me." 
I watched her close her eyes and take a deep breath.

The next day we all met up in the den for a rehearsal even Christine. It was the first time we had all gotten together for a rehearsal since our concert. Joe and Emily sang their new song together and then Christine and I sang ours. They were the only new additions to the catalog of original songs by The Runaways. 
"The songs are great." David said. 
"I agree, but here's our big question and it mostly for Christine. Would you feel comfortable performing back at Serpent Cove?" 
"Yeah, I just won't be alone next time." 
"We made it a point to never leave the girls alone. Meaning we've asked Ian and John to stand by Sherrie and Sophie whenever we are on stage and obviously after shows we will always have our eyes on you and Emily." I said. 
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind going back again." Christine said. Joe held her hand and comforted her. 
"Does tomorrow sound ok, or is it too soon?" David asked. 
"Tomorrow sounds fine, I don't want what happen to hold me or the band back from performances. I'm fine and I'm not scared especially with all of you around." Christine said. We all smiled and we started rehearsing Christine's song that she sang with Emily and we had a pretty successful rehearsal. We perfected nearly all our songs. The newer ones needed to be cleaned up a bit so towards the end of the rehearsal we worked on perfecting them. Some of the lyrics on each song got changed slightly but it ended up working and we were ready to give a killer performance tomorrow night.