"and i could see for miles, miles, miles." - holocene [bon iver]
Going home is Maya's least favorite part of tour. Of course she misses the pups, and she misses her friends at school. She loves to be home, but over the months the bus has become home. In the three months they'd been home Brendon and Sarah had been normal parents. They'd been taking their girls to and from school every day, working from home in-between. Brendon would still periscope, but nine out of ten times it was from the car on their way to school. Maya didn't get to pick up a guitar for months, she was too busy with assessments and exams. Music was her refuge, but even then it was stressful. Both her and Amelia barely stepped into the studio, and when the did it was looking for Brendon. The court case involving Maya's biological father is trialled, and he's locked away for thirty years with no bail. And in his kind of health, that's assuming he's got thirty years left.
October comes around, and Brendon suggests they have a halloween party with everyone. Sarah nods, turning to her daughters, who both nods "Sounds cool." Amelia mumbles, eating. Brendon rolls his eyes "So glad I asked." He jokes, and Maya rolls her eyes back, picking up her empty plate and placing it in the dishwasher "I'm going to finish some homework." She calls, running up the stairs. Amelia rolls her eyes "We all know you're facetiming Noah." Maya stops "Shut up, no I'm not." Sarah laughs "Sure you aren't."
In all seriousness, they'd been going out for four months now, and it was pretty great. They hardly fought, but when they did they knew how to resolve it calmly. They were happy together. She sits at her desk, turning her iMac on and opening a half finished essay. While it's loading she opens facetime. Noah answers almost immediately, smiling "Hey." He grins, and she pauses for a moment before remembering "Oh my gosh, did you get your glasses today?" She laughs, and he nods "Yeah, I don't know how they look on me though." He mumbles, and she rolls her eyes "Ten bucks I don't have says you look great in them. Let me see!" she smiles, and he sighs, putting them on and turning back to his phone "How bad is it?" He jokes "You look like a nerd." She giggles as she continues "But you're my cute nerd." She smiles, and he grins back "Do your homework." He rolls his eyes.
Brendon sits on the edge of Maya's bed, Amelia was out with Sarah for the day, it's almost eleven and she's still not awake. He reaches over, placing his hand on her shoulder and shaking her slightly "Maya, kiddo you've gotta get up." He speaks softly and she groans, rolling over "What?" She mutters into her pillow, frowning. Brendon laughs "It's almost midday. You've gotta get up." He smiles and she rolls her eyes "I don't have to get up, you want me to get up." She mumbles, pushing her hair off her face before sitting up "Breakfast?" Brendon smiles again "Waffles." She grins, standing and stretching before walking to the kitchen.
Brendon places his mug down "How'd you feel about playing a show soon." She thinks about it for a moment "I don't know, is mom cool-" Brendon cuts her off "Only if you want to, it's okay to say no. Sarah's cool with it either way." She nods her head "I want to, but I haven't played in ages, I don't know if I'm good enough." Brendon smiles again, moving around the counter to hug her "You'll alway be good enough kiddo. You're Maya fucking Urie." She smiles back "Language."
They're sitting like they did when Maya was first learning to play, she smiles at the instrument. Brendon slowly takes his hands off the guitar as she plays nearly witches. He smiles widely as she plays by herself and she begins to laugh, hugging him when she finishes "You're ready to play the forum kiddo." He smiles and she nods happily.
Maya jumps up and down, holding her fender as they stand just off stage. Amelia talks to Dallon about when she's playing. The crowd scream and chant for the band to come on stage. Brendon jumps next to her, laughing his head off as usual "It's okay. You'll be great." She smiles nervously "Do a backflip for me." He nods and kisses her forehead "As if I wouldn't." The crew all nod at each other, and the band do their high-fives while final checks are completed. Brendon fixes Maya's earpiece for her as Dallon, Dan and Ryan all take their places on stage while the lights are out, and Brendon holds Maya and Amelia in a side hug as the lights are turned back on and the sold out forum crowd is revealed. Brendon rubs Maya's shoulder reassuringly, glancing back to where Sarah stands Brendon turns to Amelia "You'll be great. Trust me, you're the best piano player I know. And I play piano." He jokes, then hugs her and kisses the top of her head as he turns to both girls now "We've played bigger venues, it's gonna be great." Maya laughs again, nodding as Brendon kisses her forehead again "You'll be amazing kiddo. I know it. You always are." He smiles before turning to run on stage as they start to play, he looks briefly back to the pair "Watch out for the surprise later!" He calls before running on to the stage, leaving them to wonder what he means.
They finish don't threaten me with a good time and Maya decides to crash the gig, strutting onto the stage with a mic in her hand, her fender around her shoulders "Hey kids, how are we?" She calls, smiling at the crowd who scream back at her. She laughs "Sounds like you're having fun." She glares slightly at Brendon, who frowns "What did I do?" He asks innocently, though he knows what she's glaring about. He leans into the dead mic "Don't tell them." He says quickly before returning to his normal mic, leaving Maya once more confused "While Maya's still salty," He laughs "We're gonna play another song, this is Victorious." he smiles at the floor before returning to the mic stand.
They play the set, and for a while Maya thinks they're sneaking Northern Downpour back into the setlist, until Amelia doesn't come on with her piano for the end of all things and Dan stands, his drum kit being taken off stage. Dallon and Ryan both hand their guitars over to crew members, and Brendon smiles at his daughter, making sure she keeps her bass with her "We've got a little surprise for you guys tonight." He speaks to the crowd before walking to Maya "I've taught you this , it'll be all good." he pauses, turning back to the mic stand "I don't think they brought pizza, sorry." Maya still doesn't understand until a piano's rolled onto the stage as well as a familiar drum kit. Brendon, Dallon, Dan and Ryan begin to clap as the lights flicker on and off in time to the clapping and now drum beat. Maya glances up to see Andy playing, she smiles as she recognises the song. Patrick waltzes onto the stage, his arm around Amelia as they sit at the piano and begin playing as the rest of panic sing the intro. Pete's the next to jump onto the stage to the scream of the crowd as Patrick sings "I need more dreams, and less life. I need that dark, in a little more light. I cried tears you'll never see, so fuck you, you can go cry me an ocean and leave me be." Joe joins them on stage, flipping his hair away from his face as he stands next to Ryan "You are what you love, not who loves you. In a world full of the word yes, I'm here to scream," Patrick sings, nodding at Maya who joins with Brendon's singing during the chorus "No, No. Wherever I go, go. Trouble seems to follow. I only plugged in to save rock and roll, rock and roll."
Maya walks over to Pete, pausing to hug him before playing along with him. Brendon sings Elton John's part, and looks a little nervous about it as he does. Maya stops playing to clap, encouraging the crowd to clap. She resumes playing to walk to a mic with Pete and Joe, all the band members beginning to sing "I will defend the faith, going down swinging. I will save the songs that we can't stop singing." They all laugh for a moment before Patrick and Brendon take over for the chorus. Everyone drops their instruments as the chorus ends, including Patrick and Andy. Brendon grabs Maya's bass and runs it off stage before returning in time to sing. The crowd clap the beat as each of them are handed a mic from a crew member and they all glance at each other, knowing what to do "Oh no, we won't go, 'cause we don't know how to quit, no, no." They all scream, the audience cheers back and the band members fall silent, Brendon wraps his arm around Maya "Sing." He smiles, out of breath. He passes her his gold mic "You are what you love, not who loves you. In a world full of the word yes, I'm here to scream." Brendon beams proudly at his daughter as she holds the note flawlessly. Patrick grins at her, Pete smiles at Brendon, who's tearing up. Pete leans back to his mic, as do Joe, Dan, Ryan, Dallon, Patrick and Brendon while Maya sings the leading part of the chorus over them.
"No, No. Wherever I go, go. Trouble seems to follow. I only plugged in, to save rock and roll."
"Oh no, we won't go, 'cause we don't know how to quit, no, no." Amelia sings with them from the piano "No, No. Wherever I go, go. Trouble seems to follow. I only plugged in, to save rock and roll." Brendon wraps his arm around Maya "Oh no, we won't go, 'cause we don't know how to quit, no, no."
"No, No. Wherever I go, go. Trouble seems to follow. I only plugged in, to save rock and roll."
Maya drops the mic, breathing deeply as the crowd scream and cheer. She steps forward to the mic again and the entire venue grows quiet. She laughs lightly, fixing her earpiece "Wow, you guys know how to make a girl nervous." She rolls her eyes "Anyway, while I've got the chance that not a lot of people will ever have. I wanna thank some people." She takes another deep breath "First I wanna thank the fall out boy, boys. You're all amazing and I can't imagine what life would be like without you. You've all supported me through a lot, and I haven't been able to thank you properly." Andy walks over, pulling her into a side hug before she continues "Next, to the panic boys. You're not great to live with for months at a time in a bus, but I manage." She jokes "In all seriousness, you're my favorite people in the whole world." Dallon smiles and she grins back before continuing "There's people who aren't here tonight, but I know they're going to see videos of this. So thanks to Gerard, and Mikey, Frank, Ray. To Mikey and Ray, the few times I've met you were great. And I hope we get to have a jam sesh in a empty arena again some time. Frank, thank you for wandering around New York with me when I was scared and alone. I can't thank you enough."
"To Gerard, for picking me up at ten at night from a park somewhere in LA and Lindsey, for giving me mac and cheese and for teaching me to be a shitty teen. Tyler and Josh for being awesome and always giving me the merch that they have too much of, also for being there for me and all the sappy stuff that'll make them cry." The band members around her laugh before she continues "To my sister, Amelia Urie, who was my best friend before she became my sister. But I wouldn't want to share a bathroom and backseat with anyone other than you, maybe Noah, but it depends." Amelia laughs quietly, and nods off stage, Maya glances over to see Noah standing next to Sarah. She smiles widely and waves at him "To my boyfriend, Noah. You were one of my first friends at school too. You've known me since the beginning of this wild ride of a life that's happened over the past almost-two years. You've also put up with Brendon's weird threats and jokes every time you're at our place. And that takes a lot of patience, patience that I don't have most of the time. So thank you for that too."
"Finally, to my mom. Sarah Urie. The most amazing woman I've ever met, the strongest and the smartest and the best at hugs. I'm sorry we weren't with you at the start of the year. And I'm sorry," she pauses for a moment, trying not to cry herself "to both you and dad, for everything I've put you through. But thank you for everything, thank you for adopting me even though I was pretty shitty when I first met you. I still think you have the best instagram feed." She looks over to where Sarah stands off stage, she can tell she's crying. Maya takes another deep breath before she continues "And Dad. Brendon fucking Urie. The most amazing man I've ever met, also equal best at hugs." She repeats "You're the one who taught me most of what I know now. And this past, almost two years, of touring and everything has been amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world. And I'm sorry it's taken me so long to realise how much all this means to me, how much I love being able to stand here in-front of so many people and just play. How much I love being able to share a stage with the most amazing musician I've ever met and will ever know, my dad." her voice breaks, and she looks up at the ceiling, trying to stop the tears "But again, I'm sorry for the shit I've put you and mom through, for all the down moments. I'm sorry about that time I threw up on you in the bus, and I'm sorry about that time I passed out on you leaving an airport. And the time I left my pass backstage and ended up outside the backstage area. My point is, I wouldn't be here without you, and I'm so, so, so grateful for everything you've done for me. You've helped me in more ways than I can describe and nothing I can ever do will repay you for that. So thank you, and I love you dad."
Maya looks up at Brendon, who's crying. She's pulled into a tight hug "I love you so much kiddo." He mutters, hugging her before he looks up "Sarah, Amelia, get over here." He laughs and Sarah runs across the stage to the cheer of the sold out arena, joining the family hug as Amelia does too "I love you May." Sarah whispers. They're all crying, the crowd's crying, the band members around them are crying.
And finally, after everything, Maya's okay, and she's home.
a/n: i'm crying on my folie a deux jumper (redbubble spon)
how many times will i actually use that line "she's safe/she's home" how many times will you guys let me use it is the real question
but tbh i think it's important because i think it's the whole thing that when she was in foster care she couldn't really call it a home but yeah
also ! this is the end of vegas lights what ? this book was such a rollercoaster between trying to get chapters out on deadlines and balancing writing with other commitments + taking maya, brendon, sarah, amelia and the gang through hell and back. thank you guys for reading, voting, and commenting your support and ideas of where to take the story next. it's been amazing and i'm super excited to start book three: house of memories (the final book ! kinda makes me sad writing that knowing that it'll all be over in a few months)
in the meantime i'm working on my mcr!danger days books so you can go check those out to meet gasoline, party, ghoul, jet and kobra or look at my shortshortshort chaptered phan sort-of au, slums. as well as that there's my adopted by pete wentz book, eternal summer.
until then, writing vegas lights has been a blast, and i'm just as excited to share the finale of everything with you as i was to start impossible year, i can't thank you guys enough for your ongoing support, but some super special shoutouts to Crazy_Fangirls17 Kaiaaaa_ falloutavicus SecretJungle88 thank you guys so much. i can't wait for house of memories, and i hope you enjoyed vegas lights as much as i loved writing it.
grace x