ENTRY 1
JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

He stood there, arms raised. He could feel the collective stomping of thousands of feet reverberating all the way through his body. The stage lights shone so brightly; the heat was searing into his skin. And the chanting … the chanting was deafening.

He was hot. He was sweaty. He was euphoric.

MASEN!

MAAASEN!

MAAAAAAAASEN!

Their band, Eclipse, had already played a long encore. Two in fact. They'd walked off stage together, triumphantly, more than ten minutes ago, but the crowd just would not leave the stadium. This was the final night, on the final leg, of their final tour.

It was goodbye.

He knew it, the band knew it, their fans knew it. So he'd come out to face them one last time, alone. Just as he'd done that very first night over fifteen years ago.

Their stage manager, James, brought a stool out, and the crowd started to settle as he sat and adjusted the mic and his guitar.

"We have the best fans in the world! You guys have stuck with us through thick and thin, and you've been un-fucking-believeable tonight." He pointed out at them, from one side of the stadium to the other. They roared loudly back at him.

The chanting began again, steady then climbing back up to an absolute fever pitch.

He basked in the adoration, one final time, before slowly starting to strum his guitar.

The crowd started to quieten, as he knew they would. He rarely played solo, but when he did, they listened. They always had.

He thought back to that first night, so long ago, when four college buddies had played their first gig, and the crowd had gone mad for them. Just like tonight, they'd demanded an encore, but the guys had only a few original songs and had already blown through them all. He'd been tinkering with a new song for his girl and was hoping to surprise her with it on Valentine's Day, which was the following weekend. But as he stood there that night with the crowd demanding more, he'd taken a risk and stood up to the mic and went for it, all on his own.

They had no idea that a talent scout was in the audience and that this final song choice would change all their lives forever.

The buddies who had formed a band to blow off some steam had then dropped out of school, signed a multi-record deal, toured the country, won some awards—well LOTS of awards—sold millions of records, toured the world, and made millions of dollars for themselves and their label.

It hadn't all been smooth sailing. There'd been tough times when they'd almost blown it all—egos that grew too big, too much partying, too much booze, and for some, too many drugs. But they'd made it through with the support of great people who had helped them pull their heads out of their asses and kicked them back on track.

For all that had changed, some things had stayed the same. He looked off into the wings at the familiar faces that had been there from the start. Emmett, Garrett, and Jasper—his buddies, his brothers, the band, Eclipse.

They were joined by their partners, great girls whom they'd met along this journey. Rose, a former Victoria's Secret model who had tamed Emmett like no other could. Kate, who Garrett had met when they'd toured Alaska. She was now their PR guru and did a fantastic job at coordinating all their social media and record label commitments. And Alice. The tiny pixie who'd become like a little sister to him. She'd turned up halfway through their second tour, demanding to speak to the group and had told them right there and then that they looked like a hot mess and needed to get their act together. She'd been their stylist ever since and was now Jasper's wife. Poor Jasper, but that man loves his pixie and would do anything for her.

He was then given a big "thumbs up" by Victoria, James' sidekick. Those two were the best roadies around. They'd jumped on the Eclipse bandwagon their first tour and had been with them right through. Their manager Marcus was there too, beaming like the proud father he thought he was. Eclipse had made that bastard filthy rich; he could well afford to smile. He was actually one of the good guys in an industry full of sharks, and they were lucky to have him, especially when the going got tough.

And then, there was her. Isabella. His one. His only. His forever.

He strummed the opening chords of the final song—her song. The one he'd written for her so long ago. The one he'd sung that first night, the one that the talent scout had loved, the one he'd sung to her every Valentine's Day since.

He tapped his heart twice with his right hand where the title of this song was tattooed across his chest, then leaned into the mic to sing …

Oh, her eyes, her eyes

Make the stars look like they're not shinin'

He winks at her beaming smile.

Her hair, her hair

Falls perfectly without her tryin'

She's so beautiful, and I tell her everyday

He blows her a kiss, and she reaches a hand out as if to catch it.

Yeah, I know, I know

When I compliment her, she won't believe me

She laughs and shakes her head at him.

And it's so, it's so

Sad to think that she don't see what I see

But every time she asks me, "Do I look okay?"

I say

He launches into the chorus, and the crowd has their arms up, swaying in the air, phone lights on, singing right along until the final note is played.

When I see your face

There's not a thing that I would change

'Cause you're amazing

He looks back and points to her …

Just the way you are.

#V3ENTRIES

PS: With apologies to Bruno Mars!

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