Goodbyes and Fresh Starts

Chapter Twelve

The lights in the club dimmed, the noise suddenly hushed, and a figure appeared on stage; it was the club owner.

"Thank you all for coming! Tonight we have a very special guest here at Juicy's for the first time, and her first official live performance, Roscoe's very own Lily Randall, give it up!" The guy said.

Lily appeared on stage with her guitar slung over her shoulder. The lights were bright; she looked to her right where Audrey stood on the side of the stage and smiled. She looked into the crowd and spotted Ray, Travis and Robbie; she smiled again. The audience applauded and hollered at her. She sat down on the stool that was placed in the middle of the stage for her.

"Thank you all for coming tonight. This is actually the first time I have performed these songs live; they mean a lot to me and it means a lot to me that you all came. I want to personally thank my good friends Audrey, Travis, Robbie, and Ray, thank you for supporting me and my dreams." She began to play the first few chords of the song and put her heart and soul into the performance.

She sang a few songs; she planned to save the one she wrote for Ray till the end. Halfway through the little concert, she took a 30-minute break. She walked off stage, red from the heat and slightly sweaty.

"So?" Lily said.

"You were fantastic, Lil!" Audrey smiled, "The audience loves you!"

"Really, you think?" Lily asked.

"Yes!" Audrey exclaimed.

"I was so nervous, then I got out there and saw Ray and everything went away. I sang my heart out for him." Lily said.

"Yeah! And he is enjoying it," Audrey said, as she pointed for Lily to look out at the guys.

Ray was smiling and having a conversation with Travis. Robbie came back shortly with bottles of water for the two guys.

"So what do you think so far?" Robbie asked Ray while handing him and Travis the water.

"She's great, Rob, absolutely beautiful! She hasn't changed at all, she's still my little Lily!" Ray said.

"I'm glad you like it," Travis said. "You can tell she's worked hard for this, and let me let you in on a little secret, the best is yet to come."

"Travis!" Robbie said, "Shhh!"

"What?" Ray asked, "What do you mean the best is yet to come?"

"You'll see, Ray, be patient!" Travis smiled; he looked to his side and noticed Audrey waving him over. "Excuse me, fellas, my lady calls!"

Travis walked over to Audrey.

"What's up?" Travis asked.

"How is Ray liking it?" she asked.

"He is loving it, Audrey, it's been perfect so far!" Travis replied.

"So does he know?" she asked.

"Know what?" Travis smiled.

"Tell me you didn't tell him, Travis," Audrey said.

"I didn't." Travis lied; he didn't tell him what it was, he told him that the best was yet to come.

"Good, cause this means a lot to Lily and I don't want you to ruin it." Audrey said.

"I won't," Travis assured her.

"I wanna be with you when she does it, Trav." Audrey said.

"You do?" Travis said a bit surprised.

"Yea, cause what Ray and Lily feel for each other, I feel the same way with you." Audrey replied.

"I feel it too." Travis said, leaning in to kiss Audrey.

Audrey pulled away. "Save it for the finale, Strong! Save me a seat and I'll see you soon."

Travis smiled and watched as Audrey walked back to her spot on the side of the stage. He returned to his seat to find Ray practicing on Becki what he was going to say to Lily; Robbie was laughing.

"Shut-up Robbie!" Becki said, matter-of-factly, "This means a lot to Ray. So tell me again, Ray; what are you going to say?"

"Umm, ok, Lily, I love you, will you marry me?" Ray said nervously.

"No!" Becki shouted. "Ray, this is the woman you spent the last few years of your life with. You have known her forever. You need to be more heartfelt, tell her how you really feel, try again."

"Ok, umm. Lily, we have been a part of each other's lives for as long as I can remember. You have stuck by me through everything, even the times when I wasn't so pleasant to be around. We shared everything together, our first dance, our first kiss, and I want you to know that I loved you then, I love you now, and I will love you for many more tomorrows to come. Will you please do me the honor of marrying me?" He said.

"Better," Becki said.

"Better?" Ray asked. "That's how I feel. I don't need to come up with some long line of words to tell her how I feel; I think I love you will do just fine."

"If that's how you want it, then fine, I can't make you say something you don't want to." She replied.

"Settle down ,Beck," Robbie said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Let Ray do it his way, this is his night."

"You're right." Becki said, "I'm sorry, Ray."

"It's ok, you just want it to be perfect." Ray said.

"I do, and however you decide to do it, it will be perfect." She smiled.

The people around them quieted down and Lily walked back onto stage and took her seat on the stool once again. The crowd went wild.

"Thank you," Lily smiled. "I'm glad you all stuck around to see me during the second half; this is a big one for me and I hope you will all stick around to celebrate with me afterwards."

Ray smiled up at Lily and she smiled back down. She situated herself in her seat and began to strum her guitar taking everyone into the next part of the show. The crowd loved her, she was great; she knew how to work it. She was getting excited for the big ending and she was glad that all of her friends had come to support her. She finished the second half of her set and took a five-minute break, then she planned to be back on stage to show Ray how she really felt about him.

"Here," Audrey said, handing Lily some water.

"Thanks!" she replied.

"So this is it." Audrey said, "Are you ready?"

"It's now or never!" Lily replied.

"Lily?" a voice shouted, "Time to finish up!"

"Ok wish me luck, Audrey!" Lily said.

"You don't need it." Audrey smiled at her.

Lily took one last breath in and walked back onto the stage.

"Ok, I just want to say thank you all again for coming; it means so much to me. I have just one last song I want to sing. I wrote it a few months ago for someone very special to me; he is in the audience tonight, you know who you are, this one is for you, and I love you."

Ray smiled and gave Lily his full attention.

She began playing the song on her guitar and singing; she put her heart and soul into the song. She watched Ray as she sang; his eyes twinkled and he winked at her to let her know she had his attention. The song was about five minutes long; as it ended, the loud noise of applause and whistles filled the club. Lily once again thanked the audience and walked off stage.

The club owner appeared back on stage. "And that, my friends, was the very talented Lily Randall. Let's give her one more round of applause." The crowd began to applaud again. "Before you all go, we have a surprise for Lily. Are you ready?" he said, looking out at Ray. Ray nodded and climbed up on stage.

"Hi," Ray began, "I'm Ray Brennan, many of you may know me from the Brennan & McGrath show. I am here tonight for another reason. I have known Lily Randall, practically all my life, so Lily if you would please join me on stage."

Lily gave Audrey a what's-going-on look; Audrey smiled and nodded from the audience for Lily to go on to the stage. Lily walked nervously across the stage to where Ray was standing. Ray took her hand in his and smiled at her. Lily looked out at Travis, Audrey, and Robbie, who all had smiles on their faces. What was going on, she thought to herself.

"Now, Lily, you may be wondering what I'm doing and why I asked you to join me tonight; I will tell you." Ray paused for a moment. "Lily Randall, I love you, I always have, and I always will, so I want to ask you, will you please do me the honor and marry me?"

He pulled the ring and picture he had planned on giving her out of his pocket and presented them to Lily. Tears began to stream down her face. She looked at the picture for a moment, reflecting on their past; she then looked at the ring. Finally, she looked to Ray, who also had tears forming in his eyes. She was speechless. It seemed to Ray like a lifetime had passed before Lily answered. She was shocked; she knew he had planned something but this was just amazing!

A lump formed in Lily's throat; she swallowed and said to Ray, "Yes! Yes! I will!" Ray slipped the ring on Lily's finger.

The audience started the applause and whistles again. Ray smiled at Lily and leaned in closer to her; he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. It was the most amazing kiss the both of them have ever shared. They pulled apart and intertwined their fingers in one another's and looked out into the audience. Travis had embraced Audrey in a kiss and Robbie was kissing Becki. They turned to one another again and looked deep into each other's eyes and smiled. Everything had turned out perfect for both Lily and Ray; they loved each other and they both knew this time was it. Nothing could ever tear them apart again. Love truly conquers all.

"I love you forever, Ray." Lily said, snuggling up to him.

"I love you too, my dear Lily." Ray smiled.

The End

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed reading this story! Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed my story, I appreciate all of your kind words.