Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. Doing pretty good on updating every day. Holla back. Well, I won't keep you! Enjoy!
MzMickey0014: Hmmm... maybe! :D I wonder what Ben would do if he saw Seth... we'll see! And me too, he's so sweet. Thanks for the review! :)
Chapter 20
The next few days flew by for Ben; he spent all of his free time with Allison. They went to the zoo, the movies, and the battleship and hung out at each other's house all while attending the church practices every night. He had volunteered just for this Sunday, telling them that he was in the Air Force and had to go back this Thursday. He spent time with his father, as well. He told his dad that he told Allison that he loved her and he was supportive and happy that they were together.
He woke up on Sunday morning at 6:00; they had one last practice before the 9:00 service. He started his day, like he always did, with a jog. He jogged for about thirty minutes and, when he was done, jogged home and hopped in the shower. He got out and went to his room and picked out something to wear. He picked out a pair of jeans and a black button down shirt. He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth and sprayed a couple of sprays of cologne on his neck. He finally grabbed his keys and headed out the door.
When he pulled into her driveway, he got out and, since it was so early, knocked on the door. He stepped back and, a few seconds later, heard footsteps behind the door. It opened and he saw Allison standing there, with an almost scared look on her face.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine come on in."
She stepped aside and he walked in, not fully convinced that she was fine. She closed the door behind him and put her hand on her forehead and sighed. He knew she wasn't fine so he walked over to her,
"Allison, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing… I'm just nervous."
He suddenly realized he was holding his breath. He exhaled and moved closer to her. He opened his arms and held her,
"It's going to be fine; you've been perfect in practice."
"Yeah, but that was just practice; now I'm going to be in front of hundreds of people."
"You're going to be fine; I'm going to be right there beside you." She smiled,
"Yeah, but you aren't the one singing."
"True, but I am the lead guitar for all four of these songs; you only have to sing two."
"Yeah, but still. Look at you, you don't seem nervous at all and I'm a wreck over here." He laughed
"I am nervous, but I know that it's going to be fine. We've practiced a lot and we're about to practice again. I have faith in myself and I have faith in you; you're going to be great, I promise." She smiled and reached up to kiss him. He kissed her back,
"Now you shouldn't be nervous at all."
"And why is that?"
"Because I promised you, and you know I never break my promises." She smiled and kissed him again. He smiled, too, and said,
"Okay, well, we better get going."
When they reached the church, they walked to the sanctuary and got right to work. The other lead singer would sing the first two songs, then Allison would sing her two songs; Lead Me to the Cross and Love Song. Their practice went exceptionally well. Everyone was on key and, despite Allison's comment that she was nervous, she showed no sign. She sung both of her songs perfectly and, by the time they were done, it was 8:30. As soon as they walked back stage, the first couple of church members came walking in.
As the first service neared, he could tell Allison was getting more nervous. He peaked around the set they had up on the stage and looked to see how many people there were. Though the church had a bottom floor, where there were hundreds of seats, they also had a balcony. Allison was right; she would be singing in front of hundreds of people. He went back to where Allison was sitting and, as he went closer, he saw that she had her head down and her eyes closed.
He wore a curious expression and, when he drew closer, he realized she was praying. He smiled and waited until she was finished. When she raised her head, he walked over and sat down beside her.
"How are you doing?"
"I don't know, I'm pretty nervous."
He smiled and reached for her hand,
"It's going to be fine; you're going to do great, I promise."
She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. They sat together for a couple of minutes before the Director of Music came backstage to meet them.
"Okay, guys, it's about that time. These last few practices have been, I think, the best we've had in a long time. I especially want to thank our newcomers, Ben and Allison. They've done a wonderful job, good luck guys. All right, let's go." Before getting up, Allison took a deep breath. She stood up and he whispered in her ear,
"You're going to be fine."
She smiled and nodded and they followed the other band members out onto the stage. The lights were dimmed when they walked out; they were showing a video clip about the upcoming summer camp they were having in June. Everybody got in their spots; the drummer was on a raised platform, the bass player was on the left side of the stage, along with the keyboard player. The male singer stood at the front of the stage, right in the middle. Ben and Allison stood to the right side of the stage, right beside each other. She stood a couple of feet in front of him and he put the guitar strap around his shoulder. He made sure it was tuned for their first song as the video ended. The drums started and they got underway.
The first song they played was We Sing. When the drums started, the male singer walked up to the microphone and greeted the congregation and asked them to stand up and sing along with them. Then, Ben and the bass player started to play and it only got better from there. Though he was a little nervous at the beginning, as soon as he strummed the first note, the nerves went away. They played the song perfectly and, when it was over, went into From the Inside Out. Ben started the transition and the drummer added in as they began. While they played the first two songs, Allison stood a couple of steps from the microphone and sang the backup vocals. They played the song and played it perfectly. When it was over, the lead singer said,
"Yeah, you sound great this morning; why don't you say hello to someone sitting near you?" While the congregation were greeting each other, Allison took a deep breath and he walked up beside her and whispered,
"This is it; are you ready?"
"Yeah, I am, actually."
"You're going to be great." They both smiled at each other and he moved back to his spot. They looked at each other and the drummer gave the signal. On three, Ben and the drummer started. When they began, Allison walked up to the microphone. When it was time for her to sing, he saw her take a deep breath and began.
As soon as she sung the first note, he knew she was going to be fine and do great. He knew this before she started, of course, but, when she started, he knew it for certain.
She sang both of her songs flawlessly. Though she said she was nervous, you couldn't tell at all. She sung her two songs better than she had at all of their practices. She hit every note and, after they finished, the congregation erupted into applause. She grinned and stepped back as the other lead signer stepped up to his microphone and asked the congregation to pray with him. Everybody bowed their heads and prayed with him. When he was done, he thanked everyone for singing with them and told them that they could take a seat. The lights dimmed and they started another video clip and they walked backstage.
When they got backstage, Allison turned to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her and picked her up as she laughed.
"I told you you were going to be great!" She grinned,
"I was so nervous! But when I started to sing, all of my nerves went away."
"You were amazing."
She smiled and reached up and kissed him The Director of Music found them and walked up to them, grinning. When he got closer, he hugged Allison and shook Ben's hand.
"You two were amazing! Ben, you can really play that guitar. And Allison, honey, you were marvelous, you have an amazing set of pipes." They both smiled and said thank you and he asked,
"Are you two going to stick around or are you going to leave and come back for the next service?" Ben looked at Allison and she nodded and mouthed 'Let's stay.' He turned to him,
"Yeah, we'll stick around."
They listened to the rest of the service from backstage. The preacher continued his series on Jonah and, when it was about over, the Director of Music came and told them that they were heading to the lobby.
When they got out to the lobby, they sat down on one of the sofas and watched the rest of the message on one of the T.V.'s they had on the walls. When he finished preaching, he asked everybody to pray with him. Everybody bowed their heads, including them sitting in the lobby. When he finished praying, thanked everyone for coming and then added something that surprised Ben and Allison both.
"As you saw earlier, we had a couple of new faces up here this morning; Allison Johnson and Ben Carter. They will be out in the lobby if you want to stop and talk to them for a bit." He thanked everyone again for coming and walked off of the stage. Ben didn't expect to have as many people come up to them as they did.
"You two were marvelous!"
"Your voice is amazing!"
"So nice and pure." Allison smiled at everyone and said,
"Thank you so much, I appreciate it."
As people filed out, more and more people came up to them. A man and his wife came up to them and shook both of their hands. The woman spoke first,
"You both were great; you have the most beautiful voice, sweetheart." The man turned to Ben,
"You are really talented with that guitar."
"Thank you, sir."
"Will you two be playing again anytime soon?" He saw the smile slowly disappear from Allison's face.
"Umm, I won't be, I was just a fill-in. But Allison will be."
"I don't know, they might ask you to join the team."
"Well, I'm actually in the Air Force. I'm home on leave and they needed someone just for today so I filled in." The man nodded and Ben looked at Allison; her expression was blank. The woman said,
"Thank you for your service."
"When do you go back?"
"Thursday afternoon."
"Well, I wish you the best." He smiled and shook both of their hands,
"Thank you, I appreciate it."
They shook Allison's hand as well and she gave them a fake smile. They walked away and he looked at her, knowing what she was thinking. She didn't look at him right away, and then she slowly looked up at him. They looked at each other for a minute before they saw her parents coming towards them. Her mom was grinning and she opened her arms and embraced Allison,
"Oh, honey, you were wonderful!" She gave a real smile this time,
"Thanks, mom."
"You were wonderful, too, Ben."
"Thank you, ma'am."
They stood together for a few minutes before her dad said,
"Well, we better get going. Are you going to stay?" Allison nodded,
"Yeah, what time is it?"
"10:30; people will start to showing up soon for the 11:00 service."
She nodded and they said good-bye and Ben and Allison watched them walk down the hallway and out the front doors. He looked at Allison and was about to say something when she said,
"I'll be right back; I have to go to the bathroom."
He nodded, getting the feeling she wasn't going to the bathroom to actually use it. He sat down on the sofa and people began to file in. She took about ten minutes in the bathroom and, eventually, he saw her walking down the hallway, wiping her eyes. She didn't look like she had been crying, but, by the way she looked at him, he had a feeling that she had been.
From the day he had first met her, it hurt him in a way differently than when he saw anybody else cried. Now that his feelings for her had grown, it hurt him even more. He suddenly realized he had a lump in his throat. He tried to swallow it,
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He was about to say something else when the Director of Music came up to them,
"Hey, guys, we're about to head backstage; the service starts in five minutes."
When they got backstage, the Director went to go round up the rest of the band members and Ben and Allison were left alone. She went and sat down on one of the steps and he walked over and sat down beside her. She didn't look at him and he knew something was wrong. He knew what it was, but instead asked,
"What's wrong, Allison?" She didn't say anything, then turned to face him,
"Can we talk later?"
"Sure, are you okay, though?" She gave a weak smile and nodded. The Director of Music came back with the other band members,
"Okay, guys, it's about that time again. Let's do the same thing we did earlier."
They played the same set of songs and Ben thought they were even better this go around. When it was over, they talked to the Director and he asked Allison if she wanted to sing again next week and she was surprised, but said absolutely yes. He thanked Ben for filling in and wished him good luck on his trip back to Afghanistan.
This time, they didn't stick around for the service to end. She still hadn't told him what was wrong, even though he thought he had a pretty good idea what it was. This was the second time in a row that he wasn't looking forward to going back. More than that, he didn't want to go back; he had fallen in love with Allison and his feeling for her were growing more and more every day. He knew it was going to be hard, but he didn't want to lose her. Even though he had only been home for little more than a week, he had fallen in love with Allison and was willing to risk anything to keep them together and make it work.
They went out to the lobby and made their way out to his truck. They hadn't said anything to each other since they had finished playing and, when they reached his truck, he opened the door for her. She looked at him for a minute, and then gave a weak smile,
"Thank you."
He nodded and walked to the driver's side. He got in and saw her looking out of the window. He took a deep breath and put his hand on her shoulder,
"What's wrong, Allison?" She didn't say anything at first, but she slowly turned her head towards him and said, in a barely audible voice,
"You're going back in a couple of days."
"I don't go back until Thursday afternoon."
"I know, but still…" He saw tears start to form in her eyes. He turned his body towards her and turned her face towards his, gently, and she brought her eyes up to his.
"I love you so much, Allison. This last week and however many days has been the best of week and however many days of my life. I love you so much and, even though I love being in the Air Force, I love you so much more and I wish I would have never even joined. But, in some ways, I'm happy I joined. If I hadn't, I would've never met Jeff and, therefore, I would have never met you. So, maybe, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. But, even if that's true, I still wish I didn't have to go back, but I do. Allison, the only thing I want, the only thing, is that I want this to work. I don't want to lose you and I'm willing to do anything." He felt tears start to form in his eyes and he looked away for a minute and shook his head and said,
"Please, I just-" She interrupted him and put both of her hands on his face and put her arms around his neck. They hugged for a minute before she pulled away and put her forehead to his. She brought both of his hands to his face again and whispered,
"I want to make this work, too. I love you Ben and this past week and however many days has been the best week and however many days of my life, too. I'm sorry for acting the way I have today it's just…I'm scared. Didn't you say that you get two weeks every nine months?" He nodded, knowing it would probably be longer this time because of the emergency leave he was on.
"What if something happens during those nine months? What if something happens to you over there? I mean, I love what you're doing for our country and I can't tell you how much I admire you for what you do, but…" She trailed off and they were silent for a minute. He turned her face to his gently with his hand,
"I know what you're saying and I understand where you're coming from but I'm willing to take that risk. I know it's going to be hard and I know it's not fair to make you wait. But I just want you to know I love you so much."
He looked away and she brought her hand up to his face. He looked back at her and she gave a small smile before leaning in and kissing him softly. She pulled away and put her forehead to his and smiled again,
"I want to take that risk, too." He smiled and leaned in and kissed her again, knowing that everything would be okay.
:) Hope you enjoyed it! But things can't be all happy and good for long, Ben is going back in four days... we're already seeing Allison's response to it. What's gonna happen? Stay tuned! And please review! :)
