"Are you OK Baby?" Ava asked looking up at Roger.
"No. I've never performed in front of this many people before." he said looking around the wall to see the sold out crowd.
"Roger, you're gonna be fine. I promise. Just do what you did this afternoon and everything's gonna be fine." she smiled wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I don't know Ava. They're here to see you guys, not me." he said looking down at her.
"No, they're here to see us. You're here too. And you're gonna be great. I promise." she smiled leaning up to kiss him gently careful not to mess up her lip gloss.
"I love you Ava." he said looking into her eyes that were lined in thick black eye liner and black mascara.
"I love you too Roger. Now, come on. It's time for your debut." she smiled looking into his green eyes.
"Come on Rog, it's gonna be great. This is what we always wanted." Jimmy smiled looking up at him.
"Yeah, but I didn't think I was gonna be this nervous when I did." he said putting his guitar on.
"Rog, it's no different then when we used to perform in school. It's just a few thousand more people." June laughed looking up at him.
"Gee thanks man. That makes me feel so much better." Roger laughed over at him.
"No problem man. I'm there for you." he laughed as the lights went down.
"Here we go. I love you Roger." she smiled looking up at him.
"I love you too Ava." he whispered putting his arm around her waist.
"And now, we're proud to introduce, Avalon." the announcer announced introducing them as they rushed onto the stage.
"Hey New York. How are you all doing tonight?" Ava asked as the crowd went wild. "As you can see we have a new guitarist. His name is Roger Davis, so I want all of you to make him feel welcomed, OK?" she smiled looking over at Roger who was standing a few feet from her. As the music started Roger's heart began pounding. He and Ava began singing. The bohemians just watched from the front row. None of them had ever seen Roger so happy. Not even Maureen. She was happy to see her friends back together again.
"They look great up there." Collins yelled over the cheering crowd.
"They always did." Maureen smiled looking up at him.
"Roger and I wrote this song many years ago." Ava smiled looking over at Roger as he began playing Tonight is What it Means to Be Young. As they sung together it felt like old times. They crowd cheered for them.
"Roger and I used to do this song together in high school. Are you ready Baby?" she asked smiling over at him.
"Yeah, I'm ready Baby." he smiled as he started Paradise by the Dashboard Light. "I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday, Parking by the lake and there was not another car in sight, And I never had a girl looking any better than you did, And all the kids at school said they were wishing they were me that night, And now our bodies are oh so close and tight, It never felt so good, it never felt so right, And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife, Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife, C'mon, hold on tight, C'mon, hold on tight, Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night, I can see paradise by the dashboard light." Roger sung as the bohemians cheered with the rest of the crowd.
"Ain't no doubt about it we were doubly blessed, 'Cause we were barely seventeen, And we were barely dressed." Ava sung standing in front of Roger girating to the music.
"Ain't no doubt about it, Baby got to go out and shout it, Ain't no doubt about it, We were doubly blessed." they sung together smiling at each other.
"'Cause we were barely seventeen, And we were barely dressed. Baby don'cha hear my heart, You got it drowing out the radio, I've been waiting so long, For you to come along and have some fun, And I gotta let you know, No you're never gonna regret it, So open up your eyes, I got a big surprise, It'll feel all right, Well I wanna make you motor run. And now our bodies are oh so close and tight, It never felt so good, it never felt so right, And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife, Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife, C'mon, Hold on tight, C'mon, Hold on tight." Roger continued getting into the music.
"Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night, I can see paradise by the dashboard light, Paradise by the dashboard light." they sung as the song ended. Ava jumped into Rogers arms laughing. Jimmy and June looked on happily. They hadn't seen Ava this happy in a very long time.
"Thank you. Good night." Ava smiled before exiting the stage. "You were amazing Baby. Oh my God." she yelled jumping into Roger's arms again.
"That felt really great." he laughed leaning in to kiss her as he held her in his arms.
"I told you that you could do it." she laughed holding him tight.
"That was incredible. I can't believe all those people were here to see us." he smiled looking over at June and Jimmy.
"Most of them are here to see Ava, but we have our fair share of fans." Jimmy laughed twirling his drum sticks.
"Come on. Let's get changed. I wanna hang out with Mark, Collins, Maureen and Joanne." Ava smiled looking over at them.
"OK." Roger smiled as they went back to the dressing room to get changed.
"They were really great up there, right?" Mark asked looking up at Collins.
"Yeah Mark, they were great. He seems really happy to be back with Ava." Collins said looking down at him.
"I'm just worried that he's getting in over his head. Ava's so famous and their lives are gonna be broadcast on every sleazy entertainment show on tv." he said looking over at Maureen.
"Mark, Roger and Ava have been in love since high school. They got through a lot together. They can handle anything that life has to throw at them. He's gonna be OK." she smiled looking up at him.
"Yeah well, I hope Ava takes care of him." Mark said as they walked to the bar around the corner. It was packed.
"This place wasn't this packed last night." Joanne said looking around.
"They're probably waiting for Ava to come in. They must have heard that she was in here last night." Maureen said looking around. Everyone who was there looked young and were dressed for a concert.
"Do you think we should go back to the Garden and warn them?" Collins asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I think that might be a good idea." Maureen said as they left the bar. They ran into Roger, Ava, Jimmy and June down the block.
"What's the matter guys? We thought we were meeting you at the bar." June looked over at them.
"There's a crowd at the bar. We figured we'd go somewhere a little more intimate." Maureen said looking over at them.
"I know just the place too." Roger smiled as they walked to the subway.
"Where are we going Roger?" Ava asked looking up at him.
"You'll see." he smiled as they boarded the southbound train.
"I know where we're going. Good idea Rog." Collins smiled looking up at him as Roger held Ava in his arms.
"I thought so." he smiled kissing Ava's head as the train continued. They got off at the stop closest to the Life Cafe.
"Is this where you guys hang out?" Ava asked looking upat Roger as Collins held the door open for everyone.
"Yeah, it's really cool. We've had a lot of great times here." he smiled looking down at her pulling her chair out for him.
"Oh my God, you're Avalon. I am such a huge fan." the waitress said as she approached the table.
"Hey Rach, this is my fiance Ava." Roger smiled looking up at her.
"Your fiance?" Mark said looking over at them.
"Me and Ava were supposed to get married when we got out of college, and we're out of college. So why not?" he asked putting his arms around Ava.
"That's great Roger. I'm really happy for you guys." Maureen smiled looking over at them.
"I can't believe you know Avalon." Rachel said looking down at Roger.
"Know Avalon? He plays with her band now." Collins laughed looking over at her.
"You're kidding. Congratulations Roger. How do you know Avalon anyway?" she asked as Ava looked up at her.
"Roger and I went to high school together. We were in a band and we dated." Ava smiled looking up at her.
"Wow, you were in Transparent? That's really awesome Roger." Rachel smiled as Ava smiled up at Roger.
"Wow, you are a fan." Collins laughed looking up at her.
"Yeah, you can say that. What can I get you guys?" she asked directing her attention to her pad.
"Diet soda with lemon for me." Ava smiled looking up at her.
"Coke for me, thanks Rachel." Roger smiled looking down at Ava.
"Roger, you can have a beer if you want. I've been sober 10 years. I'm capable of being around people who drink without wanting a drink." she smiled looking up at him.
"Nah, I'm cool. I wanna have fun tonight and I don't need to drink to do that." he smiled leaning down to kiss her as everyone looked on happily.
"I can't believe you two are finally gonna get married. You guys used to talk about it all the time." Maureen smiled looking over at them.
"But so fast? I mean, you guys just got back together." Mark asked looking over at them.
"Mark, I always knew I wanted to marry Ava and now that we're back together, I don't want to lose her again." Roger said looking over at him.
"Mark, can I talk to you? Alone?" Ava asked looking over at Mark.
"Baby, are you...?" Roger started before Ava cut him off.
"It's OK Roger. I'll be right back." she smiled kissing him before going outside with Mark.
"I know what you're gonna say Ava..." Mark said looking over at her as she took his hand.
"Mark, I appreciate the fact that you've taken care of Roger all these years and you're concerned for him. I love him. I understand perfectly, but this is what we always dreamed of. Playing together and getting married. I'll take care of him Mark. I promise. I don't ever want anything to happen to him." she said looking over at him.
"What do you know about HIV?" he asked looking over at her.
"More than you might think. I've lost a couple of friends to it over the years and the last thing I want to do is lose Roger again." she said looking over at him as tears filled her eyes.
"I'm sorry Ava. I didn't know." he said looking down at her.
"It's OK. It just made me see that life is too short to worry about tomorrow." she said wiping her tears.
"He loves you, you know? He never stopped." he said smiling down at her.
"I know and I never stopped loving him." she smiled looking at him.
"What about those actors you dated?" he asked looking down at her.
"Most of them were just rumors." she said starting to laugh.
"Johnny Depp?" he asked smiling at her.
"Rumor. Christian Slater was real, but it didn't work out. I didn't love him. I mean, he was the sweetest guy, but he wasn't Roger, you know? I tried to go on with my life without him, but I couldn't get past my feelings for him. I always loved him." she smiled looking up at him.
"Congratulations Ava. You two deserve to be happy." he smiled leaning down to hug her.
"Thank you Mark. I love him too much to lose him again." she smiled hugging him tight.
"Thanks Ava. That means a lot to me." he smiled as Ava looked up at him.
"Now come on. Let's go inside and party." she smiled looking up at him.
"Good idea." he smiled opening the door for her.