Finally, it was the night of the showcase. Luke had been texting Katie all day from the venue, calming her down, telling her that he loves her, and assuring her that everything was going to plan. He had even sent over a box that contained an outfit for her to wear that night with a note that said, "Every star deserves to shine. I love you, Luke." It was a pair of silver sequin skinny jeans, a white flowy tank top, a black blazer, and a pair of black pumps. It was perfect. (A/N: I didn't really like Katie's stage outfit, so I changed it. Sorry, not sorry)
At the venue, Katie was immediately put to work. It wasn't until thirty minutes before Guy Morgan was to arrive that she was given time to breathe and get ready. Angela helped her with her makeup, keeping it light and her eyes bold, and curled her hair even more than it naturally was. It was then pulled back into a stylish ponytail and a pair of silver earrings were hooked into her ears. She looked fabulous.
Just before she had to go meet Guy Morgan with Gail and the others, there was a knock on the dressing room door. It was Luke.
"You look beautiful," were the first words out of his mouth.
Katie smiled. "Thank you. My amazing boyfriend got me this outfit."
"I wasn't talking about the outfit and besides, Angela helped me. She's the fashion freak, not me."
Katie laughed. "I should have known."
"So are you ready for this?" Luke asked as he pulled his girlfriend into a hug.
"Yes, though I'm still nervous. I've never done anything like this before."
"You mean stand up to the family that has treated you like crap for the past four years? I should hope you haven't done that before because then you'd have a lot of explaining to do." Luke attempted to joke. "Seriously though, you're going to be great. I have complete and utter faith in you."
The showcase went smoothly and when it was time for Bev to come on, Luke took the microphone and ran on stage.
"Hello everyone!" Luke shouted to the audience. "We've had a great show so far and I can't wait for you to meet our finale. She's an amazing singer and songwriter and she has worked her butt off to get here tonight. Please give it up for Beverly Van Ravensway!"
Bev strutted onto the stage to the beat of the music and began her song. Just as she was getting the audience pumped up, the sound was suddenly cut off by Victor grabbing the iPod and destroying it. Luke came back on stage with his guitar and turned to the audience.
"You all liked her didn't you?" he asked them. At their cheers, he said, "It's a shame that it wasn't really her though isn't it? You see, Bev and her mother stole someone else's voice and claimed it to be Bev's. You're probably thinking that that can't be true, but here's the proof." Victor then played a video that he had secretly recorded of Gail and Bev threatening Katie. The crowd began booing at the video in anger at the Van Ravensways. "Now, here's the real artist, Katie Gibbs!"
Katie then stepped onto the stage and the audience went wild. She sang her heart out and danced like no one was watching. She put all of her heart and soul into the song and by the time the song was over, she was beaming in happiness and pride for herself. At the audience's shouts of 'encore!' she turned to Luke, who was also beaming with love and pride for his girlfriend.
"What should I sing?" she asked.
"The song you put on your demo! They'll love it!" was his answer.
Katie shrugged and started singing 'Make You Believe' with the help of Victor and Luke. The crowd exploded into cheers and by the time the song ended, there was no way to calm them down. Not that Luke didn't try.
"Now, we have one more surprise," he began, "but it's more for Katie than you all. For this surprise though, I'll need my dad and the president of Kensington Records, Guy Morgan to please come on the stage." Katie looked on in confusion from Luke's side as Guy made his way to the stage and onto it. She had no idea what was going on.
"Hello everyone." Guy greeted the crowd. "I would like to introduce you to Kensington Record's newest artist, Katie Gibbs."
Katie squealed in surprise and quickly turned Luke. She hugged him tightly, which he happily accepted. In her ear, he whispered, "This was all you, love. I'm proud of you, but we're not done yet."
Katie extracted herself from her amused boyfriend and turned to listen to Guy. "Without Katie knowing, and this was very hard mind you, we released her first single in Europe. It was a smash hit and I am proud to honor her her first platinum award for her single."
The crowd erupted into screams as Angela and Mickey brought out Katie's award and set it where everyone could see it. Katie was crying from happiness as she hugged her friends, Victor, Ravi, and Guy. When she finally turned to Luke, he was smiling with so much love and pride for her that she ran and leapt into his arms. With her arms and legs wrapped around him, Katie pressed her lips fiercely to his in a silent 'thank you.'
"So, how would you like to celebrate?" Luke asked into her lips.
"This isn't the classiest of ways, but how about take-out Chinese food, a good movie, and lots of sugar?" Katie suggested. "Just. The. Two. Of. Us." She punctuated the words with a kiss to get her point across.
Luke grinned. "Sounds fantastic. I'll rent a hotel room for us."
"Deal."
Epilogue:
Fast forward ten years. Katie Gibbs now runs an indie recording company called Once Upon A Song Records with her husband, Luke. She has received numerous awards, been on seven tours- three of which were world tours- and she and Luke have their second child on the way.
Gail was back on her daddy's farm.
Bev was trying to get by on second rate modeling jobs.
Ravi/Tony was an actor and still a good friend of Katie and Luke.
Victor was a filmer of documentaries.
Angela was Katie's choreographer, still her best friend, and Katie's daughter's godmother.
Mickey was a talent scout for Once Upon A Song and had been very successful.
Life was good for Katie and Luke and they lived happily ever after.
