Guest – (1) Yes, I'm going to write more. I intend to finish this and several others (most of them Significance) and then I'm already planning to upload more. I have the starting chapters written for them and everything! (2) Getting to it, I promise! (;

Seriously guys, I'm really sorry about the ridiculous break between updates. School started to overwhelm me, I guess. But with summer coming, expect to see me around a lot more! (:

24: No Regrets

When Derek and I pulled up in the back alley reserved for band members, Tank was sitting on an old, dusty amp that was holding the back door open. He was holding a drink between his fingers. "Well, look who decided to show up." His words could've been harsh, but his smile and tone said otherwise. Still, I felt apologetic as I got out of the car.

"Sorry, Tank," I said. "I was supposed to have dinner with my mom, but there was a change of plans. I don't have a car." Even to me, my explanation sounded lame. What nineteen-year-old doesn't have a car? Or her driver's license, for that matter?

Tank seemed appeased by the apology and swept a hand towards the inside. It was still quiet because it hadn't opened yet, though in a few hours it would be booming with music and filled to the brim with bodies. "The others are inside," he said. "PJ and Johnny are arguing again about that extra song Johnny wanted for the encore," he smirked, "if we get one."

"You'll get one," I said. "You guys are great. I mean, I haven't listened to much music in the past few years…." I added as I pointed to one of my ears. Tank seemed to think it was funny. He chortled out a deep laugh and smiled at me, showing off his crooked front teeth.

"Get in there, Miss Emily," he said. Derek just smiled at him and pulled me into the club.

I'd never been backstage before. For some reason, I thought it was going to be more than it was, like there was going to be gold stars on the doors and security roaming around with ear pieces and dark sunglasses and Tasers strapped to their hips. Instead, it was painted black, though the walls were peeling, and the security was made up of the regular bouncers, who wore ear pieces attached to your average walkie-talkie, sans the sunglasses. They nodded to Derek as he passed and viewed me, their eyes moving from my face to my feet and back, as my significant led me to one of a handful of rooms.

The inside was hideously green. Derek had said that bands were supposed to wait in the green rooms, but I thought that was just a term. I'd imagined some sort of sitting room that reminded me of a swanky hotel lobby, but instead it looked like we had been shoved into an avocado. Green floor, green walls, and brown furniture that had seen its better days.

Tory was sitting on the counter by a sink stained with hard water marks. Her feet moved back and forth as she played with the top of her water bottle. Johnny straddled one of the chairs, using the back as an arm rest, as he and PJ argued over a list they had spread out on the table. Tory waved, and Derek went to grab the two of us something to drink.

"Hey," Tory said, twisting the cap back onto her bottle. "Welcome to the great backstage, which is a lot suckier than you thought it would be, am I right?" I couldn't help but smile, and she grinned back. "Word of warning, don't sit on the couch, because we have no clue whose been there before, if you catch my drift, and only take drinks from Derek or one of the guys, because the other band they've got playing tonight is an up-and-coming collection of pervy adolescents."

Derek slid up next to me, pressing a cold water bottle into my hand. "You better not be talking about me," he teased as his fingers went to the back of my neck. They were cold to the touch, but the massage and the essence of him released all of the tension that had built up.

Tory just grinned. "I could be," she joked. "But no. Did you see the playing order? They've got those idiot Steel Bandits opening for you guys. I can't stand them. Their bassist tried to pick a fight with Johnny last time they were in the same building. I already told Tank that he has to be ready to leap over the drums to stop him from pummeling the crap out of that kid. You too, Der," she said, looking pointedly at him.

Derek moved his finger in an X over his chest, where the tattoo of my name happened to be. "Cross my heart," he promised, though the corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile. He must've picked up on my thoughts, because he whispered in my mind, my heart belongs to you.

I leaned into him, glancing up into his eyes. I didn't think I would ever get over their color. Or the way they could take my breath away. And mine belongs to you. Deep down inside, I remembered a time when actors had murmured that to each other in romantic comedies, and I'd always scoffed even though it wasn't supposed to be funny. It was just so cheesy. But apparently, falling in love made you exceptionally lame.

"Do you realize you guys do that a lot?" Tory asked suddenly. Our eyes tore away from each other and focused on her. "I mean, the staring into each other's eyes thing? All we need is a rainstorm and an emotional musical score, and bam! We've got a scene from every chick flick in existence."

"Gee, thanks." I said, trying to sound as sarcastic as possible. The last thing we wanted was for her to actually think that she was on to something. Derek said that regular people weren't supposed to know about the Aces, their imprints, or their abilities.

"You two are adorable." She replied. "It's almost so sweet it's sick."

"Really, Tory," Derek cut in, "I distinctly remembered when you and Johnny started dating, and whenever we had a break the two of you were glued to a couch, tongues down each other's throats. Tell me that wasn't sick."

I elbowed Derek at the same time she punched him in the arm. "Hey, be nice. And don't tell me you two haven't engaged in a make-out session or two." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively. I blushed at the thought. Derek and I were more in tune than she would ever know, and because of that, every single touch was magnified. For a moment, I actually felt sorry for her. Tory would never know what it was like to be completely and totally connected to her soul mate. Even if Johnny was her other half, neither of them were Aces, so they wouldn't experience the fire and ice that came with the union.

Derek's fingers weaved with mine, and he squeezed my hand once. Maybe there's a reason that not everyone can feel it the way we do. I've heard that there are people with imprints that find it too much to handle. I've never met someone like that myself, but maybe it's possible. Do you really think Tory and Johnny could handle the emotions? You didn't see them sucking each other's faces, and that's without the need I feel for you.

He had a point. I smiled at Tory, trying to make it look like I was daydreaming about Derek instead of having a conversation about the weaknesses and strengths in others. She grinned back, spun her almost empty water bottle on the counter, and hopped off. "I'm off to the bathroom." She stated out loud. We stepped aside so she could pass, but she didn't move. Our gazes met and she raised her eyebrows pointedly.

I'd never realized how awkward I was without a group of friends to grow up with properly. I got the gist of what she meant fast enough, but there was no escaping the awkward moment as we stood there while I tried to figure it out. Girls always went to the bathroom in packs, for reasons unknown to me. "Right," I said out loud, squeezing Derek's hand before letting it go. Tory looked pleased and started off towards the green room door, and I followed dutifully. I had a feeling that Tory wanted to talk more privately, which was why we were escaping the room and heading towards the bathroom. After pushing that thought to Derek, I closed the door to my mind. If Tory wanted to talk to me without Derek present, then she was going to get just that. I didn't know how long I would manage to keep it a secret from my significant, but she deserved an attempt.

Tory led the way to the bathroom. The girls' door was right next to the boys' which was propped open. She shriveled her nose at it before pushing open the door to our bathroom. I figured that it probably smelled better than the boys' because of the lack of traffic in here. Most of the bands that played here were made up of boys, and so was the staff. The girls' bathroom was nearly impeccably clean next to the boys', which I'd caught a glimpse of as we walked by. And even then, it still managed to feel grimy and dirty, probably due to the yellowed tiles, periwinkle blue stalls, and overall age.

Tory went to the mirror and leaned against the sink, swiping a finger under her eye to collect mascara. "I know we don't know each other that well, but you're the only girl that I know that I could talk to without feeling like a complete idiot." She started. I waited for more, but it was silent for a moment. Finally, I went to the other mirror and gazed at my reflection, smoothing down my hair which actually looked nice for once. I figured it was the ascension, making me look more perfect than I originally was. I just attempted to copy Tory's movements without looking like I was. "I don't have many other girlfriends. They all hate me. I don't really blame them. I'm kind of evil." She grinned to herself and reached into her pocket for a tube of lip gloss.

"Anyway, congratulations, you've been selected as my secret holder. Think you can handle it?" I shrugged and made a noise of affirmation. She fixed her hair. "I think Johnny might propose to me."

"What?" I asked, shocked. Johnny and Tory had seemed like they were made for each other, sure, but they were just… not imprinted. Without an imprint, they seemed so young, though both of them were older than twenty-one. "Why do you think that?"

"He's been really secretive lately. At first, I thought he was cheating. That just seems so wrong, doesn't it? A guy can't do a nice thing without his girlfriend thinking that he's being a total jerk. I already thought he was cheating on me once before, when he planned this whole surprise party for my birthday. He was talking to the guys more, even talking to his mom, and he just avoided me. He's not really good at keeping secrets from me. So I thought he was cheating. But he was just throwing me a freaking birthday party. It really made me feel like an idiot, and I swore that I would never do that again. But here I am." She shrugged. "He's doing the same thing he did when he threw the birthday party, except this time, he's acting even weirder. Whenever I drag him to the mall he refuses to look at the jewelry stores when we pass, and he always seems to be looking for something. Or maybe looking for a place to hide something. I'm just guessing, of course, because it's Johnny, and he's never really been the type that sees in black and white. For all I know, it might be a mother's day gift that he's hiding. But that's not what it feels like. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," I said softly. "It makes a ton of sense. I feel that with Derek sometimes. He's not good at keeping secrets from me, either." I smiled a little at that. I knew almost everything there was to know about him, from the trivial things like his favorite movie and his favorite song to the more important things, like the love he felt for me and the need to protect that he felt for his entire family. I'd seen his memories like they were my own, to the point where I'd felt like I'd grown up with him even though I hadn't had a clue who he was for an entire nineteen years.

"I just… I don't know what I'm going to say."

"How about yes?" I offered. To me, an outsider, it seemed like Tory and Johnny were like me and Derek, without all the supernatural aspects. Two pieces of a whole.

"I don't know. I mean, I'm only twenty-one. My parents didn't even get married until they were nearly thirty."

"I think if you know, you know." I said. Tory turned her gaze to me, and a small piece of me was horrified to see tears in her eyes. She wasn't like Derek; I couldn't read what they were for. "I mean, I haven't known you guys long, but to me, it seems like you two are perfect for each other. You know? Soul mates," I added.

"I don't know if I believe in soul mates," she answered. She titled her head as she looked at herself in the mirror. She gave a saddened laugh and wiped her eyes. "My biggest fear is that I'm jumping into this too soon. I don't want to be a statistic. I don't want to get married at an early age and divorced in a few years because of something stupid. I don't want to move forward only to look back later and think about how stupid I was."

"You're not being stupid," I said. "Stupidity happens when you don't think things through. But it also happens if you overthink things, I think. What about this: if Johnny pulls you onto that stage tonight and proposes, what would you say?"

Tory stayed silent for a moment, staring at herself. "I love him. I think I'd say yes."

I smiled at her reflection in the mirror, and she smiled back. "I think you have your answer. There's always a fear of the unknown. When I was completely deaf, I didn't want to talk to people, because I always felt like they'd look at me funny, or think I was dumb because I couldn't understand them as easily as I used to. But I learned to handle it, because I figured that it was all I was going to get. I accepted it for what it was, and decided that life had a way of moving on. The fact that I got my hearing back was a complete fluke. And now, when I look back, I think about all those things that I missed because I was unsure. I stopped going to public school because I hated the way other kids looked at me, but if I stayed I might've been able to teach them a little sign language and become friends with them even if there was a language barrier. I didn't go to college for the same reason. I worked at my mom's store because I thought it was the only place I could be. Doubting yourself is what makes you regret things."

Tory sighed heavily. "I know. I just don't want to regret Johnny."

"I don't think you will."

Tory turned to me and held out her arms, giving me a hug that could only be rivaled by my mother and Victoria. "Thanks. You should be a counselor or something." She said, laughing through a fresh wave of unshed tears. This time, I could tell that they were from happiness. As she looked in the mirror and dabbed at her eyes, she took a glance at me. "Do you ever think about you and Derek? I mean, you two are joined at the hip."

"Yeah, I have," I said, aware of the smile that took over my lips. Since Derek and I had agreed to "elope," none of our human friends were supposed to know that he'd proposed. Only his family was privy to that information. For one second, I felt a pang of longing. I wanted to tell Tory that Derek had proposed to me and that I'd said yes. I wanted her to fawn over a ring that I didn't have yet, and I wanted her to jump at the chance to help me plan a huge wedding that I didn't really need but wanted to have anyway. I wanted to tell her that even though we didn't know each other well, she deserved to be a bridesmaid. But I couldn't. "I think it just might be in our future."

# # #

The show went without a hitch. Tory and I shared secret smiles all night as we stood on the wings, watching the Triple Threat Touchdowns play their set. Johnny and PJ had finally agreed on an encore list in case it was required, which, of course, it was. People cheered in the room as they played, and I was hopelessly aware of the fact that girls were screaming and reaching for Derek. In reality, the girls reached for any of the guys, but in my mind, it was just Derek they were after. Jealousy, stronger than anything I'd ever felt before, had flared up, but Derek was able to soothe me even as he was on stage.

Tory had her eyes practically glued to Johnny. I didn't know how she managed it, but she didn't seem bothered in the least that they were screaming Johnny's name. I thought about asking her how she managed it, but I didn't want to seem as clingy to her as I had to my mother. We already had enough people thinking that they knew better than we did. So I kept my mouth shut and admired her technique from afar.

At the end of the set, Derek had swept off stage, and I'd stepped up to meet him. He didn't exactly pull me out on stage in front of everyone, but he did make it obvious that there was someone – a girl – in his life as he leaned down to kiss me. It could've just been me, but I was hearing a collective sigh as the girls realized that Derek wasn't on the market anymore. The morning after, I'd logged online and ignored the fact that Xavier hadn't written to me and that Bailey had deleted me as a friend. Instead, I went to Derek's page, which had a few desperate posts from girls asking "who the lucky girl was." The Triple Threat Touchdown's page was nearly the same, with girls lamenting the loss of Johnny and Derek as free men, but saying that PJ and Tank were still open. And honestly, I liked the fact that they knew he was mine, even if they didn't know who I was.

This morning, I'd felt good. I felt like nothing could hold me back at all. But then I remembered that I was supposed to have an appointment with Dr. Baird. My mother was coming to pick me up. Derek offered to drive me over to her house, but she declined. She'd never been to Derek's house before, and wanted to see where I was living. I had a feeling that she was going to be thoroughly shocked when she realized that I practically lived in a mansion with my boyfriend-who-was-really-my-fiancé. She knew that Derek's family owned Virtuous cars, but I doubted she imagined a house like this, with an extensive garage and a collection of cars that would shame even the most serious car collectors.

For the first time in years, I spoke to my mother on the phone, giving her step by step instructions to Derek's house. Victoria had hit it off with my mother the night they came over for dinner, and she was excited to have her over. I had the feeling that a part of her was just excited because my mother was about to be another link in the family chain. The rest of the Stantons were instructed to pretend like Derek and I hadn't been engaged. My mother was not supposed to know anything.

I paced by the front door for thirty minutes with Derek leaning against the wall. He'd reached out every now and then, and I'd slap his hand like I was giving him a high five, just to keep the anxiety down. But it still didn't keep me from wearing a rut in the floor. I didn't want mom to think that the Stantons were pretentious, or that I was forgetting my almost humble roots, since it wasn't like my dad didn't make a hefty amount of money. He just didn't make as much as the Stantons, so even to my family, which had been well off, this house was a miracle that they could never hope to afford. Especially now, with my father living alone and my mother contemplating starting a relationship with Jimmy from down the street.

I heard the sound of a car pull up, followed by the slam of a door. I rushed out onto the front porch and squinted down the Yellow Brick Road to see my mom's car. She was standing near it, looking up at the house and then down the road towards the garage, her sunglasses still hiding her eyes, her mouth curved into an O as she took in the house before her.

"Mom!" I called, heading down the steps. "Hi," I said. I went forward to hug her, and she wrapped an arm around my shoulders loosely.

"You told me that they had money," she whispered to me, "but I didn't think you meant that they were probably one of the richest families in Illinois."

"They own a car company," I whispered back. "What did you think?" In my head, Derek laughed softly. I was glad someone was enjoying this. "Come on in, mom. Victoria wants to see you before we go. She really likes you." I smiled. Mom would never admit to it, but she always liked having friends. I think she really hated to feel alone in the world, and just knowing that someone like Victoria considered you a friend was enough to uplift your day a little.

Mom followed behind me as I lead her up into the house. Derek was standing in the doorway. "Ms. Bryson," he said warmly.

"Derek," she returned. Her eyes darted to me for a moment, and then she looked up at my significant and gave him one of her dazzling smiles, the kind that usually wiped a few years off her face. "Call me Amy, okay?"

"Amy?" Victoria called from the kitchen. "Derek, move out of the way and let her in. You will be the death of me," she teased. Derek stepped out of the way and I led my mom into the house. I ignored the expression on her face as she took in the front foyer, carefully decorated with Victoria's artistic eye. Victoria appeared in the kitchen doorway and stepped up to hug my mom. "It's good to see you again. Come in, come in. Do you want a drink or something?"

I wished there was a way to tell Victoria that she was laying it on a bit thick. I doubted that they had regular people visit often, since they were Aces and the only other people I could imagine in this house was Derek's family. So it was forgivable, no matter how awkward it was.

"No, thank you," mom said. "Emily has an appointment that I'm going to take her to. I nearly fell over when I realized that her hearing had returned. It's a miracle, I keep telling her. The doctors said that it would be nearly impossible for her to regain any hearing back at all!"

"Oh, yes!" Victoria agreed enthusiastically. "That's what I told Derek, actually. I said, 'Derek, that's a miracle. You don't forget it, because it doesn't happen often.'" Our eyes met briefly and she gave me a sly wink. Maybe she was better at acting than I gave her credit for.

"Right," I said. "Well, mom, we have to go. We don't want to keep Dr. Baird waiting."

"Good luck!" Victoria called, going to hold the front door open for the both of us. I laid a hand on Derek's arm and stood up on my toes to give him a quick kiss.

"I'll see you when I get back," I told him. He nodded and gave me a smile, and I headed out the door and down to my mother's car. Once the doors were fully closed and she'd backed out of the Stantons' driveway, she looked pointedly at me.

"You didn't tell me that their house was that big! I was sitting here worried that you were getting in their way, but it looks like they have enough room for another ten people to live."

"I don't know if I'd go that far," I told her. "But it is big. I was shocked myself," I told her.

We sat in silence for the majority of the drive, each of us thinking about different things. When we were only a few minutes away from Dr. Baird's office, she glanced at me again. "You didn't show me your room. Do you have your own room, or do you share with Derek?"

A flush immediately bloomed over my cheeks. I was nineteen, so it wasn't like she could tell me what I could and couldn't do. And besides that, we were engaged. Even though my mom didn't know that, I felt like that was a good thing to remember. "They don't have a spare bedroom," I finally answered.

"Well," mom said as she pulled into a parking spot. "Don't do anything you aren't ready for."

"Mom!" I crowed, completely embarrassed. I knew she was just doing what mothers did: she wanted to keep her daughter safe. But it was extremely awkward. Still, I felt like I owed her some sort of explanation. "Derek would never make me do something I didn't want to do." I finally told her. And then, before she could say anything else, I climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut a little too hard.

Thankfully, mom dropped the subject while we were in public, but I was still worried that she'd start talking about it again when we were alone. Hopefully, Dr. Baird would give us plenty to talk about on the drive back. It didn't take long at all for us to be called back, and while we waited, mom and I talked about Derek and whether or not he was planning on going to school, and whether or not I was planning on going to school, when the summer ended.

Finally, Dr. Baird entered the room. He asked me the polite questions that doctors usually ask to make awkward small talk, and then he started giving me tests. I felt like I was there forever as he looked into my ears, looked at old scans and new scans, and subjected me to a sound test where I was supposed to push a button if I heard a sound, which varied from tone and pitch and volume.

I wasn't sure how long it had been from the moment we stepped into the office, but finally, Dr. Baird stood in front of me and mom. He fixed his crooked glasses for the millionth time and stared at the results. "If I didn't see it myself I wouldn't believe it." He said. I liked Dr. Baird; he was an older man, with a slightly shaky voice and a horrible sense of sight, but he was always kind and was always searching to give good news to his patients. "It truly is a miracle, Miss Bryson," he said, giving me a short nod. "It seems that the majority of your hearing has been returned."

That was news to me. I thought all of my hearing had been returned. Was there something that I was still missing? Even though I was grateful that I had earned back something that I'd thought I'd lost completely, but I still felt a little bit of sorrow. There was still something lost to me, something that even Derek couldn't heal. "The majority of it?" I echoed.

"Yes, the majority. It seems that particularly high tones were the ones you missed. Fortunately, these sounds tend to be things such as squeaking door hinges and other things of the like. Voices almost never are that high, unless you like to listen to the opera. Other than that, you're nearly good as new. Either way, Miss Bryson, this is unprecedented. You're a special young lady."

Mom stood up to shake his hand. "Thank you, Dr. Baird," she said. She gathered her purse and jacket. We paid at the window, and went to go sit in the car. I was officially, in the eyes of the public, healed. Emily Bryson was no longer legally deaf. The doors that had seemed glued shut to me had now opened. I could get my license, if I wanted to. Derek would no doubt jump at the chance to give me my very own car. My mom wouldn't doubt that I could live alone. She could trust me, I realized. I could start listening to music again without people questioning me, and I could be the normal person that I'd always wanted.

I couldn't remember the last time I felt so free.

We're getting to the end of Derek and Emily's story, I think. I can see another few chapters in the future, but I doubt we'll reach thirty (really, I think that would be too long.) Anywho, sorry it's been so long since I've updated.

For some reason, I have the strange urge to call you my minions, and I have no clue as to why. Perhaps it is simply because I'm ridiculously tired. But for now, you are my minions, and as my minions, you will ignore any spelling or grammatical errors, because I am a rebel, and I uploaded without editing. Woohoo.

Thanks for your continued support. Leave me a review, I'd love to know what you think! Peace (: