Here's to Yesterday

by Teagan Hunter

  Smiling, I say, “Of course I did. I didn’t know you were coming now, so I don’t have your presents here with me. Can I bring them to you later?” Her head bobs up and down. “Good. I’ve got to get back inside, but you promise me I’ll get to see you soon? Maybe I can talk your dad into letting me take you to get ice cream.”

  “He’ll say yes,” Joey tells me with certainty.

  I open my arms up to her, and she huddles in close to me. I kiss the side of her head and say, “I love you, bug. Hope you drove Uncle G nuts while I was gone.”

  “I did,” she says, pulling out of my embrace. Hudson clears his throat behind her. “Oh, yeah. Daddy says for you to tell Rae to ‘say yes’ while you’re singing. He thinks it will help.”

  I raise a brow at Hudson, wondering what the hell that’s about. “I will, Joey.”

  “Good. Love you, Uncle Tuck! Bye!” she hollers over her shoulder as she runs toward the waiting car at the side of the building.

  I wave to Hudson’s mom, Elle, and immediately turn back to my best friend.

  “You didn’t.”

  Hudson’s smile is fucking huge. “I did.”

  “And?”

  “Well, you heard the kid.” He points to the door behind me and says, “So you better get your ass in there and tell my girl for me.”

  I turn toward the door, pulling it open slightly, and pause. Pivoting back to Hudson and gulping loudly once, I ask, “Is it…?”

  “No,” he answers immediately, knowing I’m asking if it’s too late for me and Maura. “It’s not. Stop worrying and go get up on that stage. Sing your heart out. And for the love of God, tell Rae to say yes.”

  We walk back inside just in time to hear Gary step up to the mic. Hudson and I part ways as I head back to the band’s area, and he heads over to our friends.

  “Welcome, welcome!” The crowd cheers. Gary tries to talk twice but keeps getting drowned out. In typical Gary fashion, I hear, “All right, shut it already!” I chuckle because damn, did I miss the old man. “We’ve got a treat for you tonight. One of our own—my own—decided to run off and make himself into a trending new artist. He’s chosen tonight to grace us with his presence for the first time in over three months. So without further ado, please welcome my son, Tucker Bentley!”

  The place goes nuts and for the first time in three months, I get pre-show jitters. Not certain if it’s because I’m playing in front of my hometown crowd or because Maura’s out in the crowd.

  Either way, I don’t have time to freak out. When I walk up onto the stage, Gary pulls me into a firm hug.

  “Missed you, son,” he says in my ear.

  “Missed you too, Dad.”

  He gives me a pat on the back and hustles off the stage, and if I’m not mistaken, wipes his eyes.

  Sitting down on my stool, I clear my throat in my usual way, and the house goes quiet. I search beyond the lights for the person I came back for.

  My eyes find hers almost immediately, whisking away the air in my lungs. She seems happy and sad and unsure all at once.

  But she’s still fucking beautiful.

  Maura looks different yet still the same as she did when I left. Her eyes are still a vibrant shade of blue, but they’re somehow happier now. Her pale blonde hair that was once tipped with dark pink is now dipped in dark blue. Her clear complexion is as radiant as ever, maybe even more so now than before. She’s still everything I want.

  Then that guy I saw her with earlier comes into my line of sight. He’s gigantic, packed full of muscles, and a little intimidating. I have to give the dude credit because he’s hovering over my girl with a fierce sense of protection—exactly what I’d be doing if some jackass was leering at her the way I am.

  But I’m no average jackass. And that girl is still mine.

  My chest is thumping, and I’m fighting the urge to jump the stage, punch Fuck Face, and kiss Maura.

  But I don’t.

  Instead, I peel my eyes from hers, lean down toward the microphone, and give that same smirk I always do. “Did you guys miss me or what?” Cheers erupt again. “Good. The road has been fun, but Wakefield is home. Since I missed you all so much, I’m going to play you all a new song called Yesterday that hasn’t been recorded yet. It’s for a special someone, who I hope is listening closely tonight. But first I just have one thing to say.” Holding my hand up to my eyes to shield my gaze from the lights, I find Rae and stare her down. “Rae, say yes.”

  “HUDSON TAMELL!”

  Over these last few months, I’ve learned to let go on stage. I forget where I am, forget the crowd, and forget the band. All I focus on is the music and what it’s making me feel.

  That’s what I did at Mic’s tonight. I let it all slip away.

  Including Maura.

  When I snap back to reality at the end of my set, I notice her chair is empty and the douchebag she’s with tonight is burning holes in my direction.

  I look to Hudson for help, and he shrugs. Thanks, bud.

  Wanting to collect myself after the girl I came home for disappeared on me, I pass by James without a word and head toward the staircase leading to the roof. A little fresh air sounds fantastic.

  I burst through the door and stop dead in my tracks.

  “Dallas, I told you I was—” She spins around and stops mid-sentence.

  Neither one of us moves. It’s like time has frozen, and we can’t seem to get it to thaw. The only thing not frozen is the heat surrounding us. I feel the familiar tug I’ve always felt with her, and I want so desperately to move toward her, but I’m afraid she’ll run off again.

  “Fine,” she finishes. “Tucker.”

  I close my eyes when she says my name. It’s as if she’s wrapping it up in love and desire. It’s intimate, familiar, breathtaking.

  “Maura,” I say, projecting everything she just did back at her.

  We’re ten feet apart, and I can still see the way her chest starts to heave at her name rolling off my lips. Good.

  “What are you…what are you doing here?”

  Oddly enough, I relax at her question. Because it’s not what she says, it’s the way she says it. Breathless, needy, curious, hopeful. She still wants me.

  A piece of me wants to say that nothing has changed between us, but I can’t. Everything has changed. But it’s a good change. I can feel how much we’ve grown. In an unusual way, we’ve grown together rather than apart. We haven’t talked, but we’ve both stayed connected.

  We’re still us. Just different, better versions of us.

  Now I just need to know if she’s as ready as I am.

  Putting my hands in my back pockets, I shrug. “You know. Had a gig.”

  Her eyes fall to the ground as she says, “I know. I heard it.”

  I cross the distance between us and stop when I’m just a mere foot from her. “Did you, Maura? Did you hear it? Did you really listen to the words?”

  Every song I sang tonight was about her. Sure, a song or two came before Maura, but all along they were about her. She’s always been what I was searching for. And now that I’ve found her, I’m not letting her go. Not again.

  Stepping into her more, I angle her head toward mine. “I’m about to kiss you, Maura,” I tell her, searching her gaze for any hint that she doesn’t want this. I find none. “Before I do, I need to know who Dallas is.”

  “Dallas is nothing and everything to me, Tucker. But you, you’re just everything.”

  That’s all I need.

  I seize her mouth, her body, her heart, and her soul all in one kiss.

  Maura

  “So, you live with a guy.” The way Tucker says it isn’t as a question, but I know he wants an explanation.

  It’s probably been an hour now since Tucker’s set ended, and we’re still up on the roof. We’ve been kissing, talking, and kissing some more.

  Fine. All we’ve done is kiss, but can you blame us?

  “I do,” I answer. “He showed up at Clyde’s one night back w
hen I worked there, and—”

  “Wait. Past tense. You said worked,” he interrupts. “Since when do you not work there? And where do you work now?”

  “Since about three weeks or so after you left. And here. I work here now.”

  “What? Why?”

  I shrug. “I’m thinking of getting into the business side of music. I enjoyed pretending to be your manager, and I think it’s something I might be able to make a career out of.”

  “Huh,” he says. “So. Dallas?”

  “Yes. Dallas. Dall. Anyway, he came around, heard I was thinking of looking for a roommate.” I shrug. “We clicked, and he moved in almost immediately.”

  “That’s it? No other info? What if he was a crazy sex pervert?”

  “Well, I don’t have a penis, so I don’t think that’s a problem.”

  “Really?” he says in shock. “Didn’t see that one coming.”

  “Yeah, me neither. I thought he was just hitting on me at first and made Hudson come over while Dallas checked the place out just to intimidate him and make sure that wasn’t the case.”

  “Our friends are assholes. Those fuckers never said a word about you working here. And Gary is now on my shit-list for not telling me.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, they barely ever mentioned your name. It kind of made things easier. Besides, would it have made a difference? Would you have come back earlier?”

  I peek over at Tucker, who’s looking over at the other side of the roof, staring off into the night. “No, probably not,” he says. “Honestly, I’m glad we didn’t talk during these last few months. It’s made this reunion even sweeter.”

  “Is that was this is? A reunion?”

  I’m terrified to know his answer, but I need to know. I have to get ready to put on my mask if it isn’t, because I honestly don’t think my heart can take it.

  “I’m here to stay, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  I release a sharp breath of air. Thank God.

  He continues, “I’ve already talked with the tour manager, James, about it. My contract was short. Now it’s up to me to negotiate my new contract with the label if I decide to.”

  “Are you going to?”

  Tucker looks back over at me. “I think so. This has been amazing so far. The only thing I didn’t like was being apart from you. But again, I think it’s helped.”

  “I agree,” I tell him. “And it gave us time and space to figure out what we want.”

  You, Tucker. You’re what I want.

  “Maura, it was never about me needing to figure it out. I’ve always wanted you, and I’ve always known that. This was us trying to find ourselves outside of Tanner and what happened with us. This was us finally doing something for ourselves,” he says, kicking my heart into overdrive. “There wasn’t a day I didn’t think about you or miss you or desperately want to be with you. But three months ago, we weren’t the versions of ourselves that we are now. We’re better. We’re stronger. We’re more…us.”

  I stare down at my lap, thinking about what he just said.

  “Are we, Tucker? Are we an us?”

  He reaches his hand out, entwining our fingers together.

  “We’ll always be an us, Maura. You can’t erase our yesterdays.”

  “But you can’t predict our tomorrows, either,” I push.

  “No, we can’t. But I sure as shit can stick by you through them. We’ll brave it all. Together. As an us.”

  I look up at the sincerity in his voice. There’s something in his words that strikes against my heart, igniting it, bringing a spark of hope and forever with Tucker.

  “I love you,” I blurt out. Tucker laughs as I bury my face in my hands. “Stop it!”

  He pulls my hands down and forces my gaze to his. “I love you too, Maura. I have loved you for a long damn time. I swear the second I saw you sitting alone at Perk last year I fell in love with you. I just wish I hadn’t been such a baby and had said something then.”

  “Me too,” I say, not even thinking about it.

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Oh, hush. You know what I meant.”

  He laughs that deep laugh of his again.

  “So. You in? You want to do this? For real this time?” he asks with a gleam in his eye that promises happiness and undying love for a lifetime if I say yes.

  My response?

  I kiss him.

  “I guess that’s a yes,” he teases, breaking our kiss.

  “More of a ‘hell yes,’ but yes. I love you, Tucker. I never see that changing. You’ll always be that guy for me. You’re my ‘The End.’”

  Tucker plants another kiss on my lips, understanding what I’m telling him.

  I snuggle into his arms, and we sit quietly in the night. I woke up this morning hoping to see Tucker but unsure if he wanted to see me.

  This moment, here with him? It’s way more than I could have ever asked for.

  “I don’t think I want to erase our yesterdays,” Tucker says softly, breaking me from my thoughts.

  “Hmm?”

  “They’re there for a reason. Hudson’s always told me that everything happens for a reason, and I’ve never taken him seriously before. But now I get it.”

  Sitting up, I ask him to explain.

  “When I saw you last year at Perk, you seemed lonely, afraid almost. I could see that mask of yours even then. I walked away, letting you continue to wear it. Then Rae and Hudson happened, and with that came you and Tanner. I have to admit, it broke my heart at first to witness you two together. When I thought I had accepted it, we became friends, and that whole ‘accepted’ thing flew out the window because I quickly realized that I could never just be your friend. I would always want more. And we had that for a while.” Tucker smiles, I’m sure thinking of the short amount of time we had together before and how good it was. “But I think that if we had continued it without taking a break, we would have ended up running one another off. We needed to rid ourselves of our masks once and for all. And we did. So I’m grateful for the yesterdays. Grateful for them, but still excited as hell for our future together.”

  Truth. I think deep down we knew we wouldn’t have lasted if we’d kept playing at being false versions of ourselves and skating around our history with Tanner. The break mended all that because we only focused on ourselves.

  We finally took off our masks and became who we always wanted to be.

  Us.

  Six Months Later

  Maura

  “I cannot believe you’re getting married.”

  A month after Tucker left the first time, Hudson proposed to Rae. Two months later, she finally said yes.

  While the engagement may appear rushed to some, it seemed merited to the group. Tanner’s death sparked a fire inside everyone, making us realize that we don’t have a guarantee of tomorrow. All we have is today.

  “I know. I’m dying over here. This is insane. I’m too young. I quit. Let’s run away and go be weird together somewhere far, far from here.”

  I grab my best friend by the shoulders, halting her attempt to run out of the bathroom. “Not so fast, skippy. Sit.”

  Rae plops back down on the closed toilet seat and huffs. “This is such bullshit.”

  Laughing, I finish pushing in the last bobby pin and release her. “Done. Now go look in the mirror.”

  The here she’s referring to is the exact same beach house Hudson took Rae to for her birthday. The same one that houses memories both of them would rather forget. Which is exactly why they chose this spot for their wedding. They want to start over, erase those memories.

  “Holy wow! I’m hot!” Rae yells.

  I cross the hall to the bedroom and admire my best friend. I swear Rae is the only person I know who would get married in white cut-off shorts and a white Transit t-shirt. I tried talking her into a dress a million times, but she wouldn’t budge, saying Hudson would appreciate her outfit choice. She did let me do a low-key up-do for her hair, so at least I w
on something.

  “You look gorgeous, Rae. I’m so happy for you.”

  She grins at her reflection. “Me too. I can’t believe I’m getting married. Married. Me. Who would’ve thought? And you. You’re going to be a…” She trails off.

  “I know.”

  “And Haley’s with…,”

  “I know. I didn’t see that one coming either,” I tell her.

  It took time, but Rae and Haley have finally fully mended their relationship. I think a little bit of it had to do with Haley coming around a lot more now than before.

  “It just all seems so fast. Like life is just flying by. It’s only been a year and a half.”

  A year and a half. It’s hard to believe that’s all it’s been. It feels like just yesterday Hudson and his friends walked into Clyde’s and into our lives. Now, Rae and Hudson are getting hitched, I’m the manager of a very successful musician, Tucker, and Gaige is, well, let’s just say he surprised us all with where he is in life.

  Shrugging, I say, “I guess that’s just how it works when you’re happy and in love. Time doesn’t drag. It just happens. Life happens.”

  “I’m going to be a stepmother!” she gasps.

  I walk toward her, placing my hands on her shoulders. “You already are one. But if it makes you feel any better, we’ll do this together.”

  Rae throws her arms around me, hugging me tight.

  “Thank you for being my maid of honor,” she says, pulling away. “You’re the best best friend ever.”

  “I know.” I pat my still-flat stomach. “Maybe someday you can be my maid of honor too.”

  “Rae and I want to extend our gratitude to you all. Thank you for your support and help in putting this little shindig together. We love you all. Except you, Gaige. Cheers,” Hudson says to the small group gathered for the reception.

  He hands the microphone over to Rae, who is adamantly shaking her head, not wanting to say anything in front of the crowd.

  “You’re so mean!” Rae says, just loud enough for the microphone to pick it up. Everyone laughs, and she turns beet red. Normally not one to shy away from crowds, I think having all the attention on her today has started to make her a little nervous. She shakily brings the mic up to her mouth. “I…uh…we…um…Maura’s pregnant!” she screeches, throwing the expensive equipment off the small stage and into the sand like it’s on fire.