17. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Chase

Rocktoberfest

"Chase, can I speak to you for a moment, please?" Easton's no-nonsense tone had me wracking my brain for anything I could've fucked up but I came up blank.

"Yeah, sure."

He waved me inside our bus and shut the door. Easton was hard to read at times, his face gave nothing away. Bet he'd be a hell of a poker player.

"Shoot, I forgot something. I'll be right back. Please wait here for me." He disappeared and left me wondering…what the fuck?

A few minutes later I heard the golf cart pull up but when the bus door opened it wasn't Easton who stepped inside.

"Daddy!" I yelled and ran straight for him, nearly knocking him over. "I can't believe you're here."

"Believe it, Little Songbird, and let's just say we owe Easton big time for making it happen." Daddy made me giggle with all the silly kisses he pressed to my face.

The pedestal I had Easton on just elevated to the heavens. That man was an amazing magician, and he brought me the one thing that was missing, my Daddy .

"Are you just here for the day?" It was already Friday and we'd been here since Wednesday, I hoped Daddy would be here until we left. I was so excited to get home and pack my stuff up and move in with him, though I dreaded the packing part.

"I'm here for as long as you are, and I'll be riding home with you." Daddy kissed me again but this time he made it to my lips. "I can't believe I'm holding you, my little songbird. It's been far too long."

"Yes it has been and when we get home, and I get to all moved in with my Daddy, I never want to sleep without him again." Until I went out on our next tour, and he had to work. But those were thoughts for another time. "How'd you get time off?"

"Well, that's something we need to talk about." Daddy let go of me and I immediately regretted asking that.

"That doesn't sound good." Happy, sad, and now I hoped for happy again but wasn't feeling it just yet.

Daddy sat his bag in my bunk and came back out.

"Come and sit with me, my love." We slid into the booth seat that was wrapped around the table and wound our arms around each other. Nice and cuddly. Whatever was going on, Daddy would fix it like he always did. "I took a year-long sabbatical. It appears you and I are quite the sensation on social media, and it turned the school into a three-ring circus, so the dean and I agreed I'd take some time off."

"Oh my god. I'm so fucking sorry. I can't believe this happened." I tried to stand. I was antsy and had to pace this anxiety off, but Daddy wasn't having it.

"Songbird, this isn't a problem for me. I have plenty of vacation time banked and I'm still getting paid. Besides, I also have that job offer from Easton to consider but I didn't want to talk to him about it until after you and I had. We're partners and big decisions such as this must be made together."

Daddy called me his partner and wanted my opinion. How did I get so lucky?

"You really want my opinion?" I was one lucky boy. When I was little I trusted Daddy to make all the decisions for us but when it was grown-up time it was nice to know we'd each have a say in the big ones.

"I really do. It's the only one that matters to me." Daddy stroked my cheek and I nearly purred.

Fucking tears. Love had turned me into a big baby!

"Are those happy tears or sad ones, Little Songbird?" Daddy kissed them away as they fell, and I lost track of what he'd asked.

Oh yeah. "Happy, Daddy, really, really happy tears. Honestly, I'm good with anything that includes us spending more time together. Working together, living together—I want it all." That was no joke. Not having Daddy around made me feel empty and sad. Daddy made me a joyful boy just by being around him.

"I'm glad to hear that. After we get home I'll set up a meeting with Easton and see what he has to offer, then we'll weigh the options and make the best decision for us—together."

My head bobbed up and down like one of those crazy bouncy head thingies.

"Deal, Daddy. Ah! I can't believe you're here." I practically crawled onto his lap, and he laughed.

"Me, too, Songbird. Me, too." Daddy kissed the top of my head, and I was in heaven.

Far too soon, others joined us. Now I knew what Seltzer meant all those times he called us cock blocks. Not that Daddy and I had time for that but maybe just a little bit of touching could carry us through until tonight.

"I hate to break this up," Easton said, "but Embrace is due in the media tents in ten for interviews."

I grabbed Daddy's hand and practically dragged him out to the waiting golf cart. There was no way in hell I'd let him out of my sight. I didn't let go until it was time for the first of many back-to-back interviews we'd be shuffled through.

When we got to the main and final one with Octane, I'd made the decision to no longer ignore the usual token straight guy assumptions .

"Wow, Embrace the Fear has skyrocketed to the top of the charts. Congrats, guys," she said and the four of us high-fived and whistled. "With all the fame and fortune and three-quarters of you settled down, what's next for the band?"

Rhone took that one. "Rocktoberfest ends our current tour with Chaotic Abyss. We'll be home to spend the holidays with our families then after the ground thaws in spring," she laughed. "We'll finish the tour along the east coast then it's back into the studio to record our next record."

She turned to me. "Chase, still out there breaking hearts?"

"Nah, that's all behind me now. I'm no longer the lone man out. I found my forever." Daddy's eyes met mine.

"Given the look on your face she's one lucky girl," the interviewer said. Laser focused on Daddy, I'd forgotten her name but knew what I'd say next.

"Guy."

"What?" It was like hearing a record scratch and I swear to fuck every eye in the tent was on me.

"Guy, not girl. He's here with us."

"Wait, the man who just broke every female fan's heart is here in this tent? Where?" When I said nothing, she followed my line of sight. "All right, handsome," she waved Daddy over. "Time to face the firing squad. "

David, Rhone, Seltzer and I were sitting on the couch and Daddy smiled as he joined us and filled the space behind me. The only other one of us who'd been photographed with their partner was Seltzer with Jeremiah. Jordan and Ely hated the limelight and preferred to stay behind the scenes. They'd made it into a photo or two but avoided the paps like the plague. Can't say I blamed them and after this Daddy's face would flood social media even more so than it had.

Good thing he was already on leave.

"Well, there you have it," she winked at Daddy. "Chase Prescott is no longer single, ladies and well, gentlemen."

Then it dawned on me, this was my coming out story and a wave of giggles hit me just as they shut the cameras off.

"What's so funny?" Daddy whispered.

"I just came out." Shit, I probably should've cleared that with Easton, Jeremiah, and River first.

"Way to go," Seltzer shot me a high-five and David shook his head.

"Well, fuck." I was so fucking happy you couldn't smack the smile off my face and Daddy had the same sappy look. "Totally worth it."

"How are we supposed to follow that?" Derek Masters said to me as we exited the tent. The guys from Maiden and Social Sinners had gathered around the entrance, waiting for their interviews .

"No clue. Wasn't planned but the moment was right," I stared up at Daddy, "so I ran with it."

"Nicely done, but your gorgeous ass just broke a lot of hearts," Jaxson pointed out before he spoke to Daddy. "Treat him well, Daddy."

Oh. My. God.

If my face got any redder I'd surely go up in flames.

Guess word of my lifestyle got around to all my band brothers. Plus, my inability to remember to call him Casey when around others didn't help.

"Thank you," Daddy replied. "I promise to take good care of him."

Well, Daddy didn't deny he was my Daddy so why should I?

Maybe my little wasn't hiding so much anymore.

"Soundcheck, gentlemen." Easton waved us back onto the golf cart where Jeremiah sat, and Sikes drove us to the stage. Each year Rocktoberfest grew not only in notoriety but in size as well. It was massive and now the equivalent of a small town. Or so it seemed.

Soundcheck led straight into our set. With so many bands, once soundcheck was over you took the stage, and you had about ten minutes prior to check everything out.

"Chase, Seltzer, David and Rhone." Jeremiah introduced us in turn to the smiling teen girl beside him. "This is Valerie Parker, the winner of the contest to be on stage with Embrace the Fear."

"Great to meet you, Valerie," Rhone said and shook her hand, and we all did the same.

"And this is Valerie's mom, Stacia." Jeremiah introduced the woman with Valerie.

"Nice to meet you," we said to her.

"Valerie, what we failed to mention was there will be a couple special guests on stage to sing a song with you today," Jeremiah told her. Valerie and Stacia's eyes widened just as Joey and Stoli walked up.

They squealed as once they calmed down, Joey and Stoli introduced themselves.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Valerie and Stacia chanted like twins sharing the same brain. How could you not puff up when fans reacted this way?

"Joey and Stoli will join Embrace to play Social Sinners' song ‘Black.' At that point we'll bring Valerie out on stage to sing it with them. Are you familiar with that song?" Jeremiah asked her.

"Oh my god." I think we broke her because those were the only words she seemed to remember so her mom stepped in, having finally found her own voice.

"Yes! She, well we, are huge Social Sinners fans. She knows it start to finish." Valerie stood beside her bobbing her head up and down, reminding me of how I must've looked this morning when I did the same thing. This right here, this was why we as a band pushed through the long, arduous practices and tours for our fans. They were the driving force that guided us through the mayhem. Seeing any of them this excited made it all worth it.

"Excellent. Until then you are both welcome to stand on this platform with a perfect view of the stage. Do you have a phone handy? I'll take pictures of you with the guys." Jeremiah was awesome, a chip off the Masterson block even though he was technically a Taylor.

"Yes, please and thank you," Valerie rattled off as she fumbled her phone which Stoli thankfully caught and handed to Jeremiah, and she nearly burst into tears.

"It's okay, deep breath," Joey used his calm, soothing voice to bring her back down. She nodded and took a couple of deep, cleansing breaths.

Embrace posed with her for a couple, then he took some with just Joey and Stoli, then the six of us along with her and her mom. Total rush. Without a doubt those shots would be blasted all over the internet before we finished our set.

"All right, Embrace, time to take the stage," the stage manager announced, and we each high-fived Valerie then took our places. This was something she'd never forget and what an amazing memory to have. Had I met the guys from Social or Maiden when I was a teen I'd be just as hero-worship-stricken as she was. Who was I kidding? I totally was the first time I met them and still am today.

As the curtain dropped, I growled into the mic. "Black Rock City, how the fuck are y'all doing today?" My screams were drowned out by theirs as hundreds of bodies flooded the floor in front of the stage. "Wow, thanks for that warm reception. We've got a couple of surprises for you today we'll bring out in a bit." I turned and winked at Valerie and spotted Daddy standing behind her and her mother. "But we'll get to that after we've got you good and riled up with a couple of songs. This first one is called ‘Beautiful Disaster!'"

By the end I was shirtless and fucking dying. It was hot as hell beneath the lights and the outside temps weren't helping either. We'd just finished our second encore, "Forsaken," and I was about to grab a bottle of water when the stage manager wound his hands, telling me we were running out of time.

"All right, Nevada, time for that surprise I promised you. Meet Valerie." She walked up to me and waved to the crowd. "She won the sing along with Embrace contest but what she didn't know before she got here was that we had an added surprise for her." Out walked Joey and Stoli carrying his guitar. They waved to the crowd and Stoli plugged in then fist-bumped Seltzer. The fucking crowd was riled up and nearly climbing over each other to get to the front. "All right, all right. Calm the fuck down. You know as well as I do that Joey's voice carries so you'll hear him over by the concession stands." Joey flipped me off and the crowd fucking lost it.

Joey clicked on the wireless mic he had and showed Valerie how to do hers. "Happy to be here today and rock out with my band brothers. Are you ready for it? Sing along if you know the lyrics to our song, ‘Black!'"

Fuck, you'd have thought we just handed each of them a winning lottery ticket.

I know that look in your eyes

It came as no surprise that you were leaving (leaving drawn out)

I should have listened when they said

Your love was all but dead

There's no believing in you anymore

In you (screamed)

I'm my own worst enemy

Fighting the demons inside me

You've awoken a beast I didn't know lived within

Look what you've done to me

I'm so lost I can't see

Hidden in the dark abyss

Now my world's turned to black

There's no fucking turning back

I've wasted enough of my time

We've said our last goodbyes

I'll hear no more of your lies (screamed )

I won't be used again

To me you're fucking dead

So just walk away

Because this time you won't win

We've been down this road before

Far too many times to ignore

I've never looked at another, yet you seemed to look at everyone

But here's where we say our final goodbye

Now my world's no longer black

I'm never fucking turning back

You were never worth my time

I've said my last goodbye

They'll be no more lies

Now I can see in the light of day you're not who you said you were

I pity those whose paths you cross

Your ruthless ways will bring you lonely days

One day soon you'll see

You're not all you claim to be

Forget you ever knew me

You're nothing more than a memory

I've made myself the man I've always wanted to be

I've said…Goodbye…

"Give it up for Valerie, everyone!" I screamed to the crowd at the end of the song. Her arms waved wildly in the air as she cheered for herself. She kept right up with us and didn't have a bad voice at all. "Stick around, next up is the Shred Off and our very own Seltzer," he waved to the crowd, "and the infamous Stoli will be competing again this year."

My brothers, myself, and Valerie took to the front of the stage for a bow. Had we not been holding hands I would've toppled over and into the pit the second I bent over and lost my balance. Needed water for sure and likely a chair to plant my tired ass in for a while.

I took my time carefully walking down the platform stairs and as soon as I spotted Daddy, I called out to him. My head spun and my legs gave out. Down I went though I don't remember hitting the ground.