Chapter Forty-Three

It's nerve-rackingly close to when we need to be on stage and Alison is MIA. I've been looking for her for awhile now and keep coming up short. I really wanted to try to catch her beforehand to talk a bit, but I can't find her anywhere.

I try not to think about the fact that it seems like she's avoiding me, but I can't help it. She always has a set routine before shows and she doesn't seem to be following that tonight which is completely unlike her. She's extremely superstitious when it comes to her before show rituals.

I see a flash of red hair turn the corner. Willow. I quickly rush towards her taking the corner she just turned past at full speed.

"Willow!" I shout. She keeps walking as if she doesn't hear me. "Willow!" I try again.

There's no way she can't hear me. It's not that loud in this area and I'm not being quiet about it.

"Willow!" I yell at this point. She stops in her tracks but doesn't turn towards me. I run up behind her and put my hand on her shoulder. "Hey."

She slowly turns towards me, an uncomfortable smile on her face. "Hi."

She shifts her weight a bit. Is she nervous about something?

"I was just looking for Alison. I haven't been able to find her all night. Do you know where she is?"

Willow's eyes dart to the side. It's like she's doing all she can to avoid eye contact with me.

"Not at the moment," she answers as she shifts her hand behind her back. She's holding something but I can't tell what.

"What's going on?" Anxiety starts to fill my chest.

"Nothing. Everything's fine," her voice quivers a bit as she answers.

"Willow. Come on. Clearly something's wrong."

"Everything is fine." She turns her head away from me. "I gotta go. Break a leg out there." Then she turns and power walks down the hall before I can say anything.

I start to head down the hall she just disappeared down to follow her. I'm not letting her off the hook that easy, especially if something's wrong.

"Archer!" a voice calls.

I turn around towards the voice. "Yeah?"

"We need to get you mic'd up here."

I take another glance at the hall that Willow practically bolted down. She's gone. I slowly turn back towards the sound tech feeling defeated.

"Yeah, that's fine," I say turning back and following him in the opposite direction. I let out a jagged breath as I take one last glance down the hallway.

"And if you agree, you can meet me by our favorite tree. We may not have a lot of time but I'd find my way back to you even if I had to use my last dime," Alison sings as she smiles on stage.

I've been watching her all night, trying to see if I can figure out what's going on. For the most part, she seems okay. There was a few times where she had a weird look on her face but then it'd instantly snap back to a smile.

The song comes to an end and it's time for the acoustic set of the night. The piano slowly starts to rise next to me from under the stage. I wait for it to lock into place before walking over to it and sitting on the bench, positioning myself to play.

I turn towards Alison, waiting for my cue, and see that she's sitting on a stool with her red guitar in her lap. My brows crinkle as I watch her take the glittery black pick from the small holder on the side and flex her fingers a bit.

She never sits during this part. She usually stands at the mic and ends up behind me dancing to the music. I've never seen her use a stool before.

I watch Alison, willing her to look at me, but she keeps her eyes away from me the entire time. My anxiety rises more than it already was before. I try not to read too much into her current state, but it's definitely hard to shake. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I dropped dead from a heart attack after all the worrying I've been doing today.

She nods her head signaling she's ready to start, and I play the first few notes of the song. I stare at the piano in front of me trying to focus on what I'm playing. She always winks at me before we start. Always. And tonight, nothing. I'm about thirty seconds away from panicking at this point.

Something's wrong. Why won't anyone tell me anything? Did I do something? Is she mad at me?

I run the past few days in my head trying to figure out what it could be, but I can't come up with anything. The time we've been spending together has been magical.

Her voice starts to ring out across the stadium as she starts the first few lyrics of the song. We play the next few songs receiving a deafening amount of cheers after each. I keep turning towards her trying to read her face, but she's smiling throughout the entire thing like normal. She seems fine, but I can't ignore the nagging feeling that something is wrong.

When we finish the acoustic set, I stand up from the piano bench and walk towards Alison. She puts the guitar in its stand and moves to put the pick in the holder. But before she can slide it in, she must lose her grip on it and the pick tumbles to the stage. I start to reach for it but she quickly bends down, grabs it, and slips it in the slot with a shaky hand. I look up at her and swear I catch her wincing but before I can be sure, that smile is plastered on her face again.

Keeping on with our normal routine, I take a step towards her, grabbing her hand as we take our final bow. I notice that her grip on my hand isn't as tight as it usually is.

"Alison," I whisper as we are lowered into the stage.

She continues smiling and waving at the crowd, acting like I didn't say anything. I guess it's possible she didn't hear me over all of the cheering, but I'm standing right next to her.

The second we are no longer in view, she drops my hand, places a kiss on my cheek, and then heads away from me.

"Alison, wait!" I shout this time but she's gone and everyone has started moving to break down for the night blocking me from seeing which way she went.