Disharmony

Epilogue

3 YEARS LATER

“We’re here!” Dylan said as their car came to a stop, his voice coming out almost like a high pitched squeal. Which could’ve been a testament to his current emotional state or the fact that his voice was changing and seemed to crack in every other sentence he spoke.

Kari grinned widely, his happiness was contagious, after all. “You excited, Dyl? You seem excited.”

“Shut up,” he mumbled, momentarily embarrassed before deciding that he had every right to feel the way he did and stretching his lips into a slow smile. “This is a big deal.”

She immediately felt guilty for dampening his light, especially on such an important night.

“You’re right,” she assured him, reaching over Annie, who was sitting in the middle of the back seat of the large SUV, to comfortingly squeeze Dylan’s shoulder. “It’s a huge deal. Ready for the insanity?”

Although his eyes were still wide with wonder, he admitted, “I’m a little nervous.”

“Don’t worry,” she said softly, inhaling deeply to calm her own nerves as the driver opened her door. “I’ll be with you the whole time.”

Nodding, Dylan flashed her a grateful smile and waited as she and Annie stepped out onto the red carpet before following suit. Kari kept close to her best friend and her boyfriend’s little brother, her arms permanently wrapped around their waists as they stepped in front of the bleacher full of people with large cameras and the shouting and bright flashes began.

The entire situation was a little surreal. Concerts didn’t usually have red carpets, but this was no normal concert. As the grand finale to his world tour, Xavier was playing three sold out shows at Madison Square Garden and his manager had managed to turn the final show into a star studded spectacular in order to celebrate Xavier’s second album going platinum. Anyone who was anybody was invited and because the after party wasn’t going to be a public affair – because Xavier didn’t want to do anything that Dylan couldn’t come to – the press photos were being taken as the stars arrived to the concert itself, pulling up to the entrance which had been closed off and designated for VIPs.

This was probably around the hundredth red carpet event Kari had attended, so she wasn’t particularly nervous, but she knew it was all new for Dylan and Annie, so she whispered words of encouragement in their ears as the paparazzi called out their names.

“Kari, over here! On your left! Can we get an over the shoulder shot? Any comment on the rumors that you and Xavier secretly got married in Hawaii last month?”

She had to keep herself from grinning at that last question. They’d gone on vacation to spend some quality time together before they set off on their respective tours and would be apart for months at a time. When they returned to the mainland, it seemed every news outlet was convinced that the real purpose of their little getaway was to tie the knot in a private ceremony. It was an intriguing idea and if they ever did get married, she imagined they’d both like it to be as small an event as possible.

But for now, it was just fun to keep people guessing. Shooting the paparazzo who had asked the question a wry smile, she said, “If I commented, it wouldn’t be a secret anymore, would it? Thanks, guys.”

Dylan seemed to be getting a bit overwhelmed by all the cameras, so she ushered him and Annie inside, relaxing a bit when they were no longer in the craziness.

“Do you wanna go wish Xavier luck?” she asked Dylan. They’d seen him a few hours ago, before he left for soundcheck, but the show was starting in under an hour, which meant he could very well be a bundle of nerves and seeing his little brother might be just the calming agent he needed.

“Nah,” Dylan shook his head, “he doesn’t need luck. He’s got this.”

Kari grinned at Dylan’s nonchalance, thinking that she couldn’t agree more. Xavier had worked his ass off to get here and by this point, he’d played to sold out stadiums so many times that it hardly fazed him anymore.

“I can take Dylan to our seats if you wanna go,” Annie offered, sensing that despite Dylan’s confidence, Kari still wanted to see her boyfriend before the show.

Smiling at her best friend, she turned to walk towards the inner door which she knew led backstage. “Thanks, Annie.”

No one stopped her or asked her to see a backstage pass as she wandered through the stadium’s inner maze. Although she was sure her recognizable face had something to do with it, she was also sure everybody knew about her connection to Xavier. They’d been dating for just over three years now and Kari still found it incredible that she could possibly feel so content in a relationship.

Of course, they had their ups and downs. Going on world tours at the same time meant that there were months were they hardly saw each other at all, and their busy schedules combined with time differences made phone conversations or video chats difficult. So they’d get into arguments about the fact that they never got to see each other before realizing that the entire conversation was ridiculous and ended up laughing.

Being apart for such long periods of time was hard, but miraculously enough, Kari never worried about Xavier straying. She trusted him completely and she knew that he loved her, so she went to sleep every night feeling absolutely wonderful and thinking that she hoped every person in the world found someone who made them feel so safe and happy and just completely content with life.

“Anyone home?” she asked as she pushed open his dressing room door to find him standing in the middle of the room, throwing M&Ms in the air and trying to catch them in his mouth.

“Hey!” he grinned, his cheeks tinting adorably red as he chewed and swallowed the piece of chocolate candy he’d just caught. “What are you doing back here? Where’s Dylan?”

“He and Annie are at their seats,” she replied, closing the door behind her and stepping towards him. “I just wanted to come wish you luck.”

She almost felt bad saying that, especially after Dylan’s casual comment about Xavier not needing luck, but the truth was that she was here more for herself than for him. She’d missed him the past few months while they were apart and she was just finding excuses to spend more time with him.

“Oh, well,” his smile widened as he dumped the candy in his hand into the nearest bowl and stepped towards her as well, placing his hands at her waist. “I’m always down for seeing my good luck charm.”

“Is that what I am?” she asked quietly, flattening her palms against his chest. It was a novel concept; to be lucky to anyone. She liked the idea of being a positive force in someone’s life.

Nodding, he moved his hands to the base of her back to pull her in closer, resting his forehead against hers. “Absolutely. Thanks so much for being here, baby.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” she assured him. Her tour was still going strong, so she’d been doing press in DC all morning and had taken a private jet to be here, and she knew it was worth it. Xavier would always be worth it. “Need a pep talk?”

“Nope,” he flashed a grin, repeating what his brother had said earlier. “I got this.”

“Yeah, you do,” she laughed, leaning in to press a kiss to his lips. “I love you. Go be amazing.”

He kissed her again before dropping his arms from around her and exiting the room to go find his guitar, calling out as he left, “Love you more.”

She whispered her response to his retreating back. “Love you most.”

The concert was amazing, of course. She knew it would be. Xavier always had a way of captivating a crowd without using any gimmicks. It was just him and his guitar on that stage and she couldn’t take her eyes off him for a second. She cheered alongside Dylan and Annie from their front row seats and afterwards, they all went back to the hotel where Xavier was staying for the private after party in the hotel’s ballroom. Xavier stood at the center of the room, like a king commanding his court, with Kari on his left and Dylan on his right and Kari couldn’t help but think, not for the first time since she started dating Xavier, that everything seemed so right with the universe.

Dylan got sleepy around one in the morning, so Xavier and Kari said their goodbyes and helped the teenager get up to the hotel room, where he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Kari leaned over to press a kiss to his forehead, whispering a goodnight before joining Xavier in the hallway and closing the door behind her.

She parted her lips to ask if he wanted some water, but was unable speak because he pulled her into an embrace and kissed her firmly on the mouth.

“What was that for?” she asked when they pulled apart, her heart racing and her breathing a little shallow.

He shrugged, keeping his arms locked around her waist and swaying her lightly from side to side. “Today was such an unbelievable day and I’m just realizing how incredibly lucky I am.”

“I’m glad,” she replied, scratching her fingers lightly against his cotton t-shirt. “You deserved it. You’ve worked your ass off to get here.”

“We both did.”

She lifted her eyebrows in surprise. “What are you talking about?”

His own brows furrowed, and he spoke seriously. “I hope you know that you are such a huge reason that I made it this far.”

“That’s not true at all,” she insisted. “You did this completely on your own. I barely helped you out.”

After all, it had been Henry who first booked Xavier as the opening act to her tour. She’d had no part in that decision. It was all part of her manager’s plan to revamp her image. She really needed to send Henry some sort of muffin basket as a thank you gift.

“I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree,” Xavier laughed softly, dropping his arms from around her to grab her hand and tug her towards the balcony.

He wrapped his arms around her from behind to keep her warm once they were enjoying the crisp night air and she leaned back into his chest, thinking that life didn’t really get much better than this.

“You alright?” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple.

She’d never been more alright in her entire life. “Yeah, why?”

“You’re doing that crinkly thing you do with your eyebrows when you have something to say but you don’t know how to say it.”

“I am?” she asked. She hadn’t realized she’d been making any sort of face. But maybe she shouldn’t have been surprised, because Xavier had always seen right through her. And there was something on her mind, just probably not what he thought.

“Will you just spit it out, Kar?” he begged as she turned in his arms to face him, her arms wrapping around his neck. “It’s kinda freaking me out because you’ve never really been the suffer in silence type.”

She didn’t have some huge confession to make. She just wanted to ask him a question. This wasn’t the time or place she’d imagined this happening, but since he wanted to know, she figured she might as well just go for it.

“Will you marry me?”

He clearly wasn’t expecting that, because every muscle in his body tensed and he started blinking rapidly. “What?”

He heard her the first time; she knew he did, but there wasn’t any harm in repeating the question. So she asked it again, her smile widening with each word, which she spoke slowly for emphasis. “Will…you…marry…me?”

“I, uh, I heard you the first time,” he confirmed, shaking his head and sounding extremely rattled, “I was just…give me a second.”

She was fully prepared to let him mull it over for a few minutes, because heaven knows it took her long enough to decide that this is what she wanted in the first place, but her heart sank when he pushed her away and disappeared inside the hotel room.

He needed some alone time to figure out the best way to let her down easy. That was the only explanation for his abrupt departure. And here she thought that they were on the same page, that finally, she was in a relationship with someone where they were both giving and receiving in equal amounts, but maybe she had misinterpreted. Maybe she was so blinded by her love for Xavier that she didn’t see that he wasn’t ready for the next step.

And honestly, that was fine with her. She loved him and she wanted to be with him and if that meant that they didn’t get married, she could care less. All she wanted was Xavier, and she launched into a speech saying exactly that when he returned a few minutes later. “Look, if you don’t wanna marry me, it’s fine. You don’t need to sneak away so you can think up a good way to say no.”

“That’s not why I left,” he said, his voice steadier than it had been before. He dug his fingers into the front pocket of his jeans and opened his palm in front of her. “I was getting this.”

She looked down and her eyes immediately widened at the sight of a beautiful diamond ring. “Is that…,” she whispered, her throat going dry. “Xavier, why do you have an engagement ring?”

A small smirk kinked his lips. “Why do you think?”

“s**t,” she gulped, coming to a startling realization. “Did I just ruin it for you?”

She suddenly felt silly for doubting Xavier’s commitment to their relationship. Of course they were on the same page. And maybe he had some sort of romantic proposal planned and she’d gone and shot it all to hell by asking first.

“No,” he shook his head. “To be honest, I hadn’t figured out how I was going to ask. And I think a part of me wasn’t sure how you would respond if I did. But since you just asked me, I’m guessing that’s a yes.”

“Yes,” she replied immediately, her former insecurities fading away. Her confidence was returning with each passing second and she decided that she was glad that she asked first. Because she always fought for what she wanted and right here, right now, what she wanted more than anything was for Xavier to be her husband. “But is it a yes for you? You still haven’t answered my proposal.”

“Yes, Kari Stevens, I will marry you,” he grinned, picking up the ring with his free hand and holding it towards her between two fingers. “Will you marry me?”

“Sure,” she shrugged casually and laughed, thinking that five years ago, she never would have imagined that she’d be able to answer such a life changing question so quickly and nonchalantly. But the breeziness of her answer was a testament to how much she’d grown up in the past few years. She didn’t doubt herself anymore. She’d allowed herself to fall for Xavier completely and she trusted him and she trusted that marrying him would make her even happier, if that was even possible. So she had no holdups about being his wife. She was pretty sure she was going to a damn good one.

He grinned widely as he slipped the ring on her finger and leaned into kiss her softly.

“What a crazy way for today to end, huh?” he whispered against her lips.

“What are you talking about?” she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck so that she could hold him closer and leaning in to kiss him again. “Today is just the beginning.”