There was this loud, nearly deafening thumping ringing out around me, yet I couldn't tell if it was the echo of the bass of the drums from before, or the thumping of my heartbeat in my ears. I cleared my throat, the leather creaking as I shifted in my seat, and I could feel the eyes of the people behind me, waiting.

And you, my you, sat in front of me, blinking expectantly, fidgeting with her fingers. "So..." I started after a long time. "I'm sure you know why you're here... Right?" I sighed, looking down. "Listen... Its not that anything is wrong with you, love. Its just... The rest of our members, and even our own fans, just think that maybe... You're no longer a good fit for us." I finally gather the courage to look up at you. "I hope you understand."

*Four months later

The beat is pulsing, my eardrums are pulsing, and so is my blood. I embrace all the pumping in my blood as I leap around the stage, my mouth pressed against the mic. The crowd roars in front of me, I see the faces there, some split with happiness, others with pain from how much they relate to the song. Matt, our drummer, gave the drums a last bash, bringing the song to an end. I finally get a chance to breathe in the midst of all my singing, my chest heaving as I take ragged breaths. I can't stop the face splitting grin that spreads on my face as I peer into the crowd, but I fight the pain in my chest. The song I just sang... It was our song.

Finally off stage, I get handed a towel, patting my face dry. The assistant hands me my phone, and I pull it out and immediately open up your chat, sending you yet another message:

`Did you get the ticket I sent you for today's show?` `I didn't see you in the crowd, did you come?` `Please tell me you came, we need to talk.` `Your ticket has the backstage pass, come round and say hi? Miss you.`

As usual, you leave me on seen. If you scroll through all our most recent messages, it's mostly me talking and then getting ignored. I don't mind, as long as you see them, I'm happy. With a sad sigh, I click my phone off. I hadn't seen you since you were kicked out the band. Our breakup followed shortly after that, embarrassingly so. The same day, actually.

At first, I thought good riddance, I have the band. But the longer we stayed apart, and the longer we didn't see each other, the more I realized I needed you. So, I texted. And called. And repeated. I thought that eventually you'd block me but... You haven't done so yet. So I have the slightest amount of hope.

"By the way, Ashton?" The assistant's voice sounds out, breaking my thoughts. "There's someone here to see you. Some people here knew her, so I sent her off to your dressing room. She said you'd be expecting her?" My eyes widened. I didn't wait for anything else, and immediately scrambled to my dressing room.

Please be her... Please.

I push the door open, and I gasp. Even though I was expecting her, it was you. My you. You looked so different, yet exactly the same since we parted.

"Baby..."