JC sang the lyrics he wrote for Justin’s album with same amount of effort and fervor he put into writing it. It was seven months after he and Justin had reconciled. He was sober for all seven months and he’d never felt better. It was great working with Justin again and he was excited to see the feedback the new album would receive.

Justin clapped as JC belted out the last verse of the song. “Damn, dude that was fucking great! You sure that’s meant for a duet? You could sing that all by yourself!”

“You think people would like it?” JC said, giving himself a mental pat on the back.

“People are gonna love it, dawg.”

***

The crowd was screaming. JC and Justin were behind the curtain and in any minute they would be walking out on stage to greet the audience. JC could feel his heart thumping against the walls of his chest. The rush was back. As soon as one of the crew members open the curtains, he all but ran and left Justin has he took in the cheers from the audience. He could hear his name being called out in all directions. It was like he absorbed the energy of the crowd as he raised his mic to sing the first verse. He had a huge smile on his face. He’d missed this so much.