old fashioned • dj&ts

xxvii. let me down easy

While Alexis was in the wings watching this show like it was the last time she'd ever see it, the band was playing together unaware that it was the last time they ever would.

"Babe, why are you crying?" Daisy asked, briefly running to the wings between songs to get a sip of water.

"I'm leaving," Alexis said to her, both of their hearts breaking. "Eddie and I are going back to Pittsburgh tomorrow morning. He's leaving the band, and I'm going with him."

Daisy let out a breathy laugh, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What?"

"Daisy!" Billy called, waving her back to the stage. She backed up, walking back to her mic and then looking out into the crowd.

"This next song I'm going to be singing with my best fucking friend. She's saved my life, and makes my life worth living," Daisy announced, looking into the wing with a teary-eyes smile. "I want every single one of you to know her name. Eddie, will you go get your wife for me, please?"

Alexis wiped a tear from her cheek as Eddie walked to the wing and grabbed her hand. He waved to the crowd as he introduced his wife to the world, and then let her join Daisy.

"Alexis Rose Loving," Daisy said, looking her in the eyes. "Will you let me down easy?"

Billy took a few steps back, and the band started playing the song. As soon as the music started, it felt like Alexis and Daisy were the only two people in the room. They were singing to each other, and neither of them turned away even for a second. Right now, this song was about them.

"You found me lost in a daydream feeling, I've been awake too long. My eyes are open while my heart keeps sinking deeper 'til the days are gone. Doesn't mean I couldn't believe it. Doesn't mean I won't believe it still. Every lie's true at the time, baby, that's the thrill," Daisy sang, leading them into the first chorus where Alexis joined her. Their voices blended nicely together, and they shared a deep and emotional sound as they sang. Daisy had never performed the song like she did that day, even Billy noticed. It felt more raw.

"I could see us waving in the distance like a mirage on sand. That could be us trading secrets no one else could understand. I got you under my skin now. Why do you make it so hard? Don't leave me broken and free, won't you tell where you are?" Alexis sang back, breathing in every single second her and Daisy shared the stage. Singing to Daisy made the nerves go away, but was still hurting.

"Don't you go and tell me that you love me while you're leaving, if you're gonna leave me now."

That one line was the worst to sing. Both of them struggled to get it out, knowing they were about to live in a world where it won't be as easy to see each other anymore. Now, they'll have much more than a single wooden door or a flimsy curtain keeping them apart. The tight bond they spent so long building would be stretched across the world and they could only hope it wouldn't break. Daisy couldn't live with that.

"I'm coming with you," she said to Alexis as the crowd cheered. "I'll go to rehab, start a new life, make my own music. I don't want to be broken anymore."

The girls embraced, letting tears fall into each other's hair. Simone was in the wing getting ready to join Daisy next. Neither girl wanted to let go of the other, but they had to.

"Did you know?" Billy asked as he walked her off-stage and switched his guitar. "That it was Camila?"

Already overwhelmed, Alexis couldn't handle the question. Her silence told him the answer.