Gotcha // TRALA

Nila

After the show, Vince is first offstage, offering me a smile and holding out his arms. "Come 'mere, Kiddo."

I manage to smile and roll my eyes as I get up and walk over, hugging him for a long moment.

"Believe us now?" he asks, looking down at me fondly.

I groan into his shirt. "Shut up. You're gonna make me cry again."

He laughs as I pull back. "Okay, okay. How about we do something to make you laugh instead? I miss the sound of your laugh, you know."

"What do you mean?" I protest. "I laugh."

"I mean your real one," he says simply, then turns away and starts to walk. "Come on."

"Where are we going, DiCarlo?" I have to half-run to catch up with his long strides.

He grins at me. "I saw some pushcarts in a storage room back here earlier today."

I open my mouth to protest, but he cuts me off.

"I don't want to hear it, Ni. You love this game and we both know it."

"Shouldn't you be helping clean up?" I ask instead.

"Nope," he says simply. "I should be cheering up my best friend, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

I know I've lost, and to say that I don't want to goof off with him would be lying, so I finally decide to just shut up and let the man be a dork if that's what he wants.

Once he's located the storage room, he chooses a pushcart and wheels it into the hall, gesturing to it with a little flourish. "My lady."

I roll my eyes, but hop up onto it anyway, finding my practiced balance before nodding to him. "Ready when you are, Bud."

And we're off. We always take each other way faster than is good for either of us, and tonight is no exception. And it's fun. It's fun that hasn't changed with me. Squealing and shouting with Vince as we charge around a venue is something I've been doing for years, and tonight, nothing has changed about any of that.

There's a set of swinging doors ahead, and he grins at me, shouting, "Brace for impact."

I do get into position to go through, but question, "Vince, are you sure those don't lead..."

I'm cut off as we burst through the doors... and straight into the still-full gallery, just as I'd feared. He skids to a halt, and I leap off to avoid being thrown, collapsing in laugher the moment my feet touch the ground. He's in no better state.

"I thought they led out back," he gasps.

"You... are such a dork," I counter through my own amusement.

Obviously, we're beginning to draw everyone's attention, more than just those who saw our entrance... and people are beginning to get excited.

"Oh my gosh, that's Vince and Nila."

"Isn't he part of the band?"

"That's Luke's daughter, right?"

"Dude, they were doing that in one of their vlogs!"

And we can't do anything but helplessly laugh. I pull myself to my feet, smirking at him before turning to the gathered, whispering people.

Still choking it out between fits of giggles, I indicate him dramatically. "Ladies and gentlemen, the king of dorks who doesn't know what doors lead where... Vincent DiCarlo."

They all start laughing with us now, as Vince rises as well. "Don't forget the princess of dorks who didn't start to warn me until we were five feet away... Nila Smallbone!"

We've put them a little more at ease now, and Vince steps out into the crowd, mingling and snapping selfies with those who ask. I'm still laughing too hard to do anything but stand here and watch.

Just as I'm finally beginning to recover, a girl approaches me a little timidly. "Hey, Nila," she says. "I was wondering... could I maybe get a picture? You're like, who I aspire to be."

Trust me, girlfriend, no I am not. But I smile anyway, laughing a little.

"I mean, as long as you don't mind that I totally cried my makeup into a mess earlier and am in a hoodie and leggings... absolutely."

"Ha, you still look like total goals," she scoffs.

I just laugh because I know that's a lie, but lean close enough for her to snap a selfie of us, posing like I usually do. Yep, fam, I look like trash.

More people approach me like she did, and we have similar conversations, take similar pictures, and all that jazz. A guy comes up, grinning a little.

"Hey, so I'm a big fan of your dad and Joel, and I'd love a picture with you, but only if you can promise me they won't murder me over it."

I giggle, taking the phone he offers me since guys seem to think girls are just naturally better at taking selfies. "Dude, with how I look right now I don't think they have anything to worry about. But I got your back... don't worry."

He laughs, smiles while I flash my usual peace sign and make one of my usual faces, and takes the phone back.

"You look great like you always do... and I mean that in the most platonic way possible, I swear."

I just shake my head and smile but flash him an "okay" sign just so he knows I'm not taking it wrong. As he walks away, Vince comes up with a trio of girls trailing him.

"These lovely ladies are having a best friends' night out, so they want to get a photo with us as best friends too," he tells me, grinning. "You cool with that?"

As usual, I flash a smile and reply, "As long as they're cool with the trash, cried-on makeup and oversized hoodie look I've got going tonight."

"I will bring your uncle out here to give you his speech if you don't shut up, young lady," he quips back as we pose with the girls, who are barely holding it together from giggling at our antics.

After exchanging a few words with them, they retreat into the crowd, and Vince is called away as well. A lady approaches, older than the crowd I've been talking to so far and dressed in a crisp business outfit.

"Nila," she greets me, "I'm a reporter with a local Christian magazine, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"

This is the first time this has happened to me other than a few thrown my way cuz I'm with Dad or Joel while they're getting interviewed, but I shrug, flashing her that same posterchild smile. "Yeah, sure."

She produces a reporter's recording mic and presses a button to presumably record our conversation before beginning. "So, first off, what's it like being the adopted daughter of for KING & COUNTRY's Luke Smallbone?"

"You know, we're like any normal family, except he travels for a living," I tell her easily. "I thank God every day for him and my mom and little brothers, and the rest of our extended family, especially Uncle Joel and Aunt Moriah. From the moment I walked through my parents' doors when I was nine, I was family, no buts or limitations or anything. They're the most amazing Christian people I know. So, yeah, we're pretty average, except they're the greatest, I guess."

"Do you always leave with your adopted dad on tour, or do you alternate between going with him and staying with Courtney and the boys?" she asks.

I hate it when people call him my adopted father, but I try not to let her see the way that annoys me.

"I'm almost always on the road when Dad is," I reply, "but as much as is possible, Mom and the boys are, too. In the summer, particularly, they're usually along for the ride. So, I'm basically always with my dad, but often, that means I'm with my mom, too."

"Now, you're still in high school, and I've heard you attend your local Franklin High, so how does that work?"

"Well, when I'm home, I go to Franklin High, and when I'm on the road, I take the same classes I do there, just online. It's crazy, but it's worth it to me, and I couldn't do it without my guidance counselor back at school to help me work it all out."

"Now, when you were briefly onstage with Luke and Joel during their show tonight, Joel joked about you being off-limits to the gentlemen in the audience," she says. "But I have to ask, do you have a special someone waiting for you back home?"

I force a laugh. "I do not. Honestly, all of the guys back in Nashville are completely terrified of the men in my life, and that's definitely okay with me."

"And speaking of romance," she continues, "I've heard that you're following in Moriah's footsteps and saving your first kiss for your wedding day. Is that something you recommend for all young ladies?"

Her words hit me like a hard punch to my stomach, but I struggle to keep control of my face. "Um... you know, not really. I... I think it's something God has to lay on your heart personally, because it's... it's really hard to do, and it's really hard to find a guy who's willing to wait for you, so if... if you don't have God empowering you to do it because He called you to do it, it's gonna feel impossible. I do believe in abstinence until marriage, because that's something God asks us to do, and it's what protects our hearts and souls and our... our self-worth, but beyond that, I think... I think it all comes down to personal conviction. And, like Aunt Moriah, I wholeheartedly believe in... in grace, and forgiveness, and redemption, and restoration, no matter how many lines you've crossed in the past."

The words feel disgusting as they pass my lips, because they're a blinding reminder of just how fake I really am.

She nods slowly, processing that, before going on. "Returning to the moment you shared with your adopted father and uncle on stage tonight, they dedicated the first performance of an unreleased song, 'God Only Knows', to you tonight, and briefly shared that it had really hit home last night do to things your family, and presumably you in particular, had been going through over the past few weeks. Did you know they were going to do that?"

Oh God, please don't let her push for any more information when it comes to that. I swallow hard, still struggling to maintain my outward composure.

"Uh... no. No, I had no idea. I've heard most of their upcoming album, but that was one I actually hadn't even ever listened to." I force myself to laugh. "So that's why I completely lost it in front of thousands of people."

"And you weren't the only one who was crying up there," she says, making my stomach clench. "Both Luke and Joel, were, too. Added to by the words of the song itself, and the intro they did to it, it's obvious whatever they described you going through was pretty deep."

"Um... yeah, I guess so," I falter, trying to find something else to say, but nothing comes to mind.

"You've been kind-of the posterchild for their 'Priceless Movement' for years," she presses, "Fans have looked to you as an example of a young lady who really knows her worth. So, we're all really curious as to what your adopted dad was referring to up there." She offers what really looks like a fake smile. "We're worried about you, girl. So, what can you tell us?"

I swallow again, and I can feel that outward persona failing me bigtime. "Um... you know... it's just... kind of been... one of those weeks, I guess. Or a couple of them."

"How so?"

I open my mouth to say words I haven't come up with yet, but Vince's voice beats me to it, as he approaches from where I could feel him watching us for the last minute or so.

"I'm gonna have to stop you there," he tells the lady, his tone polite, but colder than I've ever heard him be before. "That's still pretty fresh for Ni, and I think it's clear she doesn't want to talk about it. Besides," he adds, placing a hand on my shoulder, "your daddy's gonna be looking for you."

She nods, gifting us with another false smile. "Of course. You two have a good night."

"You too," he responds in that same tone, before, guiding me with him, he turns back the way we came.

I grab the cart and pull it after us, feeling the strength drop out of my shoulders as soon as the doors swing shut behind us.

Vince squeezes the one his hand is on before releasing me. "Ignore her, alright?" he tells me. "Even Christian reporters sometimes way overstep, and she was out of line."

I try and fail to offer him a smile. "Thanks," I whisper instead, not trusting myself to say much else.

He wraps an arm around both my shoulders this time. "I'm not gonna let you fall, okay? I gotcha, Kiddo."

Okay, guys. Yeah, I suck. But I've finally taken the advice one of you lovely readers gave to me ages ago and changed my schedule to be every other week updates instead of every week updates. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with this better. Also, I've changed it to Monday instead of Tuesday just cuz I'm OCD and my three for-sure (ish) update days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday now. The only reason I updated on a Tuesday this week is cuz today is my first day back at school and I didn't have wifi yesterday. So, yeah, you can (hopefully) expect updates for this book every other Monday instead of my falsely promising that you'll get them every week and instead giving them to you twice a year. For the complete revised schedule, as usual, you can check out the newest part of my update schedule book (it's the one with the picture of Flynn and Rapunzel kissing on the cover, lol). Thanks for sticking with me, guys. I'll see you in two weeks.