Tully agrees to do it. He can't refuse, but he's rigid with nerves.

"I want to throw up, Kit. I don't think I can do this."

"Yes, you can." I sound more confident than I feel, as I persuade him to drink some water and take deep breaths. 

When the band disappear backstage to get ready, a white-faced Tully goes with them.

Felice, Spike and I exchange looks but we don't say anything. There is nothing to say. It's in the hands of the gods now. This is his big opportunity. We all know he's terrified but he can't screw it up. Because one thing is for sure –if he does Mac won't give him a second chance.

The Blue Ball is sold out, packed with enthusiastic music lovers. Energy pulsates through the crowd as they wait for Black Death to come on stage and belt out songs that have become familiar as they've climbed their way through the Irish charts. We've all heard them on the radio, even people who aren't fans.

At last the band burst onstage in a flurry of sound and lights. Mac leads the way, Tully, white as a ghost behind him, the others filing out to take their places, bass, keyboard, sax, percussion and, finally, Len on drums. Mac holds out the microphone towards the crowd and yells 'Tick-Tock' and we all shout right back at him 'I'm waitin'.

Just like that, he has us all under his spell, and, beside him, Tully comes to life. It's like the crowd sends a spark though him, a spark that electrifies and makes him much more present.

The ordinary Tully is easy to miss, but this Tully is riveting. He holds the guitar aloft and jives and jams with Mac as though they've been doing it together for years. They close in, move apart and drive the crowd wild. 

It's all about the mood and the moment. 

Tully makes some minor errors, but he doesn't let it faze him. He carries on and looks so confident I don't think the crowd even notice. Mac, as always, oozes charisma onstage but he's had practice. This is Tully's first time and he's coming a close second.

"He's doing well, isn't he?" I say to Spike.

"Yeah." Spike sounds uncharacteristically impressed. "Never thought he'd be this good."

"Looks like Tully's found his drug," Felice shouts in my ear with an undercurrent of malice.

But she has a point. It's like he's high. He's lost all his inhibitions and blazes with confidence.

In the assault of sound, light and noise, my mood suddenly deflates. Something doesn't feel right.

And then I hear an unmistakeable whisper, a harsh voice in my ear. "You made your choice. Are you ready to pay the price?"

I turn to see Mike Meara standing behind me. In the dark, his face in shadow, he could be Aonghus.  A shiver runs through me.  What did he say to Baz and Jenna when they left the building?

"They chose love." The words hover on his lips as he answers my unspoken question. "I told them they wouldn't regret it." He disappears into the crowd, his smile lingering like the Cheshire cat's grin.

"Are you alright?" Felice asks beside me. "You've gone very pale. You can't faint now, not in the middle of the best gig ever!"

"Did you see Mike Meara?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's back there. Been there all night." She nods towards a window high up on the wall. Behind it we can see Mike Meara at the mixing desk.

There's no way. It makes no sense.

Am I losing my mind?

I stare up at the window, mouth open, and he winks straight at me.

At the end of the set, Mac presents all the members of the band. Finally he introduces Tully. "Will you all please give a special welcome to Black Death's new lead guitarist?"

The audience roar, stamp and cheer their approval.

"Jeez," Spike says beside me.

"Oh my god," Felice squeals. "Tully's going to be in Black Death, can you believe it?"

It's exactly what he wanted, what he's dreamed of. I should be happy for him, squealing like Felice, but instead I'm flat. All I can think of is Aonghus and his dark threat.

I remember the night of the housewarming, back at the beginning of the summer, when Tully and I hardly knew each other. Tully said he wished he was like Mac, but, unlike me, it wasn't the girls he envied. No, for Tully, it was all about the music, just that and nothing else.

But just as I become sure Tully chose music and tonight is the proof, I remember something else.

Our talk in Felice's Kitchen the morning after the real Lunasa, when Tully insisted that if he were Baz, he wouldn't hesitate to choose Jenna.

Perhaps he chose love.

"That was the best thing ever," he tells me after the show  "I couldn't believe it. The high was unreal. I was so nervous beforehand, quaking in my shoes. Remember I wanted to get sick? But once I got out there, everything changed. The adrenaline rushes through you and you feel like you can do anything, you're the centre of the universe. It was literally like I could take the crowd and hold them in my hand."

Mac passes by and catches the last part of this. A look flashes across his face.

Jealousy?

It's gone before I can put my finger on it.

He claps Tully on the back. "Got a taste for it now?" His smile doesn't reach his eyes, but Tully doesn't notice.

His face lights up as though Mac has paid him the biggest compliment ever, but I'm watching and though the smile and the clap on the back are brotherly, his tone is not.

"That was the most amazing night of my life," Tully replies.

"You did well," Mac says and moves on.

Tully gazes after him adoringly, but I feel the praise is underwhelming and reluctantly given.

"You totally rocked it," I say. "It was like you became another person up there."

"Yes, that's it! That's totally it. I felt like the person I want to be, a better, stronger, more powerful version of myself, does that make sense?"

"Yes," I say, the dread growing in my heart. Even though I'm doing my best to block it out, I can't help thinking of the tunnel and Tully's blue face. What kind of pact did we make in there? What gift did Aonghus give and what will he ask in return?

"Kit, you're the only one who understands me. You're the one who makes me feel like that. Before I met you, my dreams seemed so far out of reach there was no point in even thinking about them. But now they're worth chasing. Finally, I feel like I've something to live for, a purpose. You've given me that Kit. Without you, I'm nobody. Without you, I'm nothing."

"It's all just empty space," I reply, Aonghus' dark whisper echoing in my ear. "Nothing to live for, nothing to die for."

We stare at each other.

"We must write that down," Tully says.

He stands beside me, oblivious to the girls throwing admiring glances in his direction.

His hand finds mine and when I look into his eyes and get lost in their velvet brown depths, Aonghus is forgotten.

No longer the nervous, over-eager new guy, this is a new Tully, transformed and self-assured, grown into himself with the confidence his performance had given him. Perhaps this Tully doesn't need Aonghus to achieve whatever dream he sets out in search of.

Maybe neither of us do.

His head bends towards mine and our lips meet as we kiss for the first time.

It starts tentatively, but soon grows deep and passionate. The intensity takes us both by surprise. We step back and look at each other awkwardly. Everything has changed.

Tully puts his arm around me, pulls me close and kisses me again.

"Now this really is the best night of my life," he murmurs in my ear. 

Author's Note

What do you think happens next?

(a)Tully gets his place in the band, but it all goes wrong!

(b) Mac changes his mind and gets someone else.

(c) The band works out unbelievably well for Tully, but he loses Kit...

Did you guess right? You can find out  in FIRST VALENTINE - KIT & TULLY BOOK 2 

Yay, good news! I currently have some FREE Apple Books Codes to give away to Wattpad readers. If you have an Apple device and are in one of the 51 countries where FIRST KISS is available on Apple Books, you can get a code - provided I still have some (Link in Bio) .

https://youtu.be/THUJcimzvd0

Thanks so much for reading and hope you enjoyed the story. Your votes and comments make my day! A special shout-out to the silent majority, those who read quietly in the background and prefer to remain anonymous. Really appreciate you all 💜

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Mocha 💜