In which my band and I are playing at a wedding and suddenly you come on stage to sing, and it'd save me so much trouble if you just noticed me.

-

I stood on the small stage, looking out at the empty room. Empty in the sense that no one was in the room, but it was packed with chairs, tables and a large dance floor. No matter how many times I performed at weddings, I still managed to get nervous. I often wondered just how nerve-wracking it would be to have a larger part in a wedding.

"Weddings are stressful," I said decisively, finally putting words on it.

I heard a chuckle behind me, then looked over my shoulder. "And you aren't even getting married," one of the guys said.

"Imagine him getting married though," another chimed in.

"I'm very curious to see how that would work out."

I finally turned around to face the rest of the band, blushing slightly. I walked back towards the piano on stage, then sat down on the bench. The third member walked back on stage, then started scolding the other two.

"Max, Kevin, give him a little break."

"You know we're joking, right?" Kevin asked, turning to me.

"Yeah, yeah."

We continued setting up, each of us playing a song or two. I sat, listening to the others, mesmerized as usual. They were all incredible at the instruments they played, and I loved just hearing them. They finally let me have some time to play a few songs, and I immediately focused on the music.

I could faintly hear them talking amongst themselves, my name being thrown around once or twice. I knew anything they were saying was good, but it still made me nervous. My practice was cut a bit short when I heard the sound of a door opening and closing. I pulled my hands back from the keys as I saw a man I hadn't before.

He walked closer to the stage, but before I could question him or the band, Max walked down the stairs and greeted the man. They briefly shook hands before the man began talking. Even though I hadn't met him, I soon figured out that he was the wedding planner.

"Hey, Max, its great to see you again. I'm glad you guys made it here," he spoke.

"It was a bit of a drive, but we survived."

"So who do we have here?"

"That's Avi the bassist, then Kevin on the drums." They both gave out a small greeting before he turned to me. "And Scott's sitting behind the keyboard." I smiled and waved, then continued to listen to the conversation.

"You do remember the brother of the bride is singing, right?" He asked.

Max nodded his head. "We already figured that all out."

"I look forward to hearing you sing with him."

"Oh, I'm not singing with him. I'm gonna take a little break during the song."

"Who's singing with him then?"

"Scott." I watched as the planner looked over Max's shoulder, briefly made eye contact with me, then turned back.

"No offense, but he doesn't seem... loud enough."

"Call him, quiet, shy, or whatever, but he's very good. He probably could take over my spot." The planner simply nodded his head.

"Well its good to meet all of you. The guests should be starting to arrive in just under an hour, so I'll be seeing you guys again shortly." Max nodded his head, and the man then turned around to walk out of the building. He didn't leave the dance floor until we all heard the doors close again.

"Sorry about him," he said once he approached the stage again and climbed up the stairs.

"Its okay. I get it."

"You're going to great tonight, I'm positive." I gave him a small smile before turning back to the instrument in front of me.

We played through a couple songs together before we were satisfied with everything. We then went to one of the back rooms in the building to chance and relax for awhile. We heard the guests start to enter the building, but we thankfully didn't need to go out right away. However, I was eventually pulled up from my chair then ushered back into the ball room. The guests cheered quietly once we were up on stage, and I could hear Max introducing us all. We started playing then, and I started trying to distract myself. I knew I would do best if my mind was off of the crowd, and it didn't take long for it to be at ease. Before I even knew it, the first half of the night was gone, and Max had stopped singing. I knew this point was coming, but I became more nervous now that I was face to face with it.

"While I take a little break, I'd like to invite the brother of the bride to the stage, Mitch Grassi." The guests cheered, but before I could focus on the guy taking the stage, Max came up next to me.

"You good?"

"Yeah." He smiled and patted my shoulder before walking towards the back of the stage. He picked up the guitar sitting there and slid it over his shoulder. I then finally turned my attention to the man walking up the stairs.

He was obviously young, maybe about my age, plus or minus a year. He also seemed to be about my height, though probably shorter. Most people were. He had brown hair, shaved on the sides, and the rest of it was swept perfectly to one side. I let my eyes linger on him longer than I'd like to admit, as it was hard to keep my gaze off of him. I soon recognized him as the one guy who had danced with the bride a little while ago. It now clicked with me just how similar the two were. He didn't even glance back at us as he went to stand in front of the microphone. He adjusted it slightly before beginning to talk.

"As you may know, I'm Mitch, Jessa's little brother." My eyes widened when I heard his voice. It was much higher than I had expected, yet seemed to fit him so incredibly well. I heard a few laughs from the crowd, and I'm sure he was smiling as well.

"When planning for the reception, she made it known that she wanted me to sing something. And even though I protested, here I am. This is Like I'm Gonna Lose You, obviously dedicated to the newly married couple." He took a step back from the mic, and I looked over right as Max started playing the guitar. He strummed on it for a few seconds before I looked back to the boy.

If I thought his speaking voice was great, his singing voice was perfect. I knew the original song quite well before I knew I'd be singing it tonight, and after a line or two, it seemed as if his voice was made for the song. I was glad I didn't have to touch the piano for awhile because I just wanted to hear him sing.

A minute or so later I had to snap out of my trance, but thankfully to only play a few simple chords. I was happy it wasn't initially much as I was suddenly preoccupied.

And then I had to start singing. It was nerve wracking enough to have to sing in front of a crowd, but this boy in front of me was making it so much worse. I would have been the first to notice that my voice was a bit shaky, but I tried my best to recover, especially when he started singing with me. The past few minutes had been full of surprises, and the way our voices blended together was just another one. As nervous as I was, the song ended much too soon for my liking. I felt like I could have kept singing the whole night if he would have sang with me.

Once he backed up from the microphone, the crowd cheered loudly and I even heard the rest of the band clapping. The boy slightly turned to the side, still not looking behind him, and I could see a small smile on his face. The one on my face grew with his. I also saw him mouth the words 'thank you', and I couldn't believe that he was real. He moved to walk off the stage and down the stairs, and as the band and I started playing again, I realized just how smitten I was.

I kept an eye on the brunette, Mitch, for the rest of the night. He stayed seated for most of the night, drinking champagne out of his glass. However, I did smile when someone pulled him out of his chair, whether it be his sister, a woman who I assumed to be his mom, or another short blonde girl. He and the girl were currently dancing, and it took a lot not to laugh at his occasional eye roll or lack of enthusiasm.

The last few hours of the night flew by and before I knew it, guests started to leave the reception. We kept playing though, only stopping when it was easy to count the number of people left. The remaining guests  momentarily paused their conversations to turn to us and cheer. We smiled amongst ourselves, then were left alone once again. I stood up for what seemed like the first time in awhile, then took a second to stretch.

My gaze involuntarily shifted out towards the crowd, and because there was only a few people left, it took no time for me to find him. I sighed as I stared at him, not knowing what to do. Before I could find a bandmate to potentially get advice from, I heard footsteps behind me.

"You've been staring at him all night." I turned to look at Avi, who had a light smile on his face. I glanced back at the boy then, which must have been all the reply he needed. "Do you think he's cute?"

"I mean..." I trailed off, turning back to Avi. He raised an eyebrow, so I caved and told him the truth. "Yeah."

"Go talk to him," he prompted.

"No, I can't."

"Yes you can." I looked back over at the boy. "You have to believe in yourself."

"He didn't even see me."

"Now's your chance to make him see you." Kevin then walked up behind Avi, suddenly curious about our conversation.

"What's going on?"

"I'm trying to get Scott here to talk to Mitch."

Kevin glanced over my shoulder at him, then back to me. "I agree. You should go."

I sighed, knowing I wouldn't be able to win this conversation. Of course I wanted to go, but wanting to do something and doing that something were two different things. "Go," I heard again. I glanced down at my feet, and after a moment, much to my surprise, I was able to start moving. I approached the edge of the stage, then saw a person approach him. I recognized her as the same blonde from earlier who was dancing with him. I kept walking though, knowing I wouldn't make it to him if I stopped. I got out on the dance floor taking small steps closer.

I looked back to my friends who were all nodding their heads, encouraging me to keep going. So I did, suddenly making my steps louder than necessary. Maybe if he turned around before I reached him it would be easier for me to say something. The blonde went in and hugged the boy, then obviously saw me mid-hug. She quickly whispered in the brunette's ear, then pulled back. She left the boy, but then he turned around to face me.

I was only a few feet away when he turned around, and it made me stop dead in my tracks. He gave me a light smile before slowly walking towards me. I took everything in my power to stay where I was and to not start fidgeting.

"Hey," he greeted once he got close enough.

"You're... Mitch, right?"

"Yeah." He studied my face for a minute and looked behind me at the stage before speaking again. "You're... Scott, one of the band members."

I nodded my head. "I was playing the piano."

"Were you singing with me too?" I nodded my head again. "You have an incredible voice. You play extremely well too."

"Thank you."

"Its good to finally meet you."

"Y-yeah, you too."

"You're shy, aren't you?" He mentioned after a moment of silence. I barely nodded my head, and I saw a small smile take over his face. "I hope its nothing personal, you don't need to be shy around me."

"It kind of is. You're cute."

He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it as his smile grew and he looked down at his feet. "I guess its my turn to say thank you." He shook his head quickly then glanced back to me. "Is it correct to assume that you didn't come over here to talk?"

I tried not to laugh at the statement. Under any other circumstance I wouldn't have wanted to talk, but for him, I could have been persuaded otherwise.

"You probably want my number, don't you?" He continued. I barely nodded my head, but he caught on easily. "Don't be shy. Ask me."

I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand, wondering why he couldn't have just asked me. However, it felt like he was obviously interested in me, so it shouldn't have been a big deal.

"Can I... um, have your number?" I asked, more unsure of my voice then the answer to his question. His smile widened, but he quickly wiped it off of his face. He reached out towards me before speaking.

"Give me your phone." I quickly complied, reaching into one of the pockets in my suit. I unlocked it before handing it over. He spent a minute or so on his phone, then on mine before handing it back over. I held it in my hand, then gripped it tighter as I saw him come even closer.

I watched as he stopped, just a foot or so away from me. He placed a hand on my shoulder, then went up on his toes. I was confused as to what he was doing, but soon I felt his lips on my cheek. I immediately felt myself start to blush, but I didn't need to hide it. He pulled away from me, then wordlessly spun around and walked away. I stood there for a moment, simply unsure of what to do, before I turned back to the stage. I saw the large smiles on the band's faces even before I started moving back to them. I suddenly felt my phone go off as I stopped in front of the stage. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, but smirked when I read the text.

I hope you aren't as shy over text