Rob whistled as he strolled back into the room. Sidney grabbed his arm and spun him around to face her. “Where have you been?” she asked.

He kissed her cheek and grinned. “I had to make a phone call.”

“So,” she stated. “You have a cell phone. You could have made your call in here.”

“Oh but what fun what that be?” he teased. He kissed her quickly as her eyes narrowed. “I called the studio and had them release a statement announcing our engagement.”

Her narrowed eyes quickly grew. “You did?”

He nodded. “Yep, I did. I didn’t announce our wedding date because I was kinda hoping to keep it a secret so we could have a little privacy.”

She threw her arms around him and squeezed. “I hope your adoring fans aren’t disappointed.”

He laughed as he rubbed her back. “Well if I lose any fans because of this, they weren’t real fans to begin with.” He kissed the top of her head. “How are you feeling?”

She stepped back and looked up at him. “Nervous. Excited. Nervous. Nauseous.”

He grinned. “It’ll pass. You did a fantastic job at the parking lot gig.”

“That was a lot smaller, Rob,” she pointed out.

He pulled her back to his chest. “You’ll do fine, Rookie.”

She rested her cheek against his chest, listening to his heart beat. “Who’s gonna manage you guys now?”

“Lex,” he stated simply. “She might as well.”

She pulled away and glared at him. “Don’t take my manager just because your last one was a vindictive, conniving…”

He pressed his lips to hers softly, slowly deepening it. She melted into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He finally broke the kiss and lifted a brow at her. “You were saying?”

“Uh…I forgot,” she stammered, heart pounding against her ribcage.

He held her hand and tugged her toward the door. “Let’s go rehearse. You go on in four hours.”

She groaned, nervousness returning to the pit of her stomach.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She paced his dressing room, wringing her hands and glancing every few seconds at the clock. Lexie opened the door and smiled. “It’s time to go,” she said.

Sidney spun around to find Rob. He stood and took her by the shoulders. “You’ll be amazing, Rookie.” He kissed her. “I’ll be standing right off stage if you need me,” he reassured her with a wink. He handed her her guitar and gently shoved her towards Lexie. “Let’s go.”

Later, she didn’t remember approaching the stage. She hardly remembered standing up there, lights blaring in her eyes and people clapping and cheering. All she could recall was jumping in and playing music. She relaxed after the third song and actually started enjoying herself, getting the crowd involved and casting furtive glances at Rob, making sure he was still standing there.

When she finished, she rushed off stage and into Rob’s arms. He twirled her around and kissed her solidly on the mouth. Once he set her on her feet, he pushed the hair off her face and beamed at her like a proud father smiling at his son’s first place ribbon.

“I told you! You were awesome, Rookie!” he declared, kissing her again.

Lexie bounced up and down, eager to congratulate her. “Oh, Sid! You were fantastic! Did you hear those people cheering for you?”

Sidney nodded, head still up in the rafters. Her body trembled with excitement, every nerve shooting dozens of electric currents to her extremities. “Does it feel like this every time?” she asked timidly.

Rob laughed and hugged her again. “Pretty much.”

“Rob!” Lexie called out, shaking her head out of its excited stupor. “You need to get ready!”

“I will,” he said, eyes only on Sidney.

Sidney stood on her toes and kissed him. “I guess this means I’m no longer a rookie, huh?”

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. “Nah, sorry. You’ll always be my rookie.”

A/N: Cheesy once more. Sorry it’s so short but I was at a total loss how to end this. To make up for it, I’ll start the sequel today and post it later. That’s the plan anyway.

The stupid, stupid Cubs lost again!! I don’t have nearly enough money to buy myself little gifts to cheer myself up each time they lose! Stupid, stupid goat curse. If they lose Saturday then they’re done.