My eyes snapped open to the sound of my phone ringing. I looked at the clock. It was four-thirty in the morning. I groaned in annoyance, and quickly glanced at the number. It was Toby. "What the matter with you four? Don't you ever sleep?" I demanded.

He chuckled. "Get out of bed and come down here. We need to tell you something."

I sighed. "Toby, darling, we live in the same house. Why call me, when you could just walk up the stairs tell me?"

"Because this is more fun." I could hear laughter in his voice.

"Grrr."

"Come on, Tegan!" He said.

I did a mental facepalm. "I'm starting to believe that you're a werewolf. I mean, you barely sleep, you eat like its Doomsday, and you're extremely loud. I'm just waiting for the next full moon so that I can watch you change. Then I'll get it on camera and post it on YouTube." I replied.

"Eww, sounds painful. Now, come on!"

I got out of bed and trotted over to my closet. "Alright, alright. Give me five minutes." I answered, hanging up the phone. I quickly got dressed in a pair of black jeggings, a vibrant purple v-neck t-shirt, and a loose fitting zip up hoodie. Purple was my favorite color, so it just worked. I slipped my phone in my back pocket, and my mp3 player in my hoodie pocket. I knew I was only going downstairs, but I had to have my phone and music with me at all times. I pulled a hair brush through my hair then pulled on my boots. I took the stairs two at a time, jogging into the living room. Cam was waiting for me at the entrance.

He looked surprised. "I thought you said five minutes." He said.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "How long did I take?"

He looked at the clock in the kitchen. "Two and a half."

I laughed. "Well, I'm not very dressed up."

Cam looked me up and down like a vulture. "Really?"

"Shut up." I joked as I walked past the bassist.

I sat down on the couch, leaning back against the leather. "Alright. You boys got me down here. So, what do you want?" All four Breaking Midnight members surrounded me. I looked around cautiously. "What?" I asked.

Toby, who was the closest to me, spoke. "Tegan Rose Knight, we have something we would like to ask you."

I blinked. "Okay." It sounded more like a question. "Go on."

He nodded at me. "You've been with us for a while now..."

"Well, only a week but whatever." James said, cutting him off.

Toby turned him. "Will you shut up?"

The guitarist looked down. "Sorry."

Toby turned back to me. "Anyway, you've been with us for a while, and you've proven yourself to be an amazing singer. You can play guitar, and you know all of our songs. You're even a better singer than me."

I felt the blood rushing to my face. "No... I wouldn't say that." I disagreed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Cam interrupted. "Sorry, bro. Have to say this. Did Miss Concert Soprano Absolute Perfect Pitch say she wasn't good?"

He nodded. "Yes, she did. Unbelievable." He replied, sounding completely amused. "Yes you are. Anyway, because of that, we want to ask you something." He told me.

I nodded. "Feel free. What's up?"

He took a deep breath and smiled. "We would like to know if you would like to join us."

The corner of my mouth twitched upward into a smile. "By us what do you mean exactly?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Toby reached behind him, and handed me a microphone. "We want you to join Breaking Midnight."

I stood, a huge smile on my face. I clutched the mic to my chest. "Are you serious?" I demanded, my voice going up about four octaves.

Cam put his arm around me. "Dead serious, honey."

"Yep." Aaron answered. "You can sing with Toby. Then James won't have to sing. He sucks."

"Hey!" James protested.

"Well, I mean compared to her and Toby, you do."

He shrugged. "Point taken."

"Anyway." Cam said. "We could add some music in for you, and you and Toby can share the singing parts." He said. "The crowd will love you. I mean the fan girls eat him up, just imagine what the fans will do to you. Not to mention the fan boys."

I cringed. "You know, fan boys are sometimes worse than fan girls. I mean, they're guys fighting over a girl."

"Alright then! On that happy little note." Toby replied. "What do you say?" He asked hopefully.

Each of the boys were watching me anxiously, waiting for my answer. Cam began drumming his fingers on the coffee table nervously.

I grinned, pulling the mic around my neck like a scarf. "We better start dividing the singing up. And I mean equally. No sexism." I smirked.

They all began to cheer. Cam picked me up and spun me around in a circle. All of them crowded around me. I once again felt my bones turning into goo. Not a good feeling. Toby freed me from my band member's human prison and lifted me bridal style and kissed me.

Life at the moment was incredible. I was in California with my three best friends and my boyfriend. I had a home again, and I was part of a band. I had always wanted to be in a punk rock band. It was my dream. I never wanted to go solo with my music. I just never felt comfortable with that idea. I wanted to be in a band. And now, I was able to do that. Sure, it was a band of all boys, but they were good to me. I couldn't have asked for better band members. Or best friends for that matter.

That morning, the five of us were going to go out and enjoy California, but there was a problem. "Hey, guys. Not to be a nudge, but we have a concert tonight, and I really haven't had that much practice. I mean, are we just going to sing together the whole time, or are we going to split the parts? Because I really don't have a clue." I noted.

James nodded. "Yeah, that's true. I think we need to practice a little bit more with Tegan. The girl's got a point."

Cam shook his head. "Yeah. Guys, we live in L.A. We can go out any time. But Tegan does need to practice." He paused. "And, I wouldn't mind hearing her sing some more."

I blushed. "Alright."

"Well in that case," Toby began, handing me the microphone that was sitting on the coffee table. Yeah. We had stuff like that lying around. Just a random microphone sitting on a coffee table in the middle of the living room.

"What?"

He smirked. "Let's get started."

The whole rest of that day, we practiced and practiced. I memorized everything that I needed to sing, and everything I needed to play. Around late afternoon, the five of us packed up and headed over to the stage where we were going to perform. It was massive. Absolutely huge. The boys had played here once before, but I hadn't. Normally, when I preformed I was at clubs and streets and such. Never before had I played in such a huge place. It was kind of overwhelming.

The boys asked me many times if I was comfortable singing onstage and I told them I was fine. But, I have to admit, I was pretty freaked. But, I had Arthur Scott, Cam and Toby's father to thank for the stage. He set everything up and contacted everybody while the boys were in New York. I had never met Arthur, but according to everyone there, he was a really great guy. I trusted that.

The band and I rehearsed onstage, checking the sound over and over again. I never had to use the guitar. Toby told me he wanted me only to sing. "We only want to hear your voice tonight." He had said. Toby sang most of the time in the first three songs. I just sang back up mostly. I echoed his voice a lot. Once the third song came, I got my solo part. The concert staff stopped and looked my way. They all looked utterly shocked at my voice. They all clapped for me. I felt the heat rushing to my face.

The one thing I wasn't expecting was Arthur Scott showing up at the same time I was singing. He came out of nowhere and clapped for me as I ended the song with Toby. Arthur was a tall, lean man with close cropped jet black hair, and warm brown eyes. He was a very large man, extremely muscular, the body of a WWE superstar. He was massive. No wonder Toby and Cam were so strong. Arthur's voice was deep and gruff, yet it always held a sort of laughing tone to it. He was always smiling, his face never holding a frown. He had many laugh lines. He was also very kind. Toby introduced me to him, he shook my hand with a big goofy smile that was identical to Cam's. He told me to call him Arthur when I addressed him as "Mr. Scott." He had laughed and answered, "Mr. Scott was my father."

When he told me that I had talent, I blushed harder than I had when the staff clapped for me. He said that I had the best female singing voice he'd heard since Julie Andrews. When Toby told him about my concert soprano three octave range plus my absolute pitch ability, Arthur laughed out loud and told me that he wasn't surprised. I looked down as Toby went on and on about my voice. I eventually elbowed him in the gut and told him to shut up. "I'm not that good." I muttered, very embarrassed.

Arthur laughed. "And modest! She's perfect, son. I like her." He told Toby.

Toby grinned. "Thanks dad." He kissed the edge of my jaw. "I do too." I giggled and kissed him.

Arthur nodded in approval, and then turned to the stage to yell at a stage hand.

I turned to Toby. "Well, we're done with one, now we have an even bigger problem to solve that may cause all hell to break loose if we're unlucky, or it to start raining angels if we are lucky." I told him nervously.

He looked sort of alarmed with my words. "What's that?"

I sighed. "Mumma."

He laughed and took my hand, leading me to the stage.

By the time the concert started, I was the only one who wasn't a bundle of nerves. I watched as Toby paced back and forth, Cam hyperventilated, James downed his bottle of Coke in about ten seconds, and Aaron drummed out his parts on his shoes with shaking hands. I let out a laugh. "Look at you four! You've all played concerts before, and you know what you're going to do, and yet here you are as nervous as a little kid who broke their Mother's window! This is my first concert and I couldn't be calmer! What's gotten into you four?" I demanded.

James stood up. "Because Tegan, there's someone out there in the audience that Arthur contacted that could help us get a contract with Universal. We could seal a record deal! But only if we're good enough! Of course we're nervous." He snapped.

My stomach flopped with butterflies and I sighed. "Sorry. But listen. You guys need to stop worrying. We will be completely fine. Don't freak out, because there's no need too. Besides," I said, a devilishly kind smile spreading across my face. "You have me, remember."

With that, the boys' expression changed from nervous to calm and happy. They now seemed perfectly undisturbed by the fact that someone from Universal was sitting in the audience.

Oh crap. Now I was scared.

There were a lot of fans. Toby said that they were just friends from school, friends of friends, family, and other random people who had nothing better to do. People like that. When I looked onto the stage, I saw the amount of people in the audience, and I let out a strangled, stunned breath. These boys had a lot of friends. I felt my breath get caught in my throat, and I stumbled backwards, running into Toby. I tripped over his foot, and almost fell over, but he caught my arm and held me up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you alright, Tegan?" He asked, sounding slightly concerned.

I nodded, shaking ever so slightly. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so. There are just so many people!" I told him.

He nodded. "Yeah, I know. What? You're not scared, are you?" He half-joked.

Now, I wasn't one to get stage fright, but the feeling I had now, the fear that was sitting in the pit of my stomach, giving me those stupid little butterflies, was the exact same thing I felt when I went out to sing in a competition for the first time. I was eight years old. I won by singing The Sound of Music in the quarter-final. It was the best moment of my life at the time, but even after I won, the fear took a day or two to subside.

I shrugged. "Well, I've never sang in front of so many people before... well, okay maybe once when I was eight, but still! These are all people you know, I know none of them! I feel like a bug under a microscope. I would say I'm a little freaked out, yes!" I shot back.

"Aww, no way! The fearless Tegan Rosalie Knight? The girl who braved through living on the streets of Brooklyn for three months? She's never scared. She's never scared of anything!" Toby insisted. "If that girl can live through that, she can do anything. And, she can certainly take on the crowd. She's steel."

I knew that he was just trying to keep my spirits up, and that he was just as scared as I was, but I felt a strange sense of comfort as I allowed his words to sink in as deep as they could into my heart. And as they settled, I realized just how right he was. I had braved through everything I had always feared on those dangerous New York streets, pushing away all fears of being mugged, or killed, or anything at all. I had to stay alive. I had learned an important lesson in those three months: fear destroys the mind, and tampers with the heart. Never let it overtake you, because it will eventually drive you mad. Letting go of your fear, while not easy, will keep you alive in the end. And, even though I wasn't on the streets anymore, I had to push away my fear. I couldn't let myself go mad with it. This crowd was nothing. No more living in the shadow of the past. Time to break the wall. It was my turn.

I let out a deep breath, allowing my fear to blow away. "Alright."

Toby grinned in satisfaction. "That's my girl. Now, we're going to go out onstage, and you just wait here. We'll call you out. Just be waiting for us, alright, Cubbie?"

I raised my eyebrow. "How did you find out about my nickname?"

"You left your laptop open. Now, just wait for us, okay?"

I nodded. "Yes."

The four boys took their positions, and the entire stage went dark. They quietly walked onstage, and the black lights turned on, mixing with the blue and red and purple strobe lights. The crowd was going nuts. Toby stepped out of the dark, and announced that the band had a newbie. Slowly, as if on cue, a thick mist began to crawl across the stage, completely clouding the boys. As Toby spoke, I took a few steps back, arching my back into a crouch. I was going to flip onto the stage, and out of the smoke. The second he shouted my name, I sprinted forward, cart wheeling and flipping backwards out of the smoke. I landed on my feet, striking a gymnast's pose, then waved to the crowd as I walked to Toby's side. They were screaming much louder than before. I took my microphone from its' stand and shouted my thank you.

The thick mist started up again from below us as we began playing Never. The massive audience was singing along and screaming. How were their throats not sand paper yet? Was my only thought. For a good half of the song, I didn't sing much, just back up, but when my solo came, the second I began singing, it caused an uproar. Even the boys seemed absolutely stunned by my voice, even though they've heard me sing a million times. I sang as proudly as I could, with Toby right by my side the entire time. Adrenaline pulsed through my system and I placed every single emotion into my singing, and all of my trust into the words. My heart was pounding like a caged animal against my rip cage as I moved with the music, traveling around the stage in the form of a dance. I was a very graceful person, (or so I had been told) and I moving like a lyrical pointe dancer was fun. I knew what I was doing. Plus, first impressions were everything.

I felt the heat of the stage lights beating down on my shoulders, and I felt beads of sweat on my neck. I was traveling blind and I wanted desperately to dive into an Arctic lake, but I was comfortable. I guess singing every day of your life in front of complete strangers was how I got used to the crowds. I had been singing since the day I learned how to talk, and now I was at the top. Nothing could have made that moment better. Just being up on that stage was enough forever. Enough for eternity.

I know that a lot of people say that they were born to be onstage, but they don't understand the true power in their words. They really don't know what it means. Being onstage is about the passion, and the dedication, and the adrenaline rush. It's about hearing the crowds scream with love when they see you, and to feel loved and supported by the fans. It's about knowing that no one cares it you screw up onstage because they know that you laugh about it and they can laugh with you. It's about loving what you do and knowing that the fans wouldn't let you crash no matter how hard times were, and that they'll always be there. It's about going onstage and performing because you love it and not because there's someone waiting with a boatload of money. It's about being comfortable and feeling the unquenchable urge to perform every second of each and every day, and to feel the music within your soul...

That's what I felt when I was standing up there onstage with Breaking Midnight. My memories of my life before the boys found me and made me better completely left me. I completely forgot about everything that had happened in the past. I was no longer that girl who lived on the streets with a broken heart and no money to support her. I was Tegan Rosalie Knight, singer to Breaking Midnight, girlfriend to Toby Scott, and the girl who would never be alone again. I was the girl who would soon be eighteen and actually have someone understand that she was an adult. I was the girl who would one day see the name of her band in lights along with all of the others who made this dream possible. I was the girl whose soul was returned, and whose heart was repaired just by being onstage.

There were only four things that mattered right now. My life, Breaking Midnight, Toby, and him.

Okay this will be the last chapter for a little while. Still no computer to work on the book. And with school back in session (I'm a friggin freshman!) I don't have a lot of time. So bear with me. Thanks!

Danke Schon!

Phantom Dancer Kaulitz