Under Her Skin (26 page)

Authors: Alexis Lauren

Before she knew it, the guys were standing behind her. They huddled up for a quick pep talk, and then listened as they were being announced. Tobias pulled Marlo aside and brushed her hair back lightly and rested his hands on her cheeks.

"Just relax out there tonight and go with the flow. If you need me, just look over and I'll be there." He told her, then slowly bent his head down and touched his lips to hers. Even over the roar of the crowd, he could hear her moan as he deepened the kiss for a brief moment. When he pulled away, he could proudly see that his kisses still affected her. He kissed her lips quickly once more before backing away and taking her hand to pull her onstage.

She was still in a slight daze as the notes for the first song began. She smiled, knowing that everything would be ok, and that she would be able to get Tobias back. She hadn't lost him for good like she had thought a few days ago.

The band played a perfect set that night, better than they had played in a long time. When the last song was finished, Marlo felt such a wave of satisfaction and pride soar through her. With things between her and Tobias on the mend, the chemistry on stage surged to a level it hadn't been at in a while.

As she started to walk off stage, she saw three members of the stage crew each carrying a stool to the center of the stage. Tobias thanked them with a nod of his head, and took a seat on the middle stool, mic in hand. Dusty took the stool on the far side, with a different looking guitar in his hands, leaving one stool open. Marlo was confused as to what was happening since their show was supposed to be over; they had played their last song. Remembering Tobias's words before their set, she looked to him for reassurance.

Tobias jerked his head over to the remaining stool, the one sitting next to him. He patted it, telling her to come and sit down. Marlo looked around as she slowly walked over to the stool.

No one in the crowd knew what was happening, but they were all excited. Most of them were shouting and screaming their love and admiration for the band. The noise didn't die down until Tobias put the mic to his mouth and made a motion with his hand for them to quiet down,

"We just wanted to thank you for being such a great audience for us tonight. Normally this is where we end the show, but I've been working on a new song, and hoped that we could try it out for you tonight." The crowd erupted again. He motioned for them to quiet down once again. "This song is a little different than our normal sound, so listen carefully." He spoke through the mic as he looked over at Marlo with a smirk.

Marlo sat there, still unaware of what was going on, and hating how uncomfortable she felt. The anxiety of the situation was multiplied as she looked out into the crowd. She felt like they could tell that she had no clue what was going on up there, and she hoped they weren't laughing at her.

The first few notes of the song were played by Dusty, giving an acoustic sound, with a little twang to it. Soon Tobias's voice blended so well with the notes coming from the guitar. As he sang, he looked over to Marlo, and grabbed her hand for reassurance.

As I lay in this bed all alone

My thoughts drift to memories of the past

Meaningless nights with meaningless girls

Moments of pleasure I knew would never last

You invaded my head, and my heart

I never wanted anyone to know

We always fought with so much passion

Fueled the fire and made my feelings grow

(Chorus)

I'm looking forward to the future

Don't want to relive my past

You've change my life for the better

And baby I'll fight to make it last

Through trauma and drama and happiness

We've always helped each other through

I want you as my friend and my wife

I want to live my life with you

(Chorus)

I'm looking forward to the future

Don't want to relive my past

You've changed my life for the better

And baby I'll fight to make it last

Forever and always in my life

Please say yes and be my wife

By the end of the song, Marlo had tears streaming down her face, and she swore that she could see moisture in the eyes of Tobias as he sang too. To accentuate the end of the song, Tobias got off the stool and handed the mic to AJ who had appeared behind the stool Tobias had just evacuated. AJ held out the mic as Tobias dropped to his knee in front of Marlo and reached under his stool to pull out a box that had been taped there.

He took Marlo's hand in his again and smirked at the petrified look on her face. "Marlo, I love you with all that I am, and I know that I can't live the rest of my life without you. You mean the world to me, as my friend, my lover, and my sparring partner. Will you make an honest man out of me and marry me?" He opened the box and held it out to her, with a beautiful platinum engagement ring shining in it.

Marlo could now see the tears glistening in his eyes for sure, as her own flowed freely down her face. As she heard the words coming out of his mouth, she knew what her answer would be before he even asked. Shaking her head and laughing, she choked out "YES!"

Tobias looked up at her, as if he couldn't believe what she had said. "Yes?" He asked her again.

"Yes." She laughed.

Tobias jumped up and grabbed Marlo in a hug, sweeping her off her feet and swinging her around in circles with him. He finally put her down before they got too dizzy, and kissed her deeply.

"She said yes!" AJ shouted into the microphone that had captured the whole proposal. The audience went crazy, watching the newly engaged couple, as Tobias finally broke away from Marlo and slipped the ring on her finger. He kissed her softly once again before they were pushed off stage by AJ and Dusty. Sammy followed close behind them.

Back in the dressing room, Dusty hugged his sister and whispered words on congratulation is her ear. The other guys followed suit, shaking Tobias's hand after hugging Marlo.

"You guys all knew about this?" She asked them, almost in a scolding voice.

"Tobias asked my permission last night, and we worked on the music for the song while you were sleeping. He picked up the ring while we were at the movie today, and when you were napping, we let AJ and Sammy in on the plans." Dusty told her proudly.

Tobias pulled her back into his arms as she finally got a look at her ring. She couldn't have picked out a more perfect ring for herself. In the center of the ring sat a large princess cut diamond, and the band of the ring was channel set with princess diamonds that even passed underneath the large solitaire. It sparkled in the light perfectly, matching the look in her eyes.

A light knock on the dressing room caused them all to turn to the door. Donovan, the band's publicist peeked his head in to make sure everyone was decent before coming into the room. "Congratulations you two." He said looking at Tobias and Marlo. "A little heads up before you do something this big next time?" He asked Tobias with a smile, knowing that he would be fielding a lot of calls from the press over the next few days. He looked at his watch, "Time to greet the fans, let’s get to the green room." And just as quick as he entered, he left.

"We'll be there in a minute, ok guys?" Tobias asked as he held Marlo back from leaving with the rest of them.

"Just don't have sex in here, ok?" Dusty groaned.

Tobias laughed and shook his head. Once the guys were gone, he pulled Marlo over to the couch and sat down, tugging her onto his lap. He held her hand in his, admiring how the ring looked on her finger. "Lola, I meant every word of what I said out there. And I know that things haven't been perfect between us lately. Are you sure about this?" He asked, a bit of uncertainty in his eyes.

Marlo lifted his chin so that he was looking into her eyes. "Tobias, I have never been more sure about anything in my life. These past few days have been hell on me, and I've been trying to figure out a way to say that I was sorry, and that I do trust you. You just beat me to the punch." She smiled. "I'm not saying that I won't mess up from time to time and get a bit jealous, but be patient with me, and realize that I get jealous because I love you so much and I don't want to lose you."

"I'm yours baby, for life. We have so much to look forward to sharing, and I couldn't imagine doing any of it with anyone but you. And to think, we used to fight constantly. I don't think anyone could have predicted us being together and getting married." Tobias smirked.

"I know I never would have predicted it. I guess in all our fighting, you just managed to get under my skin." She smiled and kissed him, sealing their future with a kiss.

End

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