The air was thick with summer heat, and the sky glowed like velvet. The stars above that open park didn’t sparkle nearly as brightly as the thousands of fans below—every single one swaying, lightsticks blinking like pastel fireflies. It should’ve felt electric. Euphoric. Like the dream I had been chasing finally clicked into its final, perfect chord.

But my chest felt too full. Like I’d swallowed every song I’d ever written about you and none of them could escape fast enough.

I wiped my palms on my jeans backstage before the acoustic set. My fingers kept twitching near my pocket—where that damn Polaroid of you had lived for years. Faded edges, smudged corners, ink a little bled from the sweat of summer tours. But your smile? Still alive in that tiny square of forever.

I was barely twenty when I ghosted you.

No explanation. Just one cowardly text.

"I’m sorry. I can’t do this anymore."

I couldn’t even face you in person, because I knew the minute I did, I wouldn’t be able to let go. Not when you were my favorite lyric. Not when you looked at me like I was more than just some guy with a mic and a dream.

And now, here I was—live on The Comeback Tour. Right in our hometown. With a setlist full of lies and a heart full of you.

So I did the only thing I could.

Mid-song, I stepped into the spotlight. The guitar behind me quieted. The crowd hummed with confusion, but I didn’t waver. I pulled out the Polaroid and raised it to the camera. My voice shook, but I meant every syllable.

“If anyone knows this beautiful lady…” I said, and the sea of fans leaned closer. “Please tell her to reply to my messages. Or… just come up here if you’re around.”

Screams. Absolute chaos. But my heartbeat drowned it all out.

Then the camera cut to the crowd. I swear, the world slowed down.

There you were.

Mid-exit. Caught. A friend tugging you back like fate itself had grabbed your hoodie sleeve. My knees nearly buckled.

“Wait, wait, wait—don’t leave!” I laughed into the mic, waving like an idiot. “You—I see you! Yeah, you with the friend who's literally holding you hostage right now. I didn’t ghost you because I stopped loving you. I ghosted you because I was stupid and scared and barely twenty and I didn’t know how to chase a dream without losing you. But guess what—dream’s not worth it without you.”