“Are you sure you want to do this now?” Sue snuggled against Nick’s side.
“I have to. I really want him to be at tonight’s show and that should really give him an incentive to be there.” Nick replied before clearing his throat and leaving a voicemail on his friend’s phone.
Sue listened to the message and winced. Someone was not gonna be happy. Not at all.

***

The four soon had to leave for the venue. Nick had arranged backstage passes for the girls and they proudly wore them around their necks.
They were surprised with the scale of behind-the-scenes work and the number of people involved to make sure that the show ran smoothly.
AJ had been sworn to secrecy, no one was to know about the marriage until Nick and Sue announced it in the dressing room before the show.
Em had not yet been able to corner her friend about the surprising events, but still needed to do so. Sue kept avoiding her friend, or at least avoided spending much time alone with her. Something Em had not failed to notice.

They watched the soundcheck from the side of the stage along with Denise, Aaron and Angel. No one asked who they were, they just accepted them.
The group all met up back in the dressing rooms before the show. Excitement buzzed in the air when Kevin joined them. Lots of "it's been too long"'s exchanged between them.
Then came time for Nick’s announcement. His mouth suddenly became dry and he didn't know how his friends were going to react. None of them knew Sue, he had kept her quiet for so long he suddenly didn't want to share her with them.
"So what's the announcement, Nick?" Kevin asked, "You left me such a cryptic message, I wanna know what's goin' on."
Nick paused before answering. He looked at Em then AJ for support. He got a stony stare from Em but a friendly nod from AJ. He then looked at his wife, who had nothing but love for him in her eyes. He motioned for her to join him and he faced the quiet room and said, "I would like to introduce you all to my wife, Sue."
Shocked silence filled the room.

Kevin was the first one to react. “Nick, what-“
“Not now.” Tom, their tour manager, stepped in. “Guys, you’re on in five. Let’s go!”
After giving Sue a kiss and a quick hug, Nick took the opportunity offered and hurried out of the room, soon followed by two bemused friends and a grinning AJ. That left Kevin, Sue and Emma, all looking at each other with no idea what to say.
“I guess, congratulations?” Kevin said before holding out his hand to Sue.
She grabbed it and replied a quick thanks. She didn’t want to talk to him. Not now. Not ever.
Emma to the rescue! Pushing her friend out of the room, she nodded at Kevin and said, “We’re off to see the show. You’re welcome to come with us if you’d like.”
“Ah, that’s okay. I need to go find, uh, Kris first and, ya know-“ He waved his hand in the air.
“Sure. See ya!” Emma was already walking away.
“Shit!” Sue said as soon as they’d reached another corridor. “That didn’t go well, did it?”
“I’m not sure. I think they were too surprised to say much and then, they had to go on stage. I’m sure it’ll be better once he’s had a chance to talk to them about it. Same thing for me too, remember?”
“Uh, yes. Let’s watch the show first, should we? It’s gonna be a good one!”
Emma rolled her eyes at her friend’s avoidance. Again. “Whatever.” She sighed as she followed.

***

Sue’d been right. It’d been an amazing show. The finale with Kevin had brought tears to everyone’s eyes and spirits were running high as they all met backstage, still too high to do much but grin and hug each other.
Nick grabbed his wife’s hand and brought her forward, instantly wrapping his arms around her. He bent her over his arm and ignoring her shriek, kissed her breath away.
Everyone turned to look at them but smiles prevailed around the room. Except for Kevin who was looking darker by the second. Emma gulped at the sight of his face. Uhoh. That didn’t bore well.