Founded on Goodbye by Kat Singleton
Hearing the crowd sing along with me is a feeling that’ll never get old. I stop singing, letting the crowd around me fill in the lyrics for me. Lyrics to Founded on Goodbye spill through the stadium. It’s a surreal moment for me. I wrote these lyrics with a broken heart, but one that still beat for the woman standing on left stage. Looking toward her, I find Nora where she always is on tour—cheering me on from the sidelines. Her sister, Lennon, stands next to her, smiling wide.
My own lyrics surround me, and I take a moment to take it all in, to appreciate the place I am at in my life. I’m on another sold-out tour, the love of my life on it with me, but not as a dancer this time. When Nora and I got back together, she told me how she’d been working hard on mending her relationship with her sister and she wanted to focus on that rather than spend all her time in rehearsals and on stage. She said her sister was traveling around the country, doing what she could to enjoy every moment. I suggested inviting her sister on tour with us, and though it was a shock to Nora, Lenny said yes. The two of them are in talks of opening their own dance studio together in LA. They stay up late most nights, both of them hunched over design boards of what they envision for the studio.
The song comes to an end, the audience going wild. Founded on Goodbye has been my best-selling record by far, the public so invested in the love story between me and Nora that this tour sold out each venue quickly, setting records for half of them.
When I found out why Nora was truly on this tour over a year ago, I wasn’t in a good place. I never imagined singing these songs about her, having her waiting backstage for me. But life has a funny way of working out, and with the both of us putting in the effort to making our relationship work, we’re in as good of a place as ever.
Which is why I want to ask her to marry me. Tonight.
I’ve had the ring for months; I’ve just been trying to find the right time to ask her to be mine forever. We’re both so young, I know it could be reckless and foolish, but I don’t give a damn what anyone’s opinion is on it. I want her forever. I told her a year ago I never wanted to say another goodbye and I meant it. Putting a ring on her finger will seal that promise we made to each other. No more goodbyes.
When I learned that my hometown show was going to be a rain show, I knew this was the time to ask her. If I believed in all the fate and universe bullshit, I’d say this was fate. This venue is the place where it all came crashing down for me and Nora, and I think it’s poetic to also make it the place for us to promise each other forever.
The rain beating on my back, the energy of the crowd, it brings the one-of-a-kind experience of a rain show. Rain is now our thing, and I can’t imagine a better time to ask her.
Instead of performing an encore song, I do something different with this show.
“Colorado, do you mind if I switch things up a bit tonight?” I ask the crowd, getting my wet hair out of my face.
They scream and I smile, hyped for what’s about to happen.
Turning to face Nora, I give her the biggest grin. “Nora, my love, could you join me out here?”
Her jaw drops, her eyes looking down at her outfit. She stands in the shelter, having managed to avoid the rain thus far. I nod, gesturing for her to come and join me on stage.
The ring box in my pocket suddenly feels incredibly heavy, the weight of what I’m about to do dawning on me.
Lennon pushes on Nora’s back, forcing her forward. Thirty minutes before the show, I’d found Lennon, telling her my plan to ask Nora to marry me. She was all for it, helping me come up with some semblance of a speech. Nora carefully walks across the stage toward me.
When she reaches me, I sling an arm over her shoulder. “Colorado, say hello to my girl, you may know her.”
They go fucking nuts, everyone very aware of who she is. We’ve graced the front page of many magazines, the paparazzi fucking animals when it comes to trying to get pictures of us together. It was a lot to get used to at first, but I’ve learned to care less about the media than I used to.
When I have Nora, nothing else really matters.
Turning to face her, I take both of her hands in mine. “Nora,” I begin, “you came into my life at a point when I needed you most, I just didn’t know it yet. You made me look at the ugly, bitter parts of myself. You were the first person to challenge me…the first person to see me for me. I think I fell in love with you the moment you told me you stole a rabbit as a kid.”
“That was supposed to be our secret.” She laughs, her cheeks blushing.
I smile. “Rose, we’ve been through one hell of a ride together. We’ve both done things that we regret, but I wouldn’t change a damn thing about our story. In the end, it brought me you, and you’re everything I could ever want.”
I reach into my pocket, pulling out the red velvet box I’ve been hiding from her for months.
Her hands cover her mouth. “Nash, what are you doing?”
Getting on one knee, I look up at the woman I’m so madly in love with. “You’re my rain show, Rose. You’re my epic adventure. The once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. I want to spend all of my fucking life kissing in the rain with you. I love you. You know I’m shit at asking for things,” I smirk, “and I don’t like to beg. But I’m on my knees for you. Marry me, Nora Mason.”
The rain pelts down at both of us, mixing with the tears on her face. She nods enthusiastically, choking out a “yes.”
My hands are shaky as I place the emerald cut diamond ring on her finger. She doesn’t even take time to admire the ring, instead she’s falling to the ground with me, wrapping her arms tightly around me. It’s hard to keep my balance as she throws her body on top of mine.
“I love you so much, Nash Pierce,” Nora says, trying to speak over the rain and the crowd.
“I love you too, Rose.”
I love her more than I ever thought possible, which is cliché as fuck, but the truth. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me and I can’t wait to see what life has in store for us. Our love story was supposed to be doomed before we ever laid eyes on each other. But when you love someone enough, we’ve shown that you can overcome anything. Our love story is like a rain show. It’s a story they’ll write all the fucking love songs about.
Holding this woman close to my chest, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. She’s my home, and I can’t fucking wait to see what the rest of our love story has in store, our story nowhere near being done.
Nora and I are proof that even the best love stories can be founded on goodbye.