Re:life with Karmic Gacha (Modern Family)

Chapter 49: Opening act finished. (Part 4)

[Edward POV]

I gripped the microphone tight and took it out of the microphone stand.

"It's been a pleasure getting to perform in front of you kind folks here today. For my final solo act, I will be performing Believer – a song from my future Album titled Breaking."

"Breaking?" Phil muttered. "That's the name of his future album?...why?"

Alex heard the question and replied, "Because he's breaking all expectations people have on him. And also the music charts."

"Write that down! Write that down!" Manny and a majority of the people in the audience hurriedly noted down the album name after I announced it.

"Write it down too, Harvey." Pepper said.

"Wait...he's naming the album here for the first time?" Harvey asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Pepper replied.

After all of the clamouring, the guitarist strummed the guitar to notify the audience about the start of the song.

Then, the entire amphitheatre fell into a deep silence as people were holding their breath to wait for the song.

I took a deep breath before the drummer hit the drum beat. Without playing the guitar on my own or slinging the guitar over my shoulder, I walked to the edge of the stage.

[Imagine Dragon- Believer]

"??First things first...

I'ma say all the words inside my head...

I'm fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh ooh...

The way that things have been, oh ooh~! ??"

Claire stood up from the seat and shouted, "YEAH!! EDWARD!"

Alex was horrified and exclaimed in a hushed tone, "MOM!"

"What? I'm just glad." Claire said with a soft smile as she looked at Alex.

"??Second things second...

Don't you tell me what you think that I could be...

I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh ooh~

The master of my sea, oh ooh~!??"

Ted smiled and said, "I finally inspired him in a lyric."

"Take back control of your life huh." Pepper muttered as he heard it. Then, he smiled widely and said, "I like it."

"??I was broken from a young age...

Taking my sulking to the masses...

Writing my poems for the few...

That look at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me...??"

"That's us." Cam gleefully said while feeling extra proud inside.

"?? Singing from heartache from the pain...

Taking my message from the veins...

Speaking my lesson from the brain...

Seeing the beauty through the...??"

Almost all of the people there held their breath as the song entered the chorus.

"??Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer!!!!??"

"Woo-hoo!" The crowd cheered and stood up from their seats before they banged their heads to the rhythms.

"??Pain!

You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer

Pain!??"

The lady wearing a floral dress and a red stiletto shivered as she heard the song, however her large hat covered most of her face. She was biting her lower lips until it was all bloody before the woman next to her realised it asked her, "Miranda. Are you okay?"

"Camila. I'm fine." Miranda replied.

I did a little jump while I changed my position to the left side of the stage.

"??Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain~!

My life, my love, my drive, it came from...

Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer??"

"Is this song...about the lord?" Gloria whispered to Jay while asking. Jay looked at her weirdly with a scrunched up face and said, "Wha- NO!"

"Third things third...

Send a prayer to the ones up above...

All the hate that you've heard has turned your spirit to a dove, oh ooh..

Your spirit up above, oh ooh..."

"It is about the Lord!" Gloria muttered in excitement.

"Mom. NO!" Manny admonished his mom while shaking his head. "I'll explain it to you later." Gloria nodded at Manny's words and they focused back on the show.

I walked in front of the VIP section and crouched down while waving at them for a second, causing immense cheer from the audience there. I stood back up and continued.

"I was choking in the crowd

Building my rain up in the cloud

Falling like ashes to the ground

Hoping my feelings, they would drown

But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing

Inhibited, limited

Till it broke open and rained down

It rained down, like..."

"Is he rapping?" Luke asked as he didn't catch a word of what I just said.

??Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer??

The crowd cheered once more until and didn't stop at all until my chorus was done.

Jenna finally managed to throw her underwear on the stage while Mrs Henderson was distracted by the song.

"Oh my god." Elsa couldn't believe her friend as she saw her take off her panties right next to her boyfriend. Luckily, everyone was too focused on the song to care.

The Catholic mother–Mrs Green clasped her hand together in excitement and said to Jacob, "I can't believe you have another devout friend. This is the type of friend you need to hang out with, not the one who offered you drugs and alcohol."

While headbanging his head to the song, the Viking Mr Green said, "Why can't he be both?"

"??Pain!

You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer??

Pain!

??Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain

My life, my love, my drive, it came from...

Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer??"

My breath got quicker as the songs were mentally and physically draining for me to do. With sweat dripping from my chin, I stood at the left side of the stage and continued.

??Last things last

By the grace of the fire and the flames

You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins, oh ooh

The blood in my veins, oh ooh??

"Is it the final verse already?" Pepper said and said to the young girl beside him. "Are you ready?"

Taylor replied, "I'm always ready."

??But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing

Inhibited, limited

Till it broke open and rained down

It rained down, like...??

?? Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Pain!

You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer

Pain!

Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain

My life, my love, my drive, it came from...

Pain!

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer??

I held my fist up at the last note of the song while standing at the centre edge of the stage with my head lowered.

The audience stood up from the seat while applauding and giving me deafening cheers.

"WOO-HOO!"

"HELL'S YEAH!"

"EDWARD! EDWARD! EDWARD!"

I smiled and waved at them, and my dad was already drowned by the bras and wet panties thrown into his direction. The crowd cheering wouldn't stop as if they felt reluctant to let me go.

I turned to the band member and said, "Nice job you guys."

"You did really great Ed." Jess said while the others agreed with her.

Wiping my face with a towel, I turned to the crowd once more but with an acoustic guitar in my hand. I used the stand up microphone and said, "Did you guys enjoy the show?"

They answered with another cheer that drowned every other sound in that area. I waited for them to calm down a little bit, but the cheer droned on for a minute before I could finally get a word in.

"It has been a charmed evening for me today." I said, earning another wave of cheer from the crowd.

"And with that, ends my solo part of the evening." I muttered and the crowd went "Aww..." Then, I suddenly played another song.

"After all, Two is better than one right?" I said with a smirk as I picked the guitar strings.

I started the song by singing alone.

Ed: "??I remember what you wore on the first day

You came into my life and I thought, hey

You know this could be something??"

The crowd was baffled by my sudden change from pop rock to country song and couldn't help but feel elated inside. After all, another song from me was a gift for them.

Ed: "??'Cause everything you do and words you say

You know that it all takes my breath away

And now I'm left with nothing??"

Suddenly, Taylor walked onto the stage with a microphone in her hand. The crowd became uncontrollable as she walked in and they widened their eyes as Taylor stood beside me– facing each other with our eyes locked on one another as we sang a perfect blend of duet harmony.

??Taylor and Ed: So maybe it's true

That I can't live without you

And maybe two is better than one

But there's so much time

To figure out the rest of my life..."

Edward: "And you've already got me coming undone??"

Taylor and Edward: : And I'm thinking two is better than one??

"Oh my god!" Lily, the nerdy girl who was a fan of Taylor, almost fainted as she saw Taylor putting her hand on my face as she sang.

Jenna narrowed her eyes and said, "That bitch. Is she thinking of seducing Ed?"

Haley and Abby also reacted the same way, with narrowed eyes as they saw Taylor running her hand on my arm as she changed place from my left to my right.

"Hmph. He has already moved on huh!" Abby pouted with her arms crossed.

"No. That skank is seducing him!" Haley said in jealousy. Tara looked at both of her best friends in disbelief and said, "It's a performance you guys."

Taylor:?? I remember every look upon your face

The way you roll your eyes, the way you taste

You make it hard for breathing??

Taylor: ?? 'Cause when I close my eyes and drift away

I think of you and everything's okay

I'm finally now believing??

While locking eyes, Taylor and I chuckled at each other as we thought the situation was funny, and the crowd couldn't help but notice it. She bit her lips as our face drew closer, and the image was displayed on the big screen, causing a lot of people to swoon.

"Wait...are they?" Cam asked.

Mitch said hurriedly, "No Cam. He's 14, she's 19!"

Cam scoffed and said, "As if that matters in Hollywood.

Ignoring the crowd chanting our names together, Taylor decided to share the microphone with me and bring our face inches away from one another, causing the crowd to explode once more.

Taylor and Ed: ??That maybe it's true

That I can't live without you

And maybe two is better than one

But there's so much time

To figure out the rest of my life

Ed: And you've already got me coming undone

Together:?? And I'm thinking two is better than one~!??

We sang the song till the end before Taylor kissed my cheek and turned to the crowd, "Edward Newgate Everyone!"

"Give a round of applause for Taylor S.!" I announced.

The crowd cheered explosively, and that was the end of my debut stage.

Taylor hugged me and whispered "Congratulations for your very successful debut."

She announced her featuring in my album, and spoke a few words with me on stage before I left the stage in her hands.

I descended backstage where Pepper gave me a tight hug despite my sweaty body and said, "You did a good job today. No...Wonderful Job Today. I'm very proud of you."

"Thanks Pep." I replied as he released me, and I saw Dad standing next to Pepper. "You want to hug me too?" I asked him playfully, and then he abruptly pulled me into his arms and hugged me. "Of course. I too am very proud of you. You did really well Ed."

They walked me into the waiting room where I finally rested my back on the couch and released the tension build up.

"AHh~" I exclaimed as I drank a glass of warm lemon-honey water and Pepper massaged my shoulders.

He said, "Your 'Before you go' song is already copyrighted by us. I didn't want to tell you this before your show to avoid messing with your nerves, but I called a few critics to come to the show."

Stunned, I turned to Pepper who was standing behind me and said in disbelief, "YOU DID WHAT?!"

"And you passed their evaluations with flying colours." Pepper continued, not minding my reaction. "We can expect the reviews in the paper tomorrow.

"Oh." I muttered flatly. Then, I smiled and said, "Thank you Pepper."

"Don't worry about it. You go get some rest. I need to go talk to some people."

I nodded at his words before I sat on the sofa again after changing my sweat-drenched outfits. Wearing a tight white shirt that was tucked into my long black pants, I sipped the honey-lemon water quietly as I rested my throat and my mind.

After 10 minutes of rest, suddenly a few people with backstage passes on their neck barges into my room. Flinching after they opened the door abruptly, I quickly leaned forward to guard against the intruder.

"ED!!!" The Dunphy's rushed toward me and gave me a group hug before I could even stand up from the sofa. Following closely behind them were Gloria, Jay and Manny. Gloria and Manny rushed to the hug while Jay stayed behind and just gave me a thumbs up from afar.

"Hey- Why don't you guys stay for Taylor?" I asked in surprise as they released me.

"We came here for you, not her." Phil said while pulling her waist up. "But we already got the ticket...so..."

"So we're only here for 5 minutes before we go back to our seats." Alex exposed Phil.

Smiling softly, I said, "You guys don't have to do this. Just go and enjoy the show."

"Nonsense Ed! We come here specifically to support you." Claire said and sat next to me before she kissed my forehead. I was stunned by her suddenness and then she said, "I'm really proud of you Ed. You have come so far."

"Uh...Thanks?" I replied as I didn't know why she was reacting like that.

Gloria pinched my cheeks softly and said, "Aaayyyy mi ni?o hermosooo, mirenlo toda una Estrella ( AAAYYY mi beautiful boy, look at him a total star)"

As I was still sitting, she pulled me into her embrace with my head buried inside her chest before she squealed happily and shook me around.

"Gloria!" Claire stopped her hurriedly before I lost my breath.

"When are you getting home?" Jay asked, unbothered by the ensuing chaos inside the room.

"After the show is over. I will be joining Taylor for the after party though, so I won't go home directly."

Claire raised one of her eyebrows and asked, "After party? Where?"

...

[3rd Person POV]

At the Q and A portion of Taylor's fan meet. Although the majority of the questions were for Taylor, there were still a few questions that baffled her when she heard it as the fans were asking questions like this.

"Are you and Edward Dating? You know we support you no matter what."

"Who wrote the song 'Two is better than one'? You or Edward?"

"Is he coming to your tour? Or your next show?"

"When can we buy his album?"

Taylor laughed and said, "Okay, I will ask him for you guys and tell you about it later."

Abby and Haley scrunched their faces as they looked at Taylor before Abby said to her mom, "Let's go home."

She turned to Haley and Tara before saying, "Are you guys staying till the end?"

"Yeah. We will hitch a ride with my family so you don't need to worry about us." Haley replied.

"Abby, let's go meet Edward first before you leave." Haley said and grabbed Abby's hand before dragging her backstage to the waiting room. Abby could've resisted and broke free from Haley's grip, but she just let herself be dragged away. Maybe she needed an excuse to come meet Edward, but she still wasn't sure why she was going along with it.

Near the backstage, Ted was talking with Camila.

"Is she gone?" Ted asked.

With a thick Cuban accent, the woman replied, "Yeah. She had to rest. So I let her go first."

"Do you want to come meet him?" He asked.

Camila widened her eyes and said, "Wait? Can I?"

"Of course. You're his aunt. You can meet him anytime you want."

(Camila Moronne-Similar face)

[Edwards POV]

As I was walking out of my waiting room, suddenly I saw Haley, Tara, Abby and Desiree in the hallway walking in my room's direction.

"Hey!" Tara greeted happily while Haley rushed to give me a hug. I was startled as she started running toward me, so I put my hand upward to guard against her, but then, my hands actually landed on her bra-less chess as she hugged me from my neck excitedly.

'Ah soft.' I thought as I could feel...everything.

Haley finally realised where my hand was 5 seconds after hugging me and she quickly pulled away and covered her chest in a crossed 'X' shape while looking at me in disbelief. "Perv!" She said.

With a zen-like facial expression, I said, "It was an accident. I thought you're attacking me. Also, it's very soft."

Her jaw dropped and I turned to Abby instead of explaining myself.

"Hey." I muttered softly.

"Hey..." She replied back, not looking me directly in the eyes.

"I'm really glad you're here."

"Well...I promised...So I will be here..." Abby replied while turning her eyes slowly to meet mine. I couldn't help myself but approached her and gave her a hug.

"Thank you." I said.

Abby widened her eyes before she returned my embrace while saying, "That's what a friend is for right?"

"Sure." I said while I continued hugging her.

Then, Desiree decided to join in and made the hug a group hug. Abby and I laughed at the abrupt action of her mother, and we finally released each other.

"How's the concert?" I asked.

"To be honest it could've been better." Abby teased.

"Yeah. If Taylor kissed my lip at the end it would've been better." I said, earning a death glare from Abby, Haley and Tara.

Abby replied sarcastically, "Sure...Let her commit a crime at the end of the show. That will surely be useful for your debut."

I chuckled a bit and said, "Seriously. I'm really glad you're here."

"...Me too." Abby said with a soft smile on her face.

"Don't ignore me okay?"

"I won't."

As we were facing each other, Haley interjected angrily, "So. When are we going to talk about the fact you copped a feel on my boobs?"

"Hmm? What did he do?" Dad appeared out of nowhere from behind Haley, startling her.

"N-N-Nothing." Haley stammered as she turned to my dad.

"Dad. Who is that? Your girlfriend? Did you finally get a girlfriend?" I asked teasingly as I saw a hot latina woman next to my dad. "Also, you have an acquired taste huh."

"Stop speaking nonsense. This is your Aunt." Dad explained hurriedly to make me stop.

"Aunt?" I was confused as I had never seen the woman before in my entire life. Suddenly, I remembered my dad's stories and said, "Aunt Camila?"

She hugged me suddenly and said, "I can't believe you know me." Only giving me a quick hug for fear I would be uncomfortable with her, she took a step back after that.

"Yeah, from my dad's stories." I said while staring at her face. Camila turned to Ted and said, "You told him about us?"

"Of course. You're family." Ted said while smiling softly. I didn't want to burst his bubble and told my aunt he told me about her pickpocket job before, therefore I changed the subject.

"Aunt Camila...why are you here?" I asked carefully.

She flinched and said, "T-To support you of course."

I narrowed my eyes at both her and my dad in suspicion before I sighed and said, "Dad. Seriously? If you want to date my aunt, shouldn't you tell me this before you come and introduce her to me?"

"We're not dating!" Ted said in frustration. Finally, Ted saw Desiree who was standing next to Abby. It was their first time meeting, and I was sure that there was some sparks between them.

I returned to the waiting room with my dad and my aunt while the girls went back to the concert. Abby and Desiree returned home instead of waiting until the concert ended, so only Tara and Haley stayed till the end.

As Camila was still awkward around me, we didn't talk too much. Instead she asked me what I knew about my Cuban side of the family and shared some funny stories about my dad when he first met my grandparents over there.

After an hour, the sky had darkened and I was watching Taylor close the show from near the stage. After her final song, suddenly she said, "As Edward had given you guys a present by performing a song from his upcoming album....I think...I will do the same thing too."

The crowd cheered, and I cheered along in anticipation with them.

Then, she changed her tone and said, "But there is a problem. I need some help in playing it, and over here,there is only one person who knows about the song I'm talking about."

She turned toward me abruptly and said using the earpiece without the audience hearing it, "Edward. Will you help me?"

"What is she doing?" Mr Killington asked in frustration after nothing was going to plan in his event today.

"What do you need help for?" I asked her back after hearing it through the headphones.

"Love story. Doing it the way we played around with it before."

"Really? Like that? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

As I looked at Taylor's determined face, I sighed and said, "Okay. I will do it."

Taylor smiled and turned her attention back to the audience.

"Who do you guys think I need to call on stage to help me?" She asked innocently while putting her finger on her cheek.

The audience was confused before someone muttered, "Edward?"

"Come on. You guys just heard his songs minutes ago." Taylor said playfully. The audience laughed before they shouted, "Edward!!"

"Call him out until he gets on the stage!" Taylor ordered.

"Edward! EDWARD! EDWARD! EDWARD! EDWARD!"