“Always,” she answered, as she stepped behind the keyboard Rob’s team had set up for her. She had a mic threaded through her hair, taped in place, and it was live now.

They played the same rendition of “Crystal Castle” that they had at Tony’s bar but without the drums. There was something even more soulful about it this way, the two instruments entering into a conversation, her vocals underscoring his. And the audience was responding to it. The room felt electric, just like it had so many years ago when they’d played at Webster Hall. Emily felt like the past and present were combining, like what was wrong had been set right. Like she had rediscovered the magic she had lost.

When the song finished, the audience erupted in applause and shouts and whistles. Emily felt the crowd’s emotion surge through her body. It left her breathless, sure that this was what she had to find some way to do—over and over again for the rest of her life.

“Thank all y’all for coming tonight!” Rob said, his guitar raised in one hand.

“One more song!” the audience chanted. “One more song!”

Rob looked at Emily and raised his eyebrow.

She knew what he was asking and nodded.

He strummed a few chords on the guitar and the audience quieted down. “We got a real old one for you,” he said. “Emily and I used to play this in college.”

Then he started the medley of love songs. The audience laughed and cheered and clapped at all the right moments. And then they got to the end, with Rob inches from her, that place in the performance where they used to kiss.

There was a spotlight on only them. The rest of the room was dark. And it felt like everyone there was holding their breath.

“Do it!” someone finally yelled. “Kiss her!”

Emily lifted her face toward his, offering her permission, and he bent forward and softly kissed her, a small peck on her lips. The crowd started clapping and wolf whistling. Rob looked at Emily. She could tell there were words he wanted to say, but his mic was still on. Hers was, too. So he turned back toward the audience, slipped his fingers into her hand, and raised them both high in the air. “Thank you!” he said. And they walked off the stage together to applause that echoed throughout the room.

Emily felt like she was flying, like she was a comet orbiting the solar system; this was what she loved doing. This was where she felt most like herself. This was what she had to do. She turned to Rob, grinning. He took a step toward her, the joy she felt reflected in his face, and he wrapped his arms around her in a spontaneous hug, holding her tight.

“That was awesome,” she said against his chest.

“Totally awesome,” he replied, his lips moving against her hair.