“You’re going to need these. You know you will.”

Rose turned to see what Niki was talking about.

“Need what?”

“Just come here.” Rose walked closer to Niki in anticipation. “Now close your eyes.”

Rose giggled, “What are you doing?” She closed her eyes and felt a kiss on her left cheek and then her right. Rose opened her eyes and was met with her girlfriend’s warm smile.

“You’re going to do great, love.” Niki says sweetly to Rose.

Rose blushes, clutching her guitar. “I’ll do my best, that’s for sure.”

Rose took a deep breath and walked out onto the stage. The venue was rather small, and the crowd was decently sized. The program was all about giving a spotlight to new faces who wanted to try out performance, and after weeks of practice with her band, the Glowsticks, it was time to showcase what they could do.

As the cheering from the crowd faded out, Rose looked around at her bandmates. They all appeared a bit nervous and tense, just as she felt, but when she locked eyes with each of them they gave her a nod. They were ready for this.

Rose looked forward to the crowd, she was excited. Not only was this her big debut as a performer, but the song she would be performing had significance to her. Niki, her girlfriend of three years, was sitting backstage with no idea that she was about to hear an original song dedicated to her.

“My Sunlight” by the Glowsticks was ready to be performed.

She cued in the band and they began to play the intro to her song. As she did so, she couldn’t help but notice that she could feel a bit of lipstick on her cheek– both of them, actually. She giggled a bit, noting that it felt almost like a bit of Niki was on stage with her, and this thought eased a lot of the performance anxiety she had.

As Rose began to sing out her lyrics to the enthusiastic crowd, she could only imagine Niki listening in awe to the performance. Rose wanted her to know how much she was appreciated. Niki had encouraged Rose to pursue her performing dream and assisted her every step of the way, and she was supporting Rose still, even from behind the stage.

The lipstick on her cheeks was evidence of it all. Niki was looking out for Rose up until the moment she walked onto the stage.

“You’re going to need these. You know you will.” Niki had said.

And Niki was right.