Chapter 64: Last A While

Despite Tyler’s best efforts to make his song the reigning chart shaker in the first half of the year by covertly financing a botting farm, it all fell to no avail.

Afterall, there was a limit as to how much of his stream numbers he could artificially inflate before several streaming platforms figured out and cracked down on him.

In comparison, Niall’s [Hello, Goodbye] which was organically gaining traction solely based off of how great of a song it was, it was only natural that by the time the third week of March came around, it had taken the top spot from Tyler’s [Closer, Baby], not only on the Buzzing 100 charts, but practically every other chart in the industry.

As one would expect, that didn’t go all too well with not just Tyler himself, but equally Vinewood Records.

For Tyler, it was the bitterness that came with the fact that his old band had started getting some time in the spotlight, and likewise their old songs.

Obviously, that would re-open topics that he’d thought long buried... especially of the messy dissolution between he, Sam, Archie and Lucas.

It also didn’t help that people would now have a fresher perspective on the entire thing in comparison to a couple years ago when the media could’ve easily pulled the veil over the general public’s eye.

To that effect, it really didn’t take long before short and long-form videos began cropping up on several social media platforms--TicToc and ViewTube, especially--each shedding some light on what they’d believed to be the actual events that had transpired.

And unfortunately for Tyler and Vinewood Records, not even a single one of those videos seemed intent on painting them in a good light.

As a result, it didn’t take long before the internet found their next ’documentary series’ as several of their atrocities began coming into the limelight yet again.

It wasn’t a surprise then, that the executives at the record label were rather ticked off by how quickly their company had become the internet’s punching bag.

Sure enough, the whole scenario was bound to blow over after a certain while, but even then, it did a good job of hurting their stocks and their carefully curated image over the years.

This wasn’t just because investors and commercial brands, alongside naïve and aspiring artists were currently doing well to steer clear of them, but also because the industry seemed to find their situation rather amusing.

Afterall, despite their best efforts to have one of their biggest artists claim the top spot on the charts, an indie song from an independent artist whom had featured their discarded artists was what had eventually upended them.

Talk about karma.

As one might’ve expected though, this only seemed to fuel the disdain Tyler and Vinewood Record’s executives had towards Niall Parker and Midnight Avenue.

The only silver lining they had however, was that despite everything that was currently being said and done on the internet, they had forced their former artists into signing an NDA.

An agreement that effectively kept their mouths shut about the events that had transpired and led to their dissolution from Tyler Kingstone, and ultimately the terrible contract they had forced upon them.

As a result, all they had to do was patiently wait and allow the entire thing to blow over.

More than that, given the fact that the SXSW festival, Coachella and several other music festivals were set to commence very soon, they could easily recuperate their dipped stocks.

And for Tyler, it was a great opportunity to get his song back into the top spot on the charts.

But for the meantime, he could really only stay mad as he watched [Hello, Goodbye] do victory laps around [Closer, Baby] with the frankly high five million streams it had gapped it by.

In any case, Niall himself was equally in the limelight--his, a polarizing contrast to the negative press Tyler and Vinewood Records were getting.

Unsurprisingly, a good chunk of that didn’t come from the major media outlets as most refused to cover the news.

Given what they’d gotten up to just a year ago, it was only natural that their pride was getting in the way of covering what was truly a remarkable feat from an independent artist whom had only released two songs thus far--both of which evidently turned out to be bangers.

Rather, a good chunk of that attention had come from the general public, a lot of whom, asides from making [Hello, Goodbye] their newest music obsession, were equally curious about the story behind it.

Afterall, considering they hadn’t gotten any official statement from Niall himself about the song, they could only speculate based off of what they had from the lyrics.

Adding fuel to this fire, was the song’s cover art, one that painted a rather distinct imagery. It was a travel passport, one that was ripped in half but neatly stitched together.

On one torn half, instead of the typical page, was a sad teen leaning his head on a bus window, his gaze aimlessly staring out with a trail of tear down his eye as the sun descended below the horizon.

On the other half, was a well-dressed young man, sunglasses framing his features whilst driving a convertible, a thin smile on his features as the evening sun equally dipped below the horizon.

To that effect, TweetTalk--home to theory-crafting denizens and self-proclaimed detectives--didn’t take long before they began making some pretty outlandish claims... all of which Niall found rather amusing.

At the moment, he was scrolling down his feed, a glint of intrigue in his eyes.

Soon enough, he stumbled upon one of the latest posts made by a fan of his that went by the username BluntBellina...a username he found just as amusing given it seemed to be a play on the popular fairytale, ’Thumbelina’;

Been following Niall’s Hollywood career from the inception. And by that, I mean since his days acting out in cheesy romantic movies and indie givings. So, you could say I’m an OG. I’m also really glad to see him branching out and getting some more love from a lot of new fans.

That said... at times, when I’m listening to [Hello, Goodbye], especially the first verse...I can’t help but get this feeling that Niall ran away from home to pursue his dreams. Or maybe I’m just spouting bull crap like a couple others on this platform. Who knows? Still has me curious though...

For a moment, Niall stared at the post, a genuine smile on his lips. It was rather heart-warming to know that he’d had a fan... way before his recent frays into the spotlight.

Then, after mulling it over a bit, he dropped a response in the comments section of her post;

-

Niall Parker: That’s... very on the nose.

-

No sooner had he dropped that comment, he casually dipped out, muted the device, switched off his data connection and pocketed the phone.

Currently laying on a picnic blanket on the fields he and his parents typically went out to every once in a while--the very same he and his Pa had visited the day he returned home--Niall leaned on his side, one arm propping himself up as he lovingly stared at Camille who remarked;

"Oh wow. You were right, cowboy. This is a great date spot!"

Despite the late morning sun already faintly heating up, the wide tree they were seated under provided enough shade from its rays.

Added to that, the ambience was just right, the faint sound of water running through the creek below, the gentle exhale of the horse hitched nearby, the birds chirping in the distance and the faint breeze rustling through the plains comforting as Niall casually replied;

"Told you."

"That you did." the lady nodded in acknowledgement, her smile lovely as she kept taking in the sights.

"I also have a lot of memories here with my parents," Niall continued, shifting slightly as he gently picked a leaf that had settled into Camille’s red locks.

"And they have memories of their own here," he added to which he then said, a warm smile on his lips;

"Apparently, they also had their first date here..."

Hearing that, Camille turned to face him, her smile soft and loving as she said, her head tilted slightly;

"And now, we’re having ours..."

"Yes, we are." Niall reciprocated with a warm smile of his own.

"It’s a shame you’ll have to be heading back to LA tomorrow though..." the lady then said, a sad pout on her features as she brushed a few locks of his dirty-blonde hair away from his face.

"Work beckons, Mademoiselle. Work beckons." Niall let out a resigned sigh.

"But," he then said, his smile assuring as he placed a palm above hers;

"I’ll do my best to come around for all your sessions, and also whenever I’m chanced. I promise."

In response, Camille nodded softly, her caribbean-blue irises shimmering with warmth;

"I know. But just in case you’re unable to, we’d better make this moment last us a while..."

No sooner had she said that, she leaned in, a gesture Niall reciprocated as they both shared a sweet kiss.

Separating a few seconds later, both individuals chuckled softly.

Then, Camille began removing one homemade snack after the other from the basket;

"I made you all of your favorites!"

"Lady, you still owe me an explanation for how to got to know all that." Niall playfully demanded to which Camille let out a blithesome laughter that echoed across the fields.

Yet, as that event played out, Niall hadn’t realized the flames he had sparked in the comment section of Bella’s post;

-

BluntBellina: Oh my God @Niall Parker! You actually responded! Oh my God! Oh my God!

GachaAddict: Holy refresh pull! The hell’d you do to get him to respond to you, woman @BluntBellina!

SirPlotsALot: No, no, no! You can’t just dip after dropping that one-line response @Niall Parker! Expatiate dammit!

Lurker2134­: This post is gonna blow up like crazy in the next couple hours...

TinkerBug: Come back here and give us some more deets, Mr. Parker!

-

From a post that had barely gotten views in the double digits a couple minutes prior, the post had suddenly surged to thousands of views in a matter of seconds.

Yet, despite that response being Niall’s very first and only reaction thus far to everything that had been going on since his release of [Hello, Goodbye] on the internet, the messages weren’t even getting to him.

Afterall, given he might not see his girlfriend for a while, it was only natural that he wanted to savor every moment he possibly could with her without so much as the slightest distraction.

Advance Chapters are available on Patreon!

/Caer07