And then, a thought suddenly slipped in: Theo.
Just for a moment, a brief, traitorous moment, I wondered what it would be like to hear him out.
Not to say yes, just to understand. To ask questions, get details, see if there was anything real there.
Of course, I didn’t trust him. I didn’t know if the offer was even real or just a lure back into something I’d already walked away from.
It made me uneasy, that pull of possibility. I knew better than to let myself get caught up in it.
I looked up to see Noah leaning over Ethan’s shoulder, both of them focused on Ethan’s phone.
Faint, tinny music drifted from it across the empty bar, familiar enough that my heart gave an odd little jolt.
I stood, curiosity pulling me closer. “What’re you watching?”
Noah glanced up, grinning. “Maurice’s band,” he said. “From the audition. They’re better than I expected.”
I blinked. “How did you even get that?”
Ethan hesitated, then lifted the phone slightly, almost apologetic. “Uh, on the audition day, I passed by the park on my way to work. I was going to wish you luck before you went on, but you guys were already playing.”
“I didn’t want to interrupt,” he continued. “But I figured you might want to see it later. So I took a video. I hope that’s okay.”
For a moment, I just stared. The fact that he’d shown up hit me harder than I expected.
“That’s… yeah,” I said finally. “That’s more than okay.”
The sight of the video pulled me back, memories surfacing. We used to do this when we first started out, filming our practices and shows on shitty phones.
Then we’d huddle around the screens, critique ourselves, laugh at every mistake, and still marvel at how much better we were getting.
I gestured at the phone. “Can I?”
Ethan handed it over.
I’d always felt a little uncomfortable watching myself perform, but this time, what made me wince wasn’t my playing. It was how my eyes kept slipping to Mark, no matter how hard I tried not to look.
And then I noticed something else: Mark looked back just as often.
The realization sent a slow warmth spreading through my chest. I swallowed, missing him suddenly, with an intensity that caught me off guard. I shook my head, trying to blink it away.
Noah snorted beside me. “Wow. Is that what you two are planning to wear?” he asked. “Black puffy jackets? Bold choice.”
I elbowed him without looking. “It was just an audition,” I said. “And it was freezing that day.”
Ethan smiled. “You sound good together.”
Noah nodded, more serious now. “Yeah. You really do.”
“Thanks,” I said, and I meant more than just the compliment. More than just for today.
The next dayin the studio, Mark and I stood shoulder to shoulder in front of my laptop, Ethan’s video paused mid-frame.
“Okay,” Mark said, scrubbing back a few seconds. “Right here. When we come out of the chorus, do you want to drop the volume a bit before the bridge? Give it some space?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Pull it back, then build again.”
He smiled, quick and easy. “Thought so.”
