❛ AFTERGLOW ❜ - 𝖼𝗆𝖻 ✓

068; drifting apart

third person.

the five boys were sat in the studio in la all busy with different things. jack had been eating the food they had ordered in for lunch, daniel and corbyn were trying to produce the song that daniel had wrote for the boy and zach and jonah were sat in the corner going through adjustments with the album with their manager.

after sending their girlfriends - the ones that had came along across the country - away to the mall for the day to spend time together, the boys were too deep into their work to finish any time soon.

"have you let mollie listen to the song yet?" daniel asked corbyn, turning his head towards the boy, who shook his head slowly before letting out a sigh.

"no we haven't had a chance to sit down and relax so," corbyn shrugged, "she'll probably just listen when the album is out."

"why'd you say that?" jack interrupted their conversation, taking a sip of his drink as daniel glanced between the two of them.

"i don't think we'll have time to sit down and listen together," he replied, "we're too busy we-"

"you're drifting apart," daniel mumbled with a frown on his face, watching corbyn go quiet before turning back to the laptop.

"shouldn't we actually be trying to produce this before anything," corbyn said through a small laugh as daniel looked over at jack, a frown on either of their faces before looking back at corbyn, "guys come on we're not drifting."

"i noticed her comment on her post last night," zach spoke up, their manager walking out the room to grab himself a coffee as the two other boys walked over to where they were sitting.

"it didn't mean anything." corbyn told him, "it's still a break, she was just getting my fans on the same page."

"but you said you didn't want them to know anything because you'd go back to each other," jonah mentioned as the other three nodded, "are you both not telling us something?"

"are you both done for good?" zach asked, watching corbyn paise for a moment before he scratched the back of his neck.

"i don't know what's happening," corbyn admitted, "things just aren't what they used to be, it isn't the same anymore."

and as the other four gave him a nod, jonah went to speak up before the door to their studio was swung open and a girl stumbled through, dropping her bottle of water onto the floor before she froze once noticing the stares from the band.

"is this not the food bit?" she asked.

"not that we know of," daniel replied, furrowing his eyebrows slightly as the girl nodded, "are you sure you're in the right building?"

"well my studio is just down the hall and i was meant to be grabbing some snacks so i was guided here but i don't think this is the right room," she explained, "do you think one of you could.."

"yeah i'll show you," corbyn suggested, sighing before standing up and grabbing his phone.

"is that just so we stop interrogating you?" jack asked.

"yep," he quickly nodded, picking up the girls bottle of water and handing it to her before the pair soon left the studio, walking down the hall together,  "are you new to this building?"

"not really," she laughed slightly, "i've just never been to the food area before, i usually just stick to staying in my studio, i can be a bit of a workaholic. are you in a band?"

"yeah they're my band mates," corbyn gestured towards the room they were walking away from, "we're called why don't we. i'm corbyn."

"harper," she smiled slightly, "how new are you to la?"

"quite new, i don't live here." corbyn shook his head, "we all live in virginia at the moment."

"i was going to assume you were quite new to the area but it's surprised me that you live across the country, you look like you should live here." she told him as he raised his eyebrows slightly, "are you thinking of living here?"

"we're considering it," corbyn said as they turned the corner towards the food area, "this is the food area, so you know for next time."

"well if getting lost in a building i should know quite well brings me to a group of boys, i think i might forget for next time." harper joked, letting out a small laugh as a small smile appeared on corbyn's face, "but thank you and i will be sure to check out your band."

"we only have one song out right now, there isn't much to check out." corbyn admitted as he laughed, "but i'm quite proud of the song so you could give that a listen."

"then i will definitely listen to that one song," she nodded, "i hope to see you soon corbyn."

"you too," corbyn smiled, allowing her to grab the snacks she needed for her studio while the boy walked back to the one that his band mates were currently sat in.

as he walked back into the studio and sat back down with the rest of the group, he put his phone back onto the table before looking up at the rest of them, noticing the look each of them had on their faces.

"can i not be a nice person?" he asked.

"we never said that," daniel shook his head, "what's her name?"

"harper." corbyn shrugged.

"did you ask for her snapchat?" jack laughed, "like you used to back... not a funny joke?"

"not really," zach replied.

"i was just being nice, she said she'd check out our song though," corbyn told them, "so you're welcome, i even got us some support from another singer."

"okay, that is quite impressive." jonah nodded, "let's get back to this whole producing thing."

♡

a/n

and so we meet harper..