Band On The Run

Last Day Of Magic

That wasn’t like Jake, though, he was the organized one whereas Will would remember if only to avoid a confrontation. On the other hand, Seth and I were liable to forget or just blow it off depending on the mood. Jake didn’t think like that, he liked to keep commitments and was probably the most honest person I knew. That led to a fuck load of fights between us lot.

It was a wonder he could even manage to work it out with us for a four weeks, let alone years.

Yet I supposed that had let Seth and I be just the way we were, because we had the solid base of Will and Jake – not only musically. We could bounce off each other, artistically and emotionally, and then tear everything down around us, because Jake and Will were always stable between or behind us.

“I think I’m free,” I said slowly, not quite ready to commit but knowing I’d receive quite the glare if I gave less of an answer.

As it was he still rolled his eyes, but all the same jotted my name down next to Seth’s for the slot at an interview tomorrow. He was worse than my manager about these things; Mark mostly gave me a run down for the foreseeable future so he only had to speak to me once a week. I was going to get a lot more warning in order to forget about this it seemed.

“You’re going to put him into a mood,” observed Seth casually as he walked towards where Luke and I sat on the ground. My eyes flashed carefully towards him, judging his own mood in order to gauge the best response – he was rather temperamental after all, one moment he could almost beaming and the next about ready to strangle someone.

It turned out he wasn’t even looking at me as he flicked through a stack of thin cases in his hands.

For a moment I pursed my lips, but answered all the same. “He’s always in a mood.”

That just had Seth giving a shrug of acknowledgement as he split the pile in two, passing half to me and the other half to Luke wordlessly. I noticed that he almost studiously didn’t meet my eyes this time. It took me a lot longer to reach up to take the stack he’d offered than Luke who had eagerly grabbed for it, and his gaze still didn’t so much as flicker in my direction.

What did this mean now?

I just couldn’t keep up with him and his moods anymore. I couldn’t understand it.

It wasn’t my problem anymore, and that was something I had to keep reminding myself. Sure I had to play music with him, but I didn’t have to worry about what every word that came from his mouth meant. I was a completely different entity from him for the first time since our relationship had began – because even back then I’d had a warped sense of attachment – and it was the first time I could allow myself to keep life simple. This should be a gift.

Yet I didn’t look down at the cases that I’d been passed immediately, instead opting to watch him carefully. I had no doubt he knew I was looking at him, but he just turned away, strolling up to Jake by the chalk board and the mess of a schedule.

Definitely not my problem anymore, I reminded myself with a sigh, finally letting my gaze drop to the thin CD cases he’d passed both Luke and I.

It only took me a moment to realize what they were, and I found a small smile turning the edges of my lips upwards as I began to flip through them. None of them were adequately labelled, mostly left blank or with the most bizarre of doodles covering them, but I knew what they were.

The couch gave a creak behind me as Will shifted forwards, peering at what Seth had handed us. “What are those?”

In my surprise that he didn’t know, I spared glance to my side that proved Luke was looking through them with an expression of utmost bewilderment. It was acceptable for him to be confused since he would have been eleven when the first of these were recorded, but William should have known; he’d in the band straight from the get go. However when I tipped my head back with an incredulous look sent to him, it took all of me to remind myself that these had begun eight years ago.