𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨

07 - Down

Tim was way beyond nervous, but it wasn't about the beautiful woman next to him. Yes, he should be nervous. It was the final round, but that wasn't the thing that was ruling his mind lately.

If they won, did that mean the guys would finally let him see Kirstie freely? Then, if Pentatonix won, would they be bitter and still try to keep them apart?

........

After this competition, was he just supposed to go back to Minnesota and forget about this amazing girl? He wasn't sure he'd be able to do that, especially not with a girl like Kirstin.

"Whatcha' thinking about?" The shorter girl looked up at him through her eyelashes. She could sense he was feeling a bit off, and had decided they didn't need to go out anywhere. As long as he was with her she was happy. Since she had a room to herself, they'd decided to just hang out there. The woman sitting with him, one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders on the small couch. When he didn't respond at first, she turned to wrap an arm around his torso.

"Tim?" She asked softly, snapping his attention down to her. "Are you alright?" He could hear the concern in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry." He nodded. "Just a little nervous for Tuesday. The guys are really stressing to get it right." He added, smiling down at her. He didn't need to worry Kirstie. He knew that would only make her feel guilty over something she couldn't control. Besides, she needed to focus on her own performance as well.

She frowned, squeezing his torso tightly. "I'm sorry." She frowned slightly, leaning up and kissing his cheek. "You're gonna do great, Tim. You always do." She smiled up at him. It made him smile, his arms tightening ever-so-slightly around her. That was the only thing that had helped relieve even a small bit of his anxiety all week.

"Yeah, you're right." He nodded, "But enough about that. I came here to be with you. Maybe we should watch a movie or something?" He suggested.

"Will you still cuddle me?" She asked teasingly, a shy side-smile playing on her lips. The man chuckled. Kirstie had always been a very cuddly person, but he didn't mind one bit.

"Of course, Kirst. You're the perfect cuddle size." He smiled, and she passed him the remote while curling further into his side on the couch, Tim pulling a blanket over her. She smiled.

"Thank you." She murmured, and before he'd even recognized it, the woman had fallen peacefully asleep against him.

This was what a perfect day looked like to him, not singing on some big stage

.......

They could all tell just how low his mood had gotten. He'd stopped talking, stopped laughing, his entire consciousness focused only on rehearsal and the anxiousness of leaving the competition.

He would sing and practice, barely able to pull a smile on during that, but during the breaks, he was just quietly staring off into space. He just felt low lately, especially without Kirstie, who was always able to somehow put him at ease. At first, no one noticed, as it wasn't sinking into his performance. He'd just excuse it by being tired or stressed out by the competition, but as it got worse, his bandmates began to take notice.

"Hey, man. You feeling alright?" Rob asked his friend, a hand on his shoulder. He was the first to notice the bass singer's withdrawal. The latter only shrugged, making his bearded friend frown.

"This have anything to do with that girl Austin doesn't want you to see?" He asked knowingly.

The brunette frowned, arms crossing over his chest. "So what if it is? I know her, I've met her band, they're good people." He grumbled.

"I'm sure she is, buddy, everyone is just stressed out, they're trying to avoid distractions is all." He did his best to comfort his friend, but it didn't seem like it was working. After a moment of silence, he patted his shoulder.

"I'll try to bring it up." He told him. Maybe once he exposed Tim's newly discovered depression over their actions the other band members would calm down a bit. After all, they were friends before they were bandmates. They should want him to be happy, right?

[ roanseal3 ]