beverly hills, california
september 21st, 2021
5:27pm
The air was tense, thick with the anxious silence that filled the large space. Eben had gone out for the day with some friends, leaving the band together and alone in case of the verdict. So far, the group had no clue what was going to happen, whether Why Don't We would flourish, or whether it would crash and burn.
Thankfully, the evidence was in their favor. With logs and audio recordings and text messages against their other manager to show to a judge, it made the whole case look even more positive for them.
The group was all gathered in Zach's house, sunlight peeking through the translucent curtains, casting a glowing light onto the ivy wall. Jonah was stretched out on the couch, legs draped over Jack's as he ran a hand down his face. Daniel curled up in the armchair, scrolling on his phone just to turn it off, wait a few seconds, and continue scrolling again aimlessly. Corbyn was leaned up against the armchair, resting his head against Daniel's knees as he "slept." Zach was sprawled out on the fuzzy carpet, squished in between the couch and the coffee table as he rested his head in his arms.
He didn't think any of them had spoken for the last two hours, sitting in silence aside from the occasional movement of someone grabbing water or using the bathroom. They were just sitting there. Waiting for the verdict of the final trial.
It wasn't like they weren't grateful they didn't have to be there, that they didn't have to face the man that hurt them. But the suspense was killing them. The trial was supposed to end at five o'clock, but they knew these things could take longer.
They were startled out of their solemn reverie by a loud knock on the door, heads swiveling to face it. Zach broke out of his frozen state for a minute, shakily standing up and looking out the window. Whatever he saw, it made him dash towards the front door, quickly unlocking it and making all the boys get to their feet, on alert.
Randy stepped into the house, still in his full suit and tie, although the latter was slung over his shoulder, obviously having been tired of it being around his neck all day. The grey-haired man scanned the room, taking in the faces of everyone else.
"Is..." Daniel almost didn't even want to say the words, terrified of jinxing it. "Is it over? Did we win?"
They all looked terrified, on the verge of tears at the news they may or may not receive. Jonah was grasping Jack's shoulder, squeezing it in a comforting manner.
"It's over." Randy smiled, small dimples forming near his mouth as he told the group.
Zach felt his knees grow weak beneath him, no longer able to hold him upright. It felt as if the wind had just been knocked out of him. Randy caught him by the waist with a gasp, helping him back over toward the living room area.
He couldn't feel his body. It felt like everything was numb. Zach felt himself being lifted onto the couch, his mind blurry like his eyes. He looked around at his bandmates and saw one thing: relief.
Daniel was on his knees, curled over as he cried tears of joy, so happy to be finally free, to do what they want without the risk of angering their manager. Jonah was hugging Jack, the pair both shaking like mad as they rocked back and forth. Corbyn had collapsed backward onto the armchair, hands folded over his mouth.
"It's okay. It's okay." Randy sat on the arm of Corbyn's chair, grasping the back of the younger boy's neck, his thumb rubbing circles into the skin. "You boys are going to be safe now. I'm not letting him hurt you any longer."
Zach pulled his legs into his body, watching his hands shake, feeling unsteady and weak. Jack had backed away from Jonah, deciding to sit next to Zach on the couch, curling his body against the younger's.
Jonah helped Daniel off the floor, sad smiles on both of their faces.
They were free.
_____________________________
Why Don't We @whydontwemusic
the future of why don't we...
as most of you are aware, for the past few months, we have been involved in a civil lawsuit between our two managers. after a long time of tedious trials and waiting, we finally have a verdict.
randy has been declared our sole manager, and we are resuming our careers as soon as possible, with much more creative freedom than we've had in the past. we couldn't be more grateful for him
these past few years...
|
Why Don't We @whydontwemusic
have been extremely hard on us, with the mental, verbal, and physical abuse we suffered at the hands of our old manager. we are glad to begin to move past this after so long and we thank you all for the support you have given us.
please give us time to get back on our feet, we love you all so much <3
love jonah, daniel, zach, corbyn, and jack
→ zach herron @imzachherron
reply to @whydontwemusic
i need a fucking cupcake and a hug
→ Daniel Seavey (⅕) @seaveydaniel
reply to @whydontwemusic
i love you all
→ space kid @corbynbesson
reply to @whydontwemusic
thank you so much, everyone, for your support
→ Jonah Marias Likes Coffee @jonahmarais
reply to @whydontwemusic
so glad that's over, time to sleep peacefully (for once)
→ jack @jackaverymusic
reply to @whydontwemusic
<33333
_____________________________
beverly hills, california
september 21st, 2021
7:41pm
After the tweet went out, the boys turned off their phones, the intense amount of notifications being more overwhelming than usual. They were still all gathered in Zach's living room, Brooklyn Nine-Nine being played in the background aimlessly. The only people paying attention were Corbyn and Randy.
Jonah was listening to music with Daniel, the younger laying against him. Jack and Zach were both sleeping on the floor, pillows were strewn about.
When a loud knock on Zach's front door could be heard, everyone looked at each other in surprise, because he didn't think Zach was expecting visitors, at least not that he told them. Randy walked to the door in case it was a telemarketer, opening it just to be surprised at the three young guys standing on the porch.
The tallest was a Middle-Eastern man wearing sunglasses and his hair pulled up into a bun, holding a few bags. The boy on the left was pale with fluffy brown hair, holding a large bin of what seemed to be cupcakes, but he couldn't be sure. The one on the right who was currently bouncing on the balls of his feet had tanned skin and curly brown hair that was all over the place. But Randy didn't recognize any of them.
"Mig... you did copy the address Zach gave us correctly, right? Because otherwise we just showed up at this random dude's house with cupcakes." The tallest spoke, raising an annoyed eyebrow at the Hispanic boy, seemingly unamused.
"Dude, it's what he texted me!"
"I'm sorry." Randy leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms. He wasn't sure that these weren't fans trying to get attention from the boys, so he needed to be careful. "Who are you again?"
"I'm Daniel," The brunet boy shifted on his feet nervously, a soft smile lingering, "this is Miguel and Xavier. We're mainly friends of Zach's but the rest of the guys have hung out with us once or twice for a movie night?"
"He wasn't answering any texts and we saw the tweets. We know he doesn't remember to eat sometimes when he gets stressed, so we came to cook him dinner and the rest of the guys if they wanted as well." Xavier's voice was confident, and Randy knew from previous experiences that what they said about Zach was correct.
Corbyn appeared in the doorway behind Randy, a sad smile on his face as he took in what the guys had in their hands. "Hey, guys."
Three greetings came in return, and Corbyn turned to their manager, a hand on his shoulder. "They're good. Pretty much Zach's closest friends besides us."
Now Randy felt like he recognized them a bit better. They starred in the latest Queen Mary movie with Sam and Colby, which he had watched just in case anything confidential came up in conversation that wasn't supposed to be mentioned.
The grey-haired man just nodded, moving back into the foyer to let the trio walk through. They exchanged hugs with Corbyn before moving to Daniel and Jonah (careful not to step on the sleeping boys), who gratefully accepted it.
Miguel walked up to where Zach and Jack were on the ground, kneeling next to the younger. "When did y'all get here?"
"About four o'clock?"
"Has he eaten?" Daniel shook his head, crossing his arms and tucking them against one another. They watched as Miguel shook Zach awake with a groan, flicking him on the forehead.
"Fuckin' asshole." The words were muttered, barely audible to anyone but Miguel, who promptly bopped him on the head.
"Wake up, loser. I know you haven't eaten all day with anxiety brain so get your skinny ass up and into the kitchen."
When Zach finally registered just who the hell was in his house, he shot up, almost colliding heads as he stared around the room in disbelief. "Really? Breaking into my house?"
"Hey, hey. The old dude and Corbyn let us in." The brunet rolled his eyes, flipping off Corbyn who was laughing silently.
"Xav, Mig, Dani. Meet Randy. Our manager." Three faces formed an "o" shape, turning to the man who shook his head amusedly. "Randy, meet Xavier Todd, Miguel Chicas, and Daniel Breeza."
The guys' manager shook hands with the trio, smiling at them kindly. "Alright." Xavier clapped his hands together, getting everyone's attention, including Jack, who was also beginning to wake up. "I am going to assume that none of you have ate yet today, so I'm going to take over Zach's kitchen for a bit, chef something up."
"Need a hand?" Jonah offered up, cocking his head to the side.
"Yeah, of course." Xavier just smiled, beckoning him into the kitchen. The pair left the room, the sound of ceramic and metal hitting together as they grabbed supplies out of the drawers.
A small silence filled the room for a minute until Daniel scampered over to where Zach sat on the couch, enveloping him in a hug, which he gladly accepted. "Are you okay?"
Zach looked up at the rest of his family, a soft smile on their faces, reassuring him in every way that mattered. "We will be."
"I wanna join!" Miguel launched himself on top of Zach and Daniel, nearly crushing both of them in the process.
"Miguel!"
"Holy fuck-"
The pile got even heavier as Jack, Daniel, and Corbyn joined, wrapping their arms around everyone as best as they could. The group couldn't balance all that weight, sliding off the couch and onto the floor in a messy heap of laughter.
Randy just took out his phone, leaning back slightly to get a photo of the group, managing to catch Xavier and Jonah in the frame just as they peeked around the corner, confused but amused expressions on their faces.
"You boys okay with me posting it on the band page?" When he got the confirmation from all eight of the boys, he made sure to make a mental note to post the photo later with a caption mentioning everything.
"Alright, back to cooking." Xavier walked back into the kitchen, hearing Jonah lightly follow behind him. He continued eyeballing the different seasonings into the bowl with the meat.
"What are you putting in there?" Jonah glanced over from where he was shredding a block of cheddar cheese into a bowl, unable to see the labels.
"Uhm, cumin, chili powder, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. It's better than that bagged crap y'all buy at stores." He huffed, seemingly offended at the thought of people actually using those. Xavier continued mixing everything together, pausing and looking up at the ceiling to blow a loose strand of hair out of his face.
"Please come over more often. That smells amazing." A strong, spicy smell came from the pan, quickly filling the kitchen. He carefully began cooking the meat, glancing over every so often to see what Jonah had finished.
By the time the meat was fully cooked and browned, Jonah had finished chopping up the mushrooms, peppers, lettuce, avocados, and cheese, and he had put them into large bowls with serving spoons.
Xavier stuck his head out the doorway, watching the chaos unfold. Daniel Seavey was currently on top of Miguel, trying to grab what looked like poker chips out of the latter's hand. Randy had his head in his hands, shaking it slightly. Jack and Zach were sharing cards with each other, seemingly teaming up to take everyone else's money. Corbyn was calm and smug, with stacks of chips in front of him and obviously the running champion. The other Daniel had the group's recording camera out, making sure to get the whole room in the frame, turning to Zach who was looking on with an exasperated look on his face.
"Okay, idiots. Clear the table so we can eat and God help me, if any of you get any stains on the couch I will kill you, let alone what Zach will do." The boy in question just threw his head back against the couch with a groan, rolling his eyes.
Daniel untangled himself from Miguel, which a large grin as he revealed the fistful of poker chips in his hands, looking extremely proud of his accomplishment.
"Just don't. Please?" After a chorus of agreement that came from the group, Xavier left the room to help Jonah grab all the bowls. They had also fried up some tortillas, leaving some regular ones on the side for both hard and soft shells.
"Don't drop anything." As they were only two people and only wanted to make one trip in and out of the kitchen, they managed to balance everything onto their arms perfectly so that nothing fell onto the ground.
Miraculously, by the time they re-entered the living room, the table had been cleared of the chips and cards, although the bickering hadn't ceased.
"Oh, you son of a bitch!" Miguel seemed as though he had enough, lifting Daniel over his shoulder with a warrior cry, the latter letting out a scream of surprise.
"Holy shit!"
"Mig, if you get a hernia, I swear to God." Dani rolled his eyes but was still careful to make sure he was capturing all the antics on camera, feeling as though it would make a good vlog for one of their channels.
If anything, it would be simpler to make a group YouTube channel, since they all lived together, and probably would for a few years. But for whatever reason, they hadn't gotten around to it just yet.
Miguel dumped the singer onto the laps of Jack and Zach, who had taken up residence on the couch during the game, and they managed to catch their bandmate before he fell onto the hardwood floors beneath them.
"Fuck you."
"Yeah, I'd fuck me too."
Corbyn choked on his water in surprise, eyes squeezed shut as he attempted to regulate his breathing once more.
"I hate it here."
"Nah, you don't."
"God, how I wish I could prove you wrong."