"So Steven's outside," Joey proclaimed, sliding onto the seat next to Brad.

Not only did he put an end to the light conversation he had walked in on, but the bitterness held over Steven's name was so obvious, he received two disapproving frowns.

"What, why?"

Joey shrugged, protruding his lip as a response to Brad, and reached over him to grab an apple from the fruit bowl that had been placed in the centre.

"I saw him early this morning over by the pond, and he's still there by the looks of it."

"And I thought he was just being lazy," Tom mused, cupping each side of his face with the palms of his hands.

"Did you talk to him?" Brad asked, snaking his fingers around his empty glass.

Joey knitted his brow together around a mouthful of fruit. He even shook his head in disgust.

"Absolutely not. I didn't go near him."

There was a sigh from Tom, Brad went to refill his glass, and another crunch of an apple from Joey. It really didn't take long for him to munch his way through to the apple core, and he was eyeing up the bunch of grapes that sat temptingly in the bowl.

Joey couldn't go out again just yet, so fruit would have to suffice.

"Alright Joey, what's the problem?" Brad implored, drumming his fingers on the marble top. "You only eat a mountain of fruit when there's something on your mind and you can't work out."

Joey twiddled the core, his habits not as subtle as he thought they were.

"Steven was a dick," he said bluntly, then held up his index finger. "Correction. Is a dick."

Tom sent another disapproving look, temporarily pausing the rubbing of his temples.

"I don't want to speak to him if he's just going to lie," Joey defended, getting up to dispose of the apple core.

"He must have said something if Leah isn't angry at us anymore," Brad pointed out, trying to simmer down the heat. "She thanked us, which in my head is absolutely crazy."

The bin slammed shut and Joey brushed his hands together loudly.

"You know, I hope she stays angry at him for what he's done to her."

Tom turned his head in his hands, eyebrows raised quizzically underneath the wisps of his blonde hair.

"Ever heard of second chances?"

"He's already on his millionth chance," Joey countered, breaking off a branch of grapes right in front of Tom's face. "He basically functions off scuffed chances. Take the whole house thing for instance. Or Tabano. Or Joe. He's letting himself down all the fuckin' time and it's gonna end one way or another. He's gonna reach a point and then there will be no more chances to pick up from."

Joey sat down and plopped one grape into his mouth. He chewed and settled the rest of the bunch down, feeling a wash of sadness at the thought of his friend.

"Man, I hope Joe is okay."

"I know," Tom sighed, sharing the low mood. "I wish he'd let us know he's home."

Brad tapped his glass in thought. "Joe's tough, he's probably just getting his shit together. Leaving like that can't have been easy for him."

"Yeah, because Steven pushed him away! He's pushing everyone away!"

Brad shook his head. "Joe pushed himself away- you know that. You heard what he said."

Scrunching up his face, Joey continued the disagreement he had started.

"Why are you siding with Steven? Why are you always siding with him?"

"I'm not. I'm just saying that-"

"Can you not see that we're going to be next?"

Brad went quiet, not wanting to start an argument and strain his voice unnecessarily.

"He's not pushing us away," Tom said, dropping his hands. "He's just so fucking determined that it looks like anyone who tries to compromise what he wants, gets the boot. All he's doing is keeping himself above the water."

Joey was listening, but the intense frown that masked his usual happy face remained. He hunched over on his tensed arms after aggressively bunching up the sleeves of his sweater.

"I think Joe leaving will be a wake up call for him." Tom picked up where he left off. "None of us wanted it to happen- none of us saw it happening like that, but look...Steven's here, and he's working things out. That's a significant improvement from being high all the time."

Joey forced himself to calm down and see the reasoning.

"There's a little part of me that will always love him, but I swear it gets smaller and smaller every day," he admitted, overwhelmed with a sense of nostalgia. "I just miss drumming. I miss music. I miss our old life."

Brad smiled at the memory. "We all do man, we all do. But we've gotta help Steven."

Sheepishly, Joey accepted where this was going.

"Just put yourself in his shoes. Your girlfriend since you can remember, gone forever. Your daughter is taken from you. Your lifelong passion is buried hundreds of thousands of feet down in the ground, and now your best friend has gone. How do you find the strength to carry on? Because I know for sure that I would struggle."

After Brad had delivered his piece, it made them all think. There was a mixture of the degree of hurt, but they knew that despite all the wrong turns, they couldn't leave when Steven needed them most.

"Joey, why don't you go and get the laundry?" Tom suggested.

"What? Why me?"

"Because I don't want you to start saying any more things you don't mean," he reasoned carefully. "And, because I said so."

Joey rolled his eyes. "Fuckin' hell, Tom. You're not my mother."

"Then why do I feel like I am most of the time?"

Brad snickered, sipping from his drink to hide it.

It didn't look promising that Tom was going to change his mind, so Joey gave in, grabbing a few more grapes during his slow, exaggerated standing. He ate the fruit whilst glaring, and purposely dragged his feet behind him.

"And how dare you use that kind of language. What would your mother say!" Tom shouted, when he was out of sight.

Grumbling, because he could picture the quirk of his stupid smile, Joey hoisted himself up the stairs. He rounded left, wrapped up in his own little world, and with no expectation to meet anyone along the way.

It was proven wrong, because his eyes lifted and caught sight of the front panel of his wardrobe swung outward.

He stopped, despite knowing who it was, and when the figure of a young woman shrugging on his black nike hoodie came into view, he couldn't move his feet any further. She was looping it over her head, and Joey got a glimpse of a patch of bare skin from the motion bunching up her top. It was the briefest of moments, but he averted his eyes, and felt burdened with embarrassment for catching her changing.

"Joey?"

"Hm?"

He acted surprised, keeping his mouth pressed tight, as Leah walked over

As she got closer though, her smile faltered, and Joey felt his face was being very intensely assessed. It didn't help the embarrassment.

Leah looked down at herself, then back at him. "Is this...okay?"

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Joey gave a nod. "Yeah, you look nice."

It earned him a chuckle, and Leah held out her arms to showcase the baggy fit.

"Thank you, but I mean can I wear this one? You don't hold some sort of veto over this specific one do you?"

"Oh n-no. No, no it's fine." Joey recovered, realising the slip of his tongue. He hoped that the flash of panic in his widened eyes wasn't too obvious. "Yeah, no that one's...fine."

Apparently, he couldn't deliver a sane sentence anymore, and he was very grateful when Leah sidestepped into the bathroom and returned with another hoodie.

"Great, I guess this one can be washed so you can have it back," she said, swinging a white and navy item bunched up in her hand.

"I can take it now," Joey offered. "I'm on laundry duties."

"Ah." Leah gave a slow nod, which he interpreted as a good sign, and stuck out a hand. She handed it over, but Joey fell into a distracted silence again.

Somehow, he felt underdressed despite changing out of his gym stuff. Taking in the sight of Leah in his clothes was different to the times before. Hearing her talk about all the things earlier had made him feel like he had done something right- like a beam of joy she had brought out of him. And to top it off, he initiated a hug as a way of expressing his thanks mixed with an apology, and she didn't back away.

"Steven's outside," he blurted, because he couldn't just reminisce about the little details forever.

It was an instant regret, because of all the things he could have said, it had to be the one which caused Leah to look away from him.

Joey scratched the back of his neck. "That is if you want to talk to him. I-I just thought maybe you should know."

Sighing, Leah swooped her hand through her freshly combed hair so it spilled past one side of the hood.

"I'm willing to listen to him again," she explained a little exasperatedly. "But I think that's all I can do."

Joey swallowed suddenly, not trusting himself to speak. Luckily, she took charge and nodded at his hands.

"You should do your round then."

Forgetting about the hoodie he was holding, Joey looked down, flexing his fingers around the soft cotton.

"Yeah, I will."

Leah offered him a tight smile, the cue to walk past. The trouble was, they both did, and even though the hallway was plenty wide enough, they still bumped into each other.

Twice.

"Oh- uh."

"You- sorry."

"I'll-"

"Stay there," Leah chuckled, bracing his shoulders with her hands, and leading him to one side. She pointed past, deliberately exaggerated. "I'll go this way."

"Right, yeah..." Joey shook his head downwards, and tried not to get embarrassed for the second time.

He looked over his shoulder in time to catch her hopping down the stairs, a definite look of amusement hidden by her hair and when he turned back, he felt a bit too flustered for his own comfort.

But, with a roll of his shoulders and pushing what just happened to the side, he managed to focus on the invigorating task of laundry which, as it turned out, was not so bad after all.

<>

A/N:

Just a really quick note. Yes I said this is an AU and it is, but I'm still going to make the boys associate with a band. So essentially Aerosmith exists, I'm just switching it up with the modern times and putting a personal twist on things. ❤️