" Fiona! " I exclaimed loudly with a goofy grin on my face, and the short electric-blue-haired girl whipped her head around at the sound of her name. Her dark brown eyes widened at seeing me. 

We were standing in the hallway of the huge studio building and my face was stretched into the largest smile possible as I looked at my old pals, my bandmates. 

Putting her guitar case down, Fiona let out a happy squeal while running straight into my outstretched arms. I laughed and twirled her around as I caught her in my arms. " Oh my God! Holy Christ! You're here. You're really here! I missed you so much stupid! I missed you like crazy! Where the fuck were you, Evelyn Rose Johnson!? " She was blabbering through her tears, holding me at an arm's length and looking over at my face with worried eyes as if searching for telltale signs of harm.

She always did that. But how could I even blame her? Before all this, whenever I used I meet her, I either had new self-inflicted marks over my arms or some other wounds that Katherine used to give me. She looked like a small tiny girl, but she was like an older sister to me. My eyes brimmed with tears at seeing the concern in her eyes even after all these days.

" I'm okay, Fi. Really. " She shook her head, " I'm so fucking mad at you. You just up and left me! You don't even know how scared I was. I was thinking of all the worst things, Eve! I thought she did something to you! " She glanced nervously at the others behind me while saying the last sentence. I smiled at her, " We don't need to worry about her ever again, Fi. She's gone for good! " A bright happy smile made its way across her face, " Really? " I nodded happily and she squealed again, throwing her arms around me. " Don't ever, you hear me? Don't ever do that to me again! " I laughed and squeezed her tighter, " Never. I promise! "

" Oh, so you're only gonna hug her and not us, huh? " I laughed at Raymond's words and pulled away from Fiona to engulf him into a warm hug too. " Oh, boy I missed you, Ray! " I sighed and he chuckled, squeezing me tighter into himself. Pulling back I looked at his face and his grey eyes sparkled with an emotion I couldn't quite place, " I missed you too, sweet cheeks. " he whispered, his eyes searching my face slowly.

Ray and I had some history between the two of us. There was a brief time in the years that I had known him, when we had dated each other and had even blurred the lines on many occasions before. But he had always told me that he never wanted a serious relationship and I had always respected that. So yeah, it was safe to say that we had fooled around behind everyone's back on more occasions than once. Looking into his eyes, I could see that same spark still smoldering behind his grey orbs and I knew I needed to end it right there. I didn't want any drama in my life anymore and my heart only belonged to one man now.

Pulling away from his embrace, I smiled and then turned around to look at my love. He had a small frown on his forehead which he quickly smoothed over when he saw me looking at him. Oh, so he did catch on. Smiling, I pulled Paul and Charlotte in for a big hug next and they both squeezed me back lovingly.

" Guys, these are my bandmates. Raymond plays the bass, Fiona plays the guitar, Paul plays the electric, and Charlotte here plays the drums. " I gestured over to each of them and they smiled and waved at Ryan and the others. Raymond's eyes followed me carefully as I walked to Ryan's side. Slipping my hand in his, I saw his smile brighten as he understood the meaning behind my action. " And guys, that is Evan, my brother, Aiden, and Noah, one of my best friends and this is Ryan, my boyfriend. " I beamed over at them.

Raymond's eyes locked onto mine and I saw a small hint of hurt flash through them but he was quick to hide it with a fake smile on his face. I felt bad at relaying the news to him this way but I knew it was the right thing to do. I was well aware of his persistent nature. We had always had a kind of toxic relationship. He had never wanted something serious with me but yet he had left no stone unturned to convince me not to date Jack when I was with him. I didnt want to encourage him to do the same this time too. Ryan was the only one for me.

Passing a half apologetic, half sympathetic smile to him, I turned to look at Ryan. " So, you ready to see the place where all the magic happens? " He laughed at my words and placed a small kiss on my temple, " I was born ready. " I chuckled and with his hand in mine, I walked forward to the locked room. Once I unlocked the room with the entry card that I had been provided with at the reception, everyone entered the room and the motion detectors inside the room detected us and instantly switched on all the lights.

I heard the boys gasp as the large rehearsal recording room came into view. I and my bandmates chuckled at seeing the look of amusement on their faces. Fiona and the others busied themselves in setting up their instruments. The whole rehearsal room was illuminated with a warm light which was softly bouncing off the wooden decor of the room. One-half of the room was soundproofed and one could look at that side through the large glass separation. Since we weren't gonna record anything today, I opened the door to the soundproof section and welcomed them all in. They looked around at the equipment in the room with childlike enthusiasm. 

" So, what do you think? " I asked them excitedly, " It's amazing, right? " Ryan looked at me, his eyes sparkling with fascination, and nodded his head as if still in a daze. " This shit is fucking awesome, " Aiden drew out in an astonished voice and Noah nodded along with him. Evan was really just dumbfounded by all of this and simply stood there gawking at the magnificent place. " I knew you'd all fall in love with this place. I did too when I first came here. And I was just 15 back then so you can only imagine my excitement! " A fond smile stretched over Ryan's lips at hearing the excitement in my voice. 

" Hey, Sandford. We're ready, let's start, " I heard Raymond say and I nodded over at him. Smiling at Ryan and the others, I walked over to my band. Fiona smiled at me and handed me my shiny black acoustic guitar. I smiled and thanked her. " Welcome back, bestie. " She winked at me and I laughed before making my way to the standing mic in the middle of the small platform. I looked back at Ray, " Ray, you still remember that melody we were working on before, you know, I took a break. " He scoffed at my excuse and I passed him a cheesy smile, " Yeah I do, boss. " He replied in a sassy voice. " You all do? " I asked with raised eyebrows. They passed me cheeky grins and nodded enthusiastically. Since the microphone was switched on, my voice was audible to the other boys too and they were now leaning in with interest. " Good, 'cause I think I have the words for that melody now. " I winked at them. 

And that's how it went for the next 5 hours. We laughed and cracked jokes and old stories all the while practicing the songs on my album and also came up with two new songs that we decided to perform tomorrow too. For one of those two songs, I had made Ryan and others step out of the room. That was a song I had written for them, especially for Ryan and I wanted to surprise them with it tomorrow at the final show itself. 

Once we were done and satisfied with our session, we packed up all our instruments. I looped my arm with Ryan as we all headed out of the room. Giving the key card back at the reception, we slowly made our way back outside. But obviously it wasn't that easy. Apparently, the words had spread that we were rehearsing here and now the entire entrance was blocked with random fans and paparazzi. Rick had to quickly call for backup seeing the size of the crowd outside. 

Many autographs and awkward questions later, we finally reached the car and I didnt waste a breath by quickly jumping into the vehicle. " Holy shit, that was something. I need a fucking break! " Noah groaned loudly once we had pulled away from the curb. In all this fiasco I hadn't even been able to say good night to Fiona and the others so I quickly took my phone out and texted them. " You guys want to eat out? " I asked them with a smile on my face and they all nodded instantly. " Fuck yes! " Aiden perked up quickly, " But can we fetch Mia first? " I threw him an amused smirk, " Boy, someone's in love. " A slow blush crept his neck and the other four boys snickered as they saw it too. " No, I'm not. " He scoffed and averted his eyes to his hands in his lap. 

Shaking my head in amusement and making a note to myself to talk to this thick head later, I turned around and gave the driver the instructions to my favorite eating spot. Even though I could never remember that place's name, I always loved going there on my escape Sundays, as I liked to call them earlier. Being free from all those restrictions made me feel euphoric inside! 

I sighed and laid my back against the backrest and happily engaged myself in the playful banter that the boys were having and laughed along with five of my most favorite people in the world. 

*********

• Author's Note •

Hey Everyone! How're ya'll? I hope you guys are doing good and are happy in your own little ways inside your own little worlds because that's the only thing that matters, being happy doing what you do best :) If you liked this chapter please like, comment and share, it would bring a smile to my face too. Love you all.

Much love

M :)