Bobbi only found relief from the flashing lights when Alex grabbed a hold of her arm and started to lead her further down the red carpet. The shouts didn't stop but their originators lost proximity to the bands ears and so their words lost some of their power.

Alex let go of Bobbi's arm and her grip was replaced with Alfie's. He sent her a wink before he made sure not to step on the train of her dress, Alex's instructions ringing out above the din of the surrounding crowd.

"Alright, Alfie, Bobbi, you two take Entertainment News. Sam and Theo, you two have SmartTV. Go."

Bobbi's followed Alfie's lead as they started towards the row of outstretched phones and recorders, the reporters attached to them nearly invisible squished together.
Bobbi's eyes landed on the familiar head of fake blonde hair right before she raised her arm above her head and started waving them over.

Standing on the right side of the metal barricade, she was able to meet them about halfway, her cameraman trailing right behind her. Her smiling expression, bright white teeth and camera ready voice blended right in with the large amount of interviewers Bobbi had encounter in the past. And even though this woman acted as though they had met before, her name and their history together sat just beyond Bobbi's mental capabilities for the night. She made sure to smile and tagged the woman before as simply Interviewer.

"Good evening, you two!"

"Hi."

Bobbi and Alfie responded simultaneously and they braced for impact of Interviewer's forthcoming joke.

"Oh my gosh! That is too cute!" Her joke about siblings and their ability to communicate telepathically landed on deaf ears as both Bobbi and Alfie had heard enough to last a life.

"You both look amazing tonight. Bobbi, I love your dress!"

Interviewer's smile didn't dare dampen, even as she spoke. And it stood as a reminder for Bobbi of the task at hand and she followed her gaze down and quickly made sure her own smile radiated enthusiasm.

"Thank you." Bobbi said, glancing back up. She kept her hands folded neatly in front of her, the act the symptom of a vague hope to keep them from fidgeting with the rings upon her fingers.

"And you, Alfie! So handsome!" Alfie gave a small bow and a genuine smile. It tighten during Interviewer's next words. "Bobbi, you must have helped him with this suit. He looks too good!"

"Actually, Alfie was able to work with a young designer we've gotten to know over the years. So all credit to his good looks tonight go to him." Bobbi's sentence was punctuated with her smile and Alfie looked up at their companion and matched the sentiment.

"Of course! How wonderful! And tonight is such a big night for you two especially! Are you excited?"

Interviewer automatically held out her microphone to Bobbi for her to answer but then had to switch as Alfie began speaking as if she was ready for him to answer.

"Of course. This is such a huge honor. We have had the wonderful opportunity to do what we love for so long and every time our hard work is recognized, we feel eternally grateful to our fans and everyone who helped get us here."

Bobbi followed along with his speech in her mind, smiling as he was able to add some genuine intonations when he spoke about their fans.

"And you guys have been coming to the Grammy's, performing every year for so long now, there must be a certain familiarity."

Bobbi started speaking for this one and again Interviewer had to switch where she placed the microphone.

"Having been a band for so long, there can be a certain routine that you fall into. But tonight is going to be no different from any other show we've done together. In the seven years we've been playing together, we've work hard to keep it fresh, to keep it exciting and to keep our act from growing stale. We never want to walk out in front of an audience, even an audience of our peers, and know we're gonna kill it. The power in what we do lies in the nerves we still get, that raw excitement we emanate, each time we perform, regardless of where we're playing and to whom we're playing for."

The Interviewer nodded along and allowed for the appropriate pause after Bobbie spoke to let her words land.

"Now, Bobbi, I saw you have a date with you tonight! He's rather handsome, if I do say so myself. Who's this one?"

Bobbi took a step back and looked down at the ground as she cleared her throat. Alfie had started talking and again Interviewer had to switch her mic position.

"Bobbi is technically my date tonight, actually." Alfie kept talking before Interviewer had the chance to reroute the question back to Bobbi's male companion. His smile even stretched into sincere as he spoke, his eyes glistening a bit out of amusement.

"See, when we first started the band, almost a decade ago, Bobbi and I made a pact. If one of us made it and the other didn't, for what ever reason, we would take each other as our date for when we finally made it to the Grammy's. No matter what."

"Well, isn't that the sweetest thing!"

Bobbi saw a head of genuine blonde hair make it way towards them past Alfie's shoulder and started the gather up the skirts of her dress in preparation to leave.

"Just one more question!" Interviewer finally caught a break and spoke before they could move away too far. "There are rumors flying all over the place about Theo going solo. Especially after this last tour and you're recent trip to Jamaica, can you-"

"That'll be all. Thank you." Bobbi turned to leave just as Alex as nearing to grab them herself.

Alfie had to hurry after finishing off the interview properly and joined Bobbi once again when she reached the few steps that led into the theatre. They paused at the top of the steps as Alex hurried back towards where Theo and Sam stood. She didn't have to go far as Theo broke away from his own Interviewer in very much the same fashion as Bobbi had.

He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head, unbuttoning the jacket on his neat suit and exposing a wildly patterned shirt underneath, barely buttoned. He locked eyes with Bobbi as he hurried past Alex and towards the steps.

Once Sam joined them, the four of the headed into the theater, and Alex followed closely behind, calling out for Bobbi's date where he stood in the corner, waiting.

**********

"Good morning, Brooklyn! It is a beautiful sunny Saturday here in the great state of New York. I am your host, Greg Morrison and you're listening to Brooklyn's number one spot for all things alternative here at KROX 1023 fm. It's about 7:35 AM and already the temp is reading out a nice 79 degrees. That's expected to continue to climb through out the day, reaching all the way up to a balmy 92 by this afternoon. New York is celebrating the official start of summer with a nice heat wave. Stay cool out there, where ever you are. Okay, to kick off our acoustic Saturday, we have a special guest on the show today. Everyone out there seems especially stoked to hear from these guys. If you were rocking out at the Hudson River Festival yesterday, you might have seen them. Hailing all the way from Boston, we have the Wild Wallflowers. Welcome."

Alfie started the rounds of responses.
"Hey, man. What's up?"

"Salutations."

"Hi! How's it going?"

Theo sent a sharp jab to Bobbi's ribs after speaking and she immediately brought her head back to center. Retrieving her attention from the impressive array of equipment and technical setup around them, Bobbi spun back round to face Greg where he sat opposite and caught sight of Alex standing behind him, her eyes wide, gesturing to the mic poised in front of Bobbi's face.

"Hi! How's it going?"

Her voice came in loud and strong as she had leaned close to close the distance between her mouth and the microphone. Greg winced and leaned back a bit, the crease between his dark eyebrows deepening. His dark eyes flashed over to Bobbi as he spoke.

"You're coming in loud and strong. Don't worry."

Bobbi leaned away from her mic and mouthed sorry in his direction. His attention was already focused on something else, his equipment apparently requiring some attendance, and Bobbi was met with the back of his balding head.

"Okay. So Wild Wallflowers. Nice to meet you." Greg said.

"Good to meet you too, man! Thanks for having us on the show!" Alfie said.

"Yeah, bit last minute in my own opinion. But hey, everything worked out. That manager of yours wasn't gonna take a no."

Greg kept talking before any of them could lean forward to respond. Bobbi glanced back at Alex, where she stood. With her arms crossed, Bobbi detected the hint of a proud smirk as she oversaw the proceedings.

"Last minute cancellations happen all the time. I guess it works that you guys were able to fill in."

"It helps that we travel with our own equipment." Sam added.

"Sure." Greg moved away from his mic for a second to cough and used the opportunity to glance through his sheet of questions, his eyes roving up and down the paper to grab onto one that applied.

"Alright, so we've got Albie, Ted, Sean and Beatrice. Is that correct?"

"If you mean, Alfie, Theo, Sam and Bobbi, then you're right on the money!"

The boys sat just out of the corner of Bobbi's right eye and she made sure to keep her eyes focused on their host as she leaned against the table. Even the slight discomfort of her headphones current position couldn't convince her to look Alfie's way as he spoke, out of fear she would cause a laugh to escape her mouth.

"Right, right, right. That's what I meant."

"I'm sure those were the names of the band that couldn't make it." Theo's reply sounded innocent enough and Bobbi didn't allow herself the chance to see if his expression read out the same lack of sarcasm. She had a strong feeling it didn't.

"So you're from Boston. Welcome to New York! And the Hudson River Music Festival. That's a big deal. How does a garage band from Boston of all places get a spot in that lineup?"

"Um, I'm not sure a garage band would be able to." Bobbi said.

"Sounds like quite the feat." Theo said.

"It probably helps that we've got a nice following here in the city." Sam said.

"And that we're opening for 7 Ships on their countrywide tour starting tonight. The same band that closed out the festival yesterday."

The bright smile, simultaneously lacking any hint of annoyance yet full of irony was sure to be wide on Alfie's face and Bobbi found Theo's own version spread across his countenance.

"So you guys have played here in the city before?" Greg asked.

"Yeah. Loads." Alfie said.

"This is actually the first summer since we got established that we won't be touring the Northeast on our own." Bobbi said.

"But, again, that's only because we're opening for 7 Ships. Starting tonight. At the Queens Blues House. 7:30." Theo said.

"Self promotion never hurt anyone." Greg mumbled.

"We won't have the line of fans waiting outside your studio this morning without it." Sam replied.

Greg grabbed a hold of that line of thought and ran with it. His furrowed brows had yet to relax and his hard gaze seemed to be purposefully scowling at each of them as they spoke. It had, ever since they finally made their way through the small crowd that had greeted them when they arrived at the studio.

"Yeah. What's with that? I've never heard of you kids before but when we sent out word you guys would be our last minute guest for the morning, the phone nearly exploded. We couldn't keep up. Seemed every teenager and their friend out there was pissing themselves with excitement to hear you guys would be here."

"We have great fans. What can we say?" Alfie said, sitting tall as his pride showed evident on his face.

"And you're unsigned?"

The four of the nodded in response and Theo took the responsibility of making their answer audible for the radio.

"Well, okay. But you got connections or something down here in the city, right?"

Bobbi turned to the rest and saw each of them shaking their head just as she was.

"No." She said. "We've just played in different bars and music halls through out the burrows. It kinda helped that the people liked our stuff, bought our cd and kept coming back, making sure to bring their friends each time."

"Really." Greg leaned back in his chair and let his sight fall on each of them for a split moment, the air going dead around them and filling with tension. They nodded but that did little.

Resigned that he wouldn't understand the apparent enigma Bobbi and the boys presented for him, he sat up in his chair and returned to his list of questions.

"Okay. So when did you guys start playing music? How were you formed? Who's the real brains behind this operation?"

Bobbi exchanged a glance with Alfie and leaned forward to speak first.

"Uh, well, Alfie, Theo and I have been playing together since we were kids."

"Theo and I went to school together and just started messing around on my dads old bass in my mom's garage." Alfie said.

"Yeah, and I, uh, ended up bringing my sister's guitar over to play some covers one day and Bobbi insisted on singing." Theo said.

"And thank god she did, because Theo and I sound like dying water buffaloes when we try to harmonize." Alfie said.

"Speak for yourself, dude! I can hold a tone." Theo said.

"Yeah, enough to harmonize with Bobbi, maybe. But we both know she's the one who's got the real pipes in this operation."

Bobbi smiled as Alfie scrunched his nose up at her when he spoke. She let her shoulders relax a bit and turned her eyes onto her band instead of their host. Their company and expressions proved much more amiable and friendly.

"What about you, Sam?" Greg asked.

"I play drums." He said.

"We met Sam while playing at a local gig and he immediately recognized our need for rhythm." Theo said.

"That's usually what start-up bands need. They always tend to lack any sort of rhythm or originality or soul. Just vapid little teeny-boppers who think they can sing."

Again Greg didn't give them time to respond and his words were left hanging over their heads as they glanced between one another.

"So you've been together for how long? I need a number."

"We've been playing seriously, with Sam, for two years." Bobbi said.

Greg nodded and turned to read out more questions, apparently pleased enough.

"So who writes your songs?"

Greg's eyes fell to Sam and he lifted his brow, expecting a nod.

"Bobbi writes all our stuff."

Greg finally turned to her and Bobbi gave him a tight lipped smile in return.

"Really?" The incredulity was thick in voice and the surprise lighting his voice didn't help the tension in the room.

"Uh, yeah." Bobbi managed to respond. All other options that ran through her head at his reaction would have only made the situation worse.

"But you're like, what, 16?"

"18." Bobbi corrected.

"And you write all your songs?" He looked over at Theo and Alfie, waiting for them to break the news that this was a joke. The blank look on their expressions offered little help.

"So what do you write about? Boys? Broken hearts? Summer flings? Shopping trips?"

Alfie leaned forward, his elbows resting against the table as he spoke.
"Well, Sam's bachelors degree in Philosophy helps us focus on the big questions in life, such as boys, broken hearts and the like, as you said."

Bobbi leaned away from her mic and turned away, using the facade of a cough to justify her disengagement from Greg's blatant expression of disbelief. She locked eyes with Theo just as he leaned in closer to his own mic.

"Uh, have you listened to our music? Anything off our album?"

Greg shrugged.
"Didn't have the time. Beside I've had thousands of kid bands just like you and I'm sure its just as good as the rest."

The clock on the wall thankfully read out that their interview was nearing completion as Bobbi her attention their to vent out the beginnings of a red hot fury. All they had to do was perform, then they were out of there.

"What are you guys gonna be playing today?" Greg asked. His eyes turned instead from his guests to his computer as he spoke.

"Oh, you know. Real classic kid band stuff. All the fluffy vapid stuff you'd expect. It's a real bop." Alfie didn't try to hide his disgust. Greg didn't bother to notice.

"Great. What's it called?"

The three boys each turned their heads in Bobbi's direction. She cleared her throat and sat up in her chair, leaning forward and speaking into the mic.

"Uh. Fatal Judgement?"