Crash and Burn - LH

2 - hear me out

"I'm sorry, you what?" Ella says. I called her as soon as I left the meeting and told her to meet me at our favorite coffee shop.
"I know. God why did I say yes? This was so stupid." I put my head in my hands. The regret was immediate the second the word came out of my mouth.
"Dani. This is good," Ella says, gently taking my hands in hers. "This is really good."
I only met her a year ago when I moved to LA, but it feels like we've been friends for so much longer. We met waitressing at a diner, being typical performing arts cliches. She moved out here to be an actress and I moved out here to be a singer. We moved in together 6 months ago.
"Is it? I mean, this isn't just some band. They've all been friends since childhood. Plus, Luke already hates me."
"As far as i'm concerned, Luke can fuck off." One of the many things I love about Ella is her ability to speak her mind. "Plus, Greyson told me something about the real reason for the bands hiatus." This peaks my curiosity. Ella has been seeing Greyson Dally, a singer who's been dubbed as music's next big thing by every media outlet that matters. "Luke went to rehab. Apparently it was really bad. Not just pills but heroin and shit."
It's not uncommon to hear about celebrities going to rehab and it being kept out of the press, but there's something about Luke being in that situation that shocks me. Sure, he was an arrogant ass in that meeting but the band has always had a clean image.
"Wow," I respond. My phone starts to ring and a number that I don't recognize displays on the screen. "Hello?"
"It's Luke," the Australian accent on the line says.
"Oh. Hi Luke," I say with as little enthusiasm as possible.
"I signed the contract, okay?" His tone is full of annoyance.
"Come on, mate," I hear another voice in the background say.
Luke sighs. "Welcome to the band," he huffs before hanging up.

The next morning, I wake up with a text from yet another new number.

Calum: Hey it's Calum. Are you around to get together today?

Dani: Depends on who will be there 🙄

Calum: Just us.

Calum: But you realize you'll have to talk to luke eventually right?

Dani: Yes but today isn't that day.

Calum: Let's meet at verve on melrose at 12

I drag myself to the kitchen to get coffee. "Calum wants to meet today," I tell Ella who's already been to and from an audition at 10am.
"Calum's the cute one, right?" She smirks.
"Don't you have a boyfriend?"
"Greyson's not my boyfriend. We're just having some fun," she retorts.

I go back into my room to get ready. My hair is a mess so I run a flat iron through the jet black strands. I keep my makeup simple, foregoing my usual thick black eye liner for just mascara. I pick out baggy jeans and an oversized tee shirt for my outfit and I'm ready within plenty of time to beat the LA traffic.

Calum's already there when I get to Verve. "Hey," he greets me with a quick hug which shocks me since I barely know the guy. But I still appreciate the gesture. "How's it going?"
I sigh. "You know, it's going."
"How are you feeling about everything?" I can tell that he's asking the question with genuine care and not just to make sure i'll be playing nice.
"It's nerve wracking, you know. You guys have all been friends forever and I'm an outsider coming in."
He gives me a small smile. "You know, Ash was an outsider once, too," he tells me, making me return a smile to him. "I know it's scary but I promise we're all gonna do everything we can to make you feel welcome."
I raise my eyebrows. "Even Luke?"
"Even Luke, once we whip him into shape."
I remember i'm not supposed to know about rehab. "What's his deal, anyway?"
Calum sighs. "He's been through some shit. But he acts a lot tougher than he is. Inside he's really a big teddy bear. He doesn't hate you, he's just protective of the band and he wants what's best."
"And he doesn't think i'm what's best," I respond, more as a statement than a question.
"He does. We talked to him yesterday and I can tell he does. He's just to stubborn to admit it."
"Sure," I answer.
"Come to the studio tomorrow. We'll work on writing some stuff. You play guitar right?" He asks.
"Yeah, and piano."
"Perfect. Tomorrow, we'll write."