SHATTERED

twenty-six

saylor

"okay, so, how far along are you with the ep?" laura asked as she looked between the four of us.

"i think we just wanna make two more songs, and then it'll be done," alex told her.

"that's great. and you've decided on a name for it, yes?" laura quizzed. we all nodded. "great. we just need to work on the cover, and then we can decide a release date and start promoting it. alongside that... you're also going to announce a tour."

all of our eyes widened at that. laura smiled as we all started to freak out.

"a tour?!" jessie leaned forward. "laura, you better not be lying to me right now. we're going on a tour, for real? like, deadass?"

laura laughed. "i'm serious. you guys are getting some serious attention. the label and i think a tour will help even more, and we believe it'll sell out. for now though, it'll only be a u.s. tour, with fourteen shows. it'll be two months long."

"that's insane," alex commented. "a fucking tour, man."

"this is unreal," miguel shook his head with a small laugh.

"i know, i know," laura nodded. "but this isn't going to be easy. along with finishing the ep, we also have to figure out a set-list for the tour, you'll have tour rehearsal, and you'll have to figure something out for the show itself. of course, you don't have to do that alone, but it'll still take effort."

"shit, i'll do whatever it takes if it means we get to go on a tour," i let out a chuckle.

"yeah, what she said," jessie quickly nodded.

laura laughed again. "but... you still need to finish the ep before you can think about going on tour, so you really need to work hard on it."

"well, then let's go finish it right now," alex stood up. "i'll finish this shit tonight."

laura grabbed their wrist as they tried to walk out. "i didn't say the meeting was over."

alex raised a brow as they looked down at laura, waiting for her to say whatever else she needed to. laura looked between the four of us. "alright, meeting's over," she smiled. "go work on the ep."

we all got up to leave the meeting room. i grinned as i hopped onto jessie's back. "we're going on a tour!"

jessie stumbled as i did, and she almost fell into miggy. "shit, pookie, you gotta warn me next time," they chuckled. they grabbed under my legs to better hold me on their back. "but fuck yeah we are!"

out of the corner of my eye, i could see alex look down at us and narrow their eyes. they shoved their hands into their pockets as they picked up their pace to walk to our reserved studio.

it's been a month since that night alex got drunk and told me they didn't want my help, meaning it's late march. since then, i haven't talked to them, and i've barely even looked at them, unless it was for music that we've been working on or during interviews.

i'm tired of their shit. i tried to be nice and help them, but they just don't care. they're just a stuck up asshole.

trying to help them and care about them will only get me hurt, so why should i try with them?

during the past month, they've been trying their best to get any kind of reaction out of me. they've been so annoying about it.

that being said... it's funny how desperate they are to get a rise out of me.

i've almost slipped up quite a few times. i'm holding my ground.

it is exhausting, in a sense. things would be so much easier if they just tried to be nice.

we all walked to our reserved studio. jessie loaded everything up, and she told us that we had four fully produced, ready to go songs. we all talked and decided that we wanted the ep to have seven songs. we immediately got to work on making more songs.

i'm sitting on the couch, and i'm trying to come up with the guitar part for the song we're working on at the moment. alex is sitting at the end of the couch, and they're working on the lyrics.

they were kinda mumbling to their self as they tried to find the right lyrics. "i hope you can see the shape that i'm in while he's touching your skin," they sang as they nodded a bit. "he's right where i should..."

their brows furrowed as they stopped. i glanced up from my guitar. "where i should be... but you're making me bleed," i continued.

"wait, that's fire," jessie nodded. "write that shit down!"

i glanced over at miguel as he leaned forward, holding his bass in his lap, as he typed the lyrics onto his laptop. alex pursed their lips. "what about the chorus?"

"uh, let's see... woman... woman," i sang in the tune of the song.

miguel perked up. "and then we can add backing vocals, that are, like... la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. so, it's like you're being childish and blocking out their voice as they try to explain why you two won't work out. you don't want to listen to her explain why she's with someone else."

"genius," i commented as i did a chef's kiss. "write that down."

miguel typed away. we went silent as we tried to come up with more lyrics. me and alex were simultaneously trying to find a chord progression for the song. we finished the chorus, then moved onto the next verse.

"tempted, you know," i started.

alex paused. they nodded. i could feel their eyes on me as they continued. "apologies are never gonna fix this. i'm empty, i know."

"and promises are broken like a stitch is," jessie added.

"that sounds great," miguel said. "i love it."

"me too. write it down," alex told him.

we continued to work on the song. before long, we had finished it, and we moved onto working on the next one.

•

i blinked my eyes open as i slowly woke up. i paused for a moment, and i didn't move.

i quickly noticed that i was in the studio still. that wasn't what made me freeze up though... the fact that i had been laying on alex's shoulder did.

we were both on the couch. their arms were crossed over their chest, and their head was tilted back to lean against the back of the couch as they slept soundly. my head had been laying on their shoulder as i was practically curled into their side while i slept.

that's the second time one of us has slept on the other... both of which only happened after we fell asleep. i don't think that either of us would willingly do that.

that being said... alex is actually pretty comfortable. like, surprisingly really comfortable. they're warm, too.

i glanced around the room. jessie and miguel were also in here. jessie was also on the couch, but she was laying down. their legs were draped over mine and alex's laps as they snored lightly. miguel was sitting in the chair with his legs hanging over the armrest. he didn't seem comfortable at all, but he was sleeping like a baby.

i looked around for my phone. when i found it, i checked the time. i sighed as i saw that it was nearly six in the morning.

i'm too tired to even think about going home right now, let alone wake the other three up to tell them that we fell asleep here.

i let out a quiet huff as i turned away from alex and got as comfortable as i could. moving away from them quickly made me realize how chilly it was in here. i pouted, but i didn't move back to their side; hell no. somehow, i was able to fall back asleep.

•

a/n ayooo

thoughts??

predictions?

words:
1344