Kane leaned forward, his blue eyes never leaving the face of the girl sitting across from him. His eyebrows pulled together as he slowly began to process the bomb that Dash had just dropped on him. "Wait a minute here. What do you mean: you're leaving? What the hell, Dash?"

The dark haired girl let out a soft sigh. After getting off the phone with her brother that morning, Dash had made a coffee date with her best friend, knowing that he would immediately oppose the idea of her leaving for a few weeks - especially right before the band was supposed to meet with a new producer who was interested in working on the new record with them.

"Look Kane," she started, making eye contact with the boy, "I haven't written anything since we got back from Europe. Nothing: not one melody, verse, line, anything. I've lost all my inspiration! I need to get out of the city for a little while, clear my head."

"You know that we're supposed to be meeting with new producers next week. How's it going to look if we show up with no lead singer?"

"Not as bad as it'll look if we show up with no new material," Dash shot back. "You know just as well as I do that this meeting is pointless unless I find some way to come up with something."

Kane roughly rubbed his hands over his face and let out a deep sigh. Dash stretched a hand across the table separating them, resting it on his forearm. "Kane, I'm telling you this first. I know that if you're on board with this, the others will be too. They won't argue with the both of us."

The blonde boy remained silent as he mulled over Dash's words. As bad as it would be for the band to postpone their meeting with this producer, it would also look bad on them to show up at this meeting with no new material for him to look at. Plus - if Kane was being honest - he knew that it would be good for Dash herself to get out of the city, away from the drama that was still circulating after her breakup with Sam.

Finally, Kane nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to the rest of the guys and Garrett. We'll postpone the meeting and you'll get out of here."

Dash reached across the small table, taking her best friend's hand in her own. "Thank you so much, Kane. I knew that you'd get it."

"When do you leave?"

"My flight leaves tomorrow morning: five a.m." Dash blew on her coffee that was still too hot to take a sip, though it had been sitting on the table in front of her for the past ten minutes. "I just need to get out of here as soon as possible. Do you - do you think that you could tell everyone else for me? I really don't want to deal with the crap that Spencer's going to give me."

Kane waved a hand, brushing off her concern. "I'll talk to Spence. As for everyone else, I think they'll be a bit more understanding. But either way, I've got your back, Dash. If you think that this is what you need, then I'm going to support you. You should know that by now."

She smiled up at her best friend. "Of course I do. Thanks Kane. Most days, I really don't know what I'd do without you."

The boy sitting across from her shrugged and shot her a crooked grin. "Clearly your life would fall to disarray and chaos. I'm the glue that holds you together."

"Shut up."

Kane grinned devilishly at her and drained the last of his coffee. "Come on. We should get back to your place. I'll help you pack." ×××
Dash settled into her seat - happy to have the window seat for once. Whenever she traveled with the band, Kane always found someway to bribe her out of the window seat, but not this trip. She pulled out her journal and flipped it open, scanning through the lyrics and chords that she had written over the years. Sam had given her that leather bound book years ago on the night of their high school graduation. Etched in the book were years of enticing phrases, rhyming couplets and melodic chords that she had created. Dash sighed heavily before slamming the book shut - writing, in all it's forms, had always come easy to her. Now here she was, flying halfway across the country in attempt to get back one of the things that she had lost. Since she couldn't get Sam back, she would get her inspiration back.

She pulled out her phone, sending a quick text before turning it off and pulling the hood of her band sweater over her head. Maybe she'd try to get some sleep on this flight. She hadn't really been sleeping that well since she'd sold the apartment.

To: Baz Lefebvre
'Just got seated on the flight. I'll be seeing you in a few hours. Thanks again for this, cuz. xo'

Dash closed her eyes and before she knew it, the blonde stewardess was leaning over her, shaking her shoulder gently.

"Rise and shine," the woman joked, shooting Dash a soft smile. "Sorry to wake you, sweetheart, but we're about to begin our descent."

Dash blinked blearily and groaned, thanking the woman before stretching her arms over her head. A few minutes later, the plane bumped into the runaway and came to a stop outside the airport. The moment that the seat belt light went dark, Dash pulled out her phone, seeing that she had a message from her cousin.

From: Baz Lefebvre
'I just got here. I'll be waiting for you right outside luggage pickup. See you soon!'

So far, the band had listened to Dash's request to refrain from contacting her. When they had dropped her off at the airport, she had told them all that she would initiate any future contact between them for a while - she needed to focus on her writing and getting her mind back on track. Spencer - being Spencer - had tried to argue, but Kane had quickly silenced his little sister.

As Dash waited for her luggage to make its way around on the carousel, she thought about how lucky she was to have band mates who were also her close friends - they trusted her enough to pack up everything and fly across the country for a few weeks, even postponing a meeting with their new producer. She was glad that she had people in her life that trusted her the way they did.

Dash was pulled from her thoughts as her striped suitcase made its way to her. She reached forward and pulled it off the carousel before dragging it behind her, making her way to find her cousin.

"It's about damn time."

The moment Dash stepped outside the luggage area, she was greeted by a familiar face standing mere feet away from her - his light brown hair sticking out at all angles, arms crossed against his chest.

Her mouth immediately pulled itself into a smile as she took in the boy standing in front of her. "Baz," she replied, laughing and taking a few quick steps to her cousin, tossing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. "It's good to see you."

Sébastien laughed in her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist. "It's good to see you too, little cousin. How was your flight?"

Dash shrugged, moving away from Sébastien. He took her suitcase from her and she followed him as he made his way out of the airport. "It was okay, I guess. I slept for most of it, actually."

Sébastien nodded and wrapped his arm around his cousin's shoulders. "The guys are really excited to see you. Chuck hasn't stopped talking about it since you called the other day. I had to talk him out of a surprise party for tonight. I figured it might be a bit too much for your first night out here. However," they came to a stop next to his car and he let out a small groan as he hoisted the suitcase into the trunk, "I make no promises for tomorrow night. Just so you're warned."

Dash laughed. Those boys always seemed to find some excuse to party with her whenever they were all together. She should've known that this trip would've been no different.

"Let's just back to the house, Baz. I can't wait to see everyone again."

Notes

i'm just sitting out here watching airplanes
take off and fly;
trying to figure out
which one you might be on
and why you don't love me anymore.

Don't even say it: I know. I could list a million excuses as to why this took so long and as to why it sucks, but instead I'll just apologize profusely. Also, has anyone picked up on who exactly Dash's cousin, Sébastien, is?
Don't be a silent reader? Cause I completely love each and every one of you.