Long Live Us

Stumbling out of the bathroom, my hair was a mess and there was a crooked grin on my face. Stella and I had become much more open with our love life and our bodies. Any minute we had free that didn't require us to stress over the band or our schooling, we were pawing at each other like wild animals. Today, we just so happend to be back in the studio, recording our very first full length album. It was our first full day back, so we had some free time on our hands. Everyone was piled up in the living room at the current moment, soaking in the quickly passing moments of relaxation, but Stella and I obviously had different things on our minds. Things in our relationship had smoothed out quiet a bit since Alex and Juli had decided to let us live our lives the way we want to. Honestly, I think it's made us all closer. I finally feel like the Gaskarth's trust me with their oldest daughter.

The only down fall to Stella and I getting to spend some time together alone were the awkward glances Alex would send us when we finally showed up again. It was like he was fighting off his fatherly instinct to punch me in the face. Totally understandable, but as we are often under stress, Stella and I don't spend all of our time alone together naked. Sometimes she just wants to talk my ear off and other times we just want to curl up and take a minute to breathe. The life we chose was a lot harder than I think any of us realized it would be. Still, worth it.

Stella was giggling as she pushed open the door to her and Aub's room. She had decided that she wanted to change clothes, most likely into pajama pants and a baggy tee-shirt since she'd have to start writing with her dad today. I knew just as well as she did that he'd be pushing her twice as hard this go-round. We'd all be pushed to our limits.

"Oh gosh," Stella squeakd, covering her eyes. "Tom, I have to change clothes!"

"Relax," Aubree giggled in return, pulling the blanket over her body. Times like these, I was glad Stella didn't get jealous of her best friend. Living on the tour bus meant I'd seen Aubree in her bra almost as much as I'd seen Stell in hers. "We honestly weren't doing anything. Tom was just going over our busy schedule with me."

"Yeah, I bet," Stell snorted. "Speaking of, what's on the agenda today?"

Tom shrugged, watching his sister walk into the closet so she could comfortably change her clothes. He picked up the clip board from the bedside table and flipped a page, smiling to himself.

"You should probably go meet up with dad. You're supposed to be writing with him for the remainder of the day. As for you, Jack," he glanced to me, "you need to go meet up with your dad. He wants to practice a little with you, too."

"Then what are Nate and Aubree gonna do?" Stella asked, slipping out of the closet with a smile on her face. "Don't they need to practice?"

"Actually, Nate and I have other plans. We're working on a song for his mom. Kind of Nate's way of saying he's sorry for leaving her alone for so long."

Everyone in the room fell silent. Outside of our love lives, we'd never considered the things going on in the real world. Like, Aubree trying to graduate early or Nate's sickly mother. It was just so easy to get wrapped up in the things going on in front of your face, that you almost forgot the things that really mattered, like the familiar scent of home or our family who really needed us.

"Don't worry, guys, he's okay," Aub spoke softly. "Besides, Alex and Jack are going to want to work with you two together at some point tonight, I'm sure. Gives Nate enough space to feel what he needs to and be done with it."

"Tell Nate I'd love to help him out sometime," I mumbled, feeling like a shitty friend. Nate's as much of a member of this band as the rest of us, and we never once asked if he was okay. "Maybe we can record a song for her or something."

"Maybe," Aubree smiled, pulling a shirt over her head. "I should go meet up with him."

The three of us nod as Aub exits the room. A sadness lingers behind her, but it's quickly cut short by Alex pounding on the door. Stella sends a smile to her dad before following him to a quiet place for the two of them to write, meaning it was time for me to go find my own dad so we could play some songs together. Running a hand through my hair, I try to fix the mess just a little bit, and Tom follows me out of the room. My dad was in the living room area with his guitar in his lap and mine propped up on the couch. With a smile, he pats the seat and lifts up my baby.

"Let me show you how it's really done," dad jokes, a child-like grin on his face. "I'm gonna rock your face off."

"Bring it, old man," I grinned, clinging to my guitar. "I can own you, hands down."

And with that, the start of our new full-length record began.

Notes