Page 18 of Endless Harmonies
Apologetic words leave behind confusion and dysmorphic thoughts.
I wanted the world and got the Wish version, why couldn’t things be different?”
My lips twist at the words and I continue the song. Roark must be listening because he cuts the music and comes out with a small travel drum set. Soon, we’re creating lyrics, making music, and breaking things together.
Tesa and Tori dance and weave as they swing and destroy things with us, and it’s the most fucked up form of therapy that I’ve ever seen.
But you know what? My sister is grinning, her initial tears as she began to sing are gone, and she’s feral as she makes music. The lines are drawn in the sand, and nothing is out of line. Her pain becomes a song rich with frustration, confusion, and vindication.
Layla Campbell isn’t waiting around anymore. I can’t wait to see what my best friends have to say when they realize it.
CHAPTERFIVE
Turner
“There’s nothing like the creativity of a woman scorned,” Orion observes as he holds Dev in his arms and watches the girls whoop and sing in the backyard.
“Tori was very creative when we hurt her,” Greg mutters. He walked across to our house using the underground tunnel when things started exploding. “Those boys are idiots. Are you going to record the song?”
“Why not? It’s actually really good,” I rumble with a shrug. “I’m not really concerned with Mav and Atlas’ feelings at the moment. They screwed up, they can be uncomfortable for a bit.”
“Aye, I feel the same,” Ror mutters, watching as Layla smashes a glass vase. It was actually really smart of him to lay down tarps on the ground.
I have no idea how he managed to pull this together so quickly.
“They are interested in her, I can see how they look at her,” he grumbles. “If they’re going to act like this, then they don’t deserve her. At least, not right now.”
“Fair.” Greg nods. “We didn’t deserve Tori for a long time. Maybe they’ll be lucky enough to be able to make it up to Layla.”
“Doubtful,” O murmurs as Layla sings another poignant song lyric. Fuck me, that’s sad. I really want to lay down the track and have Lay and Len sing it together.
“They hurt her pride and her heart,” I sigh. I heard some of what happened. The fact that they would rather fuck each other, knowing she was listening to them…
Goddamn it.
“You’re growling,” Roark comments with a smirk. “They riled Lay up, felt guilty, and then went to the back bedroom of the tour bus to fuck each other instead.”
“Damn,” Greg grunts, blinking hard. “How much do you like these assholes? I could make them disappear with very little effort.”
Snickering, I shake my head. “I’ll take a rain check on that,” I tell him. “It’ll hurt them more when she moves on without them. I don’t know how this is going to affect the band. It’s truly fucked.”
“One step at a time,” Orion murmurs. “I think they’ve almost broken everything they can. If they decide to record this, do Atlas and Mav need to be here?”
“It depends.” I sigh. “Len and Layla will need to write the music together and then decide if we need a keyboard or a second guitarist for it. This is going to get complicated, but we’re professionals. We’ll show up for our craft and so will they.”
I sound so sure, they simply nod. The truth is, it’s all I can hope for.
* * *
Lennon whimpers in her sleep,and I frown, turning to brush her forehead. I know she had a therapy appointment, but sometimes they bring up shit for her and she has a nightmare afterward.
It happens to Roark too. He doesn’t go as often, but he says it usually helps in the moment when he feels out of control. Unfortunately, the subconscious is a fickle beast.
“Lavender, wake up, baby,” I say softly as she twists in her sheets. Roark looks over my shoulder, and leans over, ripping down the offending material that’s trapping her.
“Tiny Valkyrie, it’s not real. Wake up,” he insists.
“Wait,” O says, half asleep. “Don’t wake her up yet. What is she saying?”