Listen To Your Heart

Mandy rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out at Zack before addressing Leighton's question. "I was friends with Lisa's little sister. We all went to school together, and she invited me to go see the guys' band play. I was one of like three kids from school that showed up."

--

Alex did his vocal warmups as well as his guitar scales, if for nothing more than to warm his fingers up. Even though he knew a lot of their songs by muscle memory, he could fuck it up if he wasn't ready. The last thing Alex wanted was to ruin one of the shows because he was poorly prepared.

"Awe, that's sweet. So you guys have been together practically your whole lives... I hope I'm not intruding when I ask... why aren't you engaged...?" Leighton questioned timidly, not wanting to push the boundaries.

---

Zack's ears perked up at the topic of engagement and he listened in, curious to hear what Mandy had to say. Her response to this question would give him the answer he had been waiting on for years now.

"No, you're not intruding, Leighton. Honestly, that's a good question. It's not that I don't wanna get married-- that's the furthest thing from the truth. I guess the best answer is I don't really know." Mandy laughed slightly, sipping her drink.

--

Alex finished up his warmups before jogging upstairs, going to find Zack. "Excuse me, Incredible Hulk. We would like to start band practice sometime soon." He joked.

Silently, Zack celebrated in his mind. The plan was officially ago and he had to remember to thank Leighton later on for getting that answer out for him. Rolling his eyes at Alex he stood, waiting for the girls to follow. "Music time."

---

Leighton nodded, looking up at Alex when he entered the room. She rose to her feet, following the group downstairs to their apparent practice room, thougb it looked more like a recording studio without the recording booth.

Mandy followed Leighton and Cass into the basement, making sure the door closed behind them. She took residence on the one couch in the room, patting the spot next to her. "Come sit, Leighton." She invited her new friend.

--

Alex picked out one of the set lists, trying to decide what song they wanted to run through first. "How about Dirty Laundry?" He asked the guys, waiting to see if they approved or not.

Zack nodded, prepping himself to play one of their newest songs - and one of his favorite to play. He placed himself on the left hand side of Alex, where he would be on tour as always, listening for his cue.

---

Arielle took her seat next to Mandy and Cass sat on the bean bag chair in the corner. She caught eyes with Alex briefly and smiled at him, excoted to hear him play. Clearly he didn't give himself enough credit, she had assumed he was maybe the guitarist or bassist, but he was the lead singer- and that impressed her far more considering she couldn't carry a tune to save her life.

Mandy listened as the guys practiced-- honestly, this was looking to be one of her favorite setlists since the band's inception. She snapped a quick picture before looking over at Leighton. "So, whatcha think? I'm kinda biased, but I still think they're pretty great."

--

Alex looked over at Leighton every so often while he sang, flashing her a smile. This day was going absolutely perfect. Now, the icing on the cake would be asking her out after this was all over. He prayed she would say yes.

Leighton couldn't take her eyes off Alex, and everytime he flashed her that smile... She couldn't help the heat rising to her cheeks. The band was amazing but his voice, she could die listening to that voice. "I love it. Not what I'm usee to but they are amazing."

---

Zack looked over at Mandy, trying to figure out when to talk to Alex, Rian, and Cass... without her getting suspicious. He could always send Jack after her... or maybe send her to get the food. They usually got pizza delivered but if they decided on something else... someone would have to pick it up.

"See, I knew you were a girl with good taste." Mandy joked, looking over at Cass. The two friends nodded and shared a wink. They really liked Leighton-- and if Alex was too chicken to ask her out, well, they would set them up. She listened as they closed out the song, her tummy rumbling. The purple haired beauty had only eaten those few apple slices that morning.

--

Alex finished up the song before setting down his guitar. "So, what did you think?" He directed his question towards Leighton, a lopsided grin on his face. "Just how bad do we suck?"

"Extremely, I've never heard anything like it in my life." Leighton teased, shaking her head. "No, but really you guys were great... I love it." She smiled at him. She liked him, a lot, and she liked his friends even more. She could absolutely see herself becoming close with the girls around her.

---

"I figured she'd have some good taste." Zack chuckled, sending a look back towards Rian, then over to Cassadee. "Hey, I'm not really feeling pizza today. How about we do chinese instead, Mandy can pick it up, right babe?" He questioned, directing his question towards the purple haired beauty.

Mandy nodded her head, getting up. "Yeah, why not! Everyone's usual? What would you like, Leighton?" She asked her new friend. Once she got her order, the petite female turned her attention over to Jack. "I'm gonna need someone to help me carry this food. C'mon, dork."

--

Alex watched as Mandy and Jack left to go get the food. "Okay, Leighton. We're trying to plan a surprise for Mandy. Can we swear you to secrecy?" He wanted this to be absolutely special. Mandy deserved it.

"Actually I'm glad she's here." Zack smiled at Leighton, placing his bass down. "Leighton I wanted to thank you. I haven't been able to get one word out of Mandy about if she wanted to get married. You asking her earlier gave me the confirmation I needed."

---

Leighton thought for a moment before deciding on Orange Chicken and watched as Jack and Mandy walked out the door. "Yea of course I can keep a secret." Leighton smiled. It was clear what was going on... Zack was going to propose to Mandy.

"Okay, I have an idea. Hear me out." Alex spoke, quickly pausing to listen if Jack and Mandy had left. Once they did, he turned to face everyone in the room. "You propose at the end of the door at one of the Baltimore shows. Bring her out, she and I'll sing Ground Control or Backseat Serenade or something like that that needs a female voice. Once we're done, I do this speech about how she's supported us from the beginning, and then boom! You ask her to marry you."

"Alex that's brilliant! She was the one who did the original vocals for Remembering Sunday, and none of the fans know. It would be perfect!" Zack excitedly pulled out the tour calender to see when the hometown show was. "We've got two Baltimore shows, August 2nd and August 3rd."

Leighton smiled, these boys clearly all loved Mandy... She was a part of their family and it was clear. "I know you just met me but, might I suggest... do it on the 3rd.... but bring her on stage bith nights to sing it. Tell her it's a special thing that you're doing for the hometown show... that way she wont be suspicious."

"We'll fly Adam out and he can take a video and pictures, it'll be great!" Alex spoke, the rest of the guys nodding in agreement. He turned his attention back to Leighton, nodding enthusiastically again. "Leighton, you're a damn genius! I didn't even think about that." Mandy had done the first recording of Remembering Sunday-- she'd been pretty self conscious about how she sounded, even though Alex had reassured her constantly that it was perfect.

"You guys this is perfect. Now all I need to do is go ring shopping before in the next two weeks." Zack grinned. There was honestly nothing he wanted more than to marry this women, and everything was working itself out.

Leighton blushed slightly "Im not, really... It's kinda what I do." She shrugged. She didn't plan out engagement as a job, but for each of her friends back in Alabama she had a hand in helping plan out the proposal, and she loved the look of pure shock and happiness.

"Okay, Jack is gonna be on-" Alex began, but was interrupted when Jack and Mandy came back downstairs. "A hooker in the next two weeks? Cause that's true. Okay, nerds. Food's here." Jack then led the way upstairs, followed by Mandy. "His whiny crybaby ass made me carry all of it-- don't let him fool you!" Mandy called down the stairs to the guys.

Alex offered his arm to Leighton to help her up from the couch. "Thanks so much for your help... You're a gem." He grinned.

Leighton put a finger to her lips, signaling her silence. "Anytime." She winked at him as he helped her up. She watched as everyone walked up the stairs, leaving the pair alone for the first time since she had arrived. "So, I like you're friends. They're pretty cool."

---

Zack followed Mandy and Jack upstairs, helping them separate everyone's food. "Jack you were supposed to help her, it's the whole reason you went!"

"Yea well... She was being mean." Jack stated, sticking his tongue out at Mandy.

"Hey now, tongues in mouthes." Zack laughed, looking around. "Anyone see Alex and Leighton come up?"

"Okay, literally ALL I said was 'Jack, move your ass' because he was sitting in the car." Mandy rolled her eyes, grabbing her plate before sitting down on the couch. "He paid, though, so we're good." She joked before taking a bite of her food. When Zack mentioned Leighton and Alex, Mandy did raise a brow. "Those two are getting along nicely." She mused.

--

Alex led the way upstairs. "Yeah, they're alright. They're pretty weird, but they mean well." He nudged open the basement door, letting Leighton enter the kitchen before he shut the door behind them. "Okay, who's talking shit?" Alex joked.

"I agree. If he doesn't buck up the courage to ask her out. We'll set them up. She seems good for him." Zack nodded, digging into his food as Alex and Leighton walked into the room. He pushed their containers closer to them and took another bite. "It was Jack!"

---

Leighton laughed when Jack stuck out his tongue and grabbed her food. "So, im dying to know... how did you pop the question?" She smiled, taking a seat between Mandy and Cassadee. Her question was directed at Rian, who looked up with a smile but it was Cassadee who answered.

"Oh it was perfect... I was still in my PJs. He was sweeping in the living room and Guppy, our dog, was biting the broom. So I took jim and I put him in the bedroom and Rian was like, ‘Okay, you can let him out.’ I opened the door and he was on one knee." Cassadee gushed(took that straight from her)