Symphony Of Sympathy

The remainder of the car ride was mostly silent, except for Ella giving Alex occasional directions.

"Turn right here," she mumbled. He put on the blinker, and began turning. She let out a yelp, "No, no! Your other right!"

"That's my left, El!" Alex shouted, quickly turning in the other direction.

"Damn it, I can never tell!" Ella huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. I laughed at them. For siblings they got along really well.

It hurt me. Sierra and I were practically best friends. I could tell her everything, and she could tell me everything. Then she was murdered, and I lost the only person who knew everything about me. I missed her so much, and watching Alex and Ella made me miss her even more.

"Yes! We're here!" Ella giggled, clapping her hands together.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeh jus' want to see Curtis again," I teased, opening the car door. Warm, September air brushed against me.

She started giggling again. "Maybe," she said in a singsong tone. She climbed out of the car, stretching her arms over her head. I understood why Curtis flirted with her so much. She was gorgeous. Her long blonde hair always looked perfect, even if she left it wavy like she had tonight. The only makeup she truly needed was maybe a little eyeliner, if that. The red and black plaid shirt she wore fitted her perfectly, along with the white skinny jeans she was wearing. To say the least, I was jealous of her.

I pulled my phone out. "I better call Tom, let 'im know we're 'ere. We need 'im to get in," I said, dialing his number.

Alex had gotten out of the car and was standing next to his sister. He towered over her at six foot two. She was only five foot one.

""ello?" Tom answered.

"Tom, we're 'ere. Come let us in, please," I said as I began walking towards the small venue.

"Yeah yeah, I'll met yeh an' yeh friends out back," he said, and I heard him click the phone off.

"Where is the back door?" I asked, turning to face my friends.

"This way," Alex said, walking in front of me and going towards the left of the building. There was a door there, and I stepped forward to knock when it swung open, Tom stepping out.

I let out a scream, throwing my arms around him. "Tom! It's so good to see yeh!" I exclaimed.

"It's good to see yeh too and all, but uh, I can't breathe..." He gasped, trying to pry himself free of my arms.

"Oh, sorry," I mumbled, embarrassed, and let go.

"C'mon, all the guys can't wait to see yeh!" Tom grinned, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the building. Loud music rung in my ears, making it impossible to hear anything else Tom said.

I could feel anxiety stirring in my stomach. I wasn’t ready to see Oliver. When I ended it, it was Sierra doing all the talking. As much as I had meant it, I was still scared. Oliver was like a drug, and I was the addict. Seeing him again was just going to bring back the cravings I had ignored for so long.

Tom pulled me into a room, releasing my hand. "Guys! Look who I found!" He shouted, his voice a little tough to hear over the pulsating music coming from the other room. Before I knew it, someone was on my back, almost sending me crashing to the ground. Without even looking I knew it was Curtis.

"Sorry, love. I forgot to do that to yeh earlier," he grinned, getting off before I collapsed.

As soon as he was off, a pair of somewhat inked arms wrapped around me, lifting me from the ground and spinning me around.

"Matt!" I shrieked, giving him a small kiss on the cheek as he finally set me down.

"Didn’t know yeh missed meh so much, love," he laughed, ruffling my hair. "Hey, who are they?"

I turned to see him pointing at Alex and Ella, who I had completely forgotten were there. "My friends! Alex, Ella, these are Tom, Matt, Matt, yeh already met Curtis and Lee, and..." I paused, realizing Oli wasn’t here. "Where's Oli?"

"He uh... He ain't here right now. He's off with some bird," Lee explained, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "But don’t worry, he'll be 'ere... Eventually..."

"Oh, okay..." I turned back to my American friends. "So yeah. 'ere are the boys with British accents yeh 'ave been dyin' to meet."

Alex leaned over, whispering in my ear, "Holy shit, you have hot friends." I laughed, playfully slapping him in the arm. "Well it's true!" I rolled my eyes, turning to the band. My eyes landed on the other Matt- I hadn't said hi to him!

"Kean! I didn't say 'ello to yeh!" I shouted, running over to him and giving him a big hug.

"It's great to see yeh again, Shi," Matt smiled. He kissed the top of my head, then pinched my cheek, just to annoy me.

I slapped his hand away, sticking my tongue out at him. "So what time do yeh guys go on?"

"Uh, 'bout thirty minutes or so," Curtis said, checking the clock on the wall.

I gave a small nod. "How long is yeh set?"

"An hour, I guess," Matt K. shrugged.

"Afterwards, we're 'aving a party. Yeh gonna come?" Tom asked, expecting the normal no. I never liked going out and partying and getting drunk all that much. I did it occasionally, but only when the guys really wanted me to.

"Sounds like a plan. I'm ready to get drunk." Ella and Alex stared at me, horrified. I had never been drunk around them before. But I wanted to get drunk. I wanted to let go.

Most importantly, I didn’t want to remember seeing Oliver.