Take A Breath, Let the Rest Come Easy

Lauren had left for Texas, and the guys were out on their many shows, leaving Grace alone with her work. The only thing she had right now was her work, so she put all of her energy and time into the recording label. She was there most days from 8am to 9pm. She wanted her EP out as soon as possible, and she was also looking at performing local shows around Baltimore. Things were finally looking up in the music industry, and she wanted to prove to her mom she could do this by herself, so she didn’t let Alex or anyone’s actions get in the way of things.

It was a Wednesday afternoon, three days after both the boys and Lauren had left. She was sitting on the floor eating Chinese food at one o’clock in the morning.

“He did not!” Grace laughed loudly into the phone. She was talking to Jack. Jack had recently become one of her only friends.

“Yeah, and then I told Zack she was a transvestite. He was just about to kiss her too.” Grace burst into laughter.

“So where are the rest of the guys?” She asked, taking another bite of her chicken.

“Uhm, Rian’s out with Matt… I’m… here.”

Grace chuckled.

“Zack’s moving amps, and Alex is moping around like a fool. You do realize he’s sorry right?”

“I guess. He hasn’t really called to say so...” Grace rolled her eyes.

“Well, I’ve never seen him so perplexed about a girl.” He said. Grace’s stomach got butterflies, just like it did when she first met Alex.

“Yeah well, we’ll see.” Grace said. “I gotta go Jack, I’m exhausted.” She sighed.

“Alright, yeah… I bet the work is killing you right now.” Jack mused. “It was rough our first EP,
especially for Lex, he lost his voice for like 2 weeks.”

“Oh yeah?” Grace sighed.

“Yup. We’ll I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye, Jack.” Grace hung up.

Alex picked up his guitar and quickly began to write new lyrics down on the paper that sat in front of him. The rest of the guys had gone out for the night and he told him he would catch up with them at the party later. He wasn’t in the mood for drinking, like he had been the two nights before. He began jotting things down.

“Dead, like a candle you burned out- spill the wax over the spaces left in place of angry words…”

He bit his lips until they felt like they were bleeding. He was writing about his brother. He hadn’t
told Grace he had lost someone close to him like she had. And that’s partially the reason he blew up at her in the first place… It was the 2nd anniversary of his death.

“Scream to be heard, like you needed any more attention. Throw the bottle, break the door and disappear”

He growled and pushed the paper to the side and fell back into the hotel bed. He glanced at his phone and debated on calling Grace to apologize. His hands ran through his shaggy hair. He needed a haircut. He decided to get up and go for a walk. His hands pressed deep into his pockets. He could not get Grace off of his mind.

This girl was going to be the death of him.

His mind raced with thoughts, and he just wanted to go back home and pull her into his arms and tell her how sorry he was. His mind flashed back to Tom, his brother who had killed himself. He knew how hard it must have been for Grace to be in that car when the truck came hurtling towards them. It was already hard enough for him to realize his own brother had taken a gun to his head. He shuddered and muttered to himself, “I need a drink.” So he left the hotel and went down to meet the boys at the bar.

About four drinks later he found himself scrolling through his contacts. He came across what he thought was Grace’s number and hit ‘enter’.

Sing me to sleep, I’ll see you in my dreams. Waiting to say, I miss you- I’m so sorry.

He hit send.