Ray of Sunshine

Two weeks had passed since that day at the beach house. Dylan and Sam had continued playing Destiny together online during any spare time they had that Dylan wasn’t spending with his girlfriend Anna. Matty and Nikki weren’t very big on the writing process, so they spent as much time together as they could, because once it came time to record, they knew they were both going to be busy since both bands were currently working on new albums now that they were off the road. James and Lauren spent their days exchanging lyrics and recording the melodies a cappella at the studio so they could use these recordings to begin planning the instrumental parts. They’d managed to complete four songs so far, and they were almost finished with two others, which was quite exciting considering their first album took about five days per song to complete. But they were getting used to the process now, and their songwriting abilities were maturing as well. They decided to take the weekend off to relax since this album was coming together so nicely.
Lauren and Nikki slept until noon on Friday. How long had it been since they’d gotten to do that? Months? It felt more like years. Lauren didn’t even bother brushing her hair before stepping out onto the balcony of the apartment they shared. It was a beautiful day. She leaned against the railing, and took a deep breath in. Man, it felt good to relax. She sat in one of the wicker chairs, and reached into the small end table beside her to grab a pen and a notebook. For a while she simply stared into space, until she was startled by Nikki joining her.
“How did I know I’d find you out here exactly like this?” Nikki teased her friend.
Lauren smiled. “You’re psychic?” she joked.
Nikki laughed at this. “I wish.”
Lauren raised a brow. “I’m guessing you haven’t heard from Matty yet?”
Nikki glanced at her phone, hitting the power button just to see if maybe she’d missed a message. Her lock screen contained no notifications, however. Just her favorite picture of Matty and herself. “No,” she answered with a sigh. She looked over at her friend. “Then again, we’ve actually gotten to hang out a few times the last couple weeks. I can’t complain.” She sat in the other chair and grinned at her friend. “You and Johnny, on the other hand, must be having withdrawals right about now.”
Lauren stared at her friend. “Excuse me?”
Nikki smiled, knowing she was right, at least on Lauren’s part. “Matty tells me that when Johnny finally gets home, he’s practically glued to his phone. Apparently he almost burned a pizza he was cooking a few nights ago, because you two were texting back and forth, and he got so preoccupied with that, that Matty says he didn’t even realize the oven timer had gone off until Matty had already gotten the pizza out and cut it himself.” She smirked at her friend, who had burst out laughing at this information. “So uh, what exactly IS going on there?”
Lauren held up a finger, trying to stop laughing. “Nothing,” she finally said.
Nikki raised both eyebrows. “Seriously? You know I see right through that baloney right?”
“Yeah, but see my baloney has a first name. It’s O-S-C-A-R,” she responded, barely able to control her laughter at this point.
Nikki rolled her eyes. “Only you, Lauren. You know I’m over here dying to know details, and you’re over there making jokes.”
Lauren smiled. “Sorry. I’m just kinda leery of talking about it just yet.”
“Why?” Nikki asked, frowning. “Girl, he’s clearly into you. Matty says he’s got it pretty bad. And I know that’s mutual, so what’s the prob- Oh,” she stopped, suddenly realizing exactly why her friend was being so cautious. “Come on, Lauren. We both know you’re a lot stronger than you used to be. It’s been three years. It’s time. I’m pretty sure if Johnny were here, he’d agree with me.”
Lauren opened her mouth to argue, but suddenly her phone started ringing, and the ringtone that was playing, “Lion”, meant it was Johnny calling. She quickly answered. “Hey Ragan.”
She could almost hear him smile through the phone. “Hey yourself. How’s your day going?”
“Good,” she answered, rolling her eyes at Nikki, who was paying the utmost attention to her side of the conversation. “And you?”
“Can’t complain,” he answered. “However, I am curious as to your plans for the weekend.”
“Well,” she paused, sure that Nikki might squeal if she could hear what he had just said, “actually, we’re taking the weekend off since the album is coming together so well.” She shot Nikki a hard stare, not sure if Johnny had heard her friend squeak from excitement.
She got her answer when he chuckled and said, “You might as well put me on speaker.”
She did so, rolling her eyes as she did so. “Say hey, Nikki,” she addressed her confused friend.
Nikki laughed. “Hey Johnny,” she greeted him.
“Hi Nikki,” he returned. “Lauren tells me you two have the weekend off. I’m sure Matty will be very happy to hear this. I know I am.”
Nikki winked at Lauren and responded, “I’m sure you are.”
Johnny chuckled. “Hey Matty, you might wanna call your girlfriend. She’s got the weekend off and she’s very bored.”
They heard Matty laughing in the background. “Just put me on speaker,’ he said to Johnny. A moment later, they heard Matty more clearly. “Nikki?
“Yeah?” she answered.
“Are you having as much fun with this as I am?” he asked.
“Oh you bet I am,” she answered, grinning at Lauren. “We should get them together sometime.”
“We should! Hey, you know, I bet they’re both free tonight. You think they’d like to go catch a movie?” Matty was having way too much fun with this.
“Dude,” Johnny finally spoke up. “Here, have a donut or something, but put something in your mouth before I put my fist in it.”
Matty was laughing uncontrollably now. “Ok, ok. Nikki, I’m gonna call your phone. Let’s leave them alone. Clearly they have this under control.”
Nikki shook her head and laughed. “Right on,” she replied, getting up and leaving the balcony.
Lauren took her phone off speaker. “Why do I get the feeling you’ve been picked on here lately too?”
Johnny laughed. “They mean well. Actually, what ARE you doing tonight?”
“Whatever you wanna do, Ragan,” she humored him.
“Well, I had an idea, but I kinda want it to be a surprise. I think you’ll love it,” he told her.
“I’m in,” she replied. “Where and when?”
“Here at the house. Say, around 5ish?”
“I’ll be there,” she said with a smile.
“I’ll be waiting,” he replied.

Lauren and Nikki left their apartment at 4:30, knowing the drive might take a little longer with Friday traffic. Sure enough, they arrived at five minutes after. Not too bad.
Matty and Johnny came out the front door upon hearing them drive up.
“I’m guessing traffic was bad,” Matty said as he walked up to Nikki and opened his arms to hug her.
“It wasn’t too bad,” she answered, hugging him back. “You look nice,” she said. He had actually dressed up a bit for once, wearing jeans and a white button up shirt.
“So do you,” he complimented her. He had texted her earlier that they were going out, so she had chosen a pair of embellished jean capris and a cute sleeveless pink blouse. She had even straightened her hair. “You ready to go?”
She nodded and hugged Lauren. “Have fun!” she told her friend as she stepped into Matty’s black Accord.
Johnny smiled at Lauren as they drove away. “You look very nice yourself,” he told her. She had chosen dark jeans and a black crew neck top. He himself was in faded jeans and a white tank. “We’re like night and day,” he remarked, amused.
Lauren smiled. “So, what’s this surprise you mentioned?”
He grinned, and took her hand, but said nothing, and led her around to the patio. She gasped. He had moved the table, spread a huge black blanket on the ground, and placed his laptop, two notebooks, and two packs of pens across the end facing the ocean.
“The Zone,” she breathed. “You actually set up The Zone. Outdoors. With an ocean view.”
He smiled, pleased that this clearly made her happy. “You like it?”
She turned and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. He wrapped his arms around her and laid his head atop hers. “Well that answers that question,” he said with a chuckle.
She pulled back slightly and smiled. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“Well that’s only part of the surprise,” he informed her. “I was wondering if you’d be interested in writing a song together.”
Her jaw dropped. “Really?”
Johnny couldn’t help but laugh. “Really.”
She hugged him again. “Thanks Ragan.”
He held her close and said, “You’re welcome.”
A couple minutes passed before they separated to sit together in The Zone. “So what should we write about?” Johnny asked.
“Good question,” she replied. She paused for a moment and looked over at him with a grin. “Ok Ragan, you wanted The Zone, you’re about to get VIP access. You ready?”
“If you are,” he answered happily.
She opened the laptop and found his music, and put Hollywood Undead on shuffle. She smiled when “Believe” was the first song to come on. She opened a notebook, handed him the other, and got them each a pen from one of the packs. “Let’s get started then.”