Milestones: Commitment

"So how long are you going to be in the studio today?" Michelle asked Brian as he pulled his shoes on. He was just about to leave.

"Few hours, I think. I have to make a few finishing touches on a solo for one of the tracks. Zack wanted me to help him work out a few riffs, and after that I'll probably stick around, maybe start laying down another track or something," Brian explained, standing from the couch. He took the few strides across the living room to where Michelle was stood against the doorway, placing a kiss on her lips.

"Love you," she said quietly, smiling up at him.

"Love you, too. I'll see you later." And with that, Brian patted Ozzy's head before heading down the stairs, the sound of the front door closing quickly following him. And as Brian got into his car he smiled to himself, knowing Michelle had bought his story. If only she knew what he was really up to. Brian knew she'd just about die.

It only took a few minutes' drive through the Huntington streets until Brian was pulling into the driveway of a rather familiar house. He just hoped that who he'd come to see was home...

After lounging around the apartment with Ozzy that morning, Michelle decided that, despite the fact that Brian had left only half an hour prior, she would stop down to the studio and pay him and the rest of the guys a visit. Maybe Val would be there as well. Throughout the overwhelming trial of the miscarriage, Michelle hadn't seen anyone but Brian in an awfully long time. It'd be nice to see them again. That and she really wanted to see how this recording process went down.

So after throwing on jeans and a top and pulling her hair back, Michelle decided that was exactly what she would do. She chained Ozzy up to the lead in the yard and got into her car. Brian had told her the whereabouts of the small recording studio before, and so ishe had no trouble finding it. But when she didn't see Brian's car parked outside the building she felt a little confused. She headed inside anyway, only to be met with Zack just as he was on his way out. He smiled when he saw her.

"Hey, haven't seen you around in awhile," he mused, pulling her into a hug. "How've you been?"

"I'm doing good. Where you off to?" Michelle asked, stepping back a bit.

"Going out to have a smoke," Zack answered, pulling a pack out of his pocket. "So what brings you here? I thought Brian wasn't supposed to record today."

Hearing this, Michelle's smile faltered. "What do you mean, he's not recording today? He told me he was coming in for a few hours."

"No, today he was going to--" Zack started to say, but then cut himself short.

"Going to what?" Michelle pressed.

"Err...I'm not supposed to say anything."

"Zack--"

"Okay I'm only going to tell you that he had something important to do, and that it's not what you think," Zack said, sighing internally in relief at his close save. He couldn't believe he had almost told Michelle of Brian's secret.

"That really doesn't make me feel any better about the situation, considering he's hiding something from me now..." Michelle sighed. "Is my sister here?"

"Yeah, just go down the hall and take the second door on the right. I'll be in, in a few minutes," Zack informed, and Michelle nodded as he headed outside. Her mind was reeling as she thought of all the possibly things Brian could have been up to. And each scenario seemed to be worse than the one before it.

Entering the room Zack had told her to, she saw her sister and Matt lounging on a small couch, quietly looking at a magazine, and a guy she didn't recognize sitting in a chair adjacent to them, a bass guitar in his lap. Looking up, Val did a double take before grinning widely.

"Hey!" she said, jumping up and engulfing her sister in a hug. "It's good to see you. You were M.I.A. for quite some time there..." Val said, holding Michelle out at arm's length. "Where's Brian?" she asked, then realizing Michelle was alone.

"I dunno, you tell me," Michelle replied rhetorically, sitting down in the only other empty chair in the room.

"Oh, by the way...Michelle, this is Johnny, the new bassist for the band," Val explained, pointing to the guy...boy...Michelle hadn't recognized. She offered him a small wave when he looked up, and he nodded in return.

"...How old are you?" Michelle then asked, knowing just from the looks of Johnny that he couldn't have been older than twenty.

"Eighteen..." Johnny muttered, and Michelle's eyes widened. He was younger than she was expecting -- though she was only two years older than him It just seemed like so long ago that she was eighteen.

Nodding to herself as things began to grow quieter in the room, Michelle couldn't help but wonder what exactly Brian was up to that he wouldn't tell her about. And then she wondered if she should even confront him about it because if there was something bad going on, she wasn't sure she really wanted to know what it was.

Having left the house he'd visited, feeling very satisfied with what had gone down, Brian drove his way further into town. He couldn't keep the smile off his lips, but at the same time he couldn't feel any more nervous if his life depended on it. What he was trying to d was big...bigger than big, it was huge. And he knew it had to be perfect, or else it might end in disaster, and that was the last thing he wanted.

Parking the car in a lot behind a row of buildings, Brian made his way toward the one he'd been looking for. Reading the sign of the name above the entrance to the building, he smiled, ready to head in. He knew exactly what he was looking for....