Missed By A Mile | ✓

e2 | roots

If Kaia didn't already trust Imani with her life, she would have been a little daunted by how quickly her fondness for the other girl grows tenfold as soon as she thoroughly reads her lyrics for the very first time.

The fact that Imani writes stories about the moon and the stars in her songs doesn't surprise her at all. Kaia's smile widens with every word she reads, the hope shining through the alphabets strung together leaving her chest warm in more ways than one.

Kaia had always thought that Imani was beautiful.

But if she had thought that it was the extent of her adoration, she was devastatingly wrong. Because now that Kaia has gotten a peek inside the artistic side of Imani's mind, she feels like she could burst from the love she feels in this very moment.

It is a little unfair, though, how long she spends doting over Imani's lyricism, because she's well-aware of how Sean and Juni are also equally brilliant. She's a little stumped by the massive difference in their styles—the way Juni's words are often playful and focus on the little joys of life, Sean's words are the exact opposite with their thunderous honesty about the less bright parts, and Imani's words are like the calm waves of the sea—but with a shake of her head, she reminds herself that this is why they all work together so well.

She knows that Layla and Ved often contribute to the writing as well, and are the heads behind the structures of all of their songs, which automatically means that Kaia's work is considerably less with their band than there usually is with other musicians.

That puts her in a spot where her main focus is to figure out how they should bring LM to light in a way that gives way for their friendship to not just breathe, but visibly bloom. Kaia already knows that they'd do well, but there's no way she'll allow 'well' to be the edge of their exposure to the world. They were already doing well. They don't need Abyss for that.

Kaia wants people to see them and immediately know that their bond isn't manufactured. She wants people to see them on camera and know that this is how they are behind it too. She wants people to feel as strongly about them as she does. Right off the bat.

She needs to know their views on this before she can plan anything further, though.

Leaning back on the couch, she stretches her arms above her head and then rolls her head to the side with a wince to get rid of the twinge in her spine. Right when she's wondering if she should throw herself into the bathroom for a quick warm bath to relax her muscles, Bowie grabs her attention with a bark.

She cranes her neck to look at him, only to find him wagging his tail wildly and eagerly shuffling his paws as he stares outside the window.

"Bo?" she calls, but the dog pays her no mind, only letting out another bark. Louder than the one before. Kaia blinks a few times and sets her laptop aside so she can walk over to him. "Whoa, easy boy, who is it?"

Her palms have barely settled on the glass before she looks down, and finds the subject of Bowie's interest talking to the building security guard, looking small from her living room.

Aching body forgotten and a warm smile immediately slipping onto her face at the sight, Kaia pushes herself away from the window to make her way to the bathroom so she can wash away any leftover traces of tiredness off her face.

She's already set the tea kettle on the stove by the time the doorbell rings.

Kaia knows her cheeks are flushed with happiness when she opens the door.

The sight of Imani's shy smile is the first thing that greets her, but before either of them can react further, Bowie barks loudly to announce his own presence, and Kaia opens the door wider with a roll of her eyes to let Imani in, who immediately crouches in front of Bowie with a coo.