Rocker's Rivalry

Chapter 19

Hours had passed, and dark was beginning to settle outside as the night drinkers emerged from their homes and began prowling their streets. Both Hayden and the band were still holed up inside their studio, Hayden still being unable to help and instead cast to the side of the studio to wallow in his own pity. The band, meanwhile, had been practising and experimenting with different sounds all day, and they still couldn't come to a conclusion, stuck on what the perfect sound should be.

It was after these long hours and several failed attempts of creating a coherent sound that Astrid let out a heavy sigh of defeat. She stood up from her seat, almost throwing her guitar from her lap and packing the instrument quickly back into her bag.

"Who wants to go for a drink? I know I sure could use one!" Astrid announced as she threw her backpack over her shoulder and adjusted it onto her back.

Her movements out of her chair were the first large actions anyone had taken for a good few hours, and so her sudden energy shocked the members. Jack looked over to her with a confused expression blanketing his features, his brow furrowed deeply from the sudden burst of energy erupting from the leader. Astrid smiled, trying to boost morale, and looked at the members to gauge their reactions. She was unsure whether they would want to join her at the bar, but she still wanted to try and put the offer out in case it was taken up by anyone.

"Sure, I could use one. Hayden, you wanna join?" Jack asked, looking over to the musician who was packing up his things as well.

Hayden hesitated for a moment, meeting Astrid's eye as he mulled over the decision. He wasn't excited by the idea of spending the evening in Astrid's company, but it was either that or spending the evening drinking alone in his apartment. Despite his hatred of her, he wasn't going to pass up the invitation.

"Sure, if it's okay with you guys that I tag along?" Hayden replied hesitantly, almost pleading with his words. His eyes searched for any disagreement with the members, but they all seemed happy with his company. However, he noticed some hesitation from Rachael as she whispered something into her brother's ear. He couldn't be sure of what was said, but it was clear that their plans had mysteriously changed upon Hayden's accepted invitation.

"Wish me and my brother could join you." Rachael suddenly spoke up, placing a firm hand on her brother's shoulder and squeezing him slightly. "But Taine and I have got to visit my parents tonight. A big family dinner, or whatever." Rachael shrugged nonchalantly, as though the appointment couldn't be changed, and they were so upset for missing the bar crawl Jack, Astrid, and Hayden were about to venture out on.

"What are you talking about? No, we--" Taine was instantly cut off in his words by Rachael's firm hand on his shoulder. In a single, unblinking instant, Taine cried out in pain from Rachael's hand. he almost fell to the ground from her actions, but he remained stood and only crumbled slightly beneath her grip. "Oh, you're right." Taine managed to sputter out. "Yeah, we do have a family engagement. Sorry, we can't really postpone this one."

Upon his words and understanding of what Rachael had planned, she let her brother go and slowly patted his shoulder. Taine quickly reached up his hand to soothe the area where she had abused him.

"Really?" Jack asked sceptically, whilst Astrid rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. However, Hayden saw nothing wrong with the whole scenario and the battling sequence between the twins.

He was not to know any the wiser.

"All of a sudden? Why didn't you mention this earlier, Rachael?" Astrid asked, coming to stand beside Jack with her arms still folded across her chest.

"I just got the message from my mother, I had forgotten about it until now." Rachael shrugged, answering quickly as though she had already scripted out this entire conversation.