Last Ones Standing

Prologue - 2019

It had been six months and four days since they had left Corbin – not that Zackary had been counting the days. How pathetic would that be? Anyway, it had been a great few months; the band was starting to kick off now, the disguise was working, and everyone seemed happier than ever. Except for Elektra and Rosa-Lee, the only girls in the band. Zackary didn't understand why, though, because the other boy had constantly reminded them that he comes to them soon – and Corbin would never lie, right?

Currently, Zackary was living with Nigel Hopkins – his legal guardian for the next two years while they waited for him to be a legal adult – and his dog Richie, whom Nigel had gotten him as a welcome present. Nigel followed the band on tour most of the time, and Richie was quite a lazy dog who didn't need much exercise, so he was content to stay on the tour bus and get a walk every two days; the situation was great. Zackary didn't think about Corbin.

They're currently touring America in a way to promote their debut album, though they probably didn't need to because Elektra and William's father had already promoted them enough. Their father was one of the most successful male artists of the decade, 'Z-Frame', and for the first six months of being in the spotlight, the band had been his opening act on his tour.

After that, time flew by very quickly and they had somehow gotten a record deal and were doing their tour, all in nine months. Their logic was if they weren't in the same place for more than three weeks, they were safe and could hide from Corbin's captor.  They were halfway through their debut tour of America, resting in Zackary and Nigel's joint hotel room. It was one of the days where there were no interviews or public outings scheduled, and the only thing that the band had to do was perform that night, so everyone was completely at ease.

Nigel was sitting on his bed with Richie curled up in his lap, the small dog was sleeping soundly, so if Nigel moved then he would wake the tiny ball of curls. Elektra and William were sat on Zackary's bed with Elektra's daughter – Leilani – as the two-year-old girl babbled and played with her mother's eyebrow piercing and laughed at the funny faces that William was making. Zackary was watching his friends with an amused smile from where he was leaning against the windowsill, meanwhile, Rosa-Lee was leaning against the wall – even though there was a small sofa right next to her – while she texted someone.

"I wish we had more days like this, you know?" William sighed loudly, and numerous noises of agreement sounded from the others in the room. As he sighed contentedly Zackary wandered over to the end of Nigel's bed and sat himself down, laughing when Richie climbed off Nigel's lap and curled up next to Zackary. Nigel scoffed in annoyance, but he didn't try to get the dog back. "It feels weird without Corbin here..." William blurted out, and everyone immediately went to Zackary, before going back to William, then back again; Zackary let out a sigh of annoyance at everyone's caution.

"It's fine, guys. I know that he's coming back soon, you don't have to be all cautious around me." At Zackary's words, Elektra and Rosa-Lee shared a strange look that only lasted half a second, so Zackary didn't notice it. Meanwhile, Nigel saw the strange look that the girls had exchanged and gave Elektra a confused look, but she signaled that she would tell him later so he brought his attention back to Zackary. "What?" the boy asked warily, "Why are you guys being so quiet? Corbin told me that he would be back soon, I'm sure he'll be fine." Rosa-Lee turned back to her phone with her bottom lip in her mouth, trying to avoid having this conversation so soon after the incident. Nobody said anything and the tension in the room was making it hard to breathe.

Thankfully the silence was disturbed by everyone's phones going off – startling Richie from his sleep – because of a text from the band's manager and the sixth member of their clique growing up (if you could technically still count Corbin as part of their clique) had texted the band group chat.

Would all band members please come to my office at 1:15?

Robyn was sitting in his office, feet on his desk and leaning back on his office chair when they were allowed in. The car magazine he was tiredly flipping through was quickly thrown behind him and he sat up straight as soon as the door opened. He dismissed the secretary that had brought the band members with a flick of his hand before he beckoned for them to sit on the couch in front of his desk.

"Now, you guys can drink whatever you want," he says, pointing to the table full of beverages in the corner, "I just have to talk to Zackary outside for a second." Zackary felt the others' eyes glued on him, but he still hesitantly stands up from his place next to William and followed Robyn out and into the corridor. Why did he want to talk privately instead of talking with the others? Zackary wondered as Robyn held the door open. The hallway was quiet and empty, the only noise being the muffled chatter coming from the other offices in the building and the pounding of the rain that had started once they had left the hotel.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Zackary asked finally, and Robyn sighs deeply, confusing him even more. Out of habit, he started picking at his yellow-painted nails nervously when the older boy doesn't respond immediately because what if he was angry? Dread pools in his stomach at the thought of accidentally messing something up in an interview or concert and making things harder for the band without even realising his mistake. Zackary knew that picking at his nails always annoyed Corbin and so he immediately dropped his hands so his side.

"It's these," Robyn muttered as he took Zackary's hands in his own and kept his gaze fixed on his nails, "Now that the band is getting popular you can't keep painting them, and if you do then it can't be like this...all yellow. At best you could paint them black because it matches the type of band you are, but even then, you can't paint them as often as you do right now." Zackary's throat closed up at his manager's words and felt tears sting his eyes, but he just nodded and pulled his hands away from Robyn's. He wouldn't cry over something as small as his nails, so he simply nodded curtly and walked back into the office, missing the satisfied smile that was plastered on Robyn's face.

Rosa-Lee must have noticed the sudden change in Zackary's mood because she looked up at him from the couch and mouthed "You okay?" when she noticed him biting his lip and trying to stop his sniffling. He nodded and hesitantly sat down again next to William gain, decidedly ignoring the concerned look that the others were giving him as he did so. Robyn sat down looking smug when he saw the others' expressions, leaning his elbows on his ebony desk before he spoke again.

"Okay, so let the meeting begin..."