MASQUERADE - Bad Omens

Leaving - 3

"Let it go my dear,
Your heart doesn't deserve all this pain" - M

The morning came just as quickly as it left. The sun shining through the windows, the smell of coffee and breakfast waking up the guys. Eggs, Bacon, waffles, fresh fruit. The coffee.

Echo was always the first one awake after the pizza nights, she had never been able to sleep well but even when she did she was always up with the sun.
Pizza night tradition, whoever's house everyone stayed at, they have to make the breakfast.

Echos house, she makes the breakfast, it's tradition to them. All of the guys were slowly waking up to the smell of the food and and warmth of the sun through the windows. It was nice to feel the sun, especially during the colder days.

Soon everyone was up, making themselves a cup of coffee and putting the hot food onto their plates and sitting around the table. It was quite because everyone was still tire but it was a comfortable quiet. The kind of quiet where you know everything is content and calm.

Soon the guys were cleaning the kitchen while Echo put away the left over food. That was also apart of the tradition, whoever made breakfast got to relax while the rest cleaned. Even though Echo always insisted on helping as well.

After everything was cleaned the guys would start changing out of their pajamas and into their clothes for the day. Everyone had clothes at each other's houses, it always made things easier especially after a party or pizza night.

"We'll see you soon echo, don't you dare forget about FaceTime pizza night" Folio said as he gave her a hug. Echo and folio were the closets, maybe because they were closest in age, only being 6 months apart, or maybe because he was the one that could always make her laugh even when she didn't want to. They were best friends. Siblings in a since.

"You know I won't, how could I have pizza nigh without you nerds" she laughed. She was a bit sad not being able to see her friends for a while, but it was work and she understood that. "You better have some fun while we're gone, get out of the house at least" Jolly said as he hugged her next. "Yeah, maybe go to a party" Nick said as he finished his coffee and hugged her.

"A party without us, damn you want her to have all the fun without us" Noah laugh as he hugged her last. "Oh you already know y'all are gonna have so many party's on tour, so y'all don't have to much fun without me" She laughed as she held her front door open for them. "We would never" Noah and Folio said in unison.

As the guys said their final goodbyes, Echo closed the door,  her house back in its normal silence. A silence she couldn't stand because her thoughts were so loud. She tried to bust her mind by cleaning up the living room, Putting each pillow and blanket back into its designated spot.

•9 blankets on the latter rack.
•4 throw pillows on the long couch.
•1 throw pillow on the recliner.
•5 pillows in the guest room.
•2 blankets in the guest room.
•2 blankets in Echos room.
•3 pillows in Echos room.
• Light candles in Living Room
•Tidy up the Office
•Don't listen to the thoughts in her mind.

That was how she cleaned after every pizza night. Especially focused on the last point in the list. Every time she was alone her mind would go to that dark place. A place she hated. So she walked to her office and sat down at her desk to work so she could distract her mind.

• Open Computer.
• Play the new Album for ideas.
• Work.
• Finish the designs for Bad Omens.
• Finish designs for Masquerade.
• Work on a new song.

She had a notebook full of song ideas, She always found it was easier to put the words on paper instead of on the computer. Maybe it was the feeling of pen in her hand, or the paper against her skin, but that's what always calmed her. Especially when her mind was running rampant at the memories.

BAD OMENS POV:

The guys had all gone to their houses to pack their bags, they all had to be up at 3:30am to meet together at the tour bus. The start of the tour always made them anxious, especially Noah. He was the kind to overthink everything.

"Do we have the sound equipment, the back up mics, the merchandise, will Sarah the merch girl be on time when we leave, she's always late. Should they practice one more time before they leave, is the set list perfect?"  His mind always raced with all the questions.

All these thoughts going through his head made him overthink. Normally he would go to Echo to help ease his mind, she could always make him calm down. Maybe because she knew all these techniques to help with anxiety but she never seemed anxious so he didn't know why.

He knew she never showed when she was anxious and he wanted to learn how she did it. Maybe it was the pain she always hid and never talked about. Or maybe it was something else entirely.

Noah thought about calling everyone to make sure they were packed and had everything they needed. Normally the pizza nights were at lest a few days before they left for tour, meaning Echo would always go to their houses and help them pack, but this time pizza night fell two days before they left.

Making Noah freak out a bit more. He was nervous and anxious just like every time they left before a tour, but this time it was worse because Echo wasn't there to help with the preparations before hand.

His sleep that night was restless, just like all the guys. Noah was up at 2:30, his bags in his car. The drive was only about 20 minutes, but he liked to be early to check everything, put his luggage away and fix his bunk on the bus and make sure everyone got there.

The guys were right on time. 3:30 Am just as planned, but Sarah on the other hand was late, as usual. "It's 3:45, we were supposed to leave 15 minutes ago, where the hell is Sarah!" Noah said sounding frustrated and pissed off. "Go ahead and call her, see what's taking so long" Jolly said as they all sat restless around the lounge area of the bus.

Noah did, he called her and he did not like what he Hurd. Sarah was pregnant and her boyfriend didn't want her to go anymore. "Noah I'm sorry but Josh doesn't want me to go, I was going to tell you a few days sooner but I just didn't know how to."  Sarah said into the phone sounding tired and upset.

"It's not his fucking decision Sarah! This is your job, if he can't handle that and you just follow whatever he says then don't bother coming back!" Noah was pissed, he thought it was a stupid reason, he was angry. Who wouldn't be, she bailed the morning they were supposed to leave for their biggest tour yet and now they had no Merch girl.

"Noah I'm sorry, but I can't" Sarah said sounding emotionless like she didn't even care she just stabbed them in the back. She was about to say something else but Noah just hung up the phone and slammed it on the table.

"What the hell are we supposed to do now! We were supposed to leave 20 minutes ago! And now we're screwed, we have no one!" Noah exclaimed sounding angry and stressed, to the point he had tears in his eyes.

"Why don't we call Echo, she designed the merch and we would all be together?" Folio suggested as he tried to help ease the situation. "That's actually a good idea" Nick pointed out. "I'll call her, just take a breather Noah." Jolly said as he pulled out his phone and clicked her name to call her.

"What happened?" Echo said with sleep lacing her voice. "Sarah bailed, we need a merch girl and we're already late for leaving." Jolly explained. "Give me 20 minutes, see y'all soon" Echo said into the phone then hung up. The relief on everyone's face was visible.

20 minutes later the bus was in front of her house, she walked out still looking half asleep they weren't even sure if she understood what they had said. They put her suitcase on the bus and she put her other bag in the bottom bunk that Sarah would normally stay in.

"Thank you." Noah said as he hugged her.