and the stars will all come out

chapter thirty-five! ☆

THE NEXT DAY, the first thing Dave did was write "THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE" in humongous letters on the top of the wall-length whiteboard Adam had purchased.

"We've got the album title, then? Sounds like it's getting pretty serious," Nate said from beside him.

The conversation from last night was still weighing heavy on his mind. Ever since Landry had said that - six simple little words, he was surprised it hadn't come sooner - it was like something had slotted into place, and he immediately knew that was the album title. He still didn't know what the album cover was going to look like, or the tracklist, or if the basement was even going to be designated as an official recording studio, but at least he had that, and it made him swell with pride.

So...yeah. Yeah, it is getting pretty serious.

"Lani came up with it," he said as he capped the marker. "Last night, when we were on the porch for a smoke. I was all like, 'I don't really know what this title should be', and I was worried that all of my ideas were gonna be too long, and then there she goes, she just blurts it out. She's fucking brilliant."

Nate smiled. "At this rate, she's gonna be the fourth Foo Fighter."

A warmth rose in his chest. She'd never agree to that, not in a million years, but in some capacity, she already was, wasn't she?

"I would never want to thrust her into that kind of position. It would be kind of intense."

He had no idea if Nate was thinking back to the Colour and the Shape recording sessions, and William having to do ninety-six takes of a song, but if he was, he didn't say anything.

Dave immediately cringed. That hadn't been the best moment in the band's history.

"So what's the plan for today, D?" Taylor said cheerfully, coming downstairs with mugs of coffee for each of them, thankfully distracting Dave from ruminating about that. 

He handed the mugs of coffee to Dave and Nate and looked at the whiteboard. "There is nothing left to lose?"

"Album title," Nate filled him in. "Lani came up with it last night."

"Ah, nice," Taylor said agreeably. "Why do you guys keep calling her Lani, by the way?"

Dave smiled, thinking back to the Nashville hotel room. "Her friends call her Lani."

"Lani," Taylor repeated, nodding. "Okay. I get it. That makes more sense now."

There was a beat of silence.

He gave Dave a look, and with some kind of awkward hand gesture he didn't understand, he said, "Are - are you guys...friends?"

Watching him fumble around for a way to phrase the question he wanted to ask without actually asking it, Dave took an unbothered sip of his coffee. "We're cool."

And that was the end of that.

☆

LANDRY AND DAVE WERE VERY...COOL.

Somewhere along the way between their first kiss and their first date, there had been an unspoken agreement.

Adam was twiddling the buttons on the soundboard and Dave was watching him intently - anything he could do to check off tasks on the whiteboard, after all - when Landry returned from upstairs and gave him a look. To the untrained eye, it was just like any regular way she would've looked at him, but Dave saw the smallest raise of her eyebrow, and he immediately knew what she wanted.

The look was gone in half a second, and without saying a word, she disappeared into the bathroom.

Dave twisted in his rolling chair. Taylor and Nate were deep in conversation on the couch, and Adam was locked in his own little world, trying to figure out the soundboard.