Two and Three

No One Remembers the Band

Suddenly everything felt emptier, like someone had taken a rusted kitchen knife and hacked out a portion of their souls. If they thought it was cold before, it only got colder as they realized that none of them had a high probability of making it out alive. Time passed and the room just seemed to get colder along with the body. There came a point when Ian thought he could see his breath clouding in front of his mouth, but when he checked again, nothing happened.

The three of them cried until their eyes were raw and dry. They were already dehydrated enough as it was, anymore crying would have killed them anyway.

They never thought this would happen. Deep down they always believed that they would find a way out, and if they didn't find a way out, someone on the outside would put the clues together and find a way out for them -- preferably with wailing sirens and a police shoot down that would kill any chance of this happening to anyone else ever again.

But no, that didn't happen and there wasn't much chance that it would. From that moment on, the three of them just sat with hollow eyes, waiting for the end to come. Tony was silently making his peace; Ian could see it on his face. The third bass drummer was coming to terms with the fact that if things went on the way they were going, he would be the next one hallucinating the home field and croaking to the sky.

Lisha didn't say anything, in fact she didn't move. She  just sat curled up in the corner, waiting for the end to come. Maybe if she was patient enough, maybe if she didn't complain and looked stronger than she felt, Hermes would come and deliver the news that she'd die too.

And Ian, well he didn't know what to think of himself. Michael's words kept echoing back to him every time his mind strayed. Take care of them! He yelled as the girl hauled him off at gunpoint.

Ian had secretly vowed that he would, and now Abbie was dead. What kind of friend was he, if he couldn't even keep her alive long enough to give Mike a chance at goodbye?

They were going to die and what did they have to show for their lives? Maybe a short school memorial and a bunch of sobbing parents, but after a while people would forget about them like everyone forgets about people like them. Maybe if they were the star athletes or parts of the cheer squad, people would know better than to forget that they even existed, because face it, no one remembers the band.

People danced to the drumline when the occasion called, they covered their ears when the wind players walked past, and the guard? What even is guard? What's the point of those flags, and rifles, and sabres, they're not even real. What do they do? Oh they spin stuff? Isn't that what the dance squad is for? They're just the people who couldn't make it onto the cheer team.

The truth was, as loud as they were, they were only background noise in the drum of society. They were part of a dying race that no one cared about and if they died, the only headline they'd get would be an obituary out of pity and nothing else. Some people were cruel and kidnapped kids for their own amusement, but at least they had the gumption to be up front about it. Others were cruel, but they didn't have the guts to show it. They'd hide behind of wall of fake tears and memorial posters to deal with the fact that a.) They didn't really know them and b.) They didn't really care.

"I'm sorry," Tony blurted out of nowhere.

Ian looked up. "For what?"

"Being annoying, getting drunk, being a burden, forgetting my sets, take your pick," he sighed and leaned his head onto his shoulder. "You guys are like family to me, you know, I just...wanted to make sure you knew. There were so many times when you could have just dumped me at a corner and forgotten about me, and you didn't and....I guess I never got to thank you for that."

Lisha and Ian shared a look, bruised face to black eyes. "We would have helped you rob a bank if you got into college debt...you know that right?" Lisha asked quietly. "You're family to us too. If you got arrested for drunk driving, we'd get some powdered sugar in an air sealed bag and get arrested right along with you."

"My mom knows a great lawyer," Ian added.

Tony cracked a small smile. "Thanks guys....that means a lot."

"Hey, anything for a battery member. If one of you is gone, our sound is just wrong," Ian dropped his head onto his knees which were still pulled up to his chest.

Lisha looked up at the two them thoughtfully. "Thanks guys, for making my life interesting. I don't know if I would have been happier if you two weren't around, but at least I can say that no day was boring."

"You could fire me as a friend if I ever made your life boring," Tony said. "I don't do boring."

"No you don't," she agreed, Ian nodded. Well at least there was that. If no one else would remember them, they would at least remember each other. Elementary school  breeds the bestest friends anyone can ever have. When you're that young, someone's either your best friend or they're not, and that's what triggers whether you'll die for a person in the end. Elementary school breeds friends and marching band breeds family.

And family doesn't let family kill each other.

"All four of you are the best things that ever happened to me," Ian said and looked them in the eyes. "I can pain in the àss, I know, and I'm sorry for that, but, know that I only do things like that to people I care about. Annoying is a reaction, not a trait.... And I wished I could have seen how all of us would have managed the college years. It would have been so cool....we'd have ruled the place, you know, just the five of us and the world."

A/N

So much cute. I want to hug them all. No regrets at all.

#SorryReallyNotSorryAtAll