More Than a Moment

Three

"-- we already have the songs chosen, some already recorded, and we've written two new ones. The cover art is picked out, and everything is ready to go, we just have to finish recording," Ashton continued explaining to Magnolia after having been interrupted by Luke's sigh.

"Can I get back to you guys?" Magnolia asked, nervously chewing on the inside of her cheek. She's just finishing her freshman year, and if she wants to continue her honors status, she's going to have to do well on her finals. She can't really afford distractions, but would this be a distraction? It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with some really great people.

"Of course! We'll talk with our producer too, and see what he thinks. If you wanna give me your number, I'll get in touch with you." Ashton took out his phone, ready to put Magnolia's information in. "How do you spell 'Magnolia'?"

Before she could begin, Michael cut her off. "Do you go by anything else? You know, just in case I don't want to say your full name every time."

"Uh, yeah. People call me Maggie, Meg, Megs, Noli... you name it, I've been called it. Call me whatever, I'll probably respond," she said, having been through this introduction more times than she can count.

"Okay, Whatever," Michael giggled.

"I didn't know you had a kid!" Magnolia responded with elation.

"What?" Michael laughed out.

"That was the daddest joke I've ever heard," she laughed.

Magnolia gave Ashton her name and number, and they all chatted a little bit.

"Oh! You don't have anyone waiting for you, do you?" Calum asked, suddenly aware of how late is has gotten.

"No, I came by myself," Magnolia chuckled lightly.

"So laaaame," Michael whined jokingly. 

"Sorry 'bout it," Magnolia shrugged. Michael is so fun. She was right to think they'd be greatly compatible in their humor.

"Sorry doesn't cut it. We don't work with lame-os," Michael said matter-of-factly while folding his arms. 

"Then I'm out. You'll have to find someone else." Magnolia started to stand up, but Calum interrupted with a sting at Michael.

"Michael, if that were true, you'd be the first one out of here, Mr. I Don't Go Out Because I'd Rather Play Pokemon." They all laughed, and Magnolia sat back down. 

Before anyone could say anything again, Magnolia wanted to address a more serious matter. "I just, I feel like I shouldn't be here right now, like I shouldn't be infringing upon your band time. It feels wrong to even consider working with you guys cus I don't want to ruin your dynamic with each other." She fiddled with her hands nervously, tugging on her fingers.

"We don't mind having you here. We're enjoying this," Luke said comfortingly. Magnolia looked at Michael quickly to confirm her suspicion that he was mocking Luke with googly eyes. She blushed.

"I know, but as a fan, I just-- your friendship has always been something I've loved about you guys, and I feel like an extra person ruins everything. I know I'm not joining your band, but it just feels weird from my fan perspective. I'd hate to ruin anything for other fans too." Magnolia looked into her lap when she finished so she couldn't see the boys searching for words. 

"I don't think you'd ruin anything..." Luke began, but Michael cut him off with his mocking again. 

"Luke's right," Michael conceded, "we'll still be us, we'll just have another person around sometimes. It's not always just the four of us, you know. We do have other friends." Michael laughed.

Magnolia was struggling with whether to answer emotionally or sarcastically. She felt comforted by their reassurances, but she didn't really know how to say what she actually wants to say. It's just weird. Of course they won't understand because they're not fans. "Yeah, okay. That was dumb. Sorry," she smiled falsely and waited for someone to begin talking about anything else.

"No need to apologize, but since we are probably going to be working together, we should probably get to know each other," Calum offered a much needed subject change.

Magnolia gave a faint smile and nodded. Ashton began by asking Luke a question. "Luke, what did you think of tonight's show?" Magnolia wanted to disappear because she knew his intentions behind the question, but Luke handled it well-- aside from the slight blush.

"I thought it was great. I liked having an extra voice to switch things around." Luke was thinking of a few other things he liked about tonight's show, but he couldn't say them because, well, for a lot of reasons. 

"Now it's Luke's turn to ask a question," Ashton explained. 

"Uh, Magnolia, what is your favorite color?" He kept fidgeting around because he was so uncomfortable with all of the obvious feelings in the room and the fact that everyone knew about them but no one could say anything. 

"My favorite color is kind of hard to explain, so I'm going to go with yellow, not like marker-yellow but a soft, pretty yellow." Magnolia looked around at each boy, deciding who to ask what.

"What do you mean your favorite color is hard to explain?" Michael asked, almost scoffing at her.

"Hey, it's my turn to ask the question." She shut him up. "Time out: can I ask you all a question?"

They shrugged in agreement. 

"Okay, what is your favorite thing about touring?" She questioned each of them, awaiting their answers. 

"I just like performing. I don't care where I am, as long as there is a stage and a guitar, I'm happy," Michael answered simply. Magnolia couldn't help but smile about Michael's genuine love for music. 

"Meeting new people," Ashton started. "Everyone has a different day, which means everyone has a different life, and it's exciting to meet people with such different lives." Magnolia was wowed by Ashton's answer, and she wanted to let him keep talking about it because he got this giddy smile when he did, but Calum began to answer the question for himself.

"I love the food. My mum used to do one meal a week that was from a different culture, so I grew up tasting different foods, but the real deal is so much better. And it reminds me to call my mum." Calum ended bashfully, looking at his hands. 

"I just like the travel-- not the actual physical travel like planes, but I like to see the different cultures and learn some languages." Luke was the last to answer, but his answer was just as pleasing to Magnolia as it would be if she were to answer it herself. 

They continued to ask each other questions until the boys needed to pack up and Magnolia needed to get back to school.