Heaven comes to he who waits

Untitled Part 2

The next day, around 6 pm, the band decided to head over to the studio. Curt couldn't wait to see Roland's reaction to what they all got for him. 

"This is the surprise?" Roland walked out of the recording room, holding a new guitar with a bow wrapped around it 

"We all pitched in to get it for you. We thought it'd help with focusing on the music. Ya know, just something to have to take your mind off things." Ian spoke first, smiling at his friend. Curt and Manny also smiled at him from outside the room, standing side by side. They waited for his response

Roland didn't know what to say. His best friends all thought about him enough to get him a present. And it was such a nice guitar. Just the feel of it in his hands, brought a smile to his face. 

"I don't know what to say" His voice trailed off as he inspecting the fine instrument, running his hands over it gently 

Curt and Manny shared a look, smiling at each other and looked  back to Roland. They knew he loved the gift. It was good to see him smiling again, it's been a while since he was actually happy about something. They all saw this, and thought what to do or get him to cheer him up. And what did Roland love? Music. 

"We're glad you like it" Manny spoke, tilting his head slightly. Him and the others continued to watch Roland view the guitar and flip it a few times 

"Like it?  I love it. And you guys. Thank you so much" He looked up from the guitar and looked at his friends. He leaned the guitar against the wall carefully and walked over to Ian first and held his arms open. Ian went to hug him and so did Manny. They both hugged Roland squeezed him tight 

Curt could't just stand there. He took a few steps towards them and put his arms around Manny and Roland. The four of them stood there a while before pulling away, all smiling at one another. It was times like this that they all loved, just being happy with each other. 

"So how bout you try it out and we'll work on some songs?" Ian pat Manny on the shoulder while keeping eye contact with Roland 

Roland picked up his new guitar, and nodded towards the recording room. Ian was the last in the room, he closed the door behind himself. The boys immediately set up the instruments and went to work. Messing around, and playing random sections of songs seemed to last for hours. They were having so much fun they didn't even notice the time. It was already 10 o'clock and all they did was joke around and write down possible ideas for songs and messed around with the sound, mixing, and controls. 

"Oh wow would you look at the time!" Manny checked a clock from another room down a long hallway. He sounded hurried, like he was late for something. He ran down the hall and almost bumped into Ian 

"Woah woah. What're you so late for?" Ian chuckled, calling after Manny 

"I have a date in 20 minutes!" Manny replied, grabbing his jacket out of the closet and rushing through the front door 

"Manny? Date?" Curt walked out of the recording room, glancing at Ian. They looked at each other for a few seconds then both started laughing. 

"Aw come on. Maybe he finally found the girl of his dreams" Ian held his nose to try and stop himself from laughing 

Manny was a little extreme when it came to who he liked. He had certain expectations, and the girl had to live up to those expectations or else he wouldn't bother. Curt always told him to not be so picky, or else he'd end up alone. 

"Hey i'm gonna head downtown. Anyone want to tag?" Ian smiled a little wickedly. Curt knew that look. Ian was about to go out and party and probably disappear for the weekend. Last time, Curt missed out on that and he didn't want to pass up the opportunity now. 

"Count me in" Curt shook hands with Ian. They were always going out to drink and always ended doing stupid things together. But it was harmless fun, and they were free for a few months. 

"Ro?" Ian peeked his head around the corner, seeing if he wanted to join in. He was sitting on a stool, strumming his new guitar. He played a few more chords 

"Oh no I'm fine. I'm going to stay here and work" Roland didn't look up, he just waved a hand at the two. Then he went back to playing. 

Ian shrugged, and grabbed Curt. He practically pulled him out of the building and they left to go enjoy the night out. 

Inside, Roland stopped playing when he heard the sound of the car departing. He was alone now. He had been working on a song, secretly. He had about a page and a half of written lyrics and he wanted to continue. But he stared at the paper for 20 straight minutes and no ideas popped up.

He put his elbow on the desk he had been sitting at, and put his head in his hand, still looking down at the paper. The blank area taunted him. He had no idea what to write now. What he had up to this point, was great he thought. But what now? 

Suddenly, a face started to form in his mind. The face started to gently laugh. It was one of the best things he'd ever imagined. The more he thought about the features, the more and more he realized who he was thinking about. He knew whose face this was. He knew those eyes, that curly brown mess of hair, those lips, that laugh. He heard that laugh so many times, it played over and over in his brain. Why? Why did he always have to think about him? Thoughts of him always distracted Roland from his music, from important things. So regularly his thoughts would drift back to him without even realizing it. 

Roland continued to think about him. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't shake the images of him coursing through his head.