invisible string ✾ lrh

0.4 - in

When the boys released their first cover as an official band, Maggie was there. When they played at their first gig at the Annandale Hotel, Maggie was one of twelve people in the audience. She was the fifth member that never performed.

She was also officially the lead singers girlfriend now, too. She was the one who was enveloped into a sweaty hug after their first show, when Luke was close to tears and Michael was screaming from the adrenaline of performing for a crowd of eleven people and one of his closest friends. Even if that was as far as they ever got, Maggie was sure they would have been content. They would have played at that pub every weekend for the rest of their lives to the same twelve people until they were kicked out.

And honestly? That was what Maggie expected to happen.

What she didn't expect, though, was Sony to come knocking at the garage during a band practice. She didn't expect the boys to sign a publishing deal with them until it had already happened, until they were cheering and celebrating and Luke was kissing her and telling her that she was right, that he could actually be something special one day.

It was then that Maggie started to believe that holy shit, maybe her best friends might actually be able to get out of their small town and make a name for their small garage band. Maybe all of those nights spent listening to the combination of off beat drumming and Luke's shot vocals at four am really did help. They had all worked hard. And Maggie was proud of them. While she focused on school and getting her relationship with her mother back on track, it seemed like the boys were all incredibly dedicated to working on their first EP - in which they decided to name Unplugged.

Luke still sat next to her at lunch.

So did Calum, but Michael started ditching school more and more, so it was just the three of them at the table together. For those few moments between classes, it almost felt like things were normal again; like Luke was going to walk home holding Maggie's hand in his, he was going to sit at the computer while her legs dangled off of his bed and she was going to smile as he sang softly to the camera.

That never really happened, anymore.

And Maggie understood why. She understood that the entire band was busy writing an EP and Luke didn't have as much time for her as he usually did.

Time was such a silly thing, back then.

Luke wished he had any time left; he wished he could go back in time, to those days. Kiss her one more time. Tell her he loved her sooner than he did. Go back in time and not fuck up her heart and ruin the best thing he had in his entire life.

Time.

When the release date for Unplugged finally arrived, the entire band was enveloped in a buzz of excitement. They had posted about it on Twitter and Facebook and excluding Luke's mom, not many people had seen it - but it didn't matter to them. They were about to release their own music, songs they had recorded themselves. Songs Calum had written in his bed and ran into practice with the next day, bursting with excitement and promising that they were going to be hits.

And then it was out in the world. And then it reached number three on the Australian iTunes chart. And if Maggie thought Luke didn't have a lot of time for her then, she knew he certainly wouldn't after that. And in September of 2012, they announced they were going to be touring Australia as Hot Chelle Rae's supporting act.

It was only one month, but for Maggie it felt like a lifetime. Luke wouldn't admit it at the time, but there was an ache in his chest after every show; when Maggie wasn't there to hug him, to kiss him, to tell him that he did good and that she was proud of him. Luke was conflicted in ways Maggie didn't understand. He wanted her at every show, he wanted to see her in the crowd. He wanted to admit to his friends that every moment spent without her was worse than the last, but how could he complain when he was a part of something so awesome? And how could he complain when Maggie was at home, trying to create a home with her mother again?