Chapter 15
Chapter fifteen
Hendrix · Then
In Friends We Trust – Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
Sixteen Years Old
Saint’s palm is locked tight around mine as he drags me down the street.
My Vans slap against the concrete, my breaths choppy as I try to keep up with his long strides.
Somewhere in the last year, he had an epic growth spurt that's taken him past my five-ten and right up over the six-foot mark. It’s almost impossible to keep up without all-out sprinting these days.
“Wai…” I tug myself free. Bending, I press down on my thighs and fight to catch my breath. “Hold. Please. Can’t. Breathe.”
“We’re gonna be late.” He stomps his foot, his lips pushed out into a pathetic pout.
I wheeze. “Better late than dead.”
He rolls his eyes, pulling a slick cardboard box from his pocket, and sticking a cigarette between his teeth.
“Please. I’d just call Cole and he’ll give you the kiss of life.
It’s not like you two haven’t been practicing that skill all day every day for the last year.
Your mouths are practically glued together. ”
Heat crawls over my cheeks.
We’re not that bad.
“You’re just jealous Theo won’t go near those pretty boy lips of yours.” I glare.
“Below the belt, Rix.” He hisses, smoke curling from the corner of his lips, before he smirks. “You think I’m pretty? Do you need to tell Cole we’re running away together? Better yet, can I?”
He ruffles my hair.
I swat his hand away and flick his forehead. “God. You’re annoying.”
“But you love me.”
“Unfortunately. Why couldn’t I just ignore you that day in form room?”
“Because fate threw me in your path for a reason.” He hauls me up and throws an arm over my shoulder. “You’re stuck with me for life, bestie.”
I try to bite down my smile but fail.
Annoying as he is, Saint is the only true friend I’ve ever had.
Outside of Cole, he’s the first person who ever took the time to really understand me. Before then, I was just the weird kid who wore too much black eyeliner, and listened to too many emo songs.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still that same weird girl—they’re just weird with me.
“What are we rushing for, anyway?” I wrap my arm around his back as he weaves us through the line of traffic waiting on the road. “I thought it was just practice.”
“It is. But it’s a special practice today.”
“Special how?” I narrow my eyes. “Don’t tell me you actually convinced Axel to become a naked bassist?”
“No. Still working on it.” He huffs.
I pinch his hip. “Stop working on it. I know you think the fangirls will be all over it, but I am telling you, indecent exposure on his record will probably tank your chances of ever getting signed by a legit label.”
“You ruin all my fun, Rix.”
I snort. “Yeah, only because I’m the person you’ll come weeping to when everything goes tits up.”
“Hey, I don’t weep.” He digs jagged black painted nails into my shoulder. “I leak.”
“Leak, weep, sob. All the same, really.” I shrug.
“Why do I put up with you?” he asks, right before he shoves me through the open door and into Carter’s garage.
I trip over a wire and tumble forward.
A pitched squeak leaves my mouth.
Arms flailing, I search for anything to grab in an attempt to protect my face from smashing into the ground, only to be saved by a thick arm curling around my waist and hauling my upright.
My back slaps against a hard chest, the perfect blended scent of vanilla, cinnamon, and Cole wrapping around me.
“I thought we said we’d stop falling all over each,” he murmurs, his breath hot on my ear before he nips the tip.
I shiver. “One of these days.”
He spins me.
A ring-adorned hand curls into my hair, and he claims my lips in a searing kiss.
Saint coughs.
I crack one eye open, craning my neck his way just as he mouths, glued.
I roll my eyes. “I hate you.”
“Liar.” He grins.
Cole drops his head to my shoulder as he shakes with laughter. “You two being friends is the worst thing that ever happened to him. You realise that, right?”
“I do,” I say. “You can take your best friend back any day now.”
Cole squeezes my hip. “Nope. He’s all yours now. Finders keepers.”
“But I don’t wanna keep him.” I press my forehead to his chest.
Saint snatches a drum stick off the side and launches it at me. “Fucking. Rude.”
I roll my head and stick my tongue out.
His only replied is a middle finger.
“Don’t throw my sticks, douchebag,” Carter says, whacking the back of Saint’s head, as he strolls in through the house door with a bag of snacks and drinks in his hand.
He slides past me, giving me a quick one-armed squeeze as he does. “Hey, kiddo.”
“Hey, Cart.” I peck his cheek. “Shouldn’t you be at uni today getting that fancy degree of yours?”
“Yup. But apparently I’m a sucker for you lot, so here I am instead.”
“Oh, why?”
He taps my nose. “You’ll find out.”
I lick drying lips as my stomach knots.
That’s both Carter and Saint now who have said something cryptic about today.
Carter empties his bag onto a side table, before looking back at me. “Mum said there’s Coke Zero, but it’s out back, so she’s gonna ask Dad to bring it in when he’s done faffing in the shed.”
“She doesn’t need to do that. I’m good with water,” I tell him, straightening up.
“Hendrix” Carter looks at me with a blank expression. “You realise you’re all family at this point, right? You try telling that woman you don’t need your sugar free fix. She’ll have a tea towel around your head before you even get the first word out.”
My chest warms. “Okay. Thank you.”
He nods and settles behind his Yamaha drum kit.
The first time Cole mentioned this garage, I expected a box littered room, with a little floor space where they could jam. But Carter’s dad went all out in here for his only son and transformed it into a sleek, soundproofed studio.
With polished wooden floors and acoustic panels lining the walls to absorb every note, professional style lighting casts an orange glow over the sparkling instruments that line one wall. He even went as far as to add a sound desk and a mixing console.
Turns out, when you love your kids, supporting their dreams in a no brainer.
Who knew?
Cole's arm snakes around my waist. He tucks me into his chest and leans against the wall. I drum my fingers along his skin, humming when he presses a kiss to my hair.
“No fawning please,” Axel hollers when he saunters into the garage. He spins the sunglasses dangling from his fingers round and round, a wide grin on his face. “I know, I know. Alert the press. The star has arrived.”
“Kill me now,” Carter grumbles. “I’m surrounded by children.”
“Sorry, Daddy. We’ll behave. Promise,” Axel says, batting thick eyelashes.
Cole’s chuckle vibrates my back and I chuckle into my hand.
“Not your dad.” Carter pinches the bridge of his nose. “Now can we all actually get on with what we’re here for? Or shall we sit around and braid each other’s hair instead?”
“Oh, I’ve never had a hair braiding session. That sounds fun,” I say, batting my lashes like a puppy at Carter. His expression softens for a split second before he steels it.
“You tried, baby.” Cole kisses my shoulder before he shuffles me to the unplugged amp in the corner of the room and lifts me on top of it. “Now, sit here and look pretty. We have something to show you.”
I purse my lips, kicking my legs back and forth as he swaggers backwards.
Saint ruffles my hair when he passes by to grab his favoured Fender. Axel winks at me as he straps his sleek, red bass across his chest. And Carter rolls his sticks against the snare before gracing me with a rare tilt to his mouth.
It’s Cole, though, who sends sparks searing through me as he curls his fingers around the mic stand and his lips kick up into the most devastatingly beautiful grin.
My heart skips a beat.
Then, Carter clicks his sticks together, counts down from four, and it fucking gallops.
They’re playing a new song.
They’re playing my song.
I wrote Reckless Abandon after I heard them play for the first time. Cole and I tickled with a few of his ideas before then, but this is the first I wrote on my own. The one that really solidified my dreams of doing this for a lifetime.
I press a shaking hand to my chest, tears springing to my lashes.
Cole’s voice is heavenly.
Eyes locked on mine, he serenades me with the words I wrote.
I don’t look away.
Not when Saint shreds his strings, playing the riff I wrote just for him. And not when Axel opens his mouth and pitches the perfect harmony to Cole's voice. Not even when Carter smashes his cymbals, and drives the final chorus home.
I can’t.
If I didn’t know it before today, I know it now.
They are going to fly.
He is going to fucking soar.
Cole drops the microphone and rushes over to me.
A frown tugs his lips when he swipes a thumb under my eye and gathers a stray tear. “Did you hate it?”
I open my mouth.
I close it.
Words fail me.
“Why are you crying, baby?” he asks, cupping my cheeks. He tips my face up until we're eye-to-eye. “We didn’t butcher it, did we? Saint did get a bit heavy handed, but I can kick him out of the band and we’ll get a better guitarist.”
Saint blares. “The fuck dude?”
“No.” My shoulders shake with a blend of sobs and laughter. “Don’t do that. He’ll follow me around forever.”
“There she is.” Cole smiles, thumbs dancing over my cheeks as he leans in and steals a kiss. Everything inside me melts. “Thoughts?”
“Incredible.” Awestruck, I poke my head around him and glance over at the others. “I can’t believe you learned my song.”
“Why wouldn’t we? It’s phenomenal.” Axel says, his head titling. “You’ve got a real gift, baby girl.”
“What he said, kiddo.” Carter echoes, his face a blank mask. Still, he sends me a wink that has my lips curling upwards.
“We’ll play all your songs, bestie,” Saint says as he props his guitar on the floor. “Just keep writing them for us.”
Another tear slips over my lashes.
I’ve never had this. They’re not just my friends. They’re my family, and they love me enough to chase dreams with me.
I smile. “Really?”
“Promise,” Cole answers. He wraps his pinkie finger around mine, and tugs until our foreheads are pressed together. “We’re a team, Rixie. You, me, and the guys. We’re in this together.”
“Together,” I echo, my heart bursting with how full it is.
Carter groans.
I snap my head back and look at him.
He spears me with a glare when Saint starts belting the chorus of We’re All In This Together.
“You are never. Ever. Picking movie night films again,” Carter states, though his voice is barely audible over Saint's screeching. “Ever!”
“You loved it. Plus, you already promised we’d do the Camp Rock’s this week.” I laugh and wrap my arms around Cole’s neck. Peering over his shoulder at Carter, I give him a cheeky grin. “I’ll even braid your hair, too.”