𝘼𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙒𝙀 𝘾𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙃𝙀𝘿 ↣ 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝘿𝙄𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉

15. STILL

[SEVENTEEN DAYS LATER
HOURS UNTIL SHOWTIME : FOUR]

"There's no way I'm gonna learn these lines in time!"

"Yes you will," I said supportively. I gave Keenan a mug of green tea to help soothe her vocal cords and sat down next to her at the island. "Do you want me to run lines with you again?"

The night before, we had gone through every scene she was in. She knew all of her lines. She was just flustered, and it was messing her up.

"No, no, I'm good," she groaned. She pushed away her script and took a drink of tea. Then, she rested her face on the counter and sighed.

I put my cheek to the counter as well so I could see her while I talked to her.

"Nervous?" I asked.

"Terrified," she mumbled.

"Can I do anything?"

"Tell me it's gonna be okay?" she asked softly. I smiled and nodded my head. All she wanted was support, because she'd never had it before.

"Everything is gonna be fine," I said. She nodded, a difficult feat to accomplish with her face stuck to the counter. "You should eat something, sweetheart."

"Too nervous to eat," she said.

"You know that feeling in your stomach? The thing that feels off?"

"Yeah."

"Part of that is that you're hungry. You know how I know?"

"How?"

"Because I didn't like to eat before my concerts when I was younger but the boys always made sure I did. I didn't see it at the time, but it helped. Your anxiety is wearing you out, and you need to eat food to replenish yourself or you'll crash during the show."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," I said. I sat up and slid off the stool. I dug through the cabinets and the fridge, looking for something Keenan would eat. When I saw the strawberries, I automatically knew.

I set them on the counter and dumped powdered sugar into a bowl. She had eaten the same thing the first day after she and Karter came to live with us.

The beginning felt so long ago. In reality, we had only known Keenan and Karter for three months. But it was hard to imagine day to day life without them.

Keenan rolled a strawberry in powdered sugar and took a bite. She looked at me while she did it, making sure I was impressed with her actions. I smiled and nodded my head.

"I'm gonna go find the boys," I said.

"Have fun," she said back. I left her alone in the kitchen and walked into the living room. They weren't there.

I padded upstairs to look in Karter's room. They weren't there, either.

I furrowed my eyebrows.

wife :)
where are you?
and is karter with you?
read 3:15 pm

husband :)
studio with karter
come check this out
read 3:16 pm

I looked up from Louis' text, and turned back to the steps. I went down them as quickly as I could with one leg, and then walked through the downstairs area to the recording studio.

Louis and Karter were sitting on the ground across from each other. They had guitars in their laps.

Karter was too concentrated on the fret board to see me walk in. I walked into the room, listening to him switch between G major, C major, and F. Louis was watching him with a proud smile.