Party 'til you pass out / When the party's over

Oliver

Studio time. It had been a while since we had been in a studio, and the excited talking of the lads made me smile too. Jordan had been accepted by the rest of the band, and we had agreed on him joining and working on our music from now on. I liked how he immediately fit in with us, and his vision and creativity gave us a new motivation. Together with producers Terry and David, we were working on something completely new and personal.

'Okay, so Oli - about that song you once played for me,' Jordan started. I frowned at him, thinking which one he meant. 'You know, the eh...' He started humming a melody and suddenly it clicked.

'Right. Sleepwalking.'

'That's the title?,' Kean asked. I shrugged.

'Yeah, I think.'

'Can you play that tune for me again?,' Jordan asked me. I nodded and got behind his keyboard, playing a melody that I had already imprinted in my head and heart. Jorden smiled.

'That's the one.' He took my place behind the keyboard and played it again, his fingers quickly remembering which keys to hit.

'Sounds good,' Nicholls said. 'You got lyrics with that?'

'Hmhm,' I muttered. A sudden rush of anxiety ran through my veins, and I shivered a bit. It wasn't the first day back in the studio with the band, but we had worked more on music than on lyrics and I felt nervous about sharing something so personal with them. You've done this before, I thought to myself. You've made music with them before, there's nothing to be afraid about. They won't judge.

'It goes like -,' I started, closing my eyes and pulling the lyrics from my memory before I started singing softly. 'Time stood still, the way it did before. It's like I'm sleepwalking.'

'I remember that one,' Alison's voice popped up. I opened my eyes and turned around to see her standing in the door to the studio.

'What are you doing here?,' I wondered out loud. She chuckled.

'Just wanted to see what you lads were up to.' She got up to me and pulled me into a kiss.

'Fine, no pressure,' I said sarcastically. She cocked an eyebrow at me.

'You've poured your heart out with me multiple times, but me watching you making music makes you shy?' I smiled and shook my head.

'Nah...'

'You played this song at the piano when I visited you in the clinic, remember?' I frowned and tried to.

'Yeah, vaguely.'

'You kissed me after that,' she muttered, looking at me from under her lashes. That made me smile.

'And then I walked in,' Jordan piped up. We both laughed.

'Yeah, thanks for ruining that moment, Fish.' Jordan shrugged and backed off.

'I can leave if you don't want me here watching you do your thing,' Alison proposed.

'No, it's fine. You're right, you already know all my secrets anyway.' I kissed her nose and turned to Terry. 'Do you mind if I use the booth for a moment?' He shook his head and stuck out his hand towards the booth.

'All yours.' I got in and took a moment to adjust to the almost vacuum environment of the booth. Through the glass I saw the lads talking with Alison and her laughing, but I couldn't hear a thing until Terry's voice popped out of the intercom.

'Ready when you are.' I nodded and put on the headphones, then stood behind the microphone. I closed my eyes, putting up my thumb to Terry and inhaling deeply before I started singing. My nerves calmed down immediately, because this is what I was used to. This was my space, my comfort, my therapy.