String of Fate

Chapter Eleven

"You're just jealous because you don't have a string." Jack said, earning himself a glare from Seth.

"I don't think it concerns Bex as to whether I have a string or not." Seth answered.

"Look, I'll have to work around my exams when the exam period comes. It'll only be about a month long anyway. There's four weeks left until then – and I will try and catch an earlier bus. As for my string, well, my birthday isn't until the middle of August, so, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." I explained to Seth. Obviously, the band was important to me. It was already a part of me. The person at the end of my string should understand that. They would have to.

"Whatever you say." Seth replied, getting up. "I'm off. See you later."

Without waiting for a reply, he left. I checked the time and made my excuses to leave, too. I hoped that the next three months would pass quickly so it would be easier to explain to the guys that I was serious about the band and I was always going to be a part of it. The band was my life now.

The months soon passed and I noticed that Seth was getting grumpier the closer it became to my birthday. I put it down to the fact that he still didn't have a string. He was only nineteen so I didn't know what he was fussing about. Was he going to be annoyed that he was the only single person in the band? That shouldn't bother him too much.

I woke up on the morning of my birthday, spotting the red string on my finger. I was happy that I was going to find my partner. I would need to find them soon because I had a gig tonight. We'd practised the day before but now we had the actual show. I think Seth may have gone to get drunk after the rehearsal. I really didn't know what went on in his mind and I honestly starting to worry about him a little. He'd even stopped annoying me recently.

I quickly changed and headed out of my house, yelling 'morning' and 'bye' to my parents as I went. It took me ten minutes of following my string to reach the flats where my destined one currently lived. I was suddenly nervous. Still, I headed inside the apartment block and followed the string up to the top floor. I knocked on the door that the string went under, hearing a bang followed by 'coming!' shouted in a rough voice.

"What are you doing here? I'm not late, am I?" Seth asked after he opened the door. He looked a little pale and he was shirtless, only wearing a pair of jeans. Lacking a shirt showed a toned torso, too. His voice sounded a little hoarse – he must have been drinking until the early hours and not had much sleep. It was kind of lucky that he was not the singer in the band.

I had not expected Seth to be at the end of my string – he had really annoyed me. We'd be bickering forever. Also, he had a policy of no dating within the band – you could date someone as long as they weren't a member of the band. Would he make an exception because it was him? It wouldn't surprise me if he told me that we couldn't date. It seemed like something he would say about us.

"I'm here to talk about this. I understand that the band is important and that there is no dating in the band." I explained to him, holding my hand up to him. His eyes widened when he noticed the string there.

"No dating in the band. See you later. Goodbye." He replied before shutting the door in my face.

Well, I knew that it wasn't going to work. I had actually been happy that it had been Seth but he had obviously not been happy about it. I headed back home and sulked in my room until it was time to go back out again. I made it to the place and people were already starting to show up. We didn't have time to practice and just concentrated on setting up the instruments.

I was starting to get nervous. It was my first gig, after all. I'd taken the last five months practicing and improving. Now, I was meant to be ready for the show. I didn't feel like it. What if I messed up and forgot the lyrics? What if I couldn't even sing because I was so scared?

"Calm down. You'll be fine. We've been practising for five months for this moment. Just remember to breathe." Seth said to me, ruffling my hair. His hand on my head calmed me. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. The stomach butterflies calmed a little bit. "Well, it's time."

We headed out onto the stage, a crowd of people in the place. I didn't think so many people would show up because it was our first gig. I froze in front of the microphone, staring at the crowd in front of me. My hands were frozen on my guitar but I felt someone touch my arm. I turned, seeing Seth beside me. He leaned down and kissed me. "You'll do great. I love you. They probably will, too."

That was all that I needed to know. My butterflies calmed and I felt like I could perform anything. Seth was a miracle worker. I could do anything with Seth by my side. Too bad we couldn't date in the band. It would have been nice since it was the only time that I saw him.

We performed out hearts out and got the whole rooms attention. They actually loved us. We did our set of covers and took a quick break. I downed a bottle of water, and so did the others, before Seth pulled me into a tight hug. "Does this mean the 'dating in the band' policy had been scrapped?"

The two of us looked at Emma, and then I looked at Seth. What would he say to answer that question? He looked down at me, a soft smile on his face. "Yes. It's been scrapped."

Then he bent down and kissed me, holding on to me tightly. I wrapped my arms around him, too, one of my hands going into his ashy blonde hair. He broke the kiss after a while. "We need to go back on and perform our songs. Do you think you can do it?"

"I can do anything as long as you are next to me." I answered.

"Same here." He smiled.

"Wait, you do remember that the band is very important to me and I can't mess them about, even though I love you." I told him. "So, we can't have a date night on Tuesdays because that's when I have band practice. Plus, you have to be present at all gigs."

"Of course!" He laughed, leaning down and kissing me again, Emma pulling us apart so we could finish the rest of our performance.