Meant to Marry Me

Bree watched in awe as the roadies quickly brought in the band's equipment and got it all set up as if they'd been setting up these particular instruments for years. She imagined they had a plethora of experience from other groups. They brought in guitars, the drum set, Cat's keyboard, as well as dozens of cords and wires, pedals, and a ton of other pieces that had to be hooked up and adjusted before they'd be ready to take the stage.

Not that much of the equipment was for Bree, though. She'd be using a microphone tonight, and that was it. In all of her years of singing on stage, Bree had never performed without her guitar, but she wouldn't be using it during this gig. They'd talked about her potentially playing rhythm guitar it in the future so that Chase could play a different instrument on a song or two, but they hadn't been rehearsing that way, so tonight she would just sing. Most of the rest of the band was backstage in the green room, chill out in before it was time for them to go on. Bree probably should've been there, too, but she'd started watching the crew set up the equipment and couldn't pull herself away. “You're fascinated, aren't you?" Trent asked.

She had to assume he was talking about with the set up and not one of the men, but she looked at him for a moment before she said, "I've just never seen people work together so fluidly when they've never done it before," she said with a shrug.

"I'm sure you and the band will do the same," Trent said with a shrug.

"But we've been practicing for weeks. These guys haven't. A few of them might've worked together before, but they've never set up our equipment."

"Maybe they've been coming into the studio and practicing, tearing down your stuff and setting it back up."

She knew he was joking so she smirked at him. "I doubt it," she said. "But that would explain why my mic stand is always in a different place each morning." "Really?"

"No." They both laughed, and Bree was glad to joke around and get some of her jitters out.

"You should pull yourself away and go hang with the band," Trent suggested, tugging lightly on her arm.

"You're right. I should. These guys will be a few more minutes." She turned away from the intricate dance happening on the stage and walked with him to the back. She heard Griffin's deep chuckle and Cat's throaty laugh and was happy to know her band was getting along so well together.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

When she walked in, they sort of stopped laughing, and for a moment, Bree thought maybe they'd been laughing at her. Surely not. Zach looked agitated and wouldn't meet her eyes. An air of uncomfortableness seeped over them, but she didn't let on like she'd noticed.

"Are they finished setting up?" Dominic asked.

"Not quite," Bree said, wondering if she should sit down or make an excuse and walk out again. Why were they talking about her?

"I'm gonna go hit the head before we get started," Griffin said. He squeezed past Bree and Trent to get out the door, not looking at either one of them.

Bree stared at Trent, but he didn't seem to notice anything was wrong. She was growing a little frustrated but could hardly say anything about the odd behavior in front of her bandmates. With a sigh, she sat down on a sofa near the door, and Trent settled next to her. Chase started telling a story, and everyone tuned in to that. Bree felt as if her perfect night was ruined before she even stepped foot on the stage. Something was going on with her band, and she didn't like it.