TOBIAS

"Shouldn't we just start our own songs?" I complain, slouched in Zeke's obnoxiously orange beanbag chair.

"We have our own songs." Zeke says shuffling through his huge stack of CD's. He finds Atlas Genius' When It Was Now and flips it to the back. I hear the cellophane being pulled off as he sticks it in his pocket.

"Like what?" Uriah asks twirling his drumsticks.

"Well we have that song I wrote." Zeke says popping open the CD.

I strum my guitar. "Shauna, Shauna, you drive me crazy…." I say playing his shitty song.

Uriah laughs. "That one sucks." Zeke glares at him. "No offence."

I stand up, letting my guitar slide on the beanbag. "What if we got a girl?"

Zeke and Uriah start to laugh hysterically. "That's funny." Zeke says once he's recovered.

I snatch the CD from his hands and look at the back, deciding on track six, Through the Glass. "What? I'm serious." I say.

"You really think any girl would come in here?" Uriah asks making crazy hand gestures.

Zeke's basement is a mess. And that's an understatement. He has a huge flat screen, and x-box in the corner. Uriah's drums sit in the back along with a stereo and cobwebs. There are about a trillion posters on the walls from the Beatles to Jimmy Hendrix, not to mention all the rotting food down here.

"Yeah." I say with Tris in mind. "I think she would."

"Oooohhh! So there's a certain 'she' in mind." Zeke coos walking to his keyboard. "What does she play?"

I shrug my shoulders. "She can sing."

"She's in." Zeke says quickly.

"What? Why?" Uriah asks.

Zeke snorts and walks back o his shelf of CD's. "You sound like a strangled cat, Uri."

Uriah looks offended. "I do not."

"Yeah you do." I agree.

Uriah rolls his eyes and slips into the second gigantic beanbag chair. "Better than writing shitty songs."

Zeke continues shuffling through CDs. "My song isn't that shitty."

I grab my guitar and pull a stool over. "We could work with it."

I start strumming the beginning of I Want To Hold Your Hand. Zeke groans. "Dude, cut it with that song."

"Seriously, you've played it like thirty times already." Uriah mutters.

"So is this girl coming over here or what?" Zeke asks.

I stand up. "I'll call her."

"Do we know her?" Uriah asks. I look at him from head to toe.

"Maybe." I say before sliding the glass door to step into the Marshall's back yard. I it the 1 button and call, because she is the number one on my speed dial.

She picks up after the third ring. "Hello?"

"You look nice." I say even though I can't see her.

She laughs. "What do you want?"

"You to come down to Uriah Marshall's house." I say.

She laughs again. "Why?"

"I'll buy you Chinese." I tell her pulling at her weakness. I can feel her weighing her options through the phone. "Twice."

"Done." She says. "Be there in ten minutes."

"Back door." I add quickly.

I love you. I think to myself then the line goes dead. I step inside.

"She's on her way." I say clasping my phone in my hand.

"Good." Zeke says changing the song.

"I like that song." Uriah says.

"I don't." Zeke snaps back.

Uriah walks over to his drums and starts hitting them aggressively. I start to laugh. "Dude, chill out."

I pick up my guitar and cut off the CD in the middle of Symptoms. "Let's listen to something louder." I suggest.

"Ludo!" Uriah jumps up. "The Horror of Our Love."

"Dude, know one likes that song. It's creepy." Zeke says thumping him on the head.

"I like it." Uriah protests.

"Yeah and you're perfectly normal…" I reply. "Play some Shinedown."

"Do we have any?" Zeke turns to Uriah.

Uriah shakes his head slowly. "I don't think so."

I throw my hands in the air. "How can you guys not have Shinedown! Next thing you know you won't remember Imagine Dragons or The Neighbourhood!"

"And all I am is a man! I want the world in my hands! I hate the beach but I stand in California with my toes in the sand!" Uriah starts to sing Sweater Weather.

"This is a perfect example of why you don't sing." Zeke comments. I stifle a laugh.

"What are we going to sing at your Dad's," Zeke stiffens his posture and tries to look formal with his headphones wrapped around his neck and his jeans falling off his butt, "Dinner party?" He says with a faux British accept.

I roll my eyes. "The Irony of Choking on a Life Saver!" Uriah yells.

"That," I say thinking of the lyrics, "Is a terrible idea."

"We could sing Backseat Serenade have an All Time Low marathon." Zeke suggests.

I shrug. "Maybe. This is Marcus though…I mean what would he think I we sang 'God I'm sick of sleeping alone?'" I sigh and run my hand over my shoulder blades thinking of the scars that reside there.

"Who cares? This is about us, as a band." Uriah says. "As Flaming Abnegation."

I think of the crack of the belt and shudder to myself. "I care. I don't want to sing garbage for the mayor." I lie.

"You like All Time Low." Zeke says.

"I know..." I say running my hands through my hair. "Lost in Stereo or Shameless?" I say thinking of Tris. Those songs always make me think of her.

"Yeah." Zeke says. "Maybe."

I here Uriah knock over one of his cymbals. "What about that song you were working on?"

I smile to myself thinking about my song about Tris. "It's coming along."

"Sing it for us." Uriah says picking up his cymbal and repositioning it.

"Because he actually can sing." Zeke replies.

"I'll sing it when it's done." I reply.

Zeke grabs a note pad. "Okay so we have seven songs to sing at the," He clears his throat and stands up straight. "Dinner party. What are they going to be?"

"I doubt singing Shameless will work." Uriah comments stepping over his drums to sit next to me.

"But we can still sing Lost in Stereo. That's a good opener." Zeke says.

I nod and half smile. "What about Backseat Serenade or Daydream Away?" Zeke says.

Uriah moans. "I hate Daydream Away."

"So not that…" Zeke says crossing it off his list.

I jump up. "Let's sing The Girl's A Straight-Up Hustler."

Uriah jumps up. "Yes."

There's a knock on the door and see a beautiful Tris standing out side the door. A goofy smile crosses my face as I let her in the ratty basement. Her eyes are lined in black and her hair is pulled out of her face.

"Tris?" Uriah says. "You can sing?"

"What?" She says looking around at the rat hole of a basement. "Yeah. I guess."

"We're deciding what songs to sing on Saturday night." I explain to her and sit in the beanbag chair.

I pull her down to sit in my lap. She smirks and leans back as I wrap my arms around her.

"Are you guys going out?" Uriah asks looking awkward.

"Something like that." Tris says. I hold my smile back. "So what are you guys playing?"

"We're gonna have an All Time Low marathon." Zeke says tapping his pen. "So far we have Lost in Stereo, Backseat Serenade, and The Girl's a Straight Up Hustler."

I give her a squeeze. "You're so infamous for leaving me a mess….." I say quoting lyrics.

"What if we sang All Time Low and Imagine Dragons?" Uriah asks sticking a bag of popcorn in the random microwave that resides in the corner.

"That could work." I say.

"What songs of theirs?" Uriah asks. "I still think we should sing The Irony of Choking on a Life Save or The Horror of Our Love."

I feel Tris move a little. "First of all The Horror of Our Love is Ludo and second of all it's creepy."

Zeke and I laugh. "Lets sing Radioactive, Demons, Bleeding Out and On Top of the World can be our closer."

"So when does Tris come in to all this?" Uriah asks.

She looks at me. "Yeah. Why am I here?"

I press my lips to her neck and she throws her head back. "Because I'm buying you your favorite dinner twice."

"Four, stop wooing the innocent girl." Zeke says throwing a guitar pick at me.

Tris squirms and I plant a kiss on her cheek.

"Something like that…" Uriah mumbles. His eyes pop open. "That's good."

He says walking over to his drums. "Something…. like that!" He says hitting the cymbal. "I don't have a cat!" He bangs again and I see Tris smile.

"But you sound like one." Zeke says thumping Uriah again. "Shall we practice for the lovely lady?" Zeke asks.

Tris stands up and curtsies. "You shall."

I grab my guitar and sit on the stool. "Lost in Stereo?" I ask.

"Indeed." Zeke says setting his music on the stand in front of him.

I sling the strap over my shoulder and grab my pick.

"She works for the weekend, mixtape of her favorite bands, tearin' up the radio lost in the stereo sound." I stand up. "She's trouble in a tank top pretty little time bomb. Blowing up, take you down. Living I the radio lost in the stereo sound."

I stand up and walk to Tris. "She's dancing alone, I'm ready to go but she's so!"

"Lost in stereo, lost in stereo." Zeke sings jamming on the keyboard.

"She out of control! So beautiful" I wink at her and see her blush.

"Lost in stereo, lost in stereo!"

"And I've been waiting for so long but she'll never know…I'm losing hope 'cause she's so…."

"Lost in stereo! Lost in stereo!"

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Zeke stops playing, then Uriah, then me.

"Great going Uri. Had to set off the microwave so it went off right then…." Zeke says jumping over the keyboard.

"I didn't know! I like popcorn!" Uriah yells.

I walk over to my guitar case and slid it inside. "Tris," I say. "Let's go."

"Go where?" She asks.

I wink at her. "Just trust me."

She smiles and my hand slips around hers, squeezing it tightly. "Bye guys!" She yells.

"What?" Zeke asks.

"Don't go all Yoko Ono on us Tris!" Uriah yells.

I smile and drag her into their side yard. "Did you drive here?" I ask.

She gives me a look. "I live a block away."

"Perfect." I say pulling her to my car and opening the door for her.

"Where are we going?" She asks.

I smile. "It's a surprise."