Chapter 13. We Can Work It Out

Practice days used to be Stanford's favorite days of the week. Sure, they meant he had to hang out with his brother, but it also meant hanging out with Zoom, Sherman, and Spinner while doing something they all enjoyed. He still liked the company, even more now that Simon was no longer part of the group. It was just that practice sessions were turning into a bit of a headache for him.

Stanford liked Vert. He was fun to be around, had fit into everything nicely, was a great singer, but he was just bad at a capella. He was trying, Stanford knew, and he tried to give him grace on being thrown into something completely unfamiliar, but they were halfway into October now and still working through just notes. At this rate, BF5 was going to be absolutely massacred in December at the competition. Maybe it would have been better if they had dropped out. Or better yet, if he had actually killed Simon years ago to prevent this exact moment. Tezz could probably build a time machine. Convincing Tezz to let him use it was a problem for another day. Oh well. He rounded the corner that lead to their practice room. When he saw the light on, he paused. Whoever was in the room must not know it had been previously reserved. Stanford pulled up the confirmation email and walked in without knocking to politely inform whoever was there that he had this room booked.

"Oh hey, Stanford!" Zoom said looking up from the piano and smiling. Vert sat next to him and waved.

Stanford quickly put his phone away. "Hey guys. You're here early."

"Yeah! My class was cancelled, and Vert had today off so we decided to work on some stuff."

Vert just nodded along as Zoom spoke, confusing Stanford even more than he already was. He was about to ask when Sherman and Spinner walked into the room. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was time to start practice.

After a brief warm up, they decided to jump right into Hallelujah. The first verse was fine. The second was… also fine. Stanford was definitely extremely confused at this point, but he wasn't about to question it. Not when things were suddenly going smoothly. Verse three hit and Stanford realized he'd spoken too soon. Vert had dropped out completely. He was considering stopping completely when Vert was suddenly back in as if he hadn't missed the last two lines. Stanford tried not to stare, and when Vert caught him, he winked. Stanford could feel the tips of his ears burning. That sly motherfucker. He looked over to Zoom, who looked about ready to burst out laughing, and decided that he must have having some kind of fever dream. He would wake up on his couch any minute now.

But he didn't wake up. Instead, they worked out the trouble spot in Hallelujah and moved on to the next song. He really wanted to comment on what was happening, but he also didn't want to fuck things up by saying anything, so he refrained. With great difficulty.

The two and a half hours flew by, and next thing Stanford knew everyone was packing up to go. Vert had excused himself rather quickly stating that "AJ had locked himself out of the apartment again." No one said anything as he left. Sherman was next to leave since had a night class, and Spinner was right behind him. Zoom turned to go, but Stanford caught his arm.

"Dude, I have work in like thirty minutes." He whined.

"What the fuck was that, Zoom?" Stanford asked.

"Practice?"

Stanford gave him a flat look. "You know what I mean."

"Okay, so I might have been helping Vert for the past couple of days. I offered and he said yes."

Stanford nodded slowly. "Makes sense. So, why wasn't I the only one who was surprised by this?"

Zoom grinned. "We might have practiced without you yesterday."

"WHAT?"

"Dude, your face though? So worth it."

Stanford huffed. Zoom laughed.

"At least now Viv and I don't have to hear you bitch about practice anymore."

Stanford opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. Okay, so Zoom had a point, but still he'd gone to a lot of trouble to help Vert out. It was almost as if-

"Oh my God, you like him." Stanford said suddenly.

Zoom's face instantly went red. "What? No! I don't- How dare you- I would never-"

"You like him!" Stanford said again, teasing. "How did I not see it? It's so obvious."

"It is?!"

"It is now."

Zoom glared at him. "Dude."

"I won't say anything!" Stanford reassured him. Zoom looked at him suspiciously. "I promise, Zoom. But you have to give me details later."

"Okay." Zoom said while pulling his arm free. "But if I'm late for work, I'm blaming you."

"McDonald's cares that much?"

"You'd be surprised, dude."

Stanford shrugged as he and Zoom walked out of the practice room together. It had been a productive, slightly confusing practice, but at least he was excited about it again. Especially now that he knew Zoom had a crush on Vert. If anything, the next few weeks were bound to be interesting.