It’s been a month since Stella joined up with us and she has been killing it as the band’s publicist. She’s taken over a lot of Anon’s normal work, finding venues and drumming up hype for the band, allowing him to focus more on managerial duties. He’s been making sure none of the places short us on payment or try to pocket anything from the merch sales. He also has been making sure we have all the equipment we need for our shows and checking on us backstage to get us whatever we need to do our best. All the pieces are falling into place, and we’re building a reputation with every show for our heavy but high energy music. Anon had to convince a few places to set up areas for a mosh pit so the crowd didn’t end up bashing each other’s brains out. It’s becoming less of a problem as our venues have been getting larger and larger but tonight, we are booked at the place I once thought was the start of my career: Dino Moe’s.

Uncle Moe said he’d stop by later to say “hey” if he could but he’s busy setting up more franchises across the nation so who knows if he’ll get stuck working. At least for Uncle Moe, things have been looking up the whole time. There isn’t a city nearby that doesn’t know his name. Today, Stella is hanging out at our place before the show, nearly constantly on her phone chatting away with her characteristic bubbly self and almost always convincing whomever she is talking with to book us.

A rare moment appears when she doesn’t have anyone on the phone, and I seize the opportunity. I’ve wanted to ask her about how her life was going before we met, I just never had a good time for it. I set my guitar down and walk over to her, sitting beside her on the couch. She turns to me with a confused look on her face. “Do you need something, Fang? Did I miss an appointment?” She flips through her tablet rapidly before I stop her, taking her hand in mine and shaking my head.

“Nothing like that, Stella. I just wanted to talk to you. We’ve been so busy ever since I hired you on and we haven’t really had a chance to really reconnect. Is that okay?”

“Of course!” She smiles as she puts aside her tablet and phone with her free hand and shifts on the couch to face me. “What did you want to talk about?”

I think for a moment as she patiently sits across from me before I find the words. “About our lives…how things went after we all went our separate ways. Did anyone stick together?”

Her smile fades as she looks away for a moment, shaking her head. “No, Fang, no one did. It was such a disaster…” She sighs as she clasps her hand over mine. “I don’t even know how it all happened. The cracks started appearing everywhere and everyone started fighting. I didn’t know how interconnected we all were until we all just stopped talking to each other. I only had Rosa left in the end, and…and…” She chokes up a little but swallows it down.

I sigh as shake my head, pulling her closer to me. “I’ve lost a few friends along the way these past few years. Too many.” Stella squeezes my hand gently, wearing a sympathetic frown as I continue. “School didn’t end well for any of us, did it?”

She nods as she looks up at me. “No, I don’t think it did, Fang. We all drifted apart. Trying so hard to keep our lives together, but…it just never worked out. I didn’t talk to anyone, really, after that. I spent my days at home just binging anime after work; your show was the first thing I went to in ages. Did you ever see your old friends again?”

A heavy frown crosses my lips as I think about them. “I don’t know if I ever will see them again or if I want to, but…I’m sorry, Stella. You shouldn’t have been alone. None of us should be.” I glance back to a photo of Anon and I hanging on the wall. “Stella…” Her eyes are misting over as she looks back to me. “Tell me everything. Everything that happened to you since I’ve been gone. I want to hear it.”

Stella sighs deeply as she grips her arm. She spills out her life during the years since I left. How all the good job prospects failed, and she couldn’t get into college. No one would give her the time of day and she spent so long trying to dig herself out of a pit. The year she lost Rosa was the year she gave up. That’s when she decided that all she could do was waste her years away slaving in retail and watching shows every night.

To think about someone as wonderful as Stella just giving up…it hurt. I put my arms around her, pulling her close to me as the dam breaks. She sobs on my shoulder and holds me close, the pain of losing her dreams and her only true friend making her tremble as I hold her tight. She never deserved this, none of us did. I can only hope that Rosa is okay wherever she is. I make a silent promise to myself that I won’t let this happen to any more of my friends.

After a while she calms down, leaning away from me as she sniffles back the last of her tears. The relief on her face is something I know so well. It makes me happy to be able to do that for someone else, to bring closure to an open wound. She smiles as she wipes away the rest of her tears before drying off my shoulder. “Thank you. I’m sorry I got your shoulder so wet.”

I chuckle softly and smile at her. “Don’t apologize. I was happy to do it. I gotta get back to my guitar, but I’m glad we had this talk.”

She nods as she composes herself and puts her tablet and phone back on her lap. “I’m glad we did, too.” We sit in silence for a few minutes and then I get up to go back to my guitar. Her phone starts to ring and she picks it up, not showing any signs that just moments ago she was an emotional wreck, her bubbly personality once again at the forefront. I can’t hear most of what’s being said, but with every passing moment I keep wondering what place might have called.

“Awesome! Thank you so much! We’ll catch you next week then…goodbye!” A cheery smile curls around her face as she ends the call, putting her phone on the table.

“So…” I say while tuning my guitar ahead of the show. “Where we headed next week?”

She finishes tapping something into the tablet on her lap before answering, a teasing note in her voice. “You know that underground concert hall you always went to?”

My head snaps up and my eyes widen as I take in what she just said. I stare at her and she meets my eyes, a twinkle shimmering in her blue gems. “You…you got us into the Lava Lamp? The place Bigly Die played at?”

She smirks as she slowly nods, the biggest smile ever on a beak exploding onto my face as I nearly drop my guitar, quickly leaning it against the wall before jumping into the air. “Holy shit! A real proper concert hall! Oh my god, my band is gonna play for an actual fucking audience!”

Stella joins me as we spin in circles laughing like schoolgirls, my wings extending in all the excitement nearly clearing off the entire table. A fucking concert venue, somewhere we can really get our name out there. Holy shit! I need to get to work and tell the guys soon. This could be our big break, the thing we’ve been working so fucking hard for!

As the joy and shock of the moment calms down, we stare at each other giggling until I pull Stella in for a hug, wrapping her in my wings. “Oh my god, Stella, thank you so much! I knew I made the right choice when I brought you in.”

She blushes in my arms with a nervous happy laugh as she cautiously hugs me back. “N-no problem, Fang! All that time I spent networking to get into cons and finding rare anime is finally paying off for something really important for once! Now, you’re going to be the opening act for this. It’s a big venue so there are multiple bands lined up. I know warming up the crowd is not the most fun, but if you knock their socks off then no one will forget your name.”

She’s right. If I can get people talking about our band there it’ll spread all across town. Places will be pushing to book us instead of us having to hunt them down. It’ll be the biggest show we’ve done and the one that decides our future in this town. I let Stella loose from my grip before I pick up my guitar again and finish tuning it. I kind of just want this show at Dino Moe’s to be over with already now, but I’ve still got to be professional. I’ll have plenty of time to drag the guys over for practice afterward…holy shit, I can’t wait to tell them!

Anon has been out in the hall on a call of his own. He comes striding back into the room and walks up to me with a grin on his face. “Got a surprise for you when you are ready to go, Fang.”

I have just finished getting my stuff together, locking my guitar in the case before turning to him with a blissful smile. “I got one for you! Stella got us into Lava Lamp! A real concert hall, Anon!”

He looks stunned as he nods in surprised approval. “Well holy shit, that’s gonna make this even better then.”

Okay…now I need to know whatever the hell he just did. “Well? Are you gonna show or tell?”

“I’m gonna do both. Just get your stuff together and meet me downstairs, you two.”

He turns to leave, grabbing his jacket while Stella and I shrug at each other as we gather our things. I pull a sweater down over my stage outfit before locking the door behind us. “What do you think it is, Stella?”

She shrugs at me again. “I got nothing, Fang. He hasn’t told me anything about whatever this is that he’s done.”

We make our way downstairs to see whatever Anon has cooked up. He stands on the edge of the sidewalk, a wide grin on his face, a massive thing behind him covered in a black tarp. I don’t know what the fuck it is, but it certainly has my fucking attention as I stare at it in disbelief.

“No longer are you guys gonna need to walk to every show you go to. I pulled some strings and got us a real affordable lease on…this.” He grabs the tarp with both hands before pulling it away, revealing something that makes both me and Stella drop our jaws in shock.

It is a van. Not just any plain van but a van with our logo professionally painted on it. Lightning bolts are etched across the sides near the wheels with the words “Strands of Silver” prominently shining on both sides. The paint is dark black with a mix of deep silver tones that makes the whole thing look like liquid metal. It has a huge amount of room in the back for whatever we might need, even some preinstalled holders for our instruments and a tightly packed corner for Jacob’s drums. The seats are plush and comfortable, feeling like heaven on my palm as I run my hand across them. Four seats in the back and two up front, somehow with plenty of legroom even with how much space has been used up for gear.

I spend so much time just dashing around it, running my hands across the van like I need to make sure it is actually real and not some fever dream from lack of nicotine. Not only did we nail our first real venue, but we also have a fucking band van! I take a little more time to gush over the beautiful machine in front of me before nearly tackling Anon, clenching him in my arms as my wings envelop him.

“Oh my god, Anon! It’s really happening! Holy crap, I can’t wait to show the guys! Thank you so much! How in the world did you afford to set this up?” Tears of joy streak down my cheek as I nuzzle his face.

He gives me a kiss on the cheek, holding me close. “Got a deal with a local body shop. They loved the idea of helping out a new band, ’specially one from town. Only paid half as much as I would have otherwise and the lease on this van is something we can easily afford; you know, until you work up to a whole bus. I even got an extra seat in case Naser wants to hitch a ride to a show or something.”

“Holy shiiiiiit, we got a vaaaan!” I continue to gush about what he just got for us as I squeeze him tight, eventually peeling away to check out the van some more.

Stella taps me on the shoulder, looking down at her tablet. “It’s awesome for sure, Fang, but we don’t want to be late! Your show is only in two hours so let’s go get the guys!”

“Oh shit, you’re right!” I put my guitar in the back and hop in, Anon taking the driver’s seat and Stella sitting in the front. Anon peels out, picking up Benji and Jacob on the way. The guys have to be dragged into the van as they stare at it, completely overwhelmed. We make record time as Anon skids into a parking spot and lets us out. The good news is that the stage is already set up, minus our instruments—man, I’m getting used to this kind of treatment. The crowd has only just begun to trickle in as we set up and test our gear. They’ve cleared all of the tables, chairs, and even some of the booths somehow from the restaurant, making room for at least twice as many people as the last time I played here. As attendees continue to flow in, I shake my head and my eyes widen. Twice? Maybe more. “A lot more,” I mutter to myself.

There is barely a pocket of air left for anyone to breathe in as the audience fills up all the space. The mosh pit is the only area where a little room can be seen as the mob stares up at us, waiting for the show to begin. No time like the present! Jacob taps out the start as music begins to blare off the stage. Doesn’t matter where we end up, each time we give it our best. I am singing hard as I bob my head on stage, my hair flicking around my face with the energy of my performance. I’ve gained so much more volume now that my lungs aren’t completely fucked by smoking.

Benji is dancing on stage with his bass in hand as he glides across the floor while headbanging, crushing out thick beats that shake the whole restaurant. Jacob’s lightning-quick movements and precise strikes send out a sound this place can barely contain. They are loving every second of it, and the mosh pit is a mass of people throwing each other across the floor with fists pumping in the air. Our name has gotten around town and I am starting to see some regulars bashing about below.

I look out across the herd of colorful souls, a sly grin on my face as I wink to them, a finger gun salute to someone who’s been to every show since we started. In the back, I see something that nearly stops my heart cold. A purple triceratops stares up at me, unmoving. She has a short pile of curly hair on her head with a long flowing ponytail down the back, and is wearing a blue crop top with a pair of workout shorts. The three horns on her head, two on the top and one on her snout, are long and sharp. She is gazing up at me with a complicated expression, one of confusion, regret, sadness, and a hint of anger in her penetrating amethyst eyes.

There is no mistaking it. No one else could have that kind of intensity in such a small package. It is Trish…but what in the fuck is she doing here? I have to use all my willpower not to fuck up the song as I stare back at her, our eyes locking before I break our connection and turn my attention to a nearby group of fans as I belt out the next line. I’m not going to let her fuck this up like she did our band. I’m going to finish this show just as perfectly as the rest, and then I’m going to figure out what the hell she’s doing here.

Benji and I stand back-to-back as we end our show with a dual flourish across our instruments, leaning against each other before splitting off with one final strum across the strings. They all erupt in cheers, and I think I see a tooth fly by as we take a bow. As usual, the merch table doesn’t survive the tide as the fans clear it out in moments. I feel sorry for the poor guy trying to run the table; he can only just keep up with their demands.

Heading backstage, I hand my guitar to Anon as I pace around trying to figure out what to do. He takes notice instantly that something is up with me and he quickly sets the guitar in the case and comes over to me.

“What’s going on, Fang? You look like you just saw a fucking ghost.”

I keep pacing, my speed increasing along with the anxiety eating a hole in my chest, not stopping even as I try to talk. “Trish is out there. I saw her out there with everyone. She was watching me. What is she doing here? What the hell does she want now? Does she want to ruin this band, too? She fucking be—”

“Fang!” Anon stops me dead in my tracks and grips my shoulders tightly as I gasp in shock. “Calm down! You are going to tear apart your wings at this rate.”

I stare in horror as I see my hands grasping at my feathers, a couple on the floor. “Oh fuck, oh shit, oh god…no, I didn’t just do that. No no no…”

He presses my head against his chest, running his hand through my hair. “It’s okay, you only nicked a couple from the center. It didn’t leave any holes.”

I take a shaky breath as I calm myself down. I can’t go leaving myself in tatters again, not when we are so close. My breathing steadies as Anon lets me fall back from his grip. “Shit…thanks, Anon. Fuck…fuck. Okay, I need to deal with this. This isn’t going to just go away if I ignore her. That never worked before and it ended in disaster last time. Is she still out there?”

I turn to Stella, who is closest to the door. She peeks out into the main room and then turns to me with a careful nod. “She’s leaning against the wall; I think she’s the only one left. Fang, are you sure about this?”

Taking a deep breath, I clench my fists tight, being careful to not cut myself…I don’t need to add bleeding to my list of fucking problems right now. “I’m sure, Stella. You guys stay here, okay? If shit looks bad come out, but otherwise…just let me handle this.”

I cautiously open the door from the back; it creaks as it swings open. She is still right there, leaning silently against the back wall as she looks my direction. I can’t figure out what is going on with her but that look, it is something I’ve never seen. I stride across the room, and she finally pulls herself away from the wall. She walks toward me and we meet in the middle of the empty room.

For a moment, nothing is said. I study her face as she does mine. There is a large scar on her cheek that I don’t remember her having before. Her arms are at her sides; she isn’t taking an aggressive stance like she normally does, she’s just standing there waiting for me.

I close my eyes and call up whatever strength I have left in me. My eyes snap open and I stare straight at her, my fists still tightly clenched. “Why are you here, Trish? I thought we were done after you kept coming at me until I smacked you into that locker.”

Her eyes harden as she brushes her hand across the scar on her face. “Yeah, I remember that. I remember it every time I look in the mirror now, Fang. A constant piece of you I’ve carried ever since you disappeared.”

“What?!” I stutter as shock courses through my body. “You didn’t hit it that hard. You were just lying there on the floor sobbing, not bleeding! No way I could have done that.”

She frowns as she gets a little closer to me. “You hit me really, really hard, Fang. You have no idea how strong you were then…probably still are. You didn’t see the bleeding because you took off right after you did it. I caught the edge of the locker going down. It tore open my cheek…you could see bone. It took forever to heal.”

“Oh fuck…” I hold my hand over my beak, trembling. “I’m…I’m sorry, Trish. I just wanted you to stop. I didn’t want to hurt you, not like that…”

Suddenly, something changes. Her eyes soften, tears welling up in them as she struggles to hold eye contact. “Don’t fucking apologize!” She shakes as she points a finger at my chest. “It’s all I deserved! I wouldn’t leave you the fuck alone. You kept telling me to leave, but I wouldn’t…I couldn’t! Looking at you hurting so bad tore at me, Fang!” Tears start flowing down her face as her lips quiver. “I had caused nearly all of it, forcing you to adopt that persona, fucking shoving it down your throat that the only way we’d succeed is with my stupid fucking plans!”

All of her anger evaporates, leaving behind a struggling woman as she bites back her tears, fighting to speak. “I controlled you and made you do so much dumb shit because I thought I knew best. I was a fucking idiot! I didn’t know anything! I thought I had all these great plans to make our band rich and all I did was destroy the whole damn thing and lose my best friend.” She slams her foot to the ground, collapsing to her knees as her strength leaves her. “It’s all my fault. I ruined everything…our band…Reed…”

A spike of pain strikes me in the heart with the way she says his name. Not with any kind of hopeful joy, but of misery and regret. I kneel next to her, turning her face up to mine. “Trish, what happened to Reed?”

She sobs with her eyes clenched shut. “I…I ran him off, Fang. Just like I fucked up our band. I ruined everything with him. We…we had been going out for a while after you disappeared. It was great at first, but I tried to get him to stop doing drugs so much and get a real job and…and one night after a big fight, he jumped in his van and sped off. I haven’t seen him since.” A sob tears through her as her head sinks down. “I ruined it, Fang. I-I just wanted to keep him around longer, but I fucking pushed him too hard. I sit around now in our old apartment hating myself, wondering how I could have done better…how he woulda stayed if I hadn’t fucking tried to change him, j-just like I did to you.”

I pull Trish into my arms, cradling her as she weeps into my shoulder. Trish, for all her faults, still only really wanted what was best for the people she loves. Now she’s here, broken and alone, living a life full of regret.

“Trish…” She chokes back a sob as she looks up to me with her bloodshot eyes and I continue, “Trish, I’m sorry I left.” The color drains from Trish’s face as I hold a finger to her lips, stopping her before she can speak. “I shouldn’t have just left you there. Instead of facing my problems, I ran away from them. I could have talked it out with you instead of cutting you off at every turn and shoving you aside.”

“But I…I fucked up everything, Fang. I ruined our band and I nearly ruined your life!”

A heavy sigh passes my lips. This is going to suck but it needs to be said. “Yes, you did, Trish.” My honesty hits her right in the heart as she trembles in my grip. “But I let you. I was a fucking doormat who didn’t even try to fight back for myself. Anon had to do it for me. I just kept agreeing with you all the time and letting you guys decide my future. I’ve spent the past four years hating you…but I realized it’s my fault, too. I let you be controlling, and it turned you into a monster. You were never that way when we were growing up. So, Trish, I need to tell you something right now.”

“W-what is it, Fang?” Her eyes are locked on mine, fear and shame lurking inside.

“I forgive you, Trish. What we had growing up…I want that back. I want the old Trish. The confident, loving Trish that only ever stood by my side instead of trying to stand on top of me. If you can promise me that you’ll never, ever try to control my life again…I’m willing to give you another chance, to show me the Trish I knew.”

A shaky smile grows across her face as fresh tears fall and she nods like the weight of the world has been pulled from her shoulders. “Of course, Fang! I promise you…I’ll never do anything so fucking stupid ever again. I’ve lost too much thinking I had the right ideas. I don’t want to lose any more.”

“Good!” I stand up, pulling her up off the floor with a smile. “That’s all I need to hear. Now come on, wipe those tears off your face, Anon is in the back and you two need to kiss and make up.” I stop in my tracks for a second, pursing my lips. “Okay…no kissing, but still with the making up.”

“A-Anon is here? Holy shit, I didn’t expect to see him again after you two broke up.”

“Yeah, me neither but life is fucking weird. Never expected to see you ever again either.”

“Good point.”

I put my arm behind her back, guiding her backstage. Jacob and Benji are lounging in the corner with Stella as we enter the room. All eyes are on Trish. Anon walks over to us both with concern written on his face.

“Everything okay with you two?”

“Everything’s fine, Anon. But you two need to patch things up if she’s going to be hanging around us.” I lightly shove Trish forward and she stumbles before righting herself, staring up at Anon.

She struggles for a minute, trying to find the words to say to someone she not only hasn’t seen in ages, but also treated like shit when she did see him last. “I…I, umm…I’m sorry I was such a bitch to you, Anon. All the crap I put you through and that shit with the projector and doxing you…it was all fucked up.”

Anon smiles, clapping her on the shoulder. “Trish, I stopped caring about that shit ages ago. But I appreciate you apologizing all the same. If Fang is willing to talk to you again, then so am I. Come on…we’ve got some pizza back here, even a veggie one if you want to rip into it.”

“Oh, fuck yeah, I’m starving.” She licks her lips as Anon leads her to the table and she tears into the veggie pizza like a woman possessed. Anon leaves her there before returning to my side, pulling me close to him.

“I didn’t think you’d just let that go so easily, Anon. She put you through hell ever since she met you.”

He sighs, looking over at Trish as she shovels pizza into her mouth. “Look at her. Is there anything I could have done that was worse than what she’s already done to herself? Those wounds for me healed a long time ago, she’s been stuck with them ever since. If you can forgive her, so can I.”

He has a point. She looks tired, as if she hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in years. Whatever wrong she has done, life has punished her for it already. “I guess you are right. Think she’d make a good security guard for the band?”

He laughs as he shakes his head. “Fucking hell, Fang. Can’t literally hire everyone that comes back into your life, but…you do have a point. Not a man alive that could tussle with her and come out of it without holes. And the guys were talking about needing to hire someone for security earlier…can’t count on the venues always providing someone. Alright, she’s on the roster. I guess it’s good I added that extra seat in the van already…hate to try to fit another in there, goddammit, so no one else, okay?”

I snicker at him, giving him a quick kiss. “Thaaaaank you. But let’s head home, I’m fucking tired.” I lean into his shoulder, the adrenaline wearing off as the exhaustion takes its toll.

“Sure thing. Come on, everybody, let’s get going! Need to get your asses home before Fang passes out in my arms.”

With that, he gathers up everyone in the van. Trish chooses to walk home, not being too far from here anyway. We part with a hug as she jogs down the street, full of energy after I ask her if she wants to work for me; she nearly fucking tore my arm off shaking my hand. After quickly dropping everyone off at their homes, we finally get back to our apartment. I kick off my boots and immediately collapse onto the bed. I can worry about my shower in the morning…I’m fucking beat.

Anon settles in beside me, pulling the covers over us as we snuggle up together. That encounter could have gone a million different ways but ended up with me dragging another person along for the ride. I never thought I’d really forgive Trish, but she kept me from falling apart ages ago and I owe it to her to give her another chance. I smile as I drift off to sleep…just don’t gore Anon, Trish, he’s still a dweeb.