"Okay, I'm calling it! Casen's officially banned from caffeine before rehearsals," Rylan declared from his chair across the studio while Casen bound across the studio with a guitar pick between his teeth.
"You can't ban me from being alive," Casen chimed, nearly tripping over a cable, but recovered without missing a beat.
"He's been like this since noon," Enzo muttered, leaning back on the couch, one leg crossed over the other while he twirled his drumsticks through his fingers. "I swear somebody switched out his coffee for rocket fuel."
"Man, coffee fuels the artistic drive," Casen chirped, lifting his guitar to strum an uneven chord with a grin.
Lucian shook his head, not even looking up from his laptop. "Drive doesn't mean crashing through every wall in the studio," he muttered. "We don't own this place. If we break something, we have to pay for it."
"Yo, Luci, did Luca send over the demo tracks for Blueprint yet?" Rylan asked as he spun lazily in his chair. "I'm not seeing it in the folder."
"He said he'd be here to run through them himself," Lucian muttered, his brows furrowing as he checked the time on his phone. "He's late."
Everyone paused for a moment, even Casen, who was about to swipe one of Enzo's drumsticks as he tossed one into the air. Luca was late? Luca was never late. Not for rehearsals, not for sound checks, not for fan events, not even for the interviews he despised.
"Maybe he's stuck in traffic?" Casen suggested, stepping away from Enzo, who swatted at him. "Ya'know how LA gets. One accident and suddenly nobody knows how to drive, kind of like Dallas."
"Still," Lucian murmured, closing his laptop while glancing at the door. "This is not like him."
"He'll show." Enzo exhaled, reaching for his coffee on the floor. "He always does."
They slowly drifted back to their previous tasks. Casen was bouncing around while humming melodies, Rylan typing up a few mock-up choruses as a warm-up. Lucian stood, grabbing his coffee while checking his phone.
"Casen, if you keep bouncing like that, you're gonna dig a trench in the floor," Enzo muttered.
"I'm thinking," Casen retorted, still pacing around. "Thinking helps the creativity flow."
"Or it helps the ADHD win again," Rylan chuckled.
"He's fine." Lucian sighed. "The chaos is part of his process."
"See? Lucian gets it."
"I didn't say it was good chaos," Lucian murmured, glancing over the rim of his cup before returning to the console. He sifted through all the files and clutter before shaking his head. "Has anyone seen the lyric book for Blueprint?"
Enzo blinked, slowly getting up from the couch to help search for it.
"Did Luca take it the other night?" Casen inquired.
"He said he needed to rewrite a few things so it'd flow better," Rylan added.
Lucian shook his head again, neatly stacking the pages near Rylan's work station. "He gave it back to me yesterday… I swear I left it over here."
Rylan joined the search, failing as he looked toward Luca's empty chair. "You think he got caught up with the label again?"
"Maybe," Enzo sighed, his brow furrowing. "But even then, he'd still text."
Lucian sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alright. We'll just start prepping them. Let's check the-"
"Found it," Enzo interrupted, tugging the black lyric book from beside Luca's monitor. "It was mixed in with his other books."
Lucian blinked, then took it from him, sighing with relief. "He was right. We really need to label the spines," he muttered.
"Hey, there's a second one here with a Blueprint Rebellion label on the front." Enzo held up another book with an engraved silver L centered in the band's logo. Lucian blinked, slowly taking it before flipping it open.
The pages weren't what he expected. Sure, the original songs were there, but there were additional verses and entire rewrites of sections. Notes were written in margins, pointing out vocal cues with additional harmonies and transitions.
Enzo leaned over his shoulder, blinking at the pages Lucian flipped through. "Wait… Are those new verses?"
Lucian didn't respond as his fingers traced Luca's neat handwriting.
"What's it say?" Rylan's curiosity got the better of him, hopping up from his chair to step behind them and look over Lucian's other shoulder. "...Holy shit."
"What's going on?" Casen asked, stopping mid-motion of setting his guitar down.
Rylan pointed at the lyric book in Lucian's hands, grinning. "Luca rewrote half the album."
"He what?"
Lucian flipped through the pages, reading over everything that had been added in. "It's like…"
"Like he wrote himself in," Enzo finished.
For a moment, everyone just stood in silence, staring at the pages. Enzo eventually took the lyric book when Lucian offered it and flipped through all the pages. "Hey, Ry… What was the name of that song Luca blew up over the other night?"
"Oh, the title he had written?" Rylan blinked, sitting in his chair with his head tilted back. "Crossroads, I think?"
Enzo gave a curt nod, then turned the book to show the group what was on the pages. "It appears he added it to the track. At least in here."
Lucian's brows furrowed as he walked back over from where he was about to sit down. "He added it?"
Enzo checked the verses, nodding at the notes in the margins while mouthing the lyrics, "It doesn't seem completely done, but… It fits the vibe."
Casen tilted his head, flopping down on the couch. "Okay. So, is he coming back?"
"All the additional verses are in one of his personal journals," Rylan pointed out, "It could just be something he's been doing the whole time."
"Well, if he is coming back, what if we make a mini album?"
Enzo raised a brow, looking over. "You mean after we finish Blueprint?"
"Yeah!" Casen nodded vigorously. "Like a mini album."
Rylan snorted. "Like the time you tried to write a song about your dog?"
"Hey, man, don't knock Bark Symphony until you've heard it!"
Lucian shook his head, chuckling faintly. "We'll talk about it later. For now, let's get prep done."
After about two hours, Lucian lifted his head when the door clicked, and Luca stepped in. He was dressed in tailored black slacks and an open-collar shirt with his hair swept back. For a moment, everyone stared at each other.
"What?" Luca paused, blinking as he processed what he'd walked into, then grimaced. "Shit. There was a rehearsal I forgot about, wasn't there?"
"Yup." Lucian nodded, then lifted the lyric book. "You left this."
Luca's eyes narrowed faintly, slowly taking it from Lucian. "Blueprint Rebellion is already complete."
"You've been rewriting the album, man. You can't just do that and not say anything."
"For the record," Casen chimed in, "I like the rewrite."
"It's not a rewrite for the album," Luca muttered, brushing a hand over the cover of the book. "It's just something that I do."
"Lu, I have a question," Enzo's voice got his attention. "Are you thinking about coming back?"
"Honestly," Luca sighed, looking down at the book in his hands before his gaze flicked up toward the vocal booth for a split second. "I don't know."
Lucian looked between the book and Luca's expression before walking past to the console. "Hey, Lu, how about a test run?"
Luca blinked, lifting his head to look at Lucian's back. "What?"
"Just one test run," Lucian offered a smile over his shoulder, "Just to see if you're feeling it."
"No pressure." Enzo tapped Luca on the shoulder, causing Luca to hesitate.
He was quiet, staring at the book in his hands before finally giving a small nod. "Alright."
Rylan's eyes widened, abruptly standing up as a grin spread across Casen's face. "Okay! Let's do it!"
Enzo had a faint smile cross his features as Luca passed through the door into the vocal booth. Luca's movements were fluid as he set everything up, pulling his headphones over his ears as he adjusted his mic.
Casen bounced from foot to foot, giving Lucian a thumbs up before turning to look at Luca. "Hey, Luc," he grinned, "Can you test the mic with Glass Cathedral?"
Luca blinked, giving a small sigh. Lucian chuckled, "I'll put it on for you."
Luca rolled his eyes, tapping the mic as the song played through the speakers of his headphones. He silently counted, tapping his foot before his verse hit. The moment he began singing, everyone stopped what they were doing to listen.
Casen tugged at Rylan's sleeve, grinning as he bounced up and down. Rylan chuckled, pulling his sleeve from Casen. "Man, I know we've said it before, but hearing you again? That vocal range is mad unfair."
Casen's head bobbed up and down. "Just as you start to forget how good he is, he goes and does that."
"You never forget something like that…" Enzo leaned on the desk, looking over his shoulder at Luca, who was staring at them.
He looked between them all before his gaze settled on Lucian. "What's with that expression?"
Lucian chuckled, running his hand over his face as he leaned back in the chair. "It's just… I missed that voice."
Luca blinked, completely caught off guard, as he tried to think of something to retort, but nothing came to mind. Enzo gave a light chuckle, shaking his head.
"Well, levels are good," Lucian cleared his throat, "You good with trying out the rewrite for Mutiny?"
Luca hesitated, glancing between his journal and the mic. He stepped back for a moment, staring at the ceiling before nodding slowly. "Well… Get in here before I change my mind."
Enzo and Lucian both moved on instinct, with Rylan and Casen following them in. Lucian stepped next to Luca, tapping his shoulder, grinning. "Let's do it."