Page 63 of Harrison's Wedding

There’s silence in the studio, and a thick tension in the air. It’s not at all like the vibe was when Heather arrived.

“Are you going to be nice to her, Seb?” Hayden asks, breaking the silence.

Sebastian plucks random strings on his guitar, keeping his eyes trained firmly on it as he says, “For fuck’s sake, I’ve been around her before. Why are you so worked up?”

“Because it’s been good out here, and I don’t want anything to ruin that,” Hayden shrugs.

Sebastian looks up and meets his gaze for a few seconds before he sighs and nods. “Yeah, I can be a good boy. Don’t worry.”

“I don’t think anyone would ever accuse you of being good,” I joke while smirking at him.

Sebastian grins at me. “Only the women I sleep with.”

We all laugh, and the tension in the room is broken, which is a relief. We go back to working on the song we’ve been writing, and we’re playing through the bridge when Gabriel and Ariana appear in the control booth. I catch Hayden’s eye, carefully set my bass guitar down in its stand, and head out of the studio.

“Hi, Ariana,” I greet her.

“Hey, Harrison,” she smiles at me and comes over to me to give me a hug. “Hi, Hayden.” She hugs him as well.

He steps aside, and Ariana is faced with Sebastian. The tension that was present in the studio previously is back in full force, and I glance over at Gabriel, whose entire body is ramrod straight.

“Welcome to my home, Ariana. I’m glad you could come visit.” He gives her a tight smile.

It’s reminiscent of all of their other interactions on any of the times she’s been out with us since they started dating again. He’s not being outwardly hostile, however, which is something of an improvement.

“Thank you for having me. It really is lovely out here. I was telling Gabriel that I’d like to take a walk by the lake if we get a chance while I’m here,” she says politely.

Sebastian nods. “Yeah, it’s nice down there. We can probably take a break soon if you want to do that before it gets dark.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I don’t want to interrupt,” she objects.

“It’s fine, Ariana. I could do with a break, anyway. Hayden’s been working us to death; you know how he is,” I joke.

Hayden snorts. “Yeah, it’s all me. Did your boyfriend tell you he woke us up in the middle of the night to write a song?”

“He did tell me that. Apparently, it’s going to be the title of the album, too?” Ariana asks while laughing.

“It is,” Hayden confirms. He smirks at Gabriel, “But if he could keep his genius to daytime hours in the future, I’d appreciate it.”

Gabriel wraps his arms around Ariana from behind and complains, “They’re so mean to me, Ari. I’m glad you’re here. At least someone here loves me.”

“I don’t know, Gabe. It sounds like you’ve been running around here, waking people up and preventing them from getting their beauty sleep. That’s unacceptable behavior, really,” she scolds him.

Sebastian snorts. “Ouch. Even your girlfriend is on our side, Perfect Gabriel. Does that hurt?”

“Terribly.” Gabriel fakes a loud sniff, causing Sebastian, Hayden, and Ariana to all laugh.

I smile at them joking around because it’s a massive relief. It gives me so much hope. I wish Heather were here because maybe we could all just talk this shit out and move forward from the past.

“Okay, we really should finish this song,” Hayden says.

Sebastian nods and genuinely smiles at Ariana. “Yeah. Then, you guys can go explore the grounds if you want to.”

She smiles back at him, and Gabriel kisses her before he follows Hayden, Sebastian, and me back into the studio. We spend another hour finishing the song, ready to record it later this evening or tomorrow, before we take a break so Gabriel can spend some time with Ariana.

“Do you guys want to go for a swim?” Sebastian asks after the couple has left to explore his property.

“Sure.” I smile at him.

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