Page 26 of Every Shattered Note
There’s a pause.Like the moment before a storm, when the air thickens but no one dares mention the sky.
I roll my shoulders, grip the mic.“Let’s run it.‘At Last.’One verse, then we break if it sucks.”
We start.
It clicks almost instantly.Like muscle memory laced with something deeper.Like the sound of three people who’ve played in every type of venue, under every kind of pressure, and somehow still know how to breathe in sync.
Barret’s timing is clean, instinctive—his sticks snapping into rhythm like his body never forgot.Alec finds the harmony without glancing up, his voice slipping beneath mine like it belongs there.And me—my voice settles into the melody with quiet certainty.No strain, no catch.Just sound.Rosie hums beneath my fingers, her strings resonating like she remembers what this used to feel like.
We could use Roderick.Dead Moth Parade’s old frontman.Our fourth, if we’re being honest.But he’s deep in another life now—out east with Kit, buried in bottle feeds and tractor repairs, trying to soothe baby Arlo through another brutal round of teething.That small farm they bought is far enough from the noise to feel like another planet.He’s where he needs to be.This—right now—is just the three of us.And somehow, that’s enough.
There’s something about it—a pulse beneath the notes.Just us, slipping back into the groove we thought we’d lost.
Rosie hums in my hands.My voice doesn’t splinter like it has these past few weeks.It finds the groove and settles into it, slow and sure, like it remembers how this used to feel.
Alec adjusts a dial mid-harmony without missing a beat.“Well, damn.I forgot you could still sing when you’re not wallowing.”
Barret snorts.“Yeah, and I forgot we actually used to enjoy this shit.”
I shake my head, fighting a smile.“Don’t get sentimental on me now.We’ve still got ‘The Chicken Dance’ to conquer.”
But something’s different.It's in the way the sound fills the room—not perfect, but alive.Present.Like maybe we’re not pretending this time.
Barret stops after the chorus, dropping his sticks onto the snare.“You’re really doing this for a wedding planner?”
“Not for,” I say, throat still buzzing.“Because of.”
Alec raises his brows, leaning forward like he’s heard something he wasn’t supposed to.“She must be something.”
“She’s all fire and deadlines,” I mutter, tugging my fingers through my hair.“But she makes things happen.She makes people show up.”
Barret grins like he’s already too far ahead of me.“You like her.”
“I barely know her.”
“Exactly.”
I look down at the next song—“Wonderful Tonight.”My fingers shift into position before I’ve even thought about it.E minor.G.D.C.It's there in my hands before it’s fully in my head.
We run through the set in order, then again out of order, like we’re stress-testing it.The guys argue about tempo, about whether “Truly Madly Deeply” belongs before or after “Because You Loved Me.”
By the time the clock hits noon, the list is final:
Midnight Vinyl – Wedding Set (Draft 1)
At Last
Wonderful Tonight
Because You Loved Me
Maneater
Sweet Caroline
The Chicken Dance
Don’t Stop Believin’
