Meant to Marry Me

After a restless night, Bree climbed out of bed and got ready to go out with the band. She hadn't slept well because she kept thinking about what had happened with Zach. How would she be able to face him again? Trying to put it out of her mind, she went about taking a shower and getting dressed, but no matter how hard she tried, she kept going over the scene from last night in her mind.

When she met the others downstairs, Cat announced, "Zach sent me a text earlier and said he's decided to stay in today. He's not feeling well, and he wants to make sure he doesn't get sick before the show tonight." "That's too bad. What's wrong with him?" Griffin asked.

Cat had her phone in her hand and scrolled through some texts before finding the right one and scanning it. "He says he's getting a sore throat."

"Thank goodness he doesn't sing," Dominic joked. No one else really seemed to think was funny.

"I hope he feels better by the time we have to go to the venue," Bree noted, but she was pretty sure Zach wasn't actually sick at all. She felt the muscles in her stomach tighten, and she started to feel a little unwell herself.

The remaining band members caught an Uber and headed to the zoo. The guys didn't particularly want to go there, but Cat had insisted it would be fun, so they headed to Forest Park to see the animals. The consensus was that most of them wanted to see the famous Gateway Arch, too, but Bree had talked them into waiting until Saturday for that because she wanted Trent to be able to go with them.

They were standing near the gorilla enclosure when Cat tugged on her arm. The others were far enough away that they couldn't hear. "So?" the keyboardist asked. "What happened?"

"What are you talking about?" Bree asked. The situation with Zach hadn't slipped her mind exactly, but she wasn't sure if Cat was talking about that or something else.

"You know. When Zach came over last night. Something must've happened. I seriously doubt he's suddenly sick."

"No, uh, nothing happened," she shrugged, wondering how Cat knew he'd come to see her. She'd still been out clubbing at the time. Had Zach told her? Bree didn't bother to ask. Instead, she just assumed he must have and said, "He just came to tell me he was thinking about quitting, about joining another band, that's all."

"Really?" she arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at Bree, and she felt like Cat was looking into her mind to see that she wasn't being completely honest. "It just seems odd to me that he didn't want to come with us today."

Bree didn't know what to say. It wasn't Cat's business, that was for sure. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe he doesn't want to hang out with us if he's going to join another band."

"I can't believe you'd even consider letting him walk away." Cat shook her head and folded her arms. "We need him."

"I can't make him stay. Believe me, I want him to. I told him that." Again, that wasn't the whole truth. Bree wasn't sure if she wanted him to stay in the band or not after what had happened the night before. She definitely wouldn't feel as comfortable with him now as she had before he'd kissed her.

"Well, I think it's a mistake, especially when it's clear that you like him."

"I don't like him. Not like that."

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"You're not being honest with me--or yourself." Cat shook her head one more time and walked away with a huff.

Bree stared out at the gorillas for a few moments, trying to gain control of her emotions. She could feel tears stinging her eyes, and she didn't want the others to see her cry. Cat could be so mean sometimes. She'd just started noticing in the last few weeks. It seemed the more attention the band got, the more the keyboardist showed her true colors. Bree didn't like it.

Bree wasn't even sure why she wanted to cry. The emotions she felt tumbling through her were a mixture of sadness, embarrassment, and the shame she'd felt the night before when she had to call Trent to tell him what had happened. She'd been so sure he'd be upset at her, that she'd let him down.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

"Are you okay?" Chase asked, coming up beside her. "I know that the gorillas are majestic creatures, but I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone cry over them before."

His comment made her chuckle, and Bree felt better for the moment. "I'm fine. Just... a bit of a misunderstanding."

"Yeah? Cat stirring up trouble?"

"No, nothing like that," though she wasn't sure her statement was true. The last thing she needed was someone in the band who liked to stir things up. Cat seemed to be doing a little more of that than necessary. "Well, we're all pissed that Zach wants to quit, but no one blames you."

She stared at him for a moment. "You know about that?"

"Sure. Everyone does. He tried to say it was because he liked the music The Gunslingers play better than our stuff, but we all know it's because he has a crush on you, and it's unreciprocated."

"The last thing I want is to break the band up," Bree assured him. "But I can't jeopardize my relationship with Trent either."

"We all understand that," Chase said with a solid nod.

"Not all of you," Bree said under her breath. The moment it came out, she wished she hadn't.

"Oh, so Cat thinks you should try to get Zach to stay through, what? Breaking up with Trent?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Bree said with a shrug. "It doesn't matter."

"Does she think you should try to date them both? Wicked." He must've decided that he'd figured it out because he was shaking his head in disapproval. "Well, the rest of us don't feel that way, Bree. Maybe... we need to look for a new keyboard player."

Bree bit her tongue. She wasn't about to agree with him out loud, not right now, anyway. But she was beginning to think the same thing. It was a pity that her dream band had only lasted a month or so, but if she had to make some changes to keep playing music, then that's exactly what she'd do.