Chapter 51: Exposure Therapy

Following up from their successful advancement through the knockout rounds, Owen found himself making a slight detour before heading back home with his buddies, an action that had them notably curious.

-

{Silver Comets | 1st, October 2016 | Act 5 | Scene 3 | Take 1}

Parking Simon’s truck before a certain establishment, Luke remarked, a realization dawning upon he and the others;

"Hospital? Don’t tell me..."

"Yep," Owen simply nodded and then added, a familiar hint of dark humor in his tone;

"Needed my monthly shot of exposure therapy."

"That’s not how exposure therapy works." Alex remarked, seemingly used to their friend’s shenanigans.

"Neither is forming a band with you guys, but here we are." he casually shrugged.

That earned a few chuckles as the quartet stepped into the establishment.

As the familiar sight of fluorescent lights, polished floors and the scent of antiseptic greeted Owen, he led his buddies through its halls with a practiced familiarity, occasionally greeting the overworked nurses and exhausted doctors that walked past.

Eventually, they arrived before a private ward.

For a moment, Owen paused, his bandmates watching as he took in a deep breath.

Then he pushed open the door.

Save for the steady beeping of the monitor, the room was quiet as always, the gentle rise and fall of a sleeping man’s chest a familiar sight to him, but not the trio behind him.

For a moment, nobody spoke, the atmosphere suddenly heavy.

And though they’d known before, it became even more apparent why Owen pushed himself so hard.

Soon, Owen spoke;

"Guys,"

"Meet my Pops. Henry Winters."

The three musicians glanced between him and the unconscious man as he said that, unsure of what to do at first.

Then Simon awkwardly raised a hand.

"Uh... hi, Mr. Winters." he waved slightly.

"Pretty sure he can’t see that." Luke deadpanned.

"I know." Simon retorted.

"Pretty sure he can’t hear that." Luke doubled down.

"I know." Simon countered again.

"Then why’d you do it?" Luke demanded.

For a second, Simon kept quiet. Then he let out a sigh and came clean;

"I... panicked."

Luke snorted, a thin smile on his lips as Alex immediately looked away to hide a smile. Owen on the other hand chuckled at their interaction, the tension in room easing ever so slightly.

Stepping closer to the bedside though, Owen rested a hand on the rail and spoke to his comatose father;

"Thought I’d introduce you,"

"You know, in case we become rich and famous." a warm smile traced his lips as his gaze lingered on the sleeping man.

Then he grinned as he casually gestured toward his bandmates;

"Would be pretty awkward if you woke up one day and had no idea who these idiots were."

"Hey!" Luke protested, then added with folded arms;

"Speak for yourself."

"He’s talking about you specifically." Simon clarified, a smug gloat on his features as Alex nodded in agreement.

"Ref!" Luke called out to no one in particular, prompting the room to be filled with a light laughter.

Then, after gathering themselves, Luke looked towards the bed, subconsciously running a hand through his hair;

"You raised a good kid, old man."

The words had escaped before he could stop them, one Simon and Alex bobbed their head in agreement to.

Owen on the other hand blinked. Then he looked away, pretending not to be affected as a faint blush formed on his cheeks.

Instead, he cleared his throat, his friends looking to each other with a knowing smile as he spoke;

"Anyway, meet Simon. He keeps pretending he’s not the backbone of this band,"

"Meet Alex. He’s secretly the most responsible person here," he gestured to the next friend.

"Meet Luke..." Owen paused, and then he frowned, a mock confusion on his features;

"We’re still figuring out what Luke does."

"Now you’re just trolling me. I... I... provide emotional support." Luke vaguely gestured in mock exasperation, his hands dropping to his sides.

"You threw a drumstick at me yesterday." Alex slowly turned his head, his eyes telling.

"You were nagging at me!"

The ward was once again filled with laughter, the atmosphere now completely relaxed.

Looking around the room though, at his old man sleeping on the bed, at his three idiots standing nearby with warm smiles on their features... his gaze couldn’t help but reflect a certain realization.

Silver Comets wasn’t just a band for him anymore. They were his family.

The strange kind... the dysfunctional kind... the kind that drove each other insane at intermittent intervals... but family all the same.

Which was why, turning back toward his father,

"We made it through the knockout rounds," he smiled softly and said, a hint of pride appearing on his features.

"And we’re gonna win this thing, Pops." his voice carried a quiet certainty, one born from equal parts assuredness and hope.

"And when you wake up..." he placed a palm on the man’s hand and squeezed it gently;

"...I’ll introduce you properly to the stars we’d have become."

"Cut!"

-

Checking the cameras, his scrutiny dialed up to eleven, everyone seemed to hold their breaths as Harrison reviewed the shot.

As it was yet again, another emotionally rich scene in the movie, the man was taking no chances in ensuring it was the best it could possibly be.

Then, roughly after five minutes, Harrison spoke, his expression all smiles.

"That was a perfect take. Good job, guys." he gave them a thumbs up.

Upon hearing that, there was a visible relief in the room, both for the actors themselves and the crew filming the movie.

"Alright, that’d be all from you guys today," the director gestured towards the quartet.

"As for Jonathan," he gestured towards the actor playing Owen’s father and said;

"I’ll need you to hang around for a couple minutes so we can film one of the last scenes in the movie."

For as much as Harrison liked to film scenes in a chronological order, he unfortunately had to make compromises every once in a while.

Especially since their permit to film at the hospital was set to end today. He also had to admit that it was the more efficient play here, so he wasn’t particularly bothered by the need to do so.

As for Niall and the gang, they simply made their way out of the room as they waved everyone goodbye.

*

A week and a half later, the crew had found themselves at the Griffith Observatory, specifically one of the open-air balconies offering a skyline view of Los Angeles.

Today, they were to film one of the scenes before the movie’s last performance, a scene where Silver Comets would discuss their plans for the future were they to win the Battle of The Bands.

Obviously, a whole lot of scenes leading up to that particular scene had also been shot.

For starters, Leeroy whom was rather uncertain of a possible victory over Silver Comets would steal their song by sneakily recording it during one of their rehearsal sessions.

As for the unaware Silver Comets, they ended up discussing a couple things after said session, especially a song Owen had been writing over the course of the movie, one he’d written for his father whom was in a coma.

And although Simon, Alex and Luke inform him that it’s a really great song that has a lot of potential, Owen mentions that it’s not a song he believes he has the courage to perform... especially since he wasn’t even certain his father would actually ever recover from his comatose state.

Still, considering they had been listening to it frequently over the course of their many sessions throughout the movie as Owen improved upon it, it had ultimately resulted in them knowing the lyrics by heart... though the tune was still a work in progress.

In any case, upon being contacted by the competition coordinators that they’d be required to dress the part for their final performance, one the record label hosting the competition had so generously agreed to cover the expenses for, the quartet soon found themselves in one of the posher areas in LA.

And after settling on the attires they wanted, they had opted to visit the nearby observatory before they went back to their familiar neighborhood.

That said, as the crew were making last minute checks to their equipment, Sam, Archie and Lucas currently engaged in a mundane discussion with Harrison, Niall whom was standing a fair few meters away was also engaging in a conversation with his agent whom had taken some time out of his busy schedule to check in on the filming progress.

"So, Barry..." he began, to which he then asked;

"What really happened to him?"

Arms gently folded across his chest, Victor glanced over to his talent whom had arched a curious brow.

Then he spoke, his words measured;

"He got framed for sexual assault because he refused to submit to the whims of a powerful elite in Hollywood..."

"Got the life imprisonment sentence, if you’ll believe me. Then he hanged himself ’cause he couldn’t live with the stigma." Victor added, a small sigh escaping his lips.

"And I’m guessing I remind you of him?" Niall finally keyed into the reason his agent had glanced over to him at the restaurant a couple weeks back.

"Yeah," the agent simply nodded, and then added, a thin smile on his lips;

"Though I will admit you’re bound to be even more rebellious than Barry ever was. You’ve got some serious guts to want to challenge an already established system, Niall."

In response, the man in question simply chuckled, a comfortable silence shared between them. Then, Victor broke the silence a minute later;

"The only problem with that, is that you’ll make a lot of enemies you probably won’t even know,"

"Especially from the elites," he briefly glanced over to Niall and then continued;

"Elites who are envious. Elites who are insecure. Elites who can’t stand the idea of someone being as influential as they are to the masses, especially if they’re of noble character,"

"You’re bound to be a serious threat to them if you become successful so they’ll give it their all to either ruin you before you do, or drag you down at the peak of your success,"

"That’s the price anyone who’s decided to be different from the norm in Hollywood usually has to pay." he concluded, and then turned to face Niall, a knowing smile on his lips;

"But you probably already knew this, didn’t you?"

"Yeah. I do," Niall lightly pushed off the wall he was leaning on as Harrison called for everyone on set to take their positions.

"But what’s greatness without a little challenge every now and then, eh?" he simply said to his agent with a casual shrug of his shoulders and a genuinely reserved smile on his lips.

"Also, I’ve got you, don’t I?" Niall gestured to the agent with a cocksure grin, his brows arching similarly as he walked off.

Shaking his head in slight amusement, Victor simply mirrored his energy;

"That you do, Niall. That you do."

Soon enough, the crew began filming the scene. And as Victor watched it happen, he couldn’t help but look forward to the next couple months.

Afterall, [Silver Comets] would also be rounding up production in the coming days.

Advance Chapters are available on Patreon!

/Caer07