How Green Becomes Wood

"I... I wouldn't want to," he ducked his head down, once again unable to look at any of them, "you know, get in the way. 'Cause it's important to practice the way you'll perform. Don't wanna take up too much of your time when you're preparing for a gig."
 
"Oh, don't worry. We'll take time to do official practice, too," Alec assured him. "But it's fun to add something new now and then! Like a friend who gets you started doing some kind of improv stuff. I've never done that before, but Peter's been begging us to give it a try."

"Not so scary, is it?" Peter asked Alec.

"No, not so scary," Alec agreed with a chuckle.
 
"I thought it was really exciting to get to improv with a band," Milo admitted, drinking water a bit too quickly so he didn't need to talk. They made him do a lot of talking, didn't they, "I'm glad that, um, my being here made you finally need to try it."
 
"It was great!" Alec grinned. It still was not his favorite, but it had been interesting to try. He checked the time. "Shall we do another round of songs and then call it good for tonight?"
 
"It's by Greg Kihn, and while we can get along okay without the bass when we sing it, the bass truly carries that song!" Alec told him fervently.

Peter brought it up on his phone and played the first verse for Milo. "It's a simple tune for the bass and the drum, but it's pretty necessary. Also, it's pretty much the only song he," he nodded to Xander, "will sing when we're doing a gig."
 
"Really?" Milo asked, glancing at Xander, "He must really like it, then." After listening to the verse Milo nodded, certain he could handle the baseline well, but waited for someone who actually knew the song to count them off so they started from a good foundation.

At first, he focused really hard on what he needed to do, but after feeling pretty good about what his role was, he looked around at the other boys, but then, when a thought came into his head, he sharply turned his head away, although he didn't miss a beat. For really the first time, he was glad he had stayed, instead of going to be with his mom. But it made him feel guilty. He still wanted to be with his mom so badly it kept him up some nights, and he didn't know how to balance these two different feelings. One day, he prayed, his mom would be allowed to come back for him, but it'd be much harder to leave, now, which is really what he had been afraid of all along.
 
Xander almost missed his cue becuase he hadn't expected to have to actually sing, but when Alec gave him a hopeful look, he rolled his eyes and started singing.

We had broken up for good just an hour before
Uh-uh-uh, uh-uh-uh-uh-uh
And now I'm staring at the bodies as they're dancing 'cross the floor
Uh-uh-uh, uh-uh-uh-uh-uh
And then the band slowed the tempo, and the music gets you down
Uh-uh-uh, uh-uh-uh-uh-uh
It was the same old song with a melancholy sound
Uh-uh-uh, uh-uh-uh-uh-uh

They don't write 'em like that anymore!
They just don't write 'em like that anymore!

When they finished, Peter picked the next song, and he chose a song in Afrikaans called "Kaptein, Kaptein," by a band with a name nearly as long as he was tall!

Kaptein, kaptein, waarheen ry die trein?
Duiwel fluister in my oor.
Ek gaan die plot verloor.
Kaptein, kaptein, waarheen ry die trein?
Donker maak my bang,
ek wil liewer huis toe gaan.

Alec got the next choice, and he chose "I'm Still Standing," and made full use of his piano for that.

You could never know what it's like
Your blood like winter, freezes just like ice
And there's a cold, lonely light that shines from you
You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use
And did you think this fool could never win?
Well look at me, I'm a-coming back again
I got a taste of love in a simple way
And if you need to know while I'm still standing
You just fade away

And, finally, it was Milo's turn to pick the final song.
 
Oh. They were all singing. Did they expect him to sing too? Would it be weird if he chose not to sing? He scratched helplessly at his arm, not knowing what he should do or what the least weird choice was. "Um," he mumbled, almost throwing out Smells like Teen Spirit because he trusted it was a song everybody knew, but then, in his near-panic, said, "We could do Fragments from the Decade by Death Cab," because he knew it had everybody's instruments.

Although the original song didn't start with bass leading in, he felt it was necessary to set the tone for everyone who may not have known it, and given the songs they had picked, he wouldn't be surprised if they didn't know it. His mind kept saying, you can do it instrumental. Just do it instrumental. Nobody will care if you just do it instrumental.
And yet, when it came to it:

Fragments from the decade are splayed out on your floor
Like hundreds of locked doors
There's a story that you're trying to find
But the pieces don't fit together in your mind

Before he even knew what he was doing, he sang the melancholy, pleading, lonely song, and he didn't really have time to panic about it, it was just... right. It was what the song needed.

Your mother was a drunkard
Your father was not a saint
Your sister lacked restraint
And in photos you were always staring through the lens
To some distant place you would rather have been

He couldn't sing half as well as Alec could, but he felt every word, clearly, although he couldn't look anywhere but at the floor as he sang.

Days are lonely and long
Walking in place where you don't belong
Here on paved native lands
Time disappears from the palms of your hands
 
The others looked at Milo, shocked he was singing, but they tried not to make a big deal of it as they played out the song. When the song came to an end, they sat in silence for several minutes.

"Not exactly a cheery note to end on, but that's a fair dinkum song, mate," Peter said, breaking the silence first. "Well done."

"Yeah, it was very good," Alec agreed. He stood and stretched. "We should start packing up and head out before it gets too late."

"A good idea. Thanks for coming, Milo. I hope you'll come around again," Peter told Milo earnestly.
 
The longer the silence went on, the more Milo scrunched down, going from staring at the floor to staring at nothing. Had he done something wrong? He must have made the wrong choice. Nobody had sat silently after any of the other songs with singing. When Peter finally spoke, he shrugged, feeling awkward and mortified. "I don't really know any cheery songs. I'm sorry." He ruffled his own hair before sliding off his stool and going to put his bass away, "It was cool. I liked it. I don't want to get in your way too much though."
 
Peter chuckled as he helped pick up the random things that had made their way scattered about the room. "You are the least in-the-way person I have ever met. I promise you, you'll be fine!"

"How about I or Xander just let you know when we're thinking of a more relaxed, goof-off session, and you can decide if you want to come or not?" Alec suggested, folding down the case of his instrument.
 
"Yeah, that'd be cool," Milo nodded, "if you tell me when you're not too, you know, busy doing really band stuff. I think that'd be good. Occasionally." He snapped the case shut and stood, picking it back up. "This was fun." He took a breath to try to convince himself to look up at them, but wasn't brave enough to. He had enjoyed himself, he really had, but he was also so, so embarrassed.
 
Xander glanced around. "Okay, looks like that's everything. Alec, you head out first so I can find what you're going to tell me you lost when you get to the car."

Alec made a face at him. "You don't have to say it like that," he grumbled. "I've gotten better." But he did head out, and a second later, Xander found his notes on what songs he wanted to play at the next gig.

"See you later!" Peter said with a wave as he headed out.

"Ready to head home?" Xander asked Milo as he made a final sweep of the place.
 
"Yeah, I'm ready to go." Milo replied, finally daring himself to look up again, now that it was just them. "Thanks for the, um, ride. I bet my grandparents really appreciate it, it makes things a lot easier on them."
 
"Not a problem, I like driving," Xander told him. He turned and headed out, holding the door for Milo and making sure everything was closed up behind them. He opened the van door and slid his guitar in before leaving Milo to get in while he went around to drive.
 
Milo followed him out and climbed into the car, looking out the window. He felt weird, and he knew he was reading too much into everything, and he was trying to muscle the overthinking out of his head, but after they had been driving for a little while, he said, "I'm sorry I didn't pick a happier song to end on."
 
"It wouldn't have been you if you'd tried to force yourself to chose a happy song," Alec told him. "I mean, it was a sad song to end on, but that dude picked a breakup song."

"The Breakup Song," Xander corrected.

Alec rolled his eyes. "Yes, The breakup song. So, you're in good company."
 
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