“They’d fought for so long I was relieved at first—until they started trying to get information out of me and Kyle, using us like pawns in their never-ending battle. They even wanted us to testify that the other parent was ‘unfit’ to get custody of us, too.”

“That’s horrible.” All these years, Kyle had never mentioned any of this. Though, in retrospect, he’d never mentioned any of his family except Jared. I could understand why.

Jared trailed his fingers along the keyboard, staring at nothing while he spoke. “When I wouldn’t play their games they focused on Kyle, and it really messed with his head. He started doing drugs, he was sent to therapy—it was bad. I was supposed to go to Columbia but switched to UCLA at the last minute and rented us a place so Kyle could live with me while he finished high school. He got better once my parents gave him some space, and I think being in the band helped a lot, too. Since then it’s just been the two of us, except for the obligatory holiday dinners with one of our parents.”

No wonder the brothers were so close. I’d never known Kyle had such a dark past—he’d always seemed like the most balanced one in the band. I placed my hand over Jared’s, entwining our fingers together. “You’re a good brother.”

He was silent for a moment and then cleared his throat. “So have you started applying to grad schools yet?”

“Not yet. But now, with the show…I don’t know.” I removed my hand from his. My future used to be crystal clear and I’d known exactly what I wanted and how to get there, but joining the band had changed everything. Something had shifted in me over these past few weeks. I still wanted to write movie scores someday, but I wanted to focus on being the guitarist for Villain Complex, too. If we managed to win the show, there’d be tours and albums to record, and I didn’t know if there was room in that life for grad school, too. But I didn’t want to quit the band or leave behind this new part of myself. Or Jared.

“If you wanted to focus on school, we’d understand,” he said, as though he could read my thoughts. “I mean, we’d all cry and eat a lot of ice cream and listen to ‘Everybody Hurts’ by REM for days, but we’d eventually find some way to keep going.”

“Good to know.” I leaned against him, his body warm and comforting at my side.