Boundless

Chapter 2

Wasn't it beautiful when you believed in everything and everybody believed in you?

–Innocent, Taylor Swift

Sebastian Daniels felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, signalling a receiving text. He ignored it and tried paying attention to his band manager, Mark, who was reading out headlines off his tablet.

"After a year, jury is still out on whether Sebastian Daniels is innocent." They—Sebastian, Robert and Jordan—were sitting in their studio, discussing their next plan of action.

Sebastian was pretty sure Mark and the rest of the world had a sole goal in their mind—to bring down Sebastian Daniels. But Sebastian Daniels wouldn't ever show he was affected. Because his sole goal was to be what others' expected him to be. That was why Sebastian didn't tell the public to mind their own f*****g business. That was why Sebastian didn't tell Mark that he didn't do it. That was why Sebastian didn't throw the chair he was sitting on. That was why Sebastian just shrugged in response to Mark's not-so-subtle inquiry. And that was why all Sebastian muttered was a quiet, "Anything else?" when Mark didn't budge from his position.

"The Bad For You trio caught drunk in the LA bar again. Are the bad boys cradling a broken heart?" Mark read out monotonously. "No albums in ages. What happened to Bad For You?"

Sebastian stared at Mark and mumbled in the same bored voice anyone would hear him speak in, "Tell us something we don't know." 

Mark groaned, slamming his tablet on the table, frustrated. 

With a lot of effort, Sebastian removed his stare from Mark and stitched it to the tablet on the table. He sighed and said, "Careful, or it might break."

"Careful or it might break," Mark mimicked, mocking Sebastian. He was horrible at impersonating Sebastian, Sebastian didn't fail to notice.

Sebastian's band mates, Robert and Jordan, who were seated next to him, laughed in unison. Sebastian didn't find a hint of humor in their current situation. The tablet could have broken down. He glared at the two. That shut their mouths up. Good. 

"We're working on it, Mark," Robert volunteered. "Keep your cool, man."

"You're not the one getting calls from the producers every second of the day. KEEP MY PATIENCE? HELL NO." He yelled. Taking a deep breath, he said with a calmer tone, "Look, you guys, we'll be starting with the tour in a week. Practice the songs, obvi—"

"You don't have to tell us that," Jordan, Sebastian's brother interrupted and was subsequently ignored.

"—ously and also, create some new songs already. It has been 2 years, guys. Find a muse, hire a writer—just do it quick, okay?"

With that Mark made his exit, leaving them in peace. 

All three of the men sighed. They didn't like Mark much, but still kept him around. They all were too lazy to find a trustworthy manager, and even though Mark could be an ass sometimes—all of the times, in Sebastian's opinion—they knew he would never betray them. Sebastian didn't trust easily, but he trusted Mark.

They all started discussing some new tunes and beats. Now, that was the part of their work that Sebastian loved. It was the only thing that kept him grounded and connected to the real beauty of the music. It was the other crap that he wasn't a big fan of. 

It had been five years since Bad For You, their band, came into existence. None of them expected this much popularity—especially not Sebastian. But, then, he'd always been a pessimist, as Robert and Jordan often like to point out. Sebastian strongly disagreed—he was just very practical.

When he finally managed to check his phone, he found out that Sophie Williams had actually texted him back. 

Shit.