Ever since you joined Equinox, you were positive that Merrick had it out for you. Scratch that, you knew he had it out for you. Whenever anyone else in the band did something, it was waved off or dismissed by him. When you did it, you were rewarded with a scoff and an irritated side glance. Seriously, what was his problem?

When you met the members at the time of your joining, Merrick had greeted you tersely, then spent the rest of the time talking with the others, completely ignoring you. You figured his behavior would change after he warmed up to you, but it didn’t. Eight months later, he was still just as spiteful towards you, which was incredibly inconvenient, given you kind of had to get along for public appearances. You’d tried several times to reconcile your relationship with Merrick, but it never helped.

But there was only so long both of you—mainly Merrick—could go avoiding each other when you were in a band together. After signing a contract with a music label, you all, of course, had to work to make a second album. As a vocalist, you had to be involved while recording, that was just a fact.

So that’s how you found yourself in the recording studio, standing behind Merrick as he read through the lyrics that you and Kael had been writing for the past few days. He was mumbling under his breath as he read through each song, his fingers fidgeting like he was playing the guitar.

“These are… decent.” There was an approving glint—as approving as Merrick was capable of—in his eyes. Sighing, he leaned back in the chair and spun around to face you. “You sure you can sing all these?” he asked with a mocking undertone, accompanied by a doubtful expression.