Grin

Hearing someone at the door, Lydia gives a little cry of dismay, turning from the counter with flour all over her hands. "Jared? Jared, can you see who is here?"

"Yeah, okay." Jared wanders from the living room and to the door. He opens it but stops short, his eyebrows rising at seeing the visitor. "Well, hello. Can I... help you?"

"Who is it?" Lydia calls from the kitchen.

"I don't know yet," Jared answers over his shoulder. A grin creases his lips as he looks back at Beth. "But she's a very pretty young woman whose name I'm dying to know."


Ashlee's little teasing makes one of Eric's eyebrows quirk, but a crooked grin accompanies it. His gaze remains on her for several moments, looking beyond the silly glint in her eye. There was something about her. Something... special.

Glancing back to Stacy as she talks, he nods. "Yeah... and who better to take the job than a cop with sharp eyes? If anybody tries to run, I'm sure you're just the person to pull them over."

Mick gives him a sidelong glance. He'd never told Eric that Stacy had been with the police.

Eric shifts his weight off is sore leg and looks to the door. "I, um... gotta go. Nice to meet you two. I'm sure I'll see you around."

Mick watches as Eric leaves, then looks back to Stacy and Ashlee. "He's... been through a lot lately." Maybe that would explain his odd behavior. Or maybe not. But it was all Mick could think of to say.


The concert plays on until the last notes finally die away and the band bids the audience goodnight with a thanks for being there. The crowd begins to disperse and with the lights on, everything is much easier to see, though the noise continues as a wave of conversations and background music that plays through the speakers.

Quinn stands and glances around, though doesn't follow the crowd out. Instead, his eyes go to the doors to the stage where the band was already starting to clean up and pack up. There were a few security people wandering around - looking just official enough to keep anyone from trying to bother the band, but it was nothing unapproachable. A few other people had already been let through... Quinn thought he recognized them from another band, JetStream.

He looks to Anastasia then back to the stage again, then back to her. "I... think I'd like to stick around for just a few minutes, if that's okay." He didn't need to tell her why... she would know. Taking her hand, he prompts her to come with him so he wouldn't just be leaving her stranded.

Axel is coiling up some extension cords on the stage when his eye catches someone being let through by the security. Looking in that direction, he pauses his work. He was a bit surprised to see Quinn. His brother had come to listen to the concert? Interesting. Axel guessed he wasn't even sure if Quinn was still in town, but apparently he really had stuck around.

Quinn approaches a bit hesitantly, still with Anastasia's hand in his. He gives Axel a little wave. "Hi."

"Hi." Axel continues coiling the extension cord around his arm. "Been here all evening?"

"Yeah. Good music. You guys all sound really good. Thought it was neat how you sang part of the time too, while still running sound. Still got a good voice."

"Hmm." Axel nods a little and waits as an awkward pause follows. "You, um... want something?"

Quin swallows hard and his fingers fiddle a little with Anastasia's. "No, I just, um..." What did he really want? He still wasn't completely sure of his brother's innocence, and he didn't know what was supposed to happen between them now. "This, um... this is Anastasia." He pulls her a little closer. "She's... a pretty important person in my life. Anastasia, this is Axel... my brother."

Axel gives Anastasia a nod and a small smile. She seemed nice enough. He was a little surprised his brother had a girl from around here, but maybe she was connected to the fairytale he'd mentioned when they'd first seen each other. "Hi, Anastasia. Nice to meet you."

Quinn manages his own little smile, but doesn't know what else to say.

Axel swallows and fingers the cord in his hands. He looks down a moment, then back up again. Was this an opportunity for Quinn to get him into trouble? Or was this an opportunity from God to keep trying to mend a relationship? He clears his throat. "You... got any gigs lately?"

"Just... a few little ones. Coffee shop type deals. Enough to help me buy a few groceries, but that's about it."

"Ah." Axel's mind begins to work and he looks over to where Phil was talking with Logan. "You... might want to talk to Phil over there. He's with JetStream. They don't make much either but their lead singer's having some health issues... they may need someone to fill in for a little while."

Quinn raises his eyebrows. Money or not, singing with a band could be fun and might help him get his name out there, locally at least. "Thanks... I might do that."

Axel finishes coiling up his cord but still stands for a few moments, not knowing now what else should happen. Did Quinn want more? Was he ready to try and talk some more? "So... since you're still in town..." He shrugs. "...You wanna get together or something sometime?"

Quinn's stomach gives a little lurch and he doesn't realize that his grip had tightened around Anastasia's hand. "Um... I... it, um..."

Axel forces a sorry type of smile. "It's okay. I'm sure hanging out with someone like me wouldn't do much for the image."

"It's not that," Quinn responds quickly. "I just..." He sighs. "Okay. How about if I stop by the auto shop sometime and... we do lunch?"

Axel couldn't help the surprise in his eyes. Was this as setup? Or a genuine offer? He didn't like the risk, but there was only one way to find out what Quinn's intentions were. "Okay. I do lunch with my girlfriend a lot but... if you call the shop first and set up a day, that would work."

"Okay." Quinn takes a deep breath, feeling that this conversation had gone about as far as it could. He glances to Anastasia. "Want to come talk to Phil with me?"


Rocky helps Max load some of the equipment into the pickup's trailer then goes back inside to pack some cords in boxes. Kneeling in front of a tote, he finds cords and some extra mics that he puts in their right places.

"Think fast!"

Rocky looks up just in time to see Taylor toss him a roll of duct tape. He catches it before it bonks him in the head and he smirks at her. "Thanks. One of these days you're gonna kills somebody."

"Me?" Taylor's jaw drops. "Never! Especially not you. You're too nice. I might not warn Joel though."

"Your own cousin? I'm shocked." Rocky grins and packs away the tape. "Anybody call Mom and Pop's yet?"

"I did!" Max hollers at them. "Carson said he can handle us tonight."

"Ha!" Rocky scoffs. "Nobody could ever be ready for this rowdy bunch." His eyes roam out beyond the stage to where there was hardly anybody left, and a janitor was already starting to clean. He couldn't help but wonder if there had been a new pair of eyes here tonight. It wasn't like him to meet someone online, let alone actually want to meet them in person... but he did wonder if Michaela had come tonight.