SINNERS.

“No, I said I want the boxes moved to bus one. Let’s get that done, Rico. We’re leaving in,” Piper checked the gold watch on her wrist and tapped the glass face,”fifty seven minutes.” She tugged off a piece of paper she’d scribbled on and handed it to him. “Once the boxes are moved, I want that list taken care of. Get some interns if you need to but we aren’t leaving one minute past six, got it?” As the man hurried away, Piper turned to Brittany and let out a sigh. “Sorry about that. Anyway, yeah, like I said - Cal decided that he wants to be a father all of a sudden and tells me this morning that he’s decided to invite himself on tour to keep an eye on me.” Her voice was filled with disdain. Cal D’Amico had given her many things: a love of music, a strong business ethic, money to pay for school but a father he was not. At least not until today. “Can you believe it? It’s like, he gets his third divorce, decides to parent the twins, and then thinks he can pull that same shit on me like I’m still the fourteen year old kid hoping her daddy decided to show up for her father daughter dance.”

Brittany tapped away on her phone, looking up a youtube video she had seen the previous day and somehow lost. She was hoping to draw some inspiration from it for a new dance routine for Marley. She was obsessed with the girl’s new songs and couldn’t wait to get her hands on her and make up shake it up a little. She could hear Piper scolding one of the roadies working to prepare everything to start the tour, but she pretended not to notice, not wanting to seem like she was eavesdropping. Her eyes only lifted to meet Piper when the man was gone and Piper was speaking to her again, drawing a small smile from her. “He’s worried about you. I think that’s sweet.” She sat up straight, tapping on her phone to save the video for later. “Maybe...Maybe he’s trying to do better than he did before. I’m sure a man as powerful as him with the history he has, has a lot of regrets in his life.”

Sam narrowed his eyes, turning his blonde head to look behind him and see if there was someone else in the room beside him and Puck. Finding them alone, Sam lofted an eyebrow and then poked his finger into the center of his chest. “Are you talking to me?” He looked around again, curiosity sinking into his bones. He wasn’t a superstar but any means but his first album had been a hit and he was working on his second this Summer so he could record when the tour was over. He’d had three music videos, countless television interviews, and had even won an MTV Music Award for Best New Artist. So he hadn’t expected to be mistaken for a roadie. “I’m… I’m not your…” It was coming out wrong and sounded rude in his head so he opted for another way. “I’m one of the acts, man.” To make his point, Sam held his hand out. “Sam Evans.”

Honestly, Puck was so high, he could barely see straight. So it was no surprise that he’d mistake this guy for one of the roadies. He ran his hand through his mohawk, urging his brain to make the connection. “Sam Evans... Oh!” His eyes widen comically, letting out a small laugh. “You’re that dude. Man, I bet you get all the chicks with those smooth words of yours, am I right?” Puck took his hand, shaking it in a tight grip. “Nice to meet ya while I can. Kitty’s gonna make you roadkill.” At that he laughed for real, already imagining the fit the small blonde would throw upon meeting her competition.

On the precipice of their very first tour, anyone would be excited. Having come from playing open mic nights at bars around town to sharing the stage with two of the biggest stars was nothing to turn your nose up. But Marley wasn’t like normal girls. The excitement of this day brought with it the reminder that she couldn’t share it with her mother. Finding some privacy in the tour bus, Marley sat down on the bed and leaned back against two fluffy pillows with a pencil and notebook open in front of her. The blank page seemed to laugh at her. The silence of the bus was interrupted when she heard the door and knew it could only be one person. No one else knew how easily she retreated into herself. “It doesn’t feel right to be here without her,” Marley said when the footsteps entered the room. “She would have loved this.”

Everyone was running around, preparing to kickstart the biggest tour of their lives so far. Yet his sister was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t have to look much though. Knowing her, she’d look for the quietest place she could find. So he made his way through the sea of people working, moving toward the bus that would be their home for the next few months. He should have knocked, but instead, he walked right in, heading toward his sister’s bedroom. “She wouldn’t be here even if she were.” He moved to sit on the bed next to his sister, pulling her to him with an arm around her shoulders. “She’d hate the tour life. She’d spend all her time running around cleaning up after everyone.” He let out a soft chuckle, resting his chin on top of his sister’s head. “But you’re right. She’d love to see you up there.”

“I guarantee you that Matthew is going to try and tell you that he already ate but unless I specifically take them for dinner, assume that’s a lie and make sure he eats.” Cal slipped off the thin, wire-framed glasses off his nose and hooked them into the collar of his shirt. He had never actually played the role of father before - despite the fact he had six mostly grown children. But this Summer was different. He had promised Renee he would try with the twins and that was exactly what he’d planned. He had a daycare sorted out for work hours and then he was going to come home every day and cook and have game nights. Of course all that changed when Piper burst into his office and insisted on taking her tour back. He wasn’t so sure she was ready to return after rehab so now he was here, giving the run down to the babysitter. “And before he even tries, no, I don’t let Caden drink coffee, not even in the small cup.”

Letty nodded along to the words her new boss was saying, writing down little notes to remember later. She was good with kids ever since she was one. But she supposed he knew his children better than she did. “Don’t you worry, Mr. D’Amico. I know all the tricks very well.” Letty moved to America only three years ago, without knowing a single word of English. And while she improved immensely, she still couldn’t shake off the accent. “Your boys will be fine. You have an important job, you need to focus on that. Mrs. D’Amico sent me their schedules and the things they need to prepare before school starts again. I worry about the boys, you worry about the tour. And everyone will have fun!” Her lips widened into a grin, her hands holding the notebook to her chest.

“I know it’s not ideal,” Santana said as she twirled a pen between her fingers. There was a clipboard with a list of items Piper had given her. As if she didn’t know how to do her job. But if she was just coming back from diving nose first into a pile of pixie dust, she might be a little anal retentive as well. “But this is what the studio wants and when I say the studio, I mean Cal. And considering Cal is tagging along this Summer, I’m going to need you to play as nice as possible.” Of course she had worked with Kitty long enough to know that wasn’t exactly a simple task. “He wants you to help catapult Sam, and then give some credibility to his newest passion project, Little Miss Doe Eyes Marley Rose.”

“They do know I’m not a babysitter, right?” Kitty stood in front of the mirror, trying yet another outfit for the tour. Tenure meant she got a say in everything regarding her performances and thank goodness for that because the last tour was a mess when it came to her stylist. She smoothed her hands down the front of the t-shirt she had on before turning her upper body around so she could look directly at Santana rather than from the mirror. “Why should I care about them when they’re trying to steal my spotlight? They’re not even that good.” Kitty added the last sentence with a roll of her eyes as she turned back toward the mirror. “We should be focusing on making my show even better.”