The Gully's interior was packed to the brim with chattering students, their bodies crammed together in the all-too-small space. The stage at the front of the room lay dormant for the moment, the instruments and microphone stands upon it highlighted by glowing spotlights.

Kaitlyn carefully navigated her way through the crowd with an armful of water bottles. As many times as she'd been through this concert, she still wasn't a huge fan of being jostled about by other people. That, added to her relatively short stature, made navigating the press of bodies a bit of an issue.

Despite that, she made it back to her group in a matter of moments. They'd set up near the front of the crowd, as close to the edge of the stage as they could go. Heather caught her eye, shooting Kaitlyn an enthusiastic smile."Thanks, Kate!"

"No problem!" They had to project their voices to be heard over the din. Well, Kaitlyn had to. Heather and her friends had never had a problem with speaking too quietly.

"Omigosh, I'm sooo excited!"

"Right?! It's almost time!"

"Anyone know who the opener is?"

The group clucked together like particularly fancy hens as Kaitlyn handed out the waters. She considered answering the question about the opener, but thought better of it. Though she knew these girls well enough, she also knew that they all found at least one of Elliot's three band members hot. If she let slip that she knew them personally, even just Elliot… well, there was no point in getting herself interrogated like that.

This is going to be a bit different for me, though. She cracked open her water bottle and took a sip. The cool liquid was a welcome contrast to the almost uncomfortably warm room around her. I haven't been here in a loop where Elliot and I were on speaking terms. I wonder if that'll change things at all.

She winced at the realization. Between this and the career fair, she was coming to realize she'd missed a lot of Elliot encounters. Though she hadn't "missed" them, not exactly – she'd just been too much of a stranger to really interact with him in any real way. In fact, in all of the loops where she had known the guy, she'd really just stuck to lab.

…Ok, maybe it is my fault. But I had good reason to avoid him! I was… not in the right headspace to talk to him. At all.

She wasn't proud of those loops where she'd gotten obsessed with research. They did teach her a lot, but thinking back to that particular phase of her life was an uncomfortable reminder of how astray she could go.

She felt her face color at the memories. It is kind of embarrassing how single-minded I got. But that's ok. I'm here now, and that's what matters.

As they waited patiently for the concert to start, Kaitlyn's thoughts drifted to the other guy she'd been hanging out with lately – Ian. Thanks to her mention of auditing a CS-related class, the guy seemed a bit more tentatively willing to talk about programming matters with her, as well. He hadn't shared his game with her yet, but she expected that he might, especially by the end of the loop.

I'm honestly a little excited for it. This time, I might actually have a clue about the underlying code instead of just the game itself. That would be so cool.

Eventually, the lights dimmed. A round of cheers and whistles went up from the crowd, anticipation building as the shadowed figures of Dream Lizards took the stage. The slow, sentimental notes of their first song rang out, eliciting a few whoops that faded into an excited buzz.

Kaitlyn shifted uncomfortably. Now that the show had begun, she started second guessing herself.

In past loops, he's always been tight-lipped about the band. Will he mind me knowing about it now? I mean, I already know about his dad - that's probably the bigger secret, right? And it seemed fine any time I told him that I knew about it… but what if things are different now?

She only had so much time to worry before the lights flared, bringing the band into full view of the crowd. There stood the four figures she'd expected – the scruffy punk of a lead singer, the emo-looking keyboard player, an admittedly pretty handsome guitarist, and of course, Elliot on bass.

The ginger was smiling slightly in that confident, almost amused way of his. His emerald eyes glittered in the lights as he calmly looked to the lead singer. And then, after a brief pause, they launched into the rest of the song.

Kaitlyn began bobbing slightly to the now-familiar music. The first song in particular was one of her favorites, and based on the reaction of the crowd, they seemed to agree. Not a whole lot of people sang along to the fairly obscure opener's music, but there was plenty of enthusiasm to go around.

As the band played on, Kaitlyn watched her labmate with curiosity. She'd obviously seen him perform before, but now she paid a bit closer attention.

…He really is getting into it, she noted. He's even closing his eyes sometimes. I guess he really is passionate about music.

Obviously, he had to be, if he was in a band. But who knows? Maybe Dream Lizards was a hobby. Maybe it was a way to express himself. Maybe it was a career for him to pursue. Though the last one seemed unlikely, given that he'd attended the career fair. But it was possible.

As the first song finished, the lead singer called out to the audience. "Hartland University! How we feelin' tonight?"

They roared in response. As the singer introduced the band, Elliot's eyes lazily scanned the crowd, taking in the room before alighting on her.

Well, so much for not noticing me.

Unsure of what else to do, Kaitlyn dipped her head slightly and offered her labmate a slight wave. His eyebrows shot up in obvious surprise. Then he smiled and waved back.

"Omigosh the bassist is totally waving at us!"

Kaitlyn looked over to see Heather, her blonde curls bobbing as she waved at Elliot. The guy's gaze flicked to the blonde, then back to Kaitlyn. He winked before directing his attention elsewhere.

"Did he just wink?!"

"He totally did!"

"Omigosh, Heather! He's totally hot!"

Kaitlyn suppressed a chuckle. The group had pretty obviously misread the situation. But there was no need to burst their bubble.

If Heather starts appearing out of nowhere when I'm having lunch with him though, that's a different story. I don't want to spend the rest of the loop playing defense against my roommate again.

Kaitlyn was certain this encounter would come up next time she saw the ginger in lab. But Elliot's reaction seemed to indicate that he wasn't upset at her presence, at least. So rather than worry any more, she decided to just enjoy the show.

The band played on, launching into song after song. Every once in a while, they'd meet eyes again, though Kaitlyn made a conscious effort to avoid staring like a weirdo. Still, she caught more than a couple of smiles sent her way.

***

"So. Enjoy the show?"

Kaitlyn nearly jammed her pipette tip through her gel in surprise. "Geez, Elliot! Don't scare me like that!"

It had been a few days since the concert, so she'd obviously expected the topic to come up. However, she hadn't even heard the guy come in, much less walk up to her. Was he trying to freak her out?

He chuckled, leaning against the bench at her elbow. "Hey, it's not my fault you've got the hearing of a naked mole rat."

"A naked mole rat? That's weirdly specific."

"Eh," Elliot gave a noncommittal shrug. "It was the first thing that came to mind. I've heard they have bad hearing. Anyway, you didn't answer."

Kaitlyn straightened from her work with a sigh, turning to face the ginger. "Whatever. The concert was good. Really good. You guys were great."

"Thanks." Elliot's eyes fixed on her. "I'm surprised you didn't say something beforehand. About going, I mean."

Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you didn't seem too surprised that I was on that stage." Elliot crossed his arms. "Seems like you knew what to expect."

Kaitlyn stiffened. Seriously. How does he always catch stuff like this? He's too observant…

"I, uh…" she scratched her head. "Well, I didn't expect to see you there…"

"You didn't?" He raised an eyebrow. "Could have fooled me."

Kaitlyn suppressed a wince. "...Alright." She relented with a sigh. "Yeah. I kind of knew already."

Elliot cocked his head. "Figured. I thought you just looked up my dad, not me too."

I didn't, she almost said. But just before the words left her tongue, she managed to drag them back. Wait. That would totally make sense. It's a perfect explanation! I mean, how am I supposed to explain this otherwise?

"Yeah… sorry." Kaitlyn apologized with a shrug, leaning into Elliot's assumption. "I thought that it might weird you out, honestly. I wasn't exactly looking into you, though. More like I happened to see you were in a band."

"I see…" He nodded, eyeing her flatly. "And you felt like not saying something would make you less of a stalker?"

"A stalker?!" She blanched. "I'm not a stalker! I wasn't even going to that concert for you – it's because my roommate invited me!"

"Kidding, kidding." Elliot held his hands up in surrender. "If you were a stalker, I'd have to say you're doing a pretty bad job at it. I mean, you were in the front row."

"Roommate's choice, not mine," she countered. "She loves Maze of Ills. Plus, I'm short."

Elliot chuckled and shook his head. "The blonde that was waving like mad? Yeah, I can see that. Anyway. I really am glad you enjoyed it. But if you don't mind, I'd prefer not to let anyone else know about the band."

"My lips are sealed," Kaitlyn promised. They were the only ones in the lab at the moment, so there was no need to be secretive at the moment. Although… "Er… does that include Esme?"

Elliot raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"Esme," Kaitlyn pressed. "Does she know about the band? I mean, you two seem pretty close, so…"

It was a reasonable question to ask. She didn't want to overstep and accidently leak a secret, obviously. But at the same time, maybe this would help to shed some light on the pair's situation.

Elliot laced his fingers behind his head. "...Nah. She doesn't know, either."

Kaitlyn blinked. Really? I didn't expect that…

"...Alright. I'll keep this to myself, then." She finished with a nod. "But can I ask why?"

"Why? Eh," Elliot shrugged. "It's my thing. Just feels a little weird to talk about, you know?"

"I guess? But then, if you feel weird talking about it, why would you do something so public like performing?"

"Seems kind of weird, right?" He gave her a crooked smile. "Though to be fair, it's not like the band's famous. People wouldn't know about it unless they, say, specifically looked us up. Or dug into the personal life of one of our members."

Kaitlyn opened her mouth, then closed it again. That didn't sound like the whole story. Not even close. But one look at Elliot's face told her that he wasn't willing to expand further. She let it slide for the moment.

"I guess." Kaitlyn turned back to her gel. "Well, either way. It was really good. Especially the first song."

"Yeah?" Elliot tucked a strand of orange hair behind his ear. "Thank Luke for that one."

"Luke?"

"The lead singer?" Elliot looked at her questioningly. "He's the main mastermind behind our stuff. The good songs especially."

"Really? Don't you guys all write together or something?"

Elliot waggled his hand back and forth. "We do, technically. But Luke's always been the backbone. I come up with what fits his lyrics and melodies, really."

Huh. That's interesting. Kaitlyn had never written a song herself, so she didn't really know how the process worked. Maybe that was normal.

"Anyway, I've gotta check on my plants." Elliot pushed off from the bench. "See ya."

"See you. Have fun."

He threw up a hand in acknowledgement as he walked down the hall, not even looking back. As he left, Kaitlyn continued her own work as she thought.

Esme doesn't know about the band. That's… unexpected.

It was probably the biggest revelation to come from their conversation. Up until now, she'd been pretty certain that the pair were dating, or at least really close. But if Elliot didn't tell her about this, then that felt like a pretty big secret to keep.

Why though? Is he embarrassed about it? Does he not want to be well known? If that's the case, then why even join a performing band in the first place? Seems like a bad career choice for staying under the radar.

Whatever the case, she didn't have enough information to figure it out now. So instead, Kaitlyn decided to file the information away for later. It might prove useful – especially if she ended up befriending Esme.

Maybe some other loop. Not right now. She smiled. For now, I've got my hands full talking to Ian and Elliot.

She hadn't gone out of her way to hang out with Vinny, for obvious reasons. The guy was too far away for that to be practical. Talking to him pretty much required a dedicated loop to itself. But these two? Now that she allowed herself to spend time with them and get to know them, she actually found herself enjoying their company.

I mean, of course I like hanging out with Ian. He's been cool ever since I got into Bash Bros. But Elliot? I really thought he'd be more… aloof, maybe? That's the impression I got early on.

Of course, that impression was formed a long time ago. She'd been different then. Much different.

For now though, Kaitlyn put that all aside. There were still five weeks left in the loop, and though she'd made plenty of progress, there was still more she wanted to accomplish before the reset. Both socially and otherwise.

She started running her gel before busying herself with another experiment. So much to do. Even if she had all the time in the world to do it, that didn't mean anything. It was time to make progress and really move forward.

At least, that's what I'm trying to do. We'll see how well that works.