Part 25

The quiet warmth of the Monocle Café a few days ago, felt like a dream that Noel was forced to wake up from the moment he stepped inside the best kept secret on earth, the following Monday. The band's rehearsal space, a secluded part of some industrial site at the outskirts of London, was almost like a time warp back to the 90's. The air here was different, thick with the smell of stale cigarettes, expensive amplifiers, and the electric tension that always followed the band into a room.

Noel looked at his watch, 11:15 AM. Liam was already fifteen minutes late, which, in the world of Oasis rehearsals, was practically early.

He glanced toward the production office at the back of the room. Through the glass, he could see the top of Caroline's head as she bent over her desk. She was already there, a silent sentinel amidst the mounting chaos. He thought about their coffee in Marylebone, the way her hand had felt near his, and the heavy secret of the Christmas invitation that sat between them like an unexploded bomb.

'hey,' he walked inside the office without knocking, Caroline bolted upright, her chair clattering against the wall as she gasped, her hands coming up instinctively as if to shield herself. When she saw it was just Noel, she let out a jagged, trembling breath, her hand flying to her chest.

'God, Noel! You scared the life out of me,' she choked out, trying to steady her racing heart.

Noel knew then that things weren't right 'You're jumpier than a cat on a hot tin roof,' he said, his voice dropping into that low, gravelly tone he used when he was past being annoyed and was moving straight into "Chief" mode.

'I'm just focused, Noel. I didn't hear the door,' she lied, her fingers still trembling as she tried to smoothen her hair.

'Bullshit,' he rasped 'you're not focused, Caro, you're exhausted and terrified, that's what,'

Caroline looked away, staring at the Oasis 2025 countdown on her second monitor. 'It's a big job. I want it to be perfect. You and Liam back together... it's the biggest thing in the world right now. I don't want to be the one who drops the ball. And stop saying I'm terrified, I'm not, ok?' she snapped back.

'Don't lie to me, Caroline. Not today,' he said, his voice dropping to a dangerously quiet level that cut right through her bravado. 'you have a bruise on your head that's barely faded, I mean your whole body's probably still covered in bruises, and you're jumping six feet in the air because I walked through a door without knocking. That's not "focus." That's survival mode.'

Caroline shot him an angry glare, 'oh..just..fuck off, Noel' she stomped past him outside the office, Noel wanted to follow her, this argument was far from finished, but just as he followed her out, Bonehead, came walking inside.

The timing couldn't have been worse. Noel stood in the doorway of the office, his hand still on the latch, watching Caroline march toward the far end of the hall where the catering table stood. Her back was as rigid as a guitar neck, her anger a visible shield against the vulnerability he had just poked a hole in.

'Morning, Chief,' Bonehead grunted, dropping a heavy gear bag onto the floor with a metallic thud that echoed through the hall. He looked between Noel's stormy expression and Caroline's retreating figure. 'Trouble with the staff? Or did she finally tell you your new demos are rubbish?' he grinned.

'Not now, Bonehead,' Noel muttered, his eyes still fixed on Caroline. He watched her reach for a kettle, her movements jerky and forced. He wanted to go to her and finish the sentence she had tried to stomp away from, but the hangar was rapidly filling with people.

Gem and Andy followed close behind, already discussing what they wanted to put on the setlist. The quiet, intimate ghost of the Marylebone café was officially dead, buried under the weight of the Oasis machine.

Before everyone had even greeted each other, the heavy door swung open and Liam swaggered in, looking exactly like the rock star the Ticketmaster queues were dying to see.

'CARO!' Liam roared as he saw her, the sound bouncing off the high ceilings like a gunshot. Noel saw her shoulders hitch, that same instinctive flinch,before she turned around to face the younger Gallagher.

'Alright, Liam,' she said, her voice sounding small in the vast space.

'You look like you've seen a ghost!' Liam cackled, walking right into her personal space. 'Or is it just the stress of working for the boring one? Come on, give us a smile, it's a reunion, innit?'

Noel felt the temper he'd been trying to cage start to slip. He stepped forward, his boots loud on the concrete floor. 'Leave her be, Liam. We're here to go over the setlist and rehearse, not to pester the staff.'

'Staff? Hear that Caro? After all this time, tssskkkk, your boss still has you on a tight leash' Liam shot back, a mischievous glint in his eyes that suggested he knew exactly how much he was getting under Noel's skin.

Noel clenched his fist, he just wanted to shove Liam back into a car and send him back home. The air in the hall suddenly felt electric, the kind of friction that had famously torn them apart in Paris all those years ago. 'Liam, stop it!' Noel growled, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that made Bonehead and Gem exchange a knowing, weary look.

Liam threw his head back and laughed, a loud, abrasive sound that echoed off the industrial rafters. 'Ooh, listen to him! The Chief's got his knickers in a twist!'

'LIAM!!' Noel raised his voice, he didn't care how it looked to the band or if the Oasis crew was whispering.

'Alright, alright! Temper, temper,' Liam muttered, finally backing off. Noel didn't look back at Liam. He turned slightly toward Caroline, his eyes searching hers for just a second. She wouldn't meet his gaze; she just turned on her heels and retreated back toward the glass safety of the production office.

The tension in the room was so thick it felt like it might snap the strings on Noel's guitars. He stood there for a long moment, his back to the band, watching the glass door of the production office close with a soft, final click. He could see her silhouette through the pane, shoulders hunched, immediately burying herself in the blue light of her monitors.

'Right,' Noel barked, spinning around to face the room. His voice was a jagged blade. 'Are we here to play music or are we auditioning for a fucking soap opera? Fuck's sakes'

The first few hours of the rehearsal were a blur of distorted noise and the familiar, grating rasp of Liam's vocals. They tore through classic Oasis hits, the sound bouncing off the metal rafters, but Noel was playing on autopilot.

Every time Noel looked up from his fretboard, his vision drifted toward that glass office. Through the reflection of the lights, he could just make out the back of Caroline's head. She hadn't moved. She was a statue of professional indifference, but Noel knew her well enough to see the tension in her shoulders.

Liam, sensing he'd drawn blood earlier, was leaning into it. He sang the lyrics to Live Forever with a sneer that wasn't usually there, dragging out the vowels as he stared at the back of Noel's head.

Finally, the feedback died down into a ringing silence.

'Again,' Noel muttered, his fingers hovering over the strings.

'Maybe if you spent less time staring at the window and more time playing the right chords, we'd be done.' Liam huffed

The rest of the band went still. Guitars weren't even being tuned; everyone was holding their breath. Noel didn't snap back this time. He just leaned his Gibson against the amp and walked towards the exit.

The heavy door groaned as Noel shoved it open, stepping out into the narrow alleyway behind the hangar. The London air was biting, grey, damp, and smelling of wet pavement, but he inhaled it like it was pure oxygen. He leaned his palms against a brick wall, his head hanging between his shoulders, trying to flush the sound of Liam's mocking sneer out of his ears, and desperately trying to get her out of his thoughts.

He didn't hear the door open again, but he felt the shift in the air.

'You're going to catch a cold out here without a jacket,' Caro said quietly.

Noel didn't look up, but his posture instantly softened at the sound of her voice. 'Better than catching whatever's in there. I can't do it today, it's as toxic in there as it ever was'

She moved to stand beside him, not touching him, but close enough that he could feel her radiating warmth. She leaned back against the brickwork, looking up at the thin strip of overcast sky visible between the buildings.

'He's just looking for a reaction, Noel,' she said, her voice lacking the sharp professional edge she'd used in the office. 'And you're giving it to him on a silver platter.'

'It's not just the reaction,' Noel muttered, finally straightening up and looking at her. His hair was slightly disheveled from the wind, his eyes tired. 'It's that he's right. I was staring at the glass. I was miles away.'

Caroline finally turned her head to meet his gaze. 'What's got you so distracted then? Home?'

Noel took a step closer, his voice dropping to a low rasp that was barely audible over the distant hum of city traffic. 'Last week at that coffee place. Thinking about how the light hit that table. Thinking about what we said..thinking about you..'