Post by jessb on Aug 13, 2007 20:20:45 GMT -5
Chapter 37
They both stopped what they were doing, turned around and looked at me.
“Jess,” Chris started.
I put my hand up to stop him so I could speak.
“Chris, would it be alright if I talked to Teddy alone? We can go somewhere else if you want to just stay here and keep on recording… if that’s alright with you Ted,” I said slowly.
“Yeah, fine by me,” Chris said. “Teddy?”
Teddy was just standing there staring at me. He hadn’t said a word since I walked into the room. He seemed to shake himself out of his daze, but all he could do was nod.
“Uh, we can go up to my room and talk,” he finally said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Good,” I said. “Lead the way.”
He moved towards the stairs and I followed. I was afraid this was going to be awkward, but I really hoped it wouldn’t be. We finally made it to his room, and I sat down on his bed. He shut the door and didn’t say anything, so I started the conversation.
“So… I’m just gonna come right out and say it… what really happened that day at the mall?”
He was slow to respond, but he did eventually.
“It was entirely not what I’m sure you thought it was this whole time.”
“I’ve been hoping it wasn’t what I thought… and Chris said I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, so all I really want now is the truth. I’ve had some time to calm down and I’ll listen to what you have to say now. I just couldn’t look at you that day and not see how happy you looked with her… and how you didn’t want to hang out with me… and I just start to…” I said, starting to cry.
He walked over to me, sat right next to me, and put his arm around my shoulders.
“Don’t cry… I know what you’re feeling. So you don’t talk for a little bit and let me explain the whole situation. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said softly, resting my head on his chest as he pulled me into a hug.
“I really just wanted a day to myself, and the record store was having a sale… so I decided to go check it out. I wasn’t planning on hanging out with anyone but myself all day. I was really starting to get bored, and I was about to pick up my phone to call you and see what you were up to, when I ran into Jade. She came up to me and started talking to me, and I didn’t want to be rude… so I listened. Then she started talking about her and her current boyfriend, Corey. If you remember, our breakup wasn’t the most pleasant situation, so I figured this was my chance to make what ended between us less bitter. I don’t like having enemies, and I know for a fact we would not have been friends before this. I was hoping to fix things between me and her, you know? Try and salvage a small friendship out of it, so I agreed to walk with her and talk for awhile.”
“So you just ran into her? And you still want to be friends with her?” I said, looking up at him.
“You didn’t let me finish… the truth is I made quite the realization that day when we ran into each other.”
“And what is that?” I said, lowering my head back to his chest.
“That she is one of those people who may be pretty on the outside, but ugly on the inside… and that will never be the kind of person I want to be with romantically or be friends with. I also realized something else that day,” he said, taking his hand and lifting my chin so we were staring into each other’s eyes.
“What is that?” I asked, keeping my eyes locked with his.
“That I love you,” he said, smiling.
“You love me?” I said as a smile crept across my face.
“Not the reaction I was hoping for. I was kinda wishing you’d, you know… say something like ‘oh I love you too’ and that sort of thing,” he said as he put a fake frown on his face.
“Oh, my bad,” I said as I leaned up to kiss him.
He was just too cute sometimes and how could I not forgive him when it really wasn’t his fault. I was so relieved when I heard that there was nothing between them and I was just being paranoid.
As we pulled away from that amazing kiss, we smiled at each other.
“I love you too Teddy,” I said.
“So I take it we’re not broken up then?” he said with a smile.
“We never were…” I started.
“Good, I was hoping we weren’t,” he smiled. “Do you think maybe we should go back downstairs since Chris is kinda there by himself?”
“I guess we should…” I sighed.
“Well, we don’t have to go right this second,” he smiled as he kissed me again.
“Maybe we should,” I said as I pulled away from the kiss and gave him a big hug. “So this is what love feels like huh?” I smiled.
“Yes Ayerplane, I do believe this is what love feels like,” he said as he stood up, pulling me up with him. “But we really should head downstairs now… I wanna play that song for you.”
“And which song would that be?”
“The one we were gonna write together… but I couldn’t help myself… so I finished it. Actually, I think I’ll just play it for you right here, right now. So have a seat,” he said, gesturing to his bed while he picked up the guitar that was standing in the corner of his room.
I sat down and he pulled his desk chair up so we were only a few feet from each other, facing one another.
“Alright, so I told you I was thinking numbers right? Well I decided to call it ‘Seven Days Without You.’ And I know you and I were going to write it together… so whatever you worked on we’re gonna incorporate. I just want you to hear how I feel… okay?”
“Sure,” I smiled. “Go ahead then.”
“Okay… so it’s about seven days without you,” he laughed. “But really… it’s more than that… okay so here goes.”
He began to play the melody that was all too familiar to me now… I knew it like the back of my hand. It was exactly as we had started it and exactly as I had continued it. I guess great minds think alike. I was ready for him to start singing already… bring on the new stuff. Finally he started to sing.
“Sitting here counting the hours
Waiting for the sun to kiss the sea
Paralyzed by the fragrance of the flowers
They remind me of you and me
There’s one love in a lifetime
Our two hearts of a kind
These three reasons you’ll be mine
For when five and six are through,
Seven days without you
Seven days without you, yeah
Making plans just to stop the aching
Chasing thoughts from a million miles away
Hypnotized as another dawn is breaking
I’ll rehearse the words I wanna say
There’s one love in a lifetime
Our two hearts of a kind
These three reasons you’ll be mine
For when five and six are though,
Seven days without you, yeah
Seven days without you, yeah
I will find a way, until you’re home
To let the giant sleep
The fire we know is one love in a lifetime
Our two hearts of a kind
These three reasons you’ll be mine
For when five and six are through
Seven days without you
Yeah when five and six are through
Seven days without you
Seven days with out you.”
All I could do was smile as he ended the song and the tears began to fall from my eyes.
“Tears… again, not what I expected,” he started.
“Don’t worry… these are the good kind of tears,” I smiled. “I love you so much.”
He sat his guitar down and pulled me into a hug. “I love you too,” he whispered back. I just loved his hugs. I swear I could stay in his arms forever and be completely content.
He gave me one more quick kiss then said, “Okay, we can head back down to the basement now.”
“All right… if we must,” I replied slowly. He couldn’t expect me to be functioning at one hundred percent after saying those things to me and kissing me like he did.
He grabbed my hand and led me back downstairs to where Chris had been keeping himself busy with the recording equipment.
Chris looked up and smiled. He must have seen, as I quickly realized, that Teddy and I were still holding hands.
“So I see our love birds have patched things up,” Chris laughed.
Teddy nodded and I started laughing.
“Love birds? And how would you know that this is love?”
“Oh believe me Jess, I know more than you think,” he winked and Teddy smiled.
“He does know more than you think he does,” Teddy said, squeezing my hand.
What was that supposed to mean? I paused before I said anything else.
They both stopped what they were doing, turned around and looked at me.
“Jess,” Chris started.
I put my hand up to stop him so I could speak.
“Chris, would it be alright if I talked to Teddy alone? We can go somewhere else if you want to just stay here and keep on recording… if that’s alright with you Ted,” I said slowly.
“Yeah, fine by me,” Chris said. “Teddy?”
Teddy was just standing there staring at me. He hadn’t said a word since I walked into the room. He seemed to shake himself out of his daze, but all he could do was nod.
“Uh, we can go up to my room and talk,” he finally said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Good,” I said. “Lead the way.”
He moved towards the stairs and I followed. I was afraid this was going to be awkward, but I really hoped it wouldn’t be. We finally made it to his room, and I sat down on his bed. He shut the door and didn’t say anything, so I started the conversation.
“So… I’m just gonna come right out and say it… what really happened that day at the mall?”
He was slow to respond, but he did eventually.
“It was entirely not what I’m sure you thought it was this whole time.”
“I’ve been hoping it wasn’t what I thought… and Chris said I shouldn’t jump to conclusions, so all I really want now is the truth. I’ve had some time to calm down and I’ll listen to what you have to say now. I just couldn’t look at you that day and not see how happy you looked with her… and how you didn’t want to hang out with me… and I just start to…” I said, starting to cry.
He walked over to me, sat right next to me, and put his arm around my shoulders.
“Don’t cry… I know what you’re feeling. So you don’t talk for a little bit and let me explain the whole situation. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said softly, resting my head on his chest as he pulled me into a hug.
“I really just wanted a day to myself, and the record store was having a sale… so I decided to go check it out. I wasn’t planning on hanging out with anyone but myself all day. I was really starting to get bored, and I was about to pick up my phone to call you and see what you were up to, when I ran into Jade. She came up to me and started talking to me, and I didn’t want to be rude… so I listened. Then she started talking about her and her current boyfriend, Corey. If you remember, our breakup wasn’t the most pleasant situation, so I figured this was my chance to make what ended between us less bitter. I don’t like having enemies, and I know for a fact we would not have been friends before this. I was hoping to fix things between me and her, you know? Try and salvage a small friendship out of it, so I agreed to walk with her and talk for awhile.”
“So you just ran into her? And you still want to be friends with her?” I said, looking up at him.
“You didn’t let me finish… the truth is I made quite the realization that day when we ran into each other.”
“And what is that?” I said, lowering my head back to his chest.
“That she is one of those people who may be pretty on the outside, but ugly on the inside… and that will never be the kind of person I want to be with romantically or be friends with. I also realized something else that day,” he said, taking his hand and lifting my chin so we were staring into each other’s eyes.
“What is that?” I asked, keeping my eyes locked with his.
“That I love you,” he said, smiling.
“You love me?” I said as a smile crept across my face.
“Not the reaction I was hoping for. I was kinda wishing you’d, you know… say something like ‘oh I love you too’ and that sort of thing,” he said as he put a fake frown on his face.
“Oh, my bad,” I said as I leaned up to kiss him.
He was just too cute sometimes and how could I not forgive him when it really wasn’t his fault. I was so relieved when I heard that there was nothing between them and I was just being paranoid.
As we pulled away from that amazing kiss, we smiled at each other.
“I love you too Teddy,” I said.
“So I take it we’re not broken up then?” he said with a smile.
“We never were…” I started.
“Good, I was hoping we weren’t,” he smiled. “Do you think maybe we should go back downstairs since Chris is kinda there by himself?”
“I guess we should…” I sighed.
“Well, we don’t have to go right this second,” he smiled as he kissed me again.
“Maybe we should,” I said as I pulled away from the kiss and gave him a big hug. “So this is what love feels like huh?” I smiled.
“Yes Ayerplane, I do believe this is what love feels like,” he said as he stood up, pulling me up with him. “But we really should head downstairs now… I wanna play that song for you.”
“And which song would that be?”
“The one we were gonna write together… but I couldn’t help myself… so I finished it. Actually, I think I’ll just play it for you right here, right now. So have a seat,” he said, gesturing to his bed while he picked up the guitar that was standing in the corner of his room.
I sat down and he pulled his desk chair up so we were only a few feet from each other, facing one another.
“Alright, so I told you I was thinking numbers right? Well I decided to call it ‘Seven Days Without You.’ And I know you and I were going to write it together… so whatever you worked on we’re gonna incorporate. I just want you to hear how I feel… okay?”
“Sure,” I smiled. “Go ahead then.”
“Okay… so it’s about seven days without you,” he laughed. “But really… it’s more than that… okay so here goes.”
He began to play the melody that was all too familiar to me now… I knew it like the back of my hand. It was exactly as we had started it and exactly as I had continued it. I guess great minds think alike. I was ready for him to start singing already… bring on the new stuff. Finally he started to sing.
“Sitting here counting the hours
Waiting for the sun to kiss the sea
Paralyzed by the fragrance of the flowers
They remind me of you and me
There’s one love in a lifetime
Our two hearts of a kind
These three reasons you’ll be mine
For when five and six are through,
Seven days without you
Seven days without you, yeah
Making plans just to stop the aching
Chasing thoughts from a million miles away
Hypnotized as another dawn is breaking
I’ll rehearse the words I wanna say
There’s one love in a lifetime
Our two hearts of a kind
These three reasons you’ll be mine
For when five and six are though,
Seven days without you, yeah
Seven days without you, yeah
I will find a way, until you’re home
To let the giant sleep
The fire we know is one love in a lifetime
Our two hearts of a kind
These three reasons you’ll be mine
For when five and six are through
Seven days without you
Yeah when five and six are through
Seven days without you
Seven days with out you.”
All I could do was smile as he ended the song and the tears began to fall from my eyes.
“Tears… again, not what I expected,” he started.
“Don’t worry… these are the good kind of tears,” I smiled. “I love you so much.”
He sat his guitar down and pulled me into a hug. “I love you too,” he whispered back. I just loved his hugs. I swear I could stay in his arms forever and be completely content.
He gave me one more quick kiss then said, “Okay, we can head back down to the basement now.”
“All right… if we must,” I replied slowly. He couldn’t expect me to be functioning at one hundred percent after saying those things to me and kissing me like he did.
He grabbed my hand and led me back downstairs to where Chris had been keeping himself busy with the recording equipment.
Chris looked up and smiled. He must have seen, as I quickly realized, that Teddy and I were still holding hands.
“So I see our love birds have patched things up,” Chris laughed.
Teddy nodded and I started laughing.
“Love birds? And how would you know that this is love?”
“Oh believe me Jess, I know more than you think,” he winked and Teddy smiled.
“He does know more than you think he does,” Teddy said, squeezing my hand.
What was that supposed to mean? I paused before I said anything else.
Jenny
