Long Live Us

Being around Stella nearly every minute was probably my favorite highlight to this entire trip. Be that as it may, being around Uncle Alex and my own dad could get rather annoying. It's not that I didn't enjoy my time with them, because I did, but I'd also like some alone time with Stell to celebrate in our own way. Given, it would probably be light kisses and random conversation, just as it'd always been. I could manage that in front of her dad.

Currently, we were in Stella and Aubree's room reading through lyrics. I figured I had only been invited to tag along because one, I was Stella's boyfriend, and two, because I could play guitar as they wrote or sorted through good songs, whichever came first. This would give us a better outline for the song as a whole.

Stella had her lyrics journal out and her dad was sitting across from her, reading through them. I liked to watch them together for some odd reason. I guess it had something to do with how close they were, but it also humored me that Mr. Gaskarth was still so protective of her. My dad had already sat me down and had a talk with me about Stell just before we signed our contract. He informed me that it was okay if I wanted to hit a home-run with her, but also asked that she clear it with Alex first. This would be awkward and we'd agreed to wait already, anyhow. Still, I am a teenage boy, so nine times out of ten I'm dreaming of tearing her clothes off. I bet she's hot naked.

"What about these?" Mr. Gaskarth held up a filled page of Stell's handwriting. "I really like these. I think they'd be a good catch."

"Oh, dad," Stella groaned, flicking her eyes away from the page. "I wrote those a long time ago when I was... Going through something..."

"Come on, Stell. He's your boyfriend, I think he can handle it."

Stella sighed, blushing a little, and agreed to play the song. She whispered to me that I could join in at any time with my guitar so long as I kept up with the tone of her voice. She also laid the journal down in front of me so that I could skim over the lyrics. The words that had stars around them, she said, were for another member of the band to sing. This would be my job for the moment.

Alex counted us in.

"One, two, one, two, three..."

"Here I lay, like a broken picture frame You got me running on empty."

"Running on empty." For once, my voice didn't sound like my dad's. "Mmm."

"All along, I wondered if there was something wrong with me. Played all your favorite songs, sang to make you finally see..."

I watched Stella's fingers tap on her leg and realize this would be the point where the song kicks up a gear. I wrapped my fingers around the strings and began to play, she smiled as my beat formed with the song. Honestly, I felt a little weird singing and playing for a song that was written about how crappy I made her feel, but at least she expressed herself and she was all mine now. Happy endings are possible.

"I'm gonna go on, be better than you ever were. Erase the pages of my youth that were scribbled down with you, watch me as I make it baby! You know that she'll never mean as much as you meant to me, I hope she chokes on her pride," Mr. Gaskarth snorted a laugh, which oddly fit in with the song. "'Cause she might get you, but if I'm telling you the truth, I'll always be better.."

"Always be better, oh."

"Just wish that I were better off with you."

"See, it's a start. We'll modify a little of the lyrics to make them more mature, since you have matured since you wrote the song, and we'll go from there. What I need you to do now, though, is get the band together and work on this song. In the meantime, I'll go through the rest of your lyrics and pick out some more songs."

Stella smiled brightly and nodded, her head turning to meet my gaze. I could tell she wanted to ask if was offended, but honestly, I wasn't. Had things gone wrong in my plan, I know she would have done great things without me. Nothing about her song was a lie. Plus, it would bring in the attention of teenage girls. They always liked songs like that for some reason. Girls are weird.

I pulled myself off the bed and extended my hand for Stella. For now, we could run the song over with Aubree and Nate in hopes that a beat would just sort of click with them. We would definitely need Aub's skill for the bridge and chorus. It started off acoustic, but from the way I played earlier and how upbeat Stell's voice had been, I had a pretty catchy tune stuck in my head. At least once we finished that, Stell could sit down with her dad and finish the song, though I had a feeling Mr. Gaskarth wanted her to do things the way he'd done with his own band. Stella started the song, now she's playing it with us. We were all supposed to help modify and put in our own words, along with the beat.

"I think maybe now I should write a song that doesn't involve hating you to express how I feel about you," Stella giggled. pushing my shoulder. "What do you think?"

"What if we wrote one together?" I rose an eyebrow. "Just sit down with your notebook and my guitar. We can go out back and watch the sunset one night, just play till we're exhausted."

"That sounds perfect, Jack." Stella beamed. "Will that count as our first date here at the studio?"

"If you want it to," I shrugged. "But if that's the case, I am not cooking dinner!"

"That's okay," she smirked. "You'd burn the place down."

"Oh, your lack of faith in me does break my heart," I pouted my lower lip out. "Kiss me and make it better!"

By this point, Stella was laughing hard at my expression. I imagined I did look like a fool, but it was worth it just to see her smile. She stood up on her tip toes and let her body crash into mine, making us fall backwards into the wall. I chuckled, wrapping my arms around her waist, and pulled her lips into my own.

"Guys," Uncle Alex coughed, making her pull away from me. "We're here to work, not play. Get to work on the song."

At least hanging out with band always made for some sort of fun- Working or not. Being here was going to take some getting used to.

Notes