Just What I Needed (77)

All news about sequels and spin offs at the end of this never ending chapter.


For the first time in a long time, Keely felt utterly relaxed and blissfully happy. The last moment she could truly remember having the same sensation, the one where her body felt lax with sheer contentment, was all the way back in a hotel room in California.


Seth had been reading that excerpt from a Victor Hugo poem to her in French while she’d curled against his body, simply listening to his voice since she could understand none of the words and loving the way she could feel the words rumble from his chest and every breath he took with her cheek pressed against his chest. Thinking about in that way, Keely couldn’t help but think she almost sounded like a Police song, and mentally made a note to never tell him about it.


But she was still feeling that wonderful isolation from the rest of the world in that moment.


With her cheek pressed against the soft pillow case on the motel’s bed, she stared straight across the bed to where Seth was lying on his side as well, just a touch away from her.


In moments like that she had to think there was something about her and motel rooms, maybe her, Seth and motel rooms, or – rather – maybe it was her, Seth, motel rooms and beds. She wasn’t sure. But it felt like the only things that existed in their world – at least at that moment – was the two of them.


Burying slightly deeper into the bed, Keely felt a soft smile touch her lips as she reached across, bridging the distance between them as she brushed a lock of his messy hair away from his forehead. Because she could do that now, whenever she wanted she could reach out and touch him for no other reason than wanting to touch him. The knowledge of that made her have the contradictory feeling of giddiness and simple acceptance all at once.


Yet, what else were they but contradictions?


“Have you…” she paused, biting her lip as she tried to think of a question she’d like to ask him. It was odd, she’d thought of a million things to ask him in the time they’d been separated, yet at that moment when she was so close and could ask anything she wanted, she pulled a blank. “… ever had a dog?”


The moment the question was out of her mouth, Seth laughed loudly, rolling onto his back. “Shut up,” she complained, hitting him on the chest with the heel of her hand.


Still chuckling, he rolled back over, the gold in his eyes sparkling beneath the dim light of the lamp across the room. “Seriously, rebel? Out of all the questions in the world, you ask me that?”


“Yes,” Keely told him stubbornly, refusing to blush under his gaze. “Now answer the damn question.”


“Alright,” Seth replied with a roll of his eyes, but his voice was still trembling with laughter. “No, I never had a dog, always wanted one though. We moved around too much when I was young, and Jack didn’t like dogs. And now it just wouldn’t be fair to have one with touring and recording and all, not enough time for it.”


Staying quiet because she knew he didn’t want to hear her say she was sorry for the way he’d grown up, he knew she was, silence was enough. So she simply continued to look at him, finally realizing she’d never taken her hand away from his smoothly muscled chest. Chewing on the inside of her lip, she regretfully pulled her hand away and rested it beneath her cheek against the pillow.


As he stared thoughtfully back, obviously pondering his question to ask, Keely allowed her eyes to dip down, not feeling embarrassed about it any longer. How many times had she admired the indentations and muscles that graced his chest but had quickly looked away as to not get caught? She could do that without any shame now, and it was suddenly the most normal of actions for her to reach out and touch him. Even then she wanted to run her hand over his chest, but held herself back. Keely didn’t want to inflate his ego that much.


However she didn’t know how long she was going to be holding back… after all, he was sexy and she wasn’t denying that.


“Did you mean to imitate the intro for From The Muddy Banks of the Wishkah during Times Again when we were helping you prepare for the Chrome Palace gig?” he asked smirking at her, quickly washing away her other thoughts. “I never heard any words, just shouting the entire time. I mean, it’s awesome when Kurt did it, but he did it on purpose.”


“Hey!” she protested, punching him in the shoulder as she scowled at him. “That was the first time I actually tried shouting and that was the first time I actually sang the song like a grunge song. Time to cut a little slack.”


The smirk not disappearing, Seth responded, “Don’t worry. You got a billion times better.”


And her scowl did not disappear either. “You’re an ass.”


At her proclamation, Seth burst out laughing again, making her force herself to keep the scowl on her face. She liked this, the smiling and the laughing from him.


Filling in the space between them, Seth pressed his lips against hers as if it was the most natural thing in the world and instantly that scowl was gone. Yeah, she didn’t have enough willpower to stop that.


Reacting on instinct, she wrapped her arm around him in order to pull herself closer, that playful tone that the kiss had started as already vanishing with the seconds that passed, the kiss becoming deeper than intended. When she’d been about to wrap her leg around him, squishing those lasts wisps of air still felt between them, Seth rolled them over, moving his hands to either side of her head so he balanced over her, pressing the lower half of his body against hers.


It was finally she who broke off the kiss that was becoming more intense by the moment, gasping for breath as she arched her back slightly.


Instead of doing the same as her, he moved along, kissing down her neck and making a clear shiver run through her body when his teeth brushed the delicate skin at the base of her neck.


“I hate you,” Keely informed him stoically, forcing herself to remember – with great difficulty – what they’d been talking about before he so cheatingly – and rather successfully – managed to distract her.


That made him chuckled again as he brought his head up, meeting her gaze with those smouldering eyes that seemed to simply steal the air from her lungs. “You love me,” he countered smugly.


Rolling her eyes, she folded her lips against the smile that came on her. “I’m going to regret saying that.”


“I doubt that,” Seth returned cockily.


That time she wasn’t able to stop as she laughed aloud.


Grinning still, he fell back onto his back beside her, their arms touching, hauling in a deep and – unless she was very much mistaken – a strained breath. “Okay,” Seth began, rolling back to his side as she mirrored his action, closer this time than they’d been before, “This is my real question. Was this, I mean, being apart for two weeks, hard for you, or was it just normal?”


Dropping her gaze against his searching eyes, Keely gave a one shouldered shrug before she looked back to him, nothing but honesty written over her face. “It felt like two years,” she admitted softly, “Let’s never do that again, okay?”


“Agreed,” he said instantly, letting out a relieved sigh.


Swallowing, she readied herself for her next question, this time knowing for sure what it would be, his previous question setting the mood for one such as this. “When we were in Montgomery and you told me… you loved me –” her voice still held a note of wonderment as she said those words, it felt so odd coming from her mouth “– did you just realize it that night or did you know before.?”


That question had him instantly tensing, and he rolled onto his back, running his hands over his face. “Uh… I knew before,” he told her reluctantly.


Frowning at his tone, Keely propped herself onto her elbow in order to look down at him. There was no way she was going to let him go back to hiding things from her, not after everything they’d been through at this point. Not now. “When did you know?”


Pinching his nose, Seth closed his eyes, his face tipped to the ceiling as he sucked in a breath.


“Seth,” she pressed.


Blowing out a breath, he stared up at the ceiling, still not meeting her eyes. “I thought I was in love with you the first time I heard you sing, back in that record shop in New York when we were helping out Fred. You sang Help from the Beatles.”


Her frown melted away until there was nothing but bewilderment showering her face. “No…” she protested slowly, “We’d barely even talked to each other then.”


Finally he turned his head so he was looking up at her. “Why do you think I all the sudden I was the only person available to help you produce your album? I got Marco and Colton to say they were busy, it wasn’t exactly easy. You actually bought that excuse about Colton having to me his accountant because he’d left his taxes too late? The guy practically irons his socks, he leaves nothing too late.”


Her stomach felt tight, although she couldn’t make out what emotion was causing it. “Seth,” she repeated, this time a tad warningly.


With a sigh he turned his eyes back up to the roof. “I guess you were right though, I wasn’t in love with you, I pretty much had this unhealthy obsession with your voice. So I more or less forced myself into that studio. But when we went to that old club, and we actually wrote something together, it was different. I knew it.


“But, even then, I was still more in love with your voice than you,” he admitted, changing his gaze to meet her eyes again. “That changed though, spending so much time with you, I was utterly and completely in love with you in weeks, probably by the end of two weeks. I liked your attitude about music, your taste, the fact that you weren’t afraid to call me out for being an asshole, and that when you smile it starts in your eyes first. There are a million things, rebel. I could go on, but I think I’m being cheesy enough.”


Swallowing back the lump in her throat, Keely blinked back tears, shaking her head. “Ah…” she chuckled through her clogged throat, “I think you should just leave it there. Don’t want me to start thinking too much of myself.”


Silently Seth reached out, thumbing away a tear before it could fall down her cheek. At this point she was almost embarrassed, she despised crying. She’d been doing far too much of it lately, but this time it was different, not so bad. She wasn’t crying for a bad reason. Actually, it was for completely the opposite.


Sucking in a breath, Keely rolled over, making a careful amount of space between them.


“Keely,” Seth started, a mixture of apprehension and confusion in his voice.


Instead of getting off the bed as she was sure he was thinking she was about to do, Keely simply sat up, stretching over to the end table where she turned on the radio. Wincing slightly at the static that greeted her, she carefully tuned the dial until it had caught on to her favorite radio station in the city.


Taking the time where she had hidden her face, Keely started taking in deep calming breaths, holding herself together. And sure enough, by the time the commercial on the station was coming to end, she’d managed to get herself to a point that at the very least there were no longer tears, although her throat still felt constricted with her emotions. Rubbing her hands over her eyes, she turned back around, lying back down in her previous spot, curling her legs up tightly.


All of the sudden, she was very grateful for the fact that the radio was on, the beginning chords of a song starting. It at least took away some of the pressure. At that moment, Keely was sure she knew the song that was playing, yet staring back at Seth’s unsure eyes; she found she couldn’t remember it for the life of her.


“I’m okay,” she assured him softly underneath the music.


Still, he didn’t completely look sure.


To bring her point home, Keely shuffled closer so their noses were almost brushing, with a sigh, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing under the familiar scent. As much as bad as anything got, he was always the one there to save her. It just took her far too long to realize it.


Letting her eyes flicker open, she looked up into his golden eyes from beneath her dark lashes, a questioning expression gracing her face. “If you loved me from that point, why were you still such a jerk for so long?”


“Oh, thanks,” he replied sarcastically.


“You were an arrogant ass to me,” she pointed out.


With a sigh of his own, Seth reached out, tucking a lock of her fiery hair behind her ear, but he left his hand there, his hand resting against her neck and jaw while he ran his thumb over her cheek. The motion was driving her mad, and Keely could already feel her attention leaving her, but – with great difficulty – she remained focused.


“I loved you, but I hated you,” he explained slowly, as if trying to decide on the right words as he spoke. “Ever since I was a little kid, I was good at not feeling, because with the way I grew up, if you felt anything it would only end up hurting you. And when I first came to New York, Marco and Colton tried so hard to make me feel things, be a regular person; I was so far away from my mom and Jack. But I never felt anything but… hatred, I guess.


“I could play music I liked, but hearing NSR on the radio and playing their music only cancelled that out. There were the girls, but I never felt anything with them. So, I closed off more, and I was so thankful to be able to.


“And all the sudden you came in, and you had me feeling things I’d thought I’d never be able to, I thought I’d been too fucked to ever feel anything like that. I resented you so much, for being able to play the music you wanted to, not being forced into what I’d been, for making me feel something when I’d spent my whole life trying to not feel a thing.”


Gulping, Keely felt renewed tears pressing against her eyes, but she valiantly held them in. “Oh,” she managed in a choked voice.


“I’m fucked beyond repair,” Seth decided, giving an almost half shrug, as if he was trying to pass it out, like it didn’t matter. Like it didn’t matter that he’d had been so scarred by a childhood no one deserved that he didn’t want to let himself feel.


“Seth,” she said gently.


Almost as if he’d planned it, Seth just kept running his thumb along her cheek before joining into the song. His voice was still a little on the raspy side from the show that night, but it made shivers run up her spine as he sang it so low, it was for her ears only.


Well I ain’t no trouble maker. And I never meant her harm. But it doesn’t mean I didn’t make it hard to carry on,” he sang, his eyes not leaving hers once during the entire time. She didn’t dare to blink in case she missed anything, though she did finally remember the song went by the name of Shadow Days. “Well it sucks to be honest, And it hurts to be real. But it nice to make some love that I can finally feel. Hard times let me be.


Feeling an overwhelming sensation of tenderness overpower her, Keely bit her bottom lip as she remained entranced in him. A part of her wanted to reach out and kiss him, but she didn’t dare stop him in the middle of the song, it was like magic to her. Instead she settled for reaching up and resting her hand gently on his where it remained along her jawline.


I’m a good man, with a good heart. Had a tough time, got a rough start. But I finally learned to let it go. Now I’m right here, and I’m right now. And I’m open, knowing somehow. My shadow days are over. My shadow days are over now.”


After that chorus, he stopped singing, but Keely remained lying in place, content just to be lost in his gaze. Despite singing along to the John Mayer song, she couldn’t help but wonder how much he actually believed in what he’d been singing to her, at least during the chorus. Those deep set issues he had, they couldn’t just disappear, and as much as she hated to believe it, she knew he had an unhealthy amount of self-loathing and shame when it came to himself.


“When did you know?” Seth questioned her after a long moment passed.


 There was no need for him to explain his question; Keely knew what he was asking as she turned her head up to look at the ceiling, his hand slipping down to rest on her neck with the motion. “I finally figured it out at my record release party, though I bet I’d actually been in love with you for a long time, I was just too much of a coward to come to terms with it until then. It made me throw up.”


“What?” he gave a soft laugh.


Pursing her lips, she twisted her head around so she could look at him, drinking in every plane of his handsome face, from those entrancing eyes all the way down to his strong chin. “I was scared, I’m still bloody terrified,” she admitted, “Of this, I mean. Of everything, I guess. Me and you; together, it terrifies me, Seth.”


Seeing that confused, almost hurt look, flickering over his face, she instantly felt a stab of guilt in her stomach. “But I want this, so much. And the things really worth having don’t come easy. This hasn’t come easy.”


Feeling relieved she’d finally been able to tell him that, Keely let out a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. But all too soon, she was opening her eyes again. She’d have liked to stay there, just talking to him for the foreseeable future.


Moving her head, she pressed her cheek into his hand, smiling gently at him.


“I’ve got to go,” she whispered regretfully.


Seth blinked in confusion, asking, “What, why?”


Giving a light laugh, she pulled his hand away from her cheek before pushing up on the bed and straightening her jeans before dragging her legs over the side of the bed. “We’re not in New York,” she told him, “I’m living at home for the moment. My dad is already going to be furious with me.”


Rolling onto his back, Seth rested his hands behind his neck, baring his bare chest to the room casually. It was hard for her to pull her eyes away from the smooth muscles, biting her lip, but she took her time, reminding herself that she could see that whenever she wanted to now. “You’re eighteen,” he pointed out.


“And my dad still thinks of me like I’m thirteen half the time,” she responded, leaning across the bed. Keely pressed a soft, chaste kiss onto his mouth, tucking her hair behind her ears.


Instantly Seth’s hands reached up, but she pulled away, shoving herself up to her feet before he could get a hold of her. If he did, Keely had her doubts that’d she’d be able to force herself to leave.


“We didn’t do anything,” Seth pointed out as he propped himself up.


Shrugging she slipped on her shoes, snagging her jacket up from where they’d left it back by the door. “Like he’s going to believe that,” she answered with a snort, “I went running away in the middle of the night to a motel to go tell a guy I love him and I’ve been gone for five hours. It’s a wonder he isn’t searching the city with a shotgun.”


Frowning he moved so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, his sweatpants dipping low beneath those sexy hipbones. “Is he really that protective?” he asked, running a hand through his hair, making it stick up in all different directions.


“Well, not really, we’re not exactly the Brady Bunch. But he still kind of hates Tony with a passion,” Keely replied, slipping her jacket over her shoulders.


“That’s comforting,” Seth answered sardonically.


Sending him a cheeky smile, Keely pulled her hair out from beneath the jacket. “That’s me, always a comfort.”


In response he just rolled his eyes at her before standing up.


“I really do have to go home,” she warned.


“I know,” Seth countered, turning away from her so he could dig through the bag in the corner of his room. Watching closely, she watched unashamedly while the muscles through his back rippled with the motion and checking out his ass. She could do that, Keely reminded herself giddily, he was her… boyfriend? That word just didn’t seem like enough. But he was hers, and that was all that mattered.


Spinning back to face her, he pulled a light blue tee over his head, making his stomach contract with the movement. “I’ll walk you out,” he informed her, scooting past her to pull open the door of the room.


Thankful that had finally stopped raining; Keely dipped her hands into the pockets of her ripped jeans, strolling out to where her car was parked, all too aware that Seth was following just a step behind her.


When they’d pulled to a halt beside her car, she spun around to him, leaning against the door. Despite the fact the storm had moved elsewhere, the ground was still covered in a slick sheet of rain water and the sky was completely black from the early morning hour, making the only light from the streetlights.


Smiling slightly, she reached up, touching his cheek, staring at the shadows that the faded streetlights threw over his striking face. “Are you going to go get on that plane?”


With a torn expression, Seth brought his hand up to hers, pulling it away from his cheek in order to take her hand in his, playing with her fingers as he stared back at her. “I do have to go to the show.”


“I want to go with you,” Keely told him, “And I need to go back to New York, I’ll go mad here. I’m going to have to go apartment searching. But I can’t go right now, I at least need some time to say goodbye to people.”


Lifting her hand, he pressed a light kiss to her wrist, making her pulse skip a beat. “I could probably buy a few days.”


Grinning broadly, she replied, “I really want to meet Eric Clapton.”


That got a laugh out of him and he moved the half a step closer so their legs were pressing against one another’s with her back against the car. “I knew it; you’re just using me for Clapton.”


“You know it,” Keely answered, her voice becoming husky at the close proximity.


“You have to go,” Seth reminded her.


“I know.”


His voice was low as he spoke, barely audible in the dense air. “You should go.”


“Probably,” she returned.


However she couldn’t even ponder the thought of leaving right at that moment, instead she stretched up on her tip toes and pressed her lips against his.


It took barely the briefest moment before he’d responded to the pressure. Pressing her against the car, Seth placed one hand behind her on the roof while the other rested on her hip, as if keeping her in place. Like she was going anywhere. She was definitely not going anywhere fast with her hands tangled in his hair and back arched against the car.


“You’ll at least be here tomorrow, right?” Keely asked breathlessly when they pulled apart, her hands moving to rest on his shoulders.


Seth just nodded slowly, his eyes not moving from her face.


“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” she told him, smiling.


With that as a farewell, Keely slipped into her car, Seth closing the door behind her. And – though it felt like there was a steady pull, dragging her back towards that crappy motel – she drove steadily home, a smile stretching broadly across her face, unable to force herself to hide the expression.


Not long after she’d killed the engine of her car, Keely found herself sneaking guiltily down the darkened path lead by nothing but her basic instinct to the front door of her childhood home, shoulders slumped.


The lights themselves were all off, not a sign of life coming from the house, which meant her father had probably gone to bed long before. Meaning that he would not know the exact time she got in… so she could simply tell him she’d arrived at a more reasonable hour. However, taking into account her words with Seth not too long ago, she found she didn’t want to lie to her father. Not now. Not when she might just have mere days left.


Because it felt like the end of an era now, at this point she was really still his little girl. Very true she’d gone to New York, recorded an album and did a North American tour. Yet, she’d never really moved out. Her home had always still been in Bellingham, back with her father. She had always known she going to come back there.


But when she left now? Home was never going to there again.


She was finally moving out for real, and she’d come to see him for visits, but she was never going to live in this house again.


And it did cause a pang in her chest, thinking of leaving this place behind, no matter what her feelings of it. It was home. But she was also certain that she would only go mad in this town if she stayed, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she wanted to be with Seth, wherever he might go.


Still, it was going to be hard to finally leave her father once and for all. Especially after everything they’d been through in the past weeks.


Always contradictions, she mused, rubbing her forehead as she shoved through the door.


However all those deep thoughts vanished from her mind with the screech that left her lips when the lights around her flashed on.


“Oh my god, dad,” Keely hissed accusingly, glaring at the man in question who was leaning against the doorway that lead into the kitchen. She slammed the door behind her and took careful steps into the living room before continuing. “Are you trying to make up for all these years without clichés? Because this takes the freaking cake.”


Ignoring her words, he stared at her steadily through knowing eyes. “You said you’d be home soon,” he declared simply.


With a sigh, she replied, “Yes.”


“You weren’t.”


“Yes.”


Pulling in a long breath through his nose, her father closed her eyes, as if preparing himself for something. Then asked, “Just promise me I won’t have little rock stars running around here any time soon.”


Horrified Keely gawked at him before burying her face in her hands. “Ew, dad,” she complained, “You are never supposed to ask me something like that.”


“Just promise me you were careful, then.”


“Oh my god!” she exclaimed, “That’s no better.”


“Keely.”


“Dad,” she returned in the same patronizing tone, “Nothing happened.”


Looking just as disgusted as she felt by the conversation, her father refused to meet her eyes as he spoke, averting them to the ground. “I know how old you are, and all of that already. You don’t have to lie.”


This time it was she that drew in a deep calming breath, then looked him straight in the eyes – it wasn’t an easy feat. “I swear to whatever you want, nothing happened.”


Although the expression on his face wasn’t belief, her dad let his shoulder slump, once again looking away, this time looking to the right and to the wall. “You’re at least happy, right?” he asked gruffly.


Smiling gently, Keely replied with a modest, “Yeah.”


“He’s the one you want?”


With his gaze suddenly looking at her, she found herself opening and closing her mouth at a loss.


What reasons could she give him that she wanted Seth more than she could ever want Joseph of anyone else? How he made her feel when they were simply close, not even touching? That wasn’t something she wanted to share with her dad. How about the musician, the person he was, despite everything that had happened, or maybe in spite of everything? She couldn’t share that with anyone. That was between Keely and him. She never wanted anyone to be between them there.


He was everything she wanted…


“Yeah,” she repeated.


“Alright,” her dad stated, pushing up from his leaning position on the wall. “Alright,” he repeated slowly, and without a goodbye, turned and walked away.


Shaking her head, Keely felt a smile pushing its way onto her mouth as she followed him towards the bedroom, though she took a sharp left into her own. Closing it softly, she fell back against it, feeling nothing more than blissful as she closed her eyes.


Maybe she should have told her dad then that she was planning on leaving, and soon, but she didn’t want to let go of this feeling. Not quite yet, at least. She’d tell him when she was sure when she’d have to leave, Keely decided.



“Does it bother you?”


Surprised at the sound of the voice, Keely looked up, the smile touching her lips almost instantaneously. “Oh, hey,” she greeted, tossing the magazine out blindly onto the table in front of her as she shoved her sunglasses onto the top of her head.


Seth took the opportunity to lean down, one hand flat on the table and the other on the back of her chair as he captured her lips with his, making Keely unconsciously shift to the side so she was facing him. Not having been ready – she was pretty sure that she was never going to get used to him simply kissing her, whenever he wanted – she made a shocked sound in the back of her throat before sneaking her hands onto his shoulders and closing her eyes as she relaxed into the embrace.


When he broke the kiss, Keely kept her eyes closed, relishing in the warm happiness that was spreading outward from the pit of her stomach and all the way to her fingertips. She could compare it to when she was listening to a new song, and when it hit, it hit her in the stomach and spread outwardly. And that was just from a kiss. She really was never going to get used to this, well, this being them. Seth and she. The idea was still so foreign, yet familiar at the same time.


“So does it?” Seth’s voice interrupted her thought process.


“Hmph?” Keely questioned stupidly, her eyes flickering open to find him only a breath away.


The sight that met her was Seth’s golden eyes shining mischievously at her. “The magazine,” he clarified, making his voice mockingly slow for her benefit.


Sending him a scowl, Keely moved her hands slightly on his shoulders, sliding them down almost to his chest and used that leverage to show him backwards. “No,” she told him simply, “It does not.”


Agreeably Seth straightened with a shrug. “Alright then, coffee?”


Without so much as waiting for her answer – after all, when did she not want coffee? He was the one who’d gotten her addicted to it – he headed into the café which she’d taken a seat in front of on the patio while waiting for him to arrive. It was on that table that she’d found the magazine.


With that thought, Keely turned her attention back to the object in question.


Did it bother her?


Sighing Keely crossed her arms on the table, dropping her chin on them so she could look at it, but not wanting to touch it in case Seth saw.


The cover had two people on it. One red haired, one dark. One male, one female. One drenched while the other was shirtless. All of this framed in the doorway of a motel room. The couple had been captured in the photo for eternity in a tight embrace, the girl’s hands tangled in the man’s hair while his fingers were splayed across her back. It looked pretty passionate to say the least.


And if a person was to go deeper into the magazine than the cover and the headline, they would find an article written about that couple – a sleazy one, if she was giving her personal opinion on the writing. Along with the writing was a series of photos leading to where the door was shut behind them.


So did it bother her? Did it bother her that one her most emotional, impassioned moments was being broadcasted across the cover of a magazine – and most likely others – for the world to see?


Yes, of course it did. It made her feel violated in ways she didn’t even want to think deeply about.


But, she couldn’t say it wasn’t worth it. There was no way she’d go back now and change the way things had gone that night, it’d been perfect. Plus, the cameras and the squalid writing? It was all a part of a life they lived, and while it wasn’t exactly fun, she couldn’t change it now.


It was just time to grow up and get used to it. Well, Keely didn’t really want to grow up – she’d felt old enough in the past year and she didn’t like it, and she doubted she’d ever really get used to it.


So maybe deal with it was better?


Yeah, deal with it; she could do that.


“It does bother you.”


At the statement Keely sighed, tipping her head up to look at Seth and having to squint at him to do so with the sun glaring behind him. Instead of answering, he obviously already knew the answer, she just asked, “Did you get the coffee?”


In response he placed the take out mug in front of her, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table. “Rebel,” he began, his tone coloured somewhat concerned.


“Don’t worry,” she assured him, picking up her drink, “I’m dealing.”


Slowly he nodded, his eyes searching her face closely as if trying to find any sign – no matter how small – of deception. Apparently he found none, because he took his turn to sigh, pushing his cup on the table awkwardly as a little boy might push around the peas on his plate. “Well, I’ve got something else for you to deal with.”


“Great,” she snorted calmly, taking a sip of her coffee – it was of course exactly the way she liked it. “We’ve been through so much shit that unless you tell me you’re gay, I don’t think you can surprise me.”


“I’m not gay,” Seth promised, his eyes sparkling at the thought. “But it’d be fun to play that one out for the press. See what they make of it.”


Chuckling, Keely brushed her bangs away, sending a nod to the magazine. “Yeah, like that’d be believable.”


“I’ll play it Billie Joe Armstrong.”


That got a laugh out of her and Keely just leaned back contently into her chair, drinking the scene in front of her in. It was a beautiful day, the scent of water in the air since they weren’t far from the docks, her fingers felt a bit used from writing a song she thought would just be instrumental on the guitar that morning, she had coffee, the boy she loved was sitting in front of her and he was completely hers, plus he could make her laugh. What could be better?


After a long and a bit reluctant moment, she would have liked for the moment to last longer, she finally broke the silence. “So what is it?”


“I called this morning,” he began, his hand drumming on the table in what she thought was probably an unintentional movement. “I bought a bit longer, but since we were a late add on to the festival we need to figure things out, like when we’re going to play and shit like that.”


Lowering the cups from her lips, she just asked, “How much time is a bit longer?”


“Two days,” Seth said, enunciating his words very clear as if in hope to avoid any confusion.


Where the confusion would lie, Keely didn’t know.


The words were quite clear.


Swallowing, she placed her coffee on the table carefully. And then questioned, “Two days?”


He simply nodded.


“Two days,” she echoed, the words deliberately drawn-out as she rolled it over on her tongue, wrapping her mind around it.


However once her mind settled on the fact she’d have to leave in two days, the panic set in.


There would be only two days before she had to leave this place, not forever, but never to live here again. Two days to spend with her father, she didn’t even know how she was going to tell him. Two days left to say goodbye to all her friends. Two days left and she wasn’t even sure Joseph would see her.


What would happen with her best friend if she left without seeing him? How long would it be? As much as she didn’t want to go too long without seeing her dad, Keely understood how time could get away. She might make an album and then go on another long winded tour, but it might not just be North America again. It might be a world-wide one, maybe just Europe or the UK, but that was so far away. How long would it last? This last one had been a monster, but the next one could be like the Bigger Bang tour or any Foo Fighter tour.


When she felt close to hyperventilating, suddenly the boy from across the table reached across, gripping her hand tightly in his. It wasn’t exactly a gentle hold, but Keely preferred it like that, holding on so strongly. It was almost like reassurance. Reassurance that he was there with her, not to mention, making her remember why she was leaving in the first place.


“What do you need to do?” he asked, causing Keely to find his eyes with hers. “I’ll help you.”


Chewing on her bottom lip, Keely took deep breaths, calming herself down. “I need to say goodbye to people,” she answered in a low voice.


“Who?”


“Um, Tony, Sadie, Joe, my dad…” Surprising both of them, she laughed with her next words, “Mr. Summers. I never told him thanks for everything he did for me, and I don’t think I’d even be allowed in that school again.”


Nodding quickly, Seth stood up, pulling her frozen body out of the chair by the hand he was still holding. “Here,” he said, passing her the coffee she’d forgotten on the table.


Taking it mechanically, she just stared at him blankly, asking, “What are we doing?”


He grinned back at her, the crooked roguish one that never failed to make her heart skip a beat, even then. “You’ll see,” he told her, tugging her closer by the hand, his fingers lacing through hers naturally. “Did you drive here?”


Still feeling like she was caught up in a daze, Keely nodded. “Yeah, I parked it behind the café,” she replied, her voice bewildered.


“Do you want to drive?” Seth asked, starting to move forward, their hands still entwined with their shoulders brushing as they walked.


That finally got a chuckle out of her, and she let her head turn to the side, hoping that there was no sickly loving expression on her face. She’d never be able to forgive herself if she was. “I don’t even know where we’re going.”


“Shit,” Seth swore, spinning them back around so they were heading in the other direction. “Okay, new plan.”


With a full bodied laugh Keely hurried her step so she was even with him.



“Seth,” she said in a cautionary tone.


Innocently, he replied with, “What?”


“You’re an asshole,” Keely stated, not so much as sending him a glance as she continued to stare out the window.


Never, ever should she have told him that she wanted to say goodbye to Mr Summers, because this was what happened. She found herself sitting in his freaking rental car staring out at the school she really did not want to go into – even if she’d been welcome – though she did want to say goodbye to him…


Rolling his eyes, Seth simply pushed out of the door, slamming it behind him and stuffing the keys into the front pocket of his jeans.


Reluctantly she followed his action, though she closed the door more gently. “Seth,” she hissed, keeping her voice quiet – though her rational side knew it wouldn’t make a difference. “I can’t go in there.”


“Sure you can,” he replied carelessly as he began walking towards the school.


“I can’t!” she exclaimed, not bothering to keep her voice down as she trailed behind him. “I punched a girl in a school I don’t even go to, they’ve probably got my picture on a do not allow to enter board.”


He just shrugged, continuing on.


“Seth!” Keely cried out, getting frustrated and throwing a punch at his back.


Laughing he turned around, finally pulling to a halt. “Krist Novoselic was banned for life from the Coliseum for getting drunk at a Neil Young concert, but he walked in there and played a show. You can go into the high school.”


“That’s different,” she said with a roll of the eyes, “They couldn’t really play without their bassist.”


“You’re almost in anyways,” Seth informed her, pulling open one of the doors to the school that she hadn’t realized they’d been that close to.


For a moment they stayed locked in a stare, daring the other one to back down first. However, this time it was Keely who broke as she gave a sigh and pushed past him into the school. She wanted to talk to Mr Summers, and, hey, it would help her punk rock credit to get kicked out of somewhere.


But she still added, “I hate you,” in a muted voice as she moved past him.


Again she heard him laughing, but this time he kept the volume down. “You love me,” he returned just as he had before, letting himself fall into step with her, close enough their shoulders were brushing though he kept his hands in his pockets.


Hiding the smile that wanted to come onto her face, she just stalked forward into the school on the quickest route to the music room.


Thankfully, they’d managed to get to the school at a time where the students were all in their classes, and they were having the great luck that they didn’t mean any teachers or students heading to the bathroom or to their lockers. But Keely wasn’t convinced their luck was going to hold, after all, Mr Summers was a teacher, he was probably teaching a class about now.


Reaching the classroom doors, Keely hastily stepped forward; sending her hopes out that no one was in the class and twisted the door knob. It was locked. Frowning, she tried it again, but no luck.


“Well, this was useless,” she proclaimed, throwing her arms in the air and spinning around to look at Seth.


Shaking his head, Seth brushed past her gently before kneeling down in front of the door.


This time when she saw this, she was still surprised, but not even closed to as shocked. Her first action was to send a furtive look behind them, but the hallway was clear of any form of life. The next thing she did?


Reaching forward, Keely slapped him across the back of the head, and she didn’t hold back too much. “Do you carry that around with you everywhere?” she whispered accusingly, referring to the lock pick.


“Yeah,” he answered unfazed without a glance towards her, “In my wallet.”


“Why?” she returned exasperated.


Looking around at her with a cocky grin, Seth pushed open the door before standing up. “For moments like these, it comes in handy.”


With a self-suffering sigh, Keely walked into the room in front of him, pondering if he was going to drive her mad. It did seem likely. Looking around, she was unsurprised to find the classroom empty. When a door was locked in the middle of the school day, that was usually the logical explanation.


“So what do we do now, McQueen?”


“I can only do so much.”


At his response, she just sent him a rather unamused face before turning around and inspecting things closer, hoping that Mr Summers would be there soon.


The sound of the door shutting softly behind her might as well have been a gunshot, but Keely kept herself focused, methodically going through the posters Mr Summers had pasted on the wall. How come she had never noticed that beside a sketching of Bach there was a 1967 poster for the Doors?


But even as she tried to distract herself with the eclectic collection her music teacher had, she couldn’t help her jumpy stomach. So she wasn’t that bad ass apparently.


And she was fine with that.


Being in the school made her jumpy at the best of time, but now? Keely wouldn’t doubt that the principal might even go so far to call the police on her, he didn’t seem too fond. Plus she had punched one of his students in the face… She simply couldn’t risk getting caught, because after talking to Mr Summers, she wanted to spend all the time with her friends and her dad that she could manage before she left. And, though she hadn’t told Seth yet, she wanted him to be a part of that as well.


Plus it wasn’t as if she needed another arrest on her record. She already had two, and if she got another in just the few days Seth had been in town, she wouldn’t be surprised if her dad started locking her up, as relaxed as he’d been lately.


Okay, so maybe it was doubtful that the police would get called. She’d probably just get escorted off the property by principal, but worst possibilities were her specialty.


Shaking her head at the thoughts that were spinning through her mind, Keely moved forward to the shelves of CD’s Mr Summers had organized carefully. Running her finger over them, she found that despite his obvious eclectic taste in music, the music he had here was almost all on the side of jazz, blues and classical.


With a smile touching her lips at the sight, she pulled out a case that proclaimed ‘The Very Best of Jazz’, interested in what the people that compiled the contemplation figured was the very best. But as she ran her finger down the track list, Keely couldn’t help but realize she agreed with most of them. Billie Holiday being on the very top of her list of vocalist inspirations, Ray Charles just being brilliant, and the list kept going on. Peggy Lee, Louis Armstrong, Gene Kelly, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Sara Vaughan, Judy Garland.


Just thinking about the music the artists produced gave Keely the urge to go out and hoard all the records she could find.


The CD still in hand, she turned around, searching for Seth. She found him standing a foot from the piano, his arms crossed in front of his chest and eyes seeming far away as he stared down at the thing.


And that faraway look wasn’t a happy one.


So she was right. With a gulp, she shifted, her hand dropping to her side. She’d been perfectly in the right assuming that he wasn’t fine, of course he wasn’t. Would he ever be? Yeah, sure, maybe he’d been happier than she’d ever seen him, in a lighter mood. However he was always going to have demons that haunted the back of his mind and his dreams.


“Seth,” Keely began, but her voice died in her throat when his gaze flickered to her, just as dark as she’d imagined it.


Quickly enough it vanished, fading into a blank expression and then transforming to a more natural one. But she couldn’t help but notice that there was still a shadow. “Yeah?” he responded, his voice sounding ordinary as well.


Blowing a breath through her lips, Keely realized she didn’t want to ask about what he’d been thinking about. Not now. Not when they’d been so blissfully happy and he was obviously making an attempt to pretend as if it hadn’t happened. So she lifted the CD, searching the songs on the back and choosing one at random. “Can you play Hallelujah I Love Her by Ray Charles?”


As if he was accepting a challenge instead of answering a question, Seth arched an eyebrow before taking the stride forward to the piano and taking a seat.


Settling in, he placed his hands on the keys without looking at them, instead keeping his eyes locked on hers. And then, without a hitch, he began to play the song in question. “Can I play it?” he returned, still looking at her. Talk about flesh memory.


“Show off,” she muttered good-naturedly as she wandered forward to the piano, a smile on her lips.


Suddenly he grinned at her easily, that moment before seemingly completely forgotten – at least on his part. As he played the up-tempo bluesy song that Keely adored, she couldn’t help but remember a quote from Frank Sinatra about Ray Charles, “The only true genius in the music business”.


And while she adored Ray Charles, she thought there were many geniuses in music business. She couldn’t even list them. And though it felt like sacrilege to even think it, Keely couldn’t help but think that there was a complete different true musical genius right at the moment, and he was playing in front of her.


Leaning against the piano, Keely watched, absolutely enthralled, as he finished the song.


Putting his hands on his knees, Seth asked, “Why that song?”


With a shrug she raised the CD that was still in her hand, a bashful small smile on her face.


“Unimaginative,” Seth joked before continuing, “Can you sing a song off of it?”


Just as he had, Keely took this as a challenge. “Say a number,” she demanded.


“Thirty five,” he guessed at random, daring her.


Frowning, she searched down the fifty tracks on the album, finding the number in question. Smirking she looked up at him, and jumped into mid song. “A kiss on the hand may be quite continental, But diamonds are a girl’s best friend. A kiss may be grand, But it won’t pay the rent on your humble flat, Or help you at the automat.


“You dared me with Marilyn Monroe,” Keely tisked jokingly, “What did you expect?”


Shaking his head, Seth finally broke eye contact, staring down at the keys beneath his hands as he began to play a completely different song.


Keely was sure her heart stuttered when she recognized the song, and she had to bite her bottom lip as she watched Seth play it, his hands sure and deft across the keys. One genius to another it seemed.


Baby I’m amazed at the way you love me all the time. Maybe I’m afraid of the way I love you. Baby I’m amazed at the way you pulled me out of time. Hung me on the line. Maybe I’m amazed at the way I really need you,” Seth sang perfectly in key, his fingers not missing a note. At the last line of the verse, he did look up from the piano to meet her eyes over top of it and this time she was sure that her heart forgot it was supposed to beat for a moment.


Baby I’m a man and maybe I’m a lonely man, Who’s in the middle of something, He doesn’t really understand,” he continued without looking down, their eyes locked over the piano. “Baby I’m a man and maybe you’re the only woman, Who could ever help me, Baby won’t you help me understand.”


In the end it was Keely who broke the eye contact as she moved – as if in a trance – around the piano, letting him to hunch his shoulders ever so slightly as he moved into a solo portion of the song. Taking up her seat lightly beside him on the bench and trying not to disrupt him at the same time, she watched his fingers in amazement. Maybe it was she who was amazed in him. Hell, she knew she was, there was no maybe involved. She could only wonder if she’d always continue to be in such amazement of him.


Repeating the chorus he’d just sang, Seth let his eyes wander away from the keys as he looked at her.


He just took her breath away. It was as simple as that. With everything that he did, he had such talent, it was immeasurable. Like there wasn’t something involving music he couldn’t do.


Baby I’m amazed at the way you’re with me all the time. Maybe I’m afraid of the way I leave you. Baby I’m amazed at the way you help me sing my song. Right me when I’m wrong. Maybe I’m amazed at the way I really need you.”


As he was playing to the end of the song with only the piano, Keely shook her head, all the sudden realizing that there were tears in her eyes that were just begging to fall. Valiantly she held them in, muttering, “You’re so fucking cheesy.”


“What?” Seth chuckled, the song halting immediately, “You love Paul McCartney.”


“I do,” she agreed, putting her hands on his shoulders when he angled himself towards her on the bench. “But that doesn’t make you any less cheesy.”


“And what song would you have sang?”


Smiling she tossed her head slightly, getting the hair away from her eyes and feeling quite grateful the tears were drying. “Beat Your Heart Out most definitely, so much more punk rock.”


 “Oh, c’mon–”


He might have started to make a point in his favour, but Keely didn’t let him get the words out as she wrapped her arms around his neck, one hand tangling in his hair and pressed her lips against his.


The kiss started out completely innocent. Well, there might have been two reasons for it. One, she just wanted to kiss him especially after he sang that song to her. Secondly, he didn’t need any more points in his favour! It had almost made her cry; she didn’t need any other reasons from him to tell her what made that song a better choice. As much as she loved the Distillers, she would have chosen Maybe I’m Amazed over them.


Gripping her around the waist, Seth tugged her those few inches across the bench until there was a completely lack of air between them. In the past while, they seemed to be spending the majority of the time doing this. But Keely was far from complaining, especially when a hoarse groan came from him, sending goosebumps up her spine as she strained to get closer.


“Okay, enough.”


The two firm words were enough to shock Keely and Seth apart, sending them to opposite sides of the piano bench, jumping like thieves caught in the act.


Seeing who it was, Keely felt herself blush a deep red as she stared across the room to Mr Summers who was wearing a stern expression, his arms crossed across his chest. It was almost like being caught by her dad, and that kiss had no longer been so innocent.


“You could have at least locked the door,” Mr Summers put in.


Instantly Keely sent Seth an accusing look.


When he gave a sigh, Keely’s attention swivelled back to the teacher who was pulling a chair out for himself. Settling himself down, he brushed his hands on his pants, sending them a searching look. “So you guys are what, Paul and Linda?”


Surprisingly that got a laugh out of her and she shook her head, sending Seth a quick look. “Too nice,” she replied.


“Sid and Nancy?”


“Too murderous,” Seth answered him this time.


“Tommy and Pamela?”


Crinkling her nose, Keely retorted, “Too sell out.”


Shaking his head, she noticed a smile on Mr Summers face as well. “Alright, you guys can figure that one out on your own. What are you doing here Keely?”


“I’m leaving in a couple days,” she told him, standing up. There really was no point beating around the bush. How long they had left, she wasn’t sure. “I just wanted to come here and say goodbye, and thank you, I guess.”


The teacher’s gaze softened at her words, and he responded, “For what?”


Biting on her lip, Keely cast a look around the room without really seeing as she shrugged. “Everything,” she answered simply, finally looking back at him.


Understandingly, he nodded, looking at her for a long moment. “It was good for you to come by, but I don’t think it’s going to bode well for both of you if you’re caught here.”


Sighing she pursed her lips. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”


“It’s only about one minute until lunch begins, and I’d suggest for you two to be gone from here since we’re having a meeting in here.”


Not hesitating or doubting his words, Keely headed towards her teacher who stood up in time. She just hugged him tightly, not figuring there were any other words she could truly say that would explain how thankful she was to him.


A little while later, a familiar hand was gripping her arm and pulling her away. “C’mon,” Seth murmured gently in her ear, “We should go.”


“See you around,” Keely said in goodbye to the music teacher as Seth tugged her to the door.


“Bye, Keely,” Mr Summers said in farewell.


When they pushed through the door of the music room, the familiar bell rang through the school, but this time Keely didn’t wince, knowing for sure that’d be the last time she heard it. And despite they were in the middle of a school where she was clearly not welcome and all the teachers were heading their direction, she felt calmer than she had since Seth had told her two days earlier.


Dropping her arm, Seth turned around to look at her, his eyes searching her carefully, as if checking for a break down somewhere on the horizon. Reaching between them, he twined their fingers together, asking quietly, “You okay?”


“Yeah,” she responded vaguely smiling at him. With her free hand, she reached up, brushing her hand over his cheek.


“Yeah, I’m good,” Keely said in a stronger voice as she reached up and pressed a light kiss to his lips, closing her eyes as she did so.


When she pulled away, she opened her eyes, but found his already open, as if he’d never closed his at all, watching her the entire time. For the first time she noticed that there were people strolling out of their classrooms around them, but pulling to a halt when they caught sight of the two of them.


“Alright,” Seth answered her, tucking her hair behind her ear. He either didn’t care about the people around them, or he was making a point; Keely didn’t know. But he didn’t send them a care as he placed a hand over the door above her head and leaned down to catch her lips in his, and though it stayed chaste as hers had, but it was much stronger than hers and her knees melted at the touch.


“We should go now,” he announced, pulling away with a cheeky smile.


Without waiting for her answer, he pulled back, tugging her with him by their clasped hands, pulling her down the hall.


Ignoring all the wide eyed stares that they were getting – from faculty and students – Keely giggled, trotting after his long stride. “Beat Your Heart Out,” she told him, “We definitely aren’t nice enough to be Paul and Linda.”


Laughing, Seth dragged her out of the front doors.



“Bruce and Patti?” suggested Seth.


“That just seems blasphemous,” Keely replied.


Laughing he leaned back in the passenger’s seat of the car comfortably while she turned on the blinker of the car, turning smoothly.


It had been a shock to her when he tossed her the keys to the Porsche he’d rented, after all she remembered his protests months before about her driving his rental, but she couldn’t help but grin when it happened. Hadn’t not too long ago she’d been thinking about Joe’s blunt refusal to let her drive his car annoyed her? And now here she was driving a freaking Porsche.


Although Seth had explained quite clearly in the parking lot of her high school while he’d been doing it. He had no idea where she lived, and it would only make sense for her to simply drive there instead of directed him. He did warn her about the use of the breaks though.


“Win and Régine?” he asked.


Frowning, she shook her head. “Arcade Fire is way too fucking good, that just makes me feel nervous. And we haven’t started our own band.”


After a moment of thought, he came up with a new option. “Jack and Meg?”


“Last argument still stands, and are you telling me you want us to pretend to be brother and sister?” she countered, sending him a joking look with an arched eyebrow. “Plus they got divorced, bad example.”


“John and Yoko?”


“Yoko Ono broke up The Beatles, no way.”


“Thurston and Kim?”


“Too fucking awesome,” Keely laughed, “And, c’mon, Sonic Youth.”


“Chris and Deborah?”


This time she just sent him an unamused glance. “Blondie. And they broke up anyways.”


“Johnny and June.”


“They’re just too good.”


“You’re so picky,” Seth groaned. “What about Kurt and Courtney?”


Pulling into a halt in front of her house, Keely tossed the keys to Seth across the car. And she quite simply answered, “Way too fucked up.”


Suddenly Seth didn’t have a musical couple to counter her with, although she herself could think of more; Nick and PJ, Michael and Natalie, Lindsey and Stevie. There were just so many musical couples, but so few of them ever ended well.


Frowning she looked across at his suddenly blank face as he stared at her house. “What’s going on?”


“Maybe I should just drive you back to your car and we can meet up tomorrow.”


For someone who had not too long ago been so gung ho to help her, this was a complete turnaround. Confused she just stared at him for a moment, gaining nothing from his face. “No,” she replied slowly, “You’re going to meet my dad for real and I don’t want you to leave yet.”


Realizing the words that came out of her mouth, Keely’s eyes bulged and she pushed out of the car, walking quickly away. She hadn’t known that she was all the sudden so bold with him.


However as she hurried towards the house, she was caught up short by his hand gripping her arm and pulling her to a halt. Spinning her around, Seth took a firm hold of both of her arms, holding her in place in front of him. “It’s not that I don’t want to spend today with you,” he promised.


For a moment Keely was confused, but then it dawned on her. And her mouth fell into a comical ‘o’ with the comprehension. “… you don’t want to meet my dad?”


Wincing he dropped her arms and dipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I’m so bad at meeting parents,” he admitted, not meeting her eyes as he focused on the ground, “And I’m worse with dads.”


Folding her lips against the smile because she didn’t think he’d appreciate it, Keely stated, “You’re afraid of meeting my dad.”


I want to be the boy to warm your mother’s heart.”


She arched both eyebrows at him, “My mother’s not around, Vaughn.”


“I know that,” he returned, “But you know what I’m trying to say.”


“My dad will love you.” However the moment the words were out of her mouth, she winced, knowing she’d just full out lied to him. “Alright maybe he won’t love you, at least not right away,” she added quickly, noticing the expression on his face.


“My mom loved you,” Seth responded with a pained expression, “And your dad is going to hate me.”


“Your mom hated me,” she reasoned.


Seth waved a careless hand. “She never hated you, she’s just… I don’t, honestly. But she really liked you by the time we were leaving.”


“Great,” Keely replied sarcastically, “She was happy to see me leave.”


Even dreaded when you said goodbye,” he quoted.


“Seth,” she began.


Well nothing that I come up with seems to works. It feels like everything I say is a lie. And never have I felt like such a jerk. I’m afraid to even open my eyes. Because I really don’t want her to judge me. I want her to know who I am. And then, and only then will she love me. Well at least that was the plan. If ever a boy needed a holiday. If ever a girl needed someone to hold. I just hope I don’t act that way. By the time I get that old.”


For a moment she watched in astonishment as he rattled off that entire verse of The White Stripes’ song, but Keely quickly realized he might just go through the rest of the song as well. Deciding it would be the fastest way to cut him off, she stretched up and pressed her lips against his swiftly, and pulled back just as hastily.


Sure enough, he’d stopped talking and was just staring at her.


“I love you,” she told him firmly, “And you’re meeting my father.”


When he just closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath through his nose, Keely finally let herself smile. And taking his hand in hers, she couldn’t help but think she might actually have some powers of persuasion over him after all.


“He’s not home yet, anyways,” she called out to him over her shoulder while leading him to the front door, “You can relax for the moment.”


So she showed him home, what she could in the limited time they had to them.


Keely laughed when he dodged out of the way of a horse in the barn before teaching him the proper way to feed it a treat with a flat hand. Then she watched with a smile playing on her mouth as he stroked the horse with a half amazed and the rest gentle expression, talk about being too perfect. He was even good with animals. She brought him to that old abandoned hay wagon in the back field where she used to write her music, the garage where her mom’s stuff was piled, and finally they made it back to her room.


And it was there they began to pack her things. It really wasn’t that hard, after all, she’d never unpacked the things that Maureen had had the boys send her. They just carefully packed away all the music she’d left at home during her tenure in New York and on tour. Then the things, since she now was certain she’d never live there again, that she thought she’d now need. She packed more photos of her family and friends this time.


All the while they worked to The Who’s Who’s Next on vinyl, but for once it was at a muted volume as they spoke.


It might have only been two weeks that they’d been separated, yet for Keely it felt like they needed to make up for lost time, and it appeared Seth felt the same way. And with the new revelations to their relationship, there were so many more topics they could breach. But it still felt normal.


They reminisced about foolish moments on tour, all the sudden nostalgic to a time that they’d mostly been frustrated, burnt out or dead tired during, because they both knew that was an era that had ended as well. That wasn’t something that was going to happen again – at least not in the same way. They talked about recording, new song ideas, pros and cons of political albums, moments in their childhood, and he continued to make her laugh at stories he told of topics far and in between, most charmingly defacing.


“Do you want something to drink?” Keely asked after a few moments of silence.


When he nodded, she placed the pair of sweatpants she’d been folding onto the bed before heading out of the room.


As she poked through the fridge looking for the water bottles she thought were in there, but in the end settled for the cans of root beer that were at the forefront, Keely heard the softly muffled sound of socks crossing the laminate.


So she wasn’t surprised when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her back into the solid chest. For once, Keely just allowed herself to lean into him, closing her eyes instead of pulling away.


“Why don’t we just be Seth and Keely?” she whispered, letting her head fit into the crook of his neck naturally. “Not Sid and Nancy or Paul and Linda or whatever; just us, alright?”


“Sounds good to me,” Seth returned in an equally low voice.


She was about to turn around in his arms when the telltale squeak of her old front door sent her stepping out of his arms instead. There were only two people besides her who entered the house without knocking, and she was fairly certain that one of those people wasn’t going to be entering anytime soon.


“Keely?” her dad called out questioningly, proving her suspicions true.


Keeping her eyes glued on Seth whose jaw all the sudden clenched, she called back calmly, “Yes?”


“Since when do you drive a Porsche?” was the question that came out from somewhere in the house, making her grin ruefully at him. “And you got something in the mail; I think it might be a computer… maybe.”


Her dad’s computer skills were even worse than hers, so Keely didn’t find herself surprised at the confusion. “I’m in the kitchen!”


Although Seth sent her an unamused look, she simply grinned, leaning back against the counter and awaiting for her father’s appearance. Sure enough, there he came through the doorway from the living room. There was a rectangular box in his hands, and he was frowning down at it, probably trying to read some of the finer print as he held it away from him as much as his arms allowed, which wouldn’t be too easy without his reading glasses. Keely was learning that as you got older, your arms were just never long enough.


“I really don’t know, I think…” her dad trailed off when he glanced up, doing a double take at the sight of Seth standing in the middle of the kitchen.


Biting her lip, Keely glanced to the side at Seth who was standing awkwardly, his hands stuck in his pockets. She had to admit, he did stick out. Tall, dark, handsome and looking the teensy bit lost, he was hard to miss.


“Hello?” her dad questioned, sending her a pointed look.


“Dad,” she started, finally stepping forward when she finally took pity on that lost puppy look in Seth’s eyes. “This is Seth,” Keely said, putting her hand on his arm for affect, “I think you guys have met or at least seen each other before, but I thought I should introduce you properly. He’s my… boyfriend.” The last word felt so strange coming out her mouth, it just didn’t seem enough.


“Seth Vaughn,” he introduced himself, making Keely’s head rip around to look at him so fast she was sure she heard a crick. However he wasn’t looking at her, not so much as sending her a clue why he’d say that so quickly to her father, instead he was holding a hand out to her father for a handshake.


Instead of taking his hand, her dad just looked back at him with a blank expression. “I thought it was Ryan.”


“That’s a stage name,” Seth replied, still not dropping the hand.


Finally the older man placed the box onto the table, but he didn’t shake Seth’s hand, just crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Really,” he drew out the word, but it sounded bored and finally Seth dropped his hand.


Knowing what was going on, Keely stepped forward with a roll of her eyes between the two men. Her dad was doing the whole ‘let’s intimidate the boyfriend’ routine, he’d done it a multiple of times with Tony which was probably why that boy was so nervous to come to her house. And it seemed like it was working again, much to her surprise, on Seth who was looking disoriented.


“Be nice,” she warned as she passed her dad, looking to the box.


Sure enough, it was a computer, a lap top in fact. Laughing, she turned back to Seth and her dad, explaining, “Maureen decided I’ve been MIA for too long. She finally did send me a new laptop.”


“And she thinks that’s going to help matters?” Seth replied, raising his eyebrows, but it was obvious he was still uncomfortable. His tense shoulders a clear indication.


For a moment Keely didn’t know if she should be insulted by that, but quickly she accepted it very easily as just the truth and gave a shrug, looking down at the box. “Probably not,” she answered, glancing upwards.


It was supposed to just be a wayward look, despite her lack of knowledge about technology in almost every form that was outside of the recording studio she was dying to get into box, but her eyes got caught on something out the sliding door that lead to the porch. As much as she wanted to dig through the box, it really could have anything in it that was the beauty of sealed boxes; even it couldn’t keep her in place at that moment.


Because she saw her best friend standing awkwardly past the porch, almost at the back near the trees that shrouded the path which connected their two houses. His blonde hair was looking a bit too bright beneath the post-storm sun, his eyes looking towards the house indecisively and even from the distance she knew he was hoping she’d catch sight of him.


They’d been friends for so long, Keely knew what this action meant from him. He wasn’t acting as a stalker as some might think; in reality he was giving her an option, though it only worked if she saw him. She had two options. One, she could ignore him, and successfully cut off their friendship if not forever for a very long. Or two, she could walk outside and talk to him.


He wasn’t giving himself totally, most likely not willing after what had happened between the two of them, but there he was, willing despite it all.


“I’ll be back in a moment,” she muttered, starting towards the sliding door. She smacked her knee into the cupboard sharply, but she barely felt it.


“Keely?” her dad questioned at the same time Seth said, “Rebel?”


“Seth will you and dad set up that computer? I’ll be back soon,” Keely answered their questions without really thinking. Had she been thinking, she would have realized her vague attitude was probably just giving them more questions.


“Me?” Seth returned incredulously.


However she didn’t even bother answering as she quickly slipped out the door, sliding it shut behind her.


Without bothering to push on her sneakers, Keely headed across the wooden porch, hopping down the steps as she wrapped her arms protectively around her stomach and crossed the mowed lawn to where Joseph was standing. She didn’t look back at the house, though she was sure they were probably looking. She loved Seth and she was with him, but Joseph was her best friend, had always been and, at the moment, he was coming first.


Not knowing exactly to act, she decided on acting as if it was normal, which was the biggest lie she’d told herself in a long while. “Hey,” she greeted, not being able to put a smile on her face no matter what she told herself.


“Hi,” he responded quietly.


Gulping, she ran a hand through her hair; this was something that was becoming all too common with Joe. That silence that was no longer comfortable.


Hauling in a breath, she puffed out her cheeks and let it out slowly before turning her gaze back to the person who had been her best friend for so long, but she now no longer knew how to think of him. “So, I don’t exactly know why you’re here, but I need to tell you something.”


“If it’s about… him, I’m not sure I really want to hear it,” Joseph returned.


Shaking her head, Keely earnestly told him, “It’s not; this is more about me and you, alright? I need to know if we’re still friends.”


At the urgency in her question, Joe frowned at her, clearly not understanding. “Keely, what’s going on?”


Giving a laugh at the back of her throat which really held no humor, she buried her face in her hands, rubbing her eyes before looking up at him. “I’ll tell you in a minute, but you’ve got to tell me. Whatever happens, between me and you, between me and someone else or you and someone else; are we still friends?”


“I guess so,” he answered slowly, “It might be hard for a while. But, yeah, we’re still friends.”


Folding her lips, Keely shook her head, thinking about Haley’s decision not to long ago. She said that they couldn’t be friends, maybe eventually, but not then. Joe said they were, it just might take a while.


In reality, what they said meant the same thing, just with different wording. They couldn’t really be great friends at the moment, but they could eventually. However it was the different wording that meant the world to her. And she supposed that was the true difference in her relationships with her two closest friends.


Biting her lip, she felt tears prick her eyes at the thought. “You were always my best friend, weren’t you?”


Now he was looking at her alarmed. “Keely, what’s going on?”


“I haven’t told my dad, so you can’t say anything yet. But I’m leaving in two days, well, I guess I have one more full day after this one.”


“What? Where are you going?”


Sighing, she rubbed one hand wearily over her forehead. “I always told you I wasn’t staying here,” Keely reminded him. “I’m going to the Crossroads festival and then I’m heading back to New York. For real this time, though, I’m going to get an apartment there.”


The slow changing of his expression could have almost been comedic had it been a different time. Shocked, angry, blank, sad, understanding and all the way back to blank.


“This isn’t my home,” she whispered, gesturing at the place. “I’ll come back to visit and all, but I really do belong in New York. And I know you don’t understand.”


Hanging on any movement, Keely watched intensely, and almost collapsed when he nodded, though he was grinding his teeth together at the time. “He has a part of this, doesn’t he? Seth Ryan or whatever his name is.”


Since it had been him that brought Seth back into the conversation, she didn’t feel guilty about talking of him. Well, she did feel guilty about shoving him back in his face, but he deserved to know. And once again, Keely was struck between the difference between Joseph and Haley. It was almost the same situation they were both going through, but Joe’s betrayal had to be worse, because she flat out told him she loved Seth where she’d told Haley she didn’t feel anything for Joe.


“You’re not going to understand that either,” she whispered. “If I’m not with him, I feel like a shadow and I’m not going to be without him.”


“I don’t,” he whispered.


Shaking her head, Keely stared at the ground before looking up again. “You’re getting to get someone so much better for you than me, don’t worry about it. You need someone who isn’t so fucked up and wants to be here one hundred percent.”


“So he deserves you?”


Pursing her lips, she replied, “He’s just as fucked up enough to care.”


Some people care too much… I think it’s called love,” Joe quoted.


Surprised Keely let out a choked laugh, those tears pushing forward again as she moved forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Joe’s neck, revelling in the familiar embrace she knew she shouldn’t be doing. It wasn’t fair, to him, her or Seth. But she was hugging her best friend, for the last time in she didn’t know how long.


“You just quoted Winnie The Pooh,” she murmured against his neck, half laughing as she tried to hold back the sobs that threatened, “That’s why you’re my best friend.”


Not too long after, they said their goodbyes and Keely went back to the house while he headed in the opposite direction although she had invited him inside. She was feeling simply dark and crummy inside from the conversation with Joseph, and made her way up the porch with her shoulders slumped and her hands stuck into her pockets.


It just hurt too much, to have things like this, being estranged from the two people she’d thought would always be in her life. But even as she sank deeper into misery, Keely’s mind couldn’t help but make the point that had she chosen otherwise, she’d be even more dejected than she was now.


Gliding open the glass door quietly, Keely found herself pausing in the doorway, having finally looked up after closing the door.


Her father was wearing the reading glasses he hated so much at the wooden kitchen table, sitting down with the laptop in front of him. And Seth was standing behind him, pointing at something on the screen.


Despite her dark mood, she felt a smile push its way onto her face.


Padding lightly across the floor, she wrapped her arms around Seth’s firm waist, pressing her cheek against his back and let out a sigh.


Yes, she definitely made the right choice.


“So what are we doing?”



The conversation to tell her dad that she planned on moving back to New York, within a few days no less, was not an easy one. They had it after ordering Chinese for the three of them, and Keely sat, her eyes focused solely on her father while Seth held her hand comfortingly, rubbing circles into her palm.


However, a bright side to that was the fact that she and her father’s relationship had improved drastically since when she left the first time. He took the news much better this time.


Sending Seth home to his motel room – he promising to pick her up the next day to get her car – she spent the rest of the night at home with her father. They didn’t do anything that special, just ate some chips to the football game that was playing, and when that ended, he agreed to watch a black and white musical that came on television. Football and music, but they watched it together.


And later that night, she called Sadie to tell her the news. After some choked up moments, the girl suddenly had an idea. If she was leaving for New York again, they’d send her off the way they had the first time.


Right from the beginning, Keely protested the idea of the party. The last one hadn’t been all that great besides the fact it allowed her to go on stage for the first time. Memories that it had been planned by Haley, Tony had made that outrageous proclamation and she and Joseph had ended up fight, all plagued her mind. But Sadie wouldn’t take no for an answer, though she promised it would only be people that Keely herself liked – much less people than before – and who liked her, and the festivities would instead just be at her house.


“I hate parties,” Keely scowled from the passenger’s seat of Seth’s car.


Although they’d already picked up her car that morning, they had now been sent away while people set up for the party at her own house. Well, she’d been ordered to leave, and then Sadie realized it’d be easier to get rid of her if Seth went too. So while gushing about how cute they were, Sadie banned the two of them to come back until ten.


They’d went to the local music store for a couple hours, signed a couple autographs, bought some CD’s they’d wanted and then headed out to see a movie to waste away the hours they had. It felt odd that on her last night in Bellingham, she was spending it forcibly away from her friends and family instead of spending every waking moment with them.


“You don’t hate parties,” Seth returned, all too reasonably for her liking as he backed out of the parking spot. “You liked the one in New York we had at the warehouse.”


Smiling sheepishly at him, she shrugged. “I liked it because of the music,” she admitted, “And I’d have gone through anything at that moment to watch you guys play. I didn’t realize how annoying you’d get over the tour.”


At her jab, Seth just returned sarcastically, “Oh, I know, same for you.”


Smirking, she leaned her head against the window, watching the town go by. The summer sun had finally set, and it was by that cue, she knew that they were supposed to be at her “party” pretty soon.


“What time does our flight leave tomorrow morning?” Keely questioned, crossing her legs in front of her.


“Six in the morning,” he replied.


Pulling a face at the time, she straightened in her seat. “Some people sleep, you know.”


Chuckling, Seth took his eyes off the road to send her that crooked smile of his.


Her breath catching in her throat, Keely gulped, telling him in a suddenly husky voice, “Watch the road.”


Despite the fact that he rolled his eyes, he still did as she demanded. “Do you have everything planned out with your father?”


“Yeah,” she answered, she too looking at the road in hopes that the desire that had shot through her stomach would leave if she wasn’t looking at him. It didn’t. Why did she even think that would work? He was still close to her. “I’m going to just take my one suitcase, hopefully I’ll find an apartment fast and I’ll get him to send all the stuff I packed up then.”


“You could just live in my place until you get your own,” Seth threw out there casually, but he was still focused on the road, making her suspicious he didn’t want to look at her as he made the offer. “Then you can just get him to send you all your stuff. It’d be easier.”


The smile spread across her mouth broadly, but Keely shook her head. “Seth, we haven’t even been together two days. I am not, under any circumstances, moving in with you, that’s just nuts. But if you have a spare drawer, I’ll take it.”


“Works for me,” he murmured.


Not too long after, they were at home and Keely frowned at the amount of cars that were parked along the street. “Not too many people, my ass,” she muttered, shoving out of the car, “I’m going to kill Sadie.”


Laughing, Seth took a few long steps, catching up with her even as Keely stalked across the yard. “Hold up, rebel,” he told her, wrapping his arm comfortably around her shoulders, “She’s just trying to be a good friend.”


With a sigh she rested her head on his shoulder, twining her arm comfortably around his waist. “I know, but I would have been happier had it just been you, me, Sadie, Tony and dad hanging out.”


“Tough it out,” he advised.


When they found no one in the house, they headed out to the backyard, but there was no one there. However, there were the sounds of people and the clear indication of a party. Following the noise, they found themselves wandering all the way to the back fields to find another soul.


“You’re here!” Sadie shouted the moment she saw the two of them.


“It’s my party, isn’t it?” Keely muttered grumpily.


As Sadie passed each of them a beer by their request instead of the other options – though Keely knew she at least should keep it to the one beer, her father was at the party and while he was okay with her having a beer, she was no way getting drunk in front of her father. Taking a sip of the yeasty drink she was all too used to after a tour, she took in a look at all the people around the small section of the field.


To be completely honest, there weren’t all that many people, only maybe thirty. And it was honestly people she did like; apparently Sadie was better at choosing what she’d like more than Haley.


But that wasn’t what caught her attention.


It was the drum kit that initially caught her eye on top of that abandoned hay wagon, but then she took in the rest of the set. There were microphones, amplifiers, guitars, carpets. It was almost like the set she performed with on tour.


“Do you like it?” Sadie asked nervously. “Your dad said this would be a good spot to set up. We thought we could get a real, intimate Keely Staub concert.”


“It’s lovely,” she promised the other girl, her voice feeling thick, “Do you know where my dad is?”


Sadie – though looking confused – pointed out the boy in question, and with nothing more than a meaningful look at Seth, she pulled away and headed in that direction, the cool glass bottle cooling her hand.


She found him talking to Joe’s mother Evelyn, and after a moment of exchanging awkward pleasantries with the woman, she pulled her father away, not wanting to speak in front of Evelyn. It was awkward enough with the woman since everything with Joseph, and she didn’t want to talk to her dad in front of her.


“You chose the spot?” she asked him, standing mere feet away from everyone else.


“I did,” her dad confirmed, “It’s okay, isn’t it?”


Giving a half laugh, Keely hugged her dad one armed from the side, a pressure that he returned. “I’m just surprised you remembered.”


“Keely!”


At the voice that hailed her, she frowned, recognizing it but not being able to put a name to it. Her dad simply pressed a kiss to her head, saying, “I’ll talk to you later,” before taking off into the crowd.


Still confused by the voice, she spun around, looking for the source.


When she did find the source, she let out a loud laugh. “Nick?!” she asked incredulously, stepping forward.


Sure enough, it was the boy she remembered from the last party, the one who had played the guitar and the only one who had spoken to her. His light brown hair was shaggy around his face, with soft brown eyes and a bright grin. She guessed she should stop being shocked at what people remembered, but she never would have guessed Sadie would have thought to invite this guy. She’d only talked to a few times after moving, falling easily out of contact.


Friendly she met up with him and hugged him lightly before pulling away, smiling at him. He was at least a good memory from the last party. “I can’t believe you’re here,” Keely admitted, “Is the rest of your band here?”


“Nah, that girl only invited me.”


“Sadie?” she questioned.


He shook his head easily, looking down at her. “It was the same girl that invited me before, Haley I think. She said she thought you’d like me here.”


At the mention of Hales’ name, Keely felt a painful jolt in her stomach but was grateful at the same time. Haley had been right. “She was right,” she laughed, “So what’s going on with your band anyways? You said you’d send me that demo to give to UAE, but you never did.”


“The band talked about it, we decided that we’d rather make it on our own merit, you know,” Nick replied with a shrug.


“Yeah, I do. How is it going for you?”


“Really good,” he promised her. “We actually got this one album deal with an indie label in Seattle, we’ll see how it goes.”


Running her hand through her hair, Keely couldn’t help but marvel at it. Last time they’d spoken, they’d just been unsigned strangers, kids that shouldn’t even be thinking of the music business. And now they were both signed artists. It was incredible. “That’s awesome,” she answered enthusiastically. “I never did catch your band name.”


“Well, when we get huge, you’ll know it,” he answered cheekily with a grin.


Letting out a laugh, Keely shook her head. “So you’re not going to tell me?”


Had he answered with an affirmative or told her the name, Keely didn’t know, because her attention was stolen quickly.


All from hearing one laugh, and she instantly honed in on it. Seth was holding the same beer from before in his hand, standing with Tony and Sadie who were looking happy again. And in response, a smile bloomed on her mouth. It was different from the ones that she’d had when talking to Nick. This one started right at the pit of her stomach and worked its way outward.


There he was. Her anti-social, moody, egotistical, jerk, handsome, caring, fucked up, wonderful, brilliant, asshole of a boyfriend was standing there laughing with her friends. And nothing could of made her happier.


“I’ll see you later,” she promised Nick without looking at him.


Crossing the ground between them quickly, Keely threw her arms around Seth’s neck, much to his shock. Despite the odd gurgling sound he made in the back of his throat as he swallowed the beer that had been in his mouth when she slammed into him, he wrapped an arm around her waist, securing her there.


“How much have you had to drink there, rebel?” Seth murmured jokingly in her ear.


Laughing, she shook her head, burying it in the crook of his neck. “I just love you.”


Before either of them could respond in either way, Keely was grabbed by the arm and dragged away from him.


“Okay, you talked about me and Tony being gross for being a couple?” Sadie demanded, though she didn’t look angry, just amused. “You two are the disgusting ones. Now, will you get on stage and do this show?”


Rolling her eyes, Keely looked straight at her. “Did you call my back up band?”


“Uh… no?”


“Do we have a bassist or a drummer on the premises?”


“… No.”


“You really aren’t that good at planning things, are you?” Keely joked, chuckling, as she took another sip from her beer.


“Hey!” Sadie returned insulted. “I didn’t even have a full twenty four hours to put this together.”


Shaking her head, Keely hugged her tightly, no longer so opposed to the party. Maybe one like this wasn’t that bad of an idea. “It’s great,” she murmured to her. Pulling away, she met Seth’s gaze. “So, how about it? Should we try a White Stripes slash The Black Keys feel for this thing?”


Shrugging, he just took a gulp from the bottle. “Why not?”


Grinning she took his hand in hers, pulling him towards the hay wagon. It was a miracle it was even up, she’d thought it was shaky when only she sat on it. Calling out her hellos to the people she hadn’t had the chance to talk to as they made their way through the crowd. Placing her beer on the wooden top, she boosted herself up onto the wagon.


Without waiting to watch Seth follow, she snatched up the beer and headed to the microphone that was at the front of the wagon, facing the people.


They had her three guitars lined up carefully, along with the singular bass guitar, drum set and the four microphones. At a closer inspection, Keely couldn’t help but notice the familiar bass and drum kit; they were from the music room.


Mr Summers, always the helpful one, she thought with a shake of her head.


“Hey,” she greeted into the microphone to the shouts of her friends and family. “Well, I guess you know me. And this isn’t going to be a real Keely Staub concert without my back up band, but you’ll just have to make do with me on the guitar and Seth there on the drums.”


When her little crowd shouted their agreement, Keely raised her beer up in a silent toast before finishing what was left at the bottom and turning to trade the bottle for a guitar.


They started out with Yesterday’s Gone, the last song on her album. But afterwards they started on track one and made their way systematically – with limited banter – through her entire album. But when they finished, Keely found that she wasn’t ready to get off stage yet, having all too much fun. And with shouting the covers that came to mind back and forth, they continued their set.


“So this is off a favourite album of mine,” she told the crowd.


Shouting from behind her, Seth asked, “What song is it?”


She didn’t bother responding, but just began to play the beginning riff, it was well known enough she had no doubt Seth would know which song it was.


Looking up from the mic, she raised her strumming hand for one brief moment as she started to sing. “I don’t mind you comin’ here. And wastin’ all my time. ‘Cause when you’re standin’ oh so near, I kinda lose my mind.


Taking a moment for a breath, Keely went to finish the verse, but to her surprise Seth had taken up the vocals as he played the drums. Spinning around as she continued to play the guitar, she watched for a mere moment as he leaned over into the microphone that he’d set up over the kit. “It’s not the perfume that you wear. It’s not the ribbons in your hair. I don’t mind you comin’ here. And wastin’ all my time.


This time it was she that stole the words from his mouth before he could start the next verse. “I don’t mind you hangin’ out. And talkin’ in your sleep. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been. As long as it was deep, yeah.


And like time work, he took up the next four lines. “You always knew to where it well. And you look so fancy I can tell. I don’t mind you hangin’ out. And talkin’ in your sleep.


But it was together that they took on the chorus, and Keely couldn’t help the fact that she stood sideways against the microphone so she could look at Seth. That warm spreading feeling back.


I guess you’re just what I needed (Just what I needed) I needed someone to feed. I guess you’re just what I needed (Just what I needed). I needed someone to bleed.”


Finishing up the song in the fashion they had started, Keely laughed, tipping her head back as that giddy feeling of performing for no other reason than having fun hit her. But she still wanted to talk to her friends and family before she left, and she and Seth had to have been playing for over two hours now.


“So this is our last song,” Keely informed the crowd. And placing her hand on her heart, she promised, “From here on out, I pledge allegiance to the underground.”


Then they burst out to the up tempo punk song, though Keely took the lead in the vocals this time. “I want to be a minority. I don’t need your authority. Down with the moral majority. ‘Cause I want to be the minority.”


And she took great happiness in singing her favourite verse of the song, enjoying in just playing a song because she wanted, no double meanings. Her meaning was as plain as they song, and she meant it blatantly. “Stepped out of the crowd, Like a sheep runs from the herd. Marching out of time, To my own beat now, The only way I know. One light, one mind, Flashing in the dark, Blinded by the silence of a thousand broken hearts. “For cryin’ out loud” she screamed onto me. A free for all, fuck ‘em all!”


When the song ended, she placed the road worn fender down before jumping down off the back of the hay wagon, Seth following her away from the shouts of their little crowd. And without a thought, they joined hands, heading back to the crowd.



Guys, I cannot believe this is over. It feels so weird. I love you all for reading this with me and baring with Seth and Keely, because that's the only way it could have been real for them. You guys are absolutely amazing. I don't know what to do now it's over though...


Banner made by ShadyLady, but the dedication is for jules130 who is the whole reason the story exists because she told me to post it even though I thought it was crappy lol. And we went to England together, so yeah.


Anyways, about a sequel or spin off. Okay, I was originally going to write en epilogue for this, and I tried, because it was stuck in my head. But then I realized something. You guys would not have a fucking idea how any of it happened or what anything meant - I really do have their entire lives stuck in my head. So there is a sequel, which I've already posted. You can find it on my profile under Band On The Run.


I love you guys! Bah, I'm too tired and icky to write anything more emotional, but just know I do love you all and I'm so grateful you even bothered to read.

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