Worthwhile: The Sequel (A Jonah Marais Fanfiction)

Chapter 9

"And then there are the songs I can't listen to without hearing you."

Winter's gaze was fixated on the lyrics of the song she had to record today. The title of the song was in bold. In that moment, there was nothing she hated more than her handwriting. 

"Jack, is it really necessary that we record this song today?"

Jack Antonoff looked up from the controls. He pressed his lips into a thin line, "Win, you've been putting off this song for a month now! This is the only song that's left to record before we went into the next writing session!"

"Let's write another song then!" Winter suggested.

"Nope. We're doing this and it's final."

Winter sighed. She couldn't win when Jack was adamant. She dreaded this day. Glancing at the lyrics she wrote, a shiver ran up her spine. She prayed that the ground swallowed her whole.

She had tried to put off recording this song for so long. She always got away with it but this time, Jack wasn't going to put up with her excuses. She had even suggested removing this song from the the short-list. But Jack, Grimes and FINNEAS loved it so much that they decided to let it be. 

She put on the headphones and took a deep breath. 

Singing this song would make it official.

And she was scared of that.

Jack's voice reached her through the headphones, "1, 2, 3, go." He played the beat sequence and melody he and Winter had created for the song. 

Winter took a deep breath before she started, 

"Your hand on my leg under the oil painted sky
Wind blowin' through our hair on the 405
And traffic's at a standstill, it's LA, what'd you expect?
We're listenin' to Zeppelin, you're kissin' my neck
You cradle me in your arms in the dark in the back
We're lookin' at the stars, the moon's lit Cheshire cat
And your parents can probably see you from the window
They'll say, "They're just kids," oh, what the hell do they know?..."

She paused. She couldn't muster the courage to continue ahead. She had written the song the same day he left. Every word she had written had come from the heart. It was a personal song. 

Jack sighed, sensing her apprehension to continue. The take was perfect. Her voice fit flawlessly against the melody. He knew how personal and meaningful this song was for her. She never expressed her emotions in a direct way. It was always through music or books. 

Jack leaned into his microphone, "Winter, I know this is difficult for you. But you can't keep ignoring the problem till it goes away... Accept it like you've been welcoming every other emotion you're feeling..."

Winter gave him a brief nod, "I am thankful that we don't the filming crew today."

"From the top, once more?" Jack asked.

Winter took a deep breath and bit on her bottom lip. Once Jack played the melody, Winter sang the verse once again. As the first verse ended, Winter closed her eyes and braced herself for the chorus.

"Scared, I love you so much I'm scared
'Cause they say young love's a loss or it's a lesson
Here, I always wanna be here
My heart is tellin' me we're gonna be the exception"

As soon as the last note for the melody played, a stray tear escaped her eye. She quickly brushed it off. 

Jack was beaming. He was proud that one of his closest friends had been able to record the song she had been putting off for weeks. Jack gave the brunet an approving smile, allowing the girl to leave the recording room.