Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Coming Undone

You wake suddenly, clutching your sheets. Frantically you run to look at your closet, your angel still in its hangers.

You burst out of your room and hurry to the living area. Everything looks normal.

You check one last place, their bedroom, draws are half empty, and the suitcases are gone from their closets.

You slump against the wall and down to the floor, laughing and shaking your head. What a crazy dream. You see the case handle peeking out from beneath their bed.

You pull the case out and quickly open it up, expecting the worst, but she looks incredible. Dare you say it, better than when you saw her last.

You take the opportunity to set up your amp in the living room and practice the set list on her.

You get resistance at first, stumbling over notes and misplucking the strings, but this time it's no different than when you get it wrong on your own guitar. No zaps or electric shocks.

And when you get things just right, boy does she sing out, the reverberations on occasion rattle your very bones.

Once you have the set list down, an urge to try something new creeps through your brain. You find an online video and find a Master of Puppets tutorial.

You play the video, and the guitar strings hum without you even touching them.

Your fingers quickly find the correct placement, and you easily follow along with the song, almost like your hands just know what to do.

You look down at the guitar and find another random song, and the same thing happens again.

A smile creeps across your face. I can play anything, you think to yourself.

You sing a little melody, and your fingers dance along the strings, so the guitar can duet with you.

You grab your phone and message the band, "Tonight is gonna be something else!!!"

"What do you mean tonight? We're outside waiting for you. Hurry the fuck up!!" The message is pinged back at you.

You check the time. Holy crap. How had you lost so much time?  Had you just overslept again?

You carefully put the guitar in its case, and run to change your clothes, then swing back around to grab the case, rush out the front to the door slamming it behind you and jump into the waiting van.

"Sorry, guys!" You say out of breath as you land in the seat next to Terry, "Lost track of time practising".

Hayley looks back from the front seat, "No worries...hey, have you done something different with your hair?" She says, tilting her head at you.

You shake your head.

Jenna looks back, too, "It's not the hair. They've moisturised," she says, scanning your face.

You laugh, "Ok, ok. Look, I didn't sleep well, alright, enough of the jokes."

Terry looks over you, maybe a little slower than he should, "Well...lack of sleep sure looks good on you, dude."

You nudge him in the ribs and laugh.

He looks at your guitar case and eyes you curiously, "Is this...is this a new guitar?"

You smile wide at Terry, "Not just any guitar", you say, gently unfastening the case as carefully opening the lid. "The guitar!" You say in a hushed voice as if not to disturb it.

"Holy shit!" He exclaims quietly. "How did you-"  he starts.

"Got an advance and a huge discount, but that's top secret", you whisper, giggling and looking her over. It was half the truth, at least.

"What do you think?" You turn and excitedly grin at him.

Terry glances at the guitar and then shakes his head as he returns your massive smile, "I think it's perfect".

"She really is," you say, cautiously closing the case again.

"I mastered Master on it too, just like you asked," you say, looking out the corner of your eye at Terry.

"YOU FUCKING DID WHAT????" He yells in excitement, his hands in his hair, his volume making Harley and Jenna snap their heads around.

You suddenly feel a little shy.

"I think I could play anything on her," you say quietly.

"Terry! You scared the shit outta me. What the fuck is going on?" Harley says angrily

"Y/N can play Master of Puppets," he says in awe.

Harley locks eyes with you in the rearview mirror, "Well, the rest of us can't, so", she snips.

Jenna nudges her.

"Oh, I didn't mean we should play it. I was just letting Terry know I managed to learn it," you say apologetically.

"Well, good because this is band, not a solo fest," she says firmly.

You nod. She sounds angry, but you know she means we'll. Everyone wanted a band where the contribution was equal. It avoids bloated egos.

You pull into the car park and help unload the van. The place was a little busier than usual, but you could see all the regular faces. Most of them also recognised you and immediately rolled their eyes or put their wireless headphones in.

Once everything is secured, you hop down to the end of the bar and collect some bottled water for the band.

"On the hard stuff tonight, are we?" you hear a familiar voice beside you. You turn to Eddie for a second and realise your smile is too enthusiastic, so you quickly look back to the bar.

He nudges you playfully, "Come on, don't be like that. Yesterday was yesterday, ok?"

You muster a bit of courage and turn to face him, "How is she?" He asks expectantly.

"Better than I could have dreamed," you say, trying hard to repress a Cheshire cat-sized grin.

"Well, I can't wait to see all this in action," he says. His jacket brushes your arm, sending goosebumps along your skin.

"You know, I really should get back to it, you know, before they start without me" you scoop up the water bottles.

"Here, let me help you", he says, grabbing a few of the bottles and following you to the stage. You drop some in an ice bucket, and Eddie hands out the ones he's holding.

As he leaves, he nods goodbye to you all, "Harley, Terry, nice to see you again after so long". He smiles.

Harley and Terry smile back, but they exchange a worried glance once Eddie is gone.

You look over at Jenna in silent communication. She just shrugs.

The first half of the set goes without a snag. The crowd behaved as standard. The only difference was Eddie watching the band intensely.

The guitar feels like an extension of you, and every sound it produces is pure perfection. It is sheer joy to play.

Harley goes to introduce the next song, but her voice croaks, much to the amusement of some patrons who would rather you weren't there.

You frown at them and ask Harley, "Everything ok?"

"No," she says raspily, "I think I'm losing my voice", she grimaces.

"Jenna, could you, and you can just stick to guitar for the last half?" You ask, looking hopefully at Jenna.

Jenna shakes her head, "I'm doing everything I can to keep up bass-wise."

"I can go on", Harley croaks at you.

"No," Terry says, "We need you for tomorrow."

Terry meets your gaze, "Something from the old set?" He asks.

You look down at where your hands have positioned themselves on the guitar.

"Snap your fingers?" You offer. Jenna smiles widely, as it's a song she and Terry can really shine in.

Harley glares at you and storms from the stage, "Don't mind her", Jenna says kindly. "She'll cool off."