Sepia Makes Everybody Cry With a Dyle Fanfic

nineteen

"Okay... but seriously. The song."

"Dan," Kyle groaned, falling away from me. "You completely ruined the moment, you jerk."

I grinned. "I don't care. We'll have plenty of time for more 'moments.'"

"And we'll have plenty of time for writing songs," he countered, grabbing my face and shaking it playfully, "without someone who doesn't know squat about songwriting."

He released my head and crawled out of the bunk. I lurched forward and leaned out. "Hey, what about Tyde? Come on, you have some experience."

"Yeah, in music." He put his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow. "I couldn't write a good song if someone gave me four million pounds. It would end up something like... 'Ring Around the Rosy.' You know, a plague. Bad."

I rolled my eyes and stood up myself. "Come on, you don't have to come up with everything. I'm awful at co-writing anyways-"

"There! See!" he shouted, throwing his arms up. "So why are you trying to do this now?"

"Because," I continued, exasperated, "I just want you to be part of this one. It's..." I swallowed and dropped my gaze. "It's about this. Me. You. Us."

He didn't respond and I felt like the quiet was going to drown me before he would ever say anything. Finally, he sighed. "Alright. I'll just, like, oversee and make sure things are accurate and you're not portraying me as some jerkface."

"Or a God," I added innocently, slipping away before he could react.

Three... two... one...

"Hey!"

I started laughing and leaned over to my backpack to get the papers out, but lost my breath and almost fell flat on my face when Kyle abruptly jumped onto my back. "Stop being the cat in this relationship!" he yelled. I jerked my ear away from his line of fire. "That's supposed to be me!"

"I did say I was your cat," I choked out, grinning up at him with a grimace. "Now get off !"

I threw him off and took a few steadying breaths before taking the things I needed out of my backpack finally. "Like I was saying earlier," I continued, sitting on the floor, "you don't have to do much. I'll just... write like I do. I guess I just wanted to explain it to you. Have you understand."

He pursed his lips but sat down beside me. "Alright, Mr. Poet."

I blushed involuntarily. "Um... yeah." I cleared my throat. "Don't worry, it won't be the next Taylor Swift ballad. I'm more metaphorical than that." I winked at him.

He just rolled his eyes and relaxed against the bed. "Okay then. Let's get going." He tilted his head back lazily and gestured airily to the papers in my lap. "Write."

I shot him a dull look and punched his shoulder before turning back. "I have this so far." I glanced at him and realized he wasn't going to be reading-or looking at anything in particular-for a while, so I began to sing it softly, my face burning profusely.

"You're so quiet," he said after the first line. "I can hardly hear you."

I could see him grinning beneath his arm, which he'd thrown over his face. He knew exactly how embarrassed I was about this. I groaned and started again, slightly louder.

"There was a time when a moment like this wouldn't ever cross my mind," I sang. "The sun will rise with my name on your lips, 'cause everything will change tonight."

"God!" he exclaimed. "It's absolutely a romantic ballad. And creepy." He made a face and I furrowed my eyebrows.

This is your song, I told myself, concentrating on not getting upset, and you were the one who invited him in the first place.

"Shut up. It'll change as I get through the rest of it." I looked away and played with my shoe for a few seconds, thinking. "You know what, how about I work on more lines for a few minutes, and explain later?"

"Great!" He jumped up suddenly. "I'll go get food."

"How are you still a twig?" I yelled after him as he bounded out the door.

"Cat!" he responded with. I laughed and shook my head. He was a nut, but now he was my nut.

I stared at the page for a few more minutes, trying to conjure up the feeling I'd been overwhelmed with that night. Nothing was working, and I was beginning to feel stupid and frustrated. Then, I remembered something I had said in an interview when someone had asked about how I write my songs.

"A scene..." I murmured. Yes. I need to come up with a scene to describe. A small moment in time. What am I describing?

Suddenly, it came to me. I wrote messily and reveled in the tunes floating around my head. I scribbled out a few lines, replacing them with a few more. Fixed a few rhymes and rhythms and had quite a few more verses before Kyle came back in brandishing snacks I never knew we had.

"Whoa," he said, sitting back down and handing me a can of beer. I took it gratefully and took a sip. "You really did need some time."

I tried not to, but I couldn't help the blush that crept up my neck. "Y-Yeah... It's not much. Pretty shitty still. Don't worry."

"Shut up, mate, I'd be willing to bet those four million pounds from before that it's absolutely the opposite of shitty." He eyed me seriously and I choked out a laugh, hiding my face.

"Alright, whatever."

He leaned over and I shoved the papers over to him. He didn't say anything for another minute or so, shuffling through them quietly. "Huh," he muttered. "Shouting out from the bottom of my lungs..." I struggled to respond, but he continued without looking at me. "A plague on both your houses...?" He finally looked up and gave me a questioning look. "Romeo and Juliet? Who's forbidding us, huh? I'll go set them straight."

I almost responded immediately, but we locked gazes and burst out laughing. My sides hurt and I had tears streaming down my face by the time I caught my breath.

"Oh my God," I wheezed, "you're going to have a field day with these new jokes."

Kyle was extremely red-faced and he had collapsed beside the bunk in his fit. He pulled himself upright and took a few moments to respond. "Ah, yes, straight jokes," he managed to choke out. "You're right. This is going to be fantastic."

I set the papers aside and got myself more comfortable, watching with a peaceful gaze as Kyle just started throwing out random jokes and things he realized he could do now. "I can't believe this," he said, finally running out of ideas (for the moment). "Straight jokes. Who knew?"

I laughed, and more words came tumbling out before I could judge them. "So, what are you, bisexual now?"

The silence hit like a wall for both of us and I lost my ability to breathe. His gaze snapped over to me and I saw true fear in his eyes.

"Oh my God," he breathed. "I totally forgot about Janna."