Collide

(6) | .James. | Then

The studios had been left in the same state the band and I had left it in only a number of hours ago. 

The instruments were misplaced around the room but even in the darkness you could see the red shine of Luke's guitar and the gold of my cymbals. The instruments were so new they had a smell, the same way a new book has the scent of an old library. 

I walk us deeper into the room while Riley trails in along behind me, our hands still linked together. I hadn't even realized we had been holding hands the entire ten-minute walk here until I looked down to find her thumb caressing my knuckle the way it had done on the plane. 

I look at her as she takes a glance around the room before her lower lip slides between her two sets of teeth. 

"So how exactly are you expecting to teach me?" she asks. There was a slight tease in her voice and that tone along with her rhythmic, melodic and lyrical voice made the song she was singing even more captivating. 

"Patience is the key to everything," I tell her. 

She rolls her eyes at me but in the most playful way possible. 

She lets go of my hand and almost instantly there's a pang in my heart from the loss of her touch but it's quickly restored by the image of a subtly smile appearing on her face. 

The only light in the room was the light shining through the underside of the door from out in the hallway but that was exactly how I liked it. 

Riley catches my gaze and smirks, crossing her arms over her chest so tightly that the fabric of her tube top slides down by the slightest inch, revealing a partial bit of cleavage. "Are you going to turn the lights on at all?" 

She makes it sound like she was the one in charge here, like she was the one teaching and I was the one in training, although it was quite the opposite. 

"I like to work in the dark," I tell her. Her nose shrivels up but she doesn't question it because she was willing to follow my lead. 

I walk over to my drum-set and throw aside the bubble wrap which had been covering the wooden bases. Sitting myself down on the seat, I gesture for her to make her way over to which she then comfortably sits herself down on my knee. 

My breath hitches and I suddenly forget how to swallow. I'd never met someone as innovative as her. She was straight and quick to do things. She didn't even know if I had a girlfriend or not but she was taking a chance and I'm glad she was. Both of us were. 

"I'm not squishing you, am I?" she questions shyly, making me chuckle when I notice her awkward side pierce through.

I shake my head and she nods, settling herself down on top of my lap. I take hold of the two percussion mallets to worm into Riley's palms. She clings onto them and looks up to me for guidance. 

My hands fall to her hips and I swivel her around ninety degrees so she was sitting sideways, enough for me to view her face and get the correct angle. 

"Why do you like working in the dark?" she speaks up in a whisper to match the darkness we sat in. 

I smile, though I couldn't be sure if she could see it on my face, and I curve my hands over hers so both of us had access to the drumsticks. "That's a secret I'll be able to let you in on when the time is right," I say to her. 

Her lips curve into a round ball but she asks nothing else. I don't know what it was about her curiosity that intrigued me more. Maybe it was the fact I could tell she cared, and not many people expressed their care towards me often. 

Her hands fitted perfectly against mine, the mallets between her coiled fingers. "Now, tell me how you're feeling right now," I say to her gently. 

Neither of our voices had changed from the same subtle whisper we had grown accustomed to. It was sentimental and I liked it this way.