𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒 | graham dunne

⁰². 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐈, 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦

｡･:*:･ﾟ☼,｡･:*:･ﾟ☽｡･:*:･ﾟ☼
━ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗢 ━
𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐝!
❝ 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘋𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦. ❞
｡･:*:･ﾟ☼,｡･:*:･ﾟ☽｡･:*:･ﾟ☼

｡･:*:･ﾟ☼,｡･:*:･ﾟ

Graham: There was a point in time where Sunny and I didn't get along so well. We were around fourteen years old when we started to first drift apart. I'm not quite sure why, but I didn't think much of it. I still saw her around with Eddie, Warren and Chuck. She'd hang around with Billy most days, on the occasion she would even be cooking dinner for both our families when our parents were working late nights. Even though we weren't as close anymore, I knew she was always there for me, and I was there for her.

Sunny: When we were fourteen Graham and I weren't as close after he got a girlfriend. Mackenzie Wheeler was a nice girl, long blonde hair and bright green eyes, Graham's type to a tee. He would invite me to hang out with them at first, asking if I wanted to go to the movies with them or even to sit with them at lunch. But I always felt like an intruder, so I started to pull away and be less reliant on Graham.

I would sit with Eddie, Warren and Chuck at lunch, talk to them about the latest comic books they've read or the upcoming history assignment. I got close to them all really quick, and I started to enjoy their company even when Graham wasn't around. But the minute I noticed him walking towards our table with Mackenzie on his arm, that's how I took it as my queue to go. This happened a few times during the two months Graham and Mackenzie were together, and each time I would wonder off outside and sit under this beautiful oak tree.

It was in these times by myself when I started writing the lyrics to 'Golden Lies'. It was obviously a rough draft, simply a foundation to what the song is today. It's my best selling song, and for a good reason. After a week of doing this routine of sitting outside on my own, I think Billy noticed what I was doing.

Billy: I'm an overprotective brother, always will be. Graham wasn't the most outgoing kid at school, and sometimes he'd get in a bit of trouble with Warren, Eddie and Chuck. So I always made sure to keep an eye on him at school. This also meant that I was watching over Sunny.

When I noticed she started having lunch on her own... well I got worried. One day I followed her outside to be sitting in the shade, scribbling some words into a notebook. At that time I carried my guitar around with me everywhere, to the grocery store, the movies, and even school.

So when I sat down beside her and figured out she was writing song lyrics, I began playing a melody.

Sunny: Billy swore he wrote that melody on his own, but I definitely heard it from the Beetles before. Either way, he helped me immensely with that song, even when we were in our twenties andThe Six was on the rise, Billy always found time for me and my song.

This is where our friendship really blossomed. After school Billy would walk me to Tunes & More for my shift and Jenna would let us work on my song. We did this for a few hours, some days even my whole shift. When my older brother was off to med school and Graham was fixated on his girlfriend, I had no one to confide in. But Billy was there for me, Billy was always there for me.

For that two months Graham and I had parted ways, Billy helped me finish the first draft of my song and composed a melody to go with it. There were a few days where Billy and I would sing the song for the store, drawing in a few customers here and there to listen in.

Jenna: With Sunny's angelic voice and Billy Dunne's notorious playboy name, our once quiet store started to fill up with customers. I owe those two a bunch for the sales they made back in the day.

Sunny: I was surprised, and honestly I still am, by the fact that Billy never asked me what the song was about. But looking back on it I guess it didn't matter much, we both knew we had written a hit.

Billy: Sunny was my little sister, by all means necessary. And when you're apart of the Dunne family, there's no going back. I took her under my wing and helped her with 'Golden Lies', even back then I thought it was going to be a hit. I never once asked her who she wrote the song about because I already knew.

Sunny had this thing about her where she fell in love with anything and everything. She fell in love with music the way she fell in love with the idea of a perfect family, which was far from what she had ever seen with her own. She fell in love with the way the wind whistled in the summer time the same way she loved to cook. But she fell the hardest for Graham, and it was like nothing she had ever loved before. So yeah, I knew what her song was about... and I never asked her.

Sunny: One of those days I found out from Eddie that Mackenzie had broken up with Graham.

Eddie: Oh boy did her eyes light up.

Sunny: I didn't care, really... I didn't. I had replaced one brother with the other, and I was content with my decision. The day continued as normal; Billy and I heading over to the store for my shift, we wrote some more, and then went to the grocery store for dinner before going home. This was our routine.

I was going to cook dinner for both my family and his that night because both our mom's were working overtime at the hospital, but when we reached Billy's home his mom was already there. She told us Graham decided to stay home from school and that he hadn't left his room since.

Graham and I may not have been as close anymore at the time, but I still cared... I always care. So Billy and I marched right up into Graham's room to see him laying in bed staring up at his ceiling fan. Billy gave his infamous speech about how Mackenzie was just a girl and that Graham, or how he liked to call him 'peaches', would have plenty of girlfriends in his lifetime simply because he knew how to play the guitar [scoffs], boys used to think it was that easy.

But at the end of the day, Billy's speech helped. At some point Billy had sat up from Graham's bed to leave and I went to follow, but Graham had asked me to stay. We hadn't spoken for months, so I was scared for what he'd have to say to me. But all he did was pull me down to lay beside him. We laid there in silence, staring up at his ceiling fan making its rounds.

Graham: For Sunny and I, sometimes the silence spoke louder than words. There was times between us where we hadn't spoken for days, weeks, or even months. But she always felt like home, no matter how far away she was from me. Sunny was... she was my home.

Sunny: There were times when Graham got really anxious, and back then mental health wasn't really a thing, hell it's still frowned upon to this day. I knew Graham had some struggles, so a lot of the times when we'd sit in silence I would hear how fast his heart was beating and how scared he really was. That time when we were laying there was no different.

So I did what I always did, I turned to face him and placed a hand over his heart. And every time I did that, he'd turn to face me and we'd lay there staring right at each other, still not saying a single word. Slowly but surely he'd calm down and his anxieties would slip away, and I would always reassure him, "You're still beating Dunne, you'll be okay."

That's what real friends do. They're there for you through thick and thin, no matter the occasion and no matter the distance between you. You're always there for your friends.

Billy: Friends don't just sit there in silence for hours with their hand over your heart. You didn't see Warren or Eddie doing that for Graham [laughs], Sunny was one of a kind. Graham learnt the hard way that when you find that person who brings you peace, you can't ever take them for granted. I learned that the same way with Camilla.