Lovers By Force

Chapter 33

It was like Tom realized what I had just witnessed. That I saw behind the curtain. We stared at each other. A weird tension was building up. "You.. play very well." I managed to get out. "Not really. I'm nowhere near good." He said without fishing for a counter compliment like most people do. He was being serious. "Well I'm not a skilled player in any way but.. I liked hearing the sound you created. So, it's still good. Even if it's just good for me." His eyes scanned my face for a second, the corner of his mouth tilting up. "Thanks, moonlight."

And I was glad I said it to him. A genuine Tom smile was something rare to witness. No matter how small it was. I had finally made the beast smile. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "I heard you play so I was...curious. I don't see you play often." "I'm a Rockstar, moonlight." "I know." I say, rolling my eyes. "But I'm not that familiar with this "Rockstar self" of yours. Besides, your guitar sound is really.... beautiful. I like hearing it..."

I saw surprise flickering in his eyes as the embarrassment after my little confession started rising. He crosses his arms "Want me to teach you how to play?" I was taken aback. "Me? Play? Oh no no. I'm not the least bit virtuosic." "So? You can still learn to play." He says in a tone of seriousness. "No, I can't..."

Having someone like Tom teach me how to play an instrument was an embarrassment I was happy to avoid. I was level minus one hundred while he was level god. "Why can't you?" He asks, curiosity getting the best of him. "Because..." I look down, embarrassed. "I'm bad at this!" "You can't get better at something when you don't start practicing it." He says, crossing his arms.

I knew he was right. But I always used to practice all by myself where no one could see my failure. I didn't want anyone to know how bad I could be at something. It was pretty childish. I know. But my father had always expected from me to excel at anything right away. So, I could never let him see that I needed just as much practice as everybody else.

"Sit, moonlight." He says. I don't know why I instantly reacted to his command, but I did. I sit down beside him. He instantly shifts and sits behind me.

"Hey! W-what are you doing..?!"

"Teaching you."

"By sitting behind me?!" He rolls his eyes and sighs, grabbing his guitar. "Follow my lead." He said and placed my hands on the strings while placing his much bigger hands on top of mine.

He continued to place my fingers on different strings while his other hand was leading my other fingers to strum the melody we were creating. I was damn nervous. I didn't wanna disappoint him by playing like an idiot. And at the same time I didn't wanna let him know how much of an effect his body right against mine was causing. My brain was a mess. But when Tom started humming the melody into my ear while continuing to lead both my hands, I actually started to ease up and concentrate.

I was stumbling to follow the strings he was guiding me to and trust me the sound we were making right now was centuries worse than Tom's previous solo session. But I didn't feel ashamed any longer. His steady breath and melodic voice combined with his confident hands made me forget for a moment how bad I was. Instead, I got excited. Excited to learn something new.

Excited how different it could feel to fail at something. That it could feel like I didn't fail at all even if I did so obviously. "Very good, moonlight."

"Thank you." I said, rolling my eyes because he was obviously lying.

"I mean it. You know I don't care about lying to make someone feel better." That was true.

"Then you're a worse musician than I thought."

He laughs, His close body to mine made me realize that he was still sitting behind me and I was basically sitting between his legs. "Uhrmg..." I say, coughing. "I should probab-" his phone rings.

"Yes?" I stayed where I was. "Not really....yeah...bye." He hangs up.

"Your friend, Amber."

"Amber James?!"

"Yup."

"You're... still seeing her?"

"No.. she kinda hasn't spoken to me or the guys since you made a scene."

"I- I.....did make a scene but! I tried to ask her politely first."

"We gotta appreciate the effort."

"Does she hate me now?"

"I wouldn't say that. She's more terrified of you."

"Terrified??"

"You scared the shit out of her, moonlight. That girl is not used to someone screaming at her. Must have been a first by the look on her face." He says, his finger on his chin.

"Shit." I say, facepalming.

"Don't feel bad. I thoroughly enjoyed witnessing your anger issues."

"I don't have anger issues?!"

"Sure." He said. I rolled my eyes at him.

He checks his phone. "I gotta go. We have a private gig in a few hours. My manager gave me a warning about being late. Very important people apparently."

"I'm surprised you care."

"Well she looked like she was about to have a heart attack. And I kinda wanna avoid that." We both get up.

"Sweet dreams, moonlight."

"Goodnight, Tom."