Mine - Luke Patterson (PRE JATP)

Chapter 28

(Tegan's POV)

We walked in mostly the light of the street lights, since how early it was and the sun was barely starting to show, and I could anticipate every turn we did and didn't make, because I knew where he was leading me, at least I thought I did.

"Okay your fix for everything can not being stealing shirts from Jack just to cut the sleeves off." I say as the back of the 'strip mall' if you could even call it that, where Jacks store was located came in to view from the sidewalk.

"Well see thats where you're wrong, because my fix for everything is power cords, turning thoughts into music and screaming it rather than singing it." He says. "And this isn't meant to fix everything, this is just meant to make things feel better."

"You are the last person I thought would be taking me therapeutic shopping." I laugh.

"Wait, did you think we were shopping?" He asks.

"I mean, yeah why else are we heading to Jacks." I ask, even more confused now. 

"Ah thats where you'd be wrong again." Instead of continuing towards the front of the buildings, he turned and walked towards the back of the buildings, taking me with him. 

"Okay, now I'm really confused." I looked back over my shoulder. "What are we doing?"

"Trying to help you think about something else." We walked in pretty much silence till we go to the back door of Jacks store. "You want to go up first or you want me to?"

"Go up there?" I pointed to the roof as he stopped in front of ladder attached to the wall. "Like on the roof?"

"Yes on the roof, don't worry I do this all the time, Jack lets me." He shrugs leaning against it. 

"How do you even get up there?" I motion towards the 'cage' that surrounded the bottom eight feet or so of the ladder, to prevent anyone from climbing up. He held his wrist up, around it was a stretchy bracelet with a tiny key hanging from it. "Should you have that?"

"No, the guy who rents out the building to Jack keeps it in the store, I borrow it from time to time." He says putting the taking the key of his wrist. "It's surprisingly super peaceful up there, trust me."

"I mean I guess you've never died from going up there." I shrug as her pulls the cage door open. 

"See, exactly my point!" He says, enjoying my stupid logic. "Come on up." I put my guitar case on my back while he started climbing, then started myself once he was just over halfway up. He waited for me at the top, taking my backpack from me that I had hanging on one arm. 

"Tell me, why do you sit on a roof in a practically abandoned strip mall when you could hang out in the studio, or anywhere else?" I ask as we walked towards the front of the store. 

"When a day goes really, really bad. So bad I don't want to talk to anyone, even you or the band, I come here. And since your day, absolutely sucked, I figured maybe this could help you too." He explains, "I usually watch the sunset, never watched the sunrise from up here." We sat at the very front of the store behind the raised ledge of the roof, I wondered what was to happen next.

"You just, sit here?" I ask, laying my case on the cement next to me. "Just like being alone?"

"Sometimes, if that what I need." He shrugs his shoulders. "Sometimes I need to scream some  music, sometimes I really need to write some music, sometimes I come up here because the lyrics aren't flowing and I need a change of scenery. Depends on the day."

"I tell you what I need." I unclipped the latches on my guitar case, throwing open the top. 

"Yeah I find a does of some good music fixes most things." He says getting his guitar out as well while I tuned a turned to lean my back up against the elevated ledge of the roof. "What do you wanna play first?"