My First Love

Art Show and Inspiration

*note: Happy Birthday to my amazing sister who is also an awesome LP soldier. Anyways hope you guys like it. Also minor cussing here. Btw I only own the plot, everything else is someone else's idea. Sorry this chapter isn't super funny.... that's why it's not under that category...

I'm standing at the front door of Emily's house with my hand in a fist about to knock on her door when I stop myself. Is it okay to see if she's ready? Don't girls usually take longer when they're getting ready for a date? Is this a date? Shouldn't I have been the one to ask? Is what I'm wearing okay? I look down at myself, I'm wearing a red plaid shirt with tight fitting blue jeans, something more casual since this wasn't a formal event. Damn, I should have checked with Chester about this. He's better with fashion and girl stuff. Well, it's too late to change that now. Okay, here goes nothing, alright, now, here I come... suddenly the door opens and I almost hit Alan's face. "Hey there, you gonna come in and wait or just stand there with a fist in the air?" He chuckles as he says this. I nod my head and say thanks as I walk into the house. He is pretty cool as a dad, he didn't threaten to kill me he just told me to wait a few seconds and to have fun. He was really friendly and smiling the whole time, "you seem like a nice guy Mike, I trust you with Emily. You guys are good together, just keep an eye on her. She can be real strange. She keeps me worried." Then we hear yelling from up the stairs, "hey! I heard that dad! I should be worrying, not you!" We both start laughing. That explains why I didn't hear her come down the stair, plus I wasn't facing the stairs. I felt a small punch to my arm, "ow, what was that....." I didn't finish my thought as I turned to face her. She is definitely worth the wait, she looked beautiful. Her brunette hair was down like always, but with slight waves and she was wearing a navy blue dress that went to her midthighs with, matched her figure, a tan belt. She looked great, I couldn't stop myself from staring. I didn't even notice I was being shoved out the door as Emily told her dad she'd be back later and giving him a kiss on the cheek. After we were outside standing by my car she spoke, "well? Are we just going to stand here and gaze at the stars or are we actually going to the art show like we planned?" I smile and say, "oh, yeah. Here let me get the door for you." She smiles as she gets into the car and says thanks. Her smile gets even wider as I lean in, inhaling her vanilla scent, and tell her that she looks really beautiful tonight, "well, you look pretty nice yourself tonight." I swear my heart skipped a beat when I heard her say that. I guess I didn't need fashion advice.

It took us around twenty minutes to get to Abra Gallery, the place where the art show was being held. After paying for the tickets we walked inside and saw all the different artworks. They were all super amazing. I felt so at home being able to see the different artworks and thinking about what the artists were thinking when they created their master piece. There were many different paintings, some simply the picture of a scenery, while others were more abstract and hard to understand if you didn't take the time to fully appreciate it. After about an hour we stumble on a Claude Monet piece, the water lily pool to be specific. Emily was in awe at the painting, "wow. I can't believe they have this piece. He's one of my favorite artist, and this is my favorite painting he did." The look in her eyes as she was admiring the painting is something I'll never forget, in fact, I took a picture to make sure I never forget. Curious, I ask her, "why is this your favorite?" She turns her attention to me, "because I just love the peace that's forever preserved in that place. It must have been nice to be there." She looks down a little, "this is where I would want to be. I've done things that I'm not exactly proud of and it felt like it was easier to run away from my problems. They're just the past now though. If I could take the blame I would, but none of that matters anymore." I nod my head in agreement, understanding what she meant. All of a sudden I felt inspired from all the arts around us and what Emily just told me. I had an idea, "hey, do you have paper? I need to write something down." She looks through her bag and naturally she doesn't have any, but she does have napkins. I take a napkin from her and she looks amused, "you really do have an attachment to those things huh? It's a good thing I always have a bunch with me." I smile as I write down the lyrics and think about how we met because of the napkins. After I wrote down the new song idea I turn and give her a hug, "you've inspired me. I'm really glad that you invited me to see all these different artists and their art." She smiles, "it's no problem. You're the only one I would want to bring to this kind of place. Only you would understand. Hey, can I come by Dave's place tomorrow and hear your new song idea that I was the inspiration for?" I immediately agree, she is afterall the reason why I thought of the song. After agreeing to meet at four tomorrow I take her back home. Just before she gets out of the car to go home she kisses me on the cheek, "thanks Mike, thanks for the awesome time. I'll see you tomorrow." I couldn't even say anything back. After she goes inside I sit in my car and look on the rear view mirror at my cheek. I do a fist pump and smile all the way back home.

Almost four the next day

"Alright, so you got it?" I ask Chester for about the millionth time. He laughs, "Yeah, don't worry. I know what I'm doing. You forget who you're talking to." Unfortunately I didn't, I know I'm talking to Chazzy Chaz. I was about to inform him that I was worried because it was him we were talking about when Phoenix came in with Emily. She smiled that bright smile and gave everyone a hug (even Mr. Chaz). She sits down on the couch in Phoenix's garage, "okay, I'm ready to hear the song I inspired." We all get into our places, "alright, Em prepared to be blown away. This song is called "easier to run" and you're the reason for it."

"Easier To Run"

It's easier to run Replacing this pain with something numb It's so much easier to go Than face all this pain here all alone

Something has been taken from deep inside of me The secret I've kept locked away no one can ever see Wounds so deep they never show they never go away Like moving pictures in my head for years and years they've played

(If I could change I would take back the pain I would) (Retrace every wrong move that I made I would) (If I could stand up and take the blame I would) (If I could take all the shame to the grave I would) (If I could change I would take back the pain I would) (Retrace every wrong move that I made I would) (If I could stand up and take the blame I would) (I would take all my shame to the grave)

[Chorus] It's easier to run Replacing this pain with something numb It's so much easier to go Than face all this pain here all alone

Sometimes I remember the darkness of my past Bringing back these memories I wish I didn't have Sometimes I think of letting go and never looking back And never moving forward so there'd never be a past

(If I could change I would take back the pain I would) (Retrace every wrong move that I made I would) (If I could stand up and take the blame I would) (If I could take all the shame to the grave I would) (If I could change I would take back the pain I would) (Retrace every wrong move that I made I would) (If I could stand up and take the blame I would) (I would take all my shame to the grave)

Just washing it aside All of the helplessness inside Pretending I don't feel misplaced It's so much simpler than change

[Chorus] It's easier to run Replacing this pain with something numb It's so much easier to go Than face all this pain here all alone

It's easier to run (If I could change I would take back the pain I would) (Retrace every wrong move that I made) It's easier to go (If I could change I would take back the pain I would) (Retrace every wrong move that I made I would) (If I could stand up and take the blame I would) (I would take all my shame to the grave)

After we finished the song I could see tears start coming out of her eyes. She was wiping them away, "that was beautiful you guys. How do you come up with this stuff? This is perfect. I definitely have a new favorite song." I was ecstatic to hear her say that. I'm proud to make her feel that deeply for the song. She smiles at me more, "if you keep making lyrics like that you will definitely be able to make a career out of your music. I know you guys will be able to touch other people's hearts like you have mine." As long as she continued to support us that's all I needed. Xero loves all their fans, but M. Shinoda only wants this girl to support his choices. She is his inspiration and hopefully one day she will be something more than his muse.