Silver Springs

Part 10

Harlow was lucky Jake Kiszka thrived on small amounts of sleep. She kept him up all night, working through the songs that were flowing through her. Cigarettes burned themselves down between her fingers as she paced their home, voicing out lyrics and melodies, harmonies. She would then drop the butt in the ashtray on their coffee table, leaning in to Josh for him to place another between her lips, lighting it for her before she moved away, taking one, single drag and ignoring it the rest of the time she paced.

In her other hand, when there wasn't a pen, was a whiskey laden highball, courtesy of Jake's bar, which she helped herself to multiple times. Messy sips and slurps between bars of the songs they were writing. More than once, Josh noticed Harlow wiping a trickle of her drink from her chin as she started to sing before she fully swallowed. Her mind was frantic, more than he had seen her before in her writing process. She was starting to slur her words and trip over the rug.

"Harlow," Josh rested a hand on her arm, pausing her pacing. "I think you need to get some rest." Tracing his hand down her elbow, he reached her wrist, feeling her pulse under his fingers, noting it was fast. "Come sit for a few minutes, you've been non-stop for hours."

"I'm fine," Harlow tried to pull away from him, but Josh kept his hand on her wrist, gazing up at her with a concerned, stern look. Jake stopped his strumming on the guitar in his lap. He'd given up hours ago on following Harlow's stream of consciousness, merely plucking out melodies softly as she went on. "Josh-"

"Please." she couldn't refuse his plea, and sat on the couch, her body finally leaving it's flight mode. She sank into the cushions, resting her head back. Josh gently took the drink from her hand, setting it away from her on the coffee table. "You should go up to bed."

"I don't know that I can fall asleep." Harlow spoke softly, though her words betrayed how exhausted she was.

"You will," Josh reached out, brushing her bangs from her eyes. "I think it's best if you stay here today." Harlow nodded as Josh continued. "You both need more time away from each other."

"I never wanna see Sam again." Harlow's voice was hard now, but wobbly, as if she was holding back a sob in her throat.

"I'm afraid that's near-impossible." Jake gave her sad smile. "At least for a few more weeks. If it makes you feel any better, I plan on kicking his ass so hard he won't have a face for you to look at."

"Now that I'd love to see." Harlow shared a smirk with the younger twin.

"Come on," Josh stood up, holding his hand out to Harlow. She took it, letting him pull her up from her sunken position on the couch. "Let's get you tucked in." Though there were hints of the sun beginning to rise, the pitch black night turning to a blue-gray hue out the windows. Josh brought her back to his bedroom, shutting the curtains to block out as much pale light as he could while Harlow crawled back between his sheets.

"Josh?" the young man hummed, picking up some papers she had written on before she had moved downstairs. "Thank you for everything." setting the papers down on the nightstand, Josh smiled down at Harlow.

"Don't sweat it, kid." he ruffled her hair with a smirk, watching her roll away from him with a laugh and hunker down into bed, the liquor in her blood helping lull her off into a somewhat restful sleep. Josh continued to pick up his bedroom a bit, before going back downstairs and see Jake leaning against the kitchen counter, percolator dutifully making coffee next to him.

"Say what you want about Sam," Jake murmured, flipping over one of the sheets of paper that littered their house now. "but he inspires one hell of a song." Josh stood next to him, leaning over to see what was scrawled onto the paper. This was one Harlow hadn't sang out loud, that he could tell, the words were unfamiliar, no melody playing in his head as he read them. "She's mad as hell, man."