𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 - JJ Maybank

Chapter 129: Blue Hour

It was a good day.

Really, it was.

Grace had grown used to her days merging into one—a jumbled mess where she could hardly tell the difference between being awake and asleep, sober and high, alone and lonely.

But today was different.

Today felt... normal; bright, even.

"3, 2, 1..." Peter's voice trailed off as he shot Grace a thumbs up, signalling for her to get singing.

He had his headphones pulled snugly over his ears, donned a loudly patterned shirt that only he could pull off, and subtly bopped along to the backing track. He had an off-duty, retired rocker vibe to him. His hair was short, but you could perfectly imagine it all long and frizzy. His thick tortoise-shell glasses had most definitely replaced the smudged eyeliner that made the girls swoon back in his heyday. But now he was different. He was calmer. He still looked like he could whip out a Fender and go to town if he wanted to, but instead of shredding metal, he'd break out into the blues.

Maybe that's why Grace still came to him. 

Even though she spent her days in a self-inflicted solitary confinement, she could grant herself this. She didn't know if she deserved it, but she did know she could indulge just this once.

It was low expectations. Peter liked her, and even if he didn't, he seemed to put everyone in a mile radius at ease. 

She was weirdly certain that if she were to tell him what she'd done, if she were to let it slip somehow, he would hardly flinch. He was just there for the music, after all. Whether that reaction to her killing a man should be considered concerning or not, she really didn't feel like examining it further.

As she finished singing out the final line, Peter pressed a button on the panel to stop the track before peeling off his headphones and shaking his head thoughtfully.

"Something's off, isn't it?" Grace asked, mimicking his actions as she tugged off her headphones and wandered out of the booth. 

"I just can't place my finger on it, and it's driving me insane," she added as she flopped down on his green velvet couch and cracked open a water bottle.

Peter nodded along. "That makes two of us."

He flipped the track back on before sitting down next to her, elbows resting on his knees, as he nodded along to the song thoughtfully.

Grace listened intently. It sounded good, but not great, not smooth.

"Needs more reverb," Peter muttered when it came to a close.

"Yep. Needs more reverb," she echoed, nodding absentmindedly.

As if they rehearsed it, they both launched up from the couch, energy renewed as they got back to work.

___________

Grace didn't know how long she was with Peter, tinkering away. There were no windows in the studio, and even if there were, time had kind of lost meaning to her anyway.

Either way, by the time she completed her walk home, it was blue hour with a slight chill in the air.

She wrapped her jacket tightly around herself as she made her way up the steps to her childhood home.

Her earbuds were in, and she bopped along to a cheesy 80s song as she searched through her bag for her house key.

"Hey."

Her keys jangled to the ground as she nearly jumped out of her skin.

She ripped her earbuds out and spun around.