For Chuck_Berry
Hope you like it, it took all day, you know that already though.
-1966-
You sat in a spinning chair laughing loudly with Eric Clapton. He was playing random things on his guitar trying to write some stuff for the album. "That's it, I can't come up with anything!" Eric sighed, breaking up the lingering laughter in the room. You felt bad for your friend thinking he couldn't come up with anything, you of course went into pep talk mode. "Don't worry Eric you got enough time to think of something." You put your hand on his shoulder. "But what will my mates think, Jack's written most of the songs. It's Ginger's band, I'm not contributing." "Do a blues cover, Eric. That'd be perfect for you." He shrugged. "You think that would be neat, Y/N?" You gave him a smile. "Of course I do!" Eric began to smile at your enthusiasm. "That's it then, you have to help me pick a tune, Y/N." "Let me think on it. Maybe Leadbelly?" Eric nodded, sitting his guitar down. "Sounds pretty good, let me go to my flat and get some records to play?" You nodded at his suggestion. "You wanna stay here or come with me, Jack and Ginger are supposed to get here soon." He said grabbing his keys. "I'll stay, then." Eric nodded in acknowledgement and walked out of the studio. With nobody to talk to you decided to play Eric's guitar, you two had been friends forever so he didn't mind, since you played music too. You didn't really want to mess around Ginger's drums since you didn't know him too well, but you had heard he could get quite rough with people. And Jack you hadn't really talked to or anything, he seemed sweet enough. You picked around on the guitar for a few minutes before playing some chords to A Kiss to Build a Dream on as recorded by Louis Armstrong. He was one of your favourite musicians. You started to sing the lyrics, as you played. You got so lost in your music, it made you so happy to play the songs you knew so well. You finished the songs last few notes, strumming the chord lightly. "That was beautiful." You jumped up from your chair, letting out a small squeak. You turned around to see Jack Bruce Cream's singer and bass player. "I didn't mean to scare you." He said, holding his hand out. You stood up quickly and sat Eric's guitar down. "No, no it's fine. Thank you." Jack smiled a toothy smile to you. "Did you come here alone?" He questioned, putting his bag down. He quickly laughed. "I'm sorry, that sounded so creepy." You laughed along with him. "It's alright, I understood you. I actually came here with Eric but he went back to his flat to get some records." Jack nodded. "Cool, why does he need records?" "He's having a hard time writing anything for the record, so I suggested he do a blues song." "That's actually a really cool idea." "Thanks, he just felt bad since you wrote so many tunes, and Ginger had been working on some stuff, he felt like he wasn't doing anything." Jack started going through his dufflebag, before grabbing out a little brown notebook. You stood there watching his actions, while nervously messing with the edge of your dress. He looked up at you, his notebook in hand. You couldn't help but smile at him, or notice how handsome he looked. He was dressed rather casually in a red sweater and black pants, he had been wearing a brown sports coat, but took it off after scaring you. "Can I ask you a question?" Jack spoke sitting down where you had previously sat. "Sure, what is it?" He looked down at his notebook and laughed. "I'm going to sound so rude when I say this, but I really would like to know. Are you and Eric- like, in a relationship?" At first you didn't understand what Jack was implying, but after letting the question sink you understood what he was saying, he thought you and Eric were dating! You shook your head quickly. "Oh, no. Eric and I we're just friends." You stopped to giggle a little. "No, I don't like him like that, he and I are just friends." You reassured. "Sorry if that sounded too personal of a question, I just wondered- since you two are always together." Jack said. "I can see how you would get that impression, but I don't really like Eric like that- no offense to him obviously. I don't really date to often anyways." Jack smiled at you, he looked happy to know you weren't with Eric. "Why don't you date?" He blurted out. "Um- I just have had some really bad experiences with men." Jack put his head down, letting out a deep breath. You saw his actions as kind of odd. "I'm sorry Y/N. I've been really rude to you. I'm just sort of nervous." You raised a eyebrow, planting yourself in the chair nearest him. "Well, you have been asking me quite odd questions, but why are you nervous?" He looked up at you with a frown on his face. He let out another deep breath, and opened his mouth to speak when Ginger burst into the studio with Eric. "Hey, Y/N, Jack." Ginger greeted smoking the end of a cigarette. "Hi, Ginger." You greeted as he passed you to sit behind his drums. Eric strolled over with his metal record carrier. "Hey, Y/N I got those albums." He sat his records down on the table in front of you. "I forgot I had some in my car." Eric said, Jack stood up and walked over to a stack of amps on the other side of the room, he began writing in his notebook. You grabbed a stack of records out of Eric's carrier and looked through them and instantly saw Robert Johnson and thought- perfect. You turned it over to look at the song listing. "What about something off of here Eric?" He came over and stood next to you. He glanced over the songs. "I like this idea, what about something like Traveling Riverside Blues?" He suggested, looking to you for approval. "What about something slower, you could do Love In Vain. No, I know what." "What?" Eric questioned. "What about you doing From Four Until Late, you could make that really cool?" Eric grinned. "Perfect! And I know you love that song, I'll work on it. I could maybe even add another verse or something. Thank you Y/N!" "So what songs are we putting on the album, we have the composition I wrote, three from Jack. Eric, do you have something?" Ginger questioned strolling over to us. "Yeah, I'm doing a cover- Robert Johnson." Ginger shook his head, "Sounds good to me." Jack walked over. "I'm working on another song, I have been for a while. I've only got a few lines written but it is a song if you guys want to see it." Ginger nodded. "Yeah, we'll run through it." You looked at Jack as he and Ginger talked about Jack's newly written song. "I like this tune, what's it about?" Ginger questioned, scanning over the lyrics. You looked at Jack and you swear it looked like he was blushing. His eyes darted your way quickly before, turning his attention back to the red headed drummer. You couldn't help but find yourself liking Jack more and more as you spent time with him, he was really cute and something about his personality made you happy. You usually weren't too into guys just because of the things you'd been through previously, and the fact you had a lot of other things you wanted to focus on, "Well, let's do the song quick to get a feel for it and then we'll go from there." Ginger said, lighting another cigarette. He walked behind his drum set and started playing some random licks. Jack went and grabbed his bass guitar, making sure to turn his amp and the rest of the systems on. He started playing something with Ginger, the two of them quickly got a rhythm going. They really were impeccable musicians. Eric had grabbed his Electric guitar by then and was playing some full chords along with the beat. You flipped your hair over your shoulder and watched as Jack started to sing some of the lyrics he wrote. "Dreaming about my love. You bring me joy and hours of happiness, more or less... I dream my life away." Ginger started adding a few good drum fills in as Eric started improvising with some Jazz chords and nice guitar sounds. "Waiting for you to come. Changing my life for you to emptiness, meaningless, minutes just drift by. I don't care if I get nowhere. I can just dream and you'll be there. What else is there to do?" Jack sang the words he wrote with such passion, Clapton looked at you and grinned. The magic in the room was indescribable, they were so great together. Jack looked down at his notebook, to see the lyrics he had written down before going into the next lines. "Dreaming about my life. Where are you now, and when will you come to me? I dream my life away." You stood there swaying to the words, Jack started improvising lyrics since he hadn't really written a full song down yet. He glanced at you with soft eyes, before singing the dreamy tune. "I don't care if I get nowhere. I can just dream and you'll be there. What else is there to do? Dreaming about my love; You bring me joy and hours of happiness, more or less. I dream my life away." You watched on, you could hardly peel your eyes away from Jack, his sweet voice making you feel almost lightheaded.
"Dreaming, dreaming." The rest of the band followed Jack's lead as they ended the song with a few more notes. Eric glanced over at you. "What do you think, Y/N?" You smiled softly. "It was marvelous, that song is so, so... Dreamy. It's beautiful." Jack smiled shyly. "I liked it too." Ginger said, standing up to adjust his drum throne. "Well, let's run through another." Ginger added, grabbing a smoke. "Let's do I Feel Free." Eric suggested, the rest of the band agreed and played the song. They jammed for about two hours improvising and working on songs they already had. It was amazing to watch as they worked on what eventually would become The Cream's first album. Even though they were all seasoned musicians this was different, it was really magical. After all the practicing it was time for everybody to head out. "So, same time tomorrow?" Eric questioned Ginger, as they packed up the stuff they had brought. "If nothing changes, yes." Ginger answered. "Alright, then see you." Ginger nodded in response and walked outside. "See you tomorrow Jack." Eric said, throwing the singer a wave. "Are you two leaving?" Jack asked quickly. "Yeah, I've got to take Y/N home." Jack kneeled down to gather his things up. Eric started walking outside, holding the door open for you. "Oh, wait Eric I forgot something you go ahead. I'll be quick." You said, acting. "Oh, okay. I'll be in the car. I needed to ask Ginger another question, hope he's still in the parking lot." Just as Eric said that we both saw and heard Ginger speed off, like a bat out of hell out of the studio lot. His tires squealed loudly as he turned the corner and headed down the narrow road. "Oh, well. I'll be outside." Eric stated, shrugging his shoulders. He slung his guitar over his shoulder and hopped down the front stairs. "Hey, Jack." He looked up at you from across the room. "Yes, Y/N?" You bit you lip trying to figure out what to say, you didn't forget anything. You weren't really sure why you had called his attention. But you did. "Um, I liked hanging out with you today." He stood up and strode over to you. "Honestly, I thought I'd be disappointed in not getting to talk to you again before you left. " He said, leaning against the door frame. "I wanted to know what you were saying earlier?" You said, remembering the conversation getting cut off by Ginger and Eric. Jack looked at you before, swallowing hard. "Well, honestly- I wanted to tell you how much I like you." He stated, looking you in the eyes. "Like?" He nodded. "I think you're gorgeous Y/N. I remember when I first met you, when you strolled in with Eric. I was so jealous because I thought you two were together, and I just couldn't quit thinking about you. I still can't." He said, waiting for your response. You smiled at him, taking in his words. You felt so flattered. He was so handsome and he said he couldn't quit thinking about you. "That's really, sweet Jack. I like you too. I mean- you should know how special you are." You said, not really knowing what to say. "Well, how would you feel about maybe going out with me?" Jack asked, nervously. "I would love that. I really would." You answered, not being able to quit smiling. He grinned back at you. "Can I give you my phone number?" He questioned. "Yes, please." He grabbed out his notebook writing his name and number down. "I'll give you mine too." You said, he handed the book to you. You scrawled your name and number down on the piece, putting a heart next to your name. "There." He grabbed his book back and tore his number out, slipping it into your coat pocket, making you blush. "I guess you should be going right, Eric is waiting." Jack laughed pushing open the door. "You're right. Can I call you when I get home?" Jack smiled at you. "Call me whenever your hearts desires." He answered as he held the door open for you, you two walked out. "Your song was really good by the way." You stated, remembering his quickly written tune. He put his head down, a toothy smile on his face. "Thanks, Y/N. Can I admit something to you?" You nodded your head. "Sure, Jack." "You inspired it, I know that might sound weird. But I really like you. You inspire me." You stopped walking, mesmerized. No one had ever even thought about writing a song for you, much less actually wrote one. "That's so fucking sweet!" You said, throwing your arms around him. He caught you around the waist. "Thank you, Y/N." You gave him a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush. He looked at you sweetly, before grabbing you by the chin. You brought your lips to his, not really knowing if he was gonna kiss you or not. But you certainly wanted to kiss him. After a few seconds you both pulled back, breaking the electricity. "Come on Y/N, It's cold out here. I wanna go home, you can kiss Jack at home!" Eric yelled childishly, from behind the side of the building. You and Jack both looked over at Eric at the same time. Eric just stared back at you two, with a blank, small expression crossing his face before quickly ducking back behind the building. You two both laughed at Clapton. "I'll see you tomorrow." You said, letting Jack go. "I'll see you too, Y/N." He smiled as you two went your separate ways.
