Tennessee Line to LA Lights (A Matthew Gray Gubler FanFiction)

Chapter 10

"It still isn't right," Stephanie fiddled with one of the knobs, listening closely to the sound of her voice on the track.

"What are you talking about? It sounds good. It sounds as good as the last five times. What sounds off to you?" Adrienne sighed as she watched Stephanie stare at the computer screen's squiggly lines.

"I'm not sure. It could be my vocals, but it sounds like the lead guitar. Maybe I should play that bit again. Did you hear that? It's like 10 seconds long, but it throws off the rest of the song."

Adrienne rolled her eyes, "Seriously? You're freaking out over 10 seconds of track? Steph, we've been at this for a month, a month, and you've only managed to records two songs. How are you ever going to get this done if each one has to be redone over and over again because it doesn't meet your standards? It's an EP for christ's sake, it isn't supposed to be perfect."

Stephanie was about to reply when a soft knocking came from the door to the studio. Both girls turned in the sound's direction, Matthew's face was visible, framed in the glass.

Stephanie smiled and motioned for him to come in, "Hey!"

"Matthew will you tell her that her track sounds fine? Here," She stood, pushing her chair towards him. "Steph, play him the song, let him be the deciding factor."

"He's heard the song," Stephanie protested. "I'm just going to record the last part then I will call it finished."

"When did I hear the song?" Matthew spoke for the first time.

Stephanie and Adrienne both looked at him, Adrienne speaking first, "At The Lexington, remember?"

Matthew shook his head, "I left early."

"Oh shit, I forgot," Adrienne reached for the door handle. "Steph, play him the song," The door shut quietly behind her.

"I'd love to hear it," Matthew sat down, rolling the chair over next to Stephanie.

She shook her head, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because it's the song that you left during," She queued it back to the beginning.

"I know, but it's been a couple months Steph, I think I'm more than ready to hear it."

She shrugged her shoulders and started the track, her voice filling the small space once again. She sat in silence, gauging his reaction. His face was void of emotion, a blank slate and the longer the song played, the more nervous she got. As the last chords fizzled out, she sat back in her seat, allowing it to rock back and forth, "Well?"

"I think that it sounded fantastic," Matthew looked over at her. "What aren't you liking about it?"

"Ugh, apparently it's just me being overly picky. I guess Adrienne was right, it's ready to go. So that would be two tracks down. So, I love that you came to visit me, but how come you're here?"

"I drove by your place and didn't see your car, I figured that you were putting in some late hours here." He grew quiet for a moment, his voice soft when he spoke, "Steph..." He waited for her to look at him again, "Thank you for that song. Hearing it the first time made me realize that I wanted to be with you and hearing it again made me realize that I made the right decision."

She wheeled closer to him, "Hmmm, if that wasn't so sweet, I'd say that it was downright cheesy." She leaned over and kissed him, "I've had enough of this place for the day, want to take me out." She mumbled against his lips.

He smiled, standing up and pulling her with him, "If you promise you'll stay over tonight."

"Oh god, what have I started?" She giggled, grabbing her purse as they headed out the door.