The Vault

Jealousy Is A Dangerous Thing - Jimmy Page/Steven Tyler Fic (requested)

September 1, 1969

I sat in front of the mixing board in my basement studio, mixing up the most recent recording I did with my band. I've been trying so desperately to get this done so I could show my singer and my best friend, Steven Tallarico. He was so excited when I told him I could get this done for us and really help us take off as a band. He was so fucking excited that he could barely stay on the line. He told me he'd be over as soon as possible.

So, it didn't shock me at all when I heard footsteps barrelling down the stairs and into my basement... Even with my massive producing headphones blocking out as much sound as possible, I could still hear him. 

"Jesus, Tallarico," I laughed, spinning in my chair to see him carrying a case of beer towards me, with a big happy grin on his face. "I can hear you coming from a fucking mile away."

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Jessica. You couldn't hear me even if you didn't have those tin-cans on your head." He laughed, watching me as I pulled back one of the earphones from my ear. He cracked open the case of beer and took two out - one for me and one for him."So, what do we have do far? Is it good?"

"Well," I took the beer from him gratefully and opened the tab, sipping the over-flowing foam. "It's pretty good so far, actually... I'm trying to mix out one of the amps in the back though... It's humming too much."

He nodded, watching me as I listened closely, then switched a couple knobs on the master mixer in front of me. He seemed completely amazed by the entire thing. He knew that I was musically savy, considering I was his fucking guitarist and all, but he never knew just how musically inclined I was, which is funny considering we practically know everything about one another. 

"So, where'd you learn to do all this again?" He asked. "I mean, I know your dad's some big producer and all, but I thought he hated the idea of you being in a band?"

"Yeah..." I shrugged, cranking up the volume on Steven's mic as I turned down the volume of one of our bassist's amps. "He hates the fact that I'm in a band... He never wanted me in one. Instead he wanted me to be his little prodigy, ya know? He taught me all about producing and mixing... Shit, he taught me so much that I'm almost as good as he is... He wants me in the music industry, he just doesn't want me making music."

He nodded his head and watched as I continued to sip my beer and play around with different sounds on the mixing board. I had a stack of recordings that we've done before, enough to make an entire album, that just needed ot be mixed up. If he wanted, I could've showed him what to do and chances are we could finish this album by tonight. 

I pulled my frizzy blonde hair, back behind my ears as I concentrated on what I was trying to do. I noticed Steven deep in thought about something - I wondered what he was thinking about, but I was too focused to bother asking him about it now. 

"So, Jess, how's things with Jimmy?" He asked, trying to play it off all cool. 

"Things with Jimmy are good." I replied, rather bluntly. 

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"Bout a month ago, before he went on tour." I shrugged. 

"And you're okay with that?" He asked again, raising a thick dark eyebrow. 

"He's got his life and I've got mine." I turned to him, diverting my attention from my mixing board. "Why do you care so much?"

"Because, you're my best friend," He stated, just as bluntly as I did before. "And plus, I need to know if I have to buy a plane ticket to London and kick his ass."