That Girl in the Diner

13 - Pieces Of Pain

13-pieces of pain

It was nine o'clock at night. Julian was in his apartment, working on his music- of course. He hardly did anything else. Right now, he had decided to dig out his old keyboard and work on some of his older songs for awhile. He hadn't played the piano in ages, he often neglected it for his guitar, forgetting how much he liked it. He had come home early from playing on the streets because it had been dark and rainy, and most of all cold. His fingers had gotten numb really fast and the parks of Los Angeles weren't exactly always safe after the lights went out. Inside, it was far cosier and the rain tapping rhythmically against the window pane was kind of relaxing. It was warm and his thawed-out fingers could finally immerse themselves on finishing up some old pieces. It had been a nice evening for that kind of thing, he'd sat there for three hours already, and he would probably be there until three or four in the morning too, his usual bedtime when he was feeling inspired. If only he could do that every night and not have to stay outside until he was practically too tired to get up the stairs to his place. Such was the life of a street musician. Tonight though, he really couldn't knock it.

He was fully focused on attempting to figure out the best notes to finish the song he'd been working on when a knock at the door interrupted him. He leapt up, unperturbed. He had texted Madeline a few hours earlier to say he was home for the night. He knew she had some kind of date with her parents tonight, but he had been hoping she might pop by afterwards anyway. He hadn't seen her for a whole twenty hours and thirteen minutes, after all. He was pretty sure he might spontaneously combust or something if he didn't at least talk to her once every twenty four hours, and the deadline for that was fast approaching. She was the only good kind of interruption right now.

Even though when he opened the door he had already guessed who it was, he was still surprised at what was waiting for him.

"Maddy what's wrong?" He didn't even think to say hello or need to ask how she was, it was that obvious. And if even he- the most unobservant boyfriend on the face of the planet- realized that something was that wrong, you knew it had to be bad.

She stood there, shivering a little and slightly damp from the rain, biting her lip and looking up at him almost pitifully. Usually when she saw him, she smiled but not tonight apparently. She took a deep breath.

"I'm... It's fine. I just... Can I come in for just a minute? I just wanted to see you before I went home. Unless you're busy or something... I don't want to bother you." She didn't like coming over unannounced, she didn't want to interrupt. But she wasn't planning on staying for long. All she really wanted was a hug. She just wanted him to hold her for a minute, and then everything would be okay- at least, that's how it usually went.

"Madeline, you'll never bother me, and you're definitely not coming in for 'just a minute'. Stay long enough to get dry at least." He opened the door wide for her to come in and the moment she stepped inside she hugged him tightly. That felt so much better, though, she had to struggle not to cry all of a sudden. His arms were just so warm and safe, and his scent and the rhythm of his breathing...

"Maddy, what's wrong?" He asked again, softly, hugging her back.

"I just... I went to my parent's tonight. We talked and... they were less than pleased with me." She mumbled. He didn't understand.

"What happened? No, wait." He broke out of her grasp, and just took her hand, pulling her towards his ratty but comfortable arm chair. It was the only other furniture in his place aside from his kitchen table, a couple of hard chairs for eating and his bed, and it was by far the neatest and comfiest. He shoved a bunch of dirty clothes off of it and then sat down, pulling her into his lap. He figured that they might be there awhile so she might as well make herself at home instead of standing there, dripping on the carpet. "Okay, now, let's talk."