Swell (Complete)

Chapter Twenty-Two (Part One)

"My eyes roll back inside my head,
I bet you wonder what I see up there,
Envision a place where I feel like I am,
When I came back to, I said, I've been looking for heaven."

....

Adora pulled her sleeves on and looked at the wall between Marti's room and Will's. Marti was having a shower; she'd let Adora have the first one and now Adora was listening to Will practise Brett's solos through the wall.
She left Marti's bedroom and stopped in the hallway, Will's door was ajar and she could see him sitting on a stool in front of a small amp.
There was a black music stand with the display folder open in front of him. She thought about the closeness when they had been going over the music during the week and bit her lip.
A gentle knock on the doorframe made Will look up, hair hung over his forehead and he smiled when he saw her. "Hey, just in time! I'm trying to get Scarlet down, but I'm not sure I'm matching the words right."
Adora stepped into the room and walked over to his practise area.
"Would you mind a sing along?"
She sat on his bed and shook her head. "One of my favourites." She muttered as she looked over the tab for Scarlet by Brooke Fraser.
"It's a bit strange trying to get the piano notes to tab for me, but it is really deep. I think... anyone could relate to the words." Will looked from her to the paper and she watched him swallow a lump.
"You've listened to it a few times then?"
"I had to, to make sure I was getting the pattern right."
Adora chuckled at herself and nodded. "That's true. Alright, let's go."
She watched his fingers move on the neck of his guitar and then focused on his fingers as they plucked strings over the guitar's sound hole.
The notes hit her almost immediately and though she wanted to keep watching him, her eyes lulled shut and she let herself get lost in the melody.
"Middle of nowhere,
Finally you can breathe.
Nobody knows your name,
It's easier."
The words sunk deep into her chest, they always did.
"Shut your eyes tightly.
Clench your fists til they almost bleed.
Cautiously lightly, gently expose what's underneath."
His timing was perfect.
"And all you feel now,
Is the Scarlet in the day,
Even if its real,
You can't stay.
So there you go,
You're gone for good."
She could hear Rae's violin backing his notes, imagined Kurt's soft brushes on the drum kit.
The second verse always hit her hardest and for some reason, singing it aloud with Will made it worse.
"You're mind is swollen,
From months of thought,
Without release,
They've taken their toll on...
You..."
The vulnerability that the lyrics painted within her with began to shake on her smooth notes. She opened her eyes and saw him glancing between her and the strings.
He felt it too; did this song hit him because of Liss?
"And this very moment,
Of timid and fragile honesty,
Is precious and rare and fleeting."
Their eyes locked for a few lines and she looked away and down to the floor as the song started to wrap up between them.
Grief, the entire song was dealing with grief and they had both felt a deep loss.
The flicker of understanding in his eyes had been too much for her to keep looking at. She could feel his eyes still on her and she took a deep, shaky breath.
"Well, I'd say you've got it down, Will." She scoffed awkwardly.
"Yea, thanks. I feel we need to do something a bit more fun now." He smiled at her, and she appreciated him trying to break the sombre mood.
"Let's. Marti's still in the shower from the sounds of it." She moved closer to him and reached out over to his music book to flick through some pages.
"That one." He reached out and stopped the last page from closing and she felt his warm fingers land on hers in the hurry.
"My Heart, Paramore." She smiled and nodded. "Oldie, but goodie." She grinned and shimmied closer to him on the bed.
"Did you want to strum along too? There's an acoustic in the corner over there." He jerked his head towards the spare guitar and she nodded and got up to collect it.
The energy of the song was already coursing through her body as she sat back down on the bed and Will adjusted the music stand so they could both see it.
He tapped the count in on his guitar and they nodded together as they both started playing.
She knew the song by heart and didn't need to look at the music as they played. She found herself focussing more on Will as he played and she remembered the first time she had realised he opened up with a guitar in his arms.
Adora felt her cheeks flushing as she watched and her chest began to tighten again.
She knew the feeling so distinctively well and tried to move her eyes back to the music. They didn't stay on the white sheet of paper though.
The crush was building through the music and by the end of the song she felt breathless.
One song.
"Um..." She swallowed a lump as the guitar rung out. "Nice work."
"Thanks." Will smiled at her.
"Adora?" Marti's voice broke through the air and Adora looked up towards the door.
"That's my cue. You know, you could probably sneak a guitar into the hospital and get some help from Brett if you really wanted... I don't think you really need any though." She flushed.
"That's an idea." Will frowned in thought.
"I'll see you at school." Adora stood up from his bed and put the acoustic guitar back on its stand in the corner.
Marti was standing in the hallway with a smirk when she closed Will's door behind her.
"Did we have fun?" Her friend asked.
Adora felt her cheeks burn. "He started with a piano song... We only did two." She stammered.
Marti laughed. "It's alright. It was great to listen to, but your phone has been ringing in the bedroom." Marti held Adora's mobile up and used it to lead the way back into her bedroom.
"Oh, gosh. Gus." Adora sighed as she got her phone back from Marti and saw two missed calls and a message.
"He really likes you doesn't he?" Marti asked as she stood in front of her mirror and unwrapped her hair from the towel.
"I don't think it's that. I think... He's very much a ladies man, and he's still hoping my summer crush is going to be relit. But like I said the other day..."
"What's he want?" Marti glanced at Adora in the mirror as she read his message.
Adora's shoulders sank. "To go to the falls. It's going to be a nice day today."
"Let's do it." Marti lowered her hairbrush and smiled.
Adora looked from the phone to Marti in surprise. "Really?"
"Well, I've not had the chance to go see the falls yet. Will said they were amazing." Marti's excitement made Adora smile.
"Alright." She laughed a little and called Gus. "Hey Gus."
"Hey you. How was your slumber party?" He greeted cheerfully.
"I'm still here, Marti hasn't seen the falls yet, so if you don't mind coming to get us, a picnic would be fun."
"Oh. I didn't get the feeling she liked me." Gus' tone of voice dropped.
"Really? She's barely met you, how could you get that feeling?" Adora tried to think of the times Gus and Marti had been in the same place, so much had weighed down on her mind that she actually couldn't remember anytime aside from when he surprised her at school.
"I guess, besides, what's not to like?"
Adora laughed as she imagined Gus flamboyantly flicking his blond hair. "Exactly."
"When do you ladies want me to come get you?"
"Um, maybe in an hour?" Adora looked at Marti, her long hair now brushed out and hanging freely down her back.
"Sure. Text me the address and I'll see you then." Gus was smiling, Adora could hear it in his tone.
"Will do." Adora hung up on the call.