Serenade Me

Part 22

Nate locked up the house and lead him out to his car. Sean climbed into the passenger seat and took it upon himself to look through his CDs in the armrest. Nate didn't seem to care as he turned on the car and began to back out. Sean pulled out a CD, holding it up as he asked him. "I didn't know you were a Green Day fan." Nate chuckled, his eyes locked on the road as he stated out proudly. "Oh ya. They kind of inspired me to be the kind of musician that I am." Sean popped out the CD and slipped it into the player, before asking him curiously. "How so?" Nate grinned brightly, replying openly. "Well, Green Day is one of the reasons that I started... Umm... Not started playing music, but got more into the rock alt. You know? Band side of things. So, it was really cool to see, you know, my musical idols and one of my biggest inspirations. On stage and doing their thing. It was amazing! They played like a three-hour set and it was really cool. And they were doing a thing where they pull audience members up and-"

Sean relaxed in the seat, smiling to himself at how passionate Nate was getting. He never noticed before that the more passionate or nervous Nate was... The faster he seemed to talk. It was adorable and he loved it. It reminded him of how energic he usually was. All bouncy and excited. Nate continued on and Sean listened really carefully. If this was Nate without coffee... Then he had some competition. "-I didn't get pulled up to do it because I was in the cheap seats. Way, way, way, WAY back there. To where it would have taken me a good half an hour to even get to the stage. So, it... you know. I didn't get to play with Green Day... As cool as that would have been. I had such a blast and I have such fond memories of that concert." When Nate stopped to focus on merging, Sean asked him sweetly. "How many concerts have you seen?" Nate exhaled in such a way that it blew his long bangs away from his eyes, then answered with a small chuckle. "I went to a lot of concerts in high school and college. Being in the band scene and you know, a musician. That's kind of a big part of it."

Sean nodded, expressing excitedly. "I understand. It's like doing research on what made the great ones so great." Nate returned his nod, answering firmly. "Exactly. You learn from their experiences and stuff." Nate stopped at a red light, then took a quick glance at him asking curiously. "What about you?" Sean shrugged guiltily, telling him softly. "I lived in Ireland. Not many bands go out there. I did manage to go to one though. I have fond memories of it, because not only was it my first live band experience... but for the first time my brother and I had something in common. It was a bonding moment for us." Nate shrugged, asking curiously. "Who did you see?" Sean rested his head on the seat with a grin as he recalled that day and answered blissfully. "System of A Down." Nate smiled at him so warmly that Sean asked him. "Why did you start making music?" Nate's attention moved back to the road as traffic moved, but he replied honestly. "It was actually from video games. Surprisingly enough."

Sean sat up a bit straighter in his seat as Nate continued. "I was into video games before I was into music. But I was playing Earthworm Jim for the Genesis. Moonlight sonata. The piano piece was playing as background music because it is royalty free and it was super appropriate too for the level. I listen to that and I'm like 'that's really cool.' 'That's beautiful.' 'That sounds nice.' 'I wanna make that myself' and I started taking music... Not seriously... but it sparked my interest in music." Sean stared at Nate closely trying to think of why he had never gotten closer to him in the past. He had so much in common with him and yet... He was kind of envious of him. Nate was living the life he wanted. Nate pulled into the parking garage and told him giddily. "Most people are still at work or school. So, the mall should be pretty empty. We'll be able to take our time." Entering the mall, Sean's jaw dropped. The place had four floors with high glass ceilings and bright white pillars. Nate nudged his shoulder, telling him excitedly. "What do you want to do first?"

Sean turned to face Nate, taking playful steps back as he retorted innocently. "Surprise me." Nate gave him a shrug, pointing to the escalator as he told him. "Ok. Third floor. Gauges first. Before we forget." Sean practically skipped to the escalator. There was so much to see that he forgot himself... until the third floor. He made the mistake of leaning his lower back against the third escalator, glancing over the side to look down. The shock of how far up he was made him jerk away so fast that he lost his footing. His misstep caused him to slam into Nate, but Nate was spread out enough that he kept him from falling. Sean leaned against Nate for a moment still in shock. His fear of heights was getting the best of him. Nate wrapped an arm around him, whispering to him very softly. "You too, huh? My advice... Stay away from the glass guard above and never look down. You'll be alright." Sean lifted his head enough to look him in the eyes and asked bluntly. "You're scared of heights?"