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19
When I returned home from having my stitches removed exactly seven days later, I practically sprinted across the road to Luke’s house. I bounded up the steps onto the front porch and began hunting around for the spare key. I found it under the hand-carved wombat sitting by the swing chair. The same place it had been my entire life.
I unlocked the door and ambled my way inside. It felt strange being in the house without Luke or Dawn by my side. Growing up, my time spent there mostly comprised of hours of music lessons. Occasionally, I would creep up to see Luke when I was little, but he spent the majority of his childhood at our house, so was rarely home.
Not much had changed since Luke had officially moved in. I floated from room to room, noticing subtle changes here and there. My heart warmed when I spotted the comfy armchair from his apartment now sitting in the living room beside his favourite guitar.
I reached the music room and pushed open the door. All those hours learning to play piano, sing, and write music came back to me, reminding me Dawn was responsible for all of it. She was a remarkable woman and I dedicated every one of my albums to her. Dawn was also the reason why I sent home every award I ever won. I wanted them to be as much her achievement, as they were mine.
As I stepped into the room, I spotted six overloaded boxes peeking out from under the piano. I slid them out one by one and pulled them towards the old Chesterfield lounge. This was where I intended to park myself for however long it took to carefully sort through the contents of each box.
I made a cup of tea, took off my shoes, and settled myself in. I began dividing all the music into three separate piles. Music, lyrics and both. Then I took time deciphering each piece and whether it was worth keeping or throwing away. I found the job oddly satisfying. Some pieces were just a few words scribbled on a page, and some were entire songs. My initial aim was to figure out who wrote it, what the song was about, and the melody that belonged to it.
It took me weeks to go through all the material. I became entirely absorbed in each piece I picked up. The music was stirring up so many memories, making it hard to stay focused.
Most of them were mine, but some were Dawn’s, and I suspected some were Luke’s, as I recognised his handwriting from Dawn’s letters. I never knew he wrote so much.
One piece in particular captured my attention. In fact, I found so many variations of the same song, I ended up having to start a new pile.
Luke had penned the title ‘In Time’ at the top of each page. The lyrics changed sheet to sheet, but the music remained pretty consistent. There were notes scribbled in the margins, crossed out lyrics, and some sheets looked like they had been rescued from the rubbish bin.
The lyrics read like a story, an imperfect love story. A perfect country song…potentially. The song would always start out the same, but the ending kept changing. Sometimes happy, sometimes sad. I could only presume Luke didn’t know how to end it and simply gave up on the song.
I decided to leave the lyrics alone and play the melody instead. It was definitely a ballad, and it was beautiful.
After tinkering on the piano for a while, I returned to the couch, lay back, and hummed Luke’s captivating tune. I must have been there for hours because before I knew it, it was late in the afternoon and I had fallen asleep.
* * *
I awoke some time later feeling disoriented. The music room was dimmed, with an antique desk lamp illuminating my surroundings. A familiar blanket had mysteriously found its way around me, and I realised Luke must have arrived home.
Muffled voices travelled from the family room and I decided to leave my comfort to investigate. As I rose off the couch, I wrapped the warm blanket around my shoulders. The temperature had dropped considerably and I hadn’t thought to bring a jacket.
Sliding my way across the room in my socks, I glanced outside the window to confirm it was late in the evening. I continued on to the family room, only to find it in almost darkness. A flicker of light caught my attention and the murmur of voices reappeared. Stepping into the doorway to inspect closer, I discovered Luke sitting on the couch, legs up on the coffee table, watching a movie in the dark.
He hadn’t noticed me yet, and I took the opportunity to watch him.
He was a beautiful man. I had loved him for as long as I could remember. My heart craved him, but after everything we had been through, I feared we wouldn’t survive another hit. He meant too much to me and my family to risk it. I needed to keep my feelings in check and repair what was most important: our friendship.
I studied him as he took a long swig of his beer, before setting it down on the side table. He reached for a slice of pizza and removed the olives one by one, throwing them back into the box with a scowl. A moan escaped his mouth as he took his first bite, and my breath caught. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to eat the pizza or be the pizza.
Just as he relaxed back into the couch, an action screen erupted on the screen and he jumped. A smile grew on my face as he fumbled around for the remote to turn down the volume.
He must have sensed me, because he glanced up in my direction.
Luke’s eyes widened and he smiled warmly. “Oh, hey, Blue.”
“Hey,” I whispered, walking into the room.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?”
I shook my head, with a small smile. “No.”
“Hungry?” he asked, pointing at the pizza box.
My stomach growled instantaneously. “Definitely.”
I grabbed a slice, added Luke’s discarded olives, and eased myself into the couch next to him.
