Emilee

We got to the old house a few blocks from mine. I asked Max why he bothered driving seeing as we’d walked before. He told me I looked tired. I yawned in response to his remark. I suppose I was kinda tired, which was unbelievable seeing as I’d done nothing but lounge around with Max all day. He laughed.

“We’re here,” he said, kissing me on the cheek. He got out and opened my door before I could, then grabbed his bass and amp outta the back of his car. “C’mon. Apparently, I’m late.” I followed behind him into the lounge room that had been cleared of furniture, waving at all the boys I’d met before.

“Hi,” Robert...uh...thought. I smiled politely at him.

“Hey, what’s Emilee doing here?” Craig asked, shocked.

“Well I know you guys don’t mind her being here, so what’s the problem?” Max asked.

“Ohh, nothing. I just assumed you’d not wanna play in front of her or something. Whatever.” He smiled politely at me. Max raised his eyebrow and scoffed.

“Dude, she can watch me if she wants,” he said. “Honey, you can sit wherever.” He smiled. I found one of the couches that had been moved aside and sat down. Max set up his stuff and picked up his bass.

“Finally ready?” Bryan asked. Max grinned. “So are we gonna play the one we were talking about before?” Max looked down a little.

“Yea, I guess so. Go from there,” Robert said. Bryan started up on guitar along with Robert on drums and then joined by Max on bass. Craig started singing into the microphone.

“A withered past and a blurry future,
My hearts on an auction,
It goes out to the highest bid.
I live too fast, and I know I will lose her,
But there is an option, to die is to live in her head.

So I'll hang on, never let go.
I dug this pain into my chest.
It's dead.

One last chance to reverse this curse,
You stole my heart but I had it first.
And now I see you've got something to prove,
And nothing to lose, so let me tell you the truth.

A deadly wish but it should've come sooner,
A corpse in a funeral that I would never attend.
There is a light on in the back of this house,
But you're not around, to die is to live in her head.

So I'll hang on, never let go.
I dug this pain into my chest.
It's dead.

One last chance to reverse this curse,
You stole my heart but I had it first.
And now I see you've got something to prove,
And nothing to lose so let me tell you the truth.

So, this goes, out to, the ones that fall in love,
And to, the girl, that filled my dark.
Last night I had the weirdest dream,
That you and I drove up the darkest streets,
Passing through these city lights,
Closure for the kids that have died.

One last chance to reverse this curse,
You stole my heart but I had it first,
And now I see you've got something to prove,
And nothing to lose so let me tell you the truth.

One last chance to reverse this curse,
You stole my heart but I had it first,
And now I see you've got something to prove,
And nothing to lose so let me tell you the truth.

So, this goes, out to, the ones that fall in love.
And to, the girl, that filled, my, dark.”

Wow. I clapped lightly, and Craig grinned over at me. “So you liked it?” he asked.

“Ohh, it was awesome!” I replied.

“I’m glad,” Robert thought. “Max wrote it.” I looked over to Max who was looking at the floor.

“Dude, you told her!” Max exclaimed.

“It’s awesome Max, be proud!” I said. I got up and hugged him. “Really.”

“Thank you sweetie.” He smiled his cutest smile and let me go sit back down. I tried to decipher some of the lyrics I could remember. They’d started talking and playing random things as I sat in my own world. He said something about dying is living in his head? I think I’ll have to ask him later about that one. One thing that caught my attention was the part where Craig mentioned pain. Max is in pain? I really wasn’t understanding what he’d meant by the song at all. I was guessing the curse was what he was. Mind you, it was just a guess.
I thought long and hard about it all until I fell asleep.

It didn’t feel like all that long until I was woken up again. I was in Max’s arms and he was carrying me from the car to his house. Wait, what was I doing in his bedroom now? “Max, why am I in your house silly,” I said sleepily.

“You forgot your key, but I’m pretty sure you left the window open. I’ll get it for you tomorrow honey. You’re ready to crash any moment now, and so am I. The last thing we should be doing is climbing trees.” I laughed.

“I guess you’re right.” He lightly placed me on his bed and went over to his dresser, returning with a pair of black boxers.

“They’re clean, I swear,” he said, smiling jokingly down at me. “I’ll leave whilst you change.” He disappeared into what I guessed to be the bathroom and I took the time to change into his underwear as a substitute for pyjama pants. My cheeks were definitely flushed by the time he came back in. “Strangely, they suit you.” He took off his shirt and went to turn the light off, which was a good thing because I was afraid he’d catch me drooling. It felt weird being in Max’s room. More intimate or something. I saw his figure stripping further before he joined me on his bed. “Ready to sleep?” he asked.

“Yea,” I mumbled sleepily. Truth was, I was suddenly more awake. I slipped beneath Max’s bed covers, followed by him.

“You’re a terrible liar missy. Why do you even bother?” I turned around to face him.

“It’s not fair that you always know,” I said.

“Useful though,” he whispered. He caught my lips with his and kissed me hard. I snuggled up to him and kissed back. We broke apart for air after a few minutes, and I caught a wonderfully strong scent. I think it was Max. I’ve gotta sleep here more often. “I love you,” Max cooed. His grip around my waist tightened, but wasn’t uncomfortable. I felt safe with Max.

“I love you too,” I replied in a whisper. Okay, so maybe I was tired...

“You are so beautiful.
You are the kinda girl.
That has the chemicals.
That makes me fall in love.
Beautiful.
You are the kinda girl.
That has the chemicals.
That makes me fall in love...” he sang quietly into my ear. I had no idea he could sing. I smiled across at him and placed my hand over his heart.

“Can you promise this will always belong to me?” I asked.

“Of course Emilee.” He was so sincere I almost cried.