Lyrical Love Letter

It was nearly two am when the motley group of friends dispersed from the Dawson household. A still shaken Kara was spending the night, as was Melanie when Declan called her, which was Juliette’s cue to leave.

Juliette was amongst the friends who left the house that night, walking quietly hand in hand with her boyfriend to his home. It wasn’t until tonight that Juliette had grown to appreciate the night for what it was. When the day world slept, another world came alive. Crickets chirped, frogs croaked, owls hooted quietly in the night and it became a sonata for Juliette.

“You’re quiet,” Alex whispered in the dark of his room. The Gaskarth house was asleep and with Logan amongst them only down the hall, Juliette was hyperaware of her movements, being sure to be silent.

“So are you,” She shot back but Alex just pursed his lips, the joke dying in the air as he pulled on a nightshirt and moved toward her. Juliette felt his arm go around her waist, fitting perfectly there, before he tugged her lightly to his twin sized bed and sat her upon it.

“Talk to me,” He implored, his eyes the color of hot chocolate, leaked with concern. Juliette had been avoiding any serious means of in-depth conversation all night. Her mind was hundreds of miles away and it scared Alex. Juliette hiding inside of her head scared Alex. It scared him because he knew that what lie in her head were her deepest fears, her worst regrets, her ugliest secrets. Alex wished there were words to describe how none of this mattered to him, he didn’t care what shameful things she had taken part in, he didn’t care about her secrets. He cared about her and the fact that whatever was locked inside her head was slowly tearing her apart. “Please, Juliette, just talk to me, stop shutting me out.”

Her porcelain complexion glowed in the moonlight that basked in her stature through the open window. And even though her hair was knotted from the day’s chaos, her eyes lined in shadows from sleepless nights, and even though she trembled, she was still the most beautiful thing Alex had ever laid his eyes on and he marveled at how she was really his. Her lower lip began to tremble and Alex could see her slowly coming undone. It struck Alex of how big of a contrast she could be to herself, as though both night and day lie inside her heart. In the company of others, of Jonnie—her personal walking and talking confidence, Juliette was just that; confident, assure, carefree, but in the whisper of the night, in the dark of her boyfriend’s room, her true feelings shown through like the full moon that beamed through the window.

“I’m scared,” She admitted with a limp shrug, the confession causing her lips to tremble more. Alex gazed at her with understanding before he drew her into his arms. Her head immediately fell to his shoulder, her face pressed against his neck while her legs hung over his lap, allowing herself to be comforted by Alex’s presence.

“Of what?” He questioned softly, trying to coax the truth from her.

“The future.” If Juliette could sum up her fears in two words it would be those. “What if they come for me, Alex?” She whispered fearfully. “What if I’m taken back to New York? What if they send me to juvenile hall? Alex,” She chocked, “I don’t want to leave.” The confession sent rivulets of salty tears down her skin, leaving them to trickle onto Alex’s neck and shirt as he hugged her closer, whispering words of comfort into her ear.

“They won’t come for you, Juliette,” Alex assured. “how would J’s dad even get in contact with your mother in the first place? No one knows where she is. Getting in contact with Collin would be a moot point, he’s not your father, only your mother’s ex-husband. Do you really think the top of the NYPD’s list of things to worry about is pretty teenage girls and their brothers who have lead feet? No one is coming after you Juliette. No one is taking you from here--from me.”

“I love you,” She whispered quietly, her arms snaking around his neck. She decided then, in his arms, that it was her favorite place in the world. She felt loved, comforted, protected, it was a feeling every girl wished to find and Juliette found it—she had it.

“I love you too.” He promised, the words sliding easily from his lips before he pressed a kiss to her temple and drew her under the covers with him. Juliette instantly rested her head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, her own personal lullaby, lulling her to sleep.

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Alex awoke startled, a mere two hours later to the feeling of Juliette not beside him. He righted himself in bed, his eyes bleary but his mind clear. Surveying the room he noted no sign of his girlfriend. Her clothes still lie on the floor but he did not hear a disturbance down the hall in the bathroom. He knew that wherever his elusive love was she was not far and most likely lurked out of site of parental eyes.

Curiously Alex made his way toward his open bedroom window and surveyed his mother’s white trellis that ran the height of his home. A faint memory stirred in the back of a sleepy mind before he maneuvered himself out the window and scaled the trellis, not overly convinced that it would hold him. But it did and as soon as the roof appeared in Alex’s vision so did Juliette, his heart instantly easing at the sight of her then speeding again for a completely different reason. She was dressed it one of his shirts and a pair of his shorts, her eyes gazing up at the moon.

“In the great green room there was a telephone, and a red balloon, and a picture of the cow jumping over the moon. And there were three little bears, sitting on chairs, and two little kittens and a pair of mittens, and a little toy house and a young mouse. And a comb and a brush and bowl full of mush and a quiet old lady who was whispering ‘hush’,” She murmured into the night and her words threw Alex for a moment before his memory produced a series of words that fell from his lips perfectly as he strategically made his way onto the roof to her side.

“Goodnight room, goodnight moon, goodnight cow jumping over the moon, goodnight light and the red balloon. Goodnight bears, goodnight chairs, goodnight kittens, goodnight mittens. Goodnight clocks and goodnight socks. Goodnight little house and goodnight mouse. Goodnight comb and goodnight brush. Goodnight nobody, goodnight mush, and goodnight to the old lady whispering ‘hush’.”

“Goodnight Moon,” Juliette remarked quietly, her words but a whisper on the wind, afraid to break the peaceful calm of night. “I used to love that book when I was little.”

“What are you doing up here, Starbuck?” Alex wondered softly as he sat down beside her, drawing his knees up to his chest, his arm brushing hers. But that was Alex and Juliette; constantly in the others presence, constantly touching.

“Couldn’t sleep.” She admitted, her eyes never leaving the presence of the full luminescent moon.

“So you just thought you’d scale the side of my house and sit on my roof at 4 am?” Alex questioned. “What is it with you and heights anyway? Missy told me the first time you two actually hung out it was on your roof.”

“I dunno,” she shrugged tiredly. “It’s just, from up here, up high, the world seems smaller, problems seem less significant. Like there has to be more than just shallow bumps in the road. There has to be meaning to it all. You know?” Alex turned his eyes on her, smiling in slight amusement. Juliette’s eyes flickered to him out of the corner of her eye and she smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I think way too much at night. Lying in bed it’s like all of life’s questions suddenly come at me like a Mack Truck.”

“Don’t apologize.” Alex consoled. “I think you’re right. Problems seem smaller up here, like there should be more to life than just day to day regularity.”

“You’re going to break that day to day regularity,” Juliette began with a sigh as she surveyed their street. “You’re going to get famous and then thousands of girl’s hearts everywhere will be shot to hell—they’ll be too filled with unrequited love.”

“How can you be so sure of that?” Alex whispered his doubts into the dead of night, his uncertainty becoming known to Juliette.

“Because,” She smiled softly, turning her eyes on him for the first time as she tore her gaze away from the moon. “Leaving guys like you and Jack, my cousin and Zack to day to day regularities is just cruelty. Guys like you aren’t meant to become teachers, or lawyers, or scientists, or doctors, or whatever. They’re meant to be known, to be heard around the world. They need to have the world screaming their names. They need to be free, unrestrained. They catch Peter Pan Syndrome and never grow up.” She turned away, her eyes on the moon again as a dusting of clouds began to blanket it. “Lutherville can’t contain that kind of power. It’s like trying to defy God or something.”

“Defy God?” Alex laughed.

“Go ahead laugh,” Juliette nodded, self assured. “but in…two years tops I’m going to have crowds of screaming girls backing up my words to you.” It was silent for a moment and Juliette let her head fall back, basking in the moonlight as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the chilled night air.

“You know,” Alex murmured thoughtfully. “For someone who has such little faith in herself and her life, you sure do have a lot of faith in a looser like me.” Juliette’s eyes snapped open, instantly drawn to his own but no words left her mouth. “Why is that?”

“I have enough common sense to know better about my own life—your life defies common sense Alex.”

“That’s not fair though, Juliette.” Alex argued quietly. “You have the ambition and the grades to get into Stanford yet you don’t believe you will, why? How is it that you can have such little faith in yourself but put it all on me? A guy who’s never proved he’s worth more than the guitar he owns.”

“One, a school like Stanford—you don’t just get in because you want to, because you have the grades. My life is in shambles, Alex. Just like you are meant to become famous I am not meant to conform to the Ivy League life. Two, I am a part of something that is tearing my life apart—my family is tearing me apart. Three, I’m a realist, I know better than to kid myself. Four,” She sat up then, scooting closer to Alex and cupping his face in her hands. “You are so worth more than your guitar. I mean, your worth at least two guitars and Rian’s drum kit.” A smile broke out across her face in spite of herself. “Honestly though?” Her joking smile became an almost sad smile. “Anyone who hears you open your mouth knows that you’re capable of greatness. Nothing personal, but rocket scientists don’t become rock stars. You don’t need a PHD to play a guitar or carry a tune. Your dreams, your future, rely solely on your own talent. Your dreams don’t depend on your grade point average, or your money, it just depends on you.”

“No pressure?” Alex joked smiling weakly.

“You worry way too much.” Juliette commented before laying a kiss on his lips and falling into his embrace. They sat there like that, wrapped in each other and enjoying the silence and stillness of the night. The blanket of clouds had gathered to conceal the large moon from sight and suddenly droplets of rain were falling onto Juliette and Alex’s bare skin. All too soon the gentle kiss of drizzle became a downpour of pelting rain.

Alex scampered to his feet but Juliette just sat with her legs stretched out in front of her, smiling up at the sky laughing. Alex stared down at his girlfriend incredulously as he squinted through the rain that blurred his vision. Juliette glanced over at him but just laughed harder, the rain soaking them both, their shirts absorbing the water until it could hold no more and their shirts clung to them like a second skin.

“Are you crazy?” Alex questioned moving to his girlfriend’s side, offering her a hand. “It’s pouring, we’re going to get so wet!”

“Nice choice of words,” She cackled laughing at the expression that crossed Alex’s face. Juliette reached for his hand but instead of getting to her feet she pulled Alex back down beside her.

“Are you high?” He demanded rephrasing his question.

“No,” She smiled like a Cheshire Cat as her laughter subsided into quiet giggles. “Just in love.” She straddled Alex as lightning flashed across the sky, she pressed her lips to his, her smile spreading to his.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” He mumbled against her lips as his hands snaked their way under her shirt, as her own hands moved farther south. “But I suppose it’d be a good way to go.” With the moon shielded behind a curtain of clouds, it shielded Alex and Juliette from any midnight eyes, leaving them to their daring task while the world went on unaware.