The Music to His Lyrics

“All right,” Harry smiled, playing a series of notes on the piano. “Let’s see if we can do that verse in a B flat with the revised lyrics we agreed on earlier.”

Emma took a deep breath and sang according to the key Harry was playing in, “You turned and walked away, never knowing how you made me feel. I stood watching you pass by; dreaming of having something real. All we said was hello, and you caught me with your glance. You know, with that smile of yours, I never stood a chance.“

Harry joined in on the final line, singing, “I caught an angel in my arms that day, and in love with her I fell. I don’t know when, I’ll ever see her again. Only time will tell.”

As the piano melody came to a close, Emma couldn’t help but smile. “I think you’re more than ready to release this song and put it into writing.”

Harry beamed, and replied, “Thanks to you. I wouldn‘t have been able to finish it without your help.”

“So, why did you call me over to do a final re-run of the piece if we finished working out the kinks yesterday?” Emma asked with a smirk.

Harry let a broad grin spread across his face, revealing a single dimple in his right cheek. “I actually have some good news I wanted to share with you.”

“Oh?” Emma asked, leaning her hip against the side of the piano and setting the microphone she was holding on down on a music stand.

Harry stood up, and shoved his hands in his pockets. “So I already told you about showing the song to the rest of the guys on Tuesday, right? Well, Steve thought it had potential, and took it to our signed record company.”

“And? What did they say?” Emma asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.

“Let’s just say we wrote the very first song for Downhill Mystery’s next album,” Harry beamed.

Emma let out a squeal of excitement and threw her arms around Harry’s shoulders. “That’s fantastic! I couldn’t be any happier for you.”

Harry was caught off-guard by the hug at first, but allowed himself to ease into the embrace, and placed his own arms around the slim center of her waist that gave her an hourglass figure and gently pressed his hands against the small of her back. He lightly rested his chin on her head the moment she leaned her cheek against his chest.

Emma closed her eyes for just a moment. She felt at home, standing there in his arms. That’s what being wrapped in Harry’s arms felt like: her step-father’s fingers dancing across the piano keys, the comfort in breathing in cinnamon and vanilla incense that wafted about the house, dancing through the halls and humming joyful melodies. Home. All that she knew and loved throughout her childhood.

It was an incredibly comforting feeling that she had never experienced before.

It was as if, in Harry’s arms, nothing would ever harm her. Although she knew better than to let her thoughts flutter about with every odd feeling she discovered, she found herself wondering why Jared didn’t make her feel the same way. Emma knew better, and yet she let the embrace linger, listening to the steady pace of Harry’s breath as she rested her head against the warmth of his chest.

They stood there in silence for a few seconds, each taking in the atmosphere around them. It was, oddly enough, a short hug indeed, for Harry’s voice penetrated the sphere of silence they had between them after a few moments. “It wasn’t just me,“ he murmured.

“I said we wrote the song,” he repeated as he reached over and pulled open the lid to his piano bench. A moment later, held a single long-stemmed red rose between his fingers right before Emma’s eyes. “Em, I wanted to ask you if you’d be all right with me placing the credit to the song under your name as well. As a way to say thank you,”

Gently placing the rose’s stem in the palm of Emma’s hand, Harry looked into her eyes and sighed, allowing a small grin to spread across his face.

“What?” Emma laughed, wondering what he was thinking about with that daydreamer‘s look of his.

“The stacks of papers you see scattered around this room and those random jingles you heard me playing on the piano over the last two weeks were all like,“ he paused for a moment, and continued, “Like parts to a puzzle. And I just couldn’t understand how to make them fit,“ Harry said, remembering what Ted had told him. “Then you came along.“

“You know something, Em?” he continued, leaning his forehead closer to Emma’s until their noses touched and their lips were inches away, “I found the missing piece that brought everything together. It was you,” he finished.

Emma’s heart was pounding in her chest. She felt a sense of electricity lingering between Harry’s lips and her own, though they were inches apart. She felt completely vulnerable in his arms after he whispered that metaphor to her, all the while staring directly at her with his eyes of bright deep pools of blue. Then, she let her conscience get the best of her.

This was wrong. She wasn’t only letting her heart get tangled up in a knot over the romantically heartfelt embrace Harry had given her, but she was leading him on as well. She was with Jared: her Jared. The one who took her to dine at the finest restaurants in the city, bought her nice things, planned cozy rendezvous, and gave her front row tickets to shows.

She bit her lip. Jared was also one to not return her calls for days and then show up on her doorstep out of the blue. He would text her to apologize for being unable to make it to one of their dates. He would wink at her stepsisters and later tell her that he was merely being friendly.

“No!“ she thought to herself. Why was she thinking this way? Was her entire relationship with Jared becoming a blur? She loved him, didn’t she? And he loved her. He had never actually spoken those three words to her, but he expressed the affection he had for her through his actions.

Emma slightly nodded to herself, confirming her feelings. She couldn’t let herself fall for Harry. She just couldn’t.

Emma was about to murmur Jared’s name when her cell phone’s ring tone sounded, breaking the intensity behind the moment and the silence that went along with it.

Without a word, she placed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, set the rose Harry had given her on the coffee table, and quickly walked over to her handbag. She unzipped one of its pockets and flipped open her phone.

“Hello?” she asked.

“Hey Parker,” Jared’s voice came over the phone, loud enough for Harry to hear. He simply shoved his hands in his pockets and scowled.

Emma blushed, “Hey Jared. No, I didn‘t get your message.”

“What?“ Suddenly, Emma’s face fell. Harry saw it happen too. In just a minute, Emma’s facial expression had gone from one of joy to one of complete and utter disappointment.

Harry looked up to face her. She smoothed a strand of her hair back into place and mumbled, “Mhm. No. Yeah, that’s fine. Talk to you later. Bye,” before snapping closed the cover to her phone and taking a deep breath in.

Emma shook her head as she placed her cell phone back in her purse and zipped its inner pocket shut. “How could he do this to me again? When is it going to stop?” she thought, as her eyes stung and she swallowed down the tense lump in her throat as she turned to face Harry.

Harry looked at Emma’s beautiful amber eyes, glistening with tears.

“What happened?” Harry asked, quickly approaching her and placing his hand gently on her arm. She was crying. What the hell did Jared say to her?

Emma lowered her gaze, silent for a moment, and sat on the edge of the leather couch. She didn’t want Harry to see the tears as they came rolling down her cheeks.

“Em, please don’t cry. You don‘t have to tell me if you don‘t want to,” Harry said, looking into her eyes as he took a seat next to her on the couch. “Just know that I’m here if you need me.”

Emma hated the way Harry was looking at her with such concern despite the fact that she was acting way too overdramatic. She was making a fool of herself, crying in front of him. Even if he was her friend. He was also one of the most talented and self composed people she had ever met; not to mention a world-renown super star.

Emma shook her head and sighed. “I’m just upset because I should’ve known that he would cancel on one of our dates again. It’s only been the third time this week,” she said, a hint of sarcasm in her tone. “I know he’s busy, and I know he tells me his schedule is pretty tight,” she sighed.

Harry clenched his jaw out of anger. If he was ever going to tell her about Jared‘s priorities, it was now or never. He knew that this situation only had two possible outcomes: if he told Emma, she would either believe him or he would lose her as a friend forever. There was no easy way to come about this.

“Look Em,” Harry said, placing a hand on Emma’s cheek and wiping a trickling tear away with the soft stroke of his thumb against her fair skin.

Emma did just that. She stared at him through those amber eyes of hers that just hypnotized him in every way. So innocent, and open to all the good there was in this world.

“Well, I-“ So sure of himself at first, Harry stumbled upon his words. He could write a story about what he saw in those eyes of hers. All of the anger he felt beforehand nearly melted away as he met Emma’s glance, so much so that he almost reconsidered telling her about the other girl Jared was keeping hidden in the shadows.

If Emma walked out of the door to the tour bus today as if it were every other day they got together to rehearse, Harry would hate himself for it. He took a deep breath and kept repeating to himself, over and over, in his head that he was doing the right thing, even if it meant Emma refusing to ever speak to him again.

“I thought you should know that Jared isn’t always as busy as you think,” Harry admitted.

Emma’s scooted back a bit from where Harry sat beside her on the sofa and turned to face him, a confused expression on her face.
“What are you talking about?” she asked with a frown.

“Well, he’s,“ Harry stuttered once more and sighed, placing his hands on his knees. “Jared is seeing someone else.”

Emma turned her gaze away from Harry’s, as if she was staring into the actual floor of the tour bus, with an incredulous look in her eyes.

“How would you know that?” she asked, a pained expression on her face.

“He hasn’t spent the night in the bus for three days. We haven’t seen him around except for when it comes to sound check. Steve started giving him a piece of his mind when he saw the sudden increase in his credit card bill,” he hesitated before stating that he saw Jared lip locking with some other girl through one of the tour bus windows, and instead finished with, “and the twins and I have heard things around.”

“Are you sure?” Emma managed to choke out the words, and began nervously with the oval shaped charm on the bracelet Travis had given her on her birthday not that long ago. Jared was a flirt, but would he really do that to her? Would he really cheat?

“Yes.” Harry replied. A short and simple response.

Emma shut her eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath as if to hold back her tears. This time, if her eyes welled over, it was out of anger and confusion and sadness all together. She took a deep breath, and walked over to the coat hanger, where she slipped on her blue boyfriend cardigan.

Harry nearly jumped from his seat. “Where are you going?”

“I’ve got to be somewhere,” she said solemnly.

“Em, come on. You’ve got to believe me. I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this,” Harry pleaded, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“How can I believe you, Harry?” Emma nearly shouted, shrugging off Harry’s hand. “Look, I was already learning how to deal with my miserable little life as a poor orphan without your help. I had my stepbrother, my friends, and the different shifts I took as a part-time. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. Then you guys came to town and I was told by my stepmother to drive my stupid stepsisters to go to your CD signing, only to then be forced to try and stalk you guys. I made a fool of myself nearly falling on my face when I met you, Jared and I got together, and that’s when everything in my life got complicated. I’m just so confused,” she sighed, and looked into his eyes with a sincere look.

Harry felt incredibly tense. What was he supposed to say to Emma if she refused to believe him?

Emma then said in a whisper, “Everything was fine before you came along; before I started spending time working on music with you. I don't just understand you sometimes, Harry. The way you make me feel-”

Harry will never know what got into him at that moment. Something just clicked, like a jolt of electricity that knocked out his brain and focused on pumping the incredible passion he felt for Emma throughout his entire body.

In a single, swift motion, he cupped his hands around Emma’s face, and his lips met hers with a sense of desperation.

His mouth was soft and warm against hers, but met her luscious lips with a passionate sense of eagerness that was nearly unfathomable to Emma. If only for a moment, she let her eyelids flutter shut and deemed herself unable to resist his almost magical, sensuous touch as he caressed her cheeks with the warmth of his fingers, and placed his hands on the small of her waist. They moved together in sync, as if one’s lips were molded to fit the other’s. Emma inhaled the smell of his cologne, and shivered at the light breeze of Harry’s breath flowing in a soothing rhythm upon her cheeks. Her hair was silk as it stroked against Harry’s face as he tasted the faint hint of mint upon her pursed lips.

Suddenly, Emma lowered her hands from where they were around Harry’s broad shoulders and laid them upon his chest. A sense of nervousness sent her throat throbbing. She pushed the palms of her hands against his chest in protest, yet Harry pulled Emma’s waist closer. He completely overlooked Emma’s attempt to resist him, and lost himself in the moment. Kissing not only her lips in a wisp of passion, but also her primly closed eyelids, delicate as rose petals, her forehead, and again pulled away from her lips to lay a faint kiss upon Emma’s cheek, blushing in the heat of the moment.

Harry brought his hands from Emma’s waist to rest upon her soft cheeks, looked deeply into her eyes, and said breathlessly, “Emma, you inspire me. When I look at you,” he murmured, placing a stray lock of hair behind her ear, “I see an incredibly beautiful and talented girl who lives a tough life, but still manages to find the time to smile and laugh her troubles away.“

“Harry,“ Emma said, her eyes nearly tearing up now.

“Please let me finish,“ Harry pleaded.

“There’s more to it than being breathless every time I look at you, even if you are the angel I caught in my arms that first day we met.“ he continued, “You deserve the world, Em. Everything your heart desires and more. And trust me, if I could just gather up all of your hopes and dreams into a box, count ‘em all up, and find a way to make each and every one come true, I would. All the time we’ve spent together in the rec room, hours writing and composing music, time that I would never trade for anything, has helped me to better understand this strange, confusing feeling I’ve never felt for anyone else before.“

Harry planted a light kiss on Emma‘s lips and gently pulled away, his blue eyes burning with desire and passion meeting her torn gaze. “Em, I’m in love with you.”

“But Jared,” Emma whispered without a thought; a pained expression on her face.

Harry dropped his hands and shoved them in his pockets. It was as if she had driven a stake through his heart. He clenched his jaw, lowered his gaze, and muttered, “It’s not like I ever expected you to feel the same way.”

Emma gave Harry’s shoulder a shove. “Oh, come on Harry!” she shouted, “You know I have feelings for him. Cheater or not, they aren’t just going to fade away!”

Harry opened his mouth to say something for a moment, but held back as he watched her mumble, “I’ve got to go to work,” and snatch her purse off the arm of the couch.

“Emma, he’s just using you!” Harry retorted, placing a hand on her shoulder as she began walking towards the door. “How can you not see that? How long are you going to go on shielding your feelings and pretending like you can deal with it?”

“I’m in love with him, Harry!” Emma shouted, after spinning around to face him with her fingers clenched into fists at her sides.

“No!” he yelled. “That’s just it. You’re not in love with him! You’re in love with the idea of being in love with him.”

All was silent between them for that moment, which solely consisted of tensed muscles, throbbing hearts, and the lingering presence of words yelled across the room hanging densely in the air. Harry stared at Emma. After hanging on her every word, he was just about ready to beg her to say something.

“You’re wrong.” she muttered with a narrow-eyed glare, before turning on her heel, yanking the doorknob to the right, and slamming the door behind her with a thud.

Harry sighed, and slumped down in an armchair. His eyes rested upon the scarlet red rose Emma had left upon the coffee table. He twirled its stem in his fingers, admiring it for a few seconds. A lump of regret filled his throat.

He had ruined everything.

Peeling its petals off one by one, Harry began tearing apart the only memory he had of that special moment, when he actually thought that it was possible for Emma to feel the same way about him. He tore off one petal for watching Jared cheat on the girl that he himself would've given his whole heart to, one petal for that girl being given only a fraction of what she really deserved, one petal for pulling her into his arms and laying a kiss upon her lips that had all of the feelings she had ever given him, wrapped into one. There was one petal for the fight, but it was the last petal that fluttered to the ground that represented what hurt him the most: watching the love of his life storm right out his door.