Since You've Been Gone

"Greg!" Leigh screamed as the young, up and coming producer walked into the main lobby of Electric Lady Studios on Wednesday morning.

"Hey Leigh," Greg greeted her quietly, waving slightly, and without pausing at her desk.

"Where are you going?" the blonde snapped, jumping up from her desk and running around it to throw her arms around his neck. "I have to congratulate you properly first."

"Yea thanks," he replied, stepping out of the circle of her arms and continuing on.

"Hey? What just happened here?" Greg heard Leigh ask out loud as he walked further into the break room. The sound of footsteps followed him and he groaned under his breath.

"I shoulda found a reason to stay home today," he muttered to himself while fixing a cup of coffee.

"Why?"

"Listen Leigh, I'm not in the mood for chit chat today. I've got some work to do for Mike and then I'm done for the day. I'll be in studio B."

"Greg! Whoa, seriously. You should be dancing on the ceiling right now."

"I know," Greg admitted, studying his cup of coffee. "It's just, it doesn't really matter."

"You got nominated for three Grammy Awards! Three! Not to mention the one that The Smythe's got alone. You had a hand in that too."

"I know," Greg agreed again, smiling slightly. "But it doesn't really matter to me right now. I am incapable of getting excited, no matter how hard I try."

"Call her Greg," Leigh whispered sensing the root of his problem. "You should be celebrating together. Not miserable apart. This should be one of the happiest days of your life."

"I know," Greg repeated before walking out of the room. "I'll be in B if anyone needs me."

"Yea," the receptionist replied quietly. "You do that."
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"So what're your plans for today?"

Katy glanced up in surprise as Mike walked into the kitchen straightening the cuffs on his dress shirt on Wednesday December 8th. She hid her smirk in her coffee cup and shrugged her response.

"Shrug?" he questioned, pouring himself a cup of the strong beverage she had brewed a few minutes earlier.

"Yes, shrug," she clarified, still hiding her smirk. "That and dress shopping," she added quickly and tried to leave the kitchen before he could register her last remark.

"Whoa, hold up," her friend snapped and grabbed her shoulder lightly to stop her movement. "Dress shopping? For what?"

"A wedding dress?"

"Are you asking me, or are you telling me?"

"Telling," Katy muttered quietly. "Listen, before you say anything else. He just needs time."

"You gave him the ring back Katherine!"

"I know I did! Believe me, you don't need to remind me of that. But, he just needs time and then he'll realize that he really does want to get married and spend his life with me and this way, everything will be set for the wedding."

"What if he doesn't?"

Katy froze at the words; because, it was not a reality she had even considered. A few seconds later she pushed them from her mind again and replied, "He will."

"Katy," Mike tried again but stopped talking when she held her free hand up.

"He will."

Katy quickly turned and walked out of the room to head for the guest room so she could finish getting ready for her morning of shopping on her own. She had wanted to take a look at dresses by herself before she dragged any friends out with her; and considering how the only female friend she had, other then Holli, was Greg's co-worker she was avoiding that step for a bit longer.

After she had dressed, she slipped her coat on and grabbed the list of stores she wanted to stop into that morning. As she wasn't sure what type of dress she definitely wanted, nor when she would be using it, she had selected a list of wedding stores and designers that didn't require an appointment. Katy figured that until she had a definite time line she could keep things loose.

"Besides," she muttered on her way out of the building. "Why count something out just because it's not a one of a kind Vera Wang?" Which is why her first planned stop was a bridal store by the name of Bridal Reflections. "I'll worry about appointments when I have a date set."
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"So, how does it feel?"

"You should know," Greg replied without looking up from the sound board as his mentor walked in.

"Yea, well," the older man shrugged. "It's been a while since my first Grammy Nomination. You landed three from one album."

"So I've been told," Greg responded, turning his attention onto Michael Brauer finally.

"So what were they again?"

Greg rolled his eyes and rattled off the awards he had been nominated for, "George and I were nominated as writers for "Breathe" in the Song of the Year category. I was also nominated, with them, as the producer for "Breathe" in Record of the Year and, consequently, Album of the Year."

"Yea; I don't think they count on those. They just get tacked onto Record and Album as the artist. You did all the damn work. Now what did they get?"

"Why are you making me do this? You know all the info already. Hell, you're a voting member of the Academy."

"Humor me," Mike replied with a smug look.

"The Smythe's also got nominated for Best New Artist."

"Ah, the dreaded Best New Artist award. I fear for them. Truly I do," Mike muttered and Greg squirmed in his chair as the man studied him. "You're going to Los Angeles for the ceremony right?"

"I wasn't planning on it," Greg admitted and almost laughed as Mike's jaw dropped.

"Excuse me?!"

"Well, it's not like I'm going to win. I'm only the producer. I mean, technically, yes, these are production awards more so then artist awards. But the general public doesn't give a shit about my face. They wanna see Benny and George up at that microphone. And that's only if they win. They're up against Justin Timberlake's new album, McCartney, the god damned Jonas Brothers in one category and a few other names that have more then one Grammy between them."

"You're going to win," Mike told him in a serious tone. "All of them? Maybe not. But I think you'll be disappointed if you don't go."

"And who am I going to take as my date?"

"Your fiance perhaps. That's usually how these things work."

"I'd need one of those in order to take her as my date."

"Right," Mike replied with a nod. "Then why don't you get off your ass and get one? I'm pretty sure you had a more then decent specimen up until a few weeks ago."

"Not amused," Greg muttered and jabbed a button on the sound board hard.

"Fine," the award winning producer finally agreed and pat his protege on the back. "Some free advice?"

"Why not," Greg groaned. "Everyone else is offering."

"She loves you. You love her. That doesn't sound like too hard of a problem to fix. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Mike," Greg replied and glanced behind him as the other man left the studio, leaving his engineer alone in his thoughts.
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"Now Ms. Jones," the saleswoman spoke up and pulled Katy's attention from the rack of dresses in the third store she had stopped in that day. "This style I think would be lovely on you."

Katy stared at the dress the woman was holding out and frowned; the entire bodice was covered in sequins and lace, while the skirt itself was made of a shiny satin that reminded Katy of vinyl. It also had large puffed sleeves and a plunging sweethart neckline.

"I don't know," Katy mumbled. "It sort of looks like a wedding cake. I was hoping for something plainer."

The woman frowned and stared at the dress she was holding before examining Katy. The brunette shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny and mentally kicked herself for wearing old jeans and a sweatshirt that day. She scratched the back of her head and smiled brightly at the saleswoman, fending off any judgment.

"When did you say the date was again?"

"I didn't," Katy admitted. "We haven't actually set a date yet. I just wanted to get a look at some various styles of gowns."

"Oh," the woman grumbled and glanced around the busy store. "Well, take a look around yourself then and if you see anything just give a shout."

Katy watched the woman walk away and rolled her eyes, "That's what I figured you'd say when you realized you would not be making a commission today. Idiot."

Katy had spent the entire day looking at wedding dress after wedding dress; all in varying designs and shades of white. And every time a salesperson had asked when her date was set for she had to bite her lip and force back an influx of tears. It was a feeling she was well used to since she had left Greg. The constant stress and loneliness had driven her to AA meeting after AA meeting, extra appointments with her therapist and a discussion about an adjustment in her medications. And despite what Mike and Holli feared, Katy refused to give up on him.

She gently placed the dress she was examining back on the rack and left the store, buttoning her coat up against the bitter December wind, and walked down the block towards the subway station. Her eyes drifted past a billboard advertising, "The Smythe's, Breathe", and she smiled. She had seen the list of Grammy Nominee's the night before; had waited with baited breath for the list to be released if she was being perfectly honest, and she had never been more proud of Greg before that moment.

"Come back to me," she whispered out loud, eyes still trained on the album artwork.
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"So, here we are again," Greg whispered out loud in the deserted cemetery. His coat was clutched tight around his body, hat pulled down low on his ears but the bitter chill still cut through his bones. "I got some news yesterday that I thought you might like to hear. Though if all the religious stuff I'm supposed to believe is true? You already know it. You already know a lot of stuff."

Greg studied the ground below him as he paused in the words he was essentially forcing out. The rest of the afternoon had passed uneventfully for the young producer; except for his mentor's words playing on repeat in the back of his head.

"She loves me," Greg spoke again to the empty air, his brother's tomb stone nestled in the grass in front of him. "And I love her. And somehow it all comes back to you. I can't let you go. Every single day of my life I have gone over it again and again and again; I can't help but think if I had done something differently. Told someone sooner," Greg continued, his voice breaking on random words. "Maybe you'd still be here. Maybe you'd be standing next to me when I get married. Maybe you'd be the god father of my children. Maybe you'd be the one to smack me upside the head before I did something stupid."

He sighed and blinked his eyes frantically as they began burning. The night suddenly felt colder to him, the wind stronger and the moonlight brighter. He took a deep breath and continued, "And believe me, I've been really fucking stupid lately. I kept seeing you, every time I looked at her. I hated it. I don't want to lose her like that Danny and I'm so scared that I will. You got better too; not for long, but you did. What if this is like that?"

A strong gust of wind sent a wave of leaves around Greg's feet as he paused to take a breath from speaking; his eyes trailed over the leaves for a few seconds before he shook his head and shrugged, "Anyway, I just wanted you to know that. I wanted you to know I love you, but I'm so angry at you it hurts. You broke me a long time ago...and I don't know how to fix it."

"Time," a voice answered Greg's unspoken question causing the young man to jump in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" he asked his best friend in shock. "You're supposed to be in LA."

"Yea, well," Rob shrugged and turned to face his friend in front of the grave. "I was starting to get concerned when I hadn't received word that two of my best friends were back to heading down the aisle."

"It's complicated Rob," Greg replied, frowning. "Time huh?"

"Yea," Rob agreed. "Time. Time and some basic trust. You need to trust her like she trusts you. You're her rock."

"I was his rock too."

Rob sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before speaking slowly, "You're probably not going to like this but, Danny was a selfish bastard who used your hero worship for his own gain. You said it yourself Greg; he broke something in you. I've watched you and Katy together and she's gone a long way towards fixing it. You just need to let go of the fear of an uncertain future and know that she loves you. She trusts you. And she's not going to go back down that road."

"How can you be so sure? How do you know that she won't wake up one day and decide to leave me?"

"Same reason I stuck around for damn near fifteen years," Rob replied. "You're worth it."

"You keep this up and people are gonna start to think you're a sap."

"Yea, well," Rob shrugged. "In all seriousness man? Get her back. Throw away the rule book and just go get her back."

"I need a little more time," Greg replied, his eyes still trained on the gravestone in front of me. "But I'm almost ready, I think."

"Okay, good," Rob whispered relieved. "Maybe you should give her a call and tell her that?"

"No," Greg responded seriously. "Don't tell her. When I go back to her it's because I'm ready...I don't want her waiting around in case it doesn't happen."

"Greg!"

"No! You've interfered enough. You want me to deal with this? You let me deal with this. She deserves better then what I can give her at this moment."

Rob frowned but nodded slowly, "Fine. You want a ride home?"

"I've got my car," Greg nodded towards the lot as he spoke. "I'm going to stay here a little bit longer."

"Alright," Rob mumbled. "I'm staying at Leigh's tonight...do you want me to wait at my parents? We can take the train back together."

"I kind of want to be alone tonight," Greg finally admitted. "I have to think about some stuff."

"Don't think too hard," Rob warned. "You'll think yourself right back into a corner."

"I promise," Greg responded seriously. "I will keep an open mind."

"Yea, and remember, you love each other and she's not Danny. In fact, she's the exact opposite of Danny."

"I know."

"Good. I'll talk to you soon. Love you bro."

"I know," Greg whispered. "Love you too."