Melodies

It had been a month since our first date by the time Kell and I had to start getting serious about our duet. Kell was stressed beyond belief over everything, making rehearsal impossible. He would beat himself up over any mistakes he made, not listening to anything I said to him, not even allowing himself a break until we'd gone through the song at least once with no mistakes.

On the bright side, though, we'd gone on a few more dates and officially declared ourselves a couple. We'd been pretty much inseparable, even with Kell's stress and my job. He'd taken to visiting me at work when things were slow. He'd sit on the counter in the back room while I unloaded boxes and sorted them, and we'd just talk. He'd tell me about his day, we'd exchange stupid jokes, and we talked about music more than anything else.

I'd slowly begun to notice that he surrounded himself with music everywhere he went. He had to have the radio on in the car, he hid his iPod so he could listen to music in class, he played CDs all the time. I'd constantly hear him complaining about having multiple songs stuck in his head, but he didn't really seem that bothered by it, unless the song was dumb. I thought he was going to cut off his own head the day he had "Stupid Hoe" stuck in his head, because someone played it in class.

He'd started to really open up to me, letting me past his barriers and telling me things I would never have guessed about him. More importantly, he wasn't rushing straight to Courtney with his dilemmas, as he trusted me more and more. He'd even talked to me about his concerns with Jamie, how he was losing weight and starting to look unhealthy again.

It was great getting to know him better. We didn't have to make serious plans for dates or anything, they boundaries became looser. We started just visiting each other when we felt like it. He told me as long as I wasn't blowing smoke in his face, he was happy to see me.

Which is why I took the cigarette from my mouth and put it out as soon as I heard the warning knock on the front door. Kell walked in immediately following the knock, looking rumpled, but cute as hell. I put down the jar of peanut butter I was holding, putting the lid back on. "What's up, buttercup?"

He stuck his tongue out. "Jamie's going through like, menopause or something. I had to get out of the house."

"Did you want to do anything in particular?"

"Not really, and anyway, you don't exactly look like you wanted to go out today."

I looked down at the pair of boxers and the one sock I was wearing. "I wasn't really planning on it. I can get dressed though, if that's what you want."

He shook his head. "No, I'm fine for whatever. We can just hang out here. I really don't care, as long as I don't have to be with Jamie at the moment."

I shrugged. "We could watch a movie or something."

"Sure."

I walked over to him, sweeping him off the floor bridal-style. He exclaimed at the surprise at first, wrapping his arms around me tightly. I just laughed and carried him into the front room, reassuring him I wouldn't drop him. He wouldn't stop going on about it, though, until I let him down on the couch. He looked up at me, all pink and flustered, but smiling. "I wasn't expecting that."

"I know." I grinned at him, stealing a kiss. He grinned back when I pulled away. "What do you want to watch?"

He bit his lip. "Something loud and stupid."

"Final Destination?"

He smiled. "Sure, but don't expect me to ever leave my house again after watching it."

"I have no problem with that." I turned the T.V. on, finding the DVD quickly and placing it in the disc tray, before joining Kell on the couch. I pinned him down, pulling up his shirt and blowing a raspberry on his chest. He protested, laughing and shoving at me. I pulled away, letting him pull his shirt back down. He just giggled and moved closer to me, curling up against me. I wrapped my arm around him, pulling him closer to me.

The movie had only just started when the front door opened, and an irritating female voice called in, "Sydney, we're here, and we aren't leaving!" I turned around to see Courtney and Brittany standing at the door. I told Courtney to go away, but she dragged Brittany into the front room, taking one of the chairs.

She grinned at me, making me want to drag her out by her hair. "I love Final Destination."