All the Faint Lights

Chapter Thirty Two
-Caroline-
“…Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in, so shame on me now, flew me to places I’d never been, till you put me down, Oh. I knew you were trouble when you walked in, so shame on me now, flew me to places I’d never been, now I’m lying on the cold hard ground. Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble. Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble…’

I’ve been practicing my butt of the past week for the big competition in New York. RJ told us last week about it, he submitted a sample of mine, plus Gordon and Asher’s work, three days later we found out that we made it, and the first song that we had to sing was going to be assigned to us, while the other four needed to be original. I was assigned Taylor Swift’s ‘I knew you were trouble’, I was nervous about that song, practicing more on that song because it was more pop than country.

“…I knew you were trouble when you walked in, trouble, trouble, trouble,” I finished and then smiling brightly because I think I nailed it that time.

“Nice job, Linny, get something to drink,” RJ said and I nodded my head and walked out of the box and over towards the kitchen to grab a water.

I walked out of the kitchen and smiled brightly when James walked into the studio, “Hey!” I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his shoulder, he had just gotten back from a three day trip, playing the Sabres and the Blackhawks, “I watched the game, nice goals!”

“We lost though,” he said and I shrugged my shoulders and pressed my lips against his.

“You played well though,” I said and he dug his face into my neck and I leaned my head against his and hugged him tight.

“Oh! I have news!” he said and popped his head, nearly hitting mine. I saw the bright smile on his face and he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, “When is that competition thingy in New York?”

“Less than two months, April-“

“Fourth?” James asked and I shook my head.

“No the third,” I said and he smiled brightly and I looked at him confused.

“We have a game against the Rangers on the forth and one against the Sabres on the second,” he said and my eyes widened and I jumped into his arms.

“Does that mean you’re coming?!” I asked and James nodded his head and I squealed and then pressed my lips against his, happy to hear that he was coming to my competition.

“Can I hear your songs?”

“No-“

“What?!”

“You can hear them in two months!” I smiled and James laughed and nodded his head, kissing my forehead and hugging my tightly, “I’m so happy that you’re going to be there.”

“Me too,” he said and I squealed again and hid my face in his chest, breathing in his scent.

It’s been a week since everything happened, the big fight in the locker room, James and I sleeping together and finally becoming a couple. Jordan was suspended for six games, I felt bad for him, but that’s what happens when you act like an asshole and screw with your own teammates.

James said that he was gunna head home to get some rest because they literally got home from their trip a few hours ago. I gave him a kiss before he left and just as he was walking towards the door, it opened and Jake walked in.

“Jake!” I smiled, “I haven’t seen you in a while,” I said and looked upset about something, “What’s wrong?”

“I need to talk to you,” he said and I nodded my head, looked at James and waved for him to go.

“Call me later,” James said and I nodded my head and watched him go.

“What’s up?” I asked and Jake sighed and rubbed his face, “Jake?”

“You’re dad is seriously screw with my dad, and I don’t know what to do,” Jake said and I froze, not hearing anything about my dad in a long time, not seeing my dad since I walked out a few months ago.

“What’s he doing to O’Ryan?” I asked and Jake sighed.

“He’s changing the music that my dad makes and they’re starting to get into arguments a lot. If mom didn’t walk in the other day, I thought your dad was going to punch mine,” he said and I sighed and shook my head.

“Why come to me? You want me to talk to him? I haven’t seen him since I left, not exactly on speaking terms with him,” I muttered.

“Would you just talk to him please,” he said and I looked at him to see that he was really upset.

Jake was my best friend, we’ve been through a lot together, I sighed and then nodded my head and wrapped my arms around Jake’s neck, “I’ll talk to him.”

“Thank you, Linny.”

“Only for you though!” I growled, “Well, and O’Ryan too,” I smirked and Jake nodded his head, “He at the house now?”

“No,” Jake said and I nodded my head.

“Give me a call when he’s at the studio, I’ll come over then- but I really have to work on my music for this competition,” I said and Jake nodded his head.

“How’s that going?”

“Good, I’m excited for it,” I smiled brightly, “I have to do five songs, one being a song from a top artist.”

“Who’d you choose?”

“It was chosen for me, they picked a song from Taylor Swift,” I said and Jake snorted, “I know! That wannabe country star!”

“I wanna do a song with you one day, Linny,” Jake said and I looked at him surprised.

“Jake, I don’t do hip hop-“

“I know, but I miss singing with you, and I’ve been working on a song that might work,” he said and I smirked and nodded my head.

“Let me get through this competition and we’ll do this,” I said and Jake smirked and nodded his head, giving me a big hug.

“I miss you Linny.”

“I miss you too, Jake,” I smiled and then heard my phone going off and look to see that it was Trisha.

-James-
I was lying face down on my bed, trying to sleep but only thinking about what went wrong in the two games that we had just played. I sighed and then got up and decided that I needed to stop thinking about the games. I walked downstairs, smirked when I saw Matilda lying in her bed in the kitchen.

I leaned against the island and looked towards the door to my office, I sighed and then walked towards my office and looked at all of my guitars, ‘…It’s been a while since I’ve played…’

I sat in my chair and grabbed one of my newest acoustic guitars, strumming it a few times and then playing a tune that I heard on the country radio. I sighed and then stood up and took the guitar downstairs with me, to my game room and sat in my favorite spot on the couch.

“If I could, I would dare, feed your dreams and starve your fears. If I could light the world, we could sit and watch it burn-“

I stopped when I heard my phone going off and saw that it was Caroline texting me saying that she was outside. I smirked, not knowing that she was coming over, but happy that she did. I answered the door and saw that she was standing in the doorway with her pitbull, Roxie by her side.

“Hi!” I said and Caroline smiled and walked over towards me and pressed her lips against mine. Roxie jumped up, wanting some attention, but Caroling pulled her back, telling her not to jump. I bent down and started to scratch her head, hearing Matilda trotting up behind me and wondering if the two were going to be all right because they’ve never met before.

“Be good, Roxie,” Caroline said and I unhook Roxie’s leash from her collar and we both watched as Roxie and Matilda sniffed each other and then trotted off into a different part of the house, “Guess they’re good,” she laughed and I smirked and nodded my head, standing up and pulled Caroline into my arms and into my house.

“You and Jake good?” I asked and Caroline looked at me confused for a second.

“Oh, yeah, he just needed my help with something,” Caroline said and I nodded my head as I closed my door and we walked into the kitchen. I took her coat and she sat on the stool in front of the island, “He wanted me to do something that I really don’t want to do, but I have to help him.”

“Like what?” I asked confused and concerned.

“He wants me to talk to me dad,” she sighed, “I guess he’s been causing Jake’s dad a hard time.”

“You don’t talk about your dad- Like ever.”

“I’m not his biggest fan, and he’s not mine either,” Caroline said and I sighed and placed my hand on her knee.

“Tell me about it?” I asked and she nodded her head.

“It all started when my mother died…”