Baby, You Save Me

I was safe. That was the feeling that I had when I woke up. I was facing the inside of the couch with Joe’s arms wrapped around me, spooning me. Instead of waking him up like I should have, I snuggled into his chest a bit more. I’ve missed the feeling of cuddling with a guy. As I snuggled into him, he tightened his arms around me, holding me close to his chest. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the feeling. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t help myself when it came to Joe. I guess I dozed off again because suddenly I was being shaken. I turned around with sleepy eyes and saw Nick shaking Joe awake.

“Dammit, Joe. Wake up,” Nick rolled his eyes. He looked at me. “Hey AJ. Can you help me wake him up? He sleeps like a log.”

I took a moment to adjust to being awake and then grinned evilly, “I got this.” I grabbed an empty tequila bottle from last night and ran outside to the pond. I filled the bottle up with water and headed back inside. I walked over to where Joe was laying. Nick raised his eyebrows at me as I ceremoniously dumped the water onto Joe’s face.

“WHAT THE HELL!” Joe yelled, sitting straight up. I opened my eyes, a little nervous, and discretely hid the bottle behind my back. “Who did that?” Joe glared, his eyes moving back and forth between Nick and I before they finally settled on me. “AJ, what’s behind your back?” He asked me slowly, every word filled with danger.

I put on my best innocent act. “Nothing Joe. You’re being paranoid,” I laughed lightly. I had gotten very good at lying under pressure over the years. This popstar wasn’t going to get me to cave.

“Nice try,” Joe smirked. What?! There’s no way he could know. I was too casual. He had to be bluffing.

“Joe, it wasn’t me!” I stuck my tongue out, pretending this was all a joke.

Joe just shook his head with a devilish smile. Before I could act, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

“Joe, you better put me down,” I warned.

“Or what?” He demanded.

“I don’t know, but it won’t be good,” I tried to threaten.

“This is just karma,” he responded. I could tell he was mad. Oh no.. he was headed toward the pond..

“Joe! Don’t you dare throw me into the pond. I swear to God I will hunt you down and make your life hell. These are nice ass clothes and I do not want them ruined!” I yelled. I tried hitting his back. Dammit… He wasn’t going to do this easy way. Well there is no way in hell I am going to ruin these clothes. I threw my weight forward and landed an elbow on a pressure point.

“AH!” Joe screamed out in surprise and probably a bit of pain. I felt his grip loosen just enough for me wrench myself from his grasp. Within moments I felt my feet land solidly on the ground. I turned and saw Joe rubbing the spot where I hit him on his back.

“What the hell AJ?” Joe had a slightly confused look on his face.

“I’m sorry,” I gave him a sheepish smile, “but I like this outfit.”

Joe shook his head and threw his arm around my shoulders. “Come on munchkin. Nick and I have to head back to start writing with Kevin for our next album.”

“Cool! How many songs do you guys have written?” I asked him.

“Like three or so. I don’t know. It’s hard to write. We’ve been pretty uninspired lately,” Joe shook his head dejectedly. “Hey, do you want to come write with us? You helped me finish that song so quickly the other day.”

“Oh I don’t know. It would be fun, but there is so much that we have to do today. I told you. The work here is never done.”

“I’ll cover for you today, AJ,” Jackson told me as we started walking back to the main house.

“You don’t have to do that. It’s my job today. You deserve to go off and have some fun on your day off,” I protested.

“AJ, you work harder than anyone I know. You can take one day to go off and do something that you’re really good at. Obviously these boys need your incredible abilities,” Jackson rolled his eyes sarcastically and winked at me. “I can hold the fort down for a day. How many tours do you have booked for today?”

“None. It’s a slow day today, unfortunately,” I responded cautiously.

“Great then! Go with them and have fun. Lord knows you deserve it.”

I sighed. I knew there was no fighting with Jackson when he got this stubborn. “Fine,” I smiled. “Thanks. You’re the best.” I hugged him and then climbed into Nick’s car. “I can’t believe you drive a Lamborghini,” I’m pretty sure I drooled when I sat against the seat.

“You want to drive it?” Nick asked as we started heading down the driveway.

I stopped breathing. “What?” I barely managed to squeak out. “You serious?”

“Sure,” He shrugged. “You obviously love it,” He chuckled.

“Nick, if you let me drive this car I might actually love you for all eternity,” I was in awe.

“Alright let’s not get ahead of ourselves now, but you can take her for a test drive after we bust out a few songs. Sound good?”

“Ok!”

“So what did you do last night? You like ran off and then we didn’t see you for the rest of the night,” Nick questioned me.

“Umm… I went to the roof and then Joe and I went night swimming. Then we came back and crashed. Nothing too exciting. How did the rest of your night go?” I responded.

Nick scratched the back of his neck. “It was fine.”

“What’s her name?” I smirked.

“What?” Nick looked at me with wide eyes.

“Oh come on, Nick. I have seen that face a million times with all the guys that I’ve known throughout my life. You met a girl. And considering you guys wear purity rings, I’m assuming you didn’t hook up with her, but something happened. And don’t try to bullshit with me because I am very good at reading people.” I raised my eyebrows and waited for him to respond.

Nick sighed, “I don’t really know her name. She was really cool. She makes me really want to write again. I’ve had a melody in my head ever since I saw her. I just want to get it out.”

I pulled out my phone and pressed it to record. “Sing it,” I commanded.

“What?” He asked confused.

“What does the melody go like?” I asked. “Just hum it if you don’t have any words.”

“Umm… It goes like,” Nick paused for a moment and then started singing, “Ooh what I wouldn’t dooo. And it goes like heyyy, girl I’m blown away.” Nick stopped singing and shrugged. “That’s all I’ve got.”

“That’s actually a good start. Listen to this,” I started to sing,

“Hey girl, you make me wanna write a song
Sit you down, I’ll sing it to you all night long,
I’ve had a melody in my head since you walked in here and knocked me dead
Yeah girl, you make me wanna write a song

And it goes like ooh,
What I wouldn’t do
To write my name on your heart
Get to wrapping my arms baby all around you
And it goes like hey,
Girl, I’m blown away
Yeah it starts with a smile and it ends with an all night long slow kiss
Yea it goes like this”

“You never cease to amaze me,” Joe stared at me with an open mouth.

“Oh shut up. I love writing songs,” I stuck my tongue out at him. “He handed me that on a silver platter. Everything just went together. And it probably still needs some work.”

“Wait I know the next chorus,” Nick started.

“Hey girl, you make me wanna drive you home,
Get you outta here and get you all alone.
I don’t know what it is about you baby,
But I’m all messed up and it might sound crazy,
But you make me wanna write a song.”

“Boom! We’ll figure out the chords when we get back to your house,” I smiled.

“Honey! I’m homeee!” Joe called out as we walked into Kevin and Danielle’s house.

“Hi guys,” Danielle came around the corner from the kitchen. She was an apron and had a mixing bowl in her hands.

“Dani, are you making cookies?!” Joe exclaimed with an excited look on his face.

“Yes, Joe, and yes you can have the bowl and spoon when I’m done,” She smiled softly at him.

“Yay! You’re the best!” He ran over and kissed her cheek. “You remember AJ right?”

“Of course,” Danielle turned her smile on me. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too,” I smiled in return.

“Come on AJ. We have to go write!” Joe grabbed my hand and pulled me through the house, giving me a quick tour along the way. We went downstairs to a basement.

“Holy shit,” was the only thing I could say when my eyes adjusted to the slightly dimmer light that the rest of the bright house. Their basement was a musician’s paradise. There was a full recording studio. And I don’t mean just a mic. I mean the entire room was a recording studio. It was breathtaking. Inside the recording booth there was a piano, guitars, a drum set, mic, bass guitars, a keyboard, and a few other small instruments. These were not the cheap, worn down instruments from garage sales that I had back at Serendipity. They were brand new, state of the art, absolutely beautiful instruments.

“You like?” Joe winked at me.

“You have no idea,” I smirked back. The boy had no fucking clue that I wanted to jump his bones every minute of the day. Joe just laughed and I turned to Nick. “Ready to record that song?”

“Umm yeah, I guess,” Nick rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

I walked into the booth, grabbed a guitar, and sat on a stool. Nick walked in and stood at the mic. I started to play a few chords so that Nick could get a feel for what I was playing. As soon has he understood the beat he started to sing.

“Hey girl, you make me wanna write a song
Sit you down, I’ll sing it to you all night long,
I’ve had a melody in my head since you walked in here and knocked me dead
Yeah girl, you make me wanna write a song
And it goes like ooh,
What I wouldn’t do
To write my name on your heart
Get to wrapping my arms baby all around you
And it goes like hey,
Girl, I’m blown away
Yeah it starts with a smile and it ends with an all night long slow kiss
Yea it goes like this

Hey girl, you make me wanna drive you home,
Get you outta here and get you all alone.
I don’t know what it is about you baby,
But I’m all messed up and it might sound crazy,
But you make me wanna write a song

And it goes like ooh,
What I wouldn’t do
To write my name on your heart
Get to wrapping my arms baby all around you
And it goes like hey,
Girl, I’m blown away
Yeah it starts with a smile and it ends with an all night long slow kiss
Yea it goes like this

Looking at you, looking at me that way
Makes me want to grab my old guitar and play

Something like ooh
What I wouldn’t do
To write my name on your heart
Get to wrapping my arms baby all around you
And it goes like hey
Girl I’m blown away
Yeah it starts with a smile and ends with an all night long slow kiss
Yeah it goes like this

And it goes like ooh
And it goes like hey
And it ends with a kiss
Yeah it goes like this”

“That was good,” I smiled at Nick. “What did you think guys?” I looked through the glass trying to see their expressions. Nick and I walked out of the sound booth, and turned to everyone. “So?” I raised my eyebrows.

“That was really good. I’m not sure our producers will ever let us put it on a record, but it was really good,” Kevin smiled with a small hint of regret on his face.

“Why wouldn’t they let you put it on a record?” I was confused. “A good song is a good song.”

“Our audience is mostly preteen girls. Parents would freak out about what an ‘all night long slow kiss’ implies. It’s a good song, but unfortunately I don’t think they will let us use it.”

“That’s bullshit. You guys should be able to play the music that you want to. Isn’t that what being a musician is all about? Playing what you feel?” I said indignantly as I crossed my arms.

The boys chuckled sadly. “We wish it was,” Joe pursed his lips, “but it’s hard. You have to sell records, which means selling to your target audience.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Let’s start writing. Shall we?”