Status: Currently writing
The Stars in Your Sky Aren't the Same Stars in My Sky
Beats
JAX
Joel drove me back to Ahren's after dinner. The boys were all awake and out back with Ahren and some of his friends.
"Whoa whoa whoa, no girls allowed. This is a brodown." I laughed at the guy in the chair next to the pool. Maybe he was faded, but I still thought his slurred words were funny.
"I'm more of a "bro" then you are dude." Ahren laughed and popped the top on a beer to hand to me.
"No offense, but you don't look like a dude." The guys all laughed from the scattered positions around the pool. Might as well have some fun with him.
I was still wearing Bel's bathing suit under my clothes, which I promised to wash and return soon. I put my beer down on the table and took my shirt off, leaving me in my shorts and the top of the swimsuit. His face changed a little bit as I did so, and it changed even more when I sat down in his lap with my beer. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders and finished my beer with the other before putting it back on the table.
"And what's your name, sir?" I smirked at him as I tilted my head and started playing with the buttons on his shirt with my now beerless hand.
"Well uh-I'm-uh..." He stuttered and I saw Ahren's face in front of me. I'm sure my boys knew what was coming but they were behind me in the pool area.
"Real Bad, watch it man." Ahren chuckled before drinking some more of his beer.
"Real Bad?" I whispered into his ear and felt him shutter as he nodded. I hummed and sat up, standing up so I was in front of him with my hands on the arm rests.
"Just so we're clear," I smirked and batted my eyelashes," I'm gonna let your previous comments slide." He took a drag off of what I realized was a joint now.
"Really?" He smirked as he blew the smoke out in my face. Fun was over, I rolled my eyes and put my arms up on the back of the chair before pushing on it and sending him splashing into the pool.
Everyone was howling with laughter while I put my shirt back on.
"Ouch, Real bad, need a tissue man? Don't want you to be a crying bro." I high-fived Ahren before he handed me another beer.
"I heard you went down to the coast today." I nodded.
"Yeah Joel went snap happy and I surfed for the first time in years. It was great." He nodded.
"You know that you can always come to us if you ever need anything..." He looked out over the guys and took a drink.
I followed suit and looked over at our mixed group of friends. Part of me wished I could clear my mind, but the avalanche that my mind and the world seemed to throw down to me was making go under.
My eyes widened, immediately I stood up and went inside. My beer sat discarded on the counter as I ripped open the drawer of office supplies in the kitchen and started writing it out.
It was almost too easy to write out an entire song, and I knew what music it was going to go to already.
"Oh my god..." I braced my self against the counter as I read over the words I had written on the paper. Part of me knew they were for Jake and part of me knew they were for me. We both were going to follow the same path eventually and it's something I saw now.
With a groan I grabbed the paper and brought it outside to Ahren.
"You ok there sport?" I chuckled.
"Can I used the car to go to the studio?" He tilted his head.
"I don't think that's a good idea Jax..." I bit my lip and averted my eyes.
"I understand that you guys had me take a break, but we have deadlines." He sighed.
"There's still time here, I of all people understand those deadlines. Just enjoy the party and if you wanna go in an hour or two, I'll go with you." Instead of responding I just pushed the paper over to him.
He cracked his neck and looked at me before picking it up. As he read over it, his face changed. I watched his eyes move over the paper once, twice, and a third time before he looked over at me.
"Is the music for this done already?" I nodded and he took a deep breath.
"Alright fine. But I'm coming with you." He motioned for me to go inside. I grabbed my backpack from the corner where we had stacked all of our bags and made sure my laptop was in there and added the paper to it.
"Alright come on." I stopped him.
"You've been drinking?" I asked as he picked up the keys.
"Oh you're driving." He chuckled and handed me the keys
We got in the car and he directed me to the studio where he let me in. I turned everything on and got to work. He helped me out with some button clicking and some basic direction. I added and changed around some parts, including a rerecording all of the drums because they weren't clear enough in my opinion. When it was done I sat back and looked at Ahren.
"Is this how you write all of your music?" He asked me.
"Eh, it depends. Drown, Throne, and Happy song came easy like this one," I paused to think about what else we had," Mikey and Nikki have brought me songs for their girls that I honestly don't think we'll ever finish, the songs that I have from writing with Ville are mostly just lyrics and a drive. There's one though that will hopefully make it. Then there's another 20 songs that I don't know if I love or hate from all of us. We have a song loosely based on the Bryce issue. There's a handful of finished but disliked songs too." I showed him one called Hate in the hard drive.
"I started on lyrics but the music needs something before I'll even finish it." He nodded.
"Can I see what you have from Ville?" I pulled the files up on my laptop.
"They're all strong, but they're mostly in his style and not a mix. I don't think they'll work for the guys." He read over them, one must've caught his eye.
"What about this one?" The computer turned to me. The one love song that Ville and I wrote, originally for Vinny in my eyes.
"What about it?"
"Seems like it would work. It'll be a little slow, but you'd do good with it."
"I'm the last person that should do this song...." I chuckled because of the current situation.
"Are you?" I froze at his question. He knew all too well what he had just done.
"I'm gonna walk down and get food. Want anything?" I shook my head as he left.
I stood,bringing my computer with me, and went into the sound booth where the piano stood. I sat down and looked at it for a moment. If I was going to do this, it was going to be done right. I played some of the samples we had in drop box, listening carefully to them for an idea of how I wanted this to go.
"Do you still wanna hear my song?"
My head snapped up as I heard the recorded movements of Jake and me from 2009. I had completely forgotten that I had this, nonetheless it made me want to play along.
"Ready?" me from 6 years ago asked.
I nodded my head to respond as I started playing along with the recording. The notes flowed beautifully through my fingers as they danced over the keys. Soon I started singing and smiled from the memory. I would lose someone I loved for a little while that night, but this made me feel like it had come full circle. Tears streamed from my eyes as I finished the song,
"Bastard"
"Don't curse at the piano." Ahren made me jump as he chuckled behind me.
"I'm gonna miss you Jax..." Ahren froze when he heard Jake's voice over the computer speakers.
"It's only two months. I'll be-" There was a rustling on the recording before it cut off.
"What's that from?" Ahren asked as I shut the computer.
"It's from the night Jake and I found out we were leaving on our first tours." I grimaced as I realized I wasn't supposed to be listening to that.
"Why do you have a recording of it?" Ahren sat down at the drum throne and I explained what happened that night and the night I found Jake passed out in the back of the bus.
"I think it's time we go back...." I shook my head.
"One more song..." I sighed as I realized where my ideas were flowing.
"Alright, but then it's sleep time. It's nearly midnight." I nodded and we both went back out to the board. I plugged some of our samples into the board and started mixing while singing the lyrics Ville and I had over it.
"Are you really putting a beat into a love song?" I scoffed.
"If you can cover Lana Del Ray I can put some beats into a song."
Joel drove me back to Ahren's after dinner. The boys were all awake and out back with Ahren and some of his friends.
"Whoa whoa whoa, no girls allowed. This is a brodown." I laughed at the guy in the chair next to the pool. Maybe he was faded, but I still thought his slurred words were funny.
"I'm more of a "bro" then you are dude." Ahren laughed and popped the top on a beer to hand to me.
"No offense, but you don't look like a dude." The guys all laughed from the scattered positions around the pool. Might as well have some fun with him.
I was still wearing Bel's bathing suit under my clothes, which I promised to wash and return soon. I put my beer down on the table and took my shirt off, leaving me in my shorts and the top of the swimsuit. His face changed a little bit as I did so, and it changed even more when I sat down in his lap with my beer. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders and finished my beer with the other before putting it back on the table.
"And what's your name, sir?" I smirked at him as I tilted my head and started playing with the buttons on his shirt with my now beerless hand.
"Well uh-I'm-uh..." He stuttered and I saw Ahren's face in front of me. I'm sure my boys knew what was coming but they were behind me in the pool area.
"Real Bad, watch it man." Ahren chuckled before drinking some more of his beer.
"Real Bad?" I whispered into his ear and felt him shutter as he nodded. I hummed and sat up, standing up so I was in front of him with my hands on the arm rests.
"Just so we're clear," I smirked and batted my eyelashes," I'm gonna let your previous comments slide." He took a drag off of what I realized was a joint now.
"Really?" He smirked as he blew the smoke out in my face. Fun was over, I rolled my eyes and put my arms up on the back of the chair before pushing on it and sending him splashing into the pool.
Everyone was howling with laughter while I put my shirt back on.
"Ouch, Real bad, need a tissue man? Don't want you to be a crying bro." I high-fived Ahren before he handed me another beer.
"I heard you went down to the coast today." I nodded.
"Yeah Joel went snap happy and I surfed for the first time in years. It was great." He nodded.
"You know that you can always come to us if you ever need anything..." He looked out over the guys and took a drink.
I followed suit and looked over at our mixed group of friends. Part of me wished I could clear my mind, but the avalanche that my mind and the world seemed to throw down to me was making go under.
My eyes widened, immediately I stood up and went inside. My beer sat discarded on the counter as I ripped open the drawer of office supplies in the kitchen and started writing it out.
It was almost too easy to write out an entire song, and I knew what music it was going to go to already.
"Oh my god..." I braced my self against the counter as I read over the words I had written on the paper. Part of me knew they were for Jake and part of me knew they were for me. We both were going to follow the same path eventually and it's something I saw now.
With a groan I grabbed the paper and brought it outside to Ahren.
"You ok there sport?" I chuckled.
"Can I used the car to go to the studio?" He tilted his head.
"I don't think that's a good idea Jax..." I bit my lip and averted my eyes.
"I understand that you guys had me take a break, but we have deadlines." He sighed.
"There's still time here, I of all people understand those deadlines. Just enjoy the party and if you wanna go in an hour or two, I'll go with you." Instead of responding I just pushed the paper over to him.
He cracked his neck and looked at me before picking it up. As he read over it, his face changed. I watched his eyes move over the paper once, twice, and a third time before he looked over at me.
"Is the music for this done already?" I nodded and he took a deep breath.
"Alright fine. But I'm coming with you." He motioned for me to go inside. I grabbed my backpack from the corner where we had stacked all of our bags and made sure my laptop was in there and added the paper to it.
"Alright come on." I stopped him.
"You've been drinking?" I asked as he picked up the keys.
"Oh you're driving." He chuckled and handed me the keys
We got in the car and he directed me to the studio where he let me in. I turned everything on and got to work. He helped me out with some button clicking and some basic direction. I added and changed around some parts, including a rerecording all of the drums because they weren't clear enough in my opinion. When it was done I sat back and looked at Ahren.
"Is this how you write all of your music?" He asked me.
"Eh, it depends. Drown, Throne, and Happy song came easy like this one," I paused to think about what else we had," Mikey and Nikki have brought me songs for their girls that I honestly don't think we'll ever finish, the songs that I have from writing with Ville are mostly just lyrics and a drive. There's one though that will hopefully make it. Then there's another 20 songs that I don't know if I love or hate from all of us. We have a song loosely based on the Bryce issue. There's a handful of finished but disliked songs too." I showed him one called Hate in the hard drive.
"I started on lyrics but the music needs something before I'll even finish it." He nodded.
"Can I see what you have from Ville?" I pulled the files up on my laptop.
"They're all strong, but they're mostly in his style and not a mix. I don't think they'll work for the guys." He read over them, one must've caught his eye.
"What about this one?" The computer turned to me. The one love song that Ville and I wrote, originally for Vinny in my eyes.
"What about it?"
"Seems like it would work. It'll be a little slow, but you'd do good with it."
"I'm the last person that should do this song...." I chuckled because of the current situation.
"Are you?" I froze at his question. He knew all too well what he had just done.
"I'm gonna walk down and get food. Want anything?" I shook my head as he left.
I stood,bringing my computer with me, and went into the sound booth where the piano stood. I sat down and looked at it for a moment. If I was going to do this, it was going to be done right. I played some of the samples we had in drop box, listening carefully to them for an idea of how I wanted this to go.
"Do you still wanna hear my song?"
My head snapped up as I heard the recorded movements of Jake and me from 2009. I had completely forgotten that I had this, nonetheless it made me want to play along.
"Ready?" me from 6 years ago asked.
I nodded my head to respond as I started playing along with the recording. The notes flowed beautifully through my fingers as they danced over the keys. Soon I started singing and smiled from the memory. I would lose someone I loved for a little while that night, but this made me feel like it had come full circle. Tears streamed from my eyes as I finished the song,
"Bastard"
"Don't curse at the piano." Ahren made me jump as he chuckled behind me.
"I'm gonna miss you Jax..." Ahren froze when he heard Jake's voice over the computer speakers.
"It's only two months. I'll be-" There was a rustling on the recording before it cut off.
"What's that from?" Ahren asked as I shut the computer.
"It's from the night Jake and I found out we were leaving on our first tours." I grimaced as I realized I wasn't supposed to be listening to that.
"Why do you have a recording of it?" Ahren sat down at the drum throne and I explained what happened that night and the night I found Jake passed out in the back of the bus.
"I think it's time we go back...." I shook my head.
"One more song..." I sighed as I realized where my ideas were flowing.
"Alright, but then it's sleep time. It's nearly midnight." I nodded and we both went back out to the board. I plugged some of our samples into the board and started mixing while singing the lyrics Ville and I had over it.
"Are you really putting a beat into a love song?" I scoffed.
"If you can cover Lana Del Ray I can put some beats into a song."