Your Melody Sounds As Sweet As the First Time It Was Sung

To be honest, I was less upset than I thought I should have been. I mean sure; I wasn’t expecting William to break up with me when things seemed to be going so well. Of course I was a little confused and a little sad that our relationship was over, but I wasn’t about to go and bawl my eyes out in a dimly lit room with a tub of ice cream and a crappy chick flick on TV. It’s not like it was the end of the world. William and I were still friends. We were probably a lot closer than we were before we started dating. It was probably for the best, anyway. William’s band The Academy Is… would be leaving on tour in a few weeks, and neither of us had really thought about where that would leave us. It all made quite a lot of sense, actually.

There was one thing that stumped me, though. When William came over to talk, he said I’d know why he was breaking up with me soon enough. I had absolutely no idea what he was going on about, and I kind of assumed it was just an easy way out of having to give me a real reason. I feel guilty for thinking that, though, because that’s not the kind of thing that William would ever do.

After we talked and agreed that everything was alright, we shared one final kiss and decided to watch a horror movie. That was the end of it. And to be honest, there was hardly any difference in watching that girl’s hand get chopped off with him as a friend or as his girlfriend.

That comment of his, however, left me in a whirlwind of confusion for days.

I spent those days with Chase and Tyson, not telling them anything of what was going around in my mind. For some reason I had a sneaky feeling that Seb was avoiding me, and you can’t really organize a band practice or anything without your frontman. To be honest, it hurt me more than the break-up did. Seb and I had never been in a fight, period. We were always together, always hang out with each other, unless I was with William instead because I didn’t want to make Seb feel like the third wheel or anything. And now that William and I had broken up, I realized just how lost I was without Sebastian. The idea that he didn’t want to be around me was new and confusing and utterly miserable. Chase and Tyson didn’t seem to notice anything unusual when I started staying at their apartment more than Seb’s (I refused to even go to Seb’s place without knowing for sure that he was there, just in case Jason was there and tried anything), so I couldn’t talk to them about it. I felt really… alone.

Eventually, I decided to give them a break and go back to my house. It would be good to hang out with mom again, maybe when she got home from work. It was still relatively early, almost midday, and she wouldn’t be home until at least five. I had nothing else to do, so I flopped myself down on my bed and pulled out my phone. It kind of felt weird to be at home with nothing to do. I spent almost all of my time flitting between everyone else’s places, so now my house felt almost unfamiliar to me. I was expecting a call from Jon sometime soon; he was a few cities away tech-ing for some other band. He’d been gone a bit over a week and I hadn’t spoken to him since he left. I missed him.

I flipped my phone open, unsure of what I intended to do, and was surprised to see that I had a message. After tapping a few buttons, I was even more surprised to see that it was from Kiah. Sure, we still spoke sometimes, but we usually called each other to have lengthy conversations because we never knew when we’d get the chance to see or talk to each other again.

She was still living in Vegas, taking care of Noelle. Although the issue of the break-in had long since faded, the poor woman was apparently incredibly lonely. I even spoke to her over the phone sometimes, talked to her about her art projects. Kiah really was doing a great thing by being there for her, although from what I could tell over our phone calls she was quite happy to be reunited with her ex-boyfriend Jake. I don’t know if they’re actually together or if they’re just sleeping together, but either way they both seem to be satisfied.

Anyway, we didn’t often send each other random text messages, so it was with curiosity that I opened the message.

Omgsh u will not believe it! Guess who I jst saw?

My eyebrows floated upwards. This was weird. I checked the time to see that she’d only sent the message a few minutes ago, so I replied.

Idk, who did you see?

I’ve always had a weird kind of issue with chat speak. I don’t mind abbreviations of several words, but I hated using a single letter in replace of a word. It just bugged me. It took her less than a minute to reply; she was a really fast typist on her cell.

Wait 4 it… Brent Wilson! Rmbr him? Not sure it was him, bt it rly rly looked like him, only older. Idk, it was weird. He didn’t see me, thank god. I nvr liked him and he nvr liked me.

I blinked. Whoa. Unexpected. As soon as I saw the name, I blocked it out again. It brought back unwanted memories. I didn’t really know how to reply to that, so I just sent a shocked face.

:O

Kiah replied to that with a ‘yeh’ and that was the end of our unusual text conversation. I didn’t think about it afterwards. I didn’t think about anything. I just lay on my bed for however long until my phone began to buzz in my hand. I glanced down at the caller I.D and all of a sudden my pensive/non-pensive mood vanished to make room for a wide grin as I flipped it open.

“Hey Jon!”

"Charlie baby! I miss you. How’s stuff?”

“I miss you too Jon,” I said with complete sincerity. He was such a great guy, and it really took a toll on me, not having him around. “Stuff’s good. We played a big gig last night, and it was really crazy how many people sang along. There’s even talk of us going on a national tour sometime soon. I mean, everything just happens so fast, you know?”

"That’s really great, Char. You guys deserve it.”

I could hear the smile in his voice, but I could detect something else too. Concern, maybe? A bit too impatient, I had to ask.

“There’s something else, isn’t there? You want to say something. I can hear it in your voice.”

I heard his low, nervous chuckle, and I could just picture the expression on his kind face.

"Yeah, I guess I’m a bit transparent. It’s just…”

“Yeah?” I coaxed. He took a deep breath, and then took the plunge.

“I heard that William broke up with you.”

I blinked once. Wow, word travels fast. Jon was cities away, and already he knew. It didn’t take much to guess who told him, though; Megz and Jon were incapable of keeping any secrets from each other.

“Uh, yeah…” I trailed off awkwardly.

I was still kind of worried about my reaction. Wasn’t I supposed to be breaking down into tears at the mention of his name? Wasn’t I supposed to be wasting my money on ice cream and tissue boxes? Wasn’t I supposed to feel something?

"Hey, hey,” he started softly, clearly having noticed my reluctance. “I won’t pry for all the details or anything; I just wanted to see how you’re holding up.”

Thank God for Jon being the most sensitive guy on Earth. He’s too sweet. Of course, the fact that Megz had probably already spilled every tiny detail that I’d given her probably helped a bit.

“I’m actually okay, surprisingly,” I told him truthfully. I still don’t think that Megz believed me when I said that. “It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” I nodded before realizing that he couldn’t see me. I do that too often.

Jon paused a moment, and for a second I thought that he was unconvinced. His real thoughts were worse.

“Maybe it’s because you never let yourself feel enough for him…” he started lowly. I opened my mouth to complain, but nothing would come out, so I just let him go on. “Maybe it’s because a long time ago, you loved someone, and since then you’ve never tried to love someone else. Maybe William couldn’t break your heart because you never gave any of it to him.”

Jon’s voice was a murmur, but the effect of the words he uttered echoed loudly in my head like a thunderstorm. We never really spoke about it anymore, so I forgot that I ever told Jon about my history in Vegas. It was so unexpected, getting it thrown back at me now. Truth be told, I’d successfully shut out that part of my life. I hadn’t thought about it in a long time now. I still couldn’t bring myself to think of the names that I associated with that place.

“That was a long time ago, Jon,” I whispered. “And maybe you’re right. Hell, you’re probably right because you always are, but I don’t really want to speak about that. Ever.”

"Okay, love, okay,” he sounded apologetic. “Sorry if it sounded harsh. I was just…”

“I know, Jon,” I smiled slightly into the phone. “I know.”

I heard him gulp.

“Okay.”

There was another pause before I brought it upon myself to lighten the mood, change the topic. I put on my happy, chipper voice and shut out the solemn discussion we’d just had.

“So what about you? How’s life on the road?”

I heard his hesitation, but he seemed to pick up on my vibe and became equally as cheerful.

“It’s good. I miss all you guys heaps, though. The band I’m with, they’re fun. And oh my god, I can’t believe I forgot to tell you!”

“What?” I asked, intrigued from the excitement in his voice.

“I’m in a band now too!”

“What?!” My eyes widened.

“Yeah! They’re these guys that I met when they were on tour with The Academy Is… and we hit it off pretty well. They’re so weird, but it’s great. Their bassist, though, apparently he’s been having family troubles or something and his attitude’s gradually been pissing them off more and more or something like that, and the other day they finally just asked him to leave. I got a call, and apparently they’d been thinking about asking me to replace him for a while now. At first I wasn’t sure what to do, but then I just decided what the hell? This is the chance of a lifetime for me!”

“Oh my god, Jon, that’s great! I’m so happy for you!”

Hearing his excited rant, I could just picture the thrilled glint in his golden brown eyes. There was no doubt how happy he was about this. Anyone who wouldn’t be elated for him mustn’t have had a heart.

“Thanks Char,” he beamed. “I told Meg last night, but I don’t know if the word has spread yet. I asked her to keep it quiet, but you know what a gossip queen she is.”

I laughed lightly.

“Yeah, well I’m too happy for you to keep this to myself, so you can expect everyone to know soon enough.”

He laughed too. His laugh had always been radiant.

“Thanks Charlie.”

“No problem, Starbucks.”

“Hey, I’ve got to get going now. I’ll talk to you a bit later, okay?”

“Sure thing,” I smiled. “Bye.”

“Hey, wait, one more thing…” His voice stopped me from hanging up just in time.

“Yeah?”

“Just… think about what I said before, okay? This time, just try to give him a better chance.”

I sighed, forced to reflect on our almost melancholy discussion from earlier.

“Okay, Jon. I’ll try… Wait, what do you mean ‘this time’? Have you already got a candidate picked out for me or something?”

Jon’s reply chuckle was nervous, and I knew in that moment that there was something he wasn’t telling me.

“Talk to you later, Char.”

“Hey, wait…”

But it was too late. He’d hung up. How dramatic. Why was everyone being so cryptic around me these days?! I was about to call him back and pry for information, but I was prevented from doing so from the knock on the front door.

I swung my legs off my bed and skipped down the stairs, almost tripping over my feet as I did. Stairs had never really been my specialty, had they? I made it to the front door without injury, however, and slowly unlocked and opened it. I was somewhat surprised at who I saw standing there.

Sebastian was there, his hands in his jean pockets, and maybe it was just the light, but he was looking incredibly good. It was a cold and windy day (when was I ever not, in Chicago?) but the sun was still shining, and from where Seb stood on my doorstep the sun seemed to glow around him, illuminating his silhouette better than any camera angles in any movie could do. He was wearing tight grey jeans with a white v-neck, and a black and red checkered flannel shirt was tossed over but left unbuttoned. His chestnut hair swept over his eyes, slightly messy from the wind outside. He hadn’t been looking at me when I opened the door, but as soon as he registered that I was there his hazel-gold eyes snapped over to meet mine and he tossed me a gorgeous lopsided grin.

“Hey Charlie.”

Embarrassingly, I was temporarily breathless, so when I started to speak it came out slightly stuttered. I am such a nerd.

“Uh, h-hey, Wh-what are you doing here?”

Okay, I just blurted that out, I swear. I didn’t mean it to sound so rude. Thankfully, Seb just chuckled a bit.

“Wow, is that any way to greet your best friend?”

At his words, I immediately began to relax, my face molding into a pleasant smile.

“I’m sorry, Seb. I just… I didn’t expect to see you. I… I thought you were avoiding me.”

I looked down, embarrassed. I hadn’t entirely meant to say that, either. I grasped the door handle so that I wouldn’t collapse. Why was I acting like this? It was Sebastian, for crying out loud!

“Hey…”

I looked back up at him when I felt his fingers on my forearm, soothing my discomfort. His soft voice helped too, and all of a sudden I couldn’t look away from him.

“I’m sorry, Char,” he sighed, his voice barely more than a whisper. “I didn’t want you to think that. I just needed some time to think.”

I don’t know why we hadn’t progressed inside yet, but for some reason I felt like we should stay exactly where we were. For some reason, things were different between us, and I felt like we had to work it out now.

“What did you need to think about?”

Thank god my voice wasn’t a stutter that time.

Seb sighed again, running a hand through his hair. It was something he usually did when he was stressed, and immediately I became concerned. I waited as patiently as I could, seeing the clear conflict in his face as he tried to find the right words. I don’t know how long I waited, but eventually he spoke.

“I… There’s something I need to tell you. I’ve been trying to work out how to tell you, and to be honest I just don’t think there’s an easy way to do this, so I guess I’m just going to have to say it…”

“Seb…” I said as calmly as I could, cutting him off. “Come on. This is me you’re talking to. Just go ahead.”

He gulped with stressed eyes and nodded. I hated seeing him like this. He was so worked up… I just wanted my carefree best friend back.

“Okay,” he said again after a deep exhale. “Well, I really just don’t know how to say it, so I guess I won’t.”

I was puzzled for a moment, but before I could say a word Seb had taken that tiny step closer to me, leaned down, and gently pressed his lips to mine. It was so far from whatever I’d been expecting, but at the same time pleasant butterflies burst into being in my abdomen and I’d never felt so elated before in my life. William’s kisses, though sweet, had never made me feel like this. Nothing had ever made me feel like this, and all it was, was a chaste brush of our lips. Before I even had the chance to react to him, Seb pulled away a few inches to look into my eyes as he took one of my hands in his and squeezed it lightly.

“I’m in love with you, Charlotte.”

I could read the pure sincerity in his eyes, and I felt as if a million fuzzy supernovas occurred within my body. No one had ever said that to me before. Not like that. I’d never had that kind of love. But this was Sebastian. This was the Sebastian that had saved me when I was at my worst. This was the Sebastian who was my best friend. This was the Sebastian that I knew, undoubtedly, meant every word he said.

He loved me.

And although I honestly never thought it would ever be possible, I was positive that I was almost in love with him.

Words escaped me, and the only thing I could do was reach my hands up to cup his face, and bring it down for our lips to collide again. His arms circled my waist, my arms wound around his neck, and our smiles were shared through the most perfect kiss anyone could ever imagine. Everything flew out the window, because in those precious moments, I knew perfection.