Gunslinger

I sat in our large bedroom, alone for the second night in a row. Syn had gone out with a few friends and I'd said I was tired. I mean, I was but I could have survived a few hours with him. Everything was always so much better with Syn around. Grin and bear it, as they say. Except I felt like being alone for once. I'm a needy person, so I usually can't stand being alone when I don't have to be. I sighed loudly and reclined heavily onto the bed, bouncing a few times before the mattress finally settled. I stared at the ceiling for a short moment before jumping up restlessly and pacing like a caged dog in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. In a sudden burst of inspiration, I broke my little back and forth movement and walked to the nearest door, Syn's messy closet, to retrieve one of the three black guitar cases. I placed the largest of them on the dark hardwood floor in front of me and flipped open the three clasps. Inside lay my favourite of Syn's guitars; his Epiphone acoustic. It had a southwest design on the pick guard, and you could tell it was at least ten years old, though well taken care of. Brian treated his guitars like they were his babies. I gently picked up the guitar and returned to the bed, perching myself on the edge and running my fingertips lightly over the dark-coloured wood of the bridge. I plucked the strings and shuddered. It was out of tune. Once I had managed to get the guitar sounding absolutely perfect, which took me a while, mind you, because I'm an idiot, I played a few random melancholy-sounding chords and started into the song that was stuck in my mind. The intro sounded older and southern as well.

I heard a knock on the door and it opened, I jumped and stopped playing, almost losing the guitar in the process.
"Brian?" It was Matt looking in. Aria, my best friend and also his girlfriend, had decided to go bowling with our new neighbors, Australian rocker-chicks I had yet to meet, having a girls-night-out I had also been invited to, but also declined.

"Not here," I voiced, "he went out with some friends,"

"Oh," He paused a moment, stepped into the room a few more feet and cocked his head,
"Hey, since when can you play guitar?"

"Last night... Zacky stayed with me and taught me a few songs,"

His eyes opened wide.
I guess I should fill you in on mine and Zacky's history together... I was with him before I was with Syn, and we recently got entirely wasted and had sex again. But we're both over that, it just seems as though everyone else thinks we're going to fuck again. Nope, sorry to ruin your expectations.
Before he could say anything, I cut him off.

"I hit my head really hard last night and passed out. If Zacky hadn't been there, I'd be in a coma. Once he got me awake again, which he told me was pretty damn hard, he thought the best idea was to keep me awake... And I felt like playing guitar, so he taught me a few songs."
Let's just say, skateboarding in the living room plus coffee table plus my head equals mild head trauma.

"Oh.."

I started playing again, picking at the strings under my right hand expertly, tapping the strings to the frets of the guitar with my left, acting as though I wasn't amazed I was doing so well. Matt sat on the bed next to me, tapping his foot to the beat of the riff. He began singing as the stanza repeated itself. Had I looked up from my fingers, I would've noticed Matt looking directly at me, though his eyes glazed over as if he was in another realm.

"Yeah, you've been alone
I've been gone for far too long
But with all that we've been through
After all this time I'm coming home to you

Never let it show
The pain I've grown to know
'Cause with all these things we do
It don't matter when I'm coming home to you

I reach towards the sky I've said my goodbyes
My heart's always with you, now
I won't question why so many have died
My prayers have made it through, yeah
'Cause with all these things we do
It don't matter when I'm coming home to you..."

I finished the acoustic part of the song with a soft chord and glanced up with a surprised look etched into my eyes. I still have to stop and remember that I share an apartment with two incredibly talented people... and then of course their girlfriends (being Aria and I).

"Ya know," I started, a lopsided smile growing on my lips, "that's the first time I've heard you sing other than at a concert."

He chuckled. "I don't like to bring my work home with me."

I put the guitar down and hugged him. Aria was right; he did give the best hugs. He wrapped his arms around me tightly and I said into his neck,
"Thanks for singing along." I pulled back and gave him a peck on the cheek, to which he smiled and got up to leave. Matt turned back to me with a pensive look on his face.

"I'm glad I know you, Cady, you're always full of nice surprises." I nodded thanks, now smiling like an idiot, and went back to playing my time away, waiting for my lover to get back..